Embedding Social Justice within Micro Social Work Curricula

Social work struggles with the dichotomy between social and economic justice and micro practice. A large percentage of United States social workers (65%) practice in micro practice settings, yet the profession is challenged to commit to its social justice roots. This article reviews the history of social and economic justice within the social work profession, examines the role of distributive justice, and outlines strategies to integrate social and economic justice into micro social work courses. The article details implications for strengthening a social and economic justice perspective in micro curricula.     

The human experience in Antarctica: applications to life in space

The increasing prominence of polar, spaceflight, and subaquatic environments has renewed interest in understanding human performance under conditions of isolation and confinement. In 1987, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation co-sponsored a conference intended to revitalize behavioral research in such settings, and to explore the use of Antarctica as a behavioral laboratory for outer space. The present paper reviews recent research on men and women in isolation and confinement, with special reference to the proceedings of the NASA/NSF conference. The literature reviewed, which focuses on living systems and cuts across the individual, small group, organization, and community levels, suggests that researchers have become more systems-oriented, and have broadened their perspectives to encompass missions' larger temporal and social contexts. Among the topics reviewed are states of consciousness, stress, health, small group dynamics, personnel selection, crew training, and environmental engineering. Methodological and logistical problems are discussed, and the review concludes with recommendations for agencies that sponsor groups in isolation and confinement and for researchers who seek to study such groups.     

Strategic control at the CEO level

This study of 108 corporations is intended to identify and validate those strategic control factors that contribute directly to the success of strategic decisions made at the level of the CEO which are subsequently implemented throughout the organization. In direct response to a comprehensive questionaire, 61 CEOs rated nine strategic control factors. Only the ratings of CEOs were accepted and processed in this study. Their ratings revealed areas of obvious strength and correctable weakness in their perceptions of strategic control within their respective organizations. These ratings tended to validate a conceptual process model of strategic control.     

Toward Development of the End User Computing Construct in a University Setting*

The authors identify and define the end user computing (EUC) construct and operationalize the construct through development of a valid, reliable measure called the EUC activities scale. This scale is designed to distinguish specific, discrete computer activities performed on the job. The research analyzes the validity and reliability of the instrument based on data obtained from 776 university employees who participated in the initial, exploratory application. Exploratory factor analysis of the scale resulted in five factors. In order of increasing complexity of job-related computer activities, these factors are: beginning EUC activities, intermediate EUC activities, advanced EUC activities, EUC facilitation activities, and EUC infrastructure activities. The factor analysis, reliabilities, and known-groups analysis provide support for the construct validity of the instrument when used in a university setting. Suggestions are provided for further use of the scale in business environments to increase generalizability, refine the instrument, and help establish a coherent theoretical basis for further research in EUC.     

Using agency-wide dashboards for data monitoring and data mining: the Solano County Health and Social Services Department

The Director needed accessible data on critical program areas in order to monitor changes presenting potential negative impacts. The Research, Evaluation and Planning division spearheaded the Dashboard featuring the seven program areas (Employment & Eligibility, Child Welfare Services, Mental Health, Public Health, Older Disabled Adult Services, Substance Abuse, and the Special Investigations Bureau), and three administrative units. Deputy Directors specified several key areas that their divisions were mandated to report or viewed as important for monitoring. The Dashboard enables Directors to communicate internally and externally about program results, strengths and growth areas, as well as track progress in relationship to strategic plan initiatives and intervene in areas needing improvement. Executive team members identify critical areas for improvement and the Assistant Director for Research and Evaluation implements corrective action through the Quality Assurance Committee. Agency lessons relate to the importance of automation, data interpretation, and team members' understanding of the indicators, related practice strategies, and contextual factors.     

Modern Playhouses: an architectural history of Britain’s new theatres, 1945–1985

Susan Reynolds, Kingdoms and Communities in Western Europe 900–1300 (1984), viii + 387 (Clarendon Press, £28.00).

David Herlihy and Christiane Klapisch‐Zuber, Tuscans and their Families. A Study of the Florentine Catasto of 1427 (1985), xxiv+404 (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, £32.00).

Guido Ruggiero, The Boundaries of Eros. Sex Crime and Sexuality in Renaissance Venice (1985), viii+223 (Oxford University Press, New York and London, £25.00).

Mary Prior (ed.), Women in English Society 1500–1800 (1985), xvi + 294 (Methuen, £14.95, paperback £7#lb95).

Olivia Smith, The Politics of Language 1791–1819 (1984), xiii+269 (Clarendon Press, £25.00).

K. C. Phillips, Language and Class in Victorian England (1984), 190 (Basil Blackwell in association ‘with Andre Deutsch, £19.50).

Dorothy Thompson, The Chartists (1984), v+399 (Temple Smith, £19.50).

David J. V. Jones, The Last Rising. The Newport Insurrection of 1839 (1985), 273 (Clarendon Press, £12.50).

Ivor Wilks, South Wales and the Rising of 1839 (1984), 270 (Croom Helm, £18.95).

Rosalind O'Hanlon, Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and low caste protest in nineteenth‐century western India (1985), xiv+326 (Cambridge University Press, £30.00).

Hal S. Barron, Those Who Stayed Behind: Rural Society in Nineteenth‐Century New England (1984), xiv+184 (Cambridge University Press, £20.00).

Clair Goldberg Moses, French Feminism in the Nineteenth Century (1984), xiii+311 (Albany, State University of New York Press, $39.50).

Jane Rendall, The Origins of Modern Feminism: Women in Britain, France and the United States, 1780–1860 (1985), x+382 (Macmillan, £20.00, paperback £7.95).

Roger Penn, Skilled Workers in the Class Structure (1984), x+259 (Cambridge University Press, £25).

Royden Harrison and Jonathan Zeitlin (eds.), Divisions of Labour. Skilled Workers and Technological Change in Nineteenth‐Century Britain (1985), ix+254 (The Harvester Press, Brighton, £22.50).

Jane Lewis, Women in England 1870–1950: Sexual Divisions and Social Change (1984), xv+240 (Wheatsheaf, £16.95, paperback £5#lb95). Elizabeth Roberts, A Woman's Place. An Oral History of Working‐Class Women 1890–1940 (1984), vii + 246 (Basil Blackwell, £14#lb95).

John Scott and Catherine Griff, Directors of Industry: The British Corporate Network 1904–1976 (1984), 226 (Polity Press, £19#lb50).

R. P. T. Davenport‐Hines, Dudley Docker: The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior (1984), xii+295 (Cambridge University Press, £25.00).     

Suicides in an Australian inpatient environment.

Associated stressful life events both within and outside the hospital environment may contribute to the high-risk environment. The cohort studied here was hospitalized for a significant psychiatric problem, a factor which puts them in the high-risk category. When the severe psychiatric diagnosis is combined with a significant stressful life event, the risk of suicide is increased significantly.