Psychological factors in consumer debt: Money management, economic socialization, and credit use

A postal survey study of factors correlated with consumer debt investigated several psychological variables which have been suggested as causes or effects of debt. The survey was conducted with the help of a public utility company, and questionnaires were sent to three groups with different debt histories over the preceding two years: Non-Debtors (no debt to the company), Mild Debtors (late payment to the company), and Serious Debtors (sued for debt recovery by the company). Economic and demographic factors predicted debt category well, supporting previous results. Further variance between groups was accounted for by people's money management skills and facilities, by measures of their time horizons, and by aspects of their consumer behaviour. Non-debtors had more money management facilities (e.g. bank accounts) than debtors, and rated their abilities at money management more highly. Debtors had shorter time horizons than non-debtors. Debtors were more likely to buy cigarettes and Christmas presents for children than non-debtors. No group differences were found for attitudes to debt or locus of control. There were significant group differences for measures of economic socialization, social comparisons, use of credit, and other aspects of consumer behaviour, but these differences were not independently significant on multivariate analysis. Conclusions must be qualified because of low return rates, but the results suggest that a complex of psychological and behavioural variables affect debt and are affected by it. It is argued that these variables are linked to the psychology of poverty.     

Status Compatibility,Physical Violence,and Emotional Abuse in Intimate Relationships

This article analyzing national data (N = 7,408) examines the connection between men's and women's relative economic contributions in families and the risk of husband‐to‐wife physical violence and emotional abuse. Family violence researchers have conceptualized the association between economic variables and the risk of intimate partner violence with respect to the structural dimensions of sociodemographic factors, whereas feminist researchers connect economic power to family dynamics. Marital dependency and stress frustration theories treat income, education, and employment as socioeconomic resources, whereas some feminist research points to the need for research that treats these economic variables as symbolic resources. Although income and educational attainment reduce women's risk of physical violence and emotional abuse by husbands, I find that status incompatibilities between partners that favor women increase the likelihood of emotional abuse.     

The Fight That Gives Hope: An Interview with Israel Charny

Israel Charny, Associate Professor of Psychology at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work of Tel Aviv University, Director of two university-affiliated family therapy programmes, and Director of the Institute of Holocaust & Genocide in Jerusalem, visited Australia in August 1988 and presented a series of workshops across the country. A major focus of the presentation given in Adelaide was the indivisible connection between the victim of violence, the victimiser who perpetrates it, and the bystander who observes and fails to take protective action. This concept in its broadest sense, at the clinical, organisational and social levels provided a framework for the material in the first part of this article taken from the Adelaide Workshop, and the interview which follows.     

Shaping ethics: youth workers matter

The authors propose that youth workers and educators committed to informing and shaping the ethical understandings of young people first need to explore and become aware of their own ethics. This requires front-line staff and caregivers to critically reflect on the impact their day-to-day choices and decisions have on youth. Once they become clearer about their own ethics and the consequences of their decisions, youth workers are then in a position to promote opportunities for youth to make ethical choices. The authors use observations and ideas from their experiences with the Minnesota Youth Work Institute. Their overarching aim is to promote ethical congruence between what is taught, how it is taught, and how it is practiced in daily work with youth.     

Normalisation and 'Normal' Ageing: the social construction of dependency among older people with learning difficulties

This paper discusses the new phenomenon of the survival into old age of the increasing numbers of people with learning difficulties. This raises both theoretical and practical policy issues. In the UK health and social services for older people and for people with learning difficulties have followed quite different paths. One has been based on a limited, age discriminatory view of 'normal' ageing; the other has focused on a potentially liberating concept of normalisation. This distinction is being challenged by the advent of older people with learning difficulties, which is raising questions such as, what is the meaning of normalisation in older age? We focus on this key question, illustrating the different principles behind service provision for these two groups and argue that the concept of normalisation is flawed when applied to older people. The alternative of social integration is proposed as the basis for organising health and social services for both older people and those with learning difficulties.