Segregation, the concentration of poverty, and the life chances of individuals

We outline a theoretical model that identifies residential segregation as a primary structural cause of the geographic concentration of poverty in U.S. urban areas. From this theory we specify and estimate a multilevel equation that links minority poverty and segregation within metropolitan areas to the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation within neighborhoods. We then estimate a second set of multilevel equations that connect neighborhood poverty rates to individual-level outcomes commonly associated with the underclass: male joblessness, teenage motherhood, and single parenthood. Our results link economic and social structures at the metropolitan level to individual outcomes that operate to perpetuate poverty and lead to the creation of the underclass.     

College student's perceptions of sources of information about AIDS

Public communication campaigns and social marketing literature identify principles for developing effective AIDS education and prevention efforts. Planners need to know the audience, identify salient audience segments, and understand the characteristics of information sources that the particular audience finds believable and is likely to use. In this study, the authors investigated college students' perceptions of (1) the credibility and likelihood of using a variety of interpersonal, media, and institutional sources of information about AIDS; (2) the sources that have provided them with the most information about AIDS; and (3) the relationships among those perceptions. They also investigated potential gender differences in perceptions of sources of AIDS information. Respondents to a larger probability sample survey rated 35 sources of information about AIDS. Although mass media sources clearly provided the greatest amount of information, they were conspicuously less prominent in their acceptability to respondents. Leaflets were the only kinds of media sources that the respondents rated high on both believability and likelihood of use. In contrast, three interpersonal sources and four institutional sources appeared as best choices on the combined criteria. Results are discussed in terms of implications for planning and implementing AIDS education and prevention programs for the college-student audience.     

Eagle soaring: the power of the resilient self

Adversity can be an opportunity to focus on strengths and nurture resiliency. Cultural understanding and awareness can be easily incorporated into therapy through empathic listening, a therapeutic alliance, and supportive understanding. Patients should not subscribe to "victim" labels. Resilience should be celebrated.     

Internet Use and Well-Being in Adolescence

Previous research suggests that Internet use may be associated with decreases in well-being among adolescents. However, there has been little investigation of the relationship between well-being and social aspects of Internet use. In the present study, 130 7th graders from a middle-class public school in California completed dispositional measures of well-being, and on three subsequent evenings they responded to questions regarding their Internet use (including detailed logs of instant messages) and daily well-being. Time spent on-line was not associated with dispositional or daily well-being. However, as suggested by intimacy theory, the closeness of instant message communication partners was associated with daily social anxiety and loneliness in school, above and beyond the contribution of dispositional measures.     

Strategic planning in non-profits: profit from it

Non-profit human service organizations, both public and private, face unique challenges and opportunities in the climate of the 1990s as human needs are increasing, funding is decreasing, and threats to organizational well-being are encountered. The purpose of this paper is to describe, advocate for, and illustrate a strategic planning model which facilitates a proactive, energizing, futuristic vision as services are being planned and delivered. Three case examples are used: a large state-run county social services department; a small, private, sectarian agency that provides group home services for the developmentally disabled; and a medium sized federal public health hospital.