Attitudes about addiction: a national study of addiction educators

The following study, funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), utilized the Addiction Belief Inventory (ABI; Luke, Ribisl, Walton, & Davidson, 2002) to examine addiction attitudes in a national sample of U.S. college/university faculty teaching addiction-specific courses (n=215). Results suggest that addiction educators view substance abuse as a coping mechanism rather than a moral failure, and are ambivalent about calling substance abuse or addiction a disease. Most do not support individual efficacy toward recovery, the ability to control use, or social use after treatment. Modifiers of addiction educator attitudes include level of college education; teaching experience; licensure/certification, and whether the educator is an addiction researcher. Study implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Female ejaculation: A case study

This case study provides objective evidence supporting the hypothesis that female ejaculation, a partial, infertile homologue of male ejaculation, exists. A karyotypically normal, multiparous woman suffered for a decade with urinary stress incontinence. During that time she had learned to inhibit an orgastic response which led to bedwetting. Although the liquid produced did not appear to be urine, she falsely concluded that her orgasmic expulsion was a manifestation of urinary incontinence. Using feedback from a Vaginal Myograph, she learned to do Kegel exercises properly, and the urinary stress incontinence soon disappeared. Around this time she became aware of the concept of female ejaculation and its possible association with an erotically sensitive area that could be stimulated through her anterior vaginal wall. Stimulation of this area, the “Grafenberg spot,” produced what she described as orgasm which felt “deeper” than orgasms in response to vulvar stimulation. Such an orgasm was often accompanied by expulsion of liquid from the urethra. Chemical analysis indicated that the expulsion was not urine. It contained prostatic acid phosphatase, an enzyme characteristically found in prostatic secretion.     

Participation in stakeholder-based evaluation: A case study

This paper reports on the evaluation of some of the elements of a multi-component program aimed at improving the accessibility of health and social services for the homeless. The program involved provincial, regional and municipal authorities and more than 20 non-profit and public agencies. In accordance with the overall approach of the program, the principle of stakeholder participation in the evaluation was emphasized by the funding agencies. However, even if the evaluation started under promising conditions, including administrative support, a strong commitment from the involved agencies and experience in formative evaluation within the research team, participation of stakeholders from charitable non-profit agencies met with many difficulties. Using a case study approach, this paper attempts to analyze and discuss how the organizational context of the evaluation, certain stakeholder characteristics and methodological features may have impacted on the evaluation process.     

Communities in criminal networks: A case study

Criminal organizations tend to be clustered to reduce risks of detection and information leaks. Yet, the literature exploring the relevance of subgroups for their internal structure is so far very limited. The paper applies methods of community analysis to explore the structure of a criminal network representing the individuals’ co-participation in meetings. It draws from a case study on a large law enforcement operation (“Operazione Infinito”) tackling the ‘Ndrangheta, a mafia organization from Calabria, a southern Italian region. The results show that the network is indeed clustered and that communities are associated, in a non-trivial way, with the internal organization of the ‘Ndrangheta into different “locali” (similar to mafia families). Furthermore, the results of community analysis can improve the prediction of the “locale” membership of the criminals (up to two thirds of any random sample of nodes) and the leadership roles (above 90% precision in classifying nodes as either bosses or non-bosses). The implications of these findings on the interpretation of the structure and functioning of the criminal network are discussed.     

Profiles of early career insecurity and its outcomes in adolescence: A four-wave longitudinal study

This study investigated the developmental profiles of perceived early career insecurity (ECI) and their outcomes among adolescents (n = 1416) during a critical educational transition from basic education to upper secondary education. We found three distinct latent profiles with varying amounts of ECI: Profile 1: Moderate and decreasing ECI before the transition (57%); Profile 2: Low-decreasing ECI before the transition but increasing ECI after the transition (31%); and Profile 3: High and stable ECI during the transition (12%). Moreover, the ECI profiles related to school and life satisfaction as well as to school stress and dropout intentions in a meaningful way consistent with the stressor hypothesis. Chronically high and increasing ECI was related to negative outcomes.     

Rational addiction and smoking cessation: An empirical study

The theory of rational addictive behavior has important implications concerning the impact of a smoker’s socioeconomic status on his or her incentive to quit. The research reported on here extends the previously developed theory of addictive behavior to show its implications for both successful and unsuccessful quitting. Further, it develops hypotheses as to how successful and unsuccessful smoking cessation should relate to an individual’s socioeconomic status if the theory is correct. The hypotheses are then tested empirically, using multinomial logit analysis for a sample of more than 24,000 Californians. The results support the theory of rational addictive behavior.     

Exploring intercultural sensitivity in early adolescence: a mixed methods study

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore levels of intercultural sensitivity in a sample of fourth to eighth grade students in the United States (n = 162). Intercultural sensitivity was conceptualised through Bennett’s Developmental Model of Sensitivity, and assessed through the Adapted Intercultural Sensitivity Index. Follow-up interviews provided additional information regarding the views and understandings of individual student participants. Quantitative data analysis indicated many early adolescents in this sample were accepting of cultural difference. However, subsequent qualitative data analysis suggested this acceptance was largely hypothetical, due to the participants’ perceived isolation from diversity. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

A case study

The relationship between social isolation and mental illness has given rise to several hypotheses, particularly those of the “drift” and “breeder” type. The present study is concerned with the relationship between separation from family and admission to a psychiatric hospital, and explores some aspects (area of admission, type of accommodation, readmission, diagnosis and age) of this relationship. Some implications for preventive planning are drawn from the findings.     

A secret vice: a study of private language and imaginary kingdoms in childhood and adolescence

Children and adolescents often make up languages of their own and some belong to secret societies. This is a creative endeavor similar to the other expressive arts and may reveal a secret inner life in the child and a special gift expressed in forms of language. This is discussed as an issue in the childhood of several artists and in its implications for treatment.Ms Gerber is a Senior Caseworker, Jewish Board of Family & Children's Services and a Doctoral Candidate & Adjunct Lecturer at New York University School of Social Work and in private practice.This paper was presented in a somewhat different form for the International Conference on Fantasy in the Arts held in Beaumont, Texas, March 1985.     

Staying with it: A case study

Abstract

This is a case study which illustrates some of the conflicts and dilemmas facing local authority social workers in child protection. The worker had to learn to understand and deal with his feelings about a client, who was at different times unable to communicate verbally, sexually procative and seductive, hostile and aggressive. For the client there was a gradual shift from acting out her fears and fantasies about men, to being able to verbalise and trust the worker.

The worker moves towards an understanding of the client's problems and also of his own difficulties in dealing with the case. He believes that his personal involvement was of value to the client.     

Family problem solving: A case study

Abstract

Working with the families of young offenders may often be the best method of helping those young offenders to change. Sometimes, however, social workers and others who work with young offenders are reluctant to work with family groups because they may feel that they lack skills in family counselling. This article presents a case study which illustrates a family counselling intervention. The case study uses Family Problem Solving, a method which involves the adaptation of mainstream social work skills to work with families. It is anticipated that the article might be of interest to social workers who work with families but who feel apprehensive about counselling family groups.     

Repeated entries to the Swedish addiction compulsory care system: A national register database study

This study identified and described specific client groups who have repeated entries to the Swedish addiction compulsory care system. Specifically, through the use of baseline data from the Swedish government Staten's Institutions Styrelse (SiS) database, for 2658 individuals who were assessed at their compulsory care intake interview by social workers in the national social welfare system between 2001 and 2009 the study identified the associations between specific predisposing, enabling and need characteristics and repeated addiction compulsory care entries. The logistic regression model identified that individuals whose children have been mandated to the child welfare system, who have experienced prior compulsory care including compulsory treatment through LVU (law (1990:52) with specific provision about care of young people under 18), and those who have been in prison are more likely to have two or more entries in the addiction compulsory care system compared to their counterparts. Individuals who have been mandated to compulsory care for their substance use disorder two or more times have significant multiple complex problems and repeated experiences of institutionalization. These individuals are a group in need of a well-coordinated and integrated system of aftercare services to reduce the likelihood of re-entry into addiction compulsory care.     

Similarities and differences in program registers: A case study

Researchers, clinicians, and other professionals are increasingly in need of cost-effective, evidence-based programs and practices. However, these individuals may lack the time and, for some, the required expertise to search for and identify such interventions. To address this concern, several online registers that list or categorize programs according to their empirical evidence of effectiveness have been established. Although these registers are designed to simplify the task of selecting evidence-based interventions, the use of distinct review processes and standards by each register creates discrepancies in final program classifications, which can pose a challenge for users. The present case study highlights three programs that have been evaluated by more than one register and have received similar or different classifications. Reasons for inconsistencies are discussed, and several recommendations for evaluating organizations and register users are provided to enhance the functionality and ease of use of online program registers.