The Effects of Race and Family Structure on Women's Spatial Relationship to the Labor Market

This study examines the intersection of race, family structure, and economic inequality through women's spatial relationships to the labor market. Using survey data from three major metro labor markets, we operationalize spatial relationships in two ways: first, using a conventional measure of commute time, and second, using an indicator of neighborhood job contacts to obtain employment. Results indicate that family structure exerts no direct effect on women's spatial relationship to the labor market. Race, by contrast, plays a strong role, mediating women's reliance on mass transit, their response to teenage kids in the household, and their likelihood of using neighbors to find employment. The result is a situation in which black and Latina women are more likely than white women to rely on localized job networks to obtain employment that requires longer commutes from home.     

Consumer participation in the employment rehabilitation process: contextual factors and implications for practice

Rehabilitation models of practice have emerged that offer persons' with disabilities opportunities to have an active role in the work entry or re(entry) process. Despite the growth and interest in empowering client involvement in practice, consumer views on the determinants of participation are not fully understood. Thus, consumer feedback on using a self-directed approach to employment rehabilitation was elicited to identify factors integral to their participation in the process. Focus groups were conducted with 35 adult consumers with developmental, mental health, physical and learning disabilities to gain insights into their involvement in a participatory approach to find employment. Content analysis of data revealed barriers and facilitators, which hindered or enabled consumer involvement in the vocational service process. This article discusses the importance of considering issues across the rehabilitation system, practice and lived contexts when implementing participatory approaches in vocational rehabilitation settings.     

Chronic stressors and daily hassles: unique and interactive relationships with psychological distress

Using daily telephone interviews of a U.S. national sample of adults, aged 25-74 (N = 1,031), the present analyses draw from theories of the stress process and recent research to examine how chronic role-related stressors and daily hassles affect psychological distress. Four separate hypotheses are examined. The first explores the association between chronic stressors and daily hassles. The second tests whether daily hassles function as an intervening variable between chronic stressors and psychological distress. The third tests whether a chronic stressor moderates the relationship between daily hassles and psychological distress. The fourth hypothesis tests for cross-domain effects of chronic stressors and daily hassles. Findings indicate that chronic stressors and daily hassles are distinct types of stressors with unique contributions to psychological distress. The study provides support for chronic home stressors functioning as a moderating factor on the relationship between daily hassles and psychological distress both within and across domains.     

Bridging refugee youth and children's services: a case study of cross-service training

Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services(BRYCS), a public-private partnership between the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, provides national technical assistance to public child welfare. After a series of "community conversations," BRYCS identified a lack of knowledge among child welfare staff about newcomer refugees, negative stereotypes, and a fear of child protective services among refugees. BRYCS initiated a number of technical assistance initiatives, including a pilot cross-service training project in St. Louis to strengthen collaboration between child welfare and refugee-serving agencies. This article details the lessons learned from this training and recommends changes in policy and practice.     

Trends in author characteristics and diversity issues in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy from 1990 to 2000

In this article, we present an analysis and comparison of published articles in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT) between 1990-1995 and 1996-2000. This study focused on trends in author gender, highest degree, and professional affiliation, and article content on issues of cultural and family diversity (race/ethnicity, class, religion/spirituality, gender, sexual orientation, and varied family forms). Key findings show a significant shift from 69% male first authors in 1990-1995 to equal gender representation in authorship for 1996-2000 articles, with a particular increase in female PhDs. Articles addressing diversity issues doubled from 15.6% of all 1990-1995 articles to 31% in 1996-2000. Of note, women authored 73% of the 1996-2000 articles on the wide range of diversity issues. Implications for the field are discussed.