Chilean Adaptation and Validation of the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale–Short Form

The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of a short version of the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale (FDAS–SF; Fisher, 1978) in the Chilean context. Participants were 260 individuals who were divorced or separated. The FDAS–SF included 22 of the original 100 items, and its factorial structure was evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Instead of the 6 original subscales proposed by its author, the structure that showed the best fit to the data was composed of 5 subscales: self-worth, disentanglement from the ex-partner, anger, grief, and social trust. The social self-worth subscale was excluded. Reliability analyses revealed good internal consistency of the subscales and adequate convergent validity with depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction. Given the psychometric properties of this short version, it can be concluded that the FDAS–SF can be used in the Chilean context to evaluate the adjustment to divorce and separation.     

Unintended Consequences of Land Rights Reform: The Case of the 1998 Uganda Land Act

Empirical studies of land rights privatisation have tended to underemphasise the unintended impacts of land rights reform relative to establishing whether the predicted impacts have occurred. This article, in reviewing some of the unintended consequences of the 1998 Uganda Land Act, draws attention to ways in which intended impacts may be undercut by lack of both consultation and foresight in anticipating responses to new legal provisions and by lack of adequate resourcing of the reform process. It also recognises that unintended outcomes may sometimes reflect appropriate adaptations of legal provisions at the local level, and briefly considers what light the Ugandan experience can throw on recent proposals for Normalisation of informal property rights in the Third World.     

Determinants of Migrant Career Success: A Study of Recent Skilled Migrants in Australia

Australia has been aggressively pursuing skilled migrants to sustain its population and foster economic growth. However, many skilled migrants experience a downward career move upon migration to Australia. Based on a survey of recent skilled migrants, this study investigates how individual (age, years of settlement, qualifications), national/societal (citizenship and settlement), and organization-level (climate of inclusion) factors influence their career success. Overall, we found that: (1) age at migration matters more than length of settlement in predicting skilled migrant career success; (2) citizenship uptake and living in a neighbourhood with a greater number of families from the same country of origin facilitate post-migration career success; and (3) perceptions of one's social/informal networks in the workplace – a dimension of perceived organizational climate of inclusion – also have a positive impact on migrant career outcomes.     

Elements of life satisfaction among young adults in Serbia

Contemporary sociological studies argue that employment and personal life have diversified effects as determinants of life satisfaction (LS) of young adults. We have, therefore, decided to explore the three different aspects of general LS, satisfaction with personal (intimate) domain, satisfaction with family life and satisfaction with occupation (professional domain), by using the survey data on 1627 young adults aged from 19 to 35 from Serbia. The correlations between the three domains are significant, while the strongest tie is between satisfaction with intimate relations and satisfaction with family life. The analysis exposed that social variables (employment, education, housing autonomy and financial autonomy) and personal variables (partnership and parenthood) are in a diverse manner related to the three domains of LS, as well as that their effects are different for young men and women. Taking into account particularities of social context in Serbia, we have introduced functional autonomy (decision-making and acting independent of parents) as mediating variable. The results uncover that functional autonomy has little influence on satisfaction with occupation, while social variables have a strong effect, suggesting that agency in professional domain is significantly socially bound. Regression models reveal divergent and gender-specific relations of variables and three aspects of LS related to particular structural and cultural context in Serbia that sets limits to gender detraditionalization.     

Identity and Self-Presentation in the House/Ball Culture: A Primer for Social Workers

Members of the house/ball subculture, a segment of the population of young men and transgendered people of color who have sex with men in the United States, are examined in relationship to self-identity and presentation. To enhance cultural awareness and understanding for helping professionals, historical backdrop, categories of identity, theoretical applications, and insight concerning the social network and fluidity of self within the house/ball community are described and examined. Case illustrations demonstrate the importance of cultural competence concerning this marginalized population, especially when considering HIV prevention and care, health disparities, violence, and poverty.     

Social Trust and E-Commerce: Experimental Evidence for the Effects of Social Trust on Individuals' Economic Behavior

In this study, an experimental design embedded in a nationalsurvey is used to examine the impact of social trust on participationin e-commerce. To what extent does generalized trust in peopleinfluence economic behavior, particularly in newly establishedrealms such as the Internet? Although some previous work hasposited a role for social trust in encouraging both e-commerceand economic development more generally, evidence has been basedon cross-sectional associations and, primarily, at the aggregatelevel of entire countries. While these relationships have beensuggestive, studies have yet to confirm a causal role for socialtrust in influencing e-commerce. Would increasing levels ofsocial trust actually encourage greater e-commerce participation?This study combines the representativeness of a national surveywith the internal validity of an experimental design to answerthis question.     

Privatisation Effects: Some Evidence from Serbia

This paper analyses basic outcome and effects of the privatisation process in Serbia. The first two parts of the paper deal with general achievements of the newest privatisation plan adopted in 2001. We present a brief background of the results of the privatisation process, analysing changes in the structure of enterprises by ownership status, the number of privatised firms, revenues earned through privatisation, the rate of successful transactions, and other relevant privatisation indicators. The paper continues with an analysis of a survey conducted within a sample of Serbian enterprises offering some evidence about performance, competition, and restructuring within different types of firms: socially owned, privatised, and new private. Contrary to the broadly accepted statement that new private firms are leading in transition economies, according to our estimation of the effects of the ownership type on firm performance, it appears that the privatised sector seems to be more active. A comparison of the survey results with findings for three neighbouring countries indicates that there is no general conclusion about the way how ownership status of a firm affects its performance in a transition economy. Although conclusions drawn from our survey analysis should be regarded as preliminary and limited by the quality of survey data and could not be generalised for the privatisation process in other transition countries, the findings we present, including the comparison made with other economies, could contribute to the understanding of both privatisation effects in general and effects remarkable for the Serbian economy.      

Serbian Judiciary and Transition: Recent Jurisprudence

This article examines the role and position of national courts during transitional periods with focus on and case study of the judiciary in Serbia. Courts in Serbia, as any other judiciary in transition, have undergone a staggering transformative process as illustrated by a chronology of human rights cases. On the other hand, courts in Serbia, as their counterparts worldwide, have also been the transformation force, as evidenced by recent jurisprudence in cases dealing more or less successfully with political assassinations, organized crime, corruption, war crimes, and international courts.     

Group work in mindfulness-based interventions with youth: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

Almost all mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are delivered in group format. Given the benefits of group work for children/youth, the authors wondered how researchers studying MBIs discussed and analyzed the group-work component of the MBI. The authors conducted a scoping study with the aims of analyzing relevant research regardless of design to explore the range of research activity, to summarize findings, and to identify gaps in knowledge. Our research questions asked, (1) How is group work described and discussed in the research literature that explores MBIs with children and youth? (2) When group work is discussed, what factors are the focus of discussion? and (3) Is group work considered an important aspect in the delivery of MBIs? Ultimately, the authors identified 94 articles that met their inclusion criteria. The researchers that discussed group work identified rationales for the group delivery, benefits of group work, the need for a cohesive and safe environment for learning, the relevant role of the group facilitator, cultural implications, and challenges associated with group delivery. Engagement of youth in an MBI and the importance of the group process were identified as main issues. The authors concluded that all of the factors contributing to change as a result of having participated in an MBI need to be better understood, and that group work should be given more attention in the delivery and study of MBIs. Thus, the facilitation of an MBI can be better understood as can the mechanisms of change.