Blue-Ribbon Babies and Labors of Love: Race,Class, and Gender in U.S. Adoption Practice by Christine Ward Gailey

ABSTRACT

We investigated the adjustment of differing sized adoptive families rearing children with developmental disabilities. Families of 5 or more children (large: n = 54) were compared with families of 4 or fewer children (conventional: n = 69) on a variety of demographic and outcome variables measuring family strengths, family disharmony, marital adjustment, and adjustment to the adopted child. Analyses of covariance on the outcome variables demonstrated that parents of large families were functioning as well or better than parents of conventional-sized families. We concluded that adoption placement practice should not exhibit bias against the placement of multiple children with developmental disabilities in the same family.     

Serving Rural Communities with Distance Education Degree Programs

Many schools of social work have targeted rural communities as critical regions for distance education (DE) facilitated degree delivery. This article reports on an initial alumni survey of DE graduates in Hawai'i, suggesting that the DE program has been successful in its mission to address workforce shortages in the number of social workers in rural areas. Not only are the majority of alumni still living and working rural areas, but they are also pursuing licensure at high rates. This study proposes that distance education not only transforms individuals, but can also be a tool of community change.     

Intentional Exposure Studies of Environmental Agents on Human Subjects: Assessing Benefits and Risks∗

In this article, I assess the benefits and risks of studies that intentionally expose research subjects to environmental agents. I describe these types of studies, identify their benefits and risks, compare them to other research methods that can be used to investigate the relationship between environmental exposures and disease, and discuss some issues related to research design and risk minimization. I argue that the benefits of intentional environmental exposure studies outweigh the risks when 1) the knowledge gained is likely to improve our understanding of the relationship between environmental exposure and disease, 2) this knowledge cannot be obtained by other methods, 3) the experiments are well designed, 4) the subjects will receive some benefits, such as medical evaluations, 5) risks are minimized, and 6) the risks to human subjects are less than those encountered in a typical Phase I drug study. Only in rare circumstances (i.e., when an intentional environmental exposure study is needed to implement an important environmental or public health intervention or regulation) may such studies expose research subjects to risks as high as those encountered in a typical Phase I drug trail.     

The Alzheimer's Solution: How Today's Care Is Failing Millions and How We Can Do Better,by Kenneth S. Kosick and Ellen Clegg

Abstract

Marital literature has identified partner intimacy and autonomy as important determinants of marital satisfaction. However, little is known about how the balance of intimacy and autonomy affects the success of long term marriages among older couples. The author surveyed 88 men and 92 women in long term stable marriages to examine the effects of partner intimacy and autonomy on marital satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses revealed that intimacy was positively related, and hostile control was negatively related to marital satisfaction. Older respondents rated their partners higher in intimacy than middle aged respondents, and husbands were rated higher in providing autonomy than were wives. Intimacy and avoidance of hostile control were more important than autonomy to long term married couples. Social workers can draw upon a number of approaches to marital therapy that enhance couple intimacy.     

Practice innovations in mental health services to children and families: New directions for Massachusetts∗

This research report highlights selected findings that describe the characteristics of excellent, innovative programs for high‐risk children and adolescents in Massachusetts. The conclusions reported are based on interviews with administrators and providers at nine sites. A research consortium composed of policy makers, administrators, clinicians, and academic researchers recommended the site selections. The study describes a spectrum of innovative practices used to help youngsters in severe crises. Innovative practice was shaped by a common vision of doing treatment within family and community contexts, and coordinating overall care at all levels of the family's social and professional networks. Topics addressed include an examination of the core values directing these programs, the four distinct subtypes of design, therapeutic approaches, management, and evaluation. Obstacles to innovation are considered in light of current policy and practice limitations. The discussion concludes with a summary of the challenges and future directions for policy makers, funding agencies, program directors, and clinicians committed to addressing the current crisis in mental health care for children and youth.     

To disclose or not to disclose: Political conflicts in the countertransference

Self‐disclosure is a frequent topic in the relational psychotherapy literature. However, there are few psychoanalytic writings or empirical studies that concern self‐disclosure in the context of cross‐cultural treatment; specifically treatment between Israeli therapists and Palestinian clients. This particular subject broadens the investigation of cross‐cultural treatment beyond race and color into the domain of religious and political differences between client and clinician. An Israeli‐American therapist's counter‐transference reflections around self‐disclosure and its impact on her Palestinian client will be the subject of investigation in the following paper.

Self‐disclosure has been increasingly examined in the relational literature over the past ten years in the context of the therapist's subjectivity within the therapeutic encounter (Aron, 1991; Renik, 1995). Few psychoanalytic writings, however, have focused on self‐disclosure as embedded within race and culture, and fewer still address the impact of religious and political differences between client and therapist, differences that, in the case of a Palestinian client and an Israeli therapist, reflect larger social and political conflicts. The transference‐countertransference dynamics around self‐disclosure and the way these shape the therapeutic encounter between a Palestinian client and an Israeli therapist will be the subject of investigation in this paper.     

When the Floods of Compassion Are not Enough: A Nation's and a City's Response to the Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina exposed serious deficiencies in the social support safety net at the federal, state, and local level. This article explores the impacts of the disrupted safety net through participant observation and interviews with service providers and evacuees resettled in one southern city. Their stories illustrate how vulnerable low‐income groups struggle to cope with disaster within the context of inadequate larger support systems and the legacy of racism. The data also illustrate the limits of the local resources and response, given the years of retrenchment and underfunding and increasing dependence on nongovernmental sources of support. The authors explore some of the implications of this trend for evacuees' long‐term recovery and social work intervention.     

Disaster Relief Within a Collectivistic Context

Abstract

Until recently, most research on catastrophic events has focused on human outcomes with limited exploration of related adaptational processes. The little knowledge we have is based upon events occurring in the western world, despite the higher frequency of disasters in the nonwestern world. This study examines the cultural context of coping among survivors of the 2004 tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India. A non-probability, purposive sample of ten emergency responders, who represented a broad range of professions and were directly involved with relief efforts along the coast of South India, were interviewed individually one year after the tsunami. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview format with open-ended questions. Consistent with the collectivistic culture in India, content analysis was conducted using the Listening Guide methodology. Interpretive analysis revealed five common ways of coping: (1) returning to routine, (2) rebuilding family structures, (3) communal sharing of resources, (4) emotional expression of grief and loss to a supportive listener, and (5) finding benefits from the disaster experience. While these coping efforts may generally appear to be universal among people experiencing a natural disaster, findings reveal key aspects of the collectivistic cultural context of southern India. Discussion of the findings presents a compelling case for in-depth training of disaster responders in cross-cultural practice in order to effectively address the needs of survivors of mass level trauma.