Preventing disruption of special needs adoptions

The incidence of adoption disruptions is much higher in special-needs adoptions than in infant adoptions. This article reports the results of an analysis of differences in functioning between families able to sustain special-needs placements and families in which they disrupted. The finding is that the father plays a pivotal role in maintaining these placements. If he is actively involved in parenting, and able to nurture and support the mother in her role, placements are more likely to be sustained.     

Time for a Change? Women's Accounts of the Move from Organizational Careers to Self‐Employment

This paper is based on a study of women's transition from careers within organizations into self-employment. It focuses on three key issues: the ways in which women accounted for their career transition, their decisions to opt for self-employment, and the extent to which, in telling their stories, respondents engaged with emerging career discourses. First, this paper considers recent debates within the literature on women's exit from organizations, and emerging discourses of career and self-employment, focusing on the position of women within these changing discourses. Research findings are then presented, examining three central themes: entrepreneurial orientation, dissatisfaction with the organization and balance of personal and professional life. The concluding section considers how women made sense of the web of factors involved in their career transition and reflects on whether indeed it is 'time for a change'.     

Employee involvement programs: Should unions get involved?

We test the mediated effects of participation in employee involvement (EI) programs on employee desires for union involvement in the future development and diffusion of EI and the perceived durability of an EI program as a possible moderator of these effects. Results indicate that participants developed more positive attitudes toward the EI program than nonparticipants and, in turn, these attitudes were related to higher desires for union involvement in EI. Additionally, volunteers developed more positive attitudes toward the EI program than nonvolunteers and, in turn, these attitudes were related to higher desires for union involvement in EI. However, the relationship between attitudes toward EI and desires for union involvement in EI was significantly less positive for participants who viewed the EI program as durable.     

Specifying and facilitating family involvement in services to persons with developmental disabilities

This paper recognizes the important role of family involvement in services to people with developmental disabilities. The paper presents a conceptualization of involvement that was an outcome of a qualitative study of involvement from the perspective of family members themselves. The authors identify a framework of family involvement the composition of which incorporates four system levels (i.e. the individual, program/agency, community, society) and the five role opportunities for family members (i.e. treatment agent, planner, advocate, evaluator, and consultant/educator). Barriers to involvement are then delineated and the authors autline a process for promoting family involvement: 1) contracting for involvement; 2) developing a support system for involvement; and 3) monitoring and evaluating involvement.Presented at the Fourth Annual Conference of The Michigan Chapter, National Association of Social Workers, May 14, 1988. Grand Rapids Michigan.The writing of this paper was supported in part by a research stimulation grant awarded to the authors by Wayne State University. Portions of this article are included in an extensive research report in Epstein, I and Grasso, A. Editors,Research Utilization in Social Work, Wayne State Univesity Press, in Press.     

Life Years Lost at Hazardous Waste Sites: Remediation Worker Fatalities vs. Cancer Deaths to Nearby Residents

We present a hypothetical case study using the Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) metric to compare cancer risks incurred by residents living near a Superfund site to occupational fatality risks incurred by workers employed in that site's remediation. Since cancer occurs late in life, and because we assume its mortality rate is 60%, each case results in 8.8 YPLL. Each occupational fatality, which typically occurs earlier in life, results in 38.1 YPLL. In our case study, the residential population of 5000 incurred 1.3 YPLL, compared to 5.7 YPLL incurred by the 500 workers. Several uncertain assumptions may influence our calculations; moreover, occupational risks may be viewed as more "voluntary" than risks incurred by residents. However, because the magnitude of the YPLL incurred by workers and residents may be comparable, risk managers should consider occupational risks when evaluating remedial alternatives.     

Estimating Contaminant Dose for Intermittent Dermal Contact: Model Development, Testing, and Application

Assessments of aggregate exposure to pesticides and other surface contamination in residential environments are often driven by assumptions about dermal contacts. Accurately predicting cumulative doses from realistic skin contact scenarios requires characterization of exposure scenarios, skin surface loading and unloading rates, and contaminant movement through the epidermis. In this article we (1) develop and test a finite-difference model of contaminant transport through the epidermis; (2) develop archetypal exposure scenarios based on behavioral data to estimate characteristic loading and unloading rates; and (3) quantify 24-hour accumulation below the epidermis by applying a Monte Carlo simulation of these archetypal exposure scenarios. The numerical model, called Transient Transport through the epiDERMis (TTDERM), allows us to account for variable exposure times and time between exposures, temporal and spatial variations in skin and compound properties, and uncertainty in model parameters. Using TTDERM we investigate the use of a macro-activity parameter (cumulative contact time) for predicting daily (24-hour) integrated uptake of pesticides during complex exposure scenarios. For characteristic child behaviors and hand loading and unloading rates, we find that a power law represents the relationship between cumulative contact time and cumulative mass transport through the skin. With almost no loss of reliability, this simple relationship can be used in place of the more complex micro-activity simulations that require activity data on one- to five-minute intervals. The methods developed in this study can be used to guide dermal exposure model refinements and exposure measurement study design.     

Internal Migration of Ethno‐national Minorities: The Case of Arabs in Israel

Recent scholarship emphasizes differences among ethnic groups' internal migration patterns. Yet, with few exceptions, research has focused on the Anglo‐American world, neglecting experiences from other regions. This paper is part of a larger research project that studies mobility among the Arab minority in Israel and its driving forces. In this paper we examine patterns of internal migration by analysing the propensity to migrate as well as migrants' individual and social characteristics. First, we survey the theoretical backdrop that is suggested by recent geographic literature on internal migration among ethnic and racial minorities, including native groups. Second, we contextualize the group studied, providing necessary background information on the political, socio‐economic and demographic conditions of Arabs in Israel. We briefly discuss attributes that are – or have been – potential hindering factors to Arab mobility in the Jewish state. Finally, we analyse 1995 national census data at the micro scale and provide a basis for future explanations of the phenomenon. We conclude by outlying some future directions in the study of internal migration of minorities in Israel.     

Examining the Interplay of Career,Migration and National Cultural Identity: The Case of Indian Scientists

In this paper, we examine individuals’ career migration across international borders. It is widely recognized that globalization has fundamental implications for the careers of people across geographical and cultural boundaries. However, our understanding of the interplay of migration, career development and national/cultural identities remains undeveloped within the extant literature. In this paper, we seek to offer insights into this relationship. Focusing on Indian scientists, an occupational group whose careers have long been associated with movement around the world, in this paper we examine these issues. Empirically, we examine three themes: why Indian scientists see international mobility as important in the development of their careers; continued links with India; and the interplay of national/cultural affiliation and respondents’ career experiences. In light of our findings, in the discussion section we argue that considering Indian scientists as a career diaspora highlights three important features that in the main have received only limited attention in the extant literature: career as a social form and process; the notion of the scientific career as a cultural product; and the interrelationship of career and national/cultural affiliation as ongoing facets of individuals’ identities as they develop diasporic careers.