Predicting Follow‐up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: The Role of Change in Trust,Relationship‐Specific Attachment,and Emotional Engagement

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT), an evidence‐based couple therapy (Johnson, Hunsley, Greenberg, & Schindler, 1999), strives to foster lasting change through the creation of secure attachment bonds in distressed couples. Although studies have demonstrated lasting change in follow‐up (Wiebe et al., in press), research is needed to investigate predictors of long‐term outcomes. Our goal was to investigate predictors of long‐term outcomes in relationship satisfaction. Relationship satisfaction was assessed across 24 months in a sample of 32 couples who received an average of 21 EFT sessions. Decreases in attachment avoidance were most predictive of higher relationship satisfaction across follow‐up. These findings support the theoretical assumption that EFT helps couples foster lasting change in relationship satisfaction through the facilitation of secure attachment bonds.     

Descriptive Analysis of Foster Care Adoptions in New South Wales,Australia

This paper describes the population of children in care in New South Wales, Australia, who were adopted by their foster families (N?=?372) from 2003 to 2014. Data pertaining to 370 of these adoptees were available and obtained from administrative records accompanying adoption applications. Most of these children had been placed with their subsequent adoptive family during infancy. However, adoption orders occurred much later in their lives. According to the available information at the time of adoption, these children did not suffer the high levels of mental health problems typically identified in populations of children in foster care. Though the data do not include follow-up to determine if the contact agreed upon at the time of adoption orders translated into practice, the most frequently postadoption arrangement recorded was face-to-face contact, four times a year with mother and siblings. The high levels of openness and face-to-face contact in Australian adoptions from care are a significant point of difference with other adoption models, and presents a need for research in the area.

IMPLICATIONS

• Following the change of legislation in New South Wales, Australia, that prioritises open adoption over foster care, social workers in the field of child protection are well placed to assist in this process.

• Social workers can assess children entering care to identify those who will benefit from adoption in a timely manner; undertake casework and administrative aspects of the adoption process; work closely with the child, and birth and adoptive families by delivering pre- and post-adoption supports; and conduct longitudinal research on the outcomes for children adopted from care.

     

Racial/Ethnic Minority Vocational Research Trends: An 11‐Year Update

This study extends Flores et al.'s ( 2006 ) 36‐year analysis of racial/ethnic minority (REM) career research to identify recent trends in choice of topics and leading individual and institutional contributors. The authors identified 166 articles on REM career research published from 2005 to 2015 in the Journal of Vocational Behavior, The Career Development Quarterly, the Journal of Career Assessment, and the Journal of Career Development. Of these studies, 92% were empirical, with more than three quarters of these using quantitative rather than qualitative methodology. Most frequently, the empirical studies (n = 153) were based on samples of high school (30.7%) or undergraduate (34.6%) students. The authors discuss the implications of their findings and suggest ways to expand REM career research in the future.     

ELITE VERSUS GRASSROOTS: Disjunctures between Parents' and Civil Rights Organizations' Demands for New York City's Public Schools

Much of the sociological and historical literature, ignoring long-standing interclass disputes over integration, takes for granted that during the 1950s, all blacks, parents, and members of civil rights organizations included, sought desegregation. This article examines the interests of different segments of New York City's black community regarding the public schools during that era. I use contemporary newspaper accounts of protests and more recent theoretical insights to analyze and interpret differences in expressed goals and demands. This article not only documents considerable educationally oriented protest in a Northern city during a decade often overlooked by scholars, but highlights important class-based differences within a single city's black community regarding changes needed. Of particular interest to social movement scholars are findings that reveal a large disjuncture between the demands of the grassroots parents' organizations and established, elite civil rights organizations. While civil rights organizations sought abstract ideals of integration, parents demanded tangible improvements in their children's schools. Class-based cultures and experiences are posited as the root of this disjuncture.     

A measure of community members’ perceptions of the impacts of research partnerships in health and social services

Currently, there are no psychometrically sound outcome measures by which to assess the impacts of research partnerships. This article describes the development of a 33-item, survey questionnaire measuring community members’ perceptions of the impact of research partnerships addressing health or social issues. The Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships (CIROP) was developed using information from the literatures on health promotion, community development, research utilization, and community-based participatory research, and from focus groups involving 29 key informants. Data from 174 community members were used to determine the factor structure, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability of the four CIROP scales, and to provide evidence of construct validity. The CIROP informs research partnerships about the extent of their impact in the areas of Personal Knowledge Development, Personal Research Skill Development, Organizational/Group Access To and Use of Information, and Community and Organizational Development, allowing them to demonstrate accountability to funding bodies. As well, the CIROP can be used as a research tool to assess the effectiveness of knowledge sharing approaches, determine the most influential activities of research partnerships, and determine structural characteristics of partnerships associated with various types of impact. The CIROP provides a better understanding of community members’ perspectives and expectations of research partnerships, with important implications for knowledge transfer and uptake.     

Short-Term Employment Services for Homeless Individuals: Perceptions from Stakeholders in a Community Partnership

ABSTRACT

This article examines the importance and feasibility of immediate employment for homeless individuals from perspectives of stakeholders in a community partnership. Using grounded theory and an editing-style approach, in-depth interviews were analyzed with service recipients (n= 13) and providers (n= 9). Stakeholders viewed employment services differently. While recipients were optimistic that short-term employment services could yield immediate employment despite their barriers, providers articulated the importance of providing individualized case management with realistic expectations for homeless individuals to secure long-term, dependable employment rather than low-wage, short-term jobs. Future studies should examine discrepancies in perspectives to strengthen findings presented here and better determine employment services to meet provider and recipient expectations and goals.     

Child welfare services and delinquency: the need to know more

This article describes the need for a better understanding of the moderating effects of child welfare services on delinquency. Although juvenile delinquency is a commonly studied issue, researchers have paid little attention to the degree to which child welfare services may be associated with changes in subsequent delinquency rates. Emerging evidence suggests that for certain groups of maltreated children, such as children of color and females, certain child welfare services are associated with variations in risk of delinquent outcomes. The article discusses key methodological, theoretical, and policy implications that help guide further research in this area.