Mexican American women: impact of culture and education on work patterns

The lives of women of Mexican descent are being profoundly affected by their changing workforce participation. They are expected to make up the majority of the female workforce in service occupations by 2010. Based on the literature and personal clinical interactions two factors -- cultural values and education attainment -- consistently appear to have a strong impact on the occupational choices of Mexican American women. This article will explore the interdependence of work, culture, and education on women of Mexican origin.     

Pax Americana? Accent attitudinal evaluations in New Zealand,Australia and America

This study describes a series of evaluations of gender pairs of New Zealand English, Australian English, American English and RP-type English English voices by over 400 students in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.A. Voices were chosen to represent the middle range of each accent, and balanced for paralinguistic features. Twenty-two personality and demographic traits were evaluated by Likert-scale questionnaires. Results indicated that the American female voice was rated most favourably on at least some traits by students of all three nationalities, followed by the American male. For most traits, Australian students generally ranked their own accents in third or fourth place, but New Zealanders put the female NZE voice in the mid-low range of all but solidarity-associated traits. All three groups disliked the NZE male. The RP voices did not receive the higher rankings in power/status variables we expected. The New Zealand evaluations downgrade their own accent vis-a`-vis the American and to some extent the RP voices. Overall, the American accent seems well on the way to equalling or even replacing RP as the prestige—or at least preferred—variety, not only in New Zealand but in Australia and some non-English-speaking nations as well. Preliminary analysis of data from Europe suggests this manifestation of linguistic hegemony as 'Pax Americana' seems to be prevalent over more than just the Anglophone nations.     

A Note on the Growth of Research in Service Operations Management

We present an empirical assessment of the productivity of individuals and institutions in terms of service operations management (SOM) research. We reviewed five mainstream operations management journals over a 17‐year time period to generate a sample of 463 articles related to service operations. The results indicate that SOM research has been growing and key contributions are being made by an array of researchers and institutions.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Mothers of children in foster care

This article introduces the special issue of Children and Youth Services Review devoted to single mothers with children in foster care. It delineates the policy context in which mothers are operating; examines reasons for mothers' temporary loss of custody of their children, a loss that occurs when their children are placed in foster care; presents expectations of mothers once they enter the public child welfare system; and summarizes empirical and theoretical papers included in the volume intended to advance policy and practice for this population. Taken together, these papers reflect one over-arching theme—the need to re-orient child welfare policy and practice so that the rehabilitation, health, and well-being of mothers is one of the central aims.     

When urban policy becomes labor policy: State structures,local initiatives,and union representation at the turn of the century

Theory and Society -     

Effects of Structuring on Students' Perceptions of Career Counseling

This study examines the effects of the use of structuring on participants' impressions of a counselor during an initial career counseling session. A total of 232 undergraduate students viewed a videotape of an initial career counseling session. Both groups observed the identical tape with the exception that one group was additionally shown a brief structuring segment. The 2 groups were compared across the variables of attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness as measured by the Counselor Rating Form. The participants were also asked to rate their willingness to see a counselor about a career issue before and after viewing the videotape. Significant differences were found across the dependent measures. Implications of the findings for counselors are discussed.     

Housing and Mental Health: A Review of the Evidence and a Methodological and Conceptual Critique

Despite the fact that people invest more financial, temporal, and psychological resources in their homes than in any other material entity, research on housing and mental health is remarkably underdeveloped. We critically review existing research on housing and mental health, considering housing type (e.g., single-family detached versus multiple dwelling), floor level, and housing quality (e.g., structural damage). We then discuss methodological and conceptual shortcomings of this literature and provide a theoretical framework for future research on housing quality and mental health .