Predicting State Investment in Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services, 2000–2011

Although state use of Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) to provide long-term services and supports to older adults and individuals with physical disabilities continues to increase, progress is uneven across states. We used generalized linear models to examine state factors associated with increased allocation of Medicaid dollars to HCBS for the period 2000 to 2011. We observed enhanced growth in states that began the period with limited investment in HCBS, as reflected in significant year trends among these states. The political environment appeared to be an important influence on states’ investment for states with limited initial allocation to HCBS, as was housing affordability, a policy amenable variable. There continues to be wide variation in states’ relative investment, calling for additional policy attention and research.     

PIERRE BOURDIEU AND THE PERILS OF ALLODOXIA : NATIONALISM,GLOBALISM AND THE GEOPOLITICS OF INTELLECTUAL EXCHANGE

Working outward from the issues raised by Bourdieu in his essay ‘Passport to Duke’, the tension is explored between, on the one hand, the participation of intellectuals in a putatively public sphere of mutually respectful, transnational exchange and, on the other hand, the pull of those territorialized, nationalistic contexts in which intellectuals find themselves compelled to give concrete articulation to their professional desires for autonomy and solidarity. In the process, the paper touches on some of the ways in which Bourdieu's work - and Bourdieu's legacy - can help us cope more effectively with the confusions of a period in which, in an often overwhelming fashion, we are confronted with cultural challenges that arise out of the asymmetrical relations that inform the global interactions of nation-states. Crucial to my argument is Bourdieu's tendency, at various points in his final years, to speak of allodoxia where he might previously have spoken of misrecognition. By thus shifting attention toward the categorical mistakes that arise in the course of the movement from one national field to another - from one territorially-bounded framework of opinion and custom to another - Bourdieu, it is argued, elevates the problematic of misrecognition to a global level.     

Culpability Attributions towards Juvenile Female Prostitutes

This study addresses a gap in the research literature concerning predictors of culpability attributions towards juvenile female prostitutes (JFPs). Three hundred undergraduate participants read a vignette describing a JFP and responded to a series of measures. Results supported a causal pathway whereby stronger perceiver sexism predicted stronger negative affective evaluations of, and weaker empathic reactions toward, the JFP. Stronger negative affective evaluations and weaker empathic reactions, in turn, predicted stronger culpability attributions toward the JFP. Also, participants who were provided information about the JFP's extensive victimisation history and coercion into the trade, relative to participants who were not provided this information, attributed lesser culpability to the JFP. Finally, stronger culpability attributions toward the JFP related to weaker recommendations of restorative justice (i.e. counselling/mental health services for the JFP) and stronger recommendations of retributive justice (i.e. incarceration for the JFP). Study implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Key Practitioner Message

• Stronger perceiver sexism predicts stronger negative evaluations of, and weaker empathic reactions towards a juvenile female “prostitute.”
• Stronger negative evaluations of, and weaker empathic reactions towards a girl in the sex trade in turn predict stronger culpability attributions towards her.
• Provision of information about a prostituted youth's victimisation history and coercion into prostitution mitigates culpability attributions toward her.
• Public education that highlights juvenile prostitution as a form of child sexual exploitation may be critically important to minimising punitive social cognitions about survivors of the commercial sex trade.

     

Improving Graduation Rates in Drug Court Through Employment and Schooling Opportunities and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)

ABSTRACT

Drug courts have been a key part of the criminal justice system since 1989, and this study contributes to the existing body of research by identifying which participants (n = 248) were most likely to graduate from a drug court in Indiana (United States). Three variables emerged as significant predictors of graduation. First, participants who were employed or were students at the time of admission were nearly 2.5 times more likely to graduate than participants who were not. Second, participants who were using opiates as their primary drug of choice were over 80% less likely to graduate than participants who were using non-opiates as their primary drug of choice. Third, participants who had violations in the first 30 days of the program were nearly 50% less likely to graduate than participants who did not violate in the first 30 days. Offering medication-assisted treatment (MAT), such as methadone, Suboxone, or Vivitrol, to participants who have an opiate use disorder may improve graduation rates for this population. Additionally, graduation rates may also improve by offering more resources to assist participants in gaining and maintaining employment or schooling, and this seems to be especially important within the first month of the program.     

Small sample size comparisons of tests for homogeneity of variances by Monte-Carlo

A number of tests are available for testing the equality of several population variances. Some are claimed to be robust. We compared six of those claimed robust procedures by Monte Carlo simulated experiments, particularly for cases of small and unequal sample sizes. Our results show that the jack-knife test compares favorably with the other tests.     

Jackknifing the kaplan-meier survival estimator for censored data: Simulation results and asymptotic analysis

It is shown by simulation t h a t the (arc-sine transformation of the) Kaplan-Meier survival estimator for censored data can be usefully jackknifed to give conservative confidence limits for survival probabilities when samples are small (25 and 50). Mathematical demonstration of the asymptotic, large-sample, validity of the jackknife is included.     

Asymptotic test statistics for coefficients of variation

A one-sample asymptotically normal test statistic Is derived for testing the hypothesis that the coefficient of variation of a normal population is equal to a specified value. Based on this derivation, an asymptotically noraml two-sample test statistic and an asymptotically chi-square k-sample test statistic are derived for testing the hypothesis that the coefficients of variation of k ≥2 normal populations are equal. The two and k-sample test statistics allow for unequal sample sizes. Results of a simulation study which evaluate the size and power of the test statistics and compare the test statistics to earlier ones developed by McKay (1932) and Bennett (1976) are presented.     

Gatekeeping Policies: Terminating Students for Nonacademic Reasons

Abstract

This article reports findings from a national survey of MSW programs on the situations or behaviors that led them to develop or consider developing policies for nonacademic-based student terminations. The authors describe the most common behaviors reported, analyze the policy and procedure documents submitted by the MSW programs, and make recommendations based on their analyses.     

Professional Socialization: A Bridge Between the Explicit and Implicit Curricula

Professional socialization has become a notable construct for social work with the publication of the Council on Social Work Education's (2008) revised Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Though historically regarded as essential, little is known about the professional socialization of social workers. This article presents professional socialization as a key element that bridges the explicit and implicit curricula. Results from this study provide empirical support for a theoretical framework of the professional socialization of social workers with a particular focus on factors that predict professional socialization, which is defined as a multidimensional, temporal construct beginning before formal education and continuing after it, with values, attitudes, and professional identity as outcomes. Implications for social work education, development of systematic research in this area, and recruitment and retention are discussed.