The Relationship of Expectancies to the Transtheoretical Model of Change in College Smokers

Abstract

Efforts on the part of the sci en tific com mu nity have resulted in in creased knowl edge about to bacco ad die tion and im proved treat ment ef fi cacy. De spite these gains, how ever, our un der stand ing of to bacco ad die tion re mains in com plete. Two el e ments that may help il lu-mi nate the knowl edge of this ad die tion pro cess and pro vide im pli ca tions for treat ment are the Transtheoretical Model of Change and the con cept of ex pec tan cies. This project is a be gin ning step in ex plor ing the re la tion ship be tween the transtheoretical model and fac ets of ex pec tan cies among col lege smokers.     

The Order of Alcohol-Related Life Experiences

Abstract

The pur pose of this study was to test hy poth e ses con cern-ing gen der dif fer ences among men and women di ag nosed with al cohol-re lated prob lems. The in stru ment was ad min is tered to sub j ects from a hos pi tal-based al co hoi ism treat ment pro gram as well as from Al ccr holies Anon y mous (A A) and Women for So bri ety (WFS). Women ex peri enced eight of the hy poth e sized 12 more woman-spe cific items ear lier in their drink ing ca reers than did men. ANOVAs per formed on the frequency of al co hol-re lated life events re vealed sig nif i cant differ ences between women and men on seven items. There were clear gender differ ences with re gard to the se quence and fre quency of al co hol-re lated life ex pe ri ences. On the ba sis of the pre lim i nary find ings, the au thors pro pose to ere ate and test a woman-spe cific al co hoi ism-screen ing in stru-ment.     

Revamping Family Preservation Services for Native Families

ABSTRACT

FamilyPreservationServices(FPS) have become widespread among child pro tection agencies to pre vent the un nee es sary removal of chil dren from their fam i lies and fam ily homes. Native chil dren, who are over-rep re sented in pub lie care sys terns, are largely ab sent from re ports eval u ating the ef feetive ness of FPS. This pa per ex am ines the FPS philosophy and pro gram structures in the con text of Native culture. The authors provide practical sug gestions for changing FPS in hopes that such pro grams will im prove sue cess in serving and pre serving Native fam i lies with child pro tection concerns.     

Toward an Understanding of Russian Speaking Heroin Addicts and Drug Treatment Services in Israel

Abstract

This pa per de scribes the find ings from a pur pos ive sample of 152 male and fe male Rus sian-speak ing drug ad diets who im migrated to Is rael dur ing the last ten years. Ap prox i mately one-third of the co hort was not Jew ish, in clud ing 47 per cent of the women. Forty-one per cent of the subjects re ported be ing phys i cally abused and 25 per cent of the women, com pared to 5 per cent of the men, re ported be ing sex u ally abused as a child. Al co hoi abuse was found to be dif fer ent among the par ents of male and fe male ad diets: 46% of the women com pared to 31% of the men had fa thers who drank ex ces sively; 14% of the women compared to 5% of the men had moth ers who were heavy drink ers. Also, female ad diets were more likely than male ad diets to have a mother who used il licit drugs. Treat ment re lated is sues are dis cussed along with the need for specialized, culturally sen si tiveser vice pro vision.     

Racism,Trauma and Positive Aspects of Exposure to Race-Related Experiences

ABSTRACT

Ex po sure to race-re lated ex pe ri ences, such as race-hate as sault and dis crim i nation, are not rou tinely and sys tern at i cally ad dressed in as sess ment and treat ment in ter ventions or in so cial work prac tice formulations. A psychodynamic, ethnocultural, and strengths-ori ented conceptual framework is presented to describe exposure to stressful, traumatic, and positive race-re lated experiences. Criteria are identified for con ducting an in quiry about race-re lated ex pe ri ences to help as sess pos-si ble en vi ron men tal stress ors re lated to pre senting symp toms of Adjustment, Acute Stress or Post-Trau matic Stress Dis or ders. Also, there is an identification of obstacles and factors to consider when in ter viewing about ex po sure to race-re lated ex pe ri ences, and aspe cific in ter view format to guide sys tern atic in quiry about such ex po sure. Finally, sa lient im pli cations for as sess ment, treat ment and re search are de scribed.     

Differences in Refugee Anxiety and Depression

ABSTRACT

Using the HSCL-25, the lev els of anx i ety and de pression were mea sured for ref u gees from Viet nam, So ma lia, and the for mer Yugoslavia (N = 60) who were clients of a community social services agency. De pression and anx i ety lev els were high est among the Viet nanr ese cli ents, anx i ety lev els were high est among the Somalians, and both anxiety and depression level were lowest for former Yugoslavians. Based on gen der, anx i ety lev els were high for both the Viet nam ese and Somalian males, while de pression lev els were high est for the Viet nam ese males. Single fe males as a group ex ceeded the cut ting score at higher rates than single males; in con trast, mar ried males ex ceeded the cut ting score at a higher rate than mar ried fe males. A highly cor re lated re lation ship was dem on strated between anx i ety and de pression (£ = 0.70, p < 0.001). Using ANO VA, de pression sig nif i cantly differed be tween the ref u gee groups (p = 0.007); differ ences in anx i ety be tween ref u gee groups were not sta tis ti callysignificant.     

Accrescimento o coerenza: il se' nei contesti sociali

Riassunto

In questo lavoro viene valutata l'incidenza dei fattori interpersonali e situazionali nella rievocazione dei tratti di personalità riferiti a sé. La dimensione interpersonale presa in considerazione si riferisce ai motivi di auto-accrescimento e coerenza del sé che guidano la codifica delle informazioni riferite a sé. I soggetti, suddivisi in due gruppi (quelli con prevalente motivo di accrescimento e quelli con prevalente motivo di coerenza) vengono assegnati ad una delle tre condizioni sperimentali (accrescimento, coerenza e controllo). I risultati indicano che nella situazione di accrescimento, rispetto alle altre due condizioni sperimentali, i soggetti utilizzano un maggior numero di tratti positivi per auto-descriversi. In un successivo compito di rievocazione, la condizione di accrescimento produce la prestazioni migliori per i tratti positivi e quelle peggiori per i tratti negativi.     

A cross‐cultural study of the phasic progression of self‐esteem in teen challenge

An attempt is made to analyze the effects of the Teen Challenge program in the self‐esteem of rehabilitants, and to determine if, indeed, any relationship exists. The importance of self‐esteem as a psycho‐social concept has emerged in recognition of man's needs for feelings of self‐worth. Central to this concept are the seminal formulations of White, Cooley, Coopersmith, Goffmann, and Harris. Additionally, Maslow's “hierarchy of needs” brings this concept into focus. Cooley notes that self‐concept emerges as a result of a series of interactions and appraisals of other people. The self‐concept, as it relates to self‐esteem, is also of major concern to the Teen Challenge program, the subject of this research. Teen Challenge is a therapeutic community seeking the resocialization of drug addicts, criminals, juvenile delinquents, prostitutes, alcoholics and other deviant types. This program is a three‐phase (orientation; training; re‐entry), one‐year residential program which uses the soteriological approach (conversation‐catharsis) as the starter‐mechanism to resocialization. According to a recent, federally funded, follow‐up study, 86 per cent of those who graduated from this program seven years previously had not recidivated. If indeed these statistics are valid, this would merit further research to determine variables significant to the resocialization process. This research assumes that self‐esteem is one such variable, though perhaps only one of many. It is further assumed that this would be low upon entry, and would progress consistently in a positive direction throughout one's stay in the program. Data was collected from centers in six different countries for a cross‐cultural comparison. To avoid contamination, all residents immediately upon entry into the Teen Challenge program in 1975 were tested using the Rosenberg “Self‐Esteem Scale.” Residents were tested again at the mid‐point of their stay using the S.E.S., and retested again when eligible for graduation one year later. Although an analysis of variance did not indicate a consistant increase in self‐esteem as hypothesized, low scores upon induction zoomed up in phase one, dipped slightly during the second phase, then resumed their climb in phase three, reaching an apex at the time of graduation. The over‐all trend for all centers, however, from low to high was highly significant. These results have heuristic potential.     

Consent requires a relationship: rethinking group consent and its timing in ethnographic research

ABSTRACT

Activist groups in ethnographic research re-negotiated our Ethics Committee’s expected order of securing consent before data collection, demonstrating the importance of researchers taking time to build relationships first. Although the Ethics Committee expected us to obtain group consent, the literature provides little guidance on how to do this. We developed a Memorandum of Understanding to summarize what forms of participant observation each group agreed to and how we would reciprocate. In this article, we (re)conceptualize consent, using analogies to consent in social contract theory and sexual relations to offer a critical perspective on what constitutes consent. We argue that taking time to build relationships before expecting research participants to consent and replacing informed consent with a negotiated agreement is a more ethical approach. We advocate for Ethics Committees to expand the meaning of ‘informed consent’ and review its timing, especially for ethnographic research with groups.     

Test de asociaciones implícitas con la naturaleza: aplicación en España del “IAT-Nature”

Resumen

Se han propuesto diferentes medidas para estudiar hasta qué punto los seres humanos se conciben a sí mismos conectados a la naturaleza, concepto conocido como Conectividad con la Naturaleza. Una de estas medidas es el IAT-Nature, un test de asociaciones implícitas entre estímulos que ha recibido muchos comentarios en la literatura acerca de sus condiciones metodológicas y su relación con otras medidas explícitas afines. En este estudio se han puesto a prueba estas condiciones. Para ello 71 estudiantes universitarios completaron el test, encontrándose efectos parciales de la rotación de las tareas de clasificación. Además se han encontrado correlaciones positivas entre el IA T-Nature y la Escala de Conectividad con la Naturaleza (CNS), la escala de Inclusión de la Naturaleza en el Self (INS), la Identidad Ambiental (EID) y las creencias ambientales (Egiobiocéntricas y Biosféricas). A pesar de obtener correlaciones positivas con el comportamiento proambiental, los análisis de regresión indican que no es un buen predictor del mismo. Se discute la utilidad de este tipo de medidas en el estudio de la conectividad con la naturaleza.     

Strategies for Creating MIS Technology to Improve Social Work Practice and Research

SUMMARY

This paper illustrates the potential for Management Information System (MIS) technology to integrate information collection, management and reporting within a single program or network of organizations. Properly devised and created, MIS applications can improve administration, service delivery and practice evaluation. Three strategies are offered to guide the design and development of MIS software. This paper is based on lessons from the production and implementation of MIS software that serves as a management and evaluation tool for a nationwide policy demonstration. Data from the MIS have helped to shape state and federal policy.     

Characteristics of Children Who Experience Positive or Negative Reactions to a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated a sexual abuse prevention program to identify characteristics of children who benefited from the program or became afraid of unwanted touch. Utilizing a pre- and post-test design, 542 2nd-6th graders completed measures including abuse-related knowledge, locus of control, and anxiety. Knowledge increased; age, lower anxiety, and an internal locus of control were positively associated with higher scores after participating in the program. Prior exposure to the program resulted in higher knowledge scores. Further analyses identified those characteristics associated with children reporting that they benefited from the program or became more afraid after participating in the program. Such findings will enable parents and school personnel to take preventive measures to minimize negative impact and maximize learning.     

Comprensión de nociones sobre organización social con niños y adolescentes mexicanos de nivel socioeconómico bajo

Resumen

El propósito del estudio fue identificar las tendencias evolutivas en la construcción de la representación de la organización social en relación con las nociones de pobreza-riqueza, estratificación y cambio social autoconceptualización, trabajo, contexto e instituciones sociales. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas sobre dichas nociones con una muestra de 90 escolares mexicanos de 6 a 15 años de nivel socioeconómico bajo. Los niños pequeños explicaron la organización social en función de factores aislados, individualistas o únicos, caracterizando las clases sociales en términos de atributos observables (dinero y posesiones). En la niñez media y adolescencia, aunque siguen preponderando las explicaciones individualistas, se incrementan gradualmente las basadas en la consideración de varios factores y en la intervención de acciones colectivas e instituciones sociales.     

REREADING THE PASSING OF TRADITIONAL SOCIETY

This paper employs a proposed alterity discourse analysis (ADA) framework to argue that The Passing of Traditional Society – the bible of the modernization paradigm of development communication research – exemplifies far less a discourse on the relationship between empathy and development, as it does on the political/ideological imperatives governing the construction of the Other (i.e. the Middle East) by the Self (i.e. the US). To substantiate this claim, the paper debunks the book's claim to social scientific objectivity by pinpointing the methodological shortcomings of the empathy model and of the Middle East project from which the model was derived, and highlights the paradigm's dogma by revealing the religious metaphors with which the book's narrative is infused.     

Posttreatment 12-Step Program Affiliation and Dropout: Theoretical Model and Qualitative Exploration

ABSTRACT

Treatment outcome research has repeatedly demonstrated that involvement in twelve-step (TS) programs (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous) following treatment is associated with improved substance use outcomes. Treatment providers widely encourage TS program attendance during treatment and for aftercare; yet, evidence suggests that minimal and sporadic attendance or complete dropout is the more common occurrence. Providers would benefit from knowledge that would contribute to a greater understanding of factors that influence posttreatment TS program affiliation or dropout to guide treatment strategies. This article reviews the literature on TS affiliation, advances theory and a model to explain affiliation, and reports findings from a qualitative research study focused on understanding what people in TS facilitative treatment report as good (the pros) and not so good (the cons) about TS program involvement. Results suggest that unresolved ambivalence as well as socio-cultural barriers to support contribute to poor TS program utilization.     

Ruptura matrimonial y salud mental: Variables psicosociales asociadas en el caso de la mujer

Resumen

En el trabajo se presentan los resultados de la evaluación de un grupo de mujeres con ruptura matrimonial en dos aspectos que la literatura sobre el tema considera relevantes: vinculación al ex marido y situación emocional. La primera se ba medido mediante el ASD (Kitson, 1982) y la segunda con el CAQ (Krug, 1980). Se ba considerado también la influencia de las variables psicosociales sobre la situación de la mujer divorciada, tales como actividad económica, duración del matrimonio, hijos, nueva pareja… En el caso del CAQ se ha utilizado un grupo control de mujeres casadas. Los resultados muestran que el impacto emocional del divorcio existe puesto que las mujeres con ruptura matrimonial alcanzan puntuaciones más altas que las casadas en las escalas de depresión, paranoidismo y esquizofrenia. En vinculación al ex marido las puntuaciones muestran un adecuado nivel de independencia. Las mujeres que conservan mayor vinculación presentan una situación emocional peor.     

Nutritional status of foster children in the U.S.: Implications for cognitive and behavioral development

ObjectiveChildren in foster care are at greater risk for poor health, physical, cognitive, behavioral, and developmental outcomes than are children in the general population. Considerable research links early nutrition to later cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The aim of this narrative review is to examine the prevalence of poor nutrition and its relation to subsequent health and development in foster children.MethodRelevant studies for inclusion were identified from numerous sources (e.g., PubMed, Google Scholar, and reference sections). Inclusion criteria were studies published between 1990 and 2016 of (i) the nutritional status of children in foster care or (ii) the nutritional status of children exposed to early adversity (e.g., low-income and internationally adopted children) or (iii) the developmental effects of poor nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.ResultsTwo key findings that have adverse implications for cognitive development emerged: (i) the prevalence of anemia and iron-deficiency anemia is higher among foster children than among the general population of children in the U.S., and (ii) the developmental demands of catch-up growth post-placement may lead to micronutrient deficiencies even after children have begun sufficient dietary intake of these nutrients. Moreover, there is a paucity of recent studies on the nutritional status of children in foster care, despite the multiple factors that may place them at risk for malnutrition.ConclusionAttention to nutritional status among care providers and medical professionals may remove one of the possible negative influences on foster children's development and in turn significantly alter their trajectories and place them on a more positive path early in life. Recommendations for further research, policy, and practice are discussed.     

Creating and Sustaining a Practice-Based Research Group in an Urban Adolescent Mental Health Program

Summary

This article describes the initiation, implementation, and accomplishments of a practice-based research group within a mental health program serving inner-city adolescents. Begun in 1995 and co-led by a program manager and a clinical social work practitioner, the group fosters and supports practitioner-driven research projects as part of a “reflective” organizational development strategy.     

El reconocimiento de la norma perversa y sus consecuencia en los juicios de las personas

Resumen

Tres grupos de estudiantes universitarios se enfrentaron a un caso escrito en el que debían juzgar algunos de sus personajes. Dichos casos escritos representaban una situación justa (Grupo Control 1), una situación injusta (Grupo Control 2) y una situación con los rasgos definidos por Fernández-Dols (1992) como «norma perversa»: una norma explícita e incumplible que un grupo asume o sufre por propia iniciativa o por iniciativa de otro grupo (Grupo Experimental). Los juicios de los sujetos fueron diferentes en cada condición y los juicios del Grupo Experimental se ajustan a algunas de las predicciones teóricas sobre cómo las personas perciben las situaciones de norma perversa y sus protagonistas.