Grief support groups used by few--are bereavement needs being met?

Few adult bereaved attend closed grief support groups, yet many of those who do attend say they are extremely helpful. This research explores factors influencing support group attendance, and the extent to which bereavement support needs are being met. Focus group discussions reveal that a broad scope of sources of support is available to the bereaved. Results show what is seen as unhelpful to them, and what might be more helpful to them. The study indicates many adult bereaved suffer from an overall lack of support and would benefit from more caring overtures from those around them. Findings from this small frontline hospice bereavement study point toward ideas for adjustments in support groups and innovative bereavement education and programming.     

Globalization,Technology and Female Empowerment: Breaking Rights or Connecting Opportunities?

What are the main impacts of globalization and new information and communication technologies (ICTs) on female empowerment? The first part of this paper surveys two main disputing arguments concerning this issue through a review of the literature investigating the causal mechanisms that links both dimensions. One stream of academia highlights the negative impacts of globalization. It argues how market liberalization resulted in the weakening of welfare policies and the flexibilization of labor rights. Another stream of literature emphasizes the role played by international organizations, like the World Bank, as well as civil society movements, and highlights how globalization made it possible for women conquer an important place in their societies. This paper attempts to add to these analyses the assumption that ICTs provided differential opportunities to women. The second part of the paper verifies which arguments are most consistent with empirical data. In a panel analysis from 2000 to 2014 we focus on how globalization may have affected female economic empowerment (measured as women’s participation in the work force) and political representation (measured as women participation on the labor force and participation in national parliaments). We find evidence that access to ICTs may represent a crucial variable to enhance women’s empowerment.     

Who is right about the modern economy: Polanyi,Zelizer, or both?

Zelizer’s work may be read as an attack on the central Polanyian thesis: that the market system threatens social life by the undue prominence it lends the economy in the organization of modern society. The recent publication of Viviana Zelizer’s The Purchase of Intimacy (2005a) is therefore an excellent opportunity to review the general trend of her work Zelizer 1979, 1985, 1994, and contrast her leading ideas to the central thesis that gives Polanyi’s work its particular flavor: the danger encapsulated in the use of modern money and the functioning of the market system. A draft of this essay was presented in March 2007 at a workshop held at the University of London, and a preliminary French version has appeared in a special issue of the Revue du Mauss devoted to Polanyi’s thought (Vol. 29, June 2007). The present version is directed to Zelizer’s views on the relation between market and society. I thank Franck Cochoy, Keith Hart, José Ossandon, and Viviana Zelizer for their helpful comments and advices.

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Implementation of the Family Violence Option 20 Years Later: A Review of State Welfare Rules for Domestic Violence Survivors

The Family Violence Option (FVO) was included in the 1996 welfare reform legislation to ensure that domestic violence survivors are not subject to unfair penalties resulting from compliance with the new requirements. This study presents a comprehensive review of the states’ different approaches to address domestic violence. Our findings identified variation in implementation and practice, from the decision to adopt the FVO to the process of granting waivers. Although not contradictory to the federal legislation, the variation is indicative of the limited research on best practices and lack of national discussions on how state FVO processes relate to one another.     

Effective services for improving education and employment outcomes for children and alumni of foster care service: correlates and educational and employment outcomes

Outcomes for youth from foster care have been found to be poor. The education and employment outcomes of youth and alumni of foster care served by transition programmes located in five major US cities were examined. Data were collected by case managers and reported to evaluators quarterly on 1058 youth from foster care for over 2 years. Job preparation, transportation, child care, education support services and life skills were the most common services provided to youth. During the 2‐year study period, 35% of participants obtained employment, 23% obtained a General Education Development or diploma, and 17% enrolled in post‐secondary education. It was found that the longer the youth were enrolled, the more education and employment outcomes they achieved. Further, job preparation and income support services were associated significantly with achieving any positive education or employment outcome. Results indicated that certain services provided over an extended period of time can improve outcomes for youth placed in foster care. For youth to achieve positive outcomes as they transition to adulthood, additional services are necessary. Other implications are discussed.     

Building Capacity for Local Governance: An Application of Interactional Theory to Developing a Community of Interest*

Abstract The Emory‐Obed Watershed in Tennessee, like many other rural areas throughout the United States, is experiencing changes in economic activities and social values associated with natural resources. Informed by the interactional approach to community development, this effort strove to build community capacity so community members could more fully govern their life according to their values and interests. We utilized key informant and focus group interviews to gain information about the watershed and to obtain different perspectives on resource‐related issues. Data from key informant interviews led to the selection of a geographic community in which a community of interest was nurtured throughout a year involving monthly meetings, a community assessment and submission of a development grant application. It was found that gaining entry into the community and building trust among participants, and between participants and researchers, were critical in this in‐place participatory community research. Lessons drawn from this experience applicable to similar efforts are discussed.