Young female incest victims in treatment: Stages of growth seen with a group art therapy model

This article describes a treatment model for female child incest victims combining art and group therapy. Five stages of growth are identified: gathering, self-disclosure, regression, reconstruction, and ending.This project is in part supported by a grant from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Department of Health and Human Service.     

The Family‐Friendly Community and Its Life Course Fit for Dual‐Earner Couples

Much is known about family‐friendly workplaces. This article examines the less understood family‐friendliness of the communities in which dual‐earner couples reside. Using data from a representative sample of dual‐earner couples (N = 727) in upstate New York, we examine how individual, couple, and neighborhood characteristics are associated with perceptions of community family‐friendliness. Using a life course perspective, we find that couples with young children rate their communities more favorably than do other couples. Findings also indicate that for couples with children of their own, living in a neighborhood with many other families with children is associated with higher ratings of family‐friendliness. We term this match, between a couple's life stage and their neighborhood's demographic structure, life stage‐neighborhood fit.     

Dementia and Dementia Care: The Contributions of a Psychosocial Perspective

The social sciences have and continue to play a unique role in the study of dementia and dementia care. For central to the social sciences, particularly the discipline of sociology is a history of critical inquiry that challenges long held societal assumptions, a concern for issues of social justice, social exclusion and the treatment of marginalized populations. All significant areas to consider when caring for a person with dementia. This chapter will trace the development of the study of dementia and dementia care starting with its biomedical roots, examine the contributions of the social sciences in furthering the conceptual development of the field, and suggest future areas where sociologists can play a critical role in the provision of quality dementia care.     

Relieving the Time Squeeze? Effects of a White‐Collar Workplace Change on Parents

Employed parents perceive a time squeeze even as trends from the 1960s show they are spending more time with their children. Work conditions (e.g., hours and schedule control) would seem to affect both parents' time with children and perceived time squeeze, but most studies rely on cross‐sectional data that do not establish causality. The authors examined the effects of the introduction of a workplace flexibility initiative (Results Only Work Environment [ROWE]) on changes in mothers' and fathers' perceptions of the adequacy of their time with children and actual time spent with children (N = 225). Baseline data show the importance of work conditions for parents' sense of perceived time adequacy. Panel data show that mothers (but not fathers) in ROWE report increased schedule control and improved time adequacy, but no change in actual time spent with children, except that ROWE increases evening meals with children for mothers sharing few meals at baseline.     

Women's sexual desire: A feminist critique

This article offers a critical feminist analysis of the biomédical conceptualization of women's sexual desire. The five major features of the biomedical model of female sexual desire examined and critiqued are (a) use of the male model as the standard, (b) use of a linear model of sexual response, (c) biological reductionism, (d) depoliticalization, and (e) medicalization of variation. A “New View,” an alternative to the biomédical model, is offered for reconceptualizing women's sexual problems. This analysis concludes with recommendations for feminist‐based biopsychosocial research.     

Female Adoptees’ Experiences Balancing Relationships With Biological and Adoptive Mothers Post‐Reunification

Using a feminist postmodern perspective and the sensitizing concept of split loyalties from Contextual Theory, the primary purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a better understanding of how adult female adoptees from closed adoptions negotiate relationships with their adoptive and biological mothers post‐reunion. We conducted semi‐structured individual interviews with nine adult female adoptees, ages 28–52, who were adopted prior to the age of two. Six were Caucasian, three were African American, and the average age at reunion was 29. Grounded theory techniques were used to code the qualitative data, in particular the constant comparative method of analysis. Four main categories emerged: (a) Negotiating Mother–Daughter Relationships, (b) Relating to Mothers Equitably, (c) Loyalty, and (d) Adoptees’ Emotional Needs. Our findings suggest the adoptive mother–daughter relationship has a salient effect on adoptees’ relationships with biological mothers post‐reunion. Loyalty to the adoptive mother seems to influence the evolving relationship and closeness displayed toward the birth mother. Adult female adoptees from closed adoptions described struggling with managing their two mother–daughter relationships and need clinical help addressing their own emotional needs.     

Beyond the Career Mystique: “Time In,” “Time Out,” and “Second Acts”

The career mystique is the belief that working hard and putting in long hours continuously throughout adulthood is the path to occupational success, personal fulfillment, and a secure retirement. This is a false myth, increasingly irrelevant for most contemporary Americans, given that (1) few employees today have the back up of full-time homemakers, and (2) a competitive, information economy has fostered a global labor market, destroying the implicit contract linking seniority with security. America’s 21st century workforce requires a reconfiguration of “time in” paid work, including opportunities for “time outs,” as well as for “second acts.”President’s Address, Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, February 2004; also presented at the parallel research and policy forum “Sustainable Careers for a Changing Workforce.”     

IS WORK THE NEW NEIGHBORHOOD? Social Ties in the Workplace,Family, and Neighborhood

The work–family literature emphasizes how work intrudes into family life, and some scholars suggest that social ties based in the workplace may be replacing ties to family or neighbors. Using data from the Ecology of Careers Panel Study, we describe the prevalence of strong ties with family, coworkers, and neighbors in a dual‐earner, middle‐class sample. We also examine which respondents are more likely to have strong ties in the workplace. We find that most respondents do not have any strong ties with coworkers; however, coworker ties are much more common than ties to neighbors. Additionally, there are gender differences in network ties and these differences may have important consequences for social support.     

Association of Sexual Abstinence in Adolescence with Mental Health in Adulthood

We examined whether adolescent sexual abstinence predicts better adult mental health. A total of 1,917 adolescents, recruited from middle schools at age 13, were surveyed at ages 13, 18, 23, and 29. In bivariate analyses, adolescent sexual abstinence was associated with better mental health at age 29 for females, but not for males; three adolescent factors, educational prospects, family bonding, and unconventionality, were investigated as explanatory variables of this relationship. The abstinence–mental health relationship was nonsignificant when educational prospects were included in multivariate models, and was marginally significant when family bonding and unconventionality were included; all three explanatory factors accounted for significant proportions of the variance in adult mental health. Girls who are uninvolved in school, have weak family backgrounds, and exhibit unconventionality may have poor adult mental health, whether or not they abstain from sex in adolescence. Interventions that strengthen adolescents' connections to families and schools may reduce risk for long-term mental health problems.