Identification and Integration of Career Theory: Students’ Perspectives on the Process

In many counseling programs, while students are learning about career theory, they may be tasked in a separate course with identifying a theoretical approach to counseling. This may result in a dichotomous situation in which students lack an understanding of the relationship between career theory and counseling theory. Career counselors have long recognized the artificial distinction between career counseling and general counseling. However, counselor education programs generally lag, and there is a dearth of literature regarding the process of identifying and integrating career theory and counseling theory. This phenomenological study examined 6 students’ perceptions of the process of career theory identification and integration. Analysis of in‐depth interviews yielded 5 major themes: theory identification and integration, perceptions of career counseling, resources, personal dimensions, and application across the life span. Findings of this study have the potential to inform counselor education pedagogy regarding career theory identification and its application to the counseling context.     

Black Interactionist Thought and the Lived-Experience Approach to Symbolic Interactionism

Du Bois is often regarded as an important scholar for his contributions to the development of sociology. However, less is known about his work in developing interactionist thought. This essay is an introduction to this special issue, and a small attempt to acknowledge the work of scholars of color within the interactionist tradition. The Du Bosian approach to sociology has for too long been dismissed out of hand. Scholars pursuing new areas of inquiry, topics outside the bounds of “mainstream sociology,” are often met with fierce resistance—even today. Instead of building these scholars up, through mentorship and aid, so-called “accomplished” scholars see fit to tear down the work of those not like them. The Du Bosian perspective celebrates the plurality of voices, advocates for mentorship, and sees sociological inquiry as rooted in the real needs and concerns of those so marginalized. As this collection of articles illustrates, even when conforming to scientific standards work in this tradition has a political dimension as it lays bare the inequities in society—even, at times, drawing government interference with their work. This issue also calls upon professional sociologists to reflect on the ways they reproduce these patterns within the discipline and higher education.     

Family Members' Reports of Non-Staff Abuse in Michigan Nursing Homes

Recent research showed that mistreatment of nursing home residents by other residents may be highly prevalent. The present study examined the issue from family members' perspectives. The data came from the 2005 and 2007 random-digit dial telephone surveys of Michigan households with a family member in long-term care. Based on family members' reports, about 10% of nursing home residents aged 60 and over were abused by non-staff in nursing homes (e.g., other residents and visitors) during the past 12 months. Family members were more likely to report non-staff abuse when the nursing home residents were younger, were female, had behavior problems, and had greater level of physical functioning. Family members who reported staff abuse were four times more likely to also report non-staff abuse.     

Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward Professional Mental Health Treatment: The Mediating Effect of Stigma

Stigma associated with mental illness continues to be a pervasive barrier to mental health treatment, leading to negative attitudes about treatment and deterring appropriate care seeking. Empirical research suggests that the stigma of mental illness may exert an adverse influence on attitudes toward mental health treatment and service utilization patterns by individuals with a mental illness, particularly African Americans. However, little research has examined the impact of stigma on racial differences in attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment. This study examined the hypothesis that stigma partially mediates the relationship between race and attitudes towards mental health treatment in a community-based sample of 101 African American and White older adults. Multiple regression analyses and classic path analysis was utilized to test the partial mediation model. Controlling for socio-demographic factors, African American older adults were more likely to have negative attitudes toward mental health treatment, and they also reported more public and internalized stigma than their White counterparts. As hypothesized, the relationship between race and attitudes toward mental health treatment was partially mediated by internalized stigma, suggesting that internalized stigma may cause older adults to develop negative attitudes about mental health treatment. The partial mediation model was not significant for public stigma, however. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.     

Local Solutions to Inequality: Steps Toward Fostering a Progressive Social Movement

Over the past four decades, inequality of income, wealth, and power have become increasingly extreme in the United States. The triumph of a neoliberal agenda to reduce taxes, deregulate the economy, and promote international trade has undermined the economic status of the middle class, increased poverty, and led to a concentration of wealth. This nation has gone through such periods before, followed by progressive movements that have realigned economic and political forces. I argue that we may be at a point where a new progressive social movement is about to emerge and I point out several areas where rural sociologists are working, such as local food systems, that reflect a reorientation of social values supporting such a movement. Promoting local food systems and similar locality‐based enterprises can foster economic relationships embedded in multistranded social relationships and contribute to progressive change through reducing the central role of large corporations in our daily lives. Building on Busch's (1999) concept of Leviathan, I identify the roles of researchers and community activists in which rural sociologists can work to democratize social, economic, and political relationships in society.     

The Impact of Gaming on the Indian Nations in New Mexico*

Objective. This study examines the economic and social impact of Indian gaming on the residents of the 22 pueblos and tribes in New Mexico. Method. We employ a naturally occurring quasi‐experimental design that classifies each of the Indian Nations into one of two groups, gaming and nongaming, depending on the continuous operation of a “Las Vegas” style casino for multiple years in the 1990s. For these two groups we compare aggregate, primarily U.S. Census, data spanning 25 indicators in both 1990 and 2000. Results. Although improvements were evident for both groups, nine of the 12 economic measures and six of the 13 social measures revealed a growing disparity favoring gaming nations during the 1990s, while six other measures suggested declining but continuing differences. These findings persisted in light of controls for population and urbanization, though many of the economic differences disappeared for the rural nations. Conclusion. Gaming has had a positive economic and social impact on the gaming pueblos and tribes in New Mexico, especially for the more urbanized nations. The gaming nations are enjoying higher incomes, lower levels of poverty, and improvements in selected social areas compared to those nations opting not to pursue casino gaming in the 1990s.     

Trade Linkages in Shrimp Exports: Japan,Thailand and Vietnam

Considerable attention has been devoted to the social and environmental consequences of shrimp farming in the tropics, but relatively little has been given to the relationships involved in international trade in processed shrimp. Based on extensive field research, this article addresses this gap in the literature by examining the nature of the linkages between Japan, a major importer, and two major exporting countries, Thailand and Vietnam, underlying which are informal agreements rather than formal contractual relationships. It examines the rationale and operation of such informal agreements in the context of a dynamic market characterised by an international division of labour between Thailand (with an advanced food products industry) and Vietnam (just emerging into the world market).