Willingness to speak out about gay laws reform: some cause for optimism

We examined the extent to which people's private attitudes to gay law reform are influenced by the attitudes of others. Ninety-six university students were told that they were either in a minority or in a majority relative to their university group on their attitudes to gay law reform. Contrary to a number of assumptions made in the social psychological literature, participants who supported gay law reform were more prepared to act in line with their attitudes than were those who opposed gay law reform. Furthermore, anti-gay law reform participants appeared to reassess their attitudes when they were told they were in a minority; in contrast, pro-gay law reform participants were unaffected by the group norm. This suggests that anti-gay law reform attitudes are softer and more easily influenced than are pro-gay law reform attitudes. The implications of these results for activists are discussed.     

A "good death" for whom? Quality of spouse's death and psychological distress among older widowed persons

Ethicists, policy makers, and care providers are increasingly concerned with helping the dying elderly to experience a "good death." A "good death" is characterized by physical comfort, social support, acceptance, and appropriate medical care, and it should minimize psychological distress for the dying and their families. I identify the predictors of death quality and evaluate how the quality of an older adult's death affects the surviving spouse's psychological adjustment six months after the loss. Analyses use Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) data, a prospective study of married persons ages 65 and older. Positive spousal relationships during the final days increase survivors' yearning yet reduce their anger. Having a spouse die a painful death is associated with elevated anxiety, yearning, and intrusive thoughts. The perception of physician negligence is associated with elevated anger. These findings suggest that improved end-of-life care and pain management will benefit both the dying and their bereaved spouses.     

Preparing Social Work Doctoral Students for Teaching

The results of a national survey of 51 social work doctoral program directors indicate that, although the majority of doctoral programs include preparation for teaching as a program objective, they offer limited formal course work and few opportunities for supervised teaching experiences. The authors discuss the results of this survey and make recommendations for better preparing social work doctoral students for their roles as teachers.