The relation of personal resources, participation, influence, interpersonal relationships and coping strategies to occupational stress, job strains and health: A multivariate analysis

The relation of personal resources, participation, influence, interpersonal relationships and coping strategies to occupational stress, job strains and health: a multivariate analysis     

Unfair treatment, neighborhood effects, and mental health in the Detroit metropolitan area

Why do racial differences in many indicators of mental and emotional well-being show inconsistent patterns? We propose that mental and emotional well-being are influenced by aspects of the social context, including experiences of unfair treatment and the concentration of households with incomes below the poverty level, and that differential exposure to these factors influences racial differences in mental well-being. We analyze the reporting of psychological distress and life satisfaction in a multistage area probability sample of 1,139 African American and white residents of the Detroit metropolitan area aged 18 and older. Both psychological distress and life satisfaction are significantly associated with exposure to unfair treatment and with the proportion of households in the census block group that were below the poverty level. Racial differences in psychological distress and life satisfaction were eliminated or reversed once differentials in the percent of households living below the poverty line and exposure to unfair treatment were accounted for. These findings contribute to a growing body of evidence that "race" effects operate through multiple pathways that include race-based residential segregation and its attendant economic disinvestment at the community level, and interpersonal experiences of unfair treatment.     

The privatization of social services in Israel and its effects on Israeli society

The privatization of social services is gaining popularity worldwide, and it is occurring in places as diverse as the United States and central and eastern Europe. It is also a concept that is now being widely adopted in Israel, where it is having a dramatic effect on the structure and function of Israeli social services. This article critically examines the issues involved in privatizing social welfare service in Israel. First, we explore the relationship between Israel's mixed welfare economy and privatization and examine the driving forces behind it. Second, this article investigates the moral and social dimensions of privatizing social in Israel and the implications of injecting the United States model of privatization directly into the Israeli welfare state. Finally, we explore whether privatization will lead to a better and more efficient method of funding and delivering social services in Israel.     

The reflection of desire for revenge and revenge fantasies in drawings and narratives of sexually abused children

Whereas the desire for revenge for an unjust deed is considered natural, its use within the therapeutic setting is scarce, specifically in sexually victimized children. The study aimed to find how experiencing sexual molestation during childhood and the revenge fantasy is reflected in drawings and narratives of sexually victimized children. Following ethical approval and signing a consent form, 14 children who experienced sexual abuse and were psychologically treated (ages 11–18) were recruited. They were asked to draw two drawings: “draw an unjust event that had happened to you” and “draw what you would have liked to happen to the person that unjustly treated you.” At completion, participants were asked to give a narrative to each drawing. Phenomenological analysis of the drawings and narratives indicated that most participants refrained from using more than two colours, did not draw the perpetrator and drew schematic figures. The main themes that emerged in the drawings and the narratives were feeling of loneliness, aloneness, and the desire for role reversal.