Couples’ Communication About Financial Uncertainty Following the Great Recession and its Association with Stress,Mental Health and Divorce Proneness

Economic uncertainty is typically stressful and conflict-inducing for couples. The findings from the current study, however, suggest that economic uncertainty can also strengthen marriages. The sample included 82 Latino and Caucasian married couples. The couples engaged in a stressful conversation about their economic uncertainty in the wake of the Great Recession. Many of the couples were resilient and even grew from their experiences with the recession. The couples’ resilience and risk when talking about financial uncertainty and stress were revealed in four communicative pathways: unifying, thriving, pragmatic and at-risk. These communicative patterns predicted self-reported and physiological stress, mental health indices and divorce proneness. In general, unified/thriving couples had higher levels of psychological well-being and less self-reported stress, anxiety, and divorce proneness compared to pragmatic and at-risk couples.     

Into the divide: community identities and the visualisation of place

This article discusses the experience of place in a profoundly divided urban area of Sheffield. At a time when the gap between affluence and poverty has reached its widest point since the 1960s, this article explores the relationship between individuals and their sense of place and of the trenchant divisions separating communities. The study employs various methods but centres upon the use of hand-drawn maps; creating a dialogue between the interviewers and a number of local residents. These maps and the accompanying commentaries demonstrate the diverse individual sense of a particular place and a dialectical sense of space. The resulting picture is one of both the persistence of historical divisions, suggesting regulation and control through planning and policing, but also of complex entanglements of social identities, habitus and place which defy easy categorisation.     

Deconstructing maternal sensitivity: Predictive relations to mother‐child attachment in home and laboratory settings

Despite the well‐documented importance of parental sensitivity for child development, there is a lack of consensus regarding how best to assess it. We investigated the factor structure of maternal caregiving behavior as assessed at 12 months by the Maternal Behavior Q‐Sort (Pederson & Moran) with 274 mother‐infant dyads. Subsequently, we examined associations between these empirically‐derived dimensions and child attachment, assessed in the home and laboratory (final N = 157). Three dimensions of maternal behavior were identified, corresponding fairly closely to Ainsworth's original scales. They were labeled Cooperation/Attunement, Positivity, and Accessibility/Availability. Only Cooperation/Attunement consistently predicted home‐based attachment at 15 months and 2 years, and at comparable strength to the overall sensitivity score, suggesting that this construct may be central to sensitivity. At 18 months, compared to their primarily secure counterparts, different types of laboratory‐assessed insecure attachment were associated with different patterns of maternal behavior. Mothers in avoidant relationships (n = 18) were low on Cooperation/Attunement and Accessibility/Availability, but fairly high on Positivity. Mothers of disorganized infants (n = 11) were Cooperative/Attuned but somewhat less Positive toward, and less Accessible/Available to, their infants. A multidimensional approach to parental behavior may facilitate the identification of parenting precursors of insecure parent‐child relationships.     

Factors in the Transition to Homelessness in the Chronically Mentally III

Although there is a great deal of literature on homelessness and mental illness, few studies have examined the factors which may lead to homelessness in the mentally ill. The objective of this research was to examine the factors in the length of time between when a client of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health entered the system and when he or she was first homeless on admission to a service (time before homelessness, TBH). Past psychiatric records of 142 currently homeless clients were examined through the Automated Information System of LACDMH. Results showed that total admissions to any service and total admissions to prison services were predictors of shorter TBH; being younger and being both African-American and female were predictors of longer TBH. TBH shortened dramatically from 1973 to 1993; mental health funding levels for the previous year were significantly correlated with TBH Results show that demographic, clinical, and system variables all impact on homelessness in the chronically mentally ill.     

Education in Gerontological Social Work: Application of the Task-Centered Model

There is an increasing need both for effective interventions with the elderly and for social workers trained in clinical gerontology. This paper discusses an attempt to integrate gerontological knowledge, clinical knowledge, and clinical experience in a master's-level curriculum and to develop the task-centered model as an effective base for social work with the elderly.     

Technology transfer concerns of college graduates with disabilities: Profiles in transition from higher education to competitive careers

The article describes the technology transfer concerns reported by a small sample (N=14) of recent college graduates with disabilities. In structured, in-depth interviews, researchers asked respondents to reflect on the extent to which they had utilized technology resources during their college years in preparation for the world of work. Results suggest that colleges and universities need to play a more active role in introducing students with disabilities to both generalized and assistive technology services.     

Informed decision making on assistive technology workplace accommodations for people with visual impairments

Underemployment of people with visual impairments is an important problem in the world of work. Barriers to successful employment include the lack of informed decision making concerning AT as a workplace accommodation. Choosing effective Assistive Technology (AT) as an accommodation solution is imperative to successful employment of individuals with vision impairments. While not all jobs require AT as a part of an accommodation, when AT is needed, an informed choice is the best approach. This article describes the five step process for selecting appropriate AT for individuals with vision impairments in workplace accommodations developed by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). Cases from the JAN database that involve people with vision impairments were examined. Resources to enable readers to further evaluate and implement effective AT solutions are provided.