Tobacco control and smoking cessation efforts in an inner-city African American community

This paper describes the conceptual framework that guided the development and implementation of a large-scale, community-based health initiative to lower the prevalence of smoking in an urban African American community. This project developed culturally-sensitive approaches to reducing smoking in the community and to promoting tobacco control efforts developed and implemented by community members. A randomized clinical-trial methodology was used to test the efficacy of the culturally-sensitive, community-developed smoking cessation interventions in lowering smoking rates as compared with a self-help approach. Two theoretical models guided the intervention strategies: a macro-level model applicable to the community as a whole, and a psychological process model applicable to individuals. The community model was based on community systems theory and incorporated the Readiness for Change Model, which was applied in both the individual and organizational models. In addition, culturally-sensitive data collection methods were developed to improve the reliability and validity of project data, especially in determining the smoking prevalence rates and smoking behaviors of hard-to-reach, inner-city African Americans. Since the health of individuals is related to the health of their communities, smoking cessation and tobacco control activities that are integrated into the framework of the community (i.e., churches, city-council, housing developments, community organizations), and incorporate culturally-relevant and specific interventions can be effective methods for achieving behavioral and societal change.     

Corporate support mechanisms for families: An exploratory study and agenda for research and evaluation

Based on telephone interviews with representatives from 16 corporations in the Baltimore-Washington area, this article explores the awareness of corporate officers of the linkages between work and family systems, their perceived responsibility for implementing policies and services that lend support to the family circumstances of employees, and the types of actions they had initiated in their corporations to help employees better balance work and family demands. Study results demonstrate limited awareness among corporate officers toward the work and family interface, employer uncertainty about corporate responsibilities for the family situation and demands of employees, and limited corporate development of family-oriented policies and services. These results are discussed in the context of recent federal initiatives to encourage greater corporate response to the family circumstances of employees. Implications are suggested for further research and evaluation.     

A longitudinal study of family size expectations among young blacks and whites

Despite past research, there are gaps in our knowledge on the stability of family size expectations and the direction of change in expectations among different groups. In the present study, 437 low‐income respondents, both black and white, male and female, answered a question on expected family size both at high school age and four years later. Respondents varied in their consistency with 78% of those first naming one or two children, but only 9% of those expecting no children, naming the same number at the second interview. Consistency was also found to vary by sex and race. Support was found for the hypothesis that change in expectations is related to the proximity of parenthood decision.     

Differential treatment in unemployment relief cases 1

Abstract

Trauma therapy influences the personal and professional lives of therapists as they cope with the secondary traumatic stress associated with treating trauma survivors. Therapists go through an internal process as they try both to make sense out of the stories they hear from clients, and to integrate those stories into their own existing cognitive schemas. During this process of integration, trauma therapists often experience secondary traumatic stress reactions that negatively impact the treatment process, as well as their own experiences of self. Secondary traumatic stress, vicarious traumitization, and worker burnout are distinctly different processes that practitioners need to differentiate, even though they are often similar in their initial presentation.     

Predictors of Longitudinal Growth in Inhibitory Control in Early Childhood

In the current study, we examined latent growth in 731 young children's inhibitory control from the ages of two to four years, and whether demographic characteristics or parenting behaviors were related to initial levels and growth in inhibitory control. As part of an ongoing longitudinal evaluation of the family check‐up, children's inhibitory control was assessed yearly at the ages of two to four years. Inhibitory control was initially low and increased linearly to the age of four years. High levels of harsh parenting and male gender were associated with low initial status in inhibitory control. High levels of parental positive behavior support were associated with faster growth. Extreme family poverty and African‐American ethnicity were also associated with slower growth. The results highlight parenting as a target for early interventions in contexts of high socioeconomic risk.     

Social cohesion revisited: a new definition and how to characterize it

This paper provides a general overview on different perspectives and studies on social cohesion, offers a definition of social cohesion that is deeply rooted in current literature, and provides a framework that can be used to characterize social cohesion and help support resilient cities. The framework highlights the factors that play a substantial role in enabling social cohesion, and shows from which perspectives it can be fostered.