TREATMENT OF MARITAL CONFLICT AND PREVENTION OF DIVORCE

This paper provides a review of previous literature reviews on the effectiveness of marital therapy and evaluates the long-term efficacy of couples therapy in preventing marital separation and divorce. There is general agreement that marital therapy can be effective in reducing marital conflict and promoting marital satisfaction, at least in the short term. Research examining the long-term efficacy of couples therapy for the prevention of marital separation and divorce is sparse but promising with respect to its effectiveness in promoting marital stability. Predictors of successful marital therapy outcomes, the clinical significance of marital therapy outcomes, and the cost effectiveness of marital therapy are also discussed.     

Civil Society Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in Guatemala

Drawing on a range of fieldwork interviews, this paper discusses the opposition of civil society to nonferrous metals mining in Guatemala. Guatemala’s mineral resources, and government efforts to encourage their extraction, are discussed, as is the emergent civil society of that nation. Guatemalan civil society has opposed mining due to the impacts of its environmental effects upon the poor engaged in subsistence agriculture. This opposition has involved protests, community consultations against mining, and networking with the forces of global civil society. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this opposition to mining is a manifestation of the opposition to neoliberalism currently underway in Latin America.

Interviewing Elderly Residents in Assisted Living

The interpretation of interview data requires an understanding of its context. In this study, the context was Assisted Living (AL). Twenty-one interviews were conducted with elderly residents of 4 Midwestern Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs). Institutional fear and loneliness associated with ALF living framed residents’ interpretation of and responses to the interview questions. Residents feared transfer to a nursing home, and they experienced the loneliness of being cut off from their homes and put into the care of busy staff members. Their framing of and responses to questions (both qualitative and quantitative) reflected this context, and included the invocation of impairments, the reluctance to criticize staff, and the refusal to complain about the ALF or their present situation.

Effects of a participatory ergonomics intervention computer workshop for university students: a pilot intervention to prevent disability in tomorrow's workers

A participatory approach was used to create a computer ergonomics workshop for college students, incorporating an instructional systems design process and adult learning inquiry perspectives. The primary objective of this participatory ergonomic pilot intervention was to involve students throughout the training design process in solving computer workstation ergonomic problems and adopting healthy computing behaviors. Students' level of participation included becoming part of the training design team, a co-facilitator, or a student trainee. A second objective was to examine the translation of an industrial office ergonomics training program into a college computer ergonomics training program. The long term goal was to reduce upper extremity symptoms and disability. The program was piloted at one private university. The three student trainees significantly increased their knowledge of computer ergonomics from 69% of test items answered correctly pre-training to 82% post-training. Trainees were also successful in conducting computer ergonomic evaluations of students' computing work areas. They achieved 100% accuracy in identifying ergonomic problems and proposing solutions in five ergonomic workstation assessments in the field. This approach was successful in creating a sense of ownership among the student developers and facilitators as reflected in their self-reports during a post-intervention debriefing. The results of this pilot study justify formal controlled trials of this intervention in university students, who will become tomorrow's workers.     

Social workers' conceptions of how the local living environment is related to social exclusion

The article is concerned with how community-based social workers conceptualize the relationship between the local living environment and social exclusion and inclusion processes. It provides a brief overview of general urban theory concerning the significance of the local living environment in a globalized world and looks at how social workers understand the mechanisms of spatial marginalization and urban segregation. In addition, the article examines social workers' views on sustainable living environments that support inclusion. It is argued that, through their daily work, social workers have a special yet restricted view on social exclusion and inclusion processes. Their knowledge could contribute to efforts to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of spatial marginalization because they work in a position from which they can see the consequences and interdependencies of multiple issues between structural changes and individual survival in the context of the local living environment.     

Lessons in Democracy: America's Tenuous History with Immigrants

Taking an uncompromising stance on immigration enforcement, the Trump administration has been sharply criticized for its policies and racially coded rhetoric of immigrants as criminals or undesirables. Despite this criticism, the administration's policies fall in line with historically widespread, exclusionary, nativist and xenophobic attitudes towards immigrants. Much of the American immigrant story has been a tortuous struggle for equality, integration and civil rights. This essay takes a critical look at the complicated history of immigration policy during the last century, focusing on the social, economic and political forces that helped shape legislation.     

Cognitive Deficits in Executive Functions and Decision-Making Impairments Cluster Gambling Disorder Sub-types

To identify Gambling Disorder (GD) subtypes, in a population of men seeking treatment for GD, according to specific executive function domains (i.e., cognitive flexibility, inhibition and working memory as well as decision making) which are usually impaired in addictive behaviors. A total of 145 males ranging from 18 to 65 years diagnosed with GD were included in this study. All participants completed: (a) a set of questionnaires to assess psychopathological symptoms, personality and impulsivity traits, and (b) a battery of neuropsychological measures to test different executive functioning domains. Two clusters were identified based on the individual performance on the neuropsychological assessment. Cluster 1 [n = 106; labeled as Low Impaired Executive Function (LIEF)] was composed by patients with poor results in the neuropsychological assessment; cluster 2 patients [n = 46; labeled as High Impaired Executive Function (HIEF)] presented significantly higher deficits on the assessed domains and performed worse than the ones of LIEF cluster. Regarding the characterization of these two clusters, patients in cluster 2 were significantly older, unemployed and registered higher mean age of GD onset than patients in cluster 1. Additionally, patients in cluster 2 also obtained higher psychopathological symptoms, impulsivity (in both positive and negative urgency as well as sensation seeking) and some specific personality traits (higher harm avoidance as well as lower self-directedness and cooperativeness) than patients in cluster 1. The results of this study describe two different GD subtypes based on different cognitive domains (i.e., executive function performance). These two GD subtypes display different impulsivity and personality traits as well as clinical symptoms. The results provide new insight into the etiology and characterization of GD and have the potential to help improving current treatments.     

“It was totally different than what we had before”: Perceptions of urban militarism under Rio de Janeiro’s Pacifying Policing Units

Scholars argue that military ideologies, discourses, and practices are increasingly deployed in poor urban areas to control populations deemed “dangerous.” However, very little research exists to document how residents in targeted neighborhoods experience these security interventions. This article addresses this gap by considering the case of Rio de Janeiro’s UPP Program, wherein the military police occupied several of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, or low-income marginalized neighborhoods. The intervention began in 2008 and aimed to expel drug traffickers who had controlled these areas since the 1970s and install permanent policing precincts. While many studies suggest that the urban poor tend to reject aggressive policing practices, the UPP received widespread approval by favela residents in the first years of the occupation. This article draws upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the City of God, one of the first neighborhoods occupied by the UPP, to examine the factors underlying residents’ positive assessment of the UPP. I found that support for the UPP hinged on (a) its deviation from the brutal and ineffective military interventions deployed in the past; (b) the UPP’s ability to subdue violent drug traffickers and restore public security; (c) state investments in social services and resources attributed to the occupation; and (d) the race, gender, and age profiles of participants, wherein women, the elderly, and lighter-skinned residents reported greater approval for the UPP than young Black men. Ultimately, these findings suggest that variability between security interventions, their impact on public security and social development, and demographic diversity within targeted neighborhoods must be considered if we are to fully understand how the urban poor experience militarized security interventions.     

Partners in the Spiritual Dance: Learning Clients’ Steps While Minding All Our Toes

We present four case illustrations highlighting the complex interplay of therapists’ and clients’ spirituality in therapy. Complexity, in these cases, results from (a) degrees of similarity and difference, both real and perceived, between clients’ and therapists’ spiritual beliefs and practices; (b) degrees of spiritual disclosure; (c) characteristics of the therapeutic relationship; and (d) geographic and cultural influences. Practicing therapists and therapist training programs can benefit from addressing how therapist and client spirituality intersect and influence therapy, how both similarity and difference present obstacles and opportunities, and how ambiguity and assumptions can contribute to misunderstandings. We believe that both the therapist’s and the client’s spiritualities are key influences in therapy that can contribute to the frustration, and the growth, of clients and therapists alike.