Contracts for intimate relationships

This paper analyzes the extent to which intimate relationships established by contract differ from, and are more egalitarian than, those established by traditional legal marriage. Three types of intimate contracts are examined: contracts between legally married spouses, contracts written as a prelude to legal marriage, and contracts written by unmarried cohabitors as an alternative to legal marriage. The paper addresses two major questions: (1) To what extent do the relationships established by contract differ from those established by legal marriage? (2) To what extent do these contracts support more egalitarian family forms? While considerable variation by type of relationship was found, with the cohabitors departing the most from the traditional legal model, even the married couples wrote contracts that were significantly different from the model imposed by law. They were much more likely to structure their relationship as a partnership rather than as a hierarchy, and to hold their income and property as community property. Further, they were more likely to share the responsibilities for both economic support and homemaking tasks (in contrast to the legal assignment of these duties on the basis of sex). Thus, when compared to the relationships established by law, the 50 intimate contracts in this sample seemed to support more egalitarian family forms.     

Stress and the bus driver in the UK transport industry

This study was carried out to identify potential sources of stress for bus drivers working for the established operator in a major UK city, six months after the deregulation of bus transport. The focus was to assess the mental health and job satisfaction of the drivers. An interview programme was followed by a questionnaire survey of 376 male bus drivers. Major problem areas related to health and home-related concerns, problems intrinsic to the job, lack of involvement and support during the organizational changes occurring and fears regarding physical assault. Existing problems had been intensified as a result of streamlining and increased competition. The bus drivers were found to demonstrate lower levels of job satisfaction and unfavourable scores on mental-health indices when compared to normative samples, which was associated with their work-related stressors. The impact was significantly reduced for those men driving the newer minibuses in contrast to the traditional 72-seater double-decker buses.     

Marital Role Ideals and Perception of Marital Role Behavior in Distressed and Non Distressed Couples

Eighty non-patient couples, 50 couples seeking sex therapy, and 50 couples seeking marital therapy, were asked to report on whom they felt should and who actually does assume responsibility in eight major marital role areas. When the degree of individual “role strain”, that is, the discrepancy between role ideals and role behavior was examined, the marital therapy patients were found to be experiencing the most role strain. Husband-wife discrepancies with respect to who does have the various role assignments were found to be higher in the marital therapy couples. These data are interpreted in terms of their implications for diagnosis and treatment of sexually and maritally distressed couples.     

Mediated reunions in adoption: findings from an evaluation study

In Canada, there are long waiting lists of adopted persons and birthparents seeking information or actual reunions. In the province of Quebec, the government authorized a pilot project, involving a fee-for-service program and use of contract social workers to supplement agency staff as intermediaries in the reunion process. This article reports on the project's evaluation and provides birth-parents' and adoptees' responses to reunion. A survey of clients who used this service found a high level of satisfaction. There were, however, some significant differences between birthparents and adoptees as well as between those who were searching and those found.     

Sexually motivated child abductors: forensic evaluation

1. Forensic nursing evaluations of perpetrators require (at minimum) information on the crime, crime scene photographs (if possible), victim statements, official records, and perpetrator interviews. 2. If multiple crime scenes exist, each needs to be detailed for an evaluation report. 3. Sexually motivated crimes are usually committed based on a well-defined fantasy.     

Devolution of Services to Children and Families: The Experience of NPOs in Nanaimo,British Columbia,Canada

This study focuses on the current experience of Nanaimos nonprofit family and child service organizations (N = 29) providing services on behalf of government and their adaptation to this devolution. The effects and consequences of contracting on organizational practices, accountability, and services were explored through interviews and focus groups with executive directors, board members, line staff, government representatives, and the United Way. Results show that a significant proportion of funding comes from provincial government contracts. The funding climate is uncertain, and there is considerable confusion, stress, and time involved with the contracting process. Accountability requirements are demanding and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) express concern about a shift to a business management model. Recommendations include a need for increased collaboration between NPOs, a body that speaks for the voluntary sector, and improved relationships between NPOs and government funders.     

Consumer participation in the employment rehabilitation process: contextual factors and implications for practice

Rehabilitation models of practice have emerged that offer persons' with disabilities opportunities to have an active role in the work entry or re(entry) process. Despite the growth and interest in empowering client involvement in practice, consumer views on the determinants of participation are not fully understood. Thus, consumer feedback on using a self-directed approach to employment rehabilitation was elicited to identify factors integral to their participation in the process. Focus groups were conducted with 35 adult consumers with developmental, mental health, physical and learning disabilities to gain insights into their involvement in a participatory approach to find employment. Content analysis of data revealed barriers and facilitators, which hindered or enabled consumer involvement in the vocational service process. This article discusses the importance of considering issues across the rehabilitation system, practice and lived contexts when implementing participatory approaches in vocational rehabilitation settings.     

The Ethnographic Turn: Fact,Fashion, or Fiction?

Commentators have suggested that a qualitative turn occurred in the social sciences in the last couple of decades of the twentieth century. We examine evidence on publication patterns, finding that the ethnographic turn consisted more of a proliferation of specialty journals than increased publication in mainstream sociology journals. This difference is important because it moves methodological debate inside the community of qualitative scholars, changing the focus from a contrast between qualitative and quantitative methods to questions about the relative merits of different styles of ethnographic work. Thus far, our data suggest, the main effect of the ethnographic turn may have been to institutionalize a set of labels rather than a set of practices.