Thinking Critically

This study evaluated a ten-week course designed for social work field instructors interested in developing a critically reflective approach to field instruction. The course trained participants to think critically about their role in preparing professional social workers. A pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison group design was utilized. The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal was used as the measurement instrument. Using t-tests, the findings indicate that the participants significantly increased their overall ability to think critically when compared to the control group. The implications for practicum instruction are addressed.     

The Importance of Early,Targeted Intervention: The Effect of Family,Maternal, and Child Characteristics on the Use of Physical Discipline

Secondary analysis of Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Study longitudinal data explored family, parent, and child factors that contribute to the use of physical discipline with infants and toddlers. The sample included mothers (N = 1,580) who self reported the use of spanking at 14, 24, and 36 months. Eighteen percent of the mothers (n = 287) indicated that their children experienced consistent physical discipline. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression. Participation in parenting classes resulted in a 30% reduction in the use of physical discipline. For every year older the mother was at the birth of the child, there was a 7% decrease in physical discipline. Increased knowledge of child development reduced spanking by 35%. Implications for social work practice with families of young children are discussed.     

Many Faces of Openness in Adoption: Perspectives of Adopted Adolescents and Their Parents

Parents and adolescents (mean age, 15.7 years) from 177 adoptive families participating in the second wave of the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project were interviewed about their post-adoption contact arrangements. The sample included families with no contact, stopped contact, contact without meetings, and contact with face-to-face meetings between the adolescent and birth mother. Openness arrangements were dynamic, and different openness arrangements were associated with different experiences and feelings. Adoptive families with contact reported having higher levels of satisfaction about their openness arrangements, experiencing more positive feelings about the birth mother, and possessing more factual and personal knowledge about the birth mother than did families without contact. Adolescents and adoptive mothers in the contact with meetings group reported the greatest satisfaction with their openness arrangements; those with no contact or stopped contact reported the least satisfaction with their arrangements. Participants having no contact were more likely to want the intensity of contact to increase in the future rather than stay the same. Many participants already having contact wanted it to increase in the future. Fewer than 1 percent of all participants wanted to see the intensity of contact decrease.     

Femininity and family planning

Kosnik, Anthony, William Carroll, Agnes Cunningham, Ronald Modras and James Schulte. Human Sexuality: New Directions in American Catholic Thought. New York, N. Y.: Paulist Press, 1977. 320 pages. $8.50.

Lloyd, Robin. For Money or Love: Boy Prostitution in America. Introduction by Birch Bayh. New York: Vanguard Press, 1976. 236 pages. $8.95.

Sagarin, Edward. “Prison Homosexuality and Its Effect on Post‐Prison Sexual Behavior.” Psychiatry, August 1976, 39 (3), 245–257.     

Maternal mental health in Australia and New Zealand: A review of longitudinal studies

AimThe aim of this paper is to describe the factors that impact on the mental health of Australian and New Zealand (NZ) women in the perinatal period (pregnancy and the year following birth), and to determine the impact of perinatal mental health on women's subsequent health by summarising findings from prospective longitudinal studies conducted in Australia and NZ.MethodsA systematic search was conducted using the databases, Scopus, Medline, PsychInfo and Health Source to identify prospective longitudinal studies focused on women's social and emotional health in the perinatal period. Forty-eight papers from eight longitudinal studies were included.ResultsThe proportion of women reporting depressive symptoms in the first year after birth was between 10 and 20% and this has remained stable over 25 years. The two strongest predictors for depression and anxiety were previous history of depression and poor partner relationship. Importantly, women's mood appears to be better in the first year after birth, when compared to pregnancy and five years later. Becoming a mother at a young age is by itself not a risk factor unless coupled with social disadvantage. Women report a high number of stressors in pregnancy and following birth and the rate of intimate partner violence reported is worryingly high.ConclusionMidwives have an important role in the identification, support and referral of women experiencing mental health problems. As many women do not seek help from mental health services, the potential for a known midwife to impact on women's mental health warrants further examination.     

Historical epidemiology of smallpox in Åland,Finland: 1751–1890

We analyze a 140-year series of smallpox deaths in the Åland Islands, Finland. Vaccination, introduced in 1805, dramatically reduced the annual number of smallpox deaths. It also influenced the age distribution of smallpox deaths, changing smallpox from a childhood disease before 1805 to one which affected both adults and children after 1805. This appears to be due to the fact that Ålanders were usually vaccinated only once during childhood and often lost their immunity during adulthood. Spectral analysis of the prevaccination time series of smallpox deaths demonstrates a strong seven-year periodicity, reflecting the amount of time necessary to build up a cohort of nonimmune individuals. After the introduction of vaccination, the periodicity changes to eight years. The probability that a parish in Åland was affected by a smallpox epidemic is shown to be highly correlated with migration patterns and parish population sizes.     

Skin Color and Intelligence in African Americans: A Reply to Hill

Hill's theory that the positive association between light skin color and intelligence among African Americans can be explained as a result of discrimination by whites against darker skinned blacks is implausible. There is no direct evidence for this theory. If it were true, dark skinned blacks should earn less than light skinned blacks as a result of greater discrimination against them. The NORC data show that this is not the case. Hill's analysis is an example of the Sociologists' Fallacy that consists of treating correlates as causes.     

天堂里的单身汉:一个国家的主题

文学中的单身汉具有多样性和特殊性的特点,并且已变成一种媒介,即研究社会和人类不同文化结构特点的媒介。同时单身汉主题的出现,也为小说理论提供了新的性别分类方法。它展现了一个弯曲的阶级和一种特定的文化特征;即使它不能完全呈现出来,其重要性也已建立在时代特征的框架上了。"唐人街的单身汉"为我们提供了一个研究潜在性特征结构的假想空间,通过自然主义的审美描写昭示对社会的看法。随着文学主题学批评对单身汉和男性结合主题关注的增多,单身汉主题自成一派,我们也意识到其政治意义的冗长和压制(压抑)。     

Women’s work and “women’s work”: LDS dual-earner couples and the work–family nexus

In the context of religious expectations that their primary obligations should be child care and maintenance of the home, how do Church of Latter-day Saint (LDS) women and their spouses view the relationship between women’s work and the family? Are these perceptions similar or dissimilar for men and women? This study addresses the work–family nexus by examining associations among religiosity, traditional gender ideology, work-to-family spillover, and family cohesion using data from a random sample of dual-earner LDS couples. Our findings indicate that for LDS men, women’s work outside the home is negatively associated with perceptions of family cohesion. However, this relationship is not significant for women. Gender, therefore, is a key factor in how women’s work is perceived among dual-earner Latter-day Saints.