Childhood maltreatment and motivation for treatment in girls in compulsory residential care

The first objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment, trauma-related symptoms and motivation for treatment in girls in compulsory residential treatment facilities. The second objective was to examine the extent to which various forms of childhood maltreatment, trauma-related symptoms and motivation for treatment predicted (time to) dropout from these facilities. Participants were 154 adolescent girls recruited from three residential treatment settings in The Netherlands. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age and ethnicity were associated with motivation for treatment. Furthermore, emotional abuse contributed to motivation for treatment. In addition, internalizing symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression) significantly predicted level of distress; symptoms of dissociation predicted doubt about treatment. Logistic regression analyses with multiple imputation and competing risk regression analyses revealed no significant predictors for (time to) dropout. The findings suggest that clinicians and therapists should focus on experiences of emotional abuse, traumatic symptoms and treatment motivation in girls in compulsory residential care settings.     

An Exploration of Adjustment Needs and Efforts of Persons with Dementia After Relocation to a Residential Care Facility

This study examined the adjustment needs and efforts of individuals with dementia after relocation to a residential care facility. This was a qualitative prospective study that involved in-depth face-to-face interviews with 16 individuals with dementia and their family caregivers at 2 and 6 months post-relocation. In their efforts to recreate a sense of home, individuals with dementia had to meet three major highly interrelated and overlapping categories of needs to settle in, fit in, and find meaning in this transition. The satisfactory fulfillment of these adjustment needs resulted in a sense of comfort, connection, and continuity associated with feeling at home. Participants’ efforts to place themselves in their new living environments created a simultaneous need to integrate relocation into their overall sense of self. The results support earlier research indicating that place making is a critical process in the overall psychosocial adjustment to old age. The findings inform supportive interventions to assist individuals with dementia to reconstruct home in a residential care environment.     

Housing Canada's Oldest-Old: Correlates of Their Residential Status

ABSTRACT

The authors examined determinants that contribute to keeping Canada's oldest-old (those 85 years and older) living in their own homes by focusing on determinants associated with living in certain types of homes. Multivariate logistic regression was done on a sample of 722 community dwellers aged 85 years and older from the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey. It was found that gender, marital status, and financial status determine residential status of the oldest-old and that high and low levels of mobility and instrumental activities of daily living foster community living. Previous findings suggest a trajectory of social exclusion (from house to apartment to facility). The current study shows the oldest old as socially stable, living in their homes. New policies to support their residential status and modifications to old policies are critical.     

Middle-Aged and Elderly Finnish Households Considering Moving,Their Preferences,and Potential Downsizing Amidst Changing Life Course and Housing Career

We examine the moving and housing preferences of middle-aged and older in Finland, a country where population composition and movement through the life course are changing. A logistic regression reveals that middle-aged, moderate income residents, renters, those who have lived in their houses only a short time, and residents who are generally dissatisfied are most likely to consider moving. Downsizing appeals to residents with lower incomes who live alone, and who have been in their current houses longer. All potential movers agree on the importance of transportation access and a neighborhood grocery store; however, those preferring to downsize are also interested in house and neighborhood design as well as services that will allow aging in place. Income limitations may create affordability problems for some potential movers.     

Chapter 3 Decision-Making and Satisfaction with a Continuing Care Retirement Community

Abstract

We draw on both life course and decision-making theories to examine decision strategies prior to moving to a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) and subsequent satisfaction following the move. Multivariate analyses drawing on panel data for a sample of 92 older adults (age 64 to 94) before and after their move to a CCRC show that frequent residential relocation in the adult years reduces the odds of considering staying in one's own home. Cognitive orientations at time 1 predict subsequent satisfaction with the move to a CCRC: mastery increases the odds, desiring age-integrated housing reduces the odds.     

Parenting Plans for Infants,Toddlers, and Preschoolers: Research and Issues

In the debate over parenting plans for infants and toddlers, a central question is whether these very young children should spend overnight time away from their mothers in their fathers’ care. This article summarizes and critiques the 11 empirical studies that have addressed this question. Overall, overnighting was not associated with negative outcomes for infants and toddlers and was associated with positive outcomes for preschoolers.     

The measurement of occupational segregation and its component dimensions

The paper reviews different approaches to, and current knowledge of the measurement of occupational segregation, using the case of gender segregation. It shows that most popular segregation ‘indices’ are actually statistics of association in a 2x2 table, often with distorting weightings. The dimensions of segregation comprise a vertical dimension measuring inequality and an orthogonal horizontal one measuring difference without inequality. Together, the dimensions make up segregation as generally understood; so segregation and its dimensions require consistent measurements. Conditions for suitable measures are considered, and the limitations of the various measures noted. The alternative conception of segregation, where all occupations are treated as though they were the same size, is shown to be seriously flawed. The most useful measures are selected and shown to be related as Lorenz curves. Since all segregation measures vary with the number of occupations considered, standardisation on 200 occupations is introduced for the chosen measures.     

Neighborhood Experiences and Community Integration

Abstract

This exploratory study examines the social interactional aspect of community integration among persons with psychiatric disabilities. Six focus groups were conducted with 18 mental health consumers in three publicly sponsored community residential programs and 11 staff members providing services to these consumers. Mental health consumers reported both positive and negative experiences in their interactions with community residents. Despite perceived differences between persons with psychiatric disabilities and their neighbors, consumers considered reciprocity and mutual accommodation to be critical for building social relationships in their communities. Mental health providers suggested that social integration can be facilitated by developing independent living and social skills, by overcoming self-stigma and institutional and homeless mindsets, and by having a supportive community of consumers.     

Understanding the magnitude and extent of crime in post-apartheid South Africa

The crime of apartheid (1951–1994) was predicated upon the spatial segregation of the country's diverse population according to certain state-defined racial groups. This socio-spatial redesign not only racialised South African cities but led to the concentrated disadvantage of the majority black population in certain segregated geographical areas. Despite democracy, apartheid's urban spatiality has not automatically dissolved but rather continues to shape and define the urban landscape. This article argues that these macro-social patterns of racial and spatial inequalities, borne out of repressively enforced apartheid-era segregationist policies, can be used to explain the magnitude and extent of crime in post-apartheid South Africa. Policing and developmental policy implications of this argument are outlined and discussed, and strategic recommendations are made for the future.     

Gatekeepers,Gatecrashers, and Gateways in Group Work with Kids: A Mystery Story

This article is framed as a group work mystery story and presents obstacles and opportunities for working with children and adolescents in groups. The reader is left guessing about how a student intern can overcome what she experiences as an unsympathetic supervisor who is thwarting her attempts to form an activity group composed of teenaged moms. The article interweaves group work concepts and additional practice illustrations around the unfolding mystery. The concept of teaching-on-the-go is issued as challenge for all group workers that wish to be itinerant educators and missionaries for the method.