Typologies of Violence Among Youth Who Encounter Child Welfare Systems

This study explored patterns of violent delinquent behaviors using latent class analysis (LCA). The study sample consisted of 1,013 11- to 17-year-olds who participated in Wave 1 of the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II). LCA was used to identify distinct patterns of violent delinquent behavior among youth involved in the child welfare system. The study found a model consisting of the two following classes: violent and normative. The study also examined how exposure to domestic violence, youths’ mental health, and youths’ substance abuse function as characteristics of the latent classes. Results showed members of the violent class were significantly more likely to report clinically significant depression and substance abuse. Racial differences did exist, showing members of the violent class were more likely to be Black than members of the normative class. The study found no differences on whether members of each class had been physically or sexually abused, experienced physical neglect, been exposed to domestic violence, or having a substance abusing parent, or a substantiated child maltreatment investigation. Results from this study could illuminate opportunities for prevention and intervention resources.     

Factors Associated with the Decision-Making Process in Kinship Diversion

During the past two decades, child welfare professionals have given kinship care priority as the preferred least restrictive, most family-like placement option when a child has to be removed from his or her family. However, the available literature lacks investigation into what factors drive the decision to use kinship care, specifically an understanding of why some children are diverted from child welfare system (CWS) into unpaid kinship arrangements while other children enter the traditional foster care system. This study uses baseline (Wave 1) data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being II (NSCAW II), which provides information about children and caregivers in different types of kinship care. The data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression based on the multiple imputed data files using NSCAW II weights. Results show important predictors of a child being diverted into private kinship care included the child’s age, caseworker’s educational background, and caseworker’s assessment of harm level. Important predictors of a child being diverted into voluntary kinship care included the maltreatment type, family structure, caseworker’s educational background, and caseworker’s assessment of risk level. Differentiating between the types of kinship diversion has important implications for practice and policy. Examining a variety of factors can help child welfare scholars develop a comprehensive understanding of the decision-making processes used in selecting kinship diversion for out-of-home placements.     

Exploring Digital Culture in Virtual Teams: Implications for Leading and Developing Distributed Organisations

Understanding human communication in the technological age is becoming more complex as advances in technology and its use in human exchange are being magnified. New studies show that technology is no longer just a device for human connections; it is an integrated artefact in the human exchange and communication process. As a result, we are witnessing and experiencing new norms and patterns of behaviour, values in human connections, expectations of one another, language, and other symbol systems: a digital culture. This article explores further development of the digital culture model in relation to organisational work culture. Specifically, the dimensions related to digital communication and online group dynamics are further articulated from a literature review. The findings are also presented from a study of e-process teams in a distributed organisation based on data from a digital culture inventory, focus group observations, and participant reflections, which illustrate changes in behaviour, language, group dynamics, and communication exchange between team members working in a distributed organisation. The article aims to contribute new insights which could inform approaches to organisational development that view organisational culture as central to the process.     

Transition strategies for youths with sensory impairments: Educational,vocational and independent living considerations

Students with sensory impairments comprise a heterogeneous group that is often underserved by rehabilitation and other social services. This underserved status has been attributed to poor interagency collaboration and eligibility issues, the low incidence nature of these disabilities, and the shortage of trained professionals to address the specialized needs of these individuals. This article examines important educational and vocational characteristics of this population to assist rehabilitation professionals in supporting more effective transitions into employment and other adult roles. Specific transition considerations include unique learning challenges, assessment issues, assistive technology, and accommodations. The article concludes with strategies for transition planning, community integration, and evaluating transition outcomes.     

Drawing a connection from victim to victimizer.

1. The biological basis of the altered alarm/dissociative process during and after sexual trauma impedes the development of information processing essential for discerning intention, personal responsibility, sense of control over events, and trust in others. 2. Once this imbalance occurs, the child is restricted in developing cognitive schema to deal with interpersonal intimacy. This in turn results in secondary patterns of aggressiveness or avoidance. 3. The implication of this biological understanding of trauma and information processing for treatment underscores the necessity of reducing arousal, thus lessening the dissociative process. Drawings of the criminal act and the victim experience elicit cues connecting the two events, facilitating an increase in personal control over repeated aggressive acts.     

TQM: a paradigm for physicians

Change, even when for the better, is always accompanied by apprehension and even outright fear. It is therefore not surprising to hear health care workers, especially physicians, expressing their concerns about this "new" management philosophy through a spectrum of reactions that vary from skeptical or grudging acceptance to outright dismissal of all of the new "alphabet soup" associated with TQM.     

Volunteers' motivations: a functional strategy for the recruitment, placement, and retention of volunteers

A psychological strategy for understanding the motivational underpinnings of volunteerism is described. In a presentation that merges the theoretical interests of researchers with the practical interests of volunteer administrators, six different motivational functions served by volunteerism are identified, and an inventory designed to measure these motivations is presented. The implications of this functional approach for the recruitment, placement, and retention of volunteers are then elaborated. Finally, recommendations are provided for volunteer administrators who seek to increase the number of people who volunteer and to improve their human resource management.     

Faith-based organizing for youth: one organization's district campaign for small schools policy

Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) has worked for over ten years to improve educational opportunities in low-income neighborhoods in Oakland, California. The work of thousands of parent, teacher, youth, and community leaders has resulted in the formation of nearly fifty new small schools and more than ten charters, creating settings for individualized learning environments and the opportunity for quality choices for many of Oakland's low-income families. In this article, OCO's executive director, Ron Snyder, outlines a four-phase organizing process undertaken by OCO, based on a set of organizing principles that have sustained community-led education reform despite constant changes in the political and school district environment: the centrality of love (self-interest) as a motivator for advocacy; the importance of quality research and powerful ideas (vision) as alternatives to the status quo; application of a model that creates a common structure, language, and experience to sustain leaders; the need for institutional and network power to apply leverage; the flexibility to seize opportunity when the window is open; and faithfulness to the object of our love: our children.     

Trend analysis of medical publications about LGBT persons: 1950-2007

Although there are currently at least 6 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the United States, there are no prior studies analyzing how this group is represented in the medical literature. An examination of published LGBT topics over a 57-year period was performed using OvidSP. A total of 21,728 publications was analyzed for topic using information from the title, keywords, subject headings, and abstracts. Several trends became apparent. The largest proportion of LGBT publications (31.78%) was devoted to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), yet there was an overall lack of emphasis on general health topics or common causes of mortality. Further analysis showed that if publications on HIV/AIDS or STIs addressed sexual orientation, they were more likely to be about LGBT persons than heterosexuals. Overall, the volume and range of medical publications on LGBT persons may not be reflective of the health care needs of this population.