Racial Discrimination as a Moderator of the Links Among Stress,Maternal Psychological Functioning,and Family Relationships

This study focuses on the links between social contexts and normative family patterns to identify factors at the societal, community, family, and individual levels that enhance African Americans' ability to overcome stressful life events and foster positive family relationships. The Mundane Extreme Environmental Stress Model was used to explore these links. From urban and rural areas in Iowa and Georgia, 383 families with 10‐ or 11‐year‐old children were recruited. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Maternal psychological distress was linked with parent‐child relationship quality both directly and indirectly through its association with intimate partnership quality. When racial discrimination was greater, stronger links emerged between stressor pileup and psychological distress, as well as between psychological distress and the quality of both intimate partnerships and parent‐child relationships. Future research on African American family processes should include the effects of racial discrimination.     

The mandate for investigational cancer therapies

The heated national health care reform debate of the summer of 1993 has now simmered down, but pieces of the debate are still percolating along at the state level. Within the past year, numerous states have introduced bills that would mandate insurance coverage for investigational cancer therapies--in particular high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant for breast cancer. The problem with these initiatives, well-intended though they may be, is that they threaten to spread unproven technologies at a rapid rate and at the same time miss the opportunity to collect data that would prove the safety and effectiveness of the methods. The author explores these issues and suggests how managed care companies can play a more aggressive role in parrying the threat.     

COMPETITION AND RELATIONAL CONTRACTS: THE ROLE OF UNEMPLOYMENT AS A DISCIPLINARY DEVICE

Abstract When workers are faced with the threat of unemployment, their relationship with a particular firm becomes valuable. As a result, a worker may comply with the terms of a relational contract that demands high effort even when performance is not enforceable by a third party. But can relational contracts motivate high effort when workers can easily find alternative jobs? We examine how competition for labor affects the emergence of relational contracts and their effectiveness in overcoming moral hazard in the labor market. We show that effective relational contracts do emerge in a market with excess demand for labor. Long‐term relationships turn out to be less frequent when there is excess demand for labor than they are in a market characterized by exogenous unemployment. However, stronger competition for labor does not impair labor market efficiency: higher wages induced by competition lead to higher effort out of concerns for reciprocity.     

Racial microaggressions and black social work students: a call to social work educators for proactive models informed by social justice

ABSTRACT

With efforts to create and sustain racial diversity and inclusive practices at institutions of higher education, a corollary emphasis on proactive implementations to support students of color in these environments is essential. Informed by a commitment to social justice, there are rich opportunities for social work to take leadership in strategizing new ways of approaching and prioritizing the wellness and success of students of color. This paper serves to explore the impact of racism specific to Black students by applying the theoretical lens of Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF) to challenge social work education in confronting racialized experiences within their programs. A modified, context-specific framework is proposed that (1) defines microaggressions in social work education programs, 2) prompts critically informed dialogue to enhance how social work as a profession understands the prevalence and role of microaggressions in social work educational contexts, and (3) explores considerations for the unique needs and challenges of Black social work students in an effort to inform strategies to most effectively recruit, retain, support and empower.     

A Social Cognitive Framework for Career Choice Counseling

This article extends social cognitive career theory by suggesting how several of its major hypotheses can be applied to counseling persons with career choice difficulties. Several theory-derived counseling strategies are described that can be used to assist clients in developing a broad array of career options, analyzing and overcoming barriers to career choice, and counteracting choice-limiting self-efficacy beliefs. Each strategy is illustrated with a case example. Future research needs related to the counseling model are discussed.     

Popular epidemiology and toxic waste contamination: lay and professional ways of knowing.

Building on a detailed study of the Woburn, Massachusetts, childhood leukemia cluster, this paper examines lay and professional ways of knowing about environmental health risks. Of particular interest are differences between lay and professional groups' definitions of data quality, methods of analysis, traditionally accepted levels of measurement and statistical significance, and relations between scientific method and public policy. This paper conceptualizes the hazard-detection and solution-seeking activities of Love Canal, Woburn, and other communities as popular epidemiology: the process by which lay persons gather data and direct and marshal the knowledge and resources of experts in order to understand the epidemiology of disease, treat existing and prevent future disease, and remove the responsible environmental contaminants. Based on different needs, goals, and methods, laypeople and professionals have conflicting perspectives on how to investigate and interpret environmental health data.