Into the Dark Heart of Ethnography: The Lived Ethics and Inequality of Intimate Field Relationships

In response to critiques from feminist, existential, and postmodern qualitative researchers, the idea of maintaining objective and distant relationships with research subjects gave way to the belief that researchers could and, in some cases, should become intimately connected to research participants. These traditions opened the door for contemporary field workers to unapologetically forge close relationships to setting members. Several ethical evaluations have emerged from this intimate literature warning researchers of the harm that can come when we “go to far” in the quest for intimate familiarity. In this paper, I reflect on some of the debates regarding intimacy and exploitation by examining my experiences of dating, marrying, and eventually divorcing my key informant. I trace the way that, despite my attempts to follow the existing ethical guides, I reinforced several larger inequalities in my intimate stance. Using my failure to avoid or mitigate harm, I argue that our discussions of intimate methods and immersion in the field have failed to accurately note how we reinforce or resist structure in our research endeavors. Viewing ourselves as “doing structure” in the field would lead us to stop debating whether intimacy is better than objectivity, celibacy is better than sex, disclosure is better than silence, or conventional behavior is better than deviance in the field. Instead, we should locate how our behaviors, research roles, or discursive choices enact structures and the effect this enactment has on the people who we research.

Unmet needs at the end of life: perceptions of hospice social workers

Among persons at the end of life, it is important to understand whether the needs of patients are being adequately addressed. In particular, in hospice settings where the emphasis is on comfort care and quality of life, we know little about the presence of unmet needs. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of hospice social workers in working with hospice patients who had unmet needs at the end of life. Surveys were mailed to hospice social workers (N = 212) in two Southeastern states with a response rate of 36%. Results revealed that hospice social workers perceived patients to experience a wide variety of unmet needs-more commonly at the time of admission than during subsequent patient interactions. The most common unmet need reported at both times was a decreased ability to participate in activities that make life enjoyable. In situations where unmet needs exist, social workers reported that the most common perceived reasons were patient- related psychosocial issues and family conflict/issues. Additionally, a variety of interventions were used to address unmet needs, but a large number of barriers appear to impact outcomes in the cases. Results suggest that hospice patients experience a number of unmet needs, many of which are potentially treatable problems and concerns. Hospice professionals must continue to seek ways to assess and intervene effectively with patients who have unmet needs.     

Indiscriminate,Irrelevant, and Sometimes Wrong: Causal Misconceptions about Climate Change

Prior research demonstrates widespread persistence of beliefs about climate change causes and risks that are arguably misconceptions. They include believing pollution causes climate change, believing ozone depletion causes climate change, the combination of these two “green beliefs,” referred to as environmental problems, and believing natural climate variation significantly contributes to current climate trends. Each of these causal beliefs has the potential to weaken or divert support away from effective climate change risk mitigation policies. To assess this potential, we explore the nature and prevalence of these beliefs in the United States with a national sample of interviews (N = 77) and two national surveys (N = 1,013, N = 1,820), and apply regression and mediation analyses to explore whether they explain any of the variation in individuals’ concern or support for policy to mitigate climate change. Adherence to these beliefs—which reflect a variety of misconceptions illustrated in the interviews—differs by political ideology but is common, with over a third of interviewees mentioning one or more. Controlling for general knowledge, political ideology, and other factors, misconceptions about environmental problems are still associated directly with support for climate change policies. On average adherence to the belief that environmental problems cause climate change is associated with a 25% higher probability of policy support. In contrast, believing natural climate variability is a major recent cause of climate change is associated with a 7% lower probability of supporting climate policy, even after controlling for political ideology and other knowledge about climate change.     

“We're in this together”: Attachment insecurities,dyadic coping strategies,and relationship satisfaction in couples involved in medically assisted reproduction

Attachment is an important predictor of relationship satisfaction and attachment insecurities are a risk factor for couples under stress. Drawing from the Vulnerability–Stress–Adaptation model, we investigated whether dyadic coping strategies (DCS) would explain the links between attachment insecurities and relationship satisfaction in 97 couples involved in medically assisted reproduction (MAR). Path analyses revealed that for women and men, attachment insecurities (anxiety, avoidance) were associated with their own lower relationship satisfaction through their lower use of positive DCS. Attachment avoidance was also associated with participants' own lower relationship satisfaction through their own lower use of negative DCS. Men's attachment avoidance was also related to their partner's lower relationship satisfaction via their own and their partner's lower use of positive DCS. The findings suggest that promoting the use of positive DCS may be important to preserve relationship satisfaction in couples involved in MAR.     

Environmental migration as short- or long-term differences from a trend: A case study of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita effects on out-migration in the Gulf of Mexico

An environmental event that damages housing and the built environment may result in either a short- or long-term out-migration response, depending on residents' recovery decisions and hazard tolerance. If residents move only in the immediate disaster aftermath, then out-migration will be elevated only in the short-term. However, if disasters increase residents' concerns about future risk, heighten vulnerability, or harm the local economy, then out-migration may be elevated for years after an event. The substantive aim of this research brief is to evaluate hypotheses about short- and long-term out-migration responses to the highly destructive 2005 hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico. The methodological aim is to demonstrate a difference-in-differences (DID) approach analysing time series data from Gulf Coast counties to compare short- and long-differences in out-migration probabilities in the treatment and control counties. We find a large short-term out-migration response and a smaller sustained increase for the disaster-affected coastal counties.     

Attachment insecurities and under-commitment in distressed couples: The role of positive and negative partner behaviors

Research has rarely considered intermediate variables in the association between attachment insecurities and relationship commitment. Based on attachment theory and Rusbult's Investment Model, we tested whether positive and negative partner behaviors explain this association in 91 distressed couples undergoing therapy. Path analyses based on the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model revealed that individuals with attachment avoidance reported perceiving fewer positive behaviors from their partner, which was associated with their own higher under-commitment. Partners of individuals with avoidance also reported perceiving fewer positive partner behaviors, which was in turn associated with their own higher under-commitment. Partners of individuals with attachment anxiety perceived more positive behaviors from their partner, which was associated to their own lower under-commitment. Perceived negative partner behaviors were only directly associated with higher under-commitment. These findings imply that perceived positive partner behaviors may be a key aspect to target in relationship therapy in couples who present with high attachment insecurities.