Lessons learned from children who have experienced homelessness: what services need to know

Children who accompany their parents or guardians during a period of homelessness make up 37% (more than one in three) of all people accessing the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) services. This paper describes an Australian qualitative study that explored the experiences of children who accompanied their families during periods of homelessness. It focuses particularly on what children and young people say they want from the services that they come in contact with; particularly specialised homelessness services such as housing support services and refuges. Key themes that emerged from the research include: the need for services to engage with children as individuals in their own right, to listen to and acknowledge their stories, to have services that meet their individual needs, to act and respond when children feel unsafe and for workers who can provide support to children to talk to parents about what is going on. Children and young people wanted workers to know that they felt their parents were doing their best to keep them safe. They focused on what their parents could do and did do rather than what they were not able to provide. They called on the human service system to do the same.     

Antisociality and intimate partner violence: the facilitating role of shame

Numerous theories classify distinct subtypes of men who perpetrate violence against female partners. These theories contend that a large portion of these men possess antisocial characteristics that may increase risk for violence. Affectively, these men have been found to externalize their emotions, including shame and guilt, and it has been suggested that this process contributes to the perpetration of partner violence. Therefore, this study sought to examine the role of shame and guilt in the association between antisociality and partner violence perpetration (i.e., psychological, physical, and sexual). Based on a sample of 423 undergraduate men, this study found that shame moderated the association between antisociality and partner violence perpetration such that as shame increases, the associations between antisociality and all three types of partner violence perpetration increase. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of typological models of partner violence and have clinical implications for batterer intervention programs.     

Nonritual alcohol drinking practices among high school students from the Kibbutz movement in Israel: implications for prevention

This article describes the Kibbutzim part of a survey conducted in the north of Israel during spring 1990, in order to investigate alcohol drinking habits of Jewish students from Kibbutzim and urban areas, as well as those of Moslem and Druze students, and to draw conclusions for designing alcohol abuse prevention activities. Of the general sample of 2763 students, 572 subjects were drawn from eleven schools which belong to sixty-two Kibbutzim. Exactly 435 students were Kibbutzim-born and 137 were outsiders living and being educated in the Kibbutzim. Kibbutzim-born youth showed the highest rate of involvement with alcohol in Israel, and a striking difference concerning the rates of alcohol consumption was revealed between the above mentioned two groups. This article explains this gap, as well as the high prevalence of alcohol use among Kibbutzim-born youth, and discusses implications for prevention.     

Critical success factors for merger in the UK voluntary sector

This paper reports on research into mergers in the voluntary sector in the UK from 1988 to 1993. It compares empirically derived critical success factors with success factors derived from previous work on mergers in both the voluntary and private sectors. The study concludes that merger can be an extremely effective strategy for voluntary organisations. For it to be so, it has to be undertaken willingly, with a shared vision between the partners of what the merger will achieve. Cultural differences need to be recognised and handled within a trusting context in which mutual respect is backed by an equitable process. Finally; sensitive handling of individuals caught up in the merger process is essential—but something which the voluntary sector ought to be well capable of doing.     

WOMEN SOCIOLOGISTS IN THE MIDWEST: A STATUS UPDATE

In this article, an earlier study of the status of academic women sociologists in the Midwest that was extended to 1984–1985 is discussed. Type of appointment, rank, and chairpersons, as well as position in a Ph.D. rather than an M.A. program were used in the study as indicators of employment status. Midwest Sociological Society (MSS) leadership positions and participation in the annual MSS meeting served as indicators of professional participation. The results show that gains in employment status for women slowed in the 1980s. Employment of women in sociology department positions, especially in full-time positions and higher ranks, continued to lag behind the proportion of women Ph.D.s in the field. Women were overrepresented in the secondary labor market of part-time employment. However, women are now almost as likely to be employed in Ph.D. as well as M.A. programs. While gains in employment status generally slowed, professional participation has accellerated in recent years. Possible explanations for the differential penetrability of the two realms are offered. The appropriateness of statistical parity as a standard for evaluating equality in academic employment also is discussed. This article proposes that structural barriers to employment equity for women may not be more significant than direct discrimination.     

The Co-Occurrence of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence: An Issue of Service Delivery for Social Service Professionals

In order to add to the growing literature on intergenerational rates of family violence, data were collected from a community-based child abuse agency. The study's purpose was to compare the co-occurrence of child abuse/neglect (CAN) and domestic violence (DV), and the prevalence of CAN and parent's childhood history of abuse. Data were collected from 537 families through intake and subsequent interviews in an attempt to determine the relationship among CAN and DV, and CAN and parent's childhood history of abuse. A chi-square analysis indicated significant relationships among these variables. Of the participants in this sample, 48.9% had experienced both CAN and DV. These results also indicated that 66.3% of participants had a childhood history of CAN and were currently experiencing issues of CAN with their own children. Logistic regression was utilized to examine whether families involved with Child Protective Services (CPS) were at higher risk for DV and/or parental childhood history of CAN. The results indicate that CPS-involved families were approximately three times as likely to have a parent reporting a childhood history of CAN but were not at significantly higher odds for DV. Implications for service delivery are discussed.     

A Framework of Asset-Accumulation Stages and Strategies

Based on a study with 298 low-income participants, we propose that asset accumulation occurs in 3 stages. In the first stage (reallocation), current resource inflows exceed current outflows. To do this, people reallocate resources from consumption or leisure. In the second stage (conversion), people may convert resources from liquid to illiquid forms. In the third stage (maintenance), people resist temptations to dissave. We theorize that people adopt psychological and behavioral strategies to achieve these objectives. Putting psychological and behavioral strategies together with the stages of reallocation, conversion, and maintenance results in 6 strategy groups. We provide real-world examples of each strategy group and discuss implications for encouraging account ownership among the unbanked, improving asset-accumulation programs, and improving financial education.