Introducing the MiniPONS: A Short Multichannel Version of the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS)

Despite extensive research activity on the recognition of emotional expression, there are only few validated tests of individual differences in this competence (generally considered as part of nonverbal sensitivity and emotional intelligence). This paper reports the development of a short, multichannel, version (MiniPONS) of the established Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS) test. The full test has been extensively validated in many different cultures, showing substantial correlations with a large range of outcome variables. The short multichannel version (64 items) described here correlates very highly with the full version and shows reasonable construct validity through significant correlations with other tests of emotion recognition ability. Based on these results, the role of nonverbal sensitivity as part of a latent trait of emotional competence is discussed and the MiniPONS is suggested as a convenient method to perform a rapid screening of this central socioemotional competence.     

A Behavioral Approach to Organizational Change: Reinforcing Those Responsible for Facilitating the Climate and Hence Promoting Diversity

Despite the passage of the U.S. Civil Rights Act in 1964, cries can still be heard for a more diverse workforce. Among the difficulties are retaining often sought-after women and minorities. In this 2-year demonstration, change agents—the provost, deans, and heads of departments/schools of a large public university—were helped to deliberately and directly change the milieu of their departments and schools so as to encourage faculty to remain. Uniquely suited to organizational change, the behavioral approach identifies constructive actions for change agents and, most importantly, provides proven strategies for motivating them. Fostering a supportive climate was defined in terms of change agents’ behaviors. The Building Behaviorally Based Climate Survey was developed and validated. Recognition and feedback were provided in what is typically a feedback desert. This reinforcement model can be used to create and sustain inviting atmospheres, hence enticing all faculty, including women and minority faculty, to stay, hence enabling a diverse workforce.     

Income and reproductive motivation

It is often assumed that family size and income would be positively related if unwanted births among the less advantaged were prevented. But this assumption rests on a prior expectation that family-size preferences bear a direct relation to income in modern societies. Data on such reproductive preferences in relation to economic status from 13 studies in the United States dating between 1936 and 1966 do not support the notion of a positive association between reproductive preferences and income. Only when Catholics are considered is there even a U-shaped relation between family-size desires and income. These results cast doubt on the notion that the economic theory of demand for consumer durables is relevant to reproductive motivation. Rather, the data lend credence to the idea that significant non-economic influences associated with prosperity depress family-size desires among the well-to-do. Only if these influences are specifically weakened by a counter-force (such as Catholicism) do wealthier people show a preference for somewhat larger families. In no case, however, are the Catholic/non-Catholic differences in reproductive preference large. Moreover, no economic group, even among non-Catholics, prefers very small families.     

Snobby people and just plain folks: Social stratification and rural,low‐status,Appalachian women

Ethnographers have noted the coexistence of a social stratification system and egalitarian beliefs in rural Appalachian communities. For most local people, the conflict inherent in these two perspectives is balanced by community norms that call for informality in personal interactions and modesty in displaying one's status. The assignment of social position is thus unspoken but understood. A study of low‐status women in a rural, Appalachian community found that the women strongly believe in the egalitarian ethic. These same women speak, however, of numerous interactions with higher‐status persons, which result in feelings of being put down, ignored, undervalued, or insulted. The low‐status women revealed their strategies for confirming their view of the world and maintaining their self‐esteem in the face of these insults to self. They tell their stories to sympathetic listeners, apply negative labels to the offenders, and seek out higher status champions. The women's search for economic resources for their families does bring them into frequent contact with higher status persons and renders them continually vulnerable to perceived social insults.     

A Report on Student Health Services

Abstract

Objective: Stress impacts college students, faculty, and staff alike. Although meditation has been found to decrease stress, it is an underutilized strategy. This study used the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) to identify beliefs underlying university constituents’ decision to meditate. Participants: N = 96 students, faculty, and staff at a large midwestern university during spring 2012. Methods: A survey measured the RAA global constructs and elicited the beliefs underlying intention to meditate. Thematic and frequency analyses and multiple regression were performed. Results: Quantitative analyses showed that intention to meditate was significantly predicted (R² = .632) by attitude, perceived norm, and perceived behavioral control. Qualitative analyses revealed advantages (eg, reduced stress; feeling calmer), disadvantages (eg, takes time; will not work), and facilitating circumstances (eg, having more time; having quiet space) of meditating. Conclusions: Results of this theory-based research suggest how college health professionals can encourage meditation practice through individual, interpersonal, and environmental interventions.     

Teaching Reflective Social Work Practice in Health Care: Promoting Best Practices

Reflection on case material is traditionally believed to promote better clinical practice; recent neurobiological understandings explain why reflection consolidates learning and allows professional heuristics to develop. Here, we describe a practice in context (PIC) framework that requires reflection on the contextual and decisional aspects of a case and further reflection on potential changes for use in similar cases in the future. We analyze cases using the PIC framework to identify themes related to the use of self to identify potential best practices. The framework is shown to function to promote reflection at all levels of practice; published cases provide “role-modeling” for students, while also creating data for analysis of best practices.     

Parenting in Later Life: A Cross-Cultural Study

This study explored older parents’ beliefs about their parental role with their adult children, their perceptions of intergenerational conflicts between themselves and their adult children, and the negotiation of autonomy versus dependence with adult children in later life. The influence of cultural norms and mutual dependence on these intergenerational relationships was also evaluated. Focus groups were conducted with two groups of older adults attending a senior center in New York City—one who identified as American and the other as Asian Indian. Implications of the findings and recommendations for social workers are highlighted.     

Child Abuse and Neglect: Perspectives on a National Emergency

Hundreds of thousands of children are being abused and neglected in the United States annually. The structures devised to respond to this abuse and neglect have been unsuccessful. The United States government continues to spend billions of dollars on programs to deal with the effects of these unsuccessful responses. Child abuse and neglect in the United States now represent a national emergency. In this article, we will provide a historical, cultural, and contemporary perspective on child abuse and neglect. This perspective throws light on the complexity of the national emergency and provides a context for further exploration of the issue.