Patterns of engagement and disengagement among the oldest old

In this article, we have proposed that some elements of Cumming and Henry's [1961] disengagement theory are relevant in understanding the social world of the very old. The findings indicate that both physical and social losses make it difficult to maintain an active social network. Almost one-half of the sample intentionally remains socially engaged by making new friends and attending senior centers. The remainder, who are generally older and in poorer health, modify their social world both psychologically and socially. First, these individuals redefine their optimal level of social integration and become content with a narrower, more constricted social world. Second, they are likely to reject those norms which place expectations on them incongruent with their capacities. Third, respondents tend to redefine their time orientation from the future to the present and become content to live day to day. Fourth, as they detach themselves from social involvement, increasing introspection occurs.     

Institutionalization and disengagement among the elderly*

Lanalyse qui suit présente les résultats d'une étude empirique comparant les relations sociales parmi les gens âgés demeurant au sein de la communautéà celles qui prévalent dans les foyers pour vieillards, et ce à partir d'un échantillon aléatoire de la population d‘àge avancé du Manitoba pour l'année 1971. Les résultats indiquent que ces vieillards, tout comme les résidents des “ghettos gris,” ont des niveaux d'interaction sociale plus élevés et plus satisfaisants que les vieillards qui demeurent au sein méLme de la communauté. De telles observations nous semblent importantes non seulement du point de vue de notre compréhension des “institutions totales,” mais aussi par rapport aux problèmes plus généraux du vieillissement et du “désengagement.” Le fait que la participation aux événements interactionels soit plus élevée parmi les résidents de ces foyers (et des autres “ghettos gris”) correspond à cette théorie du vieillissement qui voit le “désengagement” chez les vieillards comme une réponse spécifique à la position qu'ils occupent au sein de la structure de stratification d’âges du capitalisme avancé. This paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of the relationship between institutionalization and disengagement based on a random stratified sample of the elderly population of Manitoba in 1971. The results indicate that the institutionalized elderly, like other residents of “grey ghettos,” have higher levels of social interaction and derive greater satisfaction from their social relations than do the elderly residing in the larger community. It is suggested that these findings are not only significant for our understanding of the nature of “total institutions” but are also suggestive with respect to the more general issue of disengagement and aging. The fact that involvement in interactional events is greater among the institutionalized elderly (and other residents of “grey ghettos”) is consistent with a theory of aging which views disengagement among the elderly as a response which is historically specific to the position which they occupy within the structure of age stratification characteristic of advanced capitalism.     

Violence exposure and bullying among African American adolescents: Examining the protective role of academic engagement

While African American youth are at disproportionate risk for both community violence exposure and bullying, few studies have examined the association between these two forms of violence in this population. Moreover, given the countless hours that youth spend in schools, identifying school experiences that might protect against this association is an important step to reducing the likelihood of engagement in bullying. The present study explored whether academic engagement buffers the association between exposure to community violence (i.e., hearing about violence, witnessing or victimization) and bullying involvement (i.e., perpetration or victimization) in a cross-sectional sample of low-income African American adolescents residing in Chicago. A convenience sample of 638 African American high school students were recruited from several Chicago neighborhoods between 2014 and 2015. A series of hierarchical linear regression models assessed the relation between types of community violence exposure, academic engagement and bullying behaviors. We found that youth exposed to community violence – specifically, those who had been victimized and heard about violence – were at increased risk for being victims and perpetrators of bullying. High academic engagement reduced the likelihood that youth who heard about violence well would be at higher risk for bullying involvement. Prevention efforts aimed at reducing bullying involvement would benefit from assessing and targeting violence and victimization in the community, in addition to youths' school experiences.     

Domestic violence laws: the voices of battered women

This article reports the findings from an exploratory survey of battered women's views about mandatory arrest, mandatory reporting by doctors and nurses, no-drop policies, confidentiality laws, privilege laws, court-victim advocate programs, and specialized domestic violence courts. Although there was general support for the adoption of these laws, some variation based on demographic and situational circumstance was found. These findings raise questions about the universalistic nature of polices developed to address the problem of domestic violence. Battered women are not a homogeneous group, and public policy may be better designed to accommodate the individual needs of victims.     

Support and education groups for children of battered women

The children of battered women have been called the forgotten victims of domestic violence. Indeed, few clinicians have published accounts of their work with these children. This article describes in detail a support and education group program for children of battered women. Five hundred and seventy-five children have participated in the program, with promising results on several measures of success.     

College students coping with interpersonal stress: Examining a control-based model of coping

Objective: The ways that college students cope with stress, particularly interpersonal stress, may be a critical factor in determining which students are at risk for impairing mental health disorders. Using a control-based model of coping, the present study examined associations between interpersonal stress, coping strategies, and symptoms. Participants: A total of 135 undergraduate students from 2 universities. Methods: Interpersonal stress, coping strategies, depression, anxiety, and somatization were assessed via self-report. Results: Students reporting more interpersonal stress reported more depression, anxiety, and somatization, and they reported less use of engagement coping strategies and greater use of disengagement coping strategies. Engagement coping strategies accounted for a significant portion of the association between interpersonal stress and mental health symptoms. Unexpectedly, coping strategies did not moderate the association between stress and mental health symptoms. Conclusion: Interventions designed to improve students' coping strategies may be an effective way to reduce mental health problems on college campuses.     

Examining the effects of internal social media usage on employee engagement

This study explores whether and how internal social media influences employee engagement, a top priority for those working in public relations. Specifically, it proposes and tests a conceptual model that links employee use of internal social media, perceived organizational transparency, and organizational identification, to employee engagement. Through an online survey of 1150 employees from various organizations in the United States that had adopted internal social media, results show that employees’ use of internal social media contributes to an enhanced level of perceived transparency of the organization and organizational identification, which in turn, leads to employee engagement. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Prosecution of batterers: views of African American battered women

Findings from 207 interviews of urban, African American women indicated that 65% of the women said they favored prosecution of their abusers. A logistic regression showed that the following independent variables were related to significantly decreased odds of opposing prosecution: prosecution being initiated, being separated from partner, and abuser's use of alcohol and/or drugs during violent incidents in the last 6 months. Bivariate analysis showed that a long history of severe abuse by the partner was associated with favoring prosecution. The most common reasons that women gave for favoring prosecution were that abuse is illegal and not acceptable and that abusers should not violate or touch women. The most common reasons for opposing prosecution were that women believed the incident was not serious or was the first time he was violent. The study can be used to expand discussion about prosecution of batterers.     

Profiles of distress in sheltered battered women: implications for intervention

Heterogeneity in patterns of distress and psychological functioning was investigated using a person-oriented approach to data analysis in two diverse samples of battered women in shelters. In order to provide some empirically derived guidance to clinicians, scores on measures of depressive symptoms as well as state and trait anxiety were cluster analyzed. A four-cluster solution provided the best fit for both samples of women, and despite the demographic differences in the women, generally similar clusters were found in both samples. One cluster contained women with minimal distress; another, those who were mildly anxious; in a third cluster, the women were moderately to highly depressed and anxious; and in a fourth cluster, the women were reporting severe levels of distress. Implications for treatment include the importance of providing individually tailored interventions for the women, based on differential combinations of depression and anxiety, especially for women whose distress levels are in the high and severe ranges of distress.     

Stress and coping among older workers

Age-related changes in physical and cognitive abilities can raise adaptive challenges for older working adults. Older workers exhibit considerable capacity to manage and cope with the stress of job and environmental demands, but at some point, many can become overwhelmed, and find themselves at increased risk for health consequences, injury, disability, and diminished productivity. Older workers are, however, a highly heterogeneous population, and many continue to work safely and successfully. Employers are encouraged to join efforts to provide an optimal person-environment-fit for all of their employees, but with a sensitivity to the increased variability to be expected among older employees.     

Establishing shelters for battered women: Local manifestations of a social movement

This paper analyzes how decentralized social movements manifest themselves on the local level, by studying twenty-five social movement organizations within the battered women's movement. Data consist of in-depth interviews with group members, the study focuses on six issues faced by the groups: how they recognized the need in their communities for alternative services for battered women; how they enlisted community support; how they defined themselves in terms of feminism and the participation of men, how they developed a working relationship with the battered women whom they wanted to help; how they structured their organizations; and how they established goals and strategies. Since the groups were at different stages of development, a dynamic analysis is made of each issue. Groups dealt with the issues on the basis of local resources, values, and other conditions. The movement's structure allowed this independence, which strengthened each group's ability to mobilize resources and accomplish goals. However, it also resulted in local decisions that were often inconsistent with movement goals and weakened the ability of movement leaders to control strategy.The author is grateful to Barrie Thorne, Kathleen Ferraro, the editors and two anonymous reviewers of QUALITATIVE SOCIOLOGY for their extensive reviews of earlier drafts of this paper. Support for writing the paper was provided by a summer fellowship from the Faculty Research Committee of the University of Richmond.     

Coping with workplace minority stress: Associations between dyadic coping and anxiety among women in same-sex relationships

ABSTRACT

Sexual minorities are exposed to stressors in the workplace (workplace minority stress), which can be detrimental for well-being (e.g., levels of anxiety). The present study examined whether a particular set of relationship processes, dyadic coping, served to moderate the association between workplace minority stress and symptoms of anxiety. Using a dyadic sample of 64 female same-sex couples, we found that partner problem-focused supportive dyadic coping (DC) and emotion-focused supportive DC (marginally) buffered, whereas partner delegated DC and negative DC did not moderate, the association between workplace minority stress and symptoms of anxiety. Implications for relationship researchers and mental health practitioners are discussed.     

Psychological abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder in battered women: examining the roles of shame and guilt

Psychological abuse among battered women has been relatively understudied. However, battered women's reports in the existing qualitative and quantitative research suggest that the effects of psychological abuse can be even more damaging than the effects of physical abuse. The current study attempted to clarify the relationship between psychological abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within a sample of battered women by statistically controlling for the effects of physical abuse. This study also explored the affective experiences of shame and guilt as important variables in the development of PTSD in battered women. This investigation replicated previous work suggesting that battered women are very much at risk for a diagnosis of PTSD and suggests that clinicians and researchers may need to focus on psychological abuse as a predictor of PTSD symptomatology. The current findings encourage attention to shame reactions in battered women and suggest new directions in the study of PTSD for other traumatized populations.     

Mental health literacy,stigma, and help-seeking behaviors among male college students

Objective: Mental health literacy (MHL) is low in college-aged men potentially resulting in impaired mental wellbeing. This study assessed MHL, psychosocial determinants, and help-seeking behaviors among male university students. Participants: Male undergraduate and graduate students were surveyed in Spring 2017 (n = 1,242) at a large southeastern university in the United States. Methods: Preexisting validated scales for MHL, psychosocial determinants, and help-seeking intention were used in measurement and demographic variables were collected. T-tests and one-way ANOVA were performed to measure differences between groups. Results: Participants showed low scores for all constructs with statistically significant differences between undergraduate and graduate students, as well as between races and major classifications. Undergraduate men had moderate MHL and low intentions to seek professional care. Conclusions: Interventions focusing on increasing mental health knowledge and improving beliefs can improve MHL among male college students. Further, interventions should be tailored for racial groups and major classifications.     

Strengths and coping strategies in the life narratives of sexual minority women

This study explored self-described strengths and strategies for coping with stress among sexual minority women (SMW), drawing on qualitative narratives of sexual minority and heterosexual women who were recruited from a population-based sample. In-depth follow-up qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 48 women who had participated in the National Alcohol Survey, a U.S. population-based survey. Participants included 25 SMW and 16 matched exclusively heterosexual women. Narrative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and constant comparison to explore the study aim, with an emphasis on themes that diverged or that were particularly salient for SMW relative to heterosexual women. Strengths and coping strategies that were especially meaningful in the narratives of sexual minority women emerged in two areas. First, participants described development of intrapersonal strengths through nurturing an authentic sense of self and embracing multifaceted identity. Second, participants described multiple strategies for cultivation of interpersonal resources: navigating distance and closeness with family of origin, cultivating supportive friends and chosen family, connecting to community, finding solace and joy with animals, and engaging in collective action. Findings underscore the importance of considering protective factors that are salient to SMW in developing or refining prevention and intervention efforts.     

Violence against women. Examining ethnic differences and commonalities

Ethnic differences and commonalities rarely have been the focus of community-based research on violence against women. The few existing studies typically used survey instruments developed on and used with Anglos and simply applied them to members of other ethnic groups. The proposed conceptual framework is based on a review of the published literature and on information gleaned from focus groups conducted with women and men from four ethnic groups (Black, White, Asian, and Latino). Ethnicity and culture--along with broad social factors and institutions, gender role definitions, kin and friendship networks, and individual life-course factors--influence what behaviors are acceptable in an intimate relationship. The intersection of gender and ethnicity is hypothesized to influence the options that a woman perceives, the help she seeks, and the nature and scope of violence she experiences in an intimate relationship. Observations relevant to research, policy, and service provision are offered.     

Beliefs underlying stress reduction and depression help-seeking among college students: An elicitation study

Objective: This study illustrates how a theory-based approach can identify college students’ beliefs about stress reduction activities and help-seeking for depression. These beliefs are the basis for intervention design. Participants: A sample of 53 undergraduate students at a public university in the Midwest participated in this research during March 2016. Methods: An open-ended belief elicitation survey was administered online. Beliefs were identified through qualitative thematic analyses. Results: Exercise was students’ most preferred stress reduction activity. Beliefs about exercise emphasized physical benefits yet also not having time for exercise. Beliefs about help-seeking for depression emphasized treatment efficacy, support from others, stigma, and time constraints. Conclusions: Whereas beliefs about positive outcomes inform educational and motivational messages, beliefs about time constraints underscore the need to also consider structural factors that can help students find time to attend to their well-being.     

Prevalence and correlates of self-injury among university students

OBJECTIVE: The authors' purpose in this research was to establish estimates of the prevalence and correlates of nonsuicidal self-injury among university students. PARTICIPANTS: The authors recruited participants (N = 2,843) from a random sample of 5,021 undergraduate and graduate students attending a large midwestern public university. METHODS: Using an Internet-based survey, the authors measured the prevalence of self-injury and potential risk factors, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, and negative health behaviors. RESULTS: Seven percent of students reported any self-injury over the previous 4 weeks. Factors associated with a significantly higher likelihood (p <.05) of self-injury included cigarette smoking, concurrent depressive and anxiety disorders, and for men, growing up in a family of low socioeconomic status and having symptoms of eating disorders. Only 26% of those who reported self-injury received mental health therapy or medication in the previous year. CONCLUSIONS: Students who harm themselves experience high anxiety and distress, yet are unlikely to seek help.