Hidden and actual dropout from the education system among adolescents of Ethiopian origin in Israel

ABSTRACT

This paper examines aspects and predictors of actual and hidden dropout among immigrant students in general, and among Israeli students of Ethiopian origin, in particular. A hidden dropout is a student who is often absent from school or physically in class but is passive and does not actively take part in the learning process. The subject of this study derives from research evidence showing that the dropout rates of Israeli adolescents of Ethiopian origin are higher than those of their peers who are not of Ethiopian origin. We investigated differences between normative learners, hidden dropout youth and adolescents who are disengaged from the educational system. The predictors included perceived discrimination, social support and collective identities; 374 adolescents of Ethiopian origin completed self-report questionnaires. The major findings show that the hidden dropouts group was characterised by a pattern of high parental encouragement but a lack of support from teachers. Implications of the results, both for theory and for practice, are discussed, followed by suggestions for future research.     

Sariling Gawa Youth Council as a Case Study of Youth Leadership Development in Hawai'i

SUMMARY

This article describes Sariling Gawa Youth Council as a case study of youth leadership development in Hawai'i. Since 1980, thousands of young people-primarily Filipino youth-have participated in Sariling Gawa activities which have developed their leadership skills. Many of them have continued to lead the organization and utilize what they learned with numerous local organizations and state agencies. The authors examine Sariling Gawa's growth, structure, and other factors that contribute to its longevity. The model includes (1) youth empowerment through building their leadership skills, (2) fostering and strengthening peer social support and social networks, (3) promotion of positive ethnic identity, and (4) community capacity building by involving youth in civic and community affairs.     

Demographic Profiles of Asian Immigrant Elderly Residing in Metropolitan Ethnic Enclave Communities

Abstract

This study reports the demographic characteristics of six groups of Asian American elders (Chinese, Korean, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Japanese) in a regional probability sample (n = 407). The findings confirm the heterogeneity of the Asian American elderly population, who differ in terms of demographics, immigration and acculturation experiences, language proficiency, educational attainment, and financial status. Findings point to the importance of taking careful consideration of the specific needs of different population groups of Asian American elders when planning social and support services. Additionally, cultural competence training for health and social service professionals is needed in order to address the special needs, variability, and differences among these Asian ethnic populations.     

Child Care Preferences of Foreign-Born Immigrant Groups in California

This study using California Health Interview Survey 2005 Child Survey data presents disparities among three major immigrant groups' child care preferences. Asian immigrant families used a grandparent or a relative care and a preschool more than Latino and European immigrant families. Latino immigrant families used child care from a nonfamily member in the provider's home and Head Start more than Asian and European immigrant families. To understand the predictors of time spent in child care by California's immigrant children, a multiple regression analysis was run. Being a child from an Asian immigrant family, child's age, being a girl, and being a child from a single mother-headed immigrant family emerged as predictors explaining 17.2% of the variance in the amount of time spent in child care. Variations in child care usage among immigrant groups warrant concern and suggest a need for culturally sensitive child care programs for immigrants.     

Correlates of Depression Among the Soviet Jewish Immigrant Elderly

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study examined the prevalence rates of depressive symptoms among the elderly Soviet Jewish immigrants living in Southern California. Structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 50 self-identified Jewish elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, assessing their level of depression, health status, primary need areas, and family support. According to the results, 72% of the respondents reported mild to severe levels of depression. Age and satisfaction with the family assistance turned out to be significantly correlated with the level of depression among this group. Implications for human services practice with vulnerable older immigrant populations are discussed.     

Constructing the Reality of the Immigrant Life

This study focuses on one discursive construction of social reality, the construction of self-identity. To survive in a new culture, immigrants must come to know the facts and the ethos of the society. That knowledge, however, is not passively absorbed by the people, but is at least in part constructed by them from the information verbally transmitted through conversations. Four discourses among immigrants were analyzed to point out important aspects of the participants' understanding of their New World, as well as their own place in it. Optimistic outlook for the future, determination, language competency, and racial and ethnic problems were prominent. Tenets of the social constructionist perspective and the Hermeneutic–Dialectic method are also outlined.     

Intergenerational Solidarity in Korean Immigrant Families

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to advance the concepts of the intergenerational solidarity model by using samples of Korean immigrant families. This advancement will be useful for subsequent quantitative studies. This exploratory study uncovered multiple themes that support intergenerational solidarity between Korean immigrant grandparents and grandchildren. These themes characterized supportive relationships based on affection, consensus, a mutual exchange of resources, familial norm, and structural factors such as cohabitation or religion. At the same time, this study showed disagreement and tensions between generations which resulted from different attitudes toward roles and values, as well as being burdened by care. The results of this study provide basic perspectives to clinicians, service providers, and researchers and will improve their understanding of intergenerational relationships among Korean immigrants.     

The Socio-economic Integration of the Ethiopian Community in Israel

Using data from the 1995 Israeli Census of Population, this study examines the demographic, human capital, and labour force characteristics of the Ethiopian community in Israel and its determinants of employment. The results provide strong evidence for the overall disadvantaged socio‐economic status of the Ethiopian community and reveal substantial gaps in educational and occupational attainment between Ethiopian Israelis and members of other ethnic groups in Israeli society. Ethiopian Israelis have substantially lower levels of education, lower employment rates, and are more likely to have low‐skilled occupations. However, multivariate analyses show that the determinants of employment of Ethiopian Israelis are relatively similar to those of other ethnic groups. Education and veteran status are found to be especially important factors associated with increased odds of employment. Although the rates of return from education are lower among Israelis of Ethiopian origin compared to other ethnic groups, this study suggests that education constitutes the major avenue for upward mobility in the Ethiopian community. Nevertheless, considering their current disadvantaged position, the question of whether Ethiopian immigrants will manage in the long run to climb up the socio‐economic ladder and significantly improve their status, or whether they run the risk of becoming a marginalized ethnic group in Israeli society, remains a major concern. Implications for the formation of a new cleavage in Israeli society and the emergence of a stratification system based on race are discussed.     

Investigating the Risks of Spiritual Leadership

The spiritual leadership literature suggests that such leadership has a positive influence on organizations’ productivity and profitability as well as on employees’ enjoyment and well‐being. In a qualitative study conducted at a Swedish abbey for nuns, using interviews, observations, correspondence, and documents, this research indicates that spiritual leadership may pose negative risks to organizations and their leaders. Risks in spiritual leadership that are indicated include a culture of narrow‐mindedness and leadership rotation failure that can lead to rigidity and to the leader's work overload because of the demand for limitless empathy and for personal sacrifice. The findings should be viewed as an inspiration for further research.     

Transformational Leadership and Volunteer Firefighter Engagement

This study explores the relationship between transformational leadership and volunteer firefighter engagement. Using responses from 213 volunteer firefighters, structural equation modeling reveals a positive relationship between transformational leadership and volunteer engagement, which is mediated by both group identification and perceived social impact. In addition, higher volunteer engagement is positively related to a firefighter's intention to continue volunteering and to recruit others. Taken together, the results indicate that transformational leaders achieve positive volunteer outcomes by strengthening the organizational ties of volunteers and by connecting volunteers with the prosocial impact of their work. Theoretical implications for transformational leadership research in volunteer settings as well as practical recommendations for a sustainable volunteer management are provided.     

Predictors of Marital Satisfaction Among Korean Immigrant Spouses in the United States

ABSTRACT

This study investigated marital satisfaction among Korean immigrant spouses. Level of acculturation, the number of years of U.S. residence, status inconsistency, annual income, educational level, decision making, division of household tasks, and communication problems were hypothesized to be predictors of marital satisfaction. A snowball sampling strategy yielded 304 respondents. Results showed that level of acculturation was significantly associated with marital satisfaction for Korean immigrant husbands, but not for Korean immigrant wives. Marital decision making was significantly related to marital satisfaction for Korean immigrant wives but not for Korean immigrant husbands. Both acculturation and marital decision making accounted for only 3% of the variance in marital satisfaction. For both spouses, conjugal communication problems were the best predictor of marital satisfaction (16% and 37% of variance explained for husbands and wives, respectively).     

Risk and Resilience of Immigrant Women in Intimate Partner Violence

Violence inflicted against women by their intimate partners presents an especially critical area of inquiry among battered female immigrants following the striking ethnic diversification after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. This article reviews contemporary literature of intimate partner violence; seeks to illustrate the current state of knowledge; and provides a conceptual framework that summarizes the unique experiences of immigrant women confronting the challenges of couple violence. Five underlying cultural and structural mechanisms influencing immigrant women's susceptibility, re-adjustment, and recovery were identified: (1) acculturation, (2) cultural mechanisms, (3) mental health, (4) structural elements, (5) legal contexts, and (6) social support. A synopsis of practice implications in the context of the literature is discussed.     

Understanding the Role of Immigrant Families' Cultural and Structural Mechanisms in Immigrant Children's Experiences beyond High School: Lessons for Social Work Practitioners

The destinies of the contemporary immigrant generation are challenged by the profound reshaping of the U.S. economy and the increasing diversity of new immigrant communities from the Latin American and Asian regions. Family represents a key link between immigrant children's social adjustment beyond high school and relationships with mainstream society. Placing an emphasis on culture and social structure, this article reviews contemporary literature and provides a framework for knowledge that helps social work practitioners and policy planners explore the distinguishing features of immigrant families that confer an advantage within their children's post-secondary education or labor market participation. Also considered is how culture and social structure overlap and interact to exert a significant influence on the future economic prospects of immigrant children.     

Working Through Family-Based Problem Behavior Through Activity Group Therapy

A six-member young adolescent group of boys met weekly throughout the school year with the school social worker, who utilized Activity Group Therapy to provide an opportunity for them to advance their psychosocial growth. The boys developed various subgroup configurations as they used one another in relationships that moved them toward their respective goals. Postgroup content analysis revealed that each boy had acted out, and had significantly worked through, problems which he had developed within his family and had displaced onto the group. An understanding and acceptance of the dynamics which arise out of the liberal environment of these groups is a prerequisite for checking countertransference so that the group process will not be interrupted.     

Conceptions of Immigrant Integration and Racism Among Social Workers in Sweden

Drawing on 22 qualitative interviews with social workers in Sweden, this article analyzes how social workers conceive immigrant integration and racism and tackle racism within their institutions and the wider Swedish society. The majority of the white social workers framed integration in relation to cultural differences and denied or minimized the role of racism in structuring their services and the ethnic relations in Sweden. In contrast, social workers with immigrant backgrounds were less compromising in discussing racism and assumed it as a problem both for themselves as institutional actors and as immigrants in everyday life and institutional settings. Social institutions in Sweden have been important actors in endorsing equality and accommodating differences. However, it is of paramount importance for social justice-minded social workers to identify and unsettle those structures and discourses that enable racist and discriminatory policies and practices against those groups who are not viewed as “core” members of the Swedish society. The absence of anti-racist social work within Swedish social work is primarily related to the idea of color-blind welfare universalism that is assumed to transcend the particularity of the needs, experiences, and perspectives of different groups in Sweden. While integration is envisioned and framed as a political project of inclusion of non-white immigrants, it tends to become a political device through which hierarchies of belonging are constructed. Following such conception of integration, cultural/religious differences and equality are framed as conflicting where cultural conformity underpinned by assimilationist discourses becomes a requirement for political, social, and economic equality.     

Sexual Behaviors of Hispanic Emerging Adults: Examining the Immigrant Paradox

The current study examined the immigrant paradox regarding risky sexual behaviors of Hispanic emerging adults from a social learning perspective, theorizing that the immigrant paradox could partially be explained by the sexual lyrical content contained in music. Participants included 173 Hispanic emerging adults from South America, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America, and Mexico. The current study examined sexual lyrical content along with gender, generational status, family structure, economic hardship, and religiosity. Participant gender was associated with age at first date, with male participants engaging in unsupervised dating activities earlier than female participants, and number of dating partners, with female participants reporting more dating partners than male participants. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that sexual lyrical content in music could partially explain the immigrant paradox regarding risky sexual behaviors of Hispanic emerging adults.     

Coalitions and Collaboration among Three Civil Society Immigrant Organisations in Israel

This article describes the creation of a coalition among three civil society immigrant organisations in Israel. The research questions dealt with the collaborative strategies adopted by these organisations, and investigated through ethnographic interviews and document analysis what factors facilitated inter-organisational collaboration. Results showed that these organisations provided complementary services to newcomers while struggling with hostile government policies. The collaboration dynamic between the groups was successful because these immigrant associations shared similar socialistic views. Furthermore, through the promotion of personal ties, inter-organisational solidarity was forged, but overall, these activities ran counter to the dominant Israeli culture.     

Leadership criteria in the Pacific Northwest of the USA 19972002

Abstract

There have been very little follow-up leadership behaviour studies. This study describes an investigation of the US insurance industry. Management behaviour was studied in the beginning and at the end of the five-year period 19972002. On the whole insurance managers in the Pacific Northwest in the hard market conditions of 2002 appear on average to have changed their leadership criteria evaluations only slightly: they appreciated staffing and managing by example more than their colleagues did previously in the soft market conditions of 1997. The empirical data were checked for company size and management level. According to three-way variance analysis the different time period (soft or hard market conditions) and company size seem to have affected three leadership criteria: insurance managers in big companies in 2002 seemed to rate organizing, delegating and mutual trust more highly than their colleagues did five years earlier. The study suggests hypothetically that in a soft market period (buyer's market) managers employ a more relationship-oriented leadership style and correspondingly adapt their leadership style to a more task-oriented approach in a hard market phase (seller's market).     

Asian Women,Job Training and the Social Organization of Immigrant Labor Markets

This paper examines the entry of Asian immigrant women into a gendered labor market via government-funded job training programs. The focus is on the intake processing of clients into an employment training program operated by a community based organization. The study reveals that women's family responsibilities and the cultural capital they bring function to screen them into or out of training programs and ultimately shape their location in the workforce. The study thus draws attention to how race, class, and gender enter into the organization of Asian immigrant women into the labor market. This investigation is based in institutional ethnography (Smith 1987), a research strategy which displays how activities in a particular setting are coordinated with more extended forms of social organization. The study shows that the overriding concern with successful placement in a job as mandated by government regulations is a critical factor in selecting the women for these programs.     

Parental Warmth and Developmental Change in Familism Values: Latinx Adolescents in an Emerging Immigrant Community

This study examined the developmental changes of familism values across adolescence among Latinx adolescents from an emerging immigrant community, and how changes in parental warmth were associated with changes in familism values. The sample included 547 Latinx adolescents. Multilevel model results indicated that familism values showed a linear decline from 6th to 10th grade. Between-person analyses showed that parental warmth was related to the higher initial levels of familism values but unrelated to changes in familism values. At the within-person level, on the occasions when adolescents report higher parental warmth, they also report higher familism values. This work highlights the importance of parental warmth for socializing developmental changes in Latinx adolescents' familism values in an emerging immigrant community context.