Marijuana use and depression

The primary goal of this study is to examine the association between marijuana use and adult depressive symptomatology. The key independent variables examined are age of marijuana initiation, frequency of current marijuana use, the use of other licit and illicit drugs, and whether marijuana was used to cope with problems. The relationships among these variables are assessed using data from the Young Men and Drugs Survey (n = 1,941), a nationally representative sample of men from the 1944-1954 birth cohort. Results show that early marijuana initiation appears to be weakly associated with increased depression in adulthood. This effect, however, is mediated by educational attainment, employment status, marital status, and other drug use, notably alcohol and tobacco use. Adult frequency of marijuana use is not significantly associated with increased depression in adulthood. Finally, marijuana users who use the drug to cope with problems are more depressed than those who do not use to cope with problems.     

The role of friends, in-laws, and other kin in father-perpetrated child physical abuse

Thirty-five physically abusive fathers were matched with a comparison sample to test multiple systemic explanations for child physical abuse, using an ecological perspective, and to show the relationship between the structure of social ties and the function of those ties. The physically abusive fathers were found to have received significantly fewer emotional and instrumental supports from their friends, in-laws, and other kin than the comparison fathers, and were only weakly linked to members of their social networks--members who might have discouraged the fathers' aggressive impulses or provided additional support to them and to their families.     

Data-based organizational change: the use of administrative data to improve child welfare programs and policy

Administrative databases hold the potential to have a significant impact on the development of effective child welfare programs and policies. This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of administrative databases, issues with their implementation and data analysis, and effective presentation of their data at different levels in child welfare organizations.     

A graph coloring approach for image segmentation

In this paper we develop a segmentation scheme for digital images based upon an iterative binary coloring technique that takes into account changing behavior of adjacent pixels. The output is a hierarchical structure of images which allows a better understanding of complex images. In particular, we propose two algorithms that should be considered as image preprocessing techniques.     

Family composition preferences in a developing culture: The case of Taiwan, 1973

Abstract As fertility comes increasingly under voluntary control in a developing society, it can be argued that individual desires or preferences about children will become more salient and more significant for eventual fertility. Hence, the study of preferences is increasingly important as contraceptive use is extended and results in decreasing the number of unwanted births.(1) Further changes in fertility then depend on changes in preferences. The assumption is that people will at least try to achieve the families they want, if the means to do so are available. The fact that contraception is used at all is some evidence of the soundness of this assumption, although it should be recognized that family size desires operate in a complex of preferences, under varying degrees of conflict and control. To expect a one-to-one relationship between attitudes or preferences and overt behaviour would be simplistic.     

Adolescent parenthood,economic issues,and social policies

Adolescent parenthood has highly publicized adverse social and economic consequences, but these same social and economic disadvantages can be viewed as root causes of adolescent pregnancy. Recent research and revisionist debates about these issues are reviewed and summarized. Diverse implications for social policy are considered. Prevention approaches are emphasized that build on both postponing adolescent sexual intercourse and helping sexually active teens avoid pregnancy.Appreciation is expressed to Christine Bachrach and Kristin Moore for their comments on a previous version of this paper.Dr. Miller's current research interests are the family antecedents of adolescent sexual behavior and the design and evaluation of prevention programs for adolescent problem behaviors. He received his Ph.D. in family sociology from the University of Minnesota in 1975.     

Professional Relationship Boundaries: A Social Work Teaching Module

Social workers are often challenged by the complex and ever‐changing dynamics within their relationships with clients, and struggle to find ethical responses within professional boundary grey zones where boundaries with clients can be difficult to identify, yet easy to cross. Social work educators attempt to prepare students for these complex situations, yet in the United States research reveals rates of social work boundary violations that lead one to question the efficacy of social work ethics education. This article describes the educational competencies and instructional strategies that comprise an adaptable course module which was developed in response to this challenge, and intended to increase students' self‐awareness, motivation and professional judgment‐making abilities related to their professional boundaries. The educational competencies for this course include the abilities to: identify boundary violations, apply critical thinking skills to complex professional relationship contexts, increase awareness of self and other, and initiate prevention strategies. In contrast to traditional approaches to education, this article describes instructional strategies that are based on adult‐learning principles, which have the purpose of effectively and creatively teaching topic areas in such a way as to produce behavioural change. These course topic areas include a ‘Professional Relationship Boundaries Continuum’ conceptual framework, boundary violation impacts, personal boundary vulnerabilities, blurring boundary indicators, and risk‐minimizing strategies.