Narratives of Commitment: Looking for Work with a Criminal Record

Unemployment is one of the most often cited barriers to reentry, yet we know little about how understandings of work inform the job‐search strategies of men and women with felon status. How and why do individuals remain committed to the legitimate labor market and continue their search for employment? We categorized interviews from 38 Milwaukee County residents into four narrative typologies that (1) reflected understandings of work and job market challenges and (2) mapped onto reported job‐search strategies. Findings inform discussions about reentry and stigma that have yet to draw on narratives of commitment to the labor market.     

Planting a seed: encouraging service users towards educational goals

Some interventions by social workers, teachers and parents take time to develop but can produce, in the longer term, powerful and unexpectedly positive results. We were reminded of this in 2013, when we undertook a small qualitative study where we used feminist memory work to explore the experiences of 11 women from low socio-economic backgrounds studying social sciences at an Australian university. Of the eleven participants, seven were from social work. When asked to remember their journey into tertiary education, the women revealed memorable encounters with social workers, teachers and parents, the impact of which had lasted well into the future. We use the gardening metaphor of ‘planting a seed’ to refer to interventions that may not blossom in the short term but can bear fruit months or years later. Yet, we also note that ‘seeds of doubt’ can be planted too. We conclude by suggesting that planting seeds of possibility is a worthy but potentially overlooked professional activity. Yet, since ours is a small study, further research is warranted to explore the influence of social workers who plant seeds of possibility and whose actions help to recruit and retain socially disadvantaged students in higher education.     

Adolescent Adjustment and Patterns of Parents' Behaviors in Early and Middle Adolescence

In this study, we identified unique clusters of parenting behaviors based on parents' school involvement, community involvement, rule‐setting, and cognitive stimulation with data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics—Child Development Supplement. In early (n=668) and middle adolescence (n=634), parents who provided high cognitive stimulation (i.e., cognitive enrichment parents) or engaged in all parenting behaviors (i.e., engaged parents) had the highest family income, parent education, and percentage of European Americans. Adolescents of cognitive enrichment or engaged parents often evidenced the highest academic and social adjustment. Adolescents whose parents set a large number of rules (i.e., “Rule setters”) or were also heavily involved in the community (i.e., the “Managers” cluster) had the lowest adjustment.     

Verifying the Efficacy of Vocational Guidance Programs: Procedures,Problems, and Potential Directions

This article summarizes 12 presentations in Group 7 of the 2007 joint symposium of the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, Society for Vocational Psychology, and National Career Development Association held in Padua, Italy, that focused on procedures for verifying the efficacy of vocational guidance programs. Three themes, or general tensions, emerged from the group's discussion of the presentations: (a) quantitative versus qualitative evidence, (b) public policy needs versus local needs, and (c) comprehensive versus cost‐effective programs. On the basis of these core themes, recommendations are made for 3 potential directions for research that address certain threats and opportunities for the field.     

Low‐Income Childless Young Adults' Marriage and Fertility Frameworks

The authors investigated how low‐income young adults without children understand marriage and fertility. Data come from the Becoming Partners and Parents Study (N = 69), a qualitative study of African American adults aged 18 to 22 in a mid‐size southern city. This is the first study to analyze young, low‐income, childless, and unmarried Black respondents' frameworks (i.e., internal understandings of the world) of marriage and fertility. In contrast to research conducted on parents, this research on childless adults indicated a narrative in which there were close connections between marriage and fertility and an economic bar adhered to both marriage and childbearing. Respondents also believed that childbearing was meaningful and provided purpose, but that it was morally questionable if the parent was not financially stable. The results suggest that prior findings related to meanings of family formation and childbearing for low‐income parents may not extend to those without children.     

Marriage or Carriage? Trends in Union Context and Birth Type by Education

Using data from 8,951 first‐time mothers in the National Survey of Family Growth, the authors analyzed trends in union contexts during the transition to motherhood by social class (proxied by maternal education). Conventional classifications of union contexts as married or cohabiting were extended by classifying births relative to union status at conception. The most conventional married birth type, in which the mother was married at conception and at birth, declined sharply, but only among low‐ and moderately educated women. Women with lower levels of education were instead more likely to have a birth in the context of a cohabiting union formed prior to conception. In 2005–2010, the adjusted probability of a low‐educated mother having a conventional married birth was 11.5%, versus 78.4% for highly educated mothers. The growing disparity in union type at first birth by social class may have implications for social and economic inequality.     

Gaming Industry Employees’ Responses to Responsible Gambling Training: A Public Health Imperative

Gaming industry employees work in settings that create personal health risks. They also have direct contact with customers who might engage in multiple risky activities (e.g., drinking, smoking, and gambling) and might need to facilitate help-seeking by patrons or co-workers who experience problems. Consequently, the empirical examination of the processes and procedures designed to prepare employees for such complex situations is a public health imperative. In the current study we describe an evaluation of the Casino, Inc. Play Responsibly responsible gaming program. We surveyed 217 employees prior to and 1 month after (n = 116) they completed a multimedia driven responsible gambling training program. We observed that employees improved their knowledge of responsible gambling concepts from baseline to follow-up. The Play Responsibly program was more successful in providing new knowledge than it was in correcting mistaken beliefs that existed prior to training. We conclude, generally, that Play Responsibly is associated with increases in employees’ responsible gambling knowledge.