Should It Be Easy? Divorce Process Attitudes Among Those Who Have Split Up in Midlife

This grounded theory analysis examines the gray divorced population’s attitudes about the divorce process, that is, whether those who have experienced a divorce at age 50 or older believe divorce should be easier or harder to obtain in U.S. society. Among the 40 men and 40 women interviewed in this analysis, there were divorce delayers, who wanted to make divorce laws stricter; divorce facilitators, who championed more flexible divorce laws; divorce ambivalents, who held mixed views; and marriage gatekeepers, who advocated on behalf of status quo divorce laws but tougher relationship-strengthening requirements before marriage. The diversity of these participants’ views reflects those voices in the general population who continue to see divorce as a complex decision for most couples.     

Introduction to the special issue on welfare conditionality in Australia

Conditionality in Australia’s welfare state has sustained a significant academic critique, including the critique published in this journal. In this Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Social Issues, we contribute to the existing critical literature on welfare conditionality. This Special Issue aimed to provide empirical scrutiny into welfare reform and conditionality in Australia. The articles extend our understanding of welfare conditionality’s underpinnings and its lived effects. These case studies illuminate the aspects of welfare conditionality that have not received enough attention: the role of technology, the question of mobility, the relationship with housing and the little thought given to the state’s role in mutual obligation. What is clear is that the individualisation of structural problems is not just a theoretical and political misstep ripe for critique, but leads to the formulation of policies that impact marginalised people’s capacity to shape life on their own terms. Through different empirical foci, all papers in this Special Issue demonstrate how welfare conditionality is put forward as a solution to address the consequences of structural disadvantage.     

Why do working relationships not change? The need for a new approach to disability partnership research and social change

Although researchers, service providers, and clients are determined to improve partnerships within disability services, a lack of partnership persists. Using our research as a case study, we reflect on three limitations of common research methods and social change techniques in this area. We suggest that typical approaches struggle to move beyond taken-for-granted ideas, common-sense solutions, and established ideology in the field of disability. Consequently, they often fail to reveal important barriers to collaboration, identify innovative solutions, or initiate meaningful improvements in partnership. We propose a new approach to partnership research and reform grounded in a pragmatic model of social change and argue that projects based on isolated or simplistic data, majority-rule decision-making, simple and efficient planning, and restricted inside perspectives (where storytelling is limited) must be complemented by observational studies, socio-cultural analyses, and critical investigations. In short, we must understand why working relationships do not change to improve disability services.     

Risk Communication,Values Clarification,and Vaccination Decisions

Many health‐related decisions require choosing between two options, each with risks and benefits. When presented with such tradeoffs, people often make choices that fail to align with scientific evidence or with their own values. This study tested whether risk communication and values clarification methods could help parents and guardians make evidence‐based, values‐congruent decisions about children's influenza vaccinations. In 2013–2014 we conducted an online 2×2 factorial experiment in which a diverse sample of U.S. parents and guardians (n = 407) were randomly assigned to view either standard information about influenza vaccines or risk communication using absolute and incremental risk formats. Participants were then either presented or not presented with an interactive values clarification interface with constrained sliders and dynamic visual feedback. Participants randomized to the risk communication condition combined with the values clarification interface were more likely to indicate intentions to vaccinate (β = 2.10, t(399) = 2.63, p < 0.01). The effect was particularly notable among participants who had previously demonstrated less interest in having their children vaccinated against influenza (β = –2.14, t(399) = –2.06, p < 0.05). When assessing vaccination status reported by participants who agreed to participate in a follow‐up study six months later (n = 116), vaccination intentions significantly predicted vaccination status (OR = 1.66, 95%CI (1.13, 2.44), p < 0.05) and rates of informed choice (OR = 1.51, 95%CI (1.07, 2.13), p < 0.012), although there were no direct effects of experimental factors on vaccination rates. Qualitative analysis suggested that logistical barriers impeded immunization rates. Risk communication and values clarification methods may contribute to increased vaccination intentions, which may, in turn, predict vaccination status if logistical barriers are also addressed.     

Toddlers' Social‐emotional Competence in the Contexts of Maternal Emotion Socialization and Contingent Responsiveness in a Low‐income Sample

Early social‐emotional development occurs in the context of parenting, particularly via processes such as maternal emotion socialization and parent–child interactions. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that maternal contingent responsiveness partially mediated the relationship between maternal emotion socialization of toddlers (N = 119, ages 12–36 months) and toddlers' social‐emotional competence. Effect size was strongest for the direct path between maternal emotion socialization and toddler social–emotional competence. Toddler age and maternal demographic risk status (covariates) predicted toddler competence. Study results extend the previous literature on early competencies by focusing on toddlers rather than preschool‐aged children and by employing a contextual model in which both low‐income mothers' emotion socialization and their contingent responsiveness predicted toddlers' competencies.     

Health-Related Quality of Life Models: Systematic Review of the Literature

Purpose: This review evaluates howtheory-driven models of health-related qualityof life (QoL) take into account themethodological and conceptual problemsbesetting the field. Methodology: 68 modelsformulated from 1965 to 2001 (60% of thosefound for each decade) were randomly selected.Two judges evaluated the models using ananalysis grid covering a) the models' level ofconceptualization (from less to moresophisticated); b) the definition of QoL; c)the distinction between factors that mayinfluence QoL and QoL per se; and d) thepresence of instruments as tools to measureQoL. A global score reflecting the overallquality of the models was also provided.Results: Of the 68 theory-driven modelssampled, approximately 35% were in the lesscomplex category, 15% were in the mostsophisticated group and nearly 50% were inbetween. QoL was not defined by at least 25%of authors. The distinction between factorsthat may influence QoL and QoL per se wasmade in less than 50% of models. Instrumentsused were identified by 78% of authors. Lessthan 3% of the models examined received themaximum global score. Conclusions: From 1965 to2001, a general improvement in the quality ofQoL models is identified. However, for manymodels, the questions used to analyze modelswere not always clearly addressed (many did noteven define QoL), rendering analysis quitedifficult. Overall, the field needs moresophisticated models and a better definition ofthe content and boundaries of the QoL concept.     

Quality of Work Life: Theoretical and Methodological Problems, and Presentation of a New Model and Measuring Instrument

Purpose: Ever since the concept of Quality of Work Life (QWL) was first used over 30 years ago, a range of definitions and theoretical constructs have succeeded each other with the aim of mitigating the many problems facing the concept. A historical overview of the concept of QWL is presented here. Given the lack of consensus concerning the solutions that have been developed to date, a new definition of QWL is suggested, inspired by the research on a related concept, general Quality of Life (QOL) which, as the literature shows, has faced the same conceptualization and definition problems as QWL. Based on the suggested definition of QOL, a definition of QWL is provided and the measuring instrument that results therefrom (the Quality of Working Life Systemic Inventory – QWLSI) is presented. Finally, the solutions that this model and measuring instrument provide for the above-mentioned problems are discussed.     

Modeling initiation into drug injection among street youth

This study aimed at examining the predictors of initiation into drug injection among street youth using social cognitive theory framework. A prospective cohort study based on semi-annual interviews was carried out. Psychosocial determinants referred to avoidance of initiation. Other potential predictors were: sociodemographic characteristics, relationships with injectors, parent's substance misuse, drug use patterns, homelessness, survival sex, sexual abuse. Independent predictors were identified using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Among the 352 participants, high control beliefs about avoidance of initiation was protective while younger age, daily alcohol consumption, heroin use, cocaine use, and survival sex all increased risk of initiation. Preventive strategies targeting street youth should both enhance youth's control beliefs and actual control over their substance use and improve their life conditions.     

Zombies and Originals: How Cultural Theory Informs Stakeholder Management

The question of stakeholder salience has recently resurfaced in the suggestion that the ethical foundations of corporate cultures result in stakeholder cultures that largely explain how firms allocate resources among stakeholders. The present article seeks to complement this novel approach to understanding stakeholder management by adding insights from the multilevel influences that create the corporate culture in the first place, and ultimately affect managers in their stakeholder decisions. This article draws on cultural theory to examine how the individuals who compose firms present group and grid solidarity that results in cultural biases in the corporate culture. These cultural biases—individualism, hierarchy, fatalism, and egalitarianism—are then paired with the stakeholder cultures they enable, and inferences are extracted concerning the salience managers are likely to accord to various classes of stakeholders as a result. Future research and managerial implications stemming from this new view on stakeholder management conclude this article.     

Moving Beyond Tokenism: Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and the Election of Women to State Legislatures*

Objective. State legislative bodies that contain more than a token level (15 percent) of female representatives provide these lawmakers with a greater sense of self‐efficacy and opportunities for wider policy influence than those where women number under 15 percent. The objective of this study is to determine the set of factors that carry states across this critical threshold, with a particular emphasis on the political mobilization effects of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) ratification drive. Method. This study used event‐history analysis methods on state‐level data collected from 1972–2000. Results. I find that states that ratified the ERA, but not states that ratified only later to rescind, had a higher likelihood of crossing this token threshold as compared with states that never ratified at all. These results obtain even after controlling for the social eligibility pool of female candidates, the political opportunity structure, the social context of each state, and preexisting levels of female representation. Conclusions. The ERA ratification campaign during the 1970s and early 1980s created long‐lasting, state‐level effects in electing women through its role as a political education tool as well as through its symbolic power.