Summing up. Recommendations and experiences for evaluation of community-level prevention programs

This article provides recommendations and observations about evaluation of a locally based prevention project to reduce problems at a total community or aggregate level. The shift from targeting specific individuals or subpopulations to the overall structure and environment of a community is most demanding. Evaluation tools and analysis techniques have lagged behind program development because community-level interventions are not linked to a specific target group who can be separately studied. Thus assumptions about using random assignment and/or comparison communities as means to control for confounding variables are weakened when the unit of analysis is the community itself and dependent measures are subject to trending and the effects of history.     

Implementation and process evaluation of a student "school-as-community" group. A component of a school-based drug abuse prevention program

Little documentation exists regarding the functioning of formalized adolescent groups as drug abuse prevention agents. Two studies are described that were conducted at high schools whose students are at high risk for drug abuse. Twenty-one schools were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) standard care, (b) classroom drug abuse education only, or (c) classroom plus school-as-community. Results of the first study indicated that the school-as-community component--which involved weekly meetings and periodic events at seven schools--was implemented as planned, drug abused focused, and perceived as productive in discouraging drug abuse. In the second study, staff in the classroom plus school-as-community condition self-reported involvement in the greatest number of community activities across the school year, compared with staff from the other two conditions. These two studies support the feasibility of formalized groups of high-risk youth to promote drug-free events.     

Prevalence of gambling among Minnesota public school students in 1992 and 1995

The purposes of this study were to examine the prevalence of gambling among youth, compare rates of gambling between 1992 and 1995, and determine what levels of gambling frequency may be considered common and uncommon. The two samples included 122,700 Minnesota public school students in the 6th, 9th, and 12th grades in 1992; and 75,900 9th and 12th grade students in 1995. Students were administered the Minnesota Student Survey, a 126-item, anonymous, self-administered, paper-and-pencil questionnaire that inquires about multiple content domains, including gambling behaviors. The same questionnaire, with minor revisions to the gambling items, was administered in both 1992 and 1995 to students in their classrooms by the Minnesota Department of Education. There were slight decreases in overall gambling rates from 1992 to 1995. The majority of students gambled at least once during the past year. However, most did not play any game on a weekly/daily rate and did not report any problems associated with their gambling. Gender, grade, and race effects were found for gambling frequency. Boys gambled more often than girls, and 9th and 12th grade students gambled more often than 6th grade students. Asian American and White students reported lower rates of gambling frequency than Mexican/Latin American, African American, and American Indian students. From a statistical standpoint (i.e., beyond the 97.7 percentile), it may be considered in the uncommon range for girls to play two or more games at a weekly/daily rate, and for boys to play four or more games at a weekly/daily rate. Variables associated with gambling frequency included antisocial behavior, gender, and alcohol use frequency. Although the finding that gambling did not increase from 1992 to 1995 is encouraging, this is the first generation of youth to be exposed to widespread accessability to gambling venues and gambling advertising and it will be important to continue monitoring the prevalence of youth gambling.     

Partner patterns in the sexual behavior of unmarried,rural Thai men

"After a brief discussion of related studies of Thai youths' attitudes toward sexual activity, data from a 1988 national survey of young males (ages 15-24) about their family planning knowledge, attitudes, and practices are used to document the age pattern of sexual initiation, the prevalence of youths' encounters with commercial sex workers, the prevalence of their experience with non-commercial partners...and the degree to which the two patterns--commercial and noncommercial--are 'networked' because young men engage in both types of sexual activity. Finally, background characteristics of male youths that are associated with these patterns of sexual activity are examined."     

Treatment issues for survivors of physical and sexual abuse*

Many clients who participate in family therapy have experienced trauma such as physical and sexual abuse in their families of origin. Extensive literature suggests that abusive experiences can result in post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and other long-term effects. Without recognition of the effects that abuse can have on individuals, it is possible to misdiagnose clients or fail to provide them with adequate assistance. This study is an attempt to compare the symptomology of nonabused clients with physically and sexually abused clients using an empirically sound measure. The results demonstrate that the majority of clients who experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in their backgrounds scored in the clinical range on scales from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Instrument (MCMI) (Millon, 1984). In contrast, clients who did not report abuse had significantly lower scores than the abused clients, and the majority of the nonabused clients scored in the nonclinical range on the scales of the MCMI. Treatment and theoretical implications surrounding the issues of abuse are discussed, and recommendations for marriage and family therapists are provided.     

Clinical supervision: Its role in “Containing” countertransference responses to a filicidal patient

This paper illustrates the role of supervision in processing countertransference responses with might have disrupted the therapist's empathy with a patient who had killed her child. The clinical material demonstrates how the therapist's responses of initial denial and subsequent disgust and fear were dealt with in supervision. As a result, the treatment process led to genuine, albeit limited, therapeutic change in a patient with severe character pathology.This paper is developed from a presentation of the case of Mrs. Jay at Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, on May 2, 1989.     

Net worth and the economic diversity of the elderly

Using data from the 1984 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this article examines characteristics of the older population disaggregated by net-worth quintiles. The authors argue that income is not a sufficient measure of economic status for current policy discussions on issues such as changing Medicare co-payments, increasing the taxation of social security benefits, or means-testing under Medicaid. Net worth is a better measure of economic status, particularly for the elderly, because it represents the net value of assets accumulated over the life course. Their results indicate that there is considerable diversity in the economic status of the older population, which is masked by aggregate statistics (such as means and medians) typically used to summarize the economic status of population groups. Stereotypical views of the elderly based on such aggregates result in misdirected policy formulation. In the future, policymakers will need to formulate policies and programs using information on the distributions of income and assets among the older populations rather than relying on statistical aggregates.     

Financial management: Development of scales

This study is a contribution to the development of family resource management scales, specifically financial management scales. Principal axis factor analysis, with varimax rotation, is used to assess underlying relationships in 23 family resource management variables related to time and money resources. Reliability and content, construct, and criterion-related validity of the scales are assessed. Two scales that are reliable and have some degree of validity are developed: frequency of financial problems and frequency of financial management. The scales could be used in future research, teaching, or counseling to organize financial management concepts.Preparation of this research was supported in part by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. Data were collected in conjunction with the cooperative regional research project NC-182, Family Resource Utilization as a Factor in Determining Economic Well-Being of Rural Families. Cooperating states are Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Minnesota.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois; her current research interests include gender roles, family financial management, and economic well-being.Her current research interests include family financial management and consumer bankruptcy. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.Her current research interests include the economic well-being of various family forms. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Her research interests are economic well-being and quality of life.     

Factors associated with expectation of household's future financial condition

Path analysis is used to examine the causal relationships among selected objective and subjective factors associated with a household's expectation of future financial condition. Results indicate that respondents who perceive the effect of changes in the external environment on their own household's financial condition as positive are younger, have higher net worth, perceive more internal control over their situation, and report that most of the changes in the external environment are positive. Respondents who are younger, have higher income, perceive more internal control over their situation, and believe the effect of changes in the external environment on their household's financial condition are positive are more likely to be optimistic about their financial future. It is important that educators and financial advisors recognize the significant role perception of being in control plays in determining expectations of future financial condition.Journal Paper No. J-15256 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Project No. 2809. Data were collected in conjunction with the cooperative regional research project NC-182, Family Resource Utilization as a Factor in Determining Economic Well-Being of Rural Families. Cooperating states are Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Minnesota.Her current research interests include family financial management and consumer bankruptcy; she received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois; her current research interests include gender roles, family financial management, and economic well-being.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Her research interests are economic well-being and quality of life.Her current research interests include the economic well-being of various family forms. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.     

A guide to journal articles on strategic management in nonprofit organizations, 1977 to 1992

This article is a guide to over a hundred journal articles on strategic management in nonprofit organizations, published from 1977 to 1992 in nineteen leading general management or nonprofit journals. The guide provides brief summaries of articles, organized into widely accepted strategic management topic areas and research categories. The article indicates areas where substantial foundations of knowledge exist and where such bases are lacking. It distinguishes between works on general nonprofit management and those on empirical research.