Interpersonal justice: the importance of relationships for child and family social workers

There is still much to learn about what it means to be a child and family social worker. Child and family social workers have a job that often entails making difficult decisions regarding vulnerable children and families in collaboration with other professionals, under stressful conditions in an increasing cost-restrictive climate with diminishing resources. The organisational justice framework has primarily been used to ascertain employee’s perceptions of fairness and can be used to explain a variety of organisational behaviours. Here, it was used qualitatively as a framework to structure the research aims of exploring the lived experience of child and family social workers. The results suggest that the relationships’ social workers have with their peers and managers are significant components to how they manage emotions involved with practice.     

‘They Cry,Cry, They Want to go to School’: the Micro‐Politics of Asylum‐Seeking Children's Articulated Emotions and Belonging in Relation to the Swedish School

This study illustrates how asylum‐seeking children, through articulated emotions, respond to being affected by experiences that enhance or restrict their sense of belonging. The findings show that, owing to power structures and relations, the children's sense of belonging was made uncertain by temporal, situational and relational boundaries of belonging. However, through their articulations, the children also contested these boundaries. The study argues that the children were moved by their structural situatedness and that their articulated emotions demonstrated their micro‐politics. The study also visualises how children may be affected when their rights are not realised in their lived forms.     

How many hours do you have to work to be integrated? Full‐time and part‐time employment of native and ethnic minority women in the Netherlands

Labour market integration of ethnic minority women is central for economic integration, as they may experience a double disadvantage: both as a woman and as a migrant. This presumed double disadvantage has recently become the focus of both Dutch integration and emancipation policy. To test several assumptions underlying this, we analyse to what extent labour market participation of different groups of women and the hours they work are influenced by human capital and household characteristics. Our results show some remarkable differences in employment patterns. Controlling for educational level, partnership and the presence of children, it was found that native women more often work in part‐time jobs than ethnic minority women. For native Dutch women, the number of children influences both the employment decision and the number of hours worked, whereas for ethnic minority women, this only effects full‐time employment.     

Variations in subjective well-being when ‘aging in place’ — A matter of acceptance,predictability and control

The aim of the present study is to explore how older home-help recipients regard their life situation in terms of subjective well-being. The background is that there seem to be two counteracting forces affecting the achievement of subjective well-being among home-help recipients: on one hand, both diminished everyday competence and dependence on others' help are supposed to reduce subjective well-being, and on the other hand, living in one's own home is supposed to affect subjective well-being positively. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 21 home-help recipients between the ages of 78 and 93. The findings indicate that the informants' expressions of subjective well-being fall into four main categories: ‘well-being’, ‘well-being despite it all’, ‘well-being so far’, and ‘lack of well-being’. Three comprehensive core themes were identified as relevant to a deeper understanding of the informants' various expressions of well-being. These core themes are acceptance, predictability, and control. The findings point to the possibility of experiencing subjective well-being despite diminished everyday competence and dependence on help and support from others. They suggest, in short, that subjective well-being among older people who receive help and support in their everyday lives is not only related to socio-contextual factors – such as physical and mental capability, activities and/or engagement in the outside world, the spatial and social consequences of physical limitations, social and emotional relations, as well as the social support they receive – but also to how they regard and handle these matters in terms of acceptance, predictability and control.     

Changes in Social Exclusion Indicators and Psychological Distress Among Homeless People Over a 2.5-Year Period

Although homelessness is inherently associated with social exclusion, homeless individuals are rarely included in conventional studies on social exclusion. Use of longitudinal survey data from a cohort study on homeless people in four major Dutch cities (n = 378) allowed to examine: changes in indicators of social exclusion among homeless people over a 2.5-year period after reporting to the social relief system, and associations between changes in indicators of social exclusion and changes in psychological distress. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was applied to investigate the associations between changes in indicators of social exclusion and changes in psychological distress. Improvements were found in various indicators of social exclusion, whereas financial debts showed no significant improvement. Changes in unmet care needs, health insurance, social support from family and relatedness to others were related to changes in psychological distress. This study demonstrated improvements in various indicators of social exclusion among homeless people over a period of 2.5 years, and sheds light on the concept of social exclusion in relation to homelessness.     

Motherhood and Employment Among Whites,Hispanics, and Blacks: A Life Course Approach

Research has shown that having children reduces women's employment; yet how this effect differs for racial minorities has received less attention. Using random effects models and data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 4,526), this study investigates the association between motherhood and employment among Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks over women's entire reproductive span. Results indicate that having children reduces labor force participation primarily by deterring full‐time employment. This effect is stronger and lasts longer among Whites, smaller and shorter among Hispanics, and brief among Blacks. Motherhood reduces part‐time employment for young mothers, but temporarily increases it for older mothers. Early childbearing partly explains Black and Hispanic women's low employment rates at young ages; interestingly, the evidence indicates that their employment prospects would benefit the most from delaying childbearing. This study highlights the relevance of intersectionality and the life course perspective for investigating inequality in the labor market.     

The Role of Money Arguments in Marriage

Despite the paucity of empirical evidence indicating the impact of money arguments on spousal relationship outcomes, it is common belief that money plays a large role in the life of couples. This study used panel data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth to examine how money-related arguments affect the marital relationship. Economic theory indicates that initial expectations about the marriage and variance in expectations are both important in predicting relationship satisfaction and divorce. Money arguments were modeled as a sign of the lack of investment in spousal-specific capital and were hypothesized to negatively impact relationship quality. Results suggest that money arguments are an important indicator of relationship satisfaction, but are not as influential in predicting divorce. Both the approach used to model money arguments and the empirical results can be used by marriage therapists and financial counselors to help couples understand and improve the benefits received through marriage.     

A Systematic Review of Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Research Samples in Couple and Family Therapy Journals

The purpose of this study is to review samples from research on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) issues and to evaluate the suitability of this body of research to support affirmative and evidence‐based practice with GLB clients. The authors systematically reviewed the sampling methodology and sample composition of GLB‐related research. All original, quantitative articles focusing on GLB issues published in couple and family therapy (CFT)‐related journals since 1975 were coded (n = 153). Results suggest that within the GLB literature base there is some evidence of heterocentrism as well as neglect of issues of class, race, and gender. Suggestions to improve the diversity and representativeness of samples—and, thus, clinical implications—of GLB‐related research in CFT literature are provided.