The Long-Term Effects of Parental Divorce in Childhood on Adult Adjustment

Relationships between experiencing a parental divorce or separation prior to age 16 and a variety of measures of adult adjustment and psychological functioning are examined using data from two national cross-sectional surveys conducted nearly 20 years apart. Although few differences between adults from parentally-divorced and intact family backgrounds persist when controls for contemporary life circumstances and other social background factors were included, two modest trends are still evident. First, although associations between psychological distress and early experience with parental divorce have weakened somewhat over the past two decades, coming from a non-intact family of origin still has some significance for adult psychological well-being. Second, men and women from non-intact families of origin display different patterns of adjustment to and valuation of the major life roles of spouse and parent. Nevertheless, because such relationships are not very powerful, it is concluded that contrary to much of the literature and popular thought, these early experiences have, at most, a modest effect on adult adjustment.     

System abuse: towards a greater understanding from the perspectives of children and parents

The present article explores the concept of system abuse from the perspectives of children and parents. Four main ways in which the term has been used are highlighted and, with reference to the literature, the commonalities underlying the various uses of the term are explored. Reviewing the available evidence suggests that many families may become unnecessarily involved in the child protection system; this finding is discussed within the parameters of the current Section 17/Section 47 debate. Features of the investigation identified as particularly salient for children and parents include the initial phase of the investigation; investigative interviews and medical examinations; case conferences; social-worker/family interaction and the lack of follow-through services. Gaps in service provision when workers do not consider that abuse has occurred are also considered. Finally, pointers for practice during investigations are discussed in the light of this review     

Sources of growth and cyclical stability for Nevada counties: Transfer payments and property income

The growing relative number, the improved economic well-being, and the migration of elderly retirees is not only reshaping the social and economic structure of many areas, it is also modifying both long-term and short-run patterns of economic growth. Transfer payments and property incomes, two of the most important source of elderly income, have been among the leading sources of national income growth over the past several decades. Unlike most labor-related industry sources of earnings, the level of transfer payments and property incomes received by the residents of the region is not directly dependent upon local economic activity. Consequently, as transfer payments and property incomes of elderly retirees become increasingly important sources of income and purchasing power within a region, they also can alter regional short-run cyclical patterns of income growth. This article examines the pattern of growth of transfer payments and property incomes in the context of national economic cycles, and explores the implication of those findings on metropolitan and nonmetropolitan Nevada economies.     

Haley and Hildebrand on the Training of Family Therapypists

Jo Grimwade and Helen Pavlin were asked to conduct a correspondence about two books which both relate to the teaching of family Therapy. There has been recent debate in Victorian family Therapy circles about the relevance of family of origin exploration to family Therapy trainees. Judy Hildebrand and Jay Haley have views on this topic, as Jo and Helen note. The nature of the books they are reading means that they find themselves caught in a parallel process and at times, are distracted from the writers’ message by the way that message is delivered.     

A Risk Assessment Method for Biological Introductions

This article describes an application of a method for assessing risks associated with the introduction of an organism into a new environment. The test organism was a binucleate Rhizoctonia fungal isolate that has potential for commercial development as a biological control agent for damping-off diseases in bedding plants. A test sample of host plant species was selected using the centrifugal phylogenetic host range principles, but with an emphasis on economic species. The effect of the fungus on the plant was measured for each species and expressed on a logarithmic scale. The effects on weights of shoots and roots per container were not normally distributed, nor were the effects on the number of plants standing (those which survived). Statements about the effect on the number standing and the shoot weight per container involved using the observed (empirical) distribution. This is illustrated with an example. Problems were encountered in defining the population of species at risk, and in deciding how this population should be formally sampled. The limitations of the method are discussed.     

Disability and Dependency: origins and futures of 'special needs' housing for disabled people

In this paper we analyse the provision of housing for disabled people in both its historical and ideological contexts. While the recent extension of part M of the Building Regulations to dwellings by the government represents a significant advance towards the inclusion of disabled people, we argue that the shift in funding of public housing from a 'bricks and mortar' subsidy to Housing Benefit potentially creates greater dependency. This amounts to a policy contradiction in which the government is punishing disabled people for being dependent whilst simultaneously being the cause of their dependency. If this issue is not addressed disabled people will continue to remain excluded, albeit within accessible dwellings.     

Constructing Clean Dreams: Accounts,Future Selves,and Social and Structural Support as Desistance Work

This article investigates the discourse individuals use when talking about desisting from criminal offending. I analyze the links between offenders’ accounts of past negative behavior, their construction of their possible “clean” future selves, and the social and structural conditions in which they were raised and continue to be embedded. Applying Scott and Lyman's (1968) framework on accounts and Markus and Nurius's (1986) framework of possible selves to interview data with twenty‐eight criminal offenders, I illustrate how excuses for past behavior provide a way for people to distance themselves from their past selves in attempts to preserve or re‐create a possible self that is still worthy to be redeemed in the future. This discourse becomes one mechanism that motivates individuals to change their lives—but it can be short‐lived. The analysis highlights how limited structural opportunities influence individuals’ lifestyles and behaviors, how individuals approach the desistance process even in the face of structural deprivation, and how they attempt to sustain this desistance process.     

Making the familiar strange and making the strange familiar: understanding Korean children’s experiences of living with an autistic sibling

Based on the findings of a small‐scale study using visual ethnographic techniques with nine South Korean children, this article explores the role of culture in understanding autism. While autism is embedded within the ‘strange’ and ‘unfamiliar’, linked to exclusion and discrimination in Korean society, the children focussed on reframing their experiences of living with autism as ‘ordinary’. Despite the limitations of the small sample, the richness and depth of data generated by children themselves offers new insights into children’s interpretations and experiences of autism and raises interesting questions for cross cultural research in the field of disability.     

An Evaluation of Caller Satisfaction with Solution-Focused Telephone Counselling

Abstract

‘Practice Forum’ is intended to provide a forum for social work practitioners to share their practice with others; to describe what they are doing and assess its effectiveness.

We extend an invitation to all social work practitioners to submit articles for ‘Practice Forum’ and we look forward to receiving your contribution.

The telephone is a potentially valuable intervention tool in family counselling. The Child, Adolescent & Family Health Service has been experimenting with a response which combines the traditional advantages of telephone counselling with aspects of Steve deShazer's solution-focused approach (deShazer 1985). In 1990 a study was conducted to evaluate caller satisfaction with this approach. Results indicate a high level of satisfaction with the counselling. At a time of increasing funding cuts and lengthening waiting lists, it is important that as many options as possible remain available to our clients. An expansion in effective telephone counselling services may well be one way of achieving this.