“We thought it would be easy”: recruitment challenges,successes and best practices for low-income couple populations

Recruitment challenges present ongoing struggles for social science professionals. Especially problematic are recruiting endeavors when target populations are highly stressed, highly mobile, and are comprised of couples rather than individuals. Included in this study is a rationale supporting the need to study recruitment challenges coupled with a literature review discussing recent recruitment research summaries. Based upon a Delphi-type discussion with couples relationship education (CRE) experts, our team constructed a qualitative study to examine recruitment challenges in low-income CRE programs. Fourteen interviews were conducted with “successful” program leaders identified by federal regional managers within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Data were analyzed, and results detailing four main “challenge” themes, four “success” themes, and a seven-step best practice model are presented.     

A dynamic social-ecological model of generational identity in the workplace

We approach generational identity in the workplace as a social identity simultaneously linked to biological and historical location. We outline a dynamic social-ecological model of generational identity in which various levels of influences shape the potential for and manifestation of generational identities in the workplace. We propose that individual generational identity in the workplace is influenced by the interaction of four levels of factors: the workgroup, where generational identity is triggered; the organization, which structures the context in which work-related generational identity takes shape; the extra-organizational environment, which sets the general parameters for generational interactions with occupational and stakeholder groups; and society, where generational phenomena are manifested as historical social movements and depicted as mass media narratives. We examine each of these levels of influence and offer propositions, guided by social identity, self-categorization theory, fault line theory, and generational theory, to elucidate what each level of influence contributes to a fulsome understanding of generation as a complex phenomenon. This approach to generational identity in the workplace highlights the influences that serve as pre-conditions for generational conflict in organizations.     

Listicles and the modern news article: comparing the perceived credibility of listicles and traditional articles among millennial media consumers

Listicles are a new media phenomenon that appear on virtually every news organization’s website (articles that are simply lists or rankings and offer concise details about a topic to readers). This study sought to determine the perceived credibility of listicles among the age group most inclined to read them (millennials). Using a sample population of millennials (N = 363), participants were randomly assigned to read an article in one of two formats: a listicle or a traditional article. Participants then answered a questionnaire rating the credibility of the article and recalling facts from the story. The experiment found that millennials rated the listicle as significantly more credible than the traditional article. The study also hypothesized that millennials may retain more information from a well-constructed listicle than a traditional article containing the same information, but this hypothesis was not supported. The study results and the implications of these findings are discussed.     

Interethnic Romantic Relationships: Enacting Affiliative Ethnic Identities

Through in‐depth interviews with respondents who were in interethnic relationships (N = 28), the authors extended and refined a new approach to mate selection based on affiliative ethnic identities (T. Jimenez, 2010). Rather than assimilation and a breakdown of ethnic group boundaries, they found that people pursued interethnic relationships because of the ethnic differences they include. These relationships gave them access to an affiliate ethnic or multicultural identity. This perspective does not challenge but rather complements existing theories of mate selection, including the role of opportunity structures, exchange of benefits, and growing acceptance of or freedom to pursue interethnic relationships. Ethnic differences can remain central as people meet, fall in love, and marry across these differences.     

Scaling up to Increase Community-Based Organization Voice

This is a collaborative, community-based study of the merger of two Chicago community-organizing groups seeking to expand their geographic base and political power. Although the merger enabled the new organization to increase and use its power, this case also illustrates the various ways the merger presented opportunities for the new organization to maintain effectiveness at multiple scales while sustaining strong internal democracy and connections to local residents. By consolidating and leveraging new and old political relationships, and by maintaining or increasing the civic benefits of organizing, this merger provides important lessons for organizing in diverse community settings.     

Positive Marital Quality,Acculturative Stress,and Child Outcomes Among Mexican Americans

Previous research suggests that the quality of parents' relationships can influence their children's adjustment, but most studies have focused on the negative effects of marital conflict for children in White middle‐class families. The current study focuses on the potential benefits of positive marital quality for children in working‐class first generation Mexican American families using observational and self‐report data. This study examined the links between positive marital quality and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors 1 year later when the child was in sixth grade (N = 134 families). Positive marital quality was negatively correlated with child internalizing behaviors. Parent acculturative stress was found to mediate the relationship between positive marital quality and child internalizing behaviors in sixth grade.     

Building stronger weak ties among a diverse pool of emergent nonprofit leaders of color

This article explores theoretical underpinnings of social capital and strong and weak ties as they relate to relationships within, between, and among six cohorts of promising nonprofit leaders of color in a northwestern U.S. city. Using mixed methods, including network analyses, it considers the impact and potential of a university‐community collaboration to deliver a program to promising emergent leaders nominated for their talent and commitment to the work of their community‐based organizations, often in competition for limited resources. The article considers the program's implicit effect on relationships and reveals intersector connections among alumni. Findings show substantial alumni movement among organizations, increasing the potential for collaboration and mentoring relationships. We conclude with recommendations for programs seeking long‐term impact and discuss a series of unanticipated findings and the questions they engender, many critical as communities and organizations become more diverse and social needs do not diminish.     

Clients' relational conceptions of conjoint couple and family therapy quality: a grounded formal theory

Based upon a qualitative metasynthesis of 49 articles centered on clients' experiences of their conjoint couple and family therapy, the investigators constructed a grounded formal theory of Clients' Relational Conceptions of Conjoint Couple and Family Therapy Quality. The theory suggests from pretherapy conceptions to posttherapy reflections, clients' perceptions of conjoint couple and family therapy quality appear to consist of clients' constructed meanings regarding a series of interrelated relationships between clients and their therapists and therapy environments, between clients and themselves, between clients and other family members, and between process and outcome both inside and outside therapy. Within and across these relationships, clients appear to focus on expectations, connections, balance, and change when evaluating the quality of their clinical experiences. Based upon this theory, the investigators recommend that researchers continue to explore this clinical phenomenon and that therapists regularly seek clients' conceptions of quality in therapy.     

Called to Medicine: Physicians’ Experiences of Career Calling

Using consensual qualitative research methodology, the authors explored physicians’ (N = 17) career calling experiences through semistructured interviews. Eight domains emerged: definition of calling, development of calling, calling's fit with career, maintenance of calling, emotional well‐being, relationships, recreation, and future. Within these domains, 17 general and 40 typical categories emerged. Results suggest physicians’ callings were influenced by others, met with both support and barriers, and chosen because of fit with interests, prosocial motivation, or religious/spiritual influences. Calling positively and negatively influenced emotional well‐being, relationships, and recreation and was expected to continue after retirement. Counselors are encouraged to use a narrative lens to conceptualize clients’ calling development, use job crafting techniques to support calling maintenance, and prepare clients for postretirement career calling development. Future research might examine when and why a medical calling's strength may change over time.