A family ecological analysis of child care use in Hong Kong

This study examines the views on and use of day care for young children among white‐collar working women from a family ecological perspective. Discrepancies between perceived ideal and actual choice of child care were observed. Care provided by family kin was an ideal used with reservation, the employment of foreign domestic helpers was a reluctant choice, while the use of formal care was largely unexplored. The findings of this study demonstrate how individual families' child‐rearing goals are supported and constrained by contextual factors within the ecology. Implications for policies on child care in Hong Kong are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Looking for Their Dick Vermeil: How Prior Performance Influences the Selection Decision

When replacing an executive, an organization is faced with the choice of either promoting someone internally or hiring an outsider. Prior research in the private sector supports the contention that poor performing organizations will be adaptive and seek an outsider in hopes of initiating change that will improve performance. Do public organizations behave similarly? We address this question in the context of public education and examine the superintendent hiring decisions in 491 school districts. We find that school boards make sophisticated assessments of the district’s performance and these assessments influence their selection decisions.     

Commitment to Work Among Welfare‐Reliant Women

The purpose of this article is to describe the work of welfare‐reliant women and to reveal commitment to work in the experiences of 84 welfare‐reliant, rural women interviewed for this study. Understanding the domains where welfare‐reliant women exhibit commitment to work may help policy makers, trainers, and employers design and implement interventions that enhance chances of success for these women in the formal, paid workforce. Discussion focuses on the women's formal labor force participation in the past and desire for wage work in the future; barriers to labor force participation, both personal and in the rural job market; informal work and the work of care; support networks; survival strategies for making ends meet while receiving welfare; and the stigma of welfare receipt.     

Coping with parental loss because of termination of parental rights

This article addresses the process by which children and adolescents cope with severe acute stress of parental loss from causes other than divorce or death. Participants were 60 children and adolescents from a residential treatment facility. Most had experienced neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, and their parents had their parential rights terminated. Measures of symptomatology indicated that children reported low levels of depressive symptoms, whereas caregivers reported the children were experiencing significant psychological problems. Children used avoidant coping strategies more often than emotion-focused coping strategies, which, in turn, were used more than problem-focused coping strategies. Results are discussed in terms of helping children cope with parental loss.     

COUNSELING BATTERED WOMEN FROM FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCHES*

In addition to the emotional, physical, and economic issues that all abused women face, battered women from fundamentalist churches have religious issues that need to be addressed. While therapists usually leave discussion of such matters to the clergy, in the case of domestic violence, the fundamentalist clergy is likely to be unsupportive or to even unknowingly endanger battered women because of their legalistic attitudes about marriage and sex roles. It is, thus, imperative that the professional counselor understand these issues and be willing to discuss them. This article explains five teachings of fundamentalist churches, explores how they help perpetuate violent relationships, and offers suggestions to therapists on how to speak with clients about these issues.     

State Policy Choices and Responsiveness of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program During the Great Recession

ABSTRACT

The Great Recession that officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009 was the most severe recession since the Depression of the 1930s. To accurately explain the number of families and children receiving cash assistance from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) during the 2007 recession, it is important to capture state-level variations in recessionary periods, economies, and TANF policies. This study breaks ground by using multiple regression to explain the number of families enrolled in the TANF program when the TANF caseload peaked in each of the 51 jurisdictions’ recessions as a function of their severe TANF policies while controlling for benefit levels, unemployment rates, and size of populations. Key findings strongly suggest that all else constant, TANF did not grow as much as it would have in the 2007 recession partially due to shorter lifetime limits (less than 60 months) or temporary time limits, multiple severe policies, or benefit cuts witnessed in some states. This study is important to policy makers and academics concerned with the effect of severe policies on the enrollment of needy families with children in the TANF program. The federal government should encourage states to relax some of their requirements during recessions. Future research should examine the consequences of severe TANF policies on the well-being of families with children during recessions.     

ENGAGING COMMUNITY IN A CYCLE OF PRAXIS

This study employed an action research model known as the community wellness cycle of praxis in research with culturally diverse community members from the St Albans region (Melbourne, Australia). The major aim of the study was to gain a theoretical and pragmatic understanding of well-being from a multicultural perspective. In order to meet this aim, a qualitative study was designed to find out (1) What are the community ideals; needs; and strengths of residents of St Albans, and (2) What actions can be undertaken to improve the well-being of the community? The research involved focus groups with a total of 29 Anglo, Maltese, Vietnamese and Italian community members. The first research question was addressed by asking community members systematically about positive and negative aspects of personal, relational and collective well-being. The second research question was addressed by asking community members to generate ideas on what could be done to improve well-being and by identifying issues of concern that emerged throughout the research. The issues identified by participants offer a rich picture of community ideals, strengths and needs, as well as possible actions that could improve personal, relational and collective wellness in St Albans.

Cette étude utilise un approche de recherche action connu sous le nom du cycle de bien-être de praxis de recherche avec des membres culturellement varies dans un banlieue de Melbourne (Australie). Le but principal de l’étude était de comprendre théoriquement et pragmatiquement bien-être dans d'une perspective multiculturelle. Dans ce perspective étude qualitative a été conçue pour identifier (1) ce que sont les opinions des groupes diverses; leurs besoins et leurs atouts, et (2) de quelles actions peuvent être entreprises affin d améliorer le bien-être de ces groupes? La recherche a utilisé 29 Anglo-Australiens, Maltais, Vietnamiens et Italiens. Les premières questions ce sont posées a propos des aspects positifs et négatifs de bien-être individuel et collectif. Ensuite des questions ont été demandé à propos des idées sur ce qui on pourrait être fait pour améliorer le bien-être et en identifiant leurs soucis. Les soucis identifiées par les participants offrent une image riche des images et des représentations leurs atouts leurs, aussi bien que les actions qui pourraient améliorer le bien-être individuel et collective.