Use of a Parent Management Training Intervention with Urban Foster Parents: A Pilot Study

The development of effective interventions for foster children with behavior problems is essential given the consequences of behavior problems for children's placement stability and permanency outcomes. This article presents findings from a pilot study of an intervention providing parent management training (PMT) and support to foster parents in groups and home visits. The intervention was an adaptation of the KEEP (Keeping Foster Parents Trained and Supported) group intervention, provided in a large urban child welfare agency serving predominantly African American foster parents. The study used an intent-to-treat design, with 25 foster parents of 31 children (ages 4-12) in specialized foster care assigned to either an intervention or treatment as usual control group. Longitudinal outcomes were analyzed using random effect regression models. Over time, children's behavior problems were significantly lower in the intervention group relative to the control group, and the effect of the intervention was partially mediated by parents' understanding of how to appropriately use the intervention parenting skills. These results provide support for the effectiveness of KEEP with urban foster children with significant behavior problems.     

Darwin Meets the King: Blending Sociology and Evolutionary Psychology to Explain Police Deviance

Ce papier utilise la perspective de Parnaby et Leyden's ( 2011 ) qui adapte l'approche de Merton de la déviance policière en incorporant des éléments de psychologie évolutionniste. Nous proposons que l'intégration de la psychologie évolutionniste contribue à un modèle théorique plus robuste. Plus précisément, nous considérons qu'une structure sociale anomique crée les conditions sociales par lesquelles des mécanismes psychologiques adaptifs qui coïncident avec les modes d'adaptation de Merton et se manifestent dans le comportement. Nous soulignons l'importance d'une intégration de la sociologie et de la psychologie évolutionniste et adressons certains malentendus sur cette dernière. In this paper, we build on Parnaby and Leyden's ( 2011 ) modified Mertonian approach to police deviance by incorporating elements of evolutionary psychology. It is our contention that an infusion of evolutionary psychology will lead to a more robust theoretical model. Specifically, we argue that an anomic social structure helps create the social conditions within which specific adaptive psychological mechanisms manifest behaviorally in ways that coincide with Merton's modes of adaptation. The importance of integrating sociology and evolutionary psychology is emphasized while a number of misunderstandings about the latter are addressed.     

Relationship Quality Among Young Couples from an Economic and Gender Perspective

Less than a third of married couple households in the United States are composed of families with one breadwinner. This is a stark contrast to a mere 40 years ago when men were the primary breadwinner for the majority of households. The goal of this study was to determine how the perception of household chores is related to relationship quality. Specifically we wanted to determine how perception of household chores is related to relationship quality reported by partners from a traditional economic and a gender role theory perspective. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1986 cohort, results indicate that perceived unfairness in household division of chores was predictive of women’s relationship quality, but not men’s. Arguments about affection and money were predictive of relationship quality for both genders.     

Anhedonia: Gender and the Decline of Emotions in American Film, 1930–

An interpretive study of Hollywood films from 1930 to 1988 suggests a hypothesis about gender relations. Employing the mythopoetic conception of male-female relationships that is found in the legends of Ariadne and Theseus, the study proposes a diachronic unfolding of the dialectic of love and freedom. In the process, a disenchantment sets in revealing anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure. This dysdaemonic picture provides an illustration and commentary on American norms of achievement, marital fidelity, conjugal relations, and child rearing. The rise and fall of the Ariadneac mystique offers one way to read Hollywood films in terms of the sociology of the emotions. Future research is suggested to test the hypothesis and to explore the relationship between its thematic and socio-cultural life in America.     

The Role of the Family Context in the Development of Emotion Regulation

This article reviews current literature examining associations between components of the family context and children and adolescents' emotion regulation (ER). The review is organized around a tripartite model of familial influence. Firstly, it is posited that children learn about ER through observational learning, modeling and social referencing. Secondly, parenting practices specifically related to emotion and emotion management affect ER. Thirdly, ER is affected by the emotional climate of the family via parenting style, the attachment relationship, family expressiveness and the marital relationship. The review ends with discussions regarding the ways in which child characteristics such as negative emotionality and gender affect ER, how socialization practices change as children develop into adolescents, and how parent characteristics such as mental health affect the socialization of ER.     

Inter‐professional Learning to Prepare Medical and Social Work Students for Practice with Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Social workers and medical practitioners, particularly those in general practice, provide services for individuals who experience social exclusion. Access to medical, health and social care services has been identified as problematic for refugees and asylum seekers, reflecting their marginalised status within society. It is widely accepted that multi‐agency responses and working together are key requirements in improving access to services and promoting social inclusion; however, achieving this across professional and agency boundaries often remains challenging. Joint planning and training have been suggested as being important in improving communication, leading to more flexible and creative services.

This paper describes the genesis and implementation of a series of innovative inter‐professional workshops for medical and social work students, focussing specifically on marginalised groups. Learning and teaching input was developed by, and came from, service users and qualified medical, health and social work practitioners. The paper focuses particularly on the sessions relating to refugees and asylum seekers. The content and structure of the sessions are discussed and students' responses are reported. The implications for future inter‐professional learning and practice in relation to socially excluded groups are highlighted.     

Building Community Capacity to Advocate for Policy Change: An Outcome Evaluation of the Neighborhoods Working in Partnership Project in Detroit

This article presents results of the outcome evaluation of Neighborhoods Working in Partnership (NWP), a community-based participatory research project of the Detroit Community–Academic Urban Research Center, designed to enhance policy advocacy skills through training and support, thereby increasing community capacity, engagement, and empowerment of Detroit residents to change policies. Focus groups and conversational interviews were conducted with NWP participants. Results indicate that the workshop empowered participants and enhanced dimensions of community capacity. Participants reported engaging in policy advocacy activities and various policy successes. Participants identified challenges and facilitating factors to their policy campaigns. Recommendations for similar trainings are provided.