Exploring community stress and empowerment among stakeholders and youth in an urban community

ABSTRACT

Community-level stress, such as pervasive substance abuse and violence, can yield negative health and mental heath outcomes for youth from disadvantaged communities. Community empowerment is a process whereby community members work together to increase control in their community. This qualitative inquiry analyzed in-depth interviews with adult stakeholders (n = 17) as well as focus group interviews with token youth (n = 85) to explore perceptions of community stress and empowerment in one disadvantaged locale. Each of the 102 total participants helped interrogate the research questions: What does it mean to live in a stressed community? How might youth and adults perceive themselves capable of impacting a stressed community’s quality of life? Emergent themes, which include a nod to the utility of coalition building, are explored. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are also discussed.     

The effects of backpack load carrying on dynamic balance as measured by limits of stability

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to determine if standing dynamic balance was affected by carrying a backpack. SUBJECTS: Data was obtained from 50 healthy college students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Limits of stability was assessed using the Smart Equitest Balance Master System(R). Reaction time, movement velocity, end point excursion, maximum excursion, and directional control were measured to evaluate movement, with and without a loaded backpack. DATA ANALYSIS: Reliability was established using an Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient (2,1). MANOVA was utilized to analyze the effect of the backpack. SUMMARY DATA: Movement velocity significantly decreased during backpack loaded trials (p=0.004). Directional control was significantly different with respect to direction (p=0.006). No significant difference in reaction time, maximum excursion, or end point excursion was observed with backpack loading (p=0.10-0.93). CONCLUSION: This study concludes that backpack load carrying has an effect on movement velocity and directional control.     

Intergenerational effects of parental personality and relationship traits on mate choice among gay male and lesbian offspring

Data from 33 lesbian and 54 gay male cohabiting couples were used to examine the relation between parental identification and mate selection. Theories of mate selection and parental identification are reviewed. Effects of gender and sexual orientation as they relate to parental identification and mate selection in gay male and lesbian couples also are reviewed. The results demonstrate significant associations between the similarity of perceived parental personality and relationship styling traits with those of the partner. Socio-economic status, age, and culture also were significantly associated between parents and partners. Taken together, the results demonstrate little support for any specific theory and allude to the need for further research in this area. Limitations and implications are discussed.     

Middle classes,democratization, and class formation

Conclusions This analysis of the South Korean case demonstrates the importance of the historical context for understanding the political role of the middle classes. In late industrialization, as occurred in South Korea and other East Asian countries, the new middle class has emerged as a significant social class, before the capitalist class established its ideological hegemony and before industrial workers developed into an organized class. Neither of these two major classes was able to offer an ideological or organizational leadership to the middle classes. In this context, the middle class can act as more than merely a dependent variable. In South Korea, the minjung movement led by an intellectual segment of the middle class played a critical role in the formation of the working class, by providing an opposition ideology, new politicized languages, organizational networks, and other resources.The Korean experience also highlights the significant role of the state in class formation. The predominant role of the state in economic and social development puts it at the center of major social conflicts. Social tensions and conflicts that emerge in rapid industrialization are directly and indirectly related to the character of the state and the economic policies it implements. A high level of politicization among Korean middle-class members, not only among intellectuals but also among a large number of white-collar workers, is the product of the authoritarian regimes of Park and Chun and their repressive control of civil society. Both the nature of Korean middle-class politics and its relationship with the working-class formation have been shaped by the nature of state politics.The role of the middle class in the South Korean democratization process has been complex and variable, in part because of its internal heterogeneity and in part because of shifting political conjunctures in the transition to democracy. It would not make much sense, therefore, to characterize the Korean middle class as progressive or conservative, because different segments of it were inserted into the shifting conjunctures of political transition differently. At the same time, it would be also unsatisfactory to characterize middle-class politics as simply inconsistent or incoherent, because there exists some definite pattern in their behaviors.This analysis suggests that political behaviors of different segments of the middle class can be explained in terms of their locations within the broad spectrum of middle-class positions between capital and labor and by the changing balance of power between the two major classes. This is to acknowledge the fact that capital-labor relations constitute the primary axis of conflict and that middle-class politics must be understood ultimately in terms of this principal mechanism of class struggle. This is, however, not to assume that middle-class politics is simply a terrain of struggle between the capitalist and the working classes, as many Marxist theorists do. To repeat, in certain historical contexts middle-class politics can have an independent effect on the formation of the two major classes and the outcomes of struggles between the two.     

Enhancing Collaborative Leadership in Palliative Social Work in Oncology

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report—Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs—provided recommendations for meeting the palliative care needs of our growing population of older Americans. The IOM report highlights the demand for social work leadership across all aspects of the health care delivery system. Social workers are core interdisciplinary members of the health care team and it is important for them to be well prepared for collaborative leadership roles across health care settings. The ExCEL in Social Work: Excellence in Cancer Education &; Leadership education project was created as a direct response to the 2008 Institute of Medicine. (2008). Cancer care for the whole patient: Meeting psychosocial health needs. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. [Google Scholar] IOM Report. This article highlights a sampling of palliative care projects initiated by outstanding oncology social work participants in the ExCEL program. These projects demonstrate the leadership of social workers in palliative care oncology.     

Participating in a Culture of Consent May Be Associated With Lower Rape-Supportive Beliefs

With the recent national focus on rates of sexual violence, many interventions have been proposed, including those that focus on affirmative consent (e.g., “Yes Means Yes” campaign). The goal of the present study was to test whether individuals within a subculture with long-standing norms of affirmative consent—the bondage and discipline/dominance and submission/sadism and masochism (BDSM) community—report lower rape-supportive attitudes compared to individuals not from within this subculture. BDSM practitioner participants, adult participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and college student participants completed measures of hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, rape myth acceptance, victim blaming, expectation of sexual aggression, and acceptance of sexual aggression. BDSM practitioners reported significantly lower levels of benevolent sexism, rape myth acceptance, and victim blaming than did college undergraduates and adult MTurk workers. BDSM practitioners did not differ significantly from college undergraduates or adult MTurk workers on measures of hostile sexism, expectations of sexual aggression, or acceptance of sexual aggression. Limitations and implications are discussed.     

Disclosure of Transgender Identity and Status in the Context of Friendship

This study focuses on understanding disclosure of transgender identity within the context of friendship. Participants were 536 individuals who self-identified as transgender or gender variant. Participants completed an online questionnaire regarding friendship experiences. Thematic analysis focused on understanding experiences of identity disclosure to friends. Participants reported positive and negative experiences associated with the identity disclosure process, with responses falling into five distinct categories: positive or affirming responses, negative responses, a variation of responses, an impact on the friendship status, and emotional responses from friends. Within these five theme categories, distinct subcategories were apparent including responses that reflected support, physical violence, gaining or losing friends, and friends being unsurprised or not caring about the disclosure. These findings point to the ways in which the friendship experiences for transgender individuals are complex and unique. Clinical implications for understanding the needs of clients regarding disclosure of transgender identity and status to friends are discussed.     

Incarcerated African American Fathers: Exploring Changes in Family Relationships and the Father Identity

This research examines data obtained from 12 incarcerated African American fathers during a six-week seminar. Participants were nonviolent offenders who enrolled in a Life Skills course that focused on the father-child relationship. Data from both individual interviews and group activities revealed key issues in these men's familial relationships. Participants focused on the affects of incarceration on their father identity, problems caused by their absence, and various issues of family conflict.     

A Simulation Metamodel for Response-Time Planning*

Field service management continues to be a major challenge for many service organizations as companies are required to provide more service with less resources. Especially in information intense environments, short response times for service calls are essential to avoid disruptions to a business office or production facility. Managers must regularly assess their manpower needs, and ensure that their allocation and operational decisions lead to the best service at the lowest cost. Xerox Corporation provides copiers, duplicators, and printing systems to an international market. Xerox operates a service network consisting of over 30,000 trained service personnel, each allocated to service regions by the service planning staff. Response-time planning involves many challenging problems: requirements planning at the national level, allocation planning at the district level, and operational planning at the team level. Customer service is critical and is commonly measured by response time—the time that elapses from when a service call is placed to when a service engineer begins service. This paper discusses how Xerox Corporation has used simulation models and metamodels to improve response-time planning and field service operations.