Successful Aging in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging: Applying the MacArthur Model Cross–Nationally

Wide variation in the experience of aging is increasingly recognized and models for identifying groups based on how "successfully" individuals are aging have taken many forms. This study used the criteria developed in the MacArthur studies on successful aging to identify subgroups with higher, intermediate, or lower levels of function, and to compare them across a range of other domains. Data were drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ALSA) in Adelaide, Australia, which is a population–based, bio–psycho–social study of a cohort of 1947 adults aged 70 years or more. Six waves have been conducted, between 1992 and 2000. At waves 1 and 3, an extensive personal interview and self–complete questionnaires were administered and objective physical and psychological functioning assessed. Eight–year mortality was also examined. Results showed risk and protective effects of successful aging for physical functioning and performance, lifestyle, cognition, affect, and personality. The findings confirm that people age with differing degrees of success and those aging most successfully not only live longer, but also experience a better quality of life. The MacArthur model proved useful for this cross–national comparison of determinants and outcomes of "successful" aging.     

Evaluating Children's Services: Recent Conceptual and Methodological Developments

This article considers recent innovations and challenges withrespect to the evaluation of children’s services interventions.It sets out a method for designing and evaluating services thatis based on research evidence gathered on individual cases andthat permits revision of those services in the light of emergingresults. It starts by describing briefly different ways of identifyinga discrete group of children with similar needs. It then outlinesapproaches to ensuring that an intervention for those childrenis underpinned by theory and research evidence–includingthe idea of ‘logic modelling’–before discussingthe importance of capturing accurately how well the interventionis implemented. Experimental and non-experimental methods ofassessing an intervention’s effectiveness are considered,with particular emphasis on techniques for enhancing the causalinference that can be drawn from studies and the importanceof matching method and purpose. The article also demonstrateshow the principles and methods used in relation to evaluatingservices for groups can be applied in clinical work with individualcases, and identifies the benefits of this general approachto evaluation over and above the information that it provideson what works.     

Sexual Orientation and Sex in Women's Lives: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

Use of such categorical terms as heterosexual, bisexual, and lesbian is widespread, yet research indicates that sexuality is a multidimensional phenomenon. Sexual behavior, identity, and desire are not highly intercorrelated for women, and this has implications for new ways of conceptualizing sexual orientation. Furthermore, the multifaceted nature of sexual orientation has implications for conceptualizing sexual activity and sexual desire for women. Some methodological issues are presented for future research on female sexual orientation, including a better understanding of gender and a more multifaceted approach to sexual orientation.     

Housing and Mental Health: A Review of the Evidence and a Methodological and Conceptual Critique

Despite the fact that people invest more financial, temporal, and psychological resources in their homes than in any other material entity, research on housing and mental health is remarkably underdeveloped. We critically review existing research on housing and mental health, considering housing type (e.g., single-family detached versus multiple dwelling), floor level, and housing quality (e.g., structural damage). We then discuss methodological and conceptual shortcomings of this literature and provide a theoretical framework for future research on housing quality and mental health .     

Linkages between parent—child interaction and conversations of friends

In this study we examined how mothers' and fathers' parenting behavior during parent—child interaction related to children's ability to successfully interact with peers. Children's ability to engage in coordinated interaction, and their negativity and positivity towards peers were examined. Observational data were collected on 56 families in both parent—child and peer interaction settings. Results suggested that father's emotional volatility was related to children's tendency to play at a low level of engagement with their best friends (e.g. engage in parallel play or monologue). Both mother's and father's affective communication were related to children's tendency to play at a higher level of engagement, such as through establishing common ground activities, exchanging information, and self-disclosing personal information or feelings. Parental intrusiveness, low engagement and use of derisive humor was also related to children's negativity during peer interaction. Results support the hypothesis that both fathers and mothers provide a context for children's development of the ability to engage in and maintain interpersonal interaction, and mothers' parenting may influence the amount of positive affect children express during dyadic play.     

文化认同与国家安全初探

文化认同是指个体与外部世界、个体与个体以及个体与群体之间的一致性确认,它主要包括身份文化认同、民族文化认同、政治文化认同、国际文化认同等几个方面的内容。文化认同对于民族国家的生存和发展具有重大意义,是国家主权独立的基础、国家安全的重要内容、综合国力的组成部分。在全球化和信息化的进程中,我国的文化认同面临严峻挑战,需要不断进行文化创新、积极进行文化建设、注重对外文化交流,更为有效地维护和重建我国的文化认同。     

A National Survey of Aging Curriculum in Schools of Social Work

The present studv reports the results of a nationwide survey which examined the current status of gerontological education in B.S.W. and M.S.W. proprams. The survey findings register a decline in gerontological curricula but an increase in student intrest in aging. The survey also notes that lack of trained faculty and a full curriculum are most often mentioned as major barriers to further gerontological curricula development. The paper considers implications of these findings along with recommendations for expanding aging content at both the undergraduate and graduate level of social work education.     

纽埃的社会变迁及其民族、文化的迷失

纽埃从前殖民时期封闭、独立的民族主体,正一步一步向以新西兰为代表的西方国家文化价值延伸。随着文化价值取向的演变,大量的纽埃人移居海外,留守本土的纽埃居民数量急剧减少,但无论留守居民还是海外移民,都经历着前所未有的文化失落与身份困惑,从而产生了深刻的自卑感。本文认为,纽埃的自然资源严重匮乏、地理位置孤立、自然灾害频发,它的生存与发展亟需国际社会各方面的援助,而这些援助又不可避免地加重了纽埃民族的失落与困惑。     

西北少数民族文化发展初探——以东乡族为例

少数民族发展应以文化发展为基础。东乡族是甘肃特有民族,东乡族生活的地区自然条件极为艰苦,农民生活较为困难。东乡族羊文化传统深厚,经济发展和民族发展应立基于传统羊文化的传承、保护和发展。     

National and Ethnographic Groups in Central Asia as Reflected in Ethnic Statistics (Part 1)

The history of the multinational Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is now more than half a century long, is a history of development of genuine flourishing — economic, political, and cultural — of all the nations and peoples united in the framework of the world's first socialist state, on a basis of indissoluable unity and friendship.     

Methodological Issues in Social Work Research with Depressed Women of Color

ABSTRACT

Social work researchers committed to advancing knowledge for effective practice with depressed women, especially culturally-diverse women, are faced with numerous methodological challenges. These challenges emanate from the ambiguity that surrounds the definition and measurement of the concept of depression, and from problems that apply to all cross-cultural research including content, semantic, and technical equivalence of self-report instruments. The article reviews these challenges and concludes with recommendations for addressing them, including suggestions for promoting methodological diversity, cross-cultural measurement validity, consideration of environmental risk and resiliency factors, attention to the process of data collection, and researcher self-assessment.     

Mother–Child Conversations about Emotions: Linkages to Child Aggression and Prosocial Behavior

We examined associations of maternal and child emotional discourse and child emotion knowledge with children's behavioral competence. Eighty‐five upper middle‐income, mostly White preschoolers and mothers completed a home‐based bookreading task to assess discourse about emotions. Children's anger perception bias and emotion situation knowledge were assessed in a separate interview. Children's prosocial behavior, relational aggression, and physical aggression were observed during a preschool‐based triadic play task. Mothers' emotion explanations were correlated with children's emotion situation knowledge and relational aggression. Both mothers' and children's emotion explanations predicted prosocial behavior whereas mothers' use of positive emotional themes was negatively associated with children's anger perception bias. Physical aggression was predicted by mothers' emotion comments, children's anger perception bias, and lack of emotion situation knowledge. Maternal emotion socialization variables were less strongly related to children's behavioral competence after accounting for demographics and child emotional competence. Implications of these findings for future research on emotion socialization are discussed.     

Italian Preschoolers' Peer‐status Linkages with Sociability and Subtypes of Aggression and Victimization

Little is known about the behavior of preschool children belonging to peer sociometric status groups (popular, average, rejected, neglected, and controversial) in cultural contexts outside North America. This study examined the social interactions of Italian preschoolers. The sample consisted of 266 Italian preschoolers (mean age of 64 months). Physical and relational subtypes of aggression and victimization, as well as sociable behavior, were measured by peer nominations and teacher ratings. Peer nominations of acceptance and rejection (like and dislike nominations) were also collected in order to form the sociometric status groups. Results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that items developed with US preschoolers appeared to work fairly well in identifying behavioral constructs in Italian preschoolers. Findings generally supported previous research with American preschoolers. Sociometrically popular children were highest in sociability, and lowest in physical and relational aggression and victimization. The opposite pattern emerged for rejected status children. Neglected status children were generally not distinguished from average status children. Results also suggested that the enactment of relational aggression promotes greater social impact for some Italian children (controversial children), and this aggression also invites more conflict and victimization. However, the sociability of controversial children appears to buffer them from rejected group status.     

Disciplining Bioethics: Towards a Standard of Methodological Rigor in Bioethics Research

Contemporary bioethics research is often described as multi- or interdisciplinary. Disciplines are characterized, in part, by their methods. Thus, when bioethics research draws on a variety of methods, it crosses disciplinary boundaries. Yet each discipline has its own standard of rigor-–so when multiple disciplinary perspectives are considered, what constitutes rigor? This question has received inadequate attention, as there is considerable disagreement regarding the disciplinary status of bioethics. This disagreement has presented five challenges to bioethics research. Addressing them requires consideration of the main types of cross-disciplinary research, and consideration of proposals aiming to ensure rigor in bioethics research.     

李嘉图价值理论的方法论特点和理论特色研究

李嘉图价值理论的方法论特点主要如下:在叙述方法上,表现为在批判和肯定前人思想的基础上阐发自己的劳动价值理论;在分析过程中,采用演绎分析法;在分析前提上,采用抽象分析法;在思想观念上,坚持相对彻底的劳动价值论;在理论分析上,聚焦相对价值研究;在逻辑上,存在同世界观矛盾的价值理论。     

Research,Macro Practice and Aging in the Social Work Education Curriculum

Summary

This paper presents a model that used a macro emphasis for teaching research using older adults. Faculty developed the teaching model to address three key areas of concern in the education of Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students for generalist practice: (1) research, (2) macro-level practice, and (3) aging. The paper explores the nature of these concerns and draws upon previous literature to delineate a teaching model designed to strengthen these areas of generalist practice by integrating content on macro-level concerns and aging into the curriculum of a research course. The development and evaluation of the research course within the context of a community and college project are described, as are the benefits for students, the social work program and the community. Preliminary findings indicate some support for the use of such a model.