Seeing Is Believing: Research on Women's Sexual Orientation and Public Policy

In this commentary, Sheila Kuehl, the first openly lesbian or gay person to be elected to the California State Legislature, addresses the interface among science, social issues, and public policy in the arena of women's sexual orientation. She emphasizes the value of scientific research and analysis in informing policy makers, identifies specific ways that social scientists can influence policy makers, and suggests areas that would benefit from continuing and expanded research.     

What's in a Name? Distinguishing Between Routine Disclosure and Self‐Disclosure

A lack of specificity between two types of disclosure has emerged in research on adolescents’ relationship and communication with their parents. Researchers are obscuring the distinctions between self‐disclosure and routine disclosure (i.e., disclosure of their whereabouts and activities to parents). In this article, we describe where the problems have arisen and then outline the conceptual differences between the two. Illustrations of how the two types of disclosure overlap or co‐occur are provided to demonstrate how fruitful areas for future research can emerge from attending to the distinctions between these two constructs.     

Volunteers from corporations: Work cultures reflect values similar to the voluntary organization's

The way people perceive the culture of the organizations where they are employed may shape their perceptions of their role as volunteers. This study of 201 managers and other professionals suggests that their perceptions of their work organizations as sociocentric or egocentric are related to their motives, attitudes, and performance in a voluntary organization. Implications for voluntary agency administrators include the identification of work organizations whose cultures reflect values similar to those of the voluntary organization.     

Revising the South Oaks Gambling Screen in different settings

The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), a validated, reliable instrument for detecting gambling problems, and the South Oaks Leisure Activities Screen (SOLAS), a companion screening tool for use with significant others, have been employed in a variety of settings and in several languages. This paper focuses on adapting the SOGS for use in various cultures and localities, discusses the authors' 1992 revision of the SOGS, and includes both the revised SOGS and the SOLAS.     

Getting by in the community: lessons from frail elders

This study explores how functionally impaired, elderly persons are able to remain in the community without home- and community- based care (HCBC) under the Medicaid program. Using HCBC administrative data, Medicare data, and survey data, we find the nonparticipants in the community appear to get by through a combination of reliance on informal care, use of Medicare home care, and going without needed services. Despite their efforts to manage their care in the community, non-participants were significantly more likely than the participants to enter a nursing home during the six months following assessment. While our analysis does not allow us to attribute the higher nursing home entry to the absence of HCBC services with certainty, the finding does raise questions about whether the elements of the HCBC program that discourage participation may save Medicaid dollars in the short-run at the expense of future Medicaid costs from more rapid nursing home entry.     

Incorporating Substance Use Content Into Social Work Curricula: Opioid Overdose as a Micro,Mezzo, and Macro Problem

Problematic substance use has tremendous implications for the health and wellbeing of communities around the world. Social workers at the frontlines are likely to encounter clients with substance use disorders in the wide array of settings where they are employed. However, few undergraduate and graduate social work programs internationally require students to take coursework in substance use or have substance use specializations. In the short-term, incorporating substance use-related content into existing courses and institutional structures may be more viable for social work programs to educate students about substance-related issues rather than developing entire courses or concentrations. The rates of opioid overdose death are increasing internationally and it is a multifaceted public health problem which would provide students with an opportunity to explore a wide variety of micro, mezzo, and macro practice and policy issues related to substance use. This paper specifically suggests a number of strategies which could be used in practice and policy courses throughout the curriculum. Incorporating overdose-related content into existing courses could be a promising means to still provide students with some knowledge and skills to work with substance-using populations.     

A Global Review of New Social Risks and Responses for Children and their Families

Given global demographic and social trends, the need for new policy and program responses is essential. This article identifies and describes new and traditional social risks affecting children and their families in both industrialized and developing countries by region. Traditional risks continue in the developing as well as the industrialized countries but the extent and scale are very different and the problems are far more severe in developing countries. In addition, new risks are now evident and new policy responses are emerging. Attention to the new risks is increasing, with growing investment in services and policies facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life and non-traditional families. The citizens of many developing countries experience new risks as well, but their capacity to confront and address these risks is also more limited.