Social contexts and personal relationships: The effect of meeting opportunities on similarity for relationships of different strength

This paper examines the effect of social contexts on similarity in personal relationships. We argue that the effect of social contexts is larger for weaker, and smaller for stronger relationships. Using data from The Survey of the Social Networks of the Dutch (collected in 1999/2000, n = 1007), we first describe where people got to know their acquaintances, friends and partner and that similarity in these relationships with regard to age, level of education, sex, and religion, generally varies. We then inquire whether getting to know each other in a certain context affects similarity, and whether this effect is different for relationships of different strength. Our main conclusion, however, is that the effect of social contexts on similarity is remarkably consistent across partnerships, friendships, and acquaintanceships.     

Entering into a Collaborative Search for Meaning with Gay and Lesbian Youth in Out-of-Home Care: An Empowerment-Based Model for Training Child Welfare Professionals

Utilizing an empowerment-based approach, which incorporates self-identified gay and lesbian youths and openly gay and lesbian child welfare professionals as collaborative partners in the process, this article offers a model for training child welfare professionals to work more effectively with gay and lesbian youth in out-of-home care. This three hour training model empowers the gay and lesbian youth, whose voices have been subjugated, to emerge as the experts in training child welfare professionals to more competently and responsively address and meet their needs.     

A Therapist's Perspective on Jewish Family Values

Family therapy has been deficient in accounting for the impact of ethnic, religious and racial values on success or failure in treating families. Jews do well in family therapy, and they readily become engaged in it. The favorable response of Jewish families is due to a set of values. This set is composed of high familism, high egalitarianism, high secularism, maternal intrusive-ness, verbal rather than physical aggressiveness, an assertive stance toward problem-solving, and the maintenance of a scapegoat theme. In treating Jewish families it is important to keep the entire set in mind rather than any one particular value.     

The variability of individual charitable giving in the US

Using five-year panel data, this study examines the various dimensions of the variability of individual charitable contributions at all income levels: the variation in the generosity of individuals and the variability of the individuals' giving over a five-year period. The study finds considerable variability of both kinds. One finding is that the variability of generosity is substantially greater at the higher income levels. Another finding is that variability is substantially less pronounced by observing a five-year period of an individual's generosity than by observing annual behaviour. One consequence is that a relatively small proportion of donors account for a large proportion of total giving. The popular reputation of the wealthy for generosity is actually due to the exceptional generosity of a minority rather than widespread generosity among the wealthy. Differences in generosity and variability of giving over time are both more pronounced among high-income donors. Results of the study have implications for research on charitable giving, for predicting the effects of tax policy changes on giving, and for fund-raising.The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable comments of Charles Clotfelter, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Jerry Schiff, Eugene Steuerle and participants in a conference on the non-profit sector at the Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism at Duke University. The research was supported in part by Yale University's Institution for Social and Policy Studies (Program on Non-Profit Organisations). The views expressed are those of the authors alone and do not represent the views or policies of the above institutions or individuals.     

Boundary issues in countertransference: A developmental perspective

In treatment, characterologically disturbed patients evoke affective and behavioral responses that are frequently antitherapeutic. Such responses reflect the therapist's involvement in a reciprocal relationship in which the patient attempts to communicate very early pathogenic experiences. In this process the therapist is induced to act in ways that replicate significant aspects of the patient's first reciprocal relationship. Problematic replications may be recognized and modified when therapists carefully monitor their own boundaries between thought, affect, and action. This developmental paradigm is particularly useful in resolving therapeutic impasses that result from the patient's need to use the therapist as a real rather than a symbolic object.     

Life Balance and Work Addiction Among African Americans

A dearth of counseling literature examines the experiences of people of color, including African American women and men, in relation to work–life balance. The authors, therefore, investigated the association between life‐balance domains and work addiction for African Americans. A multiple regression analysis of 115 African American participants (47 men, 68 women) indicated a significant relationship between life‐balance domains and work addiction. In particular, community support was an important indicator of decreased work addiction. Career counselors and mental health counselors need to develop an understanding of how extended familial and social networks assist African American clients in effectively managing work–life balance.     

Urban Form,Heart Disease,and Geography: A Case Study in Composite Index Formation and Bayesian Spatial Modeling

Recent studies indicate a relationship between measures of urban form as applied to urban and suburban areas, and obesity, a risk factor for heart disease. Measures of urban form for exurban and rural areas are considerably scarce; such measures could prove useful in measuring relationships between urban form and both mortality and morbidity in such areas. In modeling area-level mortality, geographic relationships between counties warrant consideration because geographically adjacent areas tend to have more in common than areas farther from each other. We modify county-level indices of urban form found in the literature so that they can be applied to exurban and rural counties. We then use these indices in a Bayesian spatial model that accounts for spatial autocorrelation to determine if there is a relationship between such measures and cardiovascular disease mortality for white males age 35 and older for the time period 1999–2001. Issues related to the formation and usefulness of the indices, and issues related to the spatial model, are discussed. Maps of observed and expected relative risk of mortality are presented. Jimmie Givens retired from his service.     

Premarital sexual standards of rural youth

Abstract

This study measures and evaluates the premarital sexual standards of a sample of adolescents residing in a small Mississippi community. On the basis of their response patterns to a set of Guttman scale items, the students were classified into three standards: abstinence, double standard, and the single standard of permissiveness. A racial comparison of the Mississippi sample with Reiss' Virginia student sample revealed striking similarities with one exception—a significantly higher proportion of Mississippi whites endorsed permissiveness without affection. The Mississippi data, however, failed to give strong support to the presumed prevalence of the double standard. Moreover, several social factors examined appeared to influence the standards of whites and females to a greater extent than those of Negroes and males.