Client satisfaction with live-in and live-out home care workers in Israel

In an era of globalization where the migration of longterm care workers is common, foreign live-in home care workers can compensate for the unavailability of family members and, perhaps, even substitute for institutional care in the provision of long-term care services to disabled older persons. This study examines differences in home care satisfaction between disabled older persons in Israel with "live-in" home care workers and those with "live-out" workers, and explores some differences in sociodemographic and personal characteristics between these two groups. Face-to-face interviews were held with a random sample of 93 older persons in Beer-Sheva. Older persons with live-in home care workers were more satisfied with their home care service than those with live-out workers. Those with live-in workers were more severely disabled, tended not to have any children living in close proximity, although an adult child was available as an informal caregiver. Communication difficulties between the elderly persons and their home care workers were found not to affect negatively the satisfaction with the service.     

The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same: Examining Gender Differences in Political Attitude Expression, 1952-2000

We examine the differences in attitude expression between menand women over the past 50 years. Using the National ElectionStudy (NES), we examine both the number of open-ended commentsexpressing like and dislike of candidates and parties and thepercentage of times women responded "don't know" to specificclosed-ended questions relating to policies, candidates, andgroups. We find that women are less likely to express as manylikes and dislikes toward the parties and candidates and aremore likely to respond "don't know" than men. It is interestingthat this difference has shown little change over the past 50years. Using models that tap traditional reasons for differencesbetween men and women, including political and psychologicalresources, we find that a political resource model diminishesthe gender effect but does not eliminate it. The continued andunabated differences between men and women in their willingnessto openly express political attitudes suggest that politicalsocialization differences between men and women have not disappeareddespite female increases in resources and other forms of politicalactivity such as voting. We show that this failure to expressattitudes in the survey situation helps explain the continuinggender differences for forms of political activity other thanvoting.     

Adolescent Immigrants' Well-Being: The Case of Ethnic German Immigrants in Germany

About 3.5 million citizens in Germany are so-called Aussiedler.This is a group of ethnic Germans whose ancestors used to live in various countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The political changes in the post-Soviet nations resulted in a steady influx of ethnic Germans, who in most regards resemble immigrants but, due to particularities of German laws, are eligible for immediate citizenship in contrast to about 8 million former guest workers and their families who are treated as aliens. In this article, we report a study on 220 adolescent Aussiedler and their parents. In a four-wave longitudinal design, the course of well-being after immigration and some predictors of individual differences in their adaptation were investigated for a group of novices (0 to 18 months of residence in Germany) and a group of experienced Aussiedler (19–36 months of residence), both on average 13.5 years of age. Results showed, first, that in line with previous research on immigrants in other cultures, well-being gradually improved from rather low levels soon after immigration. Second, the predictors of inter-individual differences were distinguished by length of residence. Among the experienced group, more improved levels of well-being were observed at the final assessment, if the adolescents shared their families' decision to emigrate, were given more leeway for their own decisions, came from families with higher cohesion, and engaged in leisure activities with local age-mates. In contrast, newcomers were better off affectively if their parents shared less collectivist value orientations and if they entertained fewer contacts with local peers. These distinct patterns were interpreted against the backdrop of social comparison processes with local German age-mates. The article concludes with some informed speculations about differences from other groups of immigrants in Germany.     

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION: AN ANALYSIS OF CONFLICTING THEORETICAL VARIATIONS

Although resource mobilization theory has brought a number of advances to the field of social movements, it does not constitute a unified body of theory. The principal divisions exist between McCarthy and Zald's "professional organizer" model and McAdam's "political process" model. Their disagreements are centered mainly around their conceptualizations of the role that elites play in the formation and development of social movements. It is believed that these differences can be reconciled by returning to the original precepts of resource mobilization theory.     

The Commonality of Difference:

This paper discusses a study undertaken to determine the perceptions of new field instructors about the impact on the teaching/learning relationship of differences between them and their students. The differences and similarities arising in the tutorial relationship often parallel those in practice and provide many "teachable moments" about the significance of diversity for social workers. In a metropolitan social work program, new field instructors representing a wide range of fields of practice responded to a question asking them to consider the impact on the educational experience of "cultural, ethnic, gender, class, and age characteristics, and the implications of these similarities and/or differences for the teacher/learner relaionship." Asking the question succeeded in focussing the attention of field instructors on the significant but often unacknowledged impact of diversity in the educational encounter. A tendency for these field instructors to minimize differences may derive from their efforts to avoid stereotyping or stigmatization. The paper presents numerous examples of field instructors' perceptions and discusses the potential effect of differences and similarities in age, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation on the tutorial relationship. The study findings have implications for field teaching and performance evaluations as well as for social work advocacy around agency policies.     

Divorce and immigration: the social integration of immigrant divorcees in Israel

This paper attempts to supply information on what motivated some 7000 Jewish divorcees to leave their countries of origin in the last decade and settle in Israel. The study also examines the differences in social integration of immigrant divorcees who came to Israel from different political systems--authoritarian or democratic regimes. Finally, the study examines the extent to which immigrant divorcees, who generally arrive in Israel with children, are to be considered as a "high risk" social group requiring special attention and particular aid. Of the 287,487 immigrants aged 15 years and over who arrived in Israel between 1970-1980, 53.7% were women (sex ratio: 860 males per 1000 females), and 3.6% were divorced. The findings indicate that there are significant differences between divorcees from Anglophone and Eastern European countries in their motivation for immigrating to Israel. The former decide to immigrate primarily for individual reasons--generally after divorce--expecting that immigration will increase chances of remarriage. In contrast, those who came from Eastern Europe are motivated by political, economic, and ideological reasons; the issue of immigration often sparks the divorce crisis. Divorcees from Anglophone countries are less socially isolated, more likely to meet veteran Israelis, and more satisfied with their life in Israel. Eastern European divorcees usually restrict their social contact to encounters with other immigrants from their country of origin, are less satisfied with their life in Israel, and feel themselves more isolated and frustrated. Despite the difficulties encountered by this group, it was found that there are no marked differences between divorcees and married immigrant women in social integration. In Israel, immigrant divorcees cannot be considered as a "high risk" social group.     

Expectations concerning future familial patterns among urban and kibbutz youth in Israel

"The purpose of this study was to compare the expectations and concepts urban and kibbutz adolescents [in Israel] have concerning their future families, and to compare the patterns desired by adolescents with the patterns existing in their parents' homes. The areas investigated included role allocation between husband and wife, and desired age [at] marriage and family size. The research population consisted of urban (174) and kibbutz (97) adolescents ages 17-18." "Overall..., concerning desired patterns of familial role allocation and marriage age, kibbutz and city adolescents show similar trends. However, concerning family size, differences still exist. Also, in both localities, there seem to exist differences between boys and girls concerning their future families."     

Male and female betting behaviour: New perspectives

This paper uses an analysis of betting decisions made in offcourse betting offices in the UK to explore differences between the nature of male and female betting behaviour. Specifically gender differences in levels of performance, propensity for risk taking and levels of confidence in betting decisions are considered. The results provide some evidence for greater risk propensity amongst male bettors, lower levels of female bettor confidence in their choices and some degree of performance advantage for women bettors. The results are discussed in relation to previous research; some of the apparent discrepancies are explained in terms of differences in motivational focus and gender differences in definitions of risk-taking and successful performance. In this context areas for future research are highlighted.The research reported here was made possible by grants from Ladbroke Racing and the cooperation of Ladbrokes and Vetabet. Special thanks to Philip Cooper for his statistical advice and to the insightful comments of the anonymous referees on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Central American and Mexican immigrant characteristics and economic incorporation in California

"Data compiled from the 1980 U.S. Census and other sources are used in this article to demonstrate the distinctiveness of Central American immigration.... Comparisons between Central American and Mexican immigrants in California reveal substantial differences between the two groups in their age structure, sex ratio, and human capital characteristics." The emphasis of the study is on the differences concerning incorporation of these migrant groups into the Californian economy.     

Governing the voluntary sector response to AIDS: a comparative study of the UK and Germany

The impact of AIDS on Western polities serves as a useful indicator both of social values and of political and organisational relationships. At the same time, community-based nonprofit organisations have been at the forefront of AIDS policy-making and service development. Taking Britain and Germany as case studies, this paper discusses similarities and differences in the functions accorded to the voluntary sector in the pattern of responses to HIV and AIDS. Typical problems confronted by emergent voluntary sector welfare agencies are noted and particular features of AIDS service organisations described. Separate accounts are then given of the development of a federated network of AIDS service organisations (ASOs) in Germany and of contrasting experience in the UK. While governments have shared a concern to confine the activity of ASOs to serving the needs of those groups directly affected by AIDS, other significant differences in policy development may be attributed to differences in the organisational structure of the health sector.Some of the material used in this paper is due to be published in Freeman (forthcoming). The paper is a product of doctoral research carried out in 1990, which was funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council. That research included case studies of policy responses to AIDS in Britain and Germany. I am indebted to all those who, despite the demands made on both their agencies and themselves, took time to discuss aspects of their work with me. The paper was first presented at the ECPR workshop on Non-governmental welfare provision in a long term perspective held at the University of Essex in March 1991. My thanks for their advice and comment are due to participants in the workshop and to three unnamedVoluntas referees.     

"A strike of girls": gender and class in the British metal trades, 1913

Our intent is to investigate the nature of capitalist patriarchy by writing women workers back into the story of the Black Country Strike. Conventional accounts of this important conflict in the British midlands have depicted the outcome as a "victory for the workpeople," but such claims have failed to capture how gender hierarchies and cross-class allegiances produced this "victory." Specifically, we argue that unquestioned assumptions about the subordinate status of women provided the point of agreement around which working-class men, their union, and their employers worked out their (class) differences, resulting in both the preservation of capitalism and the reassertion of male superiority and authority.     

Social Class,Cultural Repertoires,and Popular Culture: The Case of Film

This research examines two different conceptions of the relationship between social class and familiarity with popular culture in the United States. Specifically, it focuses on differences between members of the upper-middle class and members of the lower-middle class in terms of their film viewing practices. The data for this analysis was obtained from a survey of 364 individuals randomly selected from two neighborhoods in a medium-sized city, one predominantly upper-middle class and the other predominantly lower-middle class. Members of the upper-middle class view more art films, as well as more classic films and blockbuster films, than members of the lower-middle class. These differences are largely attributable to the fact that members of the upper-middle class view more films both in theaters and on videocassettes than members of the lower-middle class. Moreover, these differences are reduced, but not entirely eliminated, by the fact that members of the lower-middle class view more films on television than members of the upper-middle class. Finally, these differences in the film-viewing practices of the members of these two social classes, as identified by their neighborhood of residence, obtain even controlling for a series of demographic and socioeconomic background variables.     

Altruistic and Vicarious Fear of Crime: Fear for Others and Gendered Social Roles

Fear for others as distinct from personal fear is an understudied phenomenon. Relying on qualitative data, this paper explores gender differences in fear for others and identifies differences linked to social roles. For men, a paternal protector role characterized fears expressed mostly for their wives. For women, a maternal caretaker role characterized fears expressed for their children, elderly parents, and siblings. This paper offers a new way to conceptualize fear for others based on making distinctions between the object of fear and active or nonactive responses: kinship-based altruistic fear, kinship-based vicarious fear, general altruistic fear, and general vicarious fear.

A Cross-Cultural Assessment of Familial Factors in the Development of Female Homosexuality

Nonclinical samples of 224 heterosexual and 205 homosexual females were interviewed with regard to their recalled childhood experiences in Brazil, Peru, the Philippines, and the United States. Twelve items were used to examine differences between heterosexual and homosexual females. These are: "normal" family, absent motherlfather, wanner parent, stronger parent, hostile father, hostile mother, detached/distant father, detached/distant mother, seductive mother, seductive father, father's attitude toward sex, mother's attitude toward sex. Seven items produced no significant differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals in any of the four societies. Another five items resulted in some signif~cant differences between these groups; however, these differences were inconsistent in all four societies. Combining the data for all four societies resulted in only one item-the detacheddistant mother-exhibiting signif~cant differences between homosexual and heterosexual groups. It is not clear whether the detachedldistant mother is a cause of or a reaction to emerging homosexuality. On the whole, these cross-cultural data provide little support for the role of familial factors in the development of female homosexual orientation.     

The ambiguity of "watershed": the politics of people and conservation in northern Thailand

The current conflict over watershed management between the lowlanders and highlanders in Chomthong has unveiled various aspects of the politics of people versus nature conservation. What is important is that the conflict has exposed the shifting and inconsistent views of the Thai state towards the peripheral areas and its people. Thus, on the one hand, the official discourse on "watershed" was appropriated by the urban middle-class conservationists and lowlanders to legitimize their control of highland resources to the exclusion of the highland minorities. The two groups also used ethnic differences to justify their control over the highland resources. On the other hand, the conflict also showed that the control by the dominant power could never be absolute. Highlanders responded to the "watershed regime" by redefining watershed integrity, adapting to the state conservation pressure, and seeking and forming alliances with other groups.     

MOBILIZING SOCIAL RESOURCES: Race, Ethnic, and Gender Differences in Social Capital and Persisting Wage Inequalities

Drawing on a social capital theoretical framework, I examine race, ethnic, and gender wage inequalities. Specifically, I extend past research by analyzing differences in the mobilization of different types of job contacts, what these types of contacts and their level of influence "buy" job seekers in the labor market, and the extent to which differences in social resources explain between-group variations in wages. Four aspects of job contacts are implicated: the race and gender of the job contact, the strength of the relationship between the job seeker and the job contact, and the job contact's influence. Employing the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, I find that white men are more likely to mobilize weak, white, male, and influential contacts, those contacts hypothesized to positively impact employment outcomes. Moreover, their greater mobilization of male and influential ties helps to explain a substantial part of their wage advantage over white women and Lations. However, in many ways, their overall social resource advantage seems somewhat overstated. They reap no advantages over blacks, Latinos, and white women in their use of weak and white ties. Furthermore, results indicate that the benefits of social resources appear largely contingent on the social structural location of job seekers mobilizing them, less on any benefits inherent in different "types" of job contacts.     

MODERN MAGIC

The suggestion that students at present day universities participate in magic at exam time may seem unusual. This study views "magic" as behavior directed toward achieving an outcome, involving many everyday and commonplace acts, but seeming to rely for success on some mystical element. Hundreds of personal accounts from students describing their exam-related behaviors provide the basis for a classification system of their "magical practices." The classification yields findings regarding the use of magic for luck and the avoidance of bad luck. Student magic is found to be idiosyncratic, inconsistent, and never malevolent as it often is in preliterate societies. Such differences between preliterate magic, other modern forms, and student magic are related to the complexity and heterogeneity of the larger society, the cultural norms, and the degree of collective action involved.     

THE IMPACT OF BAD WRITING IN ECONOMICS

We find significant style differences between articles written by economists for their professional journals and articles by the same economists in the Wall Street Journal. We find no evidence that style influences the professional success of economists, which suggests that the private rewards to improving the quality of writing are low. Indeed, each community of scholars has probably adopted a "professionally correct" writing style, from which its members diverge little. However, scholars do alter their rhetorical style to communicate effectively with audiences other than the professional community. This suggests that intra- and inter-group (written) communication by economists is efficient.     

A differential assessment of the cumulative versus stabilizing effect of methadone maintenance treatment

Differential response effectiveness is examined for patients during multiple episodes of methadone maintenance (MM) treatment. Subjects were 251 narcotics addicts who were divided into three groups based on their daily narcotics use pattern during their first two MM treatment periods: (1) a "stabilizing group"--showing no daily use for both periods, (2) a "cumulative group"--showing a lower level of daily use during the second period compared to the first, and (3) a "deteriorating group"--showing higher daily use during the second period. Behavioral measures for various narcotics-related variables were plotted over 4 time periods (pre-MM, during first MM, between first and second episodes, and during second MM) were compared. Results indicated several individual differences related to patients' response to multiple episodes of MM. Clinical, research, and policy implications are discussed.     

Gender Differences in What Is Desired in the Sexual Relationship

It has been proposed that women possess a "person centered" orientation to sexuality- the goal of sex is to express affection to another person in a committed relations. Conversely, men possess a "body centered" orientation toward sex-the goal of sex is physical gratification. These different orientations toward sex in relatidnships should lead men and women to have different desires in the sexual relationship. We hypothesized that women will desire more activities in sex that demonstrate love and intimacy, while men will desire more activities that focus on arousal aspects of the sexual activity itself (more partner initiative; more variety). Two samples were used to test the hypotheses: 189 undergraduate students and 53 newly married couples. Men and women were asked how much they desired their partner to do less or more of a variety of activities during sex. The results indicated that there were gender differences found in what was desired from the sexual relationship that were consistent with our predictions. These differences may be explained by differential socialization and/or different evolutionary pressures.