From Mastery to Accountability: Cultural Humility as an Alternative to Cultural Competence

Cultural competency has been a long held ideal for social work educators and practitioners. However, definitions and approaches to cultural competency vary widely depending on worldview, discipline, and practice context. Within social work and beyond, cultural competency has been challenged for its failure to account for the structural forces that shape individuals' experiences and opportunities. In contrast, the concept ofcultural humility takes into account the fluidity of culture and challenges both individuals and institutions to address inequalities. This article takes a critical look at cultural competence as a concept, examining its explicit and implicit assumptions, and the impact these assumptions have on practitioners. It suggests that cultural humility may offer social work an alternative framework as it acknowledges power differentials between provider and client and challenges institutional-level barriers. The authors advocate a move from a focus on mastery in understanding ‘others’ to a framework that requires personal accountability in challenging institutional barriers that impact marginalized communities. Cultural humility, while a promising concept, has not been fully explored in social work. Therefore, the authors present a conceptual model of cultural competency along with strategic questions for providers and organizations to integrate into social work practice and education.     

Relational Ethics,Depressive Symptoms,and Relationship Satisfaction in Couples in Therapy

The purpose of this study was to examine depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction as problems related to relational ethics in one's family of origin and current partner relationships in a sample of 68 other‐sex couples seeking therapy at a large university clinic. We used the Actor Partner Interdependence Model to analyze dyadic data collected prior to beginning therapy. Specifically, we found significant actor effects between relational ethics in one's family of origin and depressive symptoms, as well as between depressive symptoms and low relationship satisfaction for both male and female partners. We also found significant partner effects for relational ethics in current partner relationship, depressive symptoms, and low relationship satisfaction. Clinical application of contextual therapy theory is discussed.     

The role of coping and problem drinking in men's abuse of female partners: test of a path model

This article examines the relationship of coping and problem drinking to men's abusive behavior towards female partners. While previous research has demonstrated a consistent association between problem drinking and male abuse of intimate partners, virtually no studies have assessed the role of coping in relation to men's violence. Furthermore, multivariate studies have not examined how these factors operate together to increase risk for abusive behavior. An ethnically diverse sample of 147 men in a court-mandated program for domestic violence offenders completed questionnaires at the first session. Path modeling was conducted to test the extent to which coping and problem drinking predicted both physical and psychological abuse. In addition, the relationships of problem drinking and physical abuse to injury of the men's female partners were examined. Results indicated that both the use of avoidance and problem-solving coping to deal with relationship problems were related indirectly to abusive behavior through problem drinking. Greater use of avoidance coping strategies was more likely among problem drinkers. By contrast, men who used higher levels of problem-solving coping were less likely to be problem drinkers. Avoidance, but not problem-solving coping also was directly and positively related to physical and psychological abuse. Men identified as problem drinkers were more likely to use both physical and psychological abuse. Finally, greater use of physical violence was strongly related to higher levels of injury among female partners, and served to mediate the relationship between problem drinking and injury. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to the identification of risk and protective factors for men's violent behavior toward intimate female partners and implications for developing intervention strategies.     

Benefits to Children Who Participate in Family Therapy with their Substance‐Using Mother

It is rare that family members other than the identified patient are followed over time in studies of therapy effectiveness. Family therapy is believed to be effective because it targets processes within the system that maintain symptoms. If these processes are changed, then all family members can benefit. Using a sample of 183 mother–child dyads from a study comparing family therapy for adult substance use versus an attention control, change in child's substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) was estimated. Children who participated in family therapy with their mothers showed greater decreases in alcohol and tobacco use and were less likely to begin using compared to children whose mothers participated in the attention control condition.     

Educational Differences in Adolescents' Sexual Health: A Pervasive Phenomenon in a National Dutch Sample

Educational level is strongly associated with age of first intercourse and risk of unintended pregnancies. This study examined these associations in a large representative sample of Dutch adolescents and also included associations of educational level with other sexual health aspects. Adolescents aged 12 to 25 (3,926 boys and 3,915 girls) completed an online questionnaire that included measures of romantic and sexual experience; the evaluation of their sexual debut; the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy; and sexual attitudes, satisfaction, self-efficacy, knowledge, victimization, and functioning. The results showed that adolescents on a vocational track or who completed fewer years of education were more at risk of several adverse sexual health outcomes than adolescents on an academic track. They had their first sexual experiences at an earlier age; evaluated these experiences less favorably; had less sexual health knowledge and fewer refusal skills; and had a higher risk of unintended pregnancy, STIs, and victimization. Possible explanations for these consistent differences are discussed. Sex education and services should pay specific and targeted attention to less educated young people and tailor their efforts specifically to the needs, characteristics, and realities of this group.     

Introduction

Qualitative Sociology -     

Automatically Detected Nonverbal Behavior Predicts Creativity in Collaborating Dyads

In the current study we administered a creative task in which two people collaboratively generated novel strategies to conserve resources. During this task, the nonverbal behavior of 104 participants in 52 pairs was tracked and recorded using the Kinect computer vision algorithm. We created a measure of synchrony by correlating movements between the two dyad members, and showed that synchrony occurred—that is, correlations decreased when we increased delay between the recorded movements of pair members. We also demonstrated a link between nonverbal synchrony and creativity, as operationalized by the number of new, valid ideas produced. Linear correlations demonstrated a significant relationship between synchrony and creativity. Finally, models using synchrony scores as input predicted whether dyads were high or low in creativity with a success rate as high as 86.7 % in the more exclusive subsets. We discuss implications for methodological approaches to measuring nonverbal behavior and synchrony, and suggest practical applications which can leverage the current findings.     

Longitudinal neural and behavioral trajectories of charity contributions across adolescence

This study examined the development of prosocial charity donations and neural activity in the ventral striatum when gaining rewards for self and for charity. Participants 10–22 years (95% European heritage) participated in three annual behavioral-fMRI waves (T1: n = 160, T2: n = 167, T3: n = 175). Behaviorally, donations to charity as measured with an economic Dictator Game increased with age. Perspective taking also increased with age. In contrast, self-gain and charity-gain enjoyment decreased with age. Ventral striatum activity was higher for rewards for self than for charity, but this difference decreased during adolescence. Latent growth curve models revealed that higher donations were associated with a smaller difference between ventral striatum activation for self and charity. These findings show longitudinal brain–donations associations in adolescence.     

Naturalization as a strategy for improving soil physical characteristics in a forested urban park

Ensuring good soil quality is essential to promoting plant growth in urban parks and building ecological resilience into a cityscape. Periodically used to restore a degraded urban ecosystem, parkland naturalization is a management approach designed to facilitate the return of an area to a natural state by largely discontinuing maintenance activities and restricting public access. This study investigates the potential for parkland naturalization to improve soil quality in a forested portion of Kew Gardens Park, Toronto, Canada by comparing soil physical properties in three six-year-old naturalization enclosures with those found in adjacent managed parkland. Soil texture, compaction, bulk density, and surface water infiltration rate were measured at 104 sample sites, while ordinary kriging was used to interpolate two-dimensional prediction surfaces representative of soil properties. Sand and loamy sand were the dominant soil texture classes found across the study site. Highly compacted soil (>2,000 kPa) and soil with a bulk density >1.8 Mg/m³ (values sufficiently elevated to restrict tree root growth and respiration and impair soil water infiltration) were spatially correlated with high pedestrian traffic areas and corridors used by festival and park maintenance vehicles. In contrast, compaction and bulk density measurements in the naturalized areas were at or below thresholds known to impair root function ([`(X)] {{overline{X}}} at 10 and 30 cm depth: 849 and 1,311 kPa, 1.15 and 1.51 Mg/m<sup>3</sup>, respectively). Similarly, water infiltration rates were rapid ( [`(X)] = 470mm/hr ) left( {{{overline{X}}} = {47}0{hbox{mm}}/{hbox{hr}}} right) within the naturalization enclosures but retarded to the point of surface pooling in parkland subjected to regular public use. In the absence of quantitative baseline data, our use of spatial analysis demonstrates that parkland naturalization is a good management practice for restoration of soil physical characteristics. While our results show improvements to soil properties in a relatively short period of time, variability in the soil response rate to parkland naturalization will be dependent upon disturbance history as well as on soil and climate type.     

Giving to Friends,Classmates, and Strangers in Adolescence

This study examined how perspective taking and sensitivity to social rewards predict giving to friends, classmates, and strangers in adolescence. Five hundred and twenty adolescents aged 12–17 years completed questionnaires on perspective taking and social rewards and played three Dictator Games in which they divided coins between themselves and a friend, classmate, and stranger. We found that, irrespective of age, adolescents donated most to a friend, less to their classmate, and least to a stranger, and females donated more than males. Individual differences in perspective taking and social reward sensitivity moderated how much adolescents donated, especially to strangers. These findings suggest that perspective taking and sensitivity to social rewards influence giving behavior in adolescence, especially to unknown others.