A future agenda for research on climate change and human mobility

In the past 15 years, research activities focusing on the interlinkages between climate change and human mobility have intensified. At the same time, an increasing number of actors and processes have sought to address human mobility in the context of climate change from a policy perspective. Hitherto, research has been limited in terms of geographical preferences as well as conceptual and methodological focus areas. This paper argues that to address the evolving policy space, future research on climate change in the context of human mobility needs to become more differentiated, integrated and generalized. This includes concerted efforts to better integrate researchers from the global South, improved cross-linkages between different datasets, approaches and disciplines, more longitudinal and comparative studies and development of innovative qualitative and quantitative methods.     

Family well-being concerns of grandparents in skipped generation families

This study examined the family well-being concerns of grandparents in skipped-generation families. Co-resident grandparents who are responsible for raising their grandchildren completed surveys, focus groups, or individual interviews. Service providers to skipped-generation families also participated in individual interviews to provide an additional perspective to grandparents' concerns. Results indicated 5 levels of concerns: intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational or institutional, policy, and societal. Concerns at different levels were interrelated and pointed to the need for multilevel interventions to help these families. Implications of the findings for future interventions with skipped-generation families are discussed.     

A study of R2 measure under the accelerated failure time models

For right-censored data, the accelerated failure time (AFT) model is an alternative to the commonly used proportional hazards regression model. It is a linear model for the (log-transformed) outcome of interest, and is particularly useful for censored outcomes that are not time-to-event, such as laboratory measurements. We provide a general and easily computable definition of the R² measure of explained variation under the AFT model for right-censored data. We study its behavior under different censoring scenarios and under different error distributions; in particular, we also study its robustness when the parametric error distribution is misspecified. Based on Monte Carlo investigation results, we recommend the log-normal distribution as a robust error distribution to be used in practice for the parametric AFT model, when the R² measure is of interest. We apply our methodology to an alcohol consumption during pregnancy data set from Ukraine.     

The Relationship Between Perceived Interparental Conflict and Malaysian Young Adults' Attitudes Toward Divorce

In the context of an upward trend in divorce rates in Malaysia, this article explores the relationship between Malaysian young adults' perceptions of interparental conflict and their own attitudes toward divorce. Two questionnaires were administered to 160 young adults between 18 and 30 years old: the Attitude Towards Divorce Scale and the Perceptions of Interparental Conflict?Intensity/Frequency Scale. A positive relationship was found between perceived intensity and frequency of interparent conflict and attitudes toward divorce in males and females, respectively; however, the associations were weak. Future investigations of divorce need to take into consideration both the cultural factors that are influential within a society and how they shape gender norms within that population to gain a greater understanding of this relationship. Such investigations will increase the understanding of non-Western culture's unique interaction between attitudes and divorce, thus potentially aiding future efforts to strengthen marriages and families.     

Attitudes Toward Advanced Licensing for Macro Social Work Practice

ABSTRACT

Trends in clinical licensing and a renewed energy to strengthen macro practice are raising questions about the appropriateness of licensure for macro social work practice. This article presents findings from an online survey of macro social work educators and macro social work practitioners exploring their attitudes toward an advanced-level macro social work license. Faculty and practitioner responders agreed that there is a role for advanced-licensing of macro social work practice; however, the lack of a collectively strong response reflects a current state of ambivalence toward advanced-level licensing for macro practice. Implications from these findings on contemporary social work are discussed.     

Community-Based Participatory Research as a Social Work Research and Intervention Approach

Social workers are now often expected to base their practice on solid empirical findings, but research can vary in terms of its usefulness and relevance to practice. Some social workers have criticized traditional research approaches, suggesting that they are not consistent with the profession's mission to serve vulnerable and disadvantaged populations (e.g., Finn, 1994 Finn, J. L. 1994. The promise of participatory research. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 5: 25–42. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). Community-based participatory action research may be an appropriate alternative that is participatory, empowering, and committed to social justice (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008 Minkler, M. and Wallerstein, N. 2008. “Introduction to CBPR: New issues and emphases”. In Community-based participatory research for health, 2nd, Edited by: Minkler, M. and Wallerstein, N. 5–23. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.  [Google Scholar]). This article explores the connection between social work and CBPR, illustrating how CBPR can contribute significantly to achieving the field's goals.     

Images of Jewish identities in Lithuanian literature of the twentieth century: Grigorii Kanovich and Markas Zingeris

This paper deals with the identity concept of two Lithuanian Jewish writers, Grigorii Kanovich and Markas Zingeris. Kanovich, as a member of the Holocaust generation, writing in Russian, depicts his protagonists as spiritual and hardworking people with strong self‐confidence, resting on religion and custom. By means of the narrative technique of memory, Kanovich creates a literary resurrection of the Lithuanian Jews as a people which was almost completely exterminated during the Holocaust. Omnipresent pictures of cemetery and grave transform the Lithuanian space into a metonymy of death and, grotesquely, to the only place of home, being the “shelter” for the killed bodies of the Lithuanian Jewry. Markas Zingeris, growing up in post‐war Soviet Lithuania, represents the concept of open identities, changeable in time and place. Calling himself a Lithuanian writer who has been raised within a Lithuanian, Jewish, and, not least, Soviet milieu, Zingeris depicts his protagonists in in‐between situations. Writing in Lithuanian, speaking several languages fluently and working as translator, Zingeris embodies the cosmopolite. At the same time, though, he is a writer of collective memory. He comments on the apparent loss of the great utopia of an autonomous identity with ironic melancholy, pointing instead to the rich variety of hybrid identities.     

An Exploratory Study of Substance Abuse Among Latino Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Substance abuse among older adults is on the rise. Of particular concern is the increase in alcohol and drug use predicted among Latino elders, expected to result from an upsurge in the Latino population and concurrent growth in the number of older adults. Providing effective treatment for this group will require age-specific, culturally competent interventions. However, few studies have focused on geriatric substance abuse among Latinos. This study aims to lay the groundwork for further research by examining perceptions of the problem among treatment providers and researchers in aging and substance abuse. Implications for social work research and practice are addressed.     

A comprehensive workplace intervention and its outcome with regard to lifestyle, health and sick leave: the AHA study

This study is a prospective multicentre cohort study entitled Work and Health in the Processing and Engineering Industries, the AHA Study (AHA is the Swedish abbreviation for the study). Four large workplaces in Sweden participated during the years from 2000 to 2003. The present report has two objectives: (1) to present a comprehensive occupational health intervention programme and (2) to evaluate this programme with a focus on lifestyle (smoking and exercise), health related quality of life (HRQoL) and sick leave. Interventions were provided on an individual and group level, including evidence-based methods for four health/focus areas (individual level) and a group intervention based on a survey-feedback methodology. The analyses in this report were exclusively employed at an organizational level. The proportion of smokers decreased at three companies and the course of the HRQoL was advantageous at two of the companies as compared to a gainfully employed reference group. A significant decrease in sick leave was revealed at one company, whereas a break in an ascending sick-leave trend appeared at a second company as compared to their respective corporate groups. This comprehensive workplace intervention programme appears to have had positive effects on smoking habits, HRQoL and sick leave.