Community standards,conservatism, and judgments of pornography

In an attempt to determine if a community standard existed and to relate judgments of pornography to conservatism, scores on Wilson and Patterson's Conservatism Scale, yes‐no judgments on whether 25 pictures were or were not pornographic, and demographic data were obtained from a random sample (N = 114) of a community. Results were as follows: (1) suggestive evidence for the existence of a community standard; (2) the c‐scale correlated .57 (N = 114, p < .01) with number of pictures judged pornographic; (3) the 25 pictures met Guttman requirements of unidimensionality (reproducibility of .925); and (4) factor analysis of the pornography judgments yielded three clear‐cut factors and one ambiguous factor which were ordered along the Guttman dimension.     

Maximum likelihood estimation of variance components in a completely random bib design

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this paper are to abstract from a number of articles variance component estimation procedures which can be used for completely random balanced incomplete block designs, to develop an iterated least squares (ITLS) computing algorithm for calculating maximum likelihood estimates, and to compare these procedures by use of simulated experiments. Based on the simulated experiments, the estimated mean square errors of the ITLS estimates are generally less than*those for previously proposed analysis of variance and symmetric sums estimators.     

Rural Perspectives on Same-Sex Marriage

This study explored rural perspectives on same-sex marriage with a nonprobability sample (N = 156) of adult respondents recruited in a largely rural state in the upper Midwest. A new 6-item instrument with strong internal consistency (α =.943) found that support for same-sex marriage was widespread without significant differences based on relationship status, education level, rural residence, or biological sex. Sexual orientation predicted support for traditional family values and same-sex marriage which were inversely associated. Findings suggest that the presumption of rural bias and hostility toward alternative sexualities has mitigated in the upper Midwest. Social work practitioners should infer from this study that there is more to rural culture than remoteness, isolation, poverty, stigma, and conservative religious values. The malleability of rural culture may be an unrecognized strength that may provide encouragement to rural social workers advocating for and serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.     

An examination of sexual strategies used by urban southern and rural Midwestern university women

The purposes of this study were (a) to determine whether women's use of persuasion, non‐physical coercion, and physical force strategies to obtain sex from a man varied between U.S. women from an urban Southern and rural Midwestern university and (b) to determine if sexual behavior history and early courtship behavior affected the use of these strategies (or not using any strategy). Women from the Midwest and the South did not differ in their use of sexual strategies. There were, however, other variables that accounted for differences in women's use of sexual strategies. Women who used persuasion strategies had fewer lifetime sexual partners than women who used any other strategy. Women who used physical force strategies reported a lower age at first intercourse and more early courtship behaviors than all others. Overall, the results indicated that sexual strategies are related to sexual behavior history and early courtship behaviors rather than cultural setting or demographics.     

Comments

In this paper we compare Bartlett-corrected, bootstrap, and fast double bootstrap tests on maximum likelihood estimates of cointegration parameters. The key result is that both the bootstrap and the Bartlett-corrected tests must be based on the unrestricted estimates of the cointegrating vectors: procedures based on the restricted estimates have almost no power. The small sample size bias of the asymptotic test appears so severe as to advise strongly against its use with the sample sizes commonly available; the fast double bootstrap test minimizes size bias, while the Bartlett-corrected test is somehow more powerful.     

INTERVENTION STRATEGIES: PREDICTING FAMILY THERAPY OUTCOME*

A pre-defined list of family therapy intervention strategies was used to predict post-therapy perceived life happiness and marital happiness among husbands and wives. Clients presented with both child and marriage-focused problems. The data were analyzed separately for husbands and wives. In general, favorable outcome for husbands was associated with active restructuring operations on the part of the therapist. Prediction of outcome for wives was less clear. However, wives did appear to respond favorably to less active interventions such as actualizing transactional patterns and reframing.     

IS BOWEN THEORY VALID? A REVIEW OF BASIC RESEARCH

In the last 15 years, a substantial number of studies have tested the theoretical validity of Bowen family systems theory. A review of this basic research provided empirical support for the relationship between differentiation and chronic anxiety, marital satisfaction, and psychological distress. Bowen's assumption that couples with the same level of differentiation marry was not supported. His specific theories of sibling position and triangulation also received little empirical support. Research on multigenerational transmission has generally ignored Bowen's theoretical perspective, and more research needs to test Bowen's claim that his theory is universal. In addition, researchers still need to examine the effect of differentiation on child functioning, physical health problems, and adaptability.     

The last mile of the way: understanding caregiving in African American families at the end-of-life

This research is based on in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups with 88 African American family caregivers from various regions of the United States during a stressful time in their family development--caregiving at the end-of-life--and the grieving during the aftermath. The study employed a stratified purposeful sampling strategy. Subjects were African Americans from the Northern, Southern, and Midwestern United States. Formal care is complicated by the distrust that many African Americans hold toward the health care system, which has resulted from years of exclusion, racism and discrimination. The findings highlight the importance of hearing from African American families to gain an understanding of what services, including family therapy and other psychotherapy, they will need during this process.