Who Is Supporting Homeless Youth? Predictors of Support in Personal Networks

Homeless youth lack the traditional support networks of their housed peers, which increases their risk for poor health outcomes. Using a multilevel dyadic analytic approach, this study identified characteristics of social contacts, relationships, and social networks associated with the provision of tangible and emotional support to homeless youth (N = 419, M age = 20.09, SD = 2.80). Support providers were likely to be family members, sex partners, or non–street‐based contacts. The provision of support was also associated with contacts' employment and homelessness status, frequency of contact, shared risk behaviors, and the number of network members that were homeless and employed. The results provide insights into how homeless youth could be assisted to develop more supportive social networks.     

The effect of visualization method on the performance of simulated microsurgery tasks

The operating microscopes may be a significant cause of fatigue and discomfort in surgeons. The need for the microscope to be placed over the operating field forces surgeons to remain at the microscope's eyepieces at an uncomfortable posture for the entirety of the surgery. This study compared the effects on microsurgical task performance for four visualization methods: a monocular microscope, a binocular microscope, a three-dimensional (3D) flat-panel television display and a two-dimensional (2D) flat-panel television display. Eleven subjects each performed two microsurgical tasks and their performance was documented by video camera. The statistical analysis performed indicated utilization of the microscope as a visualization method increased subject performance. No significant difference in performance between the 2D and stereoscopic visualization methods.     

Applications and Implementation DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT FOR DECISION MAKING

A laboratory experiment examined the effects of applying decision support system (DSS) technology to decision making in ill-structured problem environments under varying information conditions. Marketing executives participated in the experiment which investigated the effects of DSS availability, DSS training, and data availability on dependent variables that included: (1) the number of alternatives considered by a subject during decision making, (2) the period of time spent by a subject to complete the decision-making process, (3) the subject's perceived confidence in the decisions he or she had made, (4) the amount of data considered by a subject's during decision making, (5) the individual subject's decision processing, and (6) the subject's performance overall. Our results indicate that all three factors significantly affect the number of alternatives considered by subjects during the decision-making process. We therefore suggest that DSS training be coordinated with decision training in order to realize the potential of DSSs as described in the DSS literature.     

‘We’re Civil Servants’: The Status of Trauma-Informed Care in the Community

ABSTRACT

Trauma-informed care (TIC) in social service organizations means that the organizations operate with the understanding that everyone involved has possibly experienced trauma in their lifetime. This qualitative study examined local service organizations’ usage of the 5 main principles of TIC: safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment, and choice (as developed by Fallot & Harris, 2006). Ten focus groups (n = 69) and 6 individual interviews (n = 6) with employees from administration through management were interviewed such that almost all facets of each agency were represented. The participants were asked about their agencies’ policies and practices for utilizing the 5 principles of TIC. The results suggest that the vast majority of organizations in this study implemented many of the principles of TIC with clients, though they had not labeled their practices as “trauma-informed.” However, although clients were receiving TIC, some of the principles were neglected as they pertain to staff, such as choice and empowerment. The findings of this study suggest that agencies are unaware of the relevance of TIC as it relates to staff. It is recommended that future research examine whether the use of TIC in agencies prevents “burnout,” high turnover rates, and vicarious traumatization of staff.     

Review essay: Slavery now: Unfree labour and modern capitalism

Capitalism and Unfree Labour: Anomaly or Necessity? Robert Miles. London and New York: Tavistock Publications. 1987. 250pp. £10.95 pbk.

The New Helots: Migrants in the International Division of Labour. Robin Cohen. Aldershot: Gower Publishing Co. 1987. 290pp. £8.95 pbk; £27.50 hbk.

Sugar and Modern Slavery: A Tale of Two Countries. Roger Plant. London: Zed Press, 1987. 177pp. £7.95 pbk; £24.95 hbk.

Slavery in the Twentieth Century. Roger Sawyer. London and New York: Routledge &; Kegan Paul. 1986. 274pp. £15.95 hbk.     

The marketing strategy worksheet—A practical planning tool

The Marketing Strategy Worksheet is a simple aid to strategic planners. It enables a coherent and integrated plan to be produced and communicated to others. It is a three-level flow chart comprising an analytical stage, formulation of some key primary decisions and subsequent settlement of strategic issues within the marketing mix. The analytical stage incorporates both external and internal analysis. The primary decisions concern company objectives, marketing objectives, demand management, target market and positioning. Using the conventional marketing mix format, decisions are made about product, promotion, distribution and price.     

Toward the Management of Heterosexual Jealousy*

The findings of a recent study of extradyadic involvements and sexual jealousy among college-age couples are reported. Evidence is brought to bear in support of the principle finding that several aspects of the jealousy experience (eliciting factors, manner of expression) can and do vary widely among individuals. Despite the apparent universality of the jealousy phenomenon, communication in couples is inhibited by the social disapproval associated with its occurrence, and consequently discrepancies such as those evidenced in this study may pass entirely unobserved. As a result, jealousy problems remain unresolved and may serve to trigger further dissension. In light of these findings, developing communication skills is identified as the appropriate treatment mode for sexual jealousy.     

When therapists do not want their clients to be homosexual: a response to Rosik's article

This commentary is a response to Rosik's "Motivational, Ethical, and Epistemological Foundations in the Treatment of Unwanted Homoerotic Attraction" (this issue). Such treatment raises complex questions that cannot be resolved by focusing on the therapist's conservative versus liberal values. Most such clients are deeply ambivalent about their homosexual attractions. The degree to which their homosexuality is "unwanted" is highly variable among them and sometimes within them over time. Clients who are exclusively homosexual are very unlikely to be able to change their sexual attractions, whereas some clients who are bisexual may be more able to "manage" their homoerotic attractions (acting only on their heterosexual feelings). Marriage and family therapists should be able to support a client along whatever sexual orientation path the client ultimately takes, and the client's sense of integrity and interpersonal relatedness are the most important goals of all.