Gender and Feminization in Health Care Professions

Within health care, there has long been a gender division of professional labor: men have predominated in higher-status, higher-paying professions like medicine and dentistry, while women’s health care work has been clustered in so-called support occupations such as nursing. Historically, health care professions were gendered, and beliefs about gender came to be embedded in professional work. Recently, however, traditional gender divisions of labor are being challenged by the feminization of professions in the United States and Canada. Women’s participation is expanding in traditionally male-dominated professions. This article explores the nature and causes of this feminization and considers whether feminization is changing the significance of gender to health care employment.     

Providing Employment Assistance to Students: The Role of Social Work Education

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a national survey of 130 graduate and undergraduate social work programs that was designed to learn what schools are doing to help students locate and secure employment after graduation. Less than half (43%) of the responding schools indicated that they have a formal program of employment assistance services. Size of student enrollment and size of faculty were the only factors that differentiated schools that offer employment assistance services from those that do not. The study's implications for social work education are discussed, and an employment assistance program model is presented.     

Alcohol Use after Combat-Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury: What We Know and Don't Know

Military personnel engage in unhealthy alcohol use at rates higher than their same age, civilian peers, resulting in negative consequences for the individual and jeopardized force readiness for the armed services. Among those returning from combat deployment, unhealthy drinking may be exacerbated by acute stress reactions and injury, including traumatic brain injury (TBI). Combat-acquired TBI is common among personnel in the current conflicts. Although research suggests that impairments due to TBI leads to an increased risk for unhealthy drinking and consequences among civilians, there has been little research to examine whether TBI influences drinking behaviors among military personnel. This article examines TBI and drinking in both civilian and military populations and discusses implications for clinical care and policy.     

CYCLES OF REPRESSION AND TACTICAL INNOVATION: The Evolution of Environmental Dissidence in Communist Czechoslovakia

Temporal analyses of social movement mobilization provide insight into how repression shapes social movement tactics and in turn, how social movements affect state response. We use the case of environmental dissent in Communist Czechoslovakia to unpack this interplay. The regime quelled activism and was grossly negligent in environmental matters, fomenting an underground environmental movement. Our data included archival documents, historical accounts, and in‐depth interviews. Findings indicate the importance of political context in examining state tactics. We highlight how dissidents can test the boundaries of state tolerance to expose vulnerabilities of the state as well as political opportunities for activism.     

Developing Mindfulness in College Students Through Movement-Based Courses: Effects on Self-Regulatory Self-Efficacy,Mood, Stress,and Sleep Quality

Abstract

Objective: This study examined whether mindfulness increased through participation in movement-based courses and whether changes in self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, and perceived stress mediated the relationship between increased mindfulness and better sleep. Participants: 166 college students enrolled in the 2007–2008 academic year in 15 week classes in Pilates, Taiji quan, or GYROKINESIS. Methods: At beginning, middle, and end of the semester, participants completed measures of mindfulness, self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Results: Total mindfulness scores and mindfulness subscales increased overall. Greater changes in mindfulness were directly related to better sleep quality at the end of the semester after adjusting for sleep disturbance at the beginning. Tiredness, Negative Arousal, Relaxation, and Perceived Stress mediated the effect of increased mindfulness on improved sleep. Conclusions: Movement-based courses can increase mindfulness. Increased mindfulness accounts for changes in mood and perceived stress, which explain, in part, improved sleep quality.     

Social Studies as Social Reconstruction

Research indicates that most American citizens know little about Islam and, specifically, the major differences between Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims and why this matters to the United States. Although the two major Islamic factions share many common core beliefs and practices, there are some significant religious and political differences dating back to the disagreement over the succession of leadership in the Muslim community after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632. Indeed, sectarianism has played a pivotal role in the turbulent geopolitics of the Middle East for centuries. Islam must be studied for its contributions and role in world history. Therefore, it is crucial that social studies educators teach not only the core beliefs, rituals, and history of Islam but the differences between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. This knowledge is vital if Americans are to make prudent decisions regarding support for specific foreign policy positions and decisions regarding Islam and Muslim countries. This article describes and explains the differences between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and discusses the implications for the United States and social studies education. Finally, the article shows how Islam can be implemented in the NCSS C3 Framework.     

Ethics at the End of Life: A Teaching Tool

ABSTRACT

Social workers rarely receive education and training in the areas of grief, bereavement, and death and dying, which may lead to difficulties in compassionately and ethically addressing concerns in end-of-life or grief-related contexts. This article presents actual and potential outcomes from three challenging end-of-life case studies using Mattison’s ethical decision-making model as a framework. The case studies were drawn from student interviews with experienced master’s-level social workers. This pedagogical article helps to promote self-reflection and consideration of ethical issues in grief and death-related situations as well as supplement death education and ethics curricula to include end-of-life content.     

Black Gotham: African Americans in New York City, 1900–2000

For almost four centuries, African Americans in New York City have engaged in ethnic “dream-work,” shaping the city and being shaped by the city in return. The longstanding practice of racism forced a heterogeneous community of Blacks—originating in different parts of the country and the world, speaking many languages, and comprised of different economic classes— to coalesce as a community in order to challenge their subjugation. This article explores the issues, conditions, and experiences that frame the coalescence of the African American community in New York City during the twentieth century, highlighting how racial identities have been produced in the city. In the first part of this article, I reflect on the presence of Blacks in New York City to illuminate some of the common themes that have emerged from the African American experience in Gotham. The second section is a historical exploration of the black experience in New York City, illuminating the conditions, expectations, events, and spaces that have shaped its formation.

     

Long‐term continuous clients and their needs: a New Zealand analysis

National New Zealand data (2002) indicate that 27% of gambling clients remain in treatment for longer than 12 months. This research retrospectively analysed data from long‐term continuous, re‐admitted and brief therapy clients. The data were obtained from a national database and were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results indicated that relevant differences between long‐term continuous and other clients occurred in ethnicity and clinic location. The latter was confounded by the number of clinics versus clients. The average age of long‐term continuous clients was 43 years; 5–6 years older than other clients; however, this marginally failed to reach a level of statistical significance. The results led to the proposal of two alternative models of therapy for clients with gambling problems: (a) a six‐session capsule model and (b) an inductive, open‐ended model (with regular review component). Further research is required to test the efficacy of these models.