Men and Their Father Figures: Exploring Racial and Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Outcomes

Though gender, racial, and ethnic disparities in health in the United States are well documented, it is less clear how these factors intersect to produce patterns of mental health outcomes among men. This study examined the presence of father figures in the lives of African American, Caribbean black and non-Hispanic white American males until the age of 16; assessed the current socio-demographic factors of these men as adults; and explored whether these factors lead to variations in mental health outcomes. Regression models were used to examine the correlates of socio-demographic, psychosocial, and retrospective father figure measures for depressive symptoms and non-specific psychological distress among African American (n = 999), Caribbean black (n = 506), and non-Hispanic white men (n = 193) from the National Survey of American Life. Findings revealed racial and ethnic group differences by age, employment status, education, and household income on depressive symptoms (measured using the CES-D scale) and non-specific psychological distress (using the Kessler-6 scale). Findings suggested that being raised by a grandfather placed both African American and Caribbean black men at greater risk for depressive symptoms and non-specific psychological distress under certain socio-demographic conditions. This study is unique in that it considers the influence of father figures on the mental health outcomes of adult males across three racial and ethnic groups. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for future mental health research and practice with men of color.     

Breaking the mould: new trajectories in the domiciliary care of older people in Ireland

This article reviews the development of domiciliary care services for older people in Ireland over the last decade. It reveals three central developments, namely (i) the first steps, in the Irish context, towards a quasi-market; (ii) the introduction of cash-for-care and the subsequent notable segmentation of care tasks among three provider groups; and (iii) a rapidly increasing reliance on for-profit private home care providers. The authors conclude that while the Irish social care regime is still anchored in important ways in the primacy of informal (family) care and the subsidiarity principle, it has broken path-dependency by evolving towards an increasingly complex mix of public, not-for-profit and for-profit provision and financing. The most policy-relevant aspect of this new constellation is the lack of a regulatory framework that would enable the State to monitor the multiple and diverse providers with the view to ensuring the quality of home care services.     

Japanese marketing strategies in the United Kingdom

This article is based on a study which examined hypotheses about Japanese marketing using a matched sample of British companies and their major Japanese competitors. Japanese subsidiaries in Britain were shown to be much more marketing-oriented, more responsive to strategic opportunities, and more single-minded in their pursuit of market share. Organizationally, there were few differences between the two groups. The Japanese subsidiaries, however, were more inclined to use product or market-based divisions and continuous, informal planning and control procedures. The result is that managerial focus and responsibility are centred upon overall product-market rather than financial or production performance, with continuous feedback facilitating rapid adaptation and implementation of marketing plans and strategy.     

A Preliminary Study of the Role of Attunement in Adult Psychotherapy

This paper presents the results of a preliminarystudy on the recognition of affect attunement in adultpsychotherapy. Brief extracts from six videotapedtherapy sessions were shown to experienced clinicians, who were asked to judge whether the therapistwas attuned to the client/patient or not. Clear examplesof attunement and non-attunement were obtained and thesewere then shown to a sample of postgraduate social work trainees. The trainee resultsshowed none of the consistency of the cliniciansjudgments: 67% (n = 21) were undecided about the exampleof attunement, with only 19.3% (n = 6) giving responses which corresponded with those of theclinicians. For the non-attuned extract, just over athird gave a response which coincided with theclinicians, with 42% (n = 13) undecided. The resultswere used to develop a model for future research on affectattunement, which should provide the basis for thedevelopment of strategies for teaching the attunementskills which may be required by therapists.     

Exploring the Michigan model: The relationship of personality, managerial support and organizational structure with health outcomes in entrants to the healthcare environment

Few studies have examined the role of managerial support in the adaptation of entrants to healthcare. The purpose of this study was to identify the job characteristic and role-related variables that mediate the effects of managerial support and personality on the mental and physical health and sickness absence in two independent groups of new recruits to a healthcare organization. Entrants to a healthcare environment (student nurses) were surveyed 25 weeks after entry. Latent variables represented neuroticism, demand, control, role clarity and affective outcome variables in a simplified version of the Michigan model of work stress (House, 1981). This study used a two-stage approach to structural equation modelling, exploring hypothesized structural models on an initial data set (N=195) prior to confirmation on an independent replication data set (N=239) using multi-sample methods. Finally the confirmed model of choice was evaluated using the combined data (N=434). Emotional distress reported at 6 months was found to be associated with dispositional characteristics of the entrant and indirectly, via job satisfaction, with managerial support from academic and clinical sources. Managerial support from academic and clinical sources had an indirect influence on job satisfaction, but by differing mechanisms involving role clarity and control. The demands perceived by the entrants arose from neuroticism and were independent of any other variable. Emotional distress had its deleterious association with sickness absence via somatic health. This study details a series of mechanisms that will subsequently be tested longitudinally.     

The relation of theory and method: causal relatedness,historical contingency and beyond

This paper critically scrutinizes the thesis put forward by Jennifer Platt in a recent article in The Sociological Review about the general relation between theory and method, based on her investigation of the specific example of functionalism and survey research in post-war US sociology. The present paper questions the extent to which Platt's analysis and general conclusions mask important levels of connectedness between theory and method.     

Parallel processes in researching and assessing potential carers

This paper proposes a model for assessing potential parents, based on our research and practice in which we examined current methods of assessment in the light of anti-oppressive principles and methods. We participated in and observed the work of two differing fostering and adoption agencies, and have drawn from our experiences and analysis to produce a pattern for assessment which critically draws on best practices. The paper also draws on previously published papers which discuss theories of research and assessment (Clifford 1992–93; Clifford 1994; Clifford 1995; Clifford & Cropper 1994), and draws a parallel between the processes of research and those of assessment. Our view is that research methods provide a foundation for assessment methods in various ways, mutually illuminating oppressive and anti-oppressive processes.