The Influence of Rural and Urban Substance Abuse Treatment Counselor Characteristics on Client Outcomes

ABSTRACT

Focus group data were collected from 28 substance abuse treatment counselors employed in rural and urban areas to examine their perceptions of factors influencing treatment outcomes. The influence of the counselor characteristics (i.e., education, experience, and recovery status) on client outcomes and geographic differences is explored. Focus group data were analyzed by three raters using line-by-line coding, focused coding, and memoing. This analytic approach revealed geographic differences in the counselors’ perceptions of the effect of counselor education, experience, and recovery status on client outcomes. Recommendations for treatment planning and future research are provided.     

Review Essay: Researching AIDS in Society,Communities, and Social Groups

Qualitative Sociology -     

Objective functions with redundant domains

Let $(E,{ \mathcal{A}})$ be a set system consisting of a finite collection ${ \mathcal{A}}$ of subsets of a ground set E, and suppose that we have a function ? which maps ${ \mathcal{A}}$ into some set S. Now removing a subset K from E gives a restriction ${ \mathcal{A}}(\bar{K})$ to those sets of ${ \mathcal{A}}$ disjoint from K, and we have a corresponding restriction $\phi|_{\hspace {.02in}{ \mathcal{A}}(\bar{K})}$ of our function ?. If the removal of K does not affect the image set of ?, that is $\mbox {Im}(\phi|_{\hspace {.02in}{ \mathcal{A}}(\bar{X})})=\mbox {Im}(\phi)$ , then we will say that K is a kernel set of ${ \mathcal{A}}$ with respect to ?. Such sets are potentially useful in optimisation problems defined in terms of ?. We will call the set of all subsets of E that are kernel sets with respect to ? a kernel system and denote it by $\mathrm {Ker}_{\phi}({ \mathcal{A}})$ . Motivated by the optimisation theme, we ask which kernel systems are matroids. For instance, if ${ \mathcal{A}}$ is the collection of forests in a graph G with coloured edges and ? counts how many edges of each colour occurs in a forest then $\mathrm {Ker}_{\phi}({ \mathcal{A}})$ is isomorphic to the disjoint sum of the cocycle matroids of the differently coloured subgraphs; on the other hand, if ${ \mathcal{A}}$ is the power set of a set of positive integers, and ? is the function which takes the values 1 and 0 on subsets according to whether they are sum-free or not, then we show that $\mathrm {Ker}_{\phi}({ \mathcal{A}})$ is essentially never a matroid.     

Binge drinking in female college students: the association of physical activity, weight concern, and depressive symptoms

As an initial step in building gender-specific binge drinking intervention programs, the authors investigated the relation of potentially modifiable factors (physical activity level, weight concern, and depressive symptoms) to binge drinking while controlling for the effects of previously established correlates of binge drinking (tobacco and marijuana use, GPA, and perception of peer alcohol use). Four-hundred-twelve college women completed an in-class survey. Multivariate analyses revealed that tobacco and marijuana use, GPA, and physical activity were significantly associated with binge drinking, whereas tobacco use and perception of peers' alcohol use were associated with more frequent binge drinking. The findings suggested that the variables associated with any binge drinking and frequency of binge drinking may differ and that binge drinking can be associated with positive health behaviors (ie, greater physical activity) as well as risky health behaviors (eg, tobacco use).     

Interethnic Romantic Relationships: Enacting Affiliative Ethnic Identities

Through in‐depth interviews with respondents who were in interethnic relationships (N = 28), the authors extended and refined a new approach to mate selection based on affiliative ethnic identities (T. Jimenez, 2010). Rather than assimilation and a breakdown of ethnic group boundaries, they found that people pursued interethnic relationships because of the ethnic differences they include. These relationships gave them access to an affiliate ethnic or multicultural identity. This perspective does not challenge but rather complements existing theories of mate selection, including the role of opportunity structures, exchange of benefits, and growing acceptance of or freedom to pursue interethnic relationships. Ethnic differences can remain central as people meet, fall in love, and marry across these differences.     

The effectiveness of PREP with lower-income racial/ethnic minority couples

The current study examined the effectiveness of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) with lower-income and racial/ethnic minority (African American and Latino/a) couples. Additionally, we tested whether relationship outcomes varied based on the delivery format (i.e., group format vs. couple format). The sample included 321 unmarried couples expecting a child or who have a child 3 month old or younger. The couples participated in 16 hr of PREP via a group or a couple format over the course of 2-3 months. Couples relationship quality was assessed prior to and directly after the program. The results showed that men and women demonstrated significant gains in their communication skills, relationship functioning, friendship, dedication, and relationship confidence. Couples who participated in PREP via the couple format had better outcomes on three of the seven relational outcomes as compared to couples who participated in PREP via the group format.     

Relationship Education in Community Settings: Effectiveness with Distressed and Non‐Distressed Low‐Income Racial Minority Couples

Couple relationship education (CRE) programs are intended to prevent negative couple outcomes, however, some evidence suggests couples in greater distress may still benefit. The current study examined pre‐ and postchanges in relationship functioning of 362 low‐income African American and Hispanic couples. Outcomes (dedication and communication) were assessed by examining differences between two distinct groupings of couples; distressed (both partners reporting clinically significant distress) and nondistressed (neither partner reporting clinically significant distress) couples. Distressed couples at predemonstrated large‐sized gains in all outcome variables, as compared to nondistressed couples. Those who participated in the single‐couple format demonstrated lower gains in positive communication as compared to those in the group format. Implications for distressed couples in CRE programs are offered.     

Need to know vs. need to share: information technology and the intersecting work of police,fire and paramedics

Emergency preparedness concerns over inadequate emergency interoperability among police, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) have led to the adoption of shared information technologies. Using a social worlds/arenas framework, I ethnographically study police, fire and EMS, as ‘users’ of technology, to understand how they interact with their technologies, and the ways in which their respective organizational contexts, cultures and practices shape technological functioning and collaborative action. From this analysis, I uncover social world contexts (ideologies) and individual actions (social legitimation and hierarchy of credibility) that alter technological functioning and create impediments to emergency interoperability. I further highlight an important ideological disconnect between the design and in-situ application of emergency technologies. I conclude by discussing the extent to which policies and technological innovations cannot, in and of themselves, address emergency preparedness concerns.