Screening for Alcohol Problems Among 4-Year Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Objective: To assess the use of alcohol screening tools across US colleges. Participants: Directors of health services at 333 four-year colleges. Methods: An online survey was conducted regarding the use of alcohol screening tools. Schools reporting use of formal tools were further described in terms of 4 tools (AUDIT, CUGE, CAPS, and RAPS) that the authors judged to be the most favorable based on prior empirical comparative studies. Results: Forty-four percent of colleges reported use of at least 1 formal alcohol screening tool and nearly all of these used a tool appropriate for college students. However, less than half of the 44% of colleges that used a screening tool used 1 of the 4 most favorable tools. Conclusions: Continued efforts are needed to encourage colleges to use the most effective available screening tools to identify alcohol-related problems that require intervention among students.     

The Social Vulnerability Scale for Older Adults: An Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analytic Study

The Social Vulnerability Scale (SVS), a 22-item informant report of vulnerability to exploitation and, in particular, financial exploitation of older adults, was administered to 266 respondents who assessed the social vulnerability of a significant other aged 50 years or over, either a person with dementia or other neurological condition (n?=?116), or a healthy adult (n?=?150). Exploratory factor analysis in the combined sample revealed a 15-item two-factor solution labeled gullibility and credulity. Stability in factor structure was established in an independent sample (n?=?123) using confirmatory factor analysis, and sound reliability (internal consistency) and validity (known-groups) were demonstrated. The SVS15 is a potentially useful instrument for assessing older adults' vulnerability to exploitation.     

Workplace flexibility: a model of change

The inception of When Work Works – a theoretical- and research-based model of change in promoting effective and flexible workplaces – dates back to the confluence of a number of factors in the early 1990s. One decade later, this ‘perfect storm’ of factors led to the creation of When Work Works, and two decades later, to this critical assessment of the foundation for and results of this model of change. When Work Works has used partnerships with nationwide business organizations with community chapters in combination with media coverage, educational events, the creation of tools and materials and grassroots methods to communicate well-researched information to employers that show workplace flexibility is not just a favor or perk for employees but can be a powerful strategy for promoting better outcomes for both employers and employees. The program has been responsible for implementing a rigorous award and providing numerous community-based recognition and educational events on workplace effectiveness and flexibility around the country and for assisting many employers to effectively create more flexible and effective workplaces. When Work Works has been designed around eight key principles for creating change on a national level. This paper presents the context in which When Work Works evolved, a detailed discussion of the eight principles of Families and Work Institute's model of change, its results and lessons other organizations may wish to apply in their own change initiatives.     

An Institution Defended: Slavery and the English Invasions of Buenos Aires in 1806–1807

In 1807, in anticipation of a renewed British attack on Buenos Aires, the local authorities turned to slaves to supplement their military forces. It was an unexpected choice in view of fears raised in recent years by the growing number of slaves in the region, the Haitian Revolution and local threats involving the black population. Indeed, the process of recruitment was surrounded by reservations and limitations with nothing being offered to the slaves. Nevertheless, they proved willing recruits, in part because of a commitment to king, religion and patria, in part because the British had offered them nothing when they had held Buenos Aires briefly in 1806. But the reservations about the slaves continued even after the successful defence of the city, as only a handful of those who fought were rewarded with their freedom. The events indicate the state of race relations in the Río de la Plata in the period immediately before the independence struggles, and that while the slaves' military contribution in 1807 may have eased racial fears to some extent, it did not produce any significant abolitionist feelings.     

A Social Relations Analysis of Children's Trust in Their Peers across the Early Years of School

Two hundred and five (103 female and 102 male) children enrolled in school years 1 and 2 in the UK (mean age 6 years 1 month at Time 1) were tested twice over a 1‐year period. The children reported the promise keeping and secret keeping behaviours of classmates (all peers and same‐gender peers) and provided friendship nominations (Time 2 only). Round robin social relations analyses for all peers and same‐gender peers revealed: (1) perceiver variance, demonstrating consistent individual differences in trust beliefs in peers; (2) target variance, demonstrating consistent individual differences in eliciting trust from peers; and, (3) dyadic reciprocity, demonstrating reciprocal trust between individuals. Replicability across measures, stability, and cross‐measure stability of these effects were found for all peers only. As hypothesized, the perceiver and target effects of trust were associated with the number of friendships. The findings support the conclusion that young children demonstrate multiple components of trust in dyadic relationships, which are associated with their social relationships.     

Parenting,Uncertainty, and Expert Advice: How Privileged American Families Work with Private Counselors in Their Children's College Race

This article uses privileged families who hire Independent Educational Consultants (IECs) as an instance to examine how privileged parents collaborate with individuals whom they consider educational experts to support their children in the college race. We argue that advantaged parents' anxieties about their children have created a market for IECs who provide expert advice in order to mitigate the uncertainties that these parents experience and to manage various goals that they want to achieve at an important turning point in their children's lives. Drawing primarily on interviews with parents who work with IECs, we introduce the concept of “collaborative cultivation” to analyze the processes whereby advantaged parents rely on the expertise and expert status of private counselors to cope with their and their children's vulnerability in the college race while at the same time preparing their children for the unknown future. The parental method of “concerted cultivation” reveals how elite parents rely on individuals they perceive as experts to establish “bridges” between their own social worlds and the academic worlds that appear to beyond their control. This bridging labor points to the myriad cultural beliefs enacted to justify the child‐rearing goals that privileged parents wish to accomplish by working with IECs.     

Grant monitoring by charities: The process of grant-making and evaluation

This article presents the results of a survey of grant monitoring in 170 UK charities. The monitoring and evaluation process is modelled and the extent to which donors follow this is explored. Although over 70 per cent of donors monitored grants, a much smaller percentage proceeded to evaluate results. Reasons for this and an indication of how the processes are carried out are presented.     

‘We've Got One of Those’: The Peripheral Status of Women in Male Dominated Industries

This article uses evidence from 269 interviews in five companies to consider whether (i) equal opportunity laws, policies and practices, (ii) more women gaining post-entry professional qualifications, establishing themselves on the lower rungs of hitherto male careers, and working full-time, combined with (iii) projected skill shortages, are likely to break down gender segmentation and lead to greater equality in employment during the 1990s. The evidence suggests that even females who start strongly and appear potential high-fliers are still being obstructed by harsh, in some respects, and in other ways patronizing, workplace cultures, coupled with demands for career commitment that are incompatible with the domestic responsibilities which it is assumed women will adopt, and which the majority are in fact still adopting at least at certain stages during their working lives. The effects in the companies studied were to deflect women out of mainstream careers into peripheral occupations, or into peripheral jobs within skilled mainstream occupations. In these companies neither the men nor the exceptional women who were succeeding appeared a likely source of pressure for change, and male domination remained fully compatible with the firms' preferred skill formation strategies.