Assimilation or exclusion? Japanese and Mexican Americans in California

This paper argues that the current socioeconomic positions of ethnic groups reflect in part the historical processes that differentially allocated labor market opportunities by ethnicity. With historical and current data, we illustrate the usefulness of this approach by investigating two ethnic groups at opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum—native-born Japanese and Mexican American men and women in California. We first document the structural context facing these two immigrant groups when they entered the U.S., describing how early experiences shaped their occupational concentrations. Using 1980 Census data we then show how the current occupational distributions of these ethnic groups resemble those of their immigrant ancestors, and how this occupational concentration now affects earnings attainment, relative to whites. The evidence on gender differences suggests caution in generalizing from the experiences of male ethnics—the occupational and earnings attainments of female ethnics differ notably from those of their male counterparts.     

Childlessness Among Older Women in the United States: Trends and Profiles

In the last 2 decades, the United States has seen an increase in childlessness and first births at older ages. Using the National Survey of Family Growth, we focus on women aged 35 – 44 who are voluntarily childless (expect no children and are fecund or contraceptively sterile). We compare these women to those who are involuntarily childless (fecundity impaired) and to those who are temporarily childless (expect children). Voluntary childlessness grew from 1982 (5%) to 1988 (8%), was stable up to 1995 (9%), and fell slightly in 2002 (7%). Voluntarily childless women have the highest income, prior work experience, and lowest religiosity compared to other women. This has been true since 1982, the earliest time point examined.     

The use of the dream in the promotion of ego development

Two functions of dreams, described but not stressed by Freud—the dream as a way of remembering early childhood experiences and the dream as an attempt to master painful stimuli—are considered in this paper in terms of their significance in the treatment of patients whose preoedipal developmental difficulties have resulted in distortions or deficiencies in psychic structure. By providing access to that period of life before semantic communication a time of profound developmental import, certain dreams can illuminate critical experiences of that period. They may lead to the discovery of positive experiences which can be utilized as a starting point for the fostering of more positive object representations or they may lead to the understanding of early traumatic experiences which can be dealt with retrospectively in the therapeutic situation.     

Changing College Students’ Financial Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior through Seminar Participation

This pilot study examined the influence of Credit Wise Cats, a financial education seminar presented by Students in Free Enterprise, on the attitudes, knowledge, and intentions toward financial responsibility of college students (N = 93). Findings suggest that the seminar effectively increased students’ financial knowledge, increased responsible attitudes toward credit and decreased avoidant attitudes towards credit from pre-test to post-test. At post-test, students reported intending to engage in significantly more effective financial behaviors and fewer risky financial behaviors. Finally, demographic factors (e.g., gender and employment status) predicted students’ financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. These results suggest that a seminar format may be useful in reaching a wider audience of college students and, thus, warrants future longitudinal evaluation.

Hope Floats: African American Women's Survival Experiences after Katrina

This article describes how 15 African American women 18 to 55 years of age coped with traumatic life events during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The study's main question is how did African American women cope with traumatic events during and following Hurricane Katrina? Second, we explore how the intersection of race, gender, and social class influenced their experiences. An exploratory design of primary and secondary data using grounded theory methods generates a mid-level theory about resilience, spirituality and coping among Black women in the aftermath of the storm.     

Reducing High-Risk Drinking Among Student-Athletes: The Effects of a Targeted Athlete-Specific Brief Intervention

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the effects of a single-session motivational interviewing–based in-person brief alcohol intervention that contained student-athlete–specific personalized drinking feedback. Participants: Participants were 170 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student-athletes meeting screening criteria for heavy episodic drinking. Methods: Baseline assessments of alcohol use frequency and quantity, norm perceptions of peers' alcohol use, experiences of negative consequences, and use of protective behaviors were administered to student-athletes prior to a 1-session brief intervention containing personalized feedback highlighting the relationship between alcohol use and athletic performance. Follow-up assessment was conducted 3 months post intervention. Results: Student-athletes participating in the athlete-specific brief intervention showed significant reductions in their alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences, increases in use of protective behavioral strategies, and corrections in norm misperceptions at 3 months post intervention relative to a no-treatment comparison group. Conclusions: Student-athlete–specific brief alcohol interventions show promise in addressing high-risk drinking, reducing associated harms, and supporting health.     

Relative foster care: An emerging trend in foster care placement policy and practice

Abstract

Increases in the foster child population, at a time when terminations in foster care placement have decreased along with a decline in the number of non‐related foster parents, has resulted in an increasing use of relative foster care placement. Relative care as an emerging trend in foster care placement, is not without controversy. Its merits, however, should be assessed in terms of its benefits to the children in care, the fiscal and organizational costs, and the problems it creates for the child welfare system. This paper reviews what is known about the characteristics of relative caregivers and the children in their care. Federal and state policies that affect the use of relatives as an alternative placement resource for children are described. The available data regarding the length of time in placement, number of placements, physical, mental health and educational and permanency outcomes for children placed with relatives are discussed. Implications for practice are drawn and areas for further research are suggested.