Rural Black Women and Depression: A Contextual Analysis

We use ecological systems theory to guide our investigation of depression among a sample of 102 married Black mothers residing in the rural South. Using self‐report data collected via computerized interviews during home visits, we conduct multivariate regression analyses, exploring the associations between depression and (a) spousal support and conflict, (b) cocaregiver support and conflict, (c) child conduct difficulties, and (d) socioeconomic risk. We hypothesize that each of these variables are associated with mothers' depression scores and that the extent to which these familial variables and depression are associated will vary across socioeconomic contexts. Socioeconomic risk, child conduct difficulties, and conflict with a cocaregiver were associated with women's depression in the full model. The moderational hypotheses were upheld for the variables of spousal support and child conduct difficulty. Spousal support and depression have a strong negative association under conditions of high socioeconomic risk and a nonsignificant relationship when socioeconomic risk is low. The association between child conduct difficulty and depression was exacerbated under high socioeconomic risk.     

A Social Relations Analysis of Children's Trust in Their Peers across the Early Years of School

Two hundred and five (103 female and 102 male) children enrolled in school years 1 and 2 in the UK (mean age 6 years 1 month at Time 1) were tested twice over a 1‐year period. The children reported the promise keeping and secret keeping behaviours of classmates (all peers and same‐gender peers) and provided friendship nominations (Time 2 only). Round robin social relations analyses for all peers and same‐gender peers revealed: (1) perceiver variance, demonstrating consistent individual differences in trust beliefs in peers; (2) target variance, demonstrating consistent individual differences in eliciting trust from peers; and, (3) dyadic reciprocity, demonstrating reciprocal trust between individuals. Replicability across measures, stability, and cross‐measure stability of these effects were found for all peers only. As hypothesized, the perceiver and target effects of trust were associated with the number of friendships. The findings support the conclusion that young children demonstrate multiple components of trust in dyadic relationships, which are associated with their social relationships.     

Racial Discrimination as a Moderator of the Links Among Stress,Maternal Psychological Functioning,and Family Relationships

This study focuses on the links between social contexts and normative family patterns to identify factors at the societal, community, family, and individual levels that enhance African Americans' ability to overcome stressful life events and foster positive family relationships. The Mundane Extreme Environmental Stress Model was used to explore these links. From urban and rural areas in Iowa and Georgia, 383 families with 10‐ or 11‐year‐old children were recruited. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Maternal psychological distress was linked with parent‐child relationship quality both directly and indirectly through its association with intimate partnership quality. When racial discrimination was greater, stronger links emerged between stressor pileup and psychological distress, as well as between psychological distress and the quality of both intimate partnerships and parent‐child relationships. Future research on African American family processes should include the effects of racial discrimination.     

Social Sanctions in the Comprehensive High School and Language Acquisition

The organization of pupils in a boys' comprehensive high school into homogeneous teaching units in order to eliminate the psychological, social and academic effects of streaming by ability may be dysfunctional if the objectives of the institution include the attainment of higher verbal standards. A practising teacher identifies the establishment by pupils of a ‘verbal norm’, and describes the system of social sanctions imposed by the verbally less proficient against the above-average pupil.     

Racial microaggressions and black social work students: a call to social work educators for proactive models informed by social justice

ABSTRACT

With efforts to create and sustain racial diversity and inclusive practices at institutions of higher education, a corollary emphasis on proactive implementations to support students of color in these environments is essential. Informed by a commitment to social justice, there are rich opportunities for social work to take leadership in strategizing new ways of approaching and prioritizing the wellness and success of students of color. This paper serves to explore the impact of racism specific to Black students by applying the theoretical lens of Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF) to challenge social work education in confronting racialized experiences within their programs. A modified, context-specific framework is proposed that (1) defines microaggressions in social work education programs, 2) prompts critically informed dialogue to enhance how social work as a profession understands the prevalence and role of microaggressions in social work educational contexts, and (3) explores considerations for the unique needs and challenges of Black social work students in an effort to inform strategies to most effectively recruit, retain, support and empower.     

A Social Cognitive Framework for Career Choice Counseling

This article extends social cognitive career theory by suggesting how several of its major hypotheses can be applied to counseling persons with career choice difficulties. Several theory-derived counseling strategies are described that can be used to assist clients in developing a broad array of career options, analyzing and overcoming barriers to career choice, and counteracting choice-limiting self-efficacy beliefs. Each strategy is illustrated with a case example. Future research needs related to the counseling model are discussed.     

Grant monitoring by charities: The process of grant-making and evaluation

This article presents the results of a survey of grant monitoring in 170 UK charities. The monitoring and evaluation process is modelled and the extent to which donors follow this is explored. Although over 70 per cent of donors monitored grants, a much smaller percentage proceeded to evaluate results. Reasons for this and an indication of how the processes are carried out are presented.     

Developmentally disabled children can be adopted

People have often thought that developmentally disabled children were hard to place and poor risks in adoption. However, this research shows that a large number of children of all ages and disabilities were placed for adoption with few disruptions. In light of these findings, agencies may well put more effort into identifying developmentally disabled children as suitable candidates for adoption services.     

Popular epidemiology and toxic waste contamination: lay and professional ways of knowing.

Building on a detailed study of the Woburn, Massachusetts, childhood leukemia cluster, this paper examines lay and professional ways of knowing about environmental health risks. Of particular interest are differences between lay and professional groups' definitions of data quality, methods of analysis, traditionally accepted levels of measurement and statistical significance, and relations between scientific method and public policy. This paper conceptualizes the hazard-detection and solution-seeking activities of Love Canal, Woburn, and other communities as popular epidemiology: the process by which lay persons gather data and direct and marshal the knowledge and resources of experts in order to understand the epidemiology of disease, treat existing and prevent future disease, and remove the responsible environmental contaminants. Based on different needs, goals, and methods, laypeople and professionals have conflicting perspectives on how to investigate and interpret environmental health data.