Disability and job stress: Implications for vocational rehabilitation planning

Because people with disabilities often experience an increased risk for physical and psychological complications of job stress, vocational rehabilitation professionals must be able to (a) identify individual and work-environmental risk factors for job stress and (b) design appropriate interventions to minimize those risk factors. The purpose of this article is to (a) present two models of occupational stress, (b) examine factors common to each of these models that are associated with employee health and well-being, and (c) suggest implications for rehabilitation planning.     

Intimate partner violence risk assessment and management

While risk assessment is important in the management of intimate partner violence perpetrators, the science and practice of risk assessment in this field are still in early development. This article reviews the literature on intimate partner violence risk assessment. The original intent was to direct discussion to assist the Military Family Advocacy Program (FAP), U.S. Department of Defense, to develop guidelines for the treatment of domestic violence offenders. The article is divided into sections as follows: (a) Defining Risk; (b) The Risk Factors; (c) Models of Risk Assessment; (d) Existing Risk Instruments; (e) The Role of the Victim in Risk Assessment; (f) Qualifications to Conduct Assessments; (g) Communicating Risk; and (h) Managing Risk. Relevant issues and controversies are raised throughout the article.     

Double Jeopardy: Work Ethic Differences in Youth at Risk of School Failure

The purpose of this study was to determine if work ethic differed for a sample of 152 selected 9th-grade students categorized by risk of school failure and by gender. Work ethic attributes were measured using the Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (Petty, 1993). Results of a two-way multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant work ethic differences in main effects of at-risk classification and gender for dependent variables of interpersonal skills, initiative, and being dependable. Interaction effects were not significant. Underlying constructs indicated that adolescents with greater degrees of risk were less dependable and that girls in the study were more dependable than boys.     

Towards a sociology of risk work: A narrative review and synthesis

In this article, we define the concept of “risk work,” which aims to make visible working practices to assess or manage risk, in order to subject these practices to sociological critique. This article reviews and synthesizes existing published literature to identify components of risk work: (a) translating risk into different contexts, (b) minimizing risks in practice, and (c) caring in the context of risk. We argue that these three components of risk work raise important tensions for workers that have been inadequately explored in the literature to date. We propose that future research should additionally focus on practitioner subjectivity and identity in risk work. In addition, we argue that comparative research—across type of risk and different contexts—and methodological and theoretical diversity would enhance this emerging field of research.     

Attachment‐Based Family Therapy With a 13‐Year‐Old Girl Presenting With High Risk for Suicide

This article describes the application of Attachment‐Based Family Therapy (ABFT) to the treatment of a 13‐year‐old female adolescent presenting with high risk of suicide, complicated by a history of depression and sexual trauma. The article begins with an overview of ABFT, including (a) how attachment theory guides treatment; (b) the structure of the clinical model; and (c) the data that provide empirical support. A case example is then presented that exemplifies the primary clinical procedures used to reach therapeutic goals in ABFT, including attachment repair and autonomy/competence promotion. Weekly changes in suicide ideation and depression scores are presented. The article concludes with a discussion about implications for family‐based treatment of suicidal youth.     

Intimate Partner Violence

This article presents a developmental vulnerability/resilience and risk/safety framework to educate social work students about intimate partner violence. The framework adopts a multidimensional perspective to understanding development (a) among individuals who are violent toward intimate partners, (b) among those toward whom they are violent, and (c) within family systems; it also covers prevailing socio-environmental contexts. The utility of this framework for Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) education is discussed.     

Substance abuse by men in partner abuse intervention programs: current issues and promising trends

This article discusses key studies linking intervention for co-occurring substance abuse and partner abuse. Findings are grouped into three areas: (a) the effect of addictions treatment on partner violence; (b) application of transtheoretical, motivational, and culturally focused approaches to improve engagement and prevent attrition; and (c) assessment-based matching of services. Finally, the relative value of serial, coordinated, and integrated substance abuse programs and partner abuse intervention programs are considered. We reached three primary conclusions: (a) Addiction treatment alone reduces the risk for future domestic violence in a subset of men who batter, (b) screening and assessment for substance abuse by all men in partner abuse intervention programs is a standard of practice but needs to extend beyond "intake" and occur periodically, and (c) coordinated and integrated substance abuse and domestic violence programs probably offer more safety than traditional serial substance abuse treatment followed by partner abuse intervention.     

The Love Ethic: A Radical Theory for Social Work Practice

Love is marginalised in professional social work codes of ethics in Australia and internationally. Yet, reflecting the emancipatory imperative of social work, feminist bell hooks promotes love as a political process to transform systems of injustice such as capitalism, patriarchy, and racism. Analysing the works of hooks and other relevant literature, this article discusses “the love ethic”, a model of relationship-oriented activism encompassing dialogue, nonviolence, interconnectedness between people and between people and nature, reflexivity, shared power, and solidarity. It provides some practical suggestions for love-based social work practice, such as self-forgiveness, pursuing gender-equal relationships, upholding fair workplace conditions, honouring Indigenous peoples, supporting oppressed people to assert their rights, connecting local and global action, nurturing symbiotic relationships with nature, and supporting empowering spiritualities. The love ethic supports radical social workers to engage in activism, and necessitates further exploration within academia and practice.     

Index insurance and climate risk management: Addressing social equity

Fair distribution of benefits from index insurance matters. Lack of attention to social equity can reinforce inequalities and undermine the potential index insurance holds as a tool for climate risk management that is also pro‐poor. The aims of this article are to: (a) examine social equity concerns raised by index insurance in the context of climate risk management, (b) consider how greater attention can be paid to social equity in index insurance initiatives, and (c) reflect on the policy challenges raised by taking social equity into account as a mechanism for climate risk reduction. The article draws on learning from the CGIAR's Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and presents the cases of the Index Based Livelihoods Insurance (IBLI) and Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise Ltd. (ACRE) in East Africa. It proposes a framework for unpacking social equity related to equitable access, procedures, representation and distribution within index insurance schemes. The framework facilitates identification of opportunities for building outcomes that are more equitable, with greater potential for inclusion and fairer distribution of benefits related to index insurance. The article argues that systematically addressing social equity raises hard policy choices for index insurance initiatives without straightforward solutions. Attention to how benefits and burdens of index insurance are distributed, suggests the unpalatable truth for development policy that the poorest members of rural society can be excluded. Nevertheless, a focus on social equity—facilitated by the framework—opens up opportunities to ensure index insurance is linked to more socially just climate risk management. At the very least, it may prevent index insurance from generating greater inequality. Taking social equity into account, thus, shifts the focus from agricultural systems in transition per se to systems with potential to incorporate societal transformation through distributive justice.     

Best practices for physical activity programs and behavior counseling in older adult populations

Physical activity offers one of the greatest opportunities for people to extend years of active independent life and reduce functional limitations. The article identifies key practices for promoting physical activity in older adults, with a focus on those with chronic disease or low fitness and those with low levels of physical activity. Key practices identified: (a) A multidimensional activity program that includes endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility training is optimal for health and functional benefits; (b) principles of behavior change including social support, self-efficacy, active choices, health contracts, assurances of safety, and positive reinforcement enhance adherence; (c) manage risk by beginning at low intensity but gradually increasing to moderate physical activity, which has a better risk:benefit ratio and should be the goal for older adults; (d) an emergency procedure plan is prudent for community-based programs; and (e) monitoring aerobic intensity is important for progression and motivation. Selected content review of physical activity programming from major organizations and institutions is provided.     

Common and Specific Learnings for a Graduate of a School of Social Work

Abstract

Developing new scholarship on women is a recognized need in social work education. It can be furthered by applying a “gender lens” to the knowledge of the relationship between women and the welfare state. Reflecting historical concerns about providing public aid to the able-bodied male pauper and the impact of relief on the work ethic, social welfare literature has focused on male recipients while generalizing its findings to women. As a result, the story of the female pauper remains largely untold. This paper suggests that the relationship between women and the welfare state is shaped by a “family ethic” that in many ways parallels the work ethic known to shape the relationship between the welfare state and men. The family ethic is defined and applied to major income maintenance programs: public aid and social security. This article suggests foci for change.     

Trauma symptomatology: implications for return to work

Research has suggested that individuals who experience work related injuries may be at an increased risk for developing trauma symptoms or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of PTSD from both a categorical and dimensional perspective and discuss implications for rehabilitation planning with workers with industrial injuries. The negative impact of trauma symptoms and PTSD is profiled according the following four areas that are important for effective career and vocational behavior: (a) making occupational adjustments, (b) adjusting performance to meet specific work demands, (c) utilizing appropriate social and interpersonal skills in the work setting, and (d) meeting the production and time requirements associated with the specific job. Recommendations are then offered to increase the effectiveness of rehabilitation professionals working with industrial injured workers who may be experiencing trauma symptoms or PTSD.     

Cybersex and the E‐teen: What Marriage and Family Therapists Should Know

Adolescents who use the Internet regularly (the “e‐teen”) present a new set of challenges for marriage and family therapists. This article introduces marriage and family therapists to (a) the basic technological concepts and unique psychological characteristics of the Internet important in understanding and addressing adolescent online sexual behavior, (b) the appropriate developmental expectations for teens online, including risk‐taking behaviors and critical decision‐making skills, and (c) suggested strategies for assessment, prevention, and intervention when dealing with problematic online sexual behavior in adolescents. Marriage and family therapists cannot ignore the role the Internet plays in adolescent sexual development and its implication for the family. This article will serve as a primer for the marriage and family therapist when presented with adolescents who engage in online sexual behaviors.     

When is an HIV infection prevented and when is it merely delayed?

HIV prevention programs are typically evaluated using behavioral outcomes. Mathematical models of HIV transmission can be used to translate these behavioral outcomes into estimates of the number of HIV infections averted. Usually, intervention effectiveness is evaluated over a brief assessment period and an infection is considered to be prevented if it does not occur during this period. This approach may overestimate intervention effectiveness if participants continue to engage in risk behaviors. Conversely, this strategy underestimates the true impact of interventions by assuming that behavioral changes persist only until the end of the intervention assessment period. In this article, the authors (a) suggest a simple framework for distinguishing between HIV infections that are truly prevented and those that are merely delayed, (b) illustrate how these outcomes can be estimated, (c) discuss strategies for extrapolating intervention effects beyond the assessment period, and (d) highlight the implications of these findings for HIV prevention decision making.     

Dignity in dementia: Person-centered care in community

Drawing on Kitwood's [Ageing Soc. 13 (1993) 51] theory of person-centered care and the interpersonal process of caregiving, this article offers an alternative to the image of the family caregiver as victim through an exploration of the lived experience of caring for a person with dementia in community. Extending care beyond coping, the act of giving care is promoted as a worthy activity and reciprocal social opportunity. Three nonfamily caregiver “portraits” are offered in an arts-informed representational form. The relational processes of caregiving are explored from the vantage point of personal experience and theoretical knowledge. Dignity emerges as the resonant quality, essential value, and guiding principle in an ethic of dementia care. Implications about the direction of research about care and caregiving and research accessibility and usefulness are explored.     

The empowerment of people with disabilities through qualitative research

The purpose of this article is to explore the use of qualitative research in vocational rehabilitation as a means of empowering people with disabilities to (a) take greater control of their lives and (b) directly inform public policy and vocational rehabilitation service delivery. After exploring various definitions of the construct empowerment, we provide a rationale for the use of qualitative research as an empowerment mechanism based on (a) philosophies espoused by leaders of the independent living movement, (b) disability legislation, and (c) a multi-constituency call for more consumer involvement in research. We then describe empirical properties of various qualitative methodologies that lend themselves to consumer empowerment. The article concludes with several examples of qualitative approaches to scientific inquiry from the rehabilitation literature that include many of the empowerment aspects described herein.     

All that is solid melts into work: self‐work,the ‘learning ethic’ and the work ethic

In this paper I examine the intersections between a general commitment to education and learning and the moral and ethical dimensions of the work ethic under contemporary capitalism. Drawing on Kathi Weeks' (2011) recent exploration of the work ethic in The Problem with Work, I suggest there is a relationship between the form and function of the work ethic‐ and what I term the ‘learning ethic’. I suggest that commitment to a learning ethic, to the unreserved power of learning and education‐ may reiterate a moral commitment to the personal characteristics that define the work ethic under capitalism. As a consequence, consideration of the form and function of these moral character ideals in the continuation of unequal social relations across educational and workspaces, become obfuscated by a generalized celebration of learning, education and self‐work.     

Understanding domestic violence against women: using evolutionary psychology to extend the feminist functional analysis

Evolutionary psychologists such as Wilson and Daly (1993b) hypothesize that one goal of male-perpetrated domestic violence is control over female sexuality, including the deterrence of infidelity. According to this hypothesis, domestic violence varies with women's reproductive value or expected future reproduction, declining steeply as women age. We tested this hypothesis with a sample of 3,969 cases of male-perpetrated partner-abuse reported to a single police precinct in a large urban area over a 14-year period. Results show that (a) rates of domestic violence decrease as women age, (b) younger men are at greatest risk for perpetrating domestic violence, (c) younger, reproductive age women incur nearly 10 times the risk of domestic violence as do older, post-reproductive age women, and (d) the greater risk of domestic violence incurred by reproductive age women is not attributable solely to mateship to younger, more violent men. Discussion addresses theoretical implications of these findings and suggests a refinement of the feminist hypothesis of domestic violence against women.     

An Exploration of the Influence of Household Poverty Spells on Mortality Risk

Household poverty is dynamic and characterized in terms of spells. Exposure to poverty accumulates through the recurrence and persistence of spells, leading to divergent family adaptive strategies that contribute to mortality risk. The data set used in this study is longitudinal and contains socioeconomic and demographic data of a nationally representative sample. The findings are (a) poverty significantly increases mortality risk, controlling for age, gender, and race; (b) the first spell is especially potent, and mortality risk declines rapidly during subsequent spells; and (c) both direction and strength of these estimates are robust to marital status, but power diminishes significantly net of education and employment.