THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL LOSS ON THE FORMATION OF INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS*

Effects of parental loss on subsequent intimate relationships were studied with a sample of young married couples and with a sample of college students. Compared to those with no parental loss, young adults with parental loss tended to exhibit one of two patterns: avoidance of intimacy, or accelerated courtship. Persons with parental death exhibited both of the described patterns, but tended as a group to be more hesitant about intimate relationships. Persons with parental divorce generally indicated accelerated courtship patterns. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Changing Forest Disturbance Regimes and Risk Perceptions in Homer, Alaska

Forest disturbances caused by insects can lead to other disturbances, risks, and changes across landscapes. Evaluating the human dimensions of such disturbances furthers understanding of integrated changes in natural and social systems. This article examines the effects of changing forest disturbance regimes on local risk perceptions and attitudes in Homer, Alaska. Homer experienced a spruce bark beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) outbreak with large-scale tree mortality and a 5,000-acre fire in 2005. Qualitative interviews and quantitative analysis of mail surveys are used to examine community risk perception and relationships with land managers pre- and post-fire. Results show a decrease in the saliency of the spruce bark beetle as a community issue, a coalescence of community risk perceptions about fire, and conflicting findings about satisfaction with land managers and its relationship with risk perception.     

Social Justice Manifest: A University–Community Partnership to Promote the Individual Right to Housing

This article examines an ongoing university–community relationship that fuses innovative technology delivery, university-outreach research, and social work practice/research education into a unique, collaborative intervention to reduce homelessness. In doing so, we apply a social justice framework to homelessness, arguing that housing is a right rather than a privilege. In the case study, a university, in partnership with a local homeless coalition, maintains a management information system to collect and analyze real-time data on homelessness in the community. The overarching social justice intention of this partnership is to improve client outcomes for homeless individuals by producing community-based research to inform policy decisions for governmental and organizational partners.     

Employment outcomes of former foster youth as young adults: The importance of human, personal, and social capital

In spite of a prevailing policy focus, little is known about the employment outcomes of former foster youth during early adulthood and the factors associated with those outcomes. We explore how former foster youth who aged out of care in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa are faring in the labor market at age 24 and what explains variability in employment and wages for these youth. We utilize multilevel models to analyze youth's employment using four waves of the Midwest Study. Our findings point to a critical need to better understand and address barriers to education, causes of substantial racial disparities, and characteristics of family foster homes that facilitate youths' employment. We find that youth who remain in care past age 18 attain higher educational credentials which translate into better employment outcomes. This research also highlights the need for policies directed at current and former foster youth who become early parents.     

Mothers' experiences, resources and needs: The context for reunification

This paper extends prior scholarship regarding the characteristics of mothers involved with the child welfare system. In-person interviews were conducted with a statewide sample of 747 mothers, 318 with children remaining in home and 429 with children in care, to examine their socio-demographic and psychosocial characteristics as well as service needs. Mothers were mostly impoverished, struggling to meet basic needs, and coping with early trauma, mental health problems, substance abuse and domestic violence. Almost half reported an annual income of less than $10,000 and 70% were unemployed, but few received public benefits with the exception of food stamps. Mothers with children in care experienced greater economic hardship than mothers whose children remained in home. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Receipt of help acquiring life skills and predictors of help receipt among current and former foster youth

US law has long recognized the need to help prepare foster youth for the transition to adulthood and states receive funds specifically intended to provide their foster youth with independent living services. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to whether foster youth in fact receive the services states are supposed to provide using federal funds. This study uses data from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth to describe the kinds of help foster youth receive in making the transition to adulthood and the factors associated with help receipt. Study findings call for a redoubling of efforts to provide foster youth with the assistance called for in federal law, provide support for the extension of foster care through age 21 in the interest of ensuring that such assistance is provided, highlight the need to involve foster parents more actively in providing youth with life skills training, and call into question whether current efforts to assist foster youth in acquiring independent living skills are well targeted.     

A study of the learning styles of undergraduate social work students

This study examines the learning styles of students in social work classes at Norfolk State University. Knowledge of learning styles can enhance the ability of faculty to build on student experiences and construct new learning opportunities. Kolb's Learning Style Inventory was administered to identify each student's dominate learning style. The theoretical underpinning is experiential learning, which supports the concept that learning styles are developed through experiences. The results indicated that diverging and accommodating learning styles occurred most often. Students with these styles learn best in classes where activities include lectures, role playing exercises, discussions, opportunities to practice skills, and reflection.     

The Relationship between Country of Residence, Gender and the Quality of Life in Australian and Taiwanese Midlife Residents

A growing global aging population is presenting more opportunities for health professionals to interact with other cultures. The specific aims of this study were to: (1) compare the quality of life of midlife men and women in Australian and Taiwan; and (2) to explore the impact of country of residence and gender on quality of life. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using census data and a probability proportional sampling (PPS) strategy on a general population of men and women aged 40–59 years-old who live permanently in Taiwan and Australia. The sample consisted of 278 Australians and 398 Taiwanese men and women. Analysis showed that country of residence does have an impact on quality of life with significant differences seen between midlife Australian and Taiwanese men and women (F 4, 666 = 59.31, p < 0.001). The results suggest that midlife Australian men and women have a better quality of life than midlife Taiwanese men and women. The mean score for the four domains of quality of life by gender indicated that midlife women consider that they have a better quality of life than midlife men in both Australia and Taiwan. Midlife Australian men in this study reported they are more dissatisfied with their sleep and rest (χ ² = 10.57, df = 4, p = 0.03) and more dissatisfied with their sexual activities (χ ² = 9.42, df = 4, p = 0.05) in contrast to midlife Australian women. This study has addressed and contributed to the assessment of multi-cultural quality of life research and has important implications for both health providers and policy makers of both countries.     

Connecting and engaging with health and social care: Exploring the core components of a telephone and web-mediated family navigation prevention service

Early engagement with health care, mental health care, and social services can promote the well-being of children and families. How practitioners can best support family engagement with these services however remains largely unknown. To address this gap in knowledge, data from a voluntary 12-week telephone and web-mediated family navigation preventive intervention called Navigate Your Way were subject to mixed-methods analysis. Twenty-nine caregivers and five family navigators contributed data to the study. Thematic analysis of weekly navigator check-ins, participant closing interviews, navigator discharge notes, and lab meeting notes was conducted and followed by quantitative analysis of navigator effort across project activities. Results were then mixed to illuminate the essential conditions for supporting family connection to health care, mental health care, and social services. Qualitative analysis identified themes related to empathic engagement and person-centred navigation as central to connecting families to needed services. Quantitative analysis of navigator effort identified participant outreach, weekly check-ins, service identification, and ongoing supervision as essential navigation activities. Together, providing an environment that is supportive, consistent, flexible, person-centred and tailored to families' specific needs are important for connecting to health and social care.