Learning to Leave: Problems of Graduating Clinical Observations and Strategies

Abstract

Like other moments of significant transition and separation, graduating from college involves a complex set of feelings and behaviors. Stress can be associated with various steps in this process, including identifying and completing tasks, anticipating change, participating in ceremony, and moving on. Common presenting problems and counseling strategies are described so that health workers can understand these dynamics within their developmental context for young adults. Leaving can be a skill some students need to acknowledge and learn, so that they can continue to grow.     

Tricks and Reveries

Qualitative Sociology -     

The AFL-CIO Split: Does It Really Matter?

In 2005, the AFL-CIO split and the Change to Win Coalition (CtW) was founded because of the personal ambition of dissident union leaders and their frustration with the severe and continuing decline in union membership. The CtW was build on a shared faith that only a fresh start could lead the unions out of their crisis. But a convincing case has not been made that the seceding unions would be more successful outside of AFL-CIO. When it is seen against the backdrop of the crisis in the labor movement and the enormity of the task of union organizing and revival, the AFL-CIO split does not really matter.     

Efficient enrollments using high tuition-high aid

The goal of high tuition-high aid is to charge high-pay residents the nonresident tuition net of the state subsidy to support low-income residents. This approach often ignores differences in program costs and presumes the state appropriation will not react. Here tuition and subsidy structures are developed as rules in a welfare-maximization framework. Once fixed costs are accommodated, low-pay resident enrollments can be admitted at marginal cost, thereby achieving efficient enrollments. The models are applied to Penn State University, where it is shown that high tuition-high aid can approximate actual tuition policy, accommodate enrollments of low-income students, and increase total welfare.     

Surviving Involuntary Unemployment Together: The Role of Resilience-Promoting Communication in Familial and Committed Relationships

Involuntary unemployment is an unfortunate circumstance not only for those without meaningful work, but also for families, family relationships, and committed long-term relationships. To explore the role that communication plays in helping family partners demonstrate resilience (i.e., competence and adaptation throughout the experience of a stressor), while dealing with involuntary unemployment, the current study surveyed a sample of 111 recently unemployed, relationally involved participants. The majority of these participants self-reported as married (40.6%) or indicated serious commitment (38.6%) with their relational partner. Communication strategies perceived as contributing to resilience with their partner were measured as Resilience-Promoting Communication (RPC). Bootstrapping mediation analysis determined that RPC dimensions emphasizing respect/harmony, partnership and tension release contributed to mediation of the relationship between feelings about job loss on relational satisfaction and commitment. In addition, respect/harmony moderated the relationship between both unemployment affect and commitment and satisfaction. Civility moderated the relationship between unemployment affect and satisfaction. Implications of these findings for theory and for families dealing with unemployment are discussed.     

Job Satisfaction and Intention to Seek Graduate Education

This study of the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to seek graduate education among human service workers tests the hypothesis that intention will be stronger among satisfied senior practitioners (those in their current job for three or more years) and among dissatisfied junior workers. In November 1993, a questionnaire designed to measure various aspects of both job satisfaction and intent to pursue graduate education was distributed to all 83 bachelor-level human service workers in four agencies. Moderated regression analyses, with several control variables from background information about the 67 respondents, repeatedly supported the hypothesis. Discussion also covers secondary findings, limitations of the study, and implications of the principal finding for both educators and social service administrators.