American Roulette: The Effect of Reminders of Death on Support for George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential Election

An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of a subtle reminder of death on voting intentions for the 2004 U.S. presidential election. On the basis of terror management theory and previous research, we hypothesized that a mortality salience induction would increase support for President George W. Bush and decrease support for Senator John Kerry. In late September 2004, following a mortality salience or control induction, registered voters were asked which candidate they intended to vote for. In accord with predictions, Senator John Kerry received substantially more votes than George Bush in the control condition, but Bush was favored over Kerry following a reminder of death, suggesting that President Bush's re-election may have been facilitated by nonconscious concerns about mortality in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.     

Family Resilience Predicts Socioeconomic Mobility of HUD Participants

Changing economic times and government policies are reshaping the way the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides services nationwide; there is both a growing demand for housing and a desire to help families become self-sufficient. In this study, the authors examined factors that contribute to increased socioeconomic mobility through the lens of family resilience. Analyzing cross-sectional data from 411 families in the San Bernardino County HUD District using discriminant function analysis, results of this study show strong preliminary evidence that certain components of family resilience predict whether an individual head of household will have full-time employment. The results of this study provide implications for social service programs aimed at socioeconomic mobility.     

Preparing Social Workers for Child Welfare Practice: An Innovative University–Agency Learning Collaborative

This paper describes the evolution of a university–community child welfare learning collaborative based on an adaptation of the teaching hospital concept. This partnership between an agency providing a range of child and family welfare services and two university units, the school of social work and outreach, was intended to accomplish multiple agency, university and community goals: implement best practices in the agency, enhance social work education, increase staff resources in child welfare, influence public policy, and improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system. The major strategy was ‘Grand Rounds’ modeled after the system used to train medical students through multiple transactions with experts in a clinical setting. The first year was very successful, with students, agency staff and faculty giving the sessions high ratings in content, quality and utility. One key to the success of the initiative was that it was an agency‐driven process and was based on working relationships of mutual respect and trust. Building such relationships takes both time and effort. Future challenges will include garnering the resources, both human and financial, to sustain the collaboration over time.     

Multivariate nonparametric methods in two-way balanced designs: performances and limitations in small samples

Investigations of multivariate population are pretty common in applied researches, and the two-way crossed factorial design is a common design used at the exploratory phase in industrial applications. When assumptions such as multivariate normality and covariance homogeneity are violated, the conventional wisdom is to resort to nonparametric tests for hypotheses testing. In this paper we compare the performances, and in particular the power, of some nonparametric and semi-parametric methods that have been developed in recent years. Specifically, we examined resampling methods and robust versions of classical multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests. In a simulation study, we generate data sets with different configurations of factor''s effect, number of replicates, number of response variables under null hypothesis, and number of response variables under alternative hypothesis. The objective is to elicit practical advice and guides to practitioners regarding the sensitivity of the tests in the various configurations, the tradeoff between power and type I error, the strategic impact of increasing number of response variables, and the favourable performance of one test when the alternative is sparse. A real case study from an industrial engineering experiment in thermoformed packaging production is used to compare and illustrate the application of the various methods.     

‘If I was a different ethnicity,would she treat me the same?’: Latino parents’ experiences obtaining autism services

This article reports on an ethnographic study with 12 Latino families of children on the autism spectrum related to obtaining autism services in Los Angeles County. Using critical discourse analysis of interviews, observations, and records, we consider the experiences of the Latino families in relation to: a discursively constructed ‘autism parent’ subject position that mandates ‘fighting’ service systems to ‘win’ autism services for children, originating from White middle-class parents’ socioeconomic resources and social capital; a neoliberal social services climate that assumes scarcity of available resources and prioritizes austerity in their authorization; and a media and institutional ‘cultural deficit’ discourse that attributes disparities in autism services for Latino children to their parents’ presumed culturally-based ‘passivity.’ We argue that parental discourse about fighting, or not fighting, for autism services is engendered by a tension between a parental logic of care, and the logic of competition of the economic market.     

Too Many Rationales,Not Enough Reason: A Call to Examine the Goals of Including Lay Members on Institutional Review Boards

Every major U.S. commission appointed to review Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) as well as numerous reports and scholarly articles have recommended increasing the number of lay (nonscientist and unaffiliated) members on IRBs. Meanwhile, qualitative studies have shown that lay IRB members experience confusion about their roles, including ambiguity whether their roles are different from other members of the board. Without articulating the unique reasons why unaffiliated and nonscientist members are needed, IRBs have little guidance on how to recruit and train these members, and how many should be at the table. By looking back through the history of IRB regulations, policies, and commentaries we can articulate unique contributions these members can make. Only with these contributions in mind can we make arguments for how to best achieve them and make the case that increasing their numbers is necessary.     

Bayes two-decision procedures for two-sample problems and rank-order data

A two-sample problem for rank-order data is formulated as a two-decision problem. Using the general Bayes solution, Bayes procedures are derived for several configurations of the set of states of nature including some for which the problem is distribution-free. It is shown that for certain prior distributions these procedures reduce to classical LMP rank tests. Some devices for selection of prior distributions are suggested. It is shown that the Bayes risk of these procedures tends to zero as sample sizes increase.     

An approximation to the distribution of the sample variance

A simple three-moment approximation is introduced for the distribution of the sample variance. Comparisons are given with other approximations discussed by Tan and Wong (1977) and with an approximation developed very recently by Mudholkar and Trivedi (1981).     

Treatment of narcissistic and borderline disorders in marital therapy: Suggestions toward an enhanced therapeutic approach

This paper examines a psychodynamic model of marital therapy that has been found to be useful when one or both partners suffer from disorders of the self. The theories of Heinz Kohut and recent self psychologists give insight into ways of understanding and treating each partner's narcissistic vulnerabilities. Some specific aspects of borderline and narcissistic disorders are described and discussed within the context of a marital relationship. This method of marital therapy not only helps couples to learn how to be selfobjects for each other, but also may facilitate rebuilding of damaged structures of the self. A case example is provided along with a discussion of why certain specific therapeutic interventions were made.I have no hesitation in claiming that there is no mature love in which the love object is not also a selfobject. Or, to put this depth-psychological formulation into a psychosocial context: There is no love relationship without mutual, self-esteem enhancing, mirroring and idealization (Kohut, 1977, p. 122).     

Differentiation of the Self and Posttraumatic Symptomatology Among ex-POWs and Their Wives

War captivity is a highly traumatic experience which sometimes has deleterious effects on both ex-POWs and their wives. This study examined the relationships between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and differentiation among male ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs; n  = 103), their wives ( n  = 82), and comparable controls. Results show that ex-POWs and their wives endorsed more PTSD symptoms than controls. Ex-POWs endorsed more cut-off and fusion than controls, while their wives endorsed only more fusion than control wives. Finally, the relationship between differentiation and PTSD was found to be stronger among ex-POW couples than among control couples. The unique characteristics of war captivity and the relationships between avoidance symptoms and cut-off were suggested as possible explanations .