The Farm Crisis and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Study of the 1980s1

Abstract This paper examines rural/urban differences and trends in mental health during the farm crisis of the 1980s in a large panel sample from a midwestern state. A community research perspective, which attributes differences to life styles, culture, and community context, is contrasted with an economic stress perspective, which focuses on individual differences in economic circumstances as determinants of rural-urban differences in mental health. Survey samples from 1981, 1986, and 1989 are used to examine differences among seven categories of community type. Multiple regression analysis of the trend and panel data provide support for both the individual economic distress and community context models.     

Evaluation of an educational intervention upon knowledge, attitudes, and behavior concerning drinking/drugged driving.

The Contra Costa County educational program for juveniles found guilty of driving under the influence (DUI) was evaluated. Over 600 juveniles convicted of DUI from 1983 to 1988 formed the study group for this research and of these over 100 participated in the educational program. Assessment of program participants was conducted for knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Participants demonstrated increased knowledge, stronger attitudes against driving under the influence, and less risky alcohol and automobile related behaviors. County juvenile records analyzed by the logit procedure showed that class participants had a significantly lower number of repeat offenses compared to non-program participants that could not be explained by race, offense severity, age or gender.     

Cognitive-behavioral-expressive interventions with aggressive and resistant youths.

Research into the nature of aggressive behavior in youths has demonstrated that these youths are often the victims of abuse, exhibit aggressive behavior in early childhood, and remain aggressive into young adulthood. The treatment approach described in this article is a modification of Monahan's [1981] model of the prediction of violent behavior and the anger-management approach of Novaco [1985], and integrates the developmental models of Piaget [1963] and Erikson [1959]. The program is a combination of cognitive, behavioral, and expressive therapies and is targeted to the reduction of dysfunctional cognitive, affective, behavioral, and problem-solving patterns of aggressive youths. As referrals of such aggressive clients are often involuntary, interventions with unwilling and resistant clients are also presented.     

THE ARTICULATION OF WORK THROUGH INTERACTION

This paper offers a set of related concepts for analyzing the interactional mechanics of how work is carried out in organizations, and for analyzing the structural/organizational conditions that bear upon work performance. Our analytic discussion centers around four main concepts: (a) articulation, (b) arrangements, (c) the process of working things out, and (d) stance. These concepts directly connect interaction to work and explain why work performance often bogs down and breaks down.     

School governing bodies: Reshaping education in their own image?

Recent educational reforms in England have given considerable responsibilities for the overall administration of schools to governing bodies largely comprised of lay people. The paper explores the knowledge of education possessed by lay governors. Issues considered include: the systematicity of that knowledge; its possible sources, and how gender, ethnicity and social class influence the knowledge held and used by governors. Also examined are the question of whether governors are always knowledgeable actors within the context of education and the implications of this for schools and democratic participation in their governance. Data is derived from a four year qualitative multi-site case study of ten school governing bodies in two English local education authorities undertaken by the authors between 1988 and 1992.     

Informal Work in Nonmetropolitan Pennsylvania1

Abstract It is well recognized that the informal economy—unregulated economic activities that generate real or in-kind income—features prominently in the day-to-day lives of many in the developing world. Researchers have begun to explore the informal economy in developed countries but this work has focussed primarily on urban areas to the neglect of rural areas. In this paper the nature and correlates of informal work in nonmetropolitan Pennsylvania are described through an analysis of survey data on 505 families. Results indicate that participation in informal activities is widespread, is not more typical of the poor, does not contribute greatly to family income on average but does help many poor families weather difficult economic times, is both economically and noneconomically motivated, and, net of other sociodemographic variables, is positively related to rurality of residence and formal labor supply.     

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND THE IRISH QUESTION:

This article builds on theoretical work in the social movements literature that uses "master frames" (Snow and Benford 1992) to account for the cyclical clustering of social movement activity within certain historical periods. I identify "master frame alignment" as the dynamic process by which social movement actors rhetorically transform the master frames within a cycle of protest to make them resonate more clearly with a movement's unique social and historical situation. Just as frame alignment processes serve to link a movement organization's activities, goals, and ideology with those of a potential group of adherents, master frame alignment processes link the activities, goals, and ideology of a movement organization with those espoused within the broader symbolic atmosphere of the social movement. I present historical data from Irish newspapers and political documents to show how the Irish Sinn Féin movement, seeking self-determination during the early twentieth century, rhetorically reconstructed the master frames generated by the League of Nations in order to better exploit this particular window of political opportunity.     

Erroneous perceptions and arousal among regular and occasional video poker players

This study investigated the relationship between the level of arousal (Heart Rate) and the number of erroneous perceptions among video poker players. Twelve regular and twelve occasional gamblers participated in a gambling session conducted in a natural environment. It was hypothesised that 1) a significant positive correlation would be observed between arousal and the number of erroneous verbalizations, 2) regular players would show a higher level of arousal than occasional players, and 3) they would emit more erroneous verbalizations. Results showed that hypotheses one and three were confirmed. Theoretical and practical implications of these results for the psychology of gambling are discussed.This study was supported by a grant from Loto-Québec.