Attitude-action relationships*

La présente étude a pour objet la relation qui existe entre une attitude verbale à l'égard de la légalisation de la marijuana et la façon de se comporter manifestement opposée à cette attitude. Le sujet principal de l'étude avait donc pour but de déterminer si oui ou non le comportement d'une personne reste le même lorsque, dans la cas d'une situation d'intérraction, on ajoute des données variées de participation sociale et certaines attitudes dictées par les convenances. Est abordée aussi la question de savoir si oui ou non le besoin d'une personne de se sentir approuvée a quelque effet sur la constance des résultats. En conclusion, on s'aperçoit que la participation sociale, les attitudes de convenance et le besoin d'aquiescement, influent fortement sur les relations: ‘attitude —comportement.’ The present study is concerned with the relationship between verbal attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana and the overt behaviour expressed toward this attitude object. The main concern is to determine whether or not an individual's behaviour will remain consistent when variations of ‘social participation’ and ‘attitudinal congruence’ are injected into an interactional situation. Also investigated is the question of whether or not the personality variable of ‘need for approval’ has any effect on the consistency issue. The findings suggest that social participation, attitudinal congruence and the individual's need for approval are powerful influences in attitude-behaviour relationships.     

Community-Based Participatory Study Abroad: A Proposed Model for Social Work Education

Study abroad experiences offer important benefits for social work students and faculty, including global awareness, practice skill development, and enhanced multicultural competence. Short-term study abroad programs are most feasible but typically lack depth of engagement with host communities and may perpetuate existing systems of power and privilege. We propose a model of community-based participatory study abroad with 6 components: (1) shared power, (2) co-learning, (3) reciprocal benefits, (4) empowerment, (5) community-grounded processes, and (6) sustainability. This model is community-driven and social change oriented, addresses power and privilege, and emphasizes fundamental social work values. We use a study abroad course initiative in Kenya to illustrate each principle, and we conclude with a discussion of implications for teaching and student learning.     

Social and psychological resources among homeless youth: protection against risk for physical victimization?

ABSTRACT

This study examines child physical abuse, social and psychological resources, and street physical victimization among 150 homeless youth from the Midwest. Path analyses results show that males have higher self-efficacy than females, while older youth and those who experienced less child physical abuse reported higher self-esteem. Self-efficacy and self-esteem were positively associated with social support as was being younger and having experienced less child physical abuse. Younger respondents reported fewer difficulties obtaining basic necessities, and those who had less trouble finding these necessities experienced less street physical victimization. Females, younger youth, and those who experienced less child physical abuse reported lower rates of physical victimization. Agencies should be aware that many youth experiencing homelessness have trouble obtaining basic necessities, which increases risk for victimization. Moreover, the ability to obtain necessities appears to override the influential role of social support, further affirming the foundational importance of agencies helping youth meet their basic needs.     

Gender and Organizational Justice Preferences

Despite evidence that women and men possess similar workplace values, debate continues regarding gendered preferences for justice in the workplace. In particular, some have argued that women and men have fundamentally different justice orientations, which lead men to value fair outcomes and women to value fair procedures. Recent research finds that such beliefs may influence managers to reward men with greater monetary rewards than those provided to women. Here, we review this literature and argue that men and women do not have fundamentally different justice orientations. Instead, the few findings of gender difference in preferences for procedural vs. distributive justice in the workplace are a function of status differences between men and women.     

An Evaluative Review of Outcome Research on Universal Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Programs for Higher Education Students

Abstract

Objective: This review is the first large-scale attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of universal promotion and prevention programs for higher education students on a range of adjustment outcomes. Participants/Methods: The current review examined 83 controlled interventions involving college, graduate, and professional students, with a focus on 3 main outcomes: social and emotional skills, self-perceptions, and emotional distress. Results/Conclusions: Skill-oriented programs that included supervised practice demonstrated the strongest benefits, thus showing promise as a successful mental health promotion and preventive intervention. In comparing different intervention strategies, mindfulness training and cognitive-behavioral techniques appear to be the most effective. Furthermore, interventions conducted as a class appear to be effective, suggesting the potential for exposing higher education students to skill training through routine curricula offerings. This review offers recommendations for improving the experimental rigor of future research, and implications for enhancing campus services to optimize student success in psychosocial—and thus ultimately academic—domains.     

‘Race isn't what defines me’: exploring identity choices in transracial,biracial, and monoracial families

Transracial adoption [TRA], particularly the adoption of black children by white parents, has been a controversial issue in the United States for more than half a century. Much of the criticism surrounding transracial adoption has dealt with concerns that black children raised in white homes will fail to develop a positive black identity. Such critiques are often based on assumptions about the identity of black children raised by their biological parents, yet studies of transracial adoption rarely address identity development struggles experienced by black children raised in black homes. Moreover, while the race of parents in relation to children is at the center of the transracial adoption debate, TRA studies rarely delve into socialization practices of biracial families headed by one white and one black parent. This study addresses a void in the literature by examining the experiences of young black adults whose parents may or may not be of the same race. The impact of varying racialized family structures on black identity development is examined by comparing the experiences of young black adults raised in families with two black parents (monoracial), one white and one black parent (biracial), and two white parents (transracial). Drawing from 32 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with middle-class young black adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, findings indicate that all informants, regardless of racialized family structure, approach racial identity development similarly by de-emphasizing the ascribed status of race in favor of achieved statuses as part of the identity construction process.     

Economic Well-Being Among Older-Adult Households: Variation by Veteran and Disability Status

This analysis uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine whether veteran and disability statuses are jointly associated with poverty and material hardship among households that include an older adult. Compared to households that do not include a person with a disability or veteran, disabled nonveteran households are more likely to be in poverty and to experience home hardship, medical hardship, and bill-paying hardship. Disabled veteran households are not significantly different in terms of poverty, but exhibit the highest odds of home hardship, medical hardship, bill-paying hardship, and food insufficiency. The implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Transforming Retirement: New Definitions of Life After Work

This quantitative research study uses survey data of women born between 1946 and 1951 in Australia. It follows earlier work that identified the importance of transitions from work for women of the baby boomer generation. We provide important insights into the lives of women who have partially or fully retired and the changing nature of women's work and retirement. For many women, retirement is characterized by newfound freedoms, opportunities, career change, and evolving identities, yet others view retirement as a continuation of previous occupational and gendered roles and commitments. This study has important implications for retirement policies for women.     

A question of balance

Dr W. Warner Burke is Professor of Psychology and Education and Chair of the Department of Organization and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York. He is also Chairman of W. Warner Burke Associates, Inc., an organization consulting firm. Burke earned his BA from Furman University and his MA and PhD from the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to Teachers College, he served in senior positions at Clark University, the NTL Institute, and as Executive Director of the OD Network. Dr Burke's consulting experience has been with a variety of organizations in businessindustry, education, government, religious and medical systems. A Diplomate in 1/0 Psychology, the American Board of Professional Psychology, he is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Society, and the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and past editor of both Organizational Dynamics and the Academy of Management Executive. He has authored over 100 articles and book chapters on OD, and authored, co-authored or edited thirteen books. He has received numerous awards, including, in 1989, the Public Service Medal from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in 1990, the Distinguished Contribution to Human Resource Development Award and, in 1993, the Organization Development Professional Practice Area Award for Excellence—The Lippitt Memorial Award—from the American Society for Training and Development. He has been working in the field of OD for over thirty-five years.

Seth A. Berr, MA, is a Research Associate at W. Warner Burke Associates, Inc. He received his BA in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and MA in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. He currently specializes in the co-ordination and planning of executive development and feedback-based programmes.

Allan H. Church, PhD, RODC, is a Principal at W. Warner Burke Associates, Inc., an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and edtor of both the Organization Development Journal and The Industrial-Organizational Pychologist. He has published more than eighty articles and several book chapters, and was recently awarded the 1999 OD Consultant of the Year Award from The OD Institute.