SPIRITUAL CAPITAL AND THE “GOOD LIFE”

Recent research indicates that reward level is a better predictor of marital adjustment for urban than for rural women, while some specific reward areas are better predictors for urban men. Based upon questionnaire responses from 209 young, married subjects, the present study continues this line of inquiry by examining the impact of a variety of variables, in addition to reward levels, on adjustment. Findings indicate that more factors are significantly related to adjustment for urban than for rural subjects and that they are better predictors for the urban group. Rural/urban differences exist in the relative importance of the variables in predicting adjustment, with fairness issues being more important for rural respondents. The model explains 31.8% more of the variance in adjustment for urban than for rural subjects (75.1% vs. 43.3%). Results suggest that different social psychological process may be operating in the two groups. Implications for family scholars are discussed.     

CRACKED BABIES AND THE PARTIAL BIRTH OF A NATION: MILLENNIALISM AND FETAL CITIZENSHIP

This essay explores whether fetal protection cases concerning ‘partial birth’ and ‘crack babies’ reflect an undercurrent of millennialism that characterizes anti-abortion violence. Because the dichotomized millennialist worldview of pure and impure domains easily corroborates racialist ideas that there are pure and impure races, discussions of fetal protection may also accommodate race-specific assumptions or implications. Fetuses involved in ‘partial birth’ abortions are routinely portrayed as purely innocent, whole, and intact babies worthy of the privileges of citizenship that will save them from death. But ‘crack babies’, who are explicitly presumed to be black, are routinely portrayed as impure, tainted, and polluted babies who are a liability to society and from whom the tax-paying citizenry should be saved. Viewed comparatively, these legal disputes may be seen as unwittingly reinscribing the racialist tenets of far-right groups that consider abortion to be the apocalyptic end times of white America.     

Object relations theory: Cultural and social implications for psychotherapy with individuals who are deaf

The case of Rita highlights the importance of integrating a multicultural perspective with psychodynamic theory for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Social constructivist theory suggests that the meaning and stigma of deafness influences the parent‐child relationship as well as the numerous socialization experiences that an individual encounters. As this paper shows, the Deaf community, with its unique linguistic, cultural, and social processes, played an integral role in developing whole object relations for Rita. This case exemplifies the importance of integrating psychological, sociocultural, and linguistic components, which are essential to the development of those who are deaf.     

Identity Development in Emancipated Young Adults Following Foster Care

This qualitative study explored the experiences of 12 youth who were emancipated from state‐sponsored foster care at age 18 and attempted to establish themselves independently. The findings were analyzed through the lens of two developmental theories: separation/individuation and relational/cultural. Interview data revealed that the often‐difficult experiences of emancipating from foster care influenced an evolving sense of self. Participants identified strongly with self‐sufficiency and help‐avoidance and reported an inaccessibility of peer support. Although much of the current literature focuses on critiques of public foster care programs, this study provides insights into how youth have been personally affected by emancipation. It also contains implications for social work practice with emancipated and soon to be emancipating youth.     

The Price Effects of Family Caps on Fertility Decisions of Poor Women

ABSTRACT

Family Caps have been a popular welfare reform policy designed to discourage women on welfare from bearing additional children. It has been thought that the principal mechanism through which a Cap achieves its objective of lower birth rates is the financial pressure placed on women by the denial of cash benefits. Our study uses instrumental variables Probit modeling to directly measure the contribution that price makes to Cap impact on births. We reexamine data from the New Jersey Family Development Program (n = 8,393) experiment and find that only a very small percentage (about 2.5%) of the overall Family Cap effect reported in earlier studies can be attributed to price. Moreover, the price effect holds only for short-term Black welfare recipients. We speculate that much of the unexplained Family Cap treatment effect stems from a message of social pressure and disapproval toward welfare receipt and childbearing on welfare. We offer a possible direction for future research which would directly measure the social disapproval component.     

Parenting stress among US Army spouses during combat‐related deployments: the role of sense of coherence

The present study seeks to model the effects of parenting stress on contentment experienced by spouses of soldiers deployed to Iraq for long periods of time (n= 200). Using the ABC‐X model from family stress and resiliency theory, a path analysis determined that, in addition to parenting stress, the length of deployment and the ethnic background of the Army spouse also acted as contributing stress factors influencing not only contentment, but perception of family coping and the sense of coherence experienced by the spouse during long‐term deployments (mean = 4.6 months). The mean age of children in the home was found to have significant effect on sense of coherence in this particular sample of women. The influence of the stressors in the statistical model on life contentment was mostly ameliorated by sense of coherence (i.e. perception of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in daily life). In other words, spouses with higher sense of coherence experienced better contentment with their lives during deployments. The study also captures qualitative responses and provides several themes associated with daily experiences of Army spouses. Implications for both military and civilian social workers are discussed.     

OCLC's Role in the CONSER Project

The implementation of OCLC's claims component represents a significant investment in time and money in order to obtain automatic claims or identification of needed issues for perhaps three-quarters of the serial collection. At this early stage, a lack of experience and sureness in applying the component's capabilities to the vagaries of serial publications demands a certain fortitude. A number of concerns appear valid and cast a shadow on the hoped-for results. Implementation further means the establishment of a program for updating vital parts of the component. The training of a specialized team schooled in the nuances of publication schedules and in the synthesis of related library records, and capable of making possibly costly judgments forms the component's foundation. This followed by the training of check-in and related support staff will drive the component and determine its eventual success.     

Union List Management: The Initial Project and Afterwards

Abstract

Two additional libraries have now joined the West Texas Union List. One is a city-supported; the other, state-supported. These two libraries have also joined the Texas Statewide Union List of Serials. Fees for the West Texas Union List are invoiced to each member directly. So far fees for the Texas Statewide Union List have been absorbed by grants awarded the Texas State Library. At this time, the statewide list will be funded with grants for two more years.

Member libraries update information in different workflows and on different schedules. Union list coordinators learn that members will update the information in their union lists; when, will vary from library to library and from list to list. Agents and coordinators must be aware of the attitude each member library has towards the list. If the list is available on OCLC, some members may only update holdings when they replace the individual institutional list used in their library. If the list is stored on computer tape, some members may have been interested in it only because it could assist them in future serial automation projects and may not have given much thought to the importance of the list as an ongoing venture.

There may be a problem if the library staff responsible for updating the list was never really involved in the decision to join a union list and is not committed to the list beyond the initial project phase. In some cases the members have every intention of keeping the information current but are not good managers or communicators. The agent should ask what is being done and advise members on getting started, and might even offer to visit the library to assist in setting up the proper workflow.

Working with libraries involved in union list activities is a challenge. As with all management tasks, communication is the key to success. When users or members discover a problem, the group must solve it quickly or the list will lose its credibility. Each list must face the possibility that members may not want to retain membership. Some members may not want the list to grow in size, while others do. Interpreting standards and choosing bibliographic and holdings formats are potentially controversial issues.

If the members agree that the list is needed and if the list is important to them from the beginning, then they will be more flexible and understanding of the problems in each library, and more likely to contribute to keeping the list current. As the members learn to work together, their union list product becomes a major goal or interest. The list becomes a product that represents the work and cooperation of the group as a whole.