When a colleague commits suicide: how the staff reacts

1. A literature review on the subject of suicide by mental health professional indicates that research has been limited to family member survivors. There is some data on reactions to patient suicide by psychiatrists and psychologists. 2. The results of this study show that mental health professional survivors of peer suicide experience similar reactions to the studied groups. These include anger, guilt, loss of self-esteem, disruption of relationships, and concern about assessing for suicidality. 3. Subjects felt the victim did not reach out for help because she feared stigmatization; mental health professionals are not permitted to have serious problems. 4. The clinical nurse specialist can perform an important role by addressing this dynamic and working to provide a supportive and nonpunitive environment for mental health professionals experiencing problems.     

Ethical dimensions in trauma research

This article examines the methodological and ethical challenges in studying trauma caused by sexual abuse, poverty, homophobia, and racism. I propose that the challenges of studying trauma add nuance to perennial methodological questions about insider-outsider relations, research techniques, and the possible impact of research on social change. By drawing on a multiracial study I conducted that examined African American, Latina, and white women’s methods of coping with trauma, I trace how issues of identification and overidentification, boundary maintenance, narrative structures, and transference raise new ethical and methodological issues for researchers. I suggest that the longstanding sociological concern with oppression and injustice, and the trauma they often cause, requires continued exploration about why and how questions of ethics and methods are intertwined in trauma research. She is the author ofA Hunger So Wide and So Deep: American Women Speak Out on Eating Problems (U. of Minnesota Press, 1994) and co-editor (with Sangeeta Tyagi) ofBeyond A Dream Deferred: Multicultural Education and the Politics of Excellence (U. of Minnesota Press, 1993) andNames We Call Home: Autobiography on Racial Identity (Routledge, 1995).     

Postneonatal diarrhea mortality of Mexican American and Anglo American infants: Trends and context

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Mexican origin population of San Antonio, Texas, USA, was desperately impoverished and inhabited some of the worst slums in the USA. Mortality of Mexican origin infants in the 1930s and 1940s was dominated by diarrhea, a cause of death identified with fecal contamination of the environment. The postneonatal diarrhea mortality rate (risk) was 48 per 1,000 Mexican origin infants, but only 7 per 1,000 Anglo infants. By 1970 this cause of death had virtually disappeared in both populations, but in the 35 years of 1935-1969, Mexican origin infants accounted for over 90 percent of all diarrhea deaths in the city. Limited evidence suggests that miserable living conditions without proper water supplies and sanitation in the densely settled Mexican American neighborhoods gave rise to environmental contamination which resulted in high diarrhea morbidity and mortality. The hypothesis is suggested that reduction of mortality from diarrhea was a consequence of specific community interventions.     

Spouse Liability for a Partner's Long–term Care Costs: Local Variations in Policy and Practice in the UK

Under the 1948 National Assistance Act a husband and a wife are liable to maintain each other and so can be required to contribute towards a spouse's care home costs. A national postal survey of social services finance officers showed that only a minority of local authorities pursue liable spouses. These authorities have often developed individual policies with widely different treatment of capital and income. Discretion is being exercised in the pursuit of liable spouses within these authorities. Social workers do not necessarily bring liable spouses to the attention of finance officers and articulate and knowledgeable spouses can either decline to pay or pay only token amounts. Only the unlucky and ill–informed spouses end up contributing. Such variation in the treatment of spouses is at odds with the development of fairer policies to meet the costs of long–term care.     

Mental Health of Non-gamblers Versus “Normal” Gamblers Among American Indian Veterans: A Community Survey

Goal This analysis was undertaken to assess the demographic and mental health characteristics of “normal” or non-problem gamblers versus non-gamblers in a representative community sample. Sample Study participants consisted of 557 North Central American Indian veterans. Data collection included a demographic and trauma questionnaire, a computer-based Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-III-R, and a treatment history algorithm. Findings Univariate analyses revealed that gamblers had greater social competence (i.e., higher education, living with a spouse) and higher lifetime psychiatric morbidity. Binary regression analysis revealed that, compared to non-gamblers, gamblers were older, more highly educated, and more apt to be married. More gamblers showed evidence for lifetime risk-taking as evidenced by Antisocial Personality Disorder and Tobacco Dependence. Conclusions Social achievement and disposable income function as prerequisites for “normal” gambling in this population, although “externalizing” or “risk-taking” disorders also serve as independent contributors to at least some gambling. The increased rate of “internalizing” or emotional disorders are only indirectly related to gambling, perhaps through increasing age or through the “externalizing” disorders.     

The influence of family environment on mental health need and service use among vulnerable children

Children in child welfare are especially likely to have unmet mental health needs. The role of family factors in children's use of mental health services was examined in a longitudinal sample of 1075 maltreated or at-risk children. Vulnerable family environment (poor family functioning, low social support, and caregiver psychological distress) is an important predictor of children's mental health needs. It also predicts them not having these needs met.     

Reasons for not reporting victimizations to the police: do they vary for physical and sexual incidents?

Victimization is a significant problem among college students, but it is less likely to be reported to the police than are victimizations in the general population. OBJECTIVE: In this study, the authors examined (1) whether reasons for not reporting varied by type of victimization (sexual or physical) and (2) victim-, offender-, and incident-related predictors of these reasons. PARTICIPANTS: To address these objectives, the authors used data collected from 492 female college students. METHODS: The authors recruited women via flyers placed around campus that asked them to come to the student health center to complete anonymous surveys. RESULTS: Findings from within-subject analyses indicated that women were more likely to cite the following reasons for not reporting a sexual rather than a physical victimization: the incident would be viewed as their fault, they were ashamed, they did not want anyone to know about the incident, or they did not want the police involved. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that the predictors of not reporting also varied across crime types. CONCLUSIONS: The authors discuss study implications for campus-based prevention strategies.     

A qualitative study of attitudes, beliefs, and practices among 40 undergraduate smokers

OBJECTIVE: Because little is known about college-age smokers, the authors conducted a qualitative study to better understand this population. PARTICIPANTS: Forty college student smokers from 12 Pacific Northwest colleges participated in the study. METHODS: The authors identified themes and built models to ascertain important factors related to smoking and smoking cessation. Four models emerged: smoking facilitators, smoking barriers, cessation facilitators, and cessation barriers. RESULTS: The authors observed physical, psychological, and social influences across models, and social influences were strongly associated with both smoking and cessation. Many smokers were unlikely to define themselves as regular smokers. Most smokers had made prior quit attempts. CONCLUSIONS: College students are a unique category of smoker and colleges can play a role in helping them achieve cessation.