Birth Mothers Now Birth Grandmothers: Intergenerational Relationships in Open Adoptions

Abstract

Despite growing trends in openness between birth and adoptive families, little is known about what happens when adopted children become parents and birth mothers become birth grandmothers. These new and unique relationships between birth mothers and their grandchildren were examined through intensive case study analyses of in-depth interviews with birth mothers who placed infants for adoption more than 25?years ago (N?=?11). Findings revealed enjoyment in their role as grandmothers and emphasized the significant role the adult adoptee (parent) played in influencing communication with their grandchild and families’ incorporation of technology-mediated contact to overcome geographic barriers. Implications for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers are discussed.     

The Role of Social Context in Students' Anticipatory Reaction to a “Fighting Word”

Abstract

On May 11, 1996, ValuJet flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades killing all 105 passengers and five crew members. The technical cause of the crash was a fire that erupted after one or more oxygen generators exploded in a cargo compartment. Governmental investigations have indicated that both ValuJet and SabreTech (an airline maintenance company) failed to comply with a host of regulations concerning the presentation, storage, and transportation of hazardous materials by air. More generally, however, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been found to be negligent in its oversight of airlines by not adequately monitoring the general safety of commercial aircraft as well as by its refusal to institute safeguards and guidelines that would have protected passengers and crews from crashes like that of flight 592. This paper follows the tradition of state-corporate crime theorizing and research by identifying the organizational and structural forces that contributed to the ValuJet crash. This includes an examination of the FAA's contradictory roles as both regulator and supporter of the airline industry, as well as a discussion of both ValuJet's and SabreTech's violations of federal air safety regulations.     

What Adolescents Can Tell Us: Technology and the Future of Social Work Education

The use and usefulness of Information Technology (IT) is rapidly growing around the world, especially among the youth. IT has been shown to impact learning styles, communication, and social relationships in many ways. Recently, significant discussion has arisen around the importance of IT in higher education and more specifically, social work education. This study qualitatively assesses 128 youth aged 13–14 years to understand their access to and use of IT as well as the way it impacts their psychosocial development to provide clues that will help inform the design of social work education for the future. Youth in four school districts reported unanimous access to computers and television and a majority of students used other technologies. Adolescents reported increased ease of communication and ability to get information as well as enhanced social relationships connected to their use of IT. Discussion and implications suggest that in the future, social work education will have to implement IT into its curriculum in order to attract students and provide the best possible learning environment for the next generation, which has included technology in every aspect of their lives.     

Imprisonment in Hospital

You are sitting drinking tea at your midmorning break, chatting to your neighbour about the cost of living. There is an announcement over the radio: “Caffeine has been declared a dangerous drug under the Queensland Health Act Amendment Act 1971. Caffeine is a stimulant found in coffee, tea, cocoa and cola.”     

Development of a Questionnaire to Assess University Students’ Intentions to Use Behavioral Alcohol-Reduction Strategies

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of a new self-report questionnaire designed to assess college students’ intentions to employ 31 specific alcohol-reduction strategies. Method: Students attending a large public university were recruited to complete alcohol-reduction, drinking history, and personality questionnaires online. Results: Based on item–total correlations and principal components analysis, the authors eliminated 3 items and calculated average intention ratings across the remaining 28 items. The resulting scale had appropriate unidimensionality and excellent internal consistency. Correlations of intention questionnaire scores with measures of drinking history, alcohol outcome expectancies, sensation seeking, and impression management provided some support for criterion and discriminant validity of the questionnaire. Conclusion: This questionnaire could be employed as an outcome measure to evaluate prevention programs and as a clinical tool to identify clients who have little intention to employ drinking reduction strategies in heavy drinking situations.     

Lesbian Health Care: Women's Experiences and the Role for Social Work

ABSTRACT

Lesbian patients and their families may be exposed to discriminatory practices in the health care system. This qualitative study of 57 Midwestern lesbian parents used open- and closed-ended questions to examine the experiences the respondents had with their primary and secondary health care providers. Four themes emerged from the data: systemic barriers to health care, coming out to providers, seeking lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-friendly health care providers, and concern about mistreatment and prejudice within the health care system. Implications for service delivery, health care education, and directions in policy and research are explored.