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This paper uses findings from research diaries to explore the use of practices of intimacy among asexual people. While much of the literature to date has focused on the supposedly transformative and political nature of uniquely asexual practices of intimacy, our findings suggest something different. Rather than seeking to transform the nature of intimate relationships, asexual people make pragmatic adjustments and engage in negotiations to achieve the forms of physical and emotional intimacy they seek. We discuss this in relation to three areas: friendships, sex as a practice of intimacy, and exclusion from intimacy. Our findings suggest the importance of not only considering the social context in which asexual people practice intimacy, but also how the practices in which they engage may be shared with non-asexual people.

In contrast to conventional models of positively "becoming" an identity through social interaction, this article explores the inverse, negational process of "non-becoming," whereby actors start but do not continue along an identity career trajectory. Through cumulative attrition, interactions and encounters at key moments create an overall pattern of non-progression. Using asexuality as an example, we identify three main trajectory stages of non-awareness, communicative negation and non-consolidation, each involving interactional contingencies. With a wider applicability to other repudiated identities, this model shows how even negational symbolic social objects (non-issues, non-events, and non-identities) are constituted through social interaction.

This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies and may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the URL above for details on accessing the published version. Copyright and reuse:Sussex Research Online is a digital repository of the research output of the University.Copyright and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable, the material made available in SRO has been checked for eligibility before being made available.Copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. LGBT hate crimes (measured by personally knowing other victims of hate crime) are highly prolific and frequent experiences for LGBT people. Our findings show that trans people are particularly susceptible to hate crimes, both in terms of prevalence and frequency. This article additionally highlights the negative emotional and (intended) behavioral reactions that were correlated with an imagined hate crime scenario, showing that trans people are more likely to experience heightened levels of threat, vulnerability, and anxiety compared with non-trans LGB people. The study found that trans people are also more likely to feel unsupported by family, friends, and society for being LGBT, which was correlated with the frequency of direct (verbal) abuse they had previously endured. The final part of this study explores trans people's confidence levels in the Government, the police, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in relation to addressing hate crime. In general, trans people felt that the police are not effective at policing anti-LGBT hate crime, and they are not respectful toward them as victims; this was especially true where individuals had previous contact with the police. Respondents were also less confident in the CPS to prosecute anti-LGBT hate crimes, though the level of confidence was slightly higher when respondents had direct experience with the CPS. The empirical evidence presented here supports the assertion that all LGBT people, but particularly trans individuals, continue to be denied equal participation in society due to individual, social, and structural experiences of prejudice. The article concludes by arguing for a renewed policy focus that must address this issue as a public health problem.

The Talking Dads Project brought together young fathers, an NGO and university researchers to explore the experiences of young fathers in a UK seaside city. Young fathers took a lead role in developing the content of, and conducting, interviews with peer participants. Drawing on an analytical framework derived from participatory research literature, this article provides an analysis of five critical processes that created intense debate and became sites for negotiation of the delicate balance of powers between participants. These included young fathers’ initial engagement, the translation of their research ideas into research tools, research ethics such as confidentiality and duty of care, the academic researchers’ role in making adjustments to facilitate comprehensive, in-depth data collection, and the differential impact of the research on the lives of all involved. The learning emerging from this evaluation of the research process contributes to the understanding of the challenges of participatory research and the value of flexibility in responding to challenges and constraints.

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Meta-analyses of randomized control trials include only a small proportion of the published outcome research of Couple and Family Therapy. This paper surveys the ranges of published research through a systematic review of the outcome studies of family, couple, and systemic therapies published in English language peer reviewed journals in years 2000 through 2009. After application of criteria of relevance to Couple and Family Therapy and systemic practice, 225 studies were identified, summarized, and coded under 14 broad headings giving 125 potential classifications for each article. Analyses of these codings found consistent conclusions of effectiveness; differential availability and quality of research for different conditions; and quite frequent absence of important methodological information. The findings are interpreted as showing that this body of recent research supports claims of effectiveness. Although the journals included many of good quality there are substantial areas of weakness in reporting. It is concluded that there are significant influences on the body of published research that arise both from funding policies and journal practices as well as perhaps author bias. The consequences are to reduce the value of research to practitioners, to favour randomized control trials with positive evidence of the effectiveness of therapy, and to exclude publication of negative findings.

Some literature on asexuality has claimed that it is inherently radical and contains the potential for resistance. Unfortunately this literature has tended to be unempirical, has imagined asexuality as a disembodied entity and marginalised the multiple identities held by asexual people. This paper, inspired by Plummer's critical humanist approach, seeks to explore how individuals understand their asexuality to encourage forms of political action in the areas of: identity, activism, online spaces and LGBT politics. What we found was a plurality of experiences and attitudes with most adopting a pragmatic position in response to their social situation which saw large scale political action as irrelevant. We conclude by reflecting on what these results mean for those who see asexuality as potentially radical.Keywords: Asexuality, critical humanism, identity, LGBT, sexualityThe emergence of asexuality has led scholars to make strong political claims. These writers have suggested that asexuality has the potential to: redefine the nature of intimate relationships; overcome the dominance of 'sexusociety'; resist neoliberal conceptions of citizenship; and aid anarchist politics. Unfortunately, the strength of these claims has run inverse to the evidence used to substantiate them. Instead they have largely concerned what asexuality ought to be and, ipso facto, how asexual people ought to behave rather than exploring the beliefs and actions of asexual people. This has been part of a wider trend where 'asexuality' comes to be treated as a disembodied entity which 'challenges' contemporary society. Unfortunately, this overlooks how asexuality exists as a sexual orientation held by a diverse set of people, resulting in differing forms of action. 2To counter this trend, this paper outlines the political views held by asexual people. We will discuss: the salience of asexual identity; our participants' activism; and their interaction withLGBTQ groups/politics 1 . In doing so, we are in agreement with two arguments concerning the nature of sociological research. Firstly, we share Plummer's advocacy of a 'critical humanist' perspective which, with its use of 'documents of life' seeks to pay special attention to the 'concrete human experiences' of social life in which individuals 'respond to social constraints and actively assemble social worlds' (Plummer 2001:14). This does not, as indicated, involve marginalising forms of oppression and injustice, but rather, in understanding how these are experienced and interpreted, abides by 'the humanistic commitment of the qualitative researcher to study the world always from the perspective of the interacting individual' (Lincoln and Denzin 1994:575). It is this commitment which often has been lacking in the literature to date. Secondly, we echo Duncan's (2011) claim that when discussing processes of social change, in his case individualization, sociologists have tended to place individuals either into a 'vanguard' or 'traditionalist' camps. Instead, asDuncan demonstrates, these g...