What Are the Ideal Characteristics of Empirically Supported Treatment Adopters?

There has been a clear and consistent shift in social work practice from offering treatment as usual to implementing empirically supported treatments (ESTs). As social work researchers and practitioners continue to evaluate the effectiveness of ESTs, their impact on clinical outcomes, and the various obstacles to their adoption, a developing literature could offer some guidance on characteristics of EST adopters. This article provides a beginning discussion of the ideal characteristics of EST adopters both at the organizational and individual levels. While this is a developing area of study, there are some important findings that could better serve community-based organizations, their work force, and the communities they serve.     

A symbolic representation of Wellington: how participatory painting processes enabled a more inclusive urban narrative

In this article I examine how a participatory painting project in Wellington enhanced cross-cultural understanding between former refugee and host-society participants and enabled a more inclusive urban narrative. In light of the current global humanitarian crisis, a climate of fear has arisen around refugees, which is often exacerbated by the media perpetuating misinformation and negative stereotypes. To counteract misrepresentation, the painting project provided a space for participants to share their lived experiences of home, belonging, and public visibility. A scholar activist orientation was employed, informed by a participatory action research epistemology. These philosophical foundations influenced a qualitative multi-method methodology consisting of painting workshops, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and public feedback. Through the process of painting a collaborative mural, participants used symbolism to deconstruct language barriers, elicit new ideas, and co-construct a more inclusive narrative whereby differences were negotiated rather than excluded, oppressed, or assimilated. In this manner, social unity was achieved in such a way that it that did not over-ride diversity.     

Collective Efficacy and Crime in Los Angeles Neighborhoods: Implications for the Latino Paradox*

We use data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Study (LAFANS) to examine the degree to which social ties and collective efficacy influence neighborhood levels of crime, net of neighborhood structural characteristics. Results indicate that residential instability and collective efficacy were each associated with lower log odds of robbery victimization, while social ties had a positive effect on robbery victimization. Further, collective efficacy mediated 77 percent of the association between concentrated disadvantage and robbery victimization, while social ties had no mediating effect. The mediation effect for concentrated disadvantage, however, was substantially weaker in the Latino neighborhoods (where it was 52%) than in the non‐Latino neighborhoods (where it was 82%), suggesting that a “Latino paradox” may be present in which crime rates in Latino neighborhoods appear to have less to do with local levels of collective efficacy than in non‐Latino neighborhoods. Implications for future research bearing on both the Latino paradox and the systemic model of social control are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Culture,Geographic Region,and Gender on Body Image: A Comparison of College Students in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest Regions of the United States

Body image is a significant predictor of important psychological and physical outcomes. The current study sought to expand on previous research on cross-cultural differences in body image across countries by exploring differences in body image based on geographic region within the United States. A sample of 1,365 participants was recruited from universities in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States. Participants completed a survey that assessed their gender, geographic region, and body image. Women reported poorer body image than men, and young adults from the Southeast reported poorer body image than young adults from the Pacific Northwest. There were significant interaction effects for gender and geographic region with women from the Southeast reporting the poorest body image of any group. The authors suggest that sociocultural differences in standard of beauty in the Southeast as well as differences in dress related to climate may contribute to the findings.     

Using Narrative Career Counseling With the Underprepared College Student

An increasing number of students enter college underprepared. These students do not have the academic skills to take college‐level courses and are placed in remedial classes. Career counseling can help underprepared college students make educated career decisions based on their current situations. This article explores the characteristics of underprepared college students, examines career‐related issues these students face, and reviews the literature on narrative career counseling. The life design method is applied to a case example of an underprepared college student to demonstrate how to best serve the needs of these students.     

The Changing Shape of Soviet Mortality, 1958–1985: An Evaluation of Old and New Evidence

Changes in mortality in the Soviet Union have attracted the attention of both scholars and the popular media. After a hiatus of more than ten years, the government of the Soviet Union has released data on mortality for the 1980s, which allow assessment of recent changes. The new life table for 1984–85 shows that mortality of Soviet females has improved at ages below 45 and deteriorated above that age since the last age-specific mortality data were published in the early 1970s, while mortality of males has improved at ages below 25 and deteriorated above that age. At the same time, the official mortality rates for persons aged 60 and over in 1958–59, 1968–71, and 1984–85 are implausibly low. Poor-quality data at the older ages, particularly in rural areas and the less developed regions of the country, contributed to these low mortality rates of the old. As data quality has improved with time, the reported mortality rates at old ages have increased. Adjustment of the official data for error, especially above age 60, shows that whereas the reported value of e₀ for males fell by 1.5 years between 1958–59 and 1984–85, the actual value probably fell by no more than 0.5 years; the corresponding figures for females were a reported rise of one year, and an actual rise of at least two years. Examination of these Soviet data illustrates how important consideration of error in mortality statistics of the old can be in understanding mortality trends.     

Focused,Exploratory, or Vigilant: Reproduction,Mobility, and the Self-Narratives of Second-Generation Immigrant Youth

Qualitative Sociology - The transition from late adolescence to early adulthood represents a key moment in trajectories of social reproduction and mobility. A central mechanism influencing these...     

Correlates of Treatment Retention Among Persons with Serious Mental Illness Receiving Integrated Care in a Community Mental Health Setting

ABSTRACT

Knowledge about methods to retain community mental health (CMH) clients in integrated primary and behavioral health care (PBHC) programs is needed to address longstanding health disparities. A preexisting data set that contained the clinical records of 446 PBHC program participants was used to examine whether baseline sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial characteristics predicted retention in care at 6 months post-enrollment. Results indicated that less than half of PBHC participants (43.7%) were retained in care, and approximately 17% of the variance in retention was explained by the inclusion of seven predictors in the model (overall health, medications, laboratory data, primary care provider, disorder type, transportation, and living arrangement). Clients with thought disorders were almost twice as likely as those with mood disorders to be retained in care, and greater frequency of prescribed medications also increased the likelihood of treatment continuation (ORs = 1.99 and 1.20, respectively). Future research should identify factors that improve retention in integrated PBHC programs overall, and among persons with mood disorders, in particular.     

Moral codes of mothering and the introduction of welfare-to-work in Ontario

In this paper, I trace how the reform of social assistance in Ontario, especially the post-1990s enforcement of lone mothers' employability via welfare-to-work programs, parallels shifts in dominant moral codes of mothering, from "mother-carer" to "mother-worker." Additionally, I use this case as an entry point to consider the implications of public and policy allegiance to these moral codes for all mothers. The central argument I make is that the introduction of welfare-to-work programs in Ontario did not occur in a neoliberal state-sanctioned vacuum but also involved the circulation of ideas about moral mothering outside of policy into policy.     

Training and Generalization of Peer-Directed Mands With Non-vocal Children With Autism

The current investigation evaluated the effects of extinction and prompts on training and generalization of peer-directed mands for preferred items using a picture exchange communication system with 2 children diagnosed with autism. Results showed that independent mands with a peer increased during treatment for both participants, generalized to a novel peer without explicit training for 1 participant and following training for the second participant, and maintained in a more naturalistic setting that simulated a free-play activity in a classroom.