Foster Care of Children: Nurture and Treatment,by Draza Kline and Helen-Mary Overstreet. Columbia University Press,New York, 1972. $12.50 Hardbound. 316 Pages

This article reports the findings of a study that explored the perceptions of 147 graduate social work students about their families of origin compared with the perceptions of guidance and counseling, business, and education graduate students. The authors surveyed respondents by means of a self-administered questionnaire to determine if the students had experienced any of the various forms of family dysfunction. Social work students were significantly more likely to come from families in which substance abuse was a problem and to have had a family member who was a victim of a violent act. In addition, social work students were significantly more likely to have been sexually abused. The authors discuss implications of these findings for social work education.     

Qualitative bereavement research: incongruity between the perspectives of participants and research ethics boards

A central feature of the majority of qualitative research is the interactive nature of data collection which generally involves direct and meaningful communication between the individuals conducting the research and the individuals participating in the research. This core aspect of data collection, however, is frequently flagged as the most concerning or potentially harmful aspect of qualitative bereavement research by research ethics boards. Further, there has been a tendency to conceptualize the bereaved as vulnerable and in need of protection in the research process. Instead of thinking that a research interview which explores the complex, personal issues of grief would potentially harm participants, it may be seen as potentially beneficial to participants when the therapeutic aspects of the interview are considered. Participants’ responses to the interview process in two bereavement studies are offered as illustrations to complement the literature on the potential for the researcher‐participant relationship and the research interview to be perceived as beneficial by bereavement research participants.     

A Parametric Analysis of Rehearsal Opportunities on Procedural Integrity

Behavioral skills training (BST) involves instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Despite its empirical support, the literature provides little to no guidance regarding the best way to implement rehearsal to ensure accurate implementation of behavioral procedures. Thus, the purpose of this study was to conduct a parametric analysis of rehearsal opportunities within a BST package. We evaluated the effects of 1, 3, and 10 rehearsals with feedback on correct implementation of functional analysis (FA). Regardless of the number of rehearsals, 18 undergraduate participants effectively learned to implement FA conditions. The most efficient training involved the use of single rehearsals with feedback until meeting mastery criterion. Participants maintained integrity during a follow-up session and rated the use of rehearsal as highly acceptable.     

Coverage with k-transmitters in the presence of obstacles

For a fixed integer k≥0, a k-transmitter is an omnidirectional wireless transmitter with an infinite broadcast range that is able to penetrate up to k “walls”, represented as line segments in the plane. We develop lower and upper bounds for the number of k-transmitters that are necessary and sufficient to cover a given collection of line segments, polygonal chains and polygons.     

Non‐Resident Fathers' Engagement with their Children: The Salience of Leisure

This paper reports on selected aspects of a recent study of non‐resident fathers' leisure with their children. The settings and context for non‐resident fathers' contact with their children are described and the methodology comprising interviews with eighteen non‐resident fathers is briefly explained. The fathers who participated were a diverse group. Leisure is a vital aspect of most non‐resident fathers' engagement with their children. Nevertheless, for non‐resident fathers to be fully‐integrated in their children's lives they need to participate in a range of everyday activities that allow them to function as parents rather than as regular visitors. Policy and legislation must better recognise the qualitative aspects of parent's engagement with their children.     

Sociological Knowledge and Profit: Urban Redevelopment and Policy Ethics of Application

A private commercial real estate firm achieved racial integration in producing private middle-income housing for private capital gains purposes in a publicly espoused urban redevelopment project in Chicago in the 1950s and the 1960s. The effort included critical use of (1) market research (demographic data analysis considered in relation to race-based dominant dwelling types) and (2) sociological principles of white–black ratio tolerance. This paper describes the use of the data analysis and the application of the sociological principles to achieve the results in the face of a public policy ethical question. The urban context within which these efforts, accomplishments, and quandary took place and the central policy and development problems faced by the development firm in relation to these are outlined.     

THE INFLUENCE OF FEAR OF CRIME, GENDER, AND SOUTHERN CULTURE ON CARRYING FIREARMS FOR PROTECTION

This research examines the influence of fear of crime, gender, and a southern cultural tradition on the frequency of carrying firearms for protection against criminal victimization. Analysis of carrying guns for protection, as opposed to having them in the home or owning them for this purpose, is argued to remove some methodological problems plaguing much previous research. Fear of crime is not found to be a significant predictor of carrying; however, gender and cultural context do have predictable influences. Males and persons residing in a traditionally southern cultural context carried guns most frequently, compared to others, for protection against crime. One important finding is an interaction effect between gender and culture: southern culture levels the difference between genders by increasing female more than male carrying of a gun. Theoretical and research implications are discussed.     

The generalized action potential of protest movements: The new class,social trends,and political exclusion explanations

Three explanations have been advanced to account for the generalized action potential of contemporary protest movements: the rise of the new class, a set of general social trends that cumulatively lead to liberalized social values and loosened social restraints against protest, and the mobilization of excluded groups. Analyzing three dimensions of generalized action potential—protest potential, political action repertoires, and protest movement support—we find support for all three explanations. Educated salaried professionals, especially sociocultural and public sector professionals, display greater protest potential, especially for civil disobedience, and are supportive of emerging “middle class” movements. A set of general social trends centering on increased education, life-cycle and generational change, secularism, and increased women's autonomy also create greater action potential. Reflecting mobilization against political exclusion, African Americans display a consistently strong generalized action potential. These protests reflect the rise of new political repertoires, particularly “protest activism,” which combines protest with high levels of conventional participation and is centered among the more educated.     

'Policies Don't Protect People, It's How They Are Implemented': Policy and Practice in Protecting People with Learning Disabilities from Abuse

Recent years have seen the development of policy guidance documents in both Wales and England relating to the protection of vulnerable adults from abuse. This policy guidance does, however, require translation into policies at the local level and that these policies are then implemented in day‐to‐day practice. This article reports some of the findings of a two‐year study that examined the development and implementation of such policies in services for people with learning disabilities within Wales. Data were gathered by means of a survey of service providers from across Wales and also via focus groups held with direct care staff and those with a responsibility for investigating alleged abuse. Positive developments include a commitment to multi‐disciplinary working, increased clarity and consistency, and greater awareness. Less positive aspects include the potential for policy ‘overload’ and a feeling that, while there is awareness of the existence of vulnerable adults policies, knowledge of their content may be more limited. Recommendations are made for the development of policy, practice and research.     

Care arrangement choices for older widows: decision participants' perspectives

This research examines how a wide range of care arrangement decisions for frail older women are made. Interviews were conducted with 11 older women (ten of whom are widows), nine of their family members, and six professional service providers. Maintaining the older woman's independence was identified as a major theme. While all decision participants identified it as an explicit or implicit decision-making goal, their meanings of independence were different. The older women's meanings were flexible, changing in response to changes in their physical condition and need for assistance. Adult children tended to identify their mothers as independent when they did not actually need assistance, or when they received help from other sources (e.g., home health care). Professional service providers were inclined to define independence narrowly, as avoiding nursing home placement. Minor themes associated with independence include responsibility, reciprocity, and the family's importance in maintaining independence. These themes help to clarify the complex dynamics that take place during care arrangement decisions and explain how care arrangement choices are made.