Welfare to work: Building a better path to private employment opportunities

As welfare reform legislation takes effect, employers in both the private and public sectors hope to create jobs and offer employment to over two million former welfare recipients entering the labor market. We examine the economic environment facing these welfare-to-work efforts: the job market and the characteristics of the welfare population, current business approaches, and employment policy regulations which could be changed to ease the often difficult transition from welfare to work. This paper was originally prepared as a background paper for the Employment Policy Foundation's Wel-fare to Work forum held November 12, 1997 in cooperation with the National Alliance of Business and the John M. Olin Institute for Employment Practice and Policy. The authors gratefully acknowledge the con-tributions of James Van Erden to this paper, and the helpful comments of Max Lyons, Edward Potter, and Gary Shiu on earlier drafts.     

Job insecurity, coping resources and personality dispositions in occupational strain

This paper presents research on the relationships between the work-related stressor of perceived job insecurity and various indicators of occupational strain, taking into account employees' personality dispositions (trait negative and positive affectivity) and coping resources. Respondents were 222 Australian public servants surveyed during organizational restructuring that involved downsizing and threat to job certainty. The research was formulated within an adaptation of Osipow, Doty, and Spokane's (1985) framework of stress-strain-coping that included the possible direct as well as moderating effects of personality dispositions in reporting occupational strain (Parkes, 1990). Findings from hierarchical regression analyses indicate consistent significant independent effects of personality dispositions, coping resources and perceived job insecurity on various indicators of strain. There was also support for the moderating roles of negative affectivity and self-care in the relation between perceived job insecurity and physical strain. Implications for the role of dispositional factors, especially negative affectivity, and the utility of various coping resources in accounting for occupational strain in times of threatened job security are discussed.     

Job insecurity,coping resources and personality dispositions in occupational strain

This paper presents research on the relationships between the work-related stressor of perceived job insecurity and various indicators of occupational strain, taking into account employees' personality dispositions (trait negative and positive affectivity) and coping resources. Respondents were 222 Australian public servants surveyed during organizational restructuring that involved downsizing and threat to job certainty. The research was formulated within an adaptation of Osipow, Doty, and Spokane's (1985) framework of stress-strain-coping that included the possible direct as well as moderating effects of personality dispositions in reporting occupational strain (Parkes, 1990). Findings from hierarchical regression analyses indicate consistent significant independent effects of personality dispositions, coping resources and perceived job insecurity on various indicators of strain. There was also support for the moderating roles of negative affectivity and self-care in the relation between perceived job insecurity and physical strain. Implications for the role of dispositional factors, especially negative affectivity, and the utility of various coping resources in accounting for occupational strain in times of threatened job security are discussed.     

Health Promotion Project for University Students at a South African University: Results of a Pilot Survey

Globally, chronic diseases place a tremendous burden on health care systems all over the world. The increased prevalence of chronic diseases is mainly influenced by industrialization and decreased levels of physical activity. A cross-sectional qualitative and quantitative pilot survey, using a self-administered questionnaire and focus group discussions, was conducted with 73 students to assess the need for and feasibility of a health promotion program for university students at a rural South African university. The results of this survey suggest that there is a need for a health promotion program aimed at young adults who attend university.     

Silent witness : detection,femininity, and the post-mortem body

The interactive personality quiz regularly featured in teenage girls' magazines is a unique feature of the monthly publications. Using Hall's model of communication, I examine the ways in which the magazines encode information within the texts of the quizzes, paying special attention to the connotations that emerge from the structure of the quiz text, and the ways the quizzes operate to ensure the same disciplinary messages are presented to all readers.     

Grief and Trauma Group Therapy for Children After Hurricane Katrina

Theoretical and evidence-based group therapy models that address the interplay of grief and trauma are needed for children postdisaster. This article describes a theoretically informed 10-week grief and trauma group model that was evaluated with children in schools after Hurricane Katrina. The foundation of the grief and trauma intervention includes utilizing developmentally specific methods, an ecological perspective, and culturally relevant approaches. The theoretical ordering of themes addressed occurs within three overlapping phases: (1) resilience and safety, (2) restorative retelling, (3) and reconnecting (Herman, 1997 Herman, J. L. 1997. Trauma and recovery, New York: Basic Books.  [Google Scholar]; Rynearson, 2001 Rynearson, R. 2001. Retelling violent death, Philadelphia: Brunner-Routledge.  [Google Scholar]). Techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and narrative therapy are combined to address loss and trauma.     

Development of the India Patriarchy Index: Validation and Testing of Temporal and Spatial Patterning

Social Indicators Research - While existing indices of gender equality measure the role of women’s status and position, they inadequately contextualize the broader construct of patriarchy, a...