AUTONOMY AND RELATEDNESS IN MARITAL FUNCTIONING

The current investigation expands the focus of cognitive behavioral formulations of marriage by exploring the constructs of autonomy and relatendness in marriage. One hundred forty-one married couples matched to the 1990 U.S. census data on age, race, and income completed a number of self-report marital inventories including the Autonomy and Relatendness Inventory (Schaefer, Edgerton, & Burnett, 1991). Autonomy was measured by evaluating spouses' perceptions of the extent to which partners encouraged a sense of independence and individuality for the spouses. Relatedness was measured by evaluating spouses' perceptions of the amount of closeness that partners provided. It was found that autonomy and relatedness were significantly positively correlated with each other, as well as with marital adjustment for both males and females. It was found that for females, the provision of relatedness (as reported by their husbands) was significantly related to the standards that they held for the relationship. In addition, it was found that for females, the provision of relatedness (as reported by their husbands) was significantly related to the standards that husbands held for the relationship. However, no significant relationships were found between husbands' standards and relatedness (either as reported by wives or husbands). It was concluded that it is appropriate to help couples think of autonomy and relatedness as being tow important aspects of marriage that can exist together and are related to a satisfying marriage. Implications of the findings suggest that marital therapists could expand the conceptualization of marital therapy beyond being primarily relationship focused to include attention to individual needs of the spouses. Relatedness was measured by evaluating spouses' perception of the amount of closeness that partners privided. It was found that autonomy and relatedness were significantly positively correlated with each other as well as with marital adjustment for both males and females. It was found that for females, the prpvision of relatedness(as reported by their husbands) was significantly related to the srandards that they held for the relationship. In addition, it was found that for females, the provision of relatedness(as reported by their husbands)was significantly related to the standards that husbands held for the relatinship. How-ever, no significant relationships were found between husbands' standards and     

Disabling Homes: a study of the housing needs of disabled people in Cornwall

This research was carried out between January and July 1993. The study was an evaluation of housing need of disabled people who were wheelchair users through a process of consumer consultation. It was concerned to find out the extent and nature of that need whilst also testing out consultation through the use of research methods in comparison with a non-consultative approach taken by the local authorities. The nature of need was found to be qualitatively different to that found through the study of normative needs. A significant number of disabled people were being made more dependent by their housing and this was being reinforced by the agencies that were intended to help them. In particular, the failure to consult disabled people was leading the local authorities to make inappropriate plans for new build housing while the major need for adaptations was being undermined by their operation of the Disabled Facilities Grant. The findings support the call from other writers that the solutions to housing problems will only come through viewing disability as a civil rights issue.     

A Model Curriculum for Occupational Social Work

This paper reports the results of a survey experiment in which a national sample of NASW members was presented with systematically altered versions of a summary of a hypothetical study of casework effectiveness and asked to make judgments about the quality of the research, its importance to social work, and its significance for their own practice. It was found that although respondents distinguished between studies with good and bad research designs, their judgments of the quality of the research and its implications for their own practice were significantly influenced by whether the findings were positive or negative.     

Implementation of a school-wide prevention programme-teachers’ and headmasters’ perceptions of organizational capacity

This study focuses on schools’ organizational capacity to implement a Swedish school-wide programme, Prevention in School (PS). It is based on semi-structured interviews with seven headmasters and 13 teachers from seven Swedish schools. The interviews were analyzed by the use of qualitative content analysis.The findings show that the adoption of a comprehensive intervention like PS challenges the school organization as the staff encountered a variety of organizational barriers when implementing the programme. Factors connected to lack of consensus, collaboration and insufficient programme management were the main barriers that were identified. Teachers wanted a more extensive support from their headmasters in terms of participation in different programme activities. It was emphasized that peer coaches need to be prepared for their task, although the headmasters found it difficult to be able to choose those teachers who they perceived as the most suitable.It is concluded that leadership, coaching and staff selection need particular attention when implementing a programme like PS, since those factors have been defined as important implementation drivers, both in this study and previously.     

The Production of Erotica: Photobooks of Teenage Models in Hong Kong

This article examines the production of erotica in a Chinese cultural context. It takes the photo books featuring teenage models published in Hong Kong in 2010 as case studies in which a total of 2,205 photographs of teenage models were analyzed. In-depth interviews were conducted with six producers of these images. It was found that the set of erotic pictures was characterized by three distinctive features. First, they emphasized a look of innocence that suggested purity, fragility, and delicacy. Second, albeit being sexy and desirable, the girls were often presented as if they were unaware of their sexiness. The implication was that their sexiness was unintentional and, thus, the girls were not to blame. Finally, a sense of intimacy was purposefully built between the models and readers by constituting a direct gaze and presenting models as ordinary “girls next door.” All these echoed the emphasis of female chastity in Chinese culture. It appears that in Hong Kong, where sexuality issues often provoke debates, the producers of sexy images have benefited from media controversies. By heightening expectations of potential customers, they fuel the “erotic” imagination of the readers. The production of erotica is, hence, completed through a collaboration between teenage models, producers, marketers, and consumers.     

Intergenerational Persistence of Skills and Socioeconomic Status

This paper describes how the socioeconomic status (SES) of parents relates to the formation and development of the skills and preferences of their teenage children, which have proven to be key to understanding differences in life outcomes. The study used data from a novel survey, conducted in Mexico, that recorded cognitive and non-cognitive skills and social preferences of both parents and children. It analyzed the relationship between the SES of parents and their children’s skills, and found that children’s skills were consistently related to parental skills, and that intergenerational persistence of skills was higher for cognitive than for non-cognitive skills or social preferences. It also found that the cognitive skills gap between the first and fifth quintile of SES was related mainly to characteristics like parents’ own skills, years of schooling, and aspirations for their children, but that these parental characteristics were less important in explaining non-cognitive skills and preferences.     

Toward a carnivalesque analysis of hacking: A qualitative study of Iranian hackers

This study sought to analyze Iranian hackers’ lived experiences based on the concept of the carnival of crime in cultural criminology. Fifty-four in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with young hackers. Moreover, their behaviors were observed along with those of other hackers. The data were coded through a thematic analysis using MAXQDA software. The study's findings indicated that cyberspace had created a carnivalesque utopia that allowed the young Iranian hackers to experience the pleasure of crime. By trespassing the rational frameworks of the modern world and altering the trends of knowledge creation as a means for subjugation, Iranian hackers contribute to the meaning-construction policies of those in power and challenge authoritarian aesthetics by invading their electronic domain. It was also found that the carnivalesque lives of hackers provided them with a variety of opportunities for disrupting the rhythms of production and creating an underground carnivalesque economy based on their level of knowledge.     

Status and Career Decision: An Analysis of the Time Dimension*

This paper reports on a study which examined the input parental status has on the timing of career decision. Data for this study were collected by means of questionnaire from graduating seniors from 24 colleges and universities. It was hypothesized that students from upper-status parents would choose their future career later in their life than would students with lower-status parents. Although the data tend to support the hypothesis, it seems to hold more true for females than for males. This difference was attributed to the varying emphasis placed upon the responsibility for the achievement of success.     

Does the Therapeutic Relationship Matter? A Follow-up Study of Adherence and Improvement in Family Therapy

A follow-up study of 83 families treated by family therapy at a child guidance clinic was conducted and the relation of client/therapist interaction to (i) drop out from therapy and (ii) improvement was examined. Early terminators were found to differ significantly from continuers as to their ratings of their relationship with the therapist, and trends were found for therapists' feelings to be associated with adherence to therapy. Early terminators were not distinguished by diagnosis, severity of case, or improvement rating. Improvement, on the other hand, was not associated with therapists' or clients' attitudes to each other. It is suggested that these factors are of greater significance in “joining” therapy than in its course.     

Theory into Practice: The Assumptive World of the Social Planner

This article is drawn from a minor thesis presented for the Master of Urban Planning in 1982.

It commences with comments upon the gap between theory and practice which is perceived to exist by many social work practitioners. It then goes on to examine how this gap was explored in recent research using four social planners as subjects.

The research revealed that the subjects had constructed individual theories based upon values, beliefs and assumptions about their role and which were reflected in the practice models they adopted. The article concludes with a discussion about the implications of the findings and their relevance to social work education.     

Effects of issue ownership and issue obtrusiveness on corporate reputation at two Korean corporations

This study attempts to identify the effects of issue ownership of a corporation on its reputation, and the moderating effect of issue obtrusiveness. Two representative Korean corporations (Hyundai and SK) were selected and their reputations were measured. It was shown that a corporation, which owns issues that were perceived as important by publics, has a higher corporate reputation. There was no moderating effect of issue obtrusiveness on the relationship between issue ownership and corporate reputation; however, there was a possibility of issue obtrusiveness as an independent variable. Implication for public relations research and practice was discussed.     

Assessment for home care: Negotiating solutions for individual needs

This article explores care management as an activity that regulates the distribution of society's resources for home care. It focuses on interaction in assessment meetings, which are part of the planning of services and care for old people in Sweden. The aim was to acquire an understanding of how old people, as applicants, account for their needs for care, and how these accounts are negotiated and positioned in talk. Twenty home care assessments were audio-taped and the data were analyzed using discursive analysis. It was found that the assessment meetings had an institutional structure within, which old people, as applicants and with individual needs for care, were assessed within fixed institutional categories. Furthermore, analysis showed how interaction during assessment meetings functioned as formal problem-solving, in which applicants' accounts of their health issues were negotiated, contributing to the construction of their identity as home care receivers.     

Creating Relational Ties in Talk: The Collaborative Construction of Relational Jealousy

This study furthers recent investigations into emotional talk between close relational partners by exploring the collaborative construction of one particular type of emotional experience: relational jealousy. Conversation analytic methods were used to investigate a data base comprised of 44 half-hour conversations between male friends, female friends, cross-sex friends, and romantic partners. It was found that both romantic partners and friends constructed relational jealousy as a powerful “negative” emotional experience and, when constructed in this fashion, the content of the construction concerned the negative influence this experience can have on both relational partners and their relationship. The structure of negative constructions of this emotion often included use of the past tense, qualifiers, and normalization strategies to address the face and relationship concerns created by claiming for oneself or attributing to one's partner such an experience. It was also found that partners who shared a romantic attachment sometimes constructed relational jealousy as a “positive” experience and the structure and content of these positive constructions differs markedly from the negative ones. Finally, relational jealousy was found to be a useful resource in romantic partners’ construction of their unique relational bond and in their negotiation of the rights, obligations, and rules entailed by that particular type of relationship.     

Between Control and Support. The Protection of Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers at Risk: The Dutch Case

Drawing on research by the Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice (Kromhout et al., 2010), this article describes how the Dutch government tried to protect Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers (UMAs) who were (at risk of becoming) victims of human trafficking by implementing “Protected Reception”. It was concluded that the three objectives of this pilot programme were met to some extent: the influx of risk groups and the number of disappearances decreased, yet there was no (immediate) increase in return migration to the country of origin, after leaving Protected Reception. An important question that was raised was how far a state can go in protecting these vulnerable young people, by (partially) limiting their freedom of movement. It was concluded that placement and stay in Protected Reception had to be qualified as a deprivation of liberty for which Dutch legislation did not offer any ground.     

The effect of nonverbal sensitivity on social interaction

This study examined the relation between decoding ability and quality of dyadic interaction of college roommate pairs. It was found that pairs with members who were both high in decoding (HH pairs) rated their interactions somewhat more positively than pairs in which one or both roommates were low (HL and LL pairs). This effect was more pronounced for ratings reflecting emotional sharing (e.g., gave and received support) than for ratings reflecting influence (e.g., initiated the interaction). For emotional sharing only, the difference between the HH pairs and the HL plus LL pairs was significant. The relative advantage of the HH pairs in emotional sharing and relative disadvantage in influence was more pronounced for males and less for females, suggesting a reversal of traditional sex-role behavior. When differences in decoding ability within roommate pairs were considered, the results showed that, in dyads with at least one good decoder (HH and HL pairs), the interaction was rated more positively by the roommate who was lower in decoding ability. The concept and measure of decoding ability and their implications for interaction and sex-role behavior were discussed.This research was supported in part by NIMH Grant # R01 MH 40498 to Miron Zuckerman.     

Correlates of sexual experience among university students

It was hypothesized that males experiencing erectile and/or ejaculatory difficulties would exhibit higher levels of hostility, intrapunitiveness, submis‐siveness, be more sensitive to rejection, and perceive their fate as being dictated largely by external forces (locus of control), when compared to a control group. Similar differences were predicted between the dysfunctional males and their wives. Further predictions were made concerning differences between wives of the dysfunctioning males and the control wives. The sample of 19 dysfunctioning males and their wives were compared with a sample of 25 control males and their wives. All were Israeli Jews. The predicted differences between patients and controls were found for all variables except submissiveness. Sensitivity to rejection and the guilt subtest were particularly important predictors. Patients' wives and control wives differed only in aspects of hostility. The patients were also more sensitive to rejection than their own wives and regarded women to be significantly lower in status. Suggestions for further research and clinical implications of these results are discussed.     

Birth and initiation on the Peers Plantation: the problem of creolization in seventeenth-century Barbados

A central debate within slavery studies centers on the question of whether enslaved Africans ‘retained’ their cultures or became ‘creolized’ in the Americas. Focusing on two enslaved women and the six children they bore by their master in late seventeenth-century Barbados, this paper suggests how creolization operated in the early modern English Caribbean. The women and children were baptized and provided for in their master’s will. Yet they were also part of the plantation’s 180 strong West African enslaved population. Contextualizing all of the influences that shaped their experiences on Barbados, this paper examines naming, baptism, and birthing rituals to provide an account of the women’s lives that does not privilege either European or West African cultural practices. It argues that creolization was not a marker of identity, nor a unidirectional process of Europeanization, but rather a multivalent and multidirectional negotiation of cultural exchanges.     

Research note: Balance of financial power in marriage: an exploratory study of breadwinning wives

This research note reports some findings of a small exploratory study of a sample of 18 women and 14 men living in the North-West in families in which the wife was the major (though not necessarily the only) breadwinner. Amongst the aspects explored in interviews were their domestic financial arrangements, which were found to be significantly different from those in studies where the husband was the main breadwinner. It was found that there was a tendency for the wives to cede some of their financial power to their husbands. At the same time they took on a sense of the burden of responsibility and worry associated with the breadwinning role.     

The Use of the Computer in Counseling College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of a computer program in helping clients clarify their concerns and identify goals for behavior change, prior to their first session counselor. A counseling treatment consisting of three initial computer-interaction sessions, followed by two sessions with a counselor, was compared to a treatment consisting of five sessions with a counselor and no computer interaction, and to a no-contact control group. Participants were 46 college students. The two treatment groups achieved their self-determined goals, as measured by the Goal Attainment Scale (Kiresuk & Sherman, 1968), and reported similar levels of satisfaction with counseling than students working with the computer-based counseling system. It was concluded that computers may be effectively used as part of the counseling process, allowing for a more efficient use of the counselor's time. However, more research is needed to identify the type of counselor intervention needed to facilitate the acceptance of these systems by students.     

Aboriginal women and Asian men: a maritime history of color in white Australia

In 1901, Broome—a port town on the northwest edge of the Australian continent—was one of the principal and most lucrative industrial pearling centers in the world and entirely dependent on Asian indentured labor. Relations between Asian crews and local Aboriginal people were strong, at a time when the project of White Australia was being pursued with vigorous, often fanatical dedication across the newly federated continent. It was the policing of Aboriginal women, specifically their relations with Asian men, that became the focus of efforts by authorities and missionaries to uphold and defend their commitment to the White Australia policy. This article examines the historical experience of Aboriginal women in the pearling industry of northwest Australia and the story of Asian-Aboriginal cohabitation in the face of oppressive laws and regulations. It then explores the meaning of “color” in contemporary Broome for the descendants of this mixed heritage today.