Maintaining identity in elderly couples with chronic illness.

With the onset of chronic illness, it has been necessary for these couples to evaluate and redefine their separate as well as merged identities. As each of these individuals sought to realize a mature identity, role adjustments were required. Although not every member of the two illustrated couples had been able to accept the effects and concurrent responsibilities of chronic illness, the nurse practitioner was in a unique position to provide guidance. By reinforcing the importance of healthy identity states, these clients were able to merge temporarily and respond to their partner's basic needs, exchanging a sense of mutual satisfaction, and then to separate into distinct individual identity states. A major task of the older adult is to re-evaluate identity in light of the roles currently being played in life. Through this process, a workable philosophy of life and death should evolve. Most older people engage in a life review of accomplishments and failures, seeking to integrate the diverse elements to obtain an acceptable view of their life's worth (Kaluger, 1984). Couples experiencing chronic illness must reconsider the consequences of this illness state to adequately formulate healthy individual and merged identities. The role of the nurse practitioner is essential in providing guidance for adapting to the life changes confronting elderly couples with chronic illness while maintaining healthy individual and merged identities.     

Up from Childhood: When African-American Enslaved Children Learned of Their Servile Status

There came a moment in enslaved children's lives when they perceived that they were ‘different’ from their white playmates: they became cognisant of being slaves. This moment was part of a three-part process, which must be studied collectively in order to understand its full impact on child-slave identity formation. The first stage comprised a period of ‘blissful ignorance’ and many children spent several years unaware that they were chattel. The second stage of development forced children to confront their servile status. This realisation could be an instantaneous recognition; however, the full repercussions took children much longer to understand. In the final stage, enslaved children questioned their identity; they had to ‘learn’ that they were racially different from others, and that by virtue of being different, they were inferior. This study further tests David Bailey's findings that the slave autobiographies portrayed a more ‘traumatic’ childhood experience than did the Works Progress Administration (WPA) interviews [David Bailey, ‘A Divided Prism: Two Sources of Black Testimony on Slavery’, Journal of Southern History 46, no. 3 (1980): 381–404]. But the sources do not necessarily tell two conflicting stories; rather the data collected by the WPA concur with the autobiographies. The age at which former slaves realised that they were enslaved greatly shaped their memories. Applying the three-stage theory to Bailey's findings suggests that many of the WPA interviewees were too young to have experienced stage two before Emancipation. Thus, their renditions of slavery correspond to the step one blissful memories from the autobiographers, suggesting that the two sources are perhaps not so antithetic when employed together.     

Determinants of housing quality: A comparison of white,African-American,and Hispanic single-parent women

This study examines housing quality among three groups of single-parent women: white, African-American, and Hispanic. Three indicators of housing quality—crowding, affordability, and satisfaction—are used to discover the extent to which these groups experience housing problems. This study also explores differences and similarities in the factors that precipitate problems in housing quality for these three groups of single parents. Findings suggest important differences and similarities in the nature of housing quality problems among white, African-American, and Hispanic single-parent women. The specified variables explained about 20% of the variance in crowding, housing affordability, and housing satisfaction. On measures of objective and subjective housing quality, white single mothers are better housed than their African-American or Hispanic counterparts. Hispanic single mothers have the largest housing cost burden and average more persons per household than the other groups. African-Americans are twice as likely as either group to live in low-quality housing and reported the lowest average satisfaction with their housing. Her research interests include housing and neighborhood assessment and women and public policy issues. She has recently published articles inUrban Affairs Quarterly andHousing and Society on housing and neighborhood assessment criteria among black urban households and the housing cost burden of various groups of female-headed households. She received her Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Her research interests include the housing adjustment behavior of women and public policy. She has recently completed her thesis on the role of noncustodial parents in determining the quality of life of their children. She is also the recipient of the Tessie Agan Award for research excellence from the American Association of Housing Educators for a paper titled “Unterstanding Constraints and Residential Satisfaction among Low-Income Single-Parent Families.”     

Substance Abuse among African-American Children: A Developmental Framework for Identifying Intervention Strategies

Abstract

Substance abuse has devastating effects on the lives of African-American children and adolescents who are both directly and indirectly victims of this problem. This article discusses child and adolescent substance abuse from a psychosocial developmental perspective within an Africentric paradigm. The authors explore contributing and intervention factors related to substance abuse that impact developmental milestones. They delineate preventive tactics for addressing the problem of substance abuse and delineate implications for social work practice.     

Seeking identity: the transborder lives of mainland Chinese families with children born in Hong Kong

Between 2001 and 2013, Hong Kong regulations permitted pregnant women from mainland China to travel to Hong Kong to deliver their babies. In this article, based on 30 in‐depth interviews, I explore the transborder lives and identities of these mainland Chinese families who, motivated by cost considerations, citizenship and anticipated benefits for their children, chose to give birth to their babies in Hong Kong. In some cases, family networks providing flexible residential practices and family care, supported these transborder activities. However, the complexities of transborder life reveal the diverse ‘identifications’ within Hong Kong society and mainland families. Because neither administration totally accepts them, they are not full members of either society and so the identities they form are both plural and fragmented.     

Relationship satisfaction of Mexican American and non-Hispanic white American interethnic couples: issues of acculturation and clinical intervention

Despite the increasing prevalence of interethnic marriages, remarkably little empirical literature exists for guiding clinical interventions offered to these couples. This study compared the marriages of 72 couples with one Mexican-American partner and one non-Hispanic White American partner, 75 Mexican-American couples, and 66 non-Hispanic White couples. Overall, the interethnic couples were more similar to non-Hispanic White couples than they were to Mexican-American couples across multiple domains, with the latter group indicating modestly higher levels of relationship distress. Among interethnic couples, Mexican-American wives' level of acculturation related significantly to both their own marital- and parental-role orientation and to distress in their relationships with children, as well as to their husbands' marital distress regarding child rearing and the couple's interactions regarding finances. Implications for clinical interventions with Mexican- and White-American interethnic couples are discussed.     

Explaining the disparity in placement instability among African-American and white children in child welfare: A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition

African-American children in the child welfare system are at disproportionate risk of adverse experiences including placement instability. This article compares placement instability among African-American and white children in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being and identifies mechanisms underlying racial disparities using a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. The type of initial out-of-home placements contributes significantly to the racial gap in placement instability. However a large amount of racial disparity remains unexplained. Additional factors, not captured by these analyses, apparently explain African-American's increased risk of placement instability. Predictors of placement instability differ between racial groups. Among African-Americans, older age, initial placement in a setting other than kinship care, and having a higher externalizing CBCL score at baseline are associated with greater instability. Among white children, however, only initial placement in a foster care setting predicted placement instability.     

African-American Male Stereotypes:

As evidenced by the last presidential campaign, the African-American male continues to be the subject of extensive stereotyping. Such stereotypes are pervasive. Reinforced by media images, the stereotypes of the African-American male as a sex crazed beast with a penchant for violence aimed at the European-American community is an obstacle to social work in a multicultural society. Individual practitioners may perceive or be perceived on the basis of these stereotypes. The continued effort of social workers to confront these stereotypes is imperative.     

Experiences of Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress, Academic Achievement and Behavior Problems of Urban African-American Children

This study examined the frequency of family violence, community violence, and witnessing of violence for 110 African-American children. Levels of post-traumatic stress, academic achievement and behavior problems of the children were also examined. The students were sixth graders between the ages of 11 and 13 from four inner-city Chicago public schools. The level of exposure to family violence was significantly related to levels of behavior problems and negatively related to school achievement. The level of exposure to community violence was associated with levels of behavior problems and approached significance in a negative direction with school achievement. Academic achievement was not significantly related to behavior, but was significantly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, family violence, witnessing violence and approached significance with community violence exposure.     

Dual-earner couples and the decision to work less: A conceptual model

This paper examines the factors that affect the decision made by dual-earner couples concerning the possibility of one (or both) partners working a reduced-hours schedule. We rely on a comprehensive review of the literature on part-time work among dual-earner couples and on the factors that affect the decisions couples make about their work hours as well as preliminary findings from our ongoing study to consider two key questions: (1) What factors do dual-earner couples take into account when they consider whether one or both might work a reduced-hours schedule? (2) If the couple decides that one partner will work a reduced-hours schedule, how do they decide which partner reduces the hours of employment? Most previous research has focused on the centrality of gender in the decisions that couples make concerning the hours that they work. However, our review of the literature and the preliminary findings of our current research suggest that there are other factors that affect (directly or indirectly) the couples' decisions related to part-time options. Based on this review we present a new decision-making model for two-earner couples that will have implications for future research and policy initiatives. This paper is particularly timely for several reasons: the number of dual-earner couples continues to increase; there is some indication that more employees would choose to reduce their work hours if that were a viable option; and recently, managers and professional workers have become more vocal about their interest in part-time career options.     

African-American Women in the Workplace:

This article looks at the perceptions and professional perspectives of African-American female EAPs who work with African-American women in various industries. It provides an exploration into the attitudes of African-American women about several workplace and personal issues including:

• sexual harassment and discrimination

• racial discrimination

• career opportunities

• work assignment disparity

• organization culture and sensitivity

• organizational supports

These concerns have been examined against a backdrop of actual demographic changes that have occurred for minority and all women over the last decade. The author has used her own experiences as an EAP professional for the last ten years, in addition to those of other African-American women EAPs, in order to highlight and identify the central issues of concern for Afiican-American female clients. The data were gathered through indepth, face-twface interviews with six African-American female Employee Assistance professionals. Their experiences illustrated the difficulty that EAPs are still having in effecting the problems of sexual discrimination and harassment, racial discrimination, and general career barriers that African-American women face in the workplace. As our current cadre of intervention strategies are not yet successful, new approaches are called for as we move toward ihe next century, especially if EAPs are to enhance our effectiveness in helping clients confront some of the most significant problems they face.     

Illness and loss: Helping couples cope

The serious illness or disability of a spouse may constitute a major threat to the marital relationship and lead to disruption in family functioning. This paper presents a developmental framework which addresses some of the unique adjustments these couples face over time. Adaptations which promote optimal marital functioning, the role of the therapist throughout the process, and relevant interventive strategies are highlighted.     

Destigmatization of identity: From deviant to charismatic

This paper lays the groundwork of a systematic theory of destigmatization, specifying: 1) the structural arrangements which could promote destigmatization; 2) the aims of destigmatization and; 3) the degree of success. The concept of charismatic destigmatization is also developed, with the author's suggestion of three types of modes of charismatic destigmatization: individual purification, individual transcendence, and collective aristocratization. Finally a special social role, that of the charismatic deviant, is analyzed; a role which provides both for individual destigmatization and for representation of the deviant collectivity to the general public.     

‘A ondi queras’: Ranchero identity construction by U.S. born Mexicans on Facebook

This study describes how transnational second‐generation Mexican bilinguals use a stigmatized variety of Mexican Spanish to communicate on Facebook and construct an identity. The stereotyped features of this variety index a ranchero identity. Historically, ranchero is an ambivalent identity for Mexican society in general. On the one hand, ranchero culture is a positive reminiscence of Mexico's agrarian past, while on the other, rancheros, along with indigenous Mexicans, are at the bottom of the hierarchy in Mexican society. A discourse‐centered, ethnographic analysis of digitally mediated conversations demonstrates how language use allows participants to reminisce about their collective past, maintain Mexican identities tied to their ancestors, fit their identities to contemporary U.S. Mexican culture, and distance themselves from the stigma associated with the ranchero background.     

Introduction: Globalisation and identity

Abstract

This paper examines the identities of early leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) at a time when British influences still prevailed in South Africa. African attitudes to the “British World” reveal complex identities that also reflected political and cultural variations according to race, class and region. Relations between ANC leaders and the African “elite” and between the elite and subaltern strata were not straightforward. A careful reading of the discourses in and around Congress points to contradictory attitudes to things British and to ambiguous identities that lingered and contributed to the mix of social and national ideas and identities that influence contemporary South Africa.     

Trauma and couples: mechanisms in dyadic functioning

Research traditionally has focused on the development of symptoms in those who experienced trauma directly but overlooked the impact of trauma on the families of victims. In recent years, researchers and clinicians have begun to examine how individual exposure to traumatic events affects the spouses/partners, children, and professional helpers of trauma survivors. The current study reports data from a larger mixed-methodology study that includes qualitative interview data from 17 individuals, coded to identify the mechanisms that may affect the couple's interpersonal functioning when there is a history of trauma exposure in one or both partners. The following primary themes were identified: role in the relationship, boundary issues, intimacy problems, triggers, and coping mechanisms. Areas for future research and clinical implications also are identified.     

Sexual orientation and gender identity: an administrative approach to diversity

Research indicates that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) teens in the care of a northeastern child welfare department do not receive adequate services due to the workers' homophobic attitudes. These teens are at high risk for alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness, prostitution, and suicide. A training module was developed for administrators. Pretest and posttest instruments measured their education and support of GLBTQ issues before and after the training.     

The dementia narrative: Writing to reclaim social identity

The social needs of individuals with dementia are often not addressed. Impoverished social interactions can place the person at risk of being negatively positioned by others and without means to assert their unique identity. In seeking strategies to help these individuals reclaim their social and personal identity, we have turned to the analysis of published memoirs by writers with dementia. Selected quotations show that through writing it is possible for an individual with dementia to engage with others in a dialogue that creates meaning and forms identity. Writing renews an individual's status as a contributing social partner, provides new and positive roles, and introduces empowerment and control. The memoirs demonstrate that dementia can be a time of growth and that authors with dementia construct and project positive new identities, which are full expressions of personhood.     

Quality of marriage: a comparison between golden wedding couples and couples married less than fifty years

The quality of marriage is investigated for a sample of 79 couples living in a midwestern comprehensive retirement community. These 158 older, middle-class men and women are healthy and average 74.8 years of age. Marital length averages 41 years, and 34.8 percent have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Marital quality, morale, and sexual behavior are not significantly different for golden wedding couples than for couples married less than 50 years. Couples married less than 50 years spend more time socializing with other couples each week than do those who have passed the 50 year mark; they also have higher levels of sexual interest, and are more likely to have been previously married. All of these couples are happily married, have high morale, and most are still sexually active (62.8 percent).