Gendered Motivations,Sociocultural Constraints,and Psychobehavioral Consequences of Transnational Partnerships in Cambodia

Global flows of people, information, and capital have created transnational spaces in Cambodia. Within those spaces exists the formation of complex and multilayered interpersonal relationships between people attempting to capitalize on the opportunities created by these flows. The purpose of this article is to describe these transnational relationships, namely, between young women employed in the entertainment sectors in Phnom Penh and their western male partners, while highlighting the racialized and gendered motivations of the global actors, the inevitable sociocultural conflicts/constraints/misunderstandings that arise within the partnerships, and the resulting challenges and psychobehavioral consequences experienced by the mobile and differentiated individuals involved in these postcolonial relational formations.     

Prioritising care services: Do the oldest users lose out?

Population ageing is a major concern in most European countries. Demands for health‐ and care services will increase, as older people typically have a higher need for such services. What is often overlooked, however, is that older users increasingly compete with younger users for the same limited care resources. We ask: How do employees in the Norwegian care sector make decisions regarding the allocation of services to younger and older users? To answer this question, we interviewed decision‐makers in Norwegian municipalities. Despite providing for equal rights to services, laws allow for an interpretation of needs and this can result in the unequal distribution of services. Our study indicates that needs are defined differently for younger and older users, which affects the amount, type and content of the services allocated to younger and older people. When resources are scarce and priorities must be established, the services to the oldest suffer. Key Practitioner Message: ● The article lays the groundwork for an open debate about the allocation of resources to users in different life phases; ● The analysis conceptualises and makes explicit important normative decisions made by practitioners.     

Applying Computers in Social Service and Mental Health Agencies: A Guide to Selecting Equipment,Procedures and Strategies

Abstract

Students' perceptions of their field placements rarely are taken into account in the literature on field practicum and supervision. This survey of MSW students at a southern university examines factors associated with student satisfaction with field agency, field instructor, and field learning. The survey covers student and agency characteristics, learning goals and structure, supervision, and school-agency linkages. Students associated the quality of supervision and relevance of learning most highly with satisfaction in their placement experiences. Being treated as a professional in the agency, school-agency linkages, student characteristics, and amount of time engaged in specific social work activities were found not to be major factors in student satisfaction with field work.     

A new paradigm for social work

The emergence of a new paradigm involving professional transactions with people other than social workers' clients and a redefinition of social work to include indirect work with clients is charted by way of an account of five different approaches to residential social work and some of the parallels in approaches to field work. Reactions to the proposals of the CCETSW Working Group on the Review of Qualifying Training are explained as reactions to a paradigm shift from an earlier paradigm which focussed only on direct work with clients to a new paradigm which includes, among other things, indirect work and which underlies the thinking of the members of the Working Group.     

ACHIEVING INDIVIDUALLY SUSTAINED COMMITMENT TO TREATMENT THROUGH SELF-CONSTRUCTED MODELS OF MEDICAL ADHERENCE

One of the main challenges facing medication adherence research is to provide a framework that allows patients and practitioners to effectively use the many efficacious treatments that will undoubtedly be developed in the new millennium. This framework, especially for chronic disorders, must be based on requiring patients to make the long-term behavioral changes needed to achieve a high level of commitment to these treatments. The best way to generate this high level of commitment is through a paradigm shift away from medical and patient models toward models that incorporate the social psychological literature focusing on how people's sense of self is constructed, enacted, and sustained over the life course. This review demonstrates the need, value, and appearance of this shift. First, it describes a previous paradigm shift in the medication adherence literature and then argues that a new paradigm shift is necessary. Second, it identifies and describes the models currently used in adherence research and notes three critical shortcomings of these models. Finally, it demonstrates how symbolic interaction's identity theory may be used creatively to overcome these shortcomings and convert efficacious treatments into effective treatments. Developing such an approach would well position the medication adherence research field for excellent contributions to the treatment of chronic disorders in the twenty-first century.     

Socio-economic status and fertility decline: Insights from historical transitions in Europe and North America

The timings of historical fertility transitions in different regions are well understood by demographers, but much less is known regarding their specific features and causes. In the study reported in this paper, we used longitudinal micro-level data for five local populations in Europe and North America to analyse the relationship between socio-economic status and fertility during the fertility transition. Using comparable analytical models and class schemes for each population, we examined the changing socio-economic differences in marital fertility and related these to common theories on fertility behaviour. Our results do not provide support for the hypothesis of universally high fertility among the upper classes in pre-transitional society, but do support the idea that the upper classes acted as forerunners by reducing their fertility before other groups. Farmers and unskilled workers were the latest to start limiting their fertility. Apart from these similarities, patterns of class differences in fertility varied significantly between populations.     

Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies Among African American Women Attending an Urban STI Clinic

African American women are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Alcohol use is a significant risk factor for HIV/STI acquisition. Sex-related alcohol expectancies (SRAEs) may partially account for alcohol-related risky sexual behaviors. Using qualitative interviews we explored the link between alcohol use and risky sex among 20 African American women attending an STI clinic who had consumed four or more alcoholic drinks per drinking day (binge drinking) and/or reported vaginal or anal sex while under the influence of alcohol. Four SRAEs emerged, which we named drink for sexual desire, drink for sexual power, drink for sexual excuse, and drink for anal sex. While the desire SRAE has been documented, this study identified three additional SRAEs not currently assessed by expectancy questionnaires. These SRAEs may contribute to high-risk sex when under the influence of alcohol and suggests the importance of developing integrated alcohol–sexual risk reduction interventions for high-risk women.     

Sexual offenders' perceptions of their early interpersonal relationships: An attachment perspective

The present study examined the perceptions of early interpersonal experiences of sexual offenders (child molesters and rapists) and two criminal comparison groups. A grounded theory approach was applied to a comprehensive list of responses provided by the participants to questions about their early interpersonal experiences. The raw data was collapsed into 14 basic categories by grouping together responses of similar meanings. The categories were responsiveness, consistency, acceptance, boundaries, emotional regulation, autonomy, self‐evaluation, developmental trauma sexual abuse and deviation, physical abuse, loss, conflict, safety, and positive mediating interactions. In the second part of the study, the four groups were compared using the categories and the differences noted. All four groups experienced significantly negative early interpersonal experiences.