A theoretical model of religiosity and drug use with reciprocal relationships: A test using structural equation modeling

Abstract

This study of 1093 adolescents from 6 public high schools was designed to test a hypothesized model formulated by theoretical elaboration of control theory with elements from social learning theory using structural equation modeling procedures. The primary purpose was to establish that religion is relevant to illicit drug use when its direct, indirect and reciprocal effects are tested within a more complete system of relationships than found in existing studies. Most aspects of the model were supported by data and religion had direct inverse effects on illegal drug use for all adolescents studied. However, the feedback effects of drug use on religion were significant only among younger adolescents and females. Other age and gender differences were observed when the hypothesized model was tested with structural equation modeling procedures. The implications of these findings were discussed in regard to future conceptual work and intervention.     

Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Education and Direct Practice at the Millennium: A Survey of UK Social Workers

Correspondence to Dr Leola Furman, 1201 Yale Place, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55403, USA. E-mail: furmanlfurman{at}aol.com Summary In recent years, an expanding body of social work publicationsand professional conference presentations has materialized inthe United States due to a resurgence of interest in spiritualityand religion. In order to explore the level of interest in theUnited Kingdom, a random sample of 5,500 practising social workersfrom the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) membershipwere mailed a questionnaire that examined religious and spiritualbeliefs, practices and affiliations. A total of 789 BASW membersin direct practice from England, Scotland Wales, and NorthernIreland returned questionnaires, a response rate of 20 per cent.The majority of respondents believed that spirituality was afundamental aspect of being human. More than three-quartersof the sample reported little or no content on religion andspirituality in their training programme. Respondents stronglyapproved of raising the topic of religion and spirituality withclients who are experiencing terminal illness or bereavement.This also held true in matters of adoption and foster parenting.Approximately 47 per cent of all respondents believed that includingreligion and spirituality in direct practice was compatiblewith social work’s mission. This sample may representthose social workers with a stronger interest in religion andspirituality than a random sample of the general populationof UK social workers. These findings, nevertheless, raise concernabout the availability of practice models and training curriculafor social work practitioners and students.     

Popularity and Social Preference in Chinese Adolescents: Associations with Social and Behavioral Adjustment

This study examined the characteristics associated with popularity and social preference in 769 14‐year‐old adolescents (54 percent boys) from mainland China. Consistent with findings from other countries, popularity and social preference were moderately correlated and overt aggression was positively correlated with popularity but negatively correlated with social preference. Prosocial behavior, athletic skill, dating, academic achievement, and mutual friends were positively associated with both popularity and social preference, with the effects for prosocial behavior, athletic skill, and dating greater for popularity than for social preference. The strong correlations between popularity and prosocial behavior are consistent with Confucian ideas of moral leadership and the obligations of high status individuals toward others. Cultural values are also reflected in the association of popularity with academic achievement. The inconsistent findings from China regarding the relation between aggression and popularity may stem from multiple factors including the absence of a suitable Chinese translation for popularity.     

Theoretical Model with Reciprocal Effects of Youthful Crime and Drug Use

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study of 1,093 adolescents from six public high schools was to see if a social control model with several reciprocal relationships between social learning elements and delinquency was useful. The same hypothesized model was applied to criminal behavior, alcohol use, and other drug use.

Whereas the hypothesized theoretical model does explain considerable variation in frequency of alcohol use and of criminal behavior (22% and 24%, respectively), it does not account for much variance in drug use (6%). On the other hand, there are several reciprocal relationships in common across these forms of delinquency. The study clearly supports the need to formulate and test models with reciprocal effects. The social work implications of these findings are discussed.     

Teacher Reports of Children's Friendships and Social Groups: Agreement with Peer Reports and Implications for Studying Peer Similarity

Teacher–peer agreement about children’s friendships and social group affiliations was examined in a sample of 219 children in grades 1, 3, and 5. Peer reports were used to identify reciprocated friendships and informal social groups. Teachers listed each child’s closest friends and described the informal social groups existing in their classrooms. Teachers also rated children’s externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation and provided direct ratings of the externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation of children’s friends. Teacher–peer agreement was reliable for friendships and social groups and was stronger in the upper elementary grades. Estimates of peer similarity were highest when teachers provided global ratings of the behaviors of the children’s friends. Results suggest that teacher reports of children’s peer affiliations have some validity but result in inflated estimates of peer similarity.     

Stability and Change in Kindergartners' Friendships: Examination of Links with Social Functioning

Stability and change in kindergartners' friendships were examined based on a typology of profiles (stable, fluid, loss, gain, friendless). Our purpose was to determine whether children belonging to the five profiles differed in their social functioning. The sample was composed of 2353 kindergartners. Reciprocal friendships and social functioning indices were measured using peer nominations collected in October and May of the same year. A series of repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that children in the friendless profile were less accepted by their peers, more shy, more withdrawn, and more aggressive than other children. Moreover, children in the stable profile were significantly more accepted by their peers, more prosocial, and less shy than children in the fluid profile. Lastly, children in the loss profile became less accepted by their peers and less prosocial over the course of the year whereas children in the gain profile became more accepted and prosocial.     

Mental health and educational difficulties in children in contact with Children's Social Services

The British Child Mental Health Survey 1999 collected data from 10 438 children aged 5–15 years, selected at random from the child benefit register. At 2 and 3 years, all those with a psychiatric disorder and a random third without were followed up with further detailed interviews about the services contacted if parents reported service contact or if parents expressed concern about their child's mental health at baseline and follow‐up, but reported no service use. We compared children in contact with Children's Social Services with children in contact with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) or no services. The children in contact with Children's Social Services had a high level of psychopathology and considerable educational difficulties. Despite this, they often had no contact with CAMHS or access to provision for special educational needs. It also became clear that parents were often using Children's Social Services as a first‐line service, i.e. a way of trying to access help. The results provide us with an interesting insight into the level of need of those children in contact with Children's Social Services and we hope to stimulate discussion about how liaison between all the services children access can better provide for their needs.     

From Care to Fellowship and Back: Interpretative Repertoires Used by the Social Welfare Workers when Describing their Relationship with Homeless Women

The study asks what kinds of interpretative repertoires do socialwelfare workers use and produce when describing their work,and how is the practitioner–client relationship describedin the different repertoires? Social welfare work is approachedthrough a single organization targeted for homeless women. Theresearch data consist of a free-form diary kept by the workers.The analysis shows that the workers construct six differentinterpretative repertoires: repertoire of care, repertoire ofassessment, repertoire of control, repertoire of therapy, repertoireof service provision and repertoire of fellowship. The repertoiresare not anchored to given workers or homeless women. Individualworkers adopt different repertoires, and a single homeless womanmay be encountered in several ways. The variation in the repertoiresand the movement between them make the work flexible. The quantitativelymost frequent repertoire is the repertoire of care based onthe ethics of care. As a carrying principle of the daily work,it may create a climate of trust and confidence which makesthe other repertoires possible. Due to its variation and commitmentto long-term care, the work with homeless women can be saidto challenge predominant policies that emphasize the citizen’sown responsibility and the managerialist mode of operation.     

Growing up with parental substance use disorder: The struggle with complex emotions,regulation of contact,and lack of professional support

The aim of the study was to explore young people's perceptions and reflections about growing up with parents who have substance use disorder (SUD). In qualitative interviews with 12 young people (aged 13–26) and in an interpretative phenomenological analysis, we investigated their experiences of everyday life, of the relationships with the parents with SUD, and of conversations about this, both retrospectively and at the present. The findings indicated that the relationships with the parents largely occupied the informants, even when they lived separately from the parent and were protected from the daily exposure of substance use. The informants described their mixed and contradictory emotions towards their parents and the struggle to determine regulation and type of contact. They asked for professional support in order to help them cope with this. Sociocultural discourses concerning family life and substance use were discussed in an attempt to understand the findings. The findings of the study suggest that children and young people should be offered sufficient professional support in order to cope with their mixed and contradictory emotions and to determine the regularity and type of contact with the parents.