A representative measure of psychological aggression and its severity

Surveys of psychological aggression have been plagued by a variety of conceptual and measurement problems. A new measure was devised to more systematically cover a full range of psychologically aggressive actions; to include items for each dimension/category at a milder, moderate, and severe level; to be applicable to dating as well as marital relationships; and to utilize items that were broader in nature to capture all instances of particular types of psychological aggression. Three hundred and eighty-three college students rated the 51 items as to their degree of "psychological abusiveness." The 17 categories were rated as mostly distinct from each other; almost every category had statistically distinct mild, moderate and severe items; the overall scale yielded basically normal psychometric properties; and the total score, as well as the scores for the mild, moderate, and severe items, all had very high internal consistency. Ratings of these items appear to be distinct from social desirability as well as from a number of attitudinal response sets, and only sex of the participant was significantly, although weakly, correlated with overall ratings of the psychological aggression items. This measure may provide for more systematic investigation into the concept of psychological aggression.     

Back to work: vocational issues and strategies for Canadians living with HIV/AIDS

Much has been written since the first appearance of HIV/AIDS in 1981 about its effects on the Canadian health care and social services systems. However, researchers have given limited attention to issues of entry or re-entry to the competitive job market for HIV positive individuals. The emergence of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) has allowed a significant number of persons who are HIV positive to experience a major recovery in health and energy. This increase in physical health has in turn led to a re-examination of the possibility of returning to former types and levels of activity, including the prospect of going back to work or entering the competitive workforce for the first time. The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the issues and concerns that impact HIV positive individuals' attempts to return to or enter the competitive workforce, particularly those relating to disability policies and public insurance. Data from in-depth interviews with a sample of people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) are used to help illustrate the disconnect between these policies and the lived experiences of PHAs. Also discussed are the opportunities for Canadian policies and practices to employ a functional definition of disability and a philosophy of early intervention in vocational rehabilitation.     

Urbanization in New Zealand: A comparative analysis

Demography - This paper attempts to answer several questions about urbanization in New Zealand: (1) How have the paradoxical phenomena of a high level of urbanization and an agriculturally oriented...     

Claiming Our Own: A Model for Women's Growth

As traditional sexual roles in our society become less defined, searching for one's identity can be confusing and amorphous not only to those seeking help but to educators and counselors who strive to aid those experiencing change. The ownership model offers professionals a framework in which women can develop themselves, often without risk to marriage.     

Program evaluation in rehabilitation

Increased accountability and more encompassing accreditation standards have heightened interest in the role that evaluation research plays in improving the quality of life and independence for people with disabilities. The field of Program Evaluation is a valuable resource for conducting studies that meet the standards and information needs in the field of rehabilitation. This article describes the nature of evaluation research and illustrates its contribution to contemporary rehabilitation practice.     

RADICAL SOCIAL MOVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS: A THEORETICAL MODEL

In this article we contend that social movement theory has predominantly analyzed social movement organizations (SMOs) from a reform perspective, emphasizing movement participants' demands to be recognized by, and incorporated into, the dominant culture. While for many SMOs this has certainly been the case, we argue that it is an inadequate model for the study of radical social movement organizations (RSMOs). When we look at RSMO participants' self-defined goals and objectives, we find that they tend to focus on a radical restructuring of the system rather than incorporation into that system. We therefore propose an alternative theoretical model for understanding RSMOs, utilizing ideal type characteristics for the internal structure, ideology, tactics, methods of communication, and measures of success that differentiate such organizations from their more moderate, reformist counterparts. Through the use of primary sources, we provide evidence that RSMOs, such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and various radical second-wave feminist organizations, would be better understood through such an alternative theoretical model. Other RSMOs could be similarly redefined through this model, thereby acknowledging their intentional differences from moderate SMOs and allowing them to be evaluated on their own terms.     

A useful extension of Bourdieu’s conceptual framework?: emotional capital as a way of understanding mothers’ involvement in their children’s education?

This article utilises the concept of emotional capital in order to explore some of the class and gender processes embedded in parental involvement in education. Drawing on fieldwork from a study of mothers' involvement in their children's primary schooling it examines mothers' emotional engagement with their children's education. Understandings of mothers' involvement in their children's schooling are enhanced by including an analysis of the emotions, both positive and negative, that infuse mothers' activities. The article tentatively concludes that the relationships between educational success, emotional capital and emotional wellbeing, and the extent of overlap and difference between them, could provide new ways of understanding how a range of disadvantages which cross class barriers are being manufactured in the contemporary educational marketplace.     

Seizing the Moment: The Problem of Conversational Agency

In conversation, actors face constraints on when they can speak, whom they can address, what they can say, and what they can safely expect from others by way of cooperation. This is the backdrop against which people pursue their idiosyncratic interests and objectives, success at which constitutes conversational agency. In principle, agency is made possible by the "looseness" of conversational constraints. This does not create a clear path for the advancement of personal ends, however, since options are always limited by the context, and success is always contingent upon the cooperation of others. Ultimately, the most agentic people are those who readily exploit imperfect options though this means abandoning the inflexible pursuit of pre-conceived objectives.     

A Qualitative Evaluation of a Mentor Program for At-Risk Youth: The Participants' Perspective

This article presents a qualitative evaluation of the first year of a mentor program for at-risk high school youth in a low income urban setting with high rates of youth and violent crime. Pre and posttest data were collected employing a standardized set of open-ended questions regarding the program and the mentees' relationships with their mentors. Overall there appears to be congruence between the mentees' expectations at pretest and posttest outcomes. Most were overwhelmingly positive about the program, developed a valued relationship with their mentors, and secured concrete benefits as well (e.g., employment and greater academic achievement). Two mentors who had a leadership role were also interviewed. Case studies of four of the adolescents are presented along with implications for practice.     

The Interference of Stereotype Threat With Women's Generation of Mathematical Problem-Solving Strategies

At the highest levels of math achievement, gender differences in favor of men persist on standardized math tests. We hypothesize that stereotype threat depresses women's math performance through interfering with their ability to formulate problem-solving strategies. In Study 1, women underperformed in comparison to men on a word problemm test, however, women and me performed equally when the word problems were converted into their numerical equivalents. In Study 2, men and women worked on difficult problems, either in a high- or reduced-stereotype-threat condition. Problem-solving strategies were coded. When stereo-type threat was high, women were less able to formulate problem-solving strategies than when stereotype threat was reduced. The effect of stereotype threat on cognitive resources and the implications for gender differences in mathematical testing are discussed.