Clinical services to persons with AIDS: The parallel nature of the client and worker processes

Social workers working in the area of AIDS confront individuals struggling with a plethora of issues and problems related to an AIDS diagnosis.Especially important to this work is the interplay of themes between the worker and client; a parallel process emerges that provides both insight and potential dilemmas for the social worker. While the worker may attempt to maintain a posture of disciplined subjectivity, she is confronting in the professional relationship a situation that intimately touches the core of her own identity.Through a case presentation from practice in an AIDS clinic, this paper will examine the parallel nature of the client and worker processes. Key issues will be identified and potential responses will be considered.     

GENDER DILEMMAS, GENDER QUESTIONS, AND THE GENDER MANTRA

This paper discusses the social constructions of gender and the problematic effects of these constructions-masculine/feminie-on intimate attachments. It summarizes the aspect of feminist scholarship which revised the traditional developmental paradigm to include a psychology of women and cites recent infant research which re-describes development as a process of increasingly complex forms of relatedness rather than as a progression from attachment to separation. The authors are influenced by the school of feminist revisionism which argues on behalf of the integration of male and female attributes in each person. Two clinical techniques are suggested-"gender questions" and the "gender mantra"-which identify the contradictions inherent in the social construction of gender and encourage alternative constructions that more adequately represent men's and women's actual psychological experience.     

From Market to State Networking: The Case of a Norwegian Voluntary Organization

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate and explain how a Norwegian voluntary, faith-based organization—the Gospel Centre of Norway (Pinsevennenes Evangeliesenter)—successfully substituted a “network” for “market” strategy vis-à-vis the public sector in order to obtain organizational legitimacy and financial security. During the first decade of its existence it obtained a unique position in its relationship with the state, as a separate item in the budget of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The organization operates in the field of substance abuse rehabilitation, i.e., in a situation where instrumental effectiveness is difficult to assess. In such a situation ritual or other institutional criteria may replace effectiveness criteria and impression management is shown to be a successful strategy. Attention is paid to the relevant environmental conditions under which this organizational change of strategy was successful.

A Conceptual Framework for Differential Use of Mediation and Family Therapy Interventions With Older Adults and Their Families

The purpose of this article is to present a family-centered approach to working with older adults. This framework utilizes a differential use of family therapy and therapeutic mediation theoretical concepts and skills. This provides an effective approach to conceptualizing and intervening with these often complex situations regarding the decision-making processes related to care of older members. Family-centered mediators/clinicians must be skilled in both models to understand and intervene in the challenging issues presented by families. A case example is included in the article to illustrate the framework.     

Examining the Antecedents of U.S. Nonmarital Fatherhood

Despite the dramatic rise in U.S. nonmarital childbearing in recent decades, limited attention has been paid to factors affecting nonmarital fatherhood (beyond studies of young fathers). In this article, we use data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort to examine the antecedents of nonmarital fatherhood, as compared to marital fatherhood. Overall, we find the strongest support across both data sets for education and race/ethnicity as key predictors of having a nonmarital first birth, consistent with prior literature about women’s nonmarital childbearing and about men’s early/teenage fatherhood. Education is inversely related to the risk of nonmarital fatherhood, and minority (especially black) men are much more likely to have a child outside of marriage than white men. We find little evidence that employment predicts nonmarital fertility, although it does strongly (and positively) predict marital fertility. High predicted earnings are also associated with a greater likelihood of marital childbearing but with a lower likelihood of nonmarital childbearing. Given the socioeconomic disadvantage associated with nonmarital fatherhood, this research suggests that nonmarital fatherhood may be an important aspect of growing U.S. inequality and stratification both within and across generations.     

“Like Parent, Like Child?”: The intergenerational transmission of nonmarital childbearing

Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (N = 11,180) are used to examine the intergenerational transmission of nonmarital childbearing for US men and women. Findings suggest that being born to unmarried parents increases the risk of offspring having a nonmarital first birth, net of various confounding characteristics. This intergenerational link appears to particularly operate via parents’ breaking up before offspring are age 14 and offspring’s young age at first sex. While the link across two generations in nonmarital childbearing is not accounted for by parents’ socioeconomic status (measured as fathers’ education), several mediating factors vary by socioeconomic background. Gender and race/ethnicity also moderate the intergenerational transmission of nonmarital childbearing. This research sheds light on the prevalence of, and process by which, nonmarital childbearing is repeated across generations, which has important implications for long-term social stratification and inequality.     

Neighborhood influences on physical activity in middle-aged and older adults: a multilevel perspective

Over the past few years, attention has been drawn to the importance of neighborhood influences on physical activity behavior and the need to consider a multilevel analysis involving not only individual-level variables but also social- and physical-environment variables at the neighborhood level in explaining individual differences in physical activity outcomes. This new paradigm raises a series of issues concerning systems of influence observed at different hierarchical levels (e.g., individuals, neighborhoods) and variables that can be defined at each level. This article reviews research literature and discusses substantive, operational, and statistical issues in studies involving multilevel influences on middle-aged and older adults' physical activity. To encourage multilevel research, the authors propose a model that focuses attention on multiple levels of influence and the interaction among variables characterizing individuals, among variables characterizing neighborhoods, and across both levels. They conclude that a multilevel perspective is needed to increase understanding of the multiple influences on physical activity.     

Examining Cohort Differences and Resilience among the Aging LGBT Community: Implications for Education and Practice among an Expansively Diverse Population

The aging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community continues to grow considerably while often being faced with unique and unmet needs separate from younger LGBT cohorts or their non-LGBT counterparts. This article explores some of the differences in attitudes among generational cohort groups regarding coming out decisions; sexual risk and safety; the impact of evolving policies within systems and society; as well as the demonstrated strengths and resiliencies of the aging LGBT community. Implications and suggestions for education, training, and best practices among this expansive and diverse population are considered as well as continued research in the field of LGBT aging.