The Malleability of Environmentalism

In this article, we predict and find that self-perceptions of environmentalism are changed by subtle manipulations of context and, in turn, affect environmental behavior. In Study 1, we found that people exhibit greater positive assessments of their environmental behaviors (1) in the context of denying harm to the environment than in the context of claiming to help the environment, and (2) in situations where behaviors are evaluated subjectively than in situations where behaviors are evaluated more objectively. In Study 2, we explored the relationship between self-perceptions of environmentalism and environmental behaviors. Our data suggest that environmentally friendly behaviors may be promoted by leading people to perceive themselves as good environmentalists.     

Cognitive Pretesting and the Developmental Validity of Child Self-Report Instruments: Theory and Applications

OBJECTIVE: In the context of the importance of valid self-report measures to research and evidence-based practice in social work, an argument-based approach to validity is presented and the concept of developmental validity introduced. Cognitive development theories are applied to the self-report process of children and cognitive pretesting is reviewed as a methodology to advance the validity of self-report instruments for children. An application of cognitive pretesting is presented in the development of the Elementary School Success Profile. METHOD: Two phases of cognitive pretesting were completed to gather data about how children read, interpret and answer self-report items. RESULTS: Cognitive pretesting procedures identified validity problems with numerous items leading to modifications. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive pretesting framed by an argument-based approach to validity holds significant potential to improve the developmental validity of child self-report instruments.     

Deciding to use the emergency room: a qualitative survey of older veterans

Increasing use in the past decade has created pressure for hospital emergency rooms (ERs). Healthcare provided through an ER is expensive and is not designed to meet the complex needs of an older, chronically-ill population. ER visits are presented as the outcome of a decision-making process. Thirty veterans who had visited the ER in the previous year were asked about their decisions to use the ER. Their responses reflected four distinct approaches to ER use, which are characterized by frequency (frequent/infrequent) and risk for social isolation (low/high). Appropriate interventions by social work personnel might reduce inappropriate use of the ER and enhance the care of this vulnerable population.     

University-community partnerships in gerontological social work: building consensus around student learning

This article will demonstrate how schools of social work can collaborate with community agencies to provide a comprehensive and enriching educational experience for both student interns and participating agencies. An innovative partnership of a state school of social work with community agencies leading to a cutting-edge geriatric field education program is described. Case examples are used to illustrate the benefits of these partnerships, as well as challenges partners overcame in forging and sustaining partnerships. Necessary components of partnership development are detailed.     

Hurricane Katrina's Impact on African Americans' and European Americans' Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic

The Protestant work ethic (PWE), the belief that hard work leads to success, is a quintessentially American belief. The present research addresses a critical gap in psychological research on PWE: can a single, large-scale sociopolitical event (government's response to Hurricane Katrina) produce changes in PWE? We review evidence showing that the salience of Katrina led to a reduction in African Americans' (not European Americans') endorsement of PWE and that this result appears explained by African Americans' greater belief in the government's inadequate response to Katrina victims, who were predominately African American. The implications of differential endorsement of PWE for future expectations of societal treatment, motivation to pursue important goals, and willingness to endorse structural corrections of inequality are discussed.     

Teacher‐Student Racial Congruence,Teacher Perceptions,and Test Performance*

Objective. This research explores the seldom‐addressed question of whether teacher‐student racial congruence conditions the impact of teacher perceptions on performance. Methods. Multipopulation LISREL models (utilizing data from the NELS) compare the effect of white teachers' perceptions on African‐American standardized test performance to the corresponding effect among white students. Parallel models compare the impact of African‐American teacher perceptions across races. Preliminary models gauge whether the match/mismatch of teacher's and student's race shapes teacher perceptions of African‐American and white students. Results. The impact of teachers' perceptions on test performance shows signs of being especially pronounced in the racially dissonant white teacher‐black student context—the very context where teacher perceptions seem especially likely to be unfavorable. Conclusions. This research provides new insight on the relevance of teacher perceptions to the black‐white performance gap. Racial congruence seems primarily consequential to African‐American test performance—shaping both teacher perceptions and (somewhat less so) the impact of such perceptions on performance.     

Ethnic and cultural differences in knowledge about HIV and AIDS: a study of 150 young women from Sweden, Chile and Ecuador

This article illustrates the differences in knowledge about HIV and AIDS and attitudes among 150 young women from three different countries (Sweden, Chile and Ecuador). In each country, 50 consecutive women, visiting a family planning clinic answered 23 structured questions. The questionnaire was translated into Spanish. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of age, education, ethnicity and religion on young women's knowledge of HIV and AIDS. This study shows that ethnicity is the most important independent variable influencing the level of knowledge (stepwise logistic regression). Also, in Chile and Ecuador, less than 10% of the women in the study required that their partner use a condom. In Sweden the use of condoms is often combined with another contraceptive, yet more than two thirds of the women in Sweden were unprotected from a sexually transmitted disease during coitus.     

The uncovered set in spatial voting games

In a majority rule voting game, the uncovered set is the set of alternatives each of which can defeat every other alternative in the space either directly or indirectly at one remove. Research has suggested that outcomes under most reasonable agenda processes (both sincere and sophisticated) will be confined to the uncovered set. Most research on the uncovered set has been done in the context of voting games with a finite number of alternatives and relatively little is known about the properties of the uncovered set in spatial voting games.We examine the geometry of the uncovered set in spatial voting games and the geometry of two important subsets of the uncovered set, the Banks set and the Schattschneider set. In particular, we find both general upper and lower limits on the size of the uncovered set, and we give the exact bounds of the uncovered set for situations with three voters. For situations with three voters, we show that the Banks set is identical to the uncovered set.     

National Support Income Scheme For Australia: An Economic and Statistical Study

This study attempts to demonstrate the financial viability and economic soundness of adopting a National Support Income Scheme for Australia. The concept, designed to create an environment in which jobs are available for all, relies on three basic propositions including a reduction in wages and other incomes in exchange for receipt of the support income. The demonstration, based on the latest published statistics, indicates that adopting this scheme for Australia can be financially and economically justified.     

A Non-punitive Paradigm of Probation Practice: Some Sobering Thoughts

Dr L. R. Singer, Assistant Chief Probation Officier, Merseyside Probation Service, Rainford Hall, Crank Road, Crank, St Helens, Merseyside WA11 7RP. Summary The Government White Paper Crime, Justice and Protecting thePublic proposes a radical change for probation practice. Henceforthprobation work will no longer be an alternative to punishmentbut an alternative form of punishment. This article challengesthe conceptual and practical appropriateness of applying thenotion of punishment to the probation context. Probation officers,it is argued, are concerned with establishing rules for probationersand not inflicting pain on them. An alternative non-punitiveparadigm of probation practice is described. The paradigm isbased on the joint supervisory aims of support and surveillancewhich are implemented through the methods of counselling, assisting,directing, and monitoring. To illustrate the paradigm, referenceis made to an alcohol education course developed for offendersin trouble through drink. The efficacy of the alcohol projectand the non-punitive paradigm is demonstrated by the resultsreported from a three year evaluation study covering 152 offenders.The article concludes with an affirmation of the disciplinedbut non-punitive character of current probation work and arguesthat, to successfully protect the public and reintegrate offendersinto the community, the probation officer's employment of establishedsocial work knowledge, skills, and values is a strength nota weakness.