The Good,the Bad and the Unhappy: The Cultural Meanings of Newspaper Reporting on Jackpot Winners

Accounts of jackpot winners and big gambling wins are common in Swedish newspapers. Analysis of over 2000 such newspaper articles reveals that their content is structured according to specific themes and cultural topics. Four such topics are identified: wealth as a test of morals and character, the social impact of wealth, the just and good world, and luck and the occult. Culturally structured narratives like these—which elaborate on mythological and moralistic schemes of good and evil, rewards and punishments, and which concern questions of human nature and social values—have a long history in folk tradition and in Christian moral teachings. Jackpot wins provide a discursive realm for moral and existential questions that, to some extent, fills a void left by the decline of traditional folklore and formal religion. Apparently, this discourse stimulates interest in games and constitutes one of the cultural roots of contemporary gambling.     

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice with Mentally Ill Persons who Abuse Alcohol and Other Drugs

Abstract

The current article outlines a comprehensive approach to evidence-based social work practice, and applies it to persons with severe and persistent mental illness who also abuse alcohol and other drugs. Representative empirical literature is summarized within a framework that delineates the three major functions of evidence-based social work practice: assessment, intervention and evaluation. Assessment protocol, which incorporates the use of valid scales to complement the qualitative interview, is based on domain-specific research that outlines relevant psychosocial risk factors, and highlights those that are amenable to change. Intervention strategies are derived from the growing body of controlled research findings, but flexibility in implementation is recommended to accommodate clients' individual needs and the vagaries of daily practice. Naturalistic evaluation methods are used to capitalize on the use of brief, valid process and outcome measures to augment individual qualitative evaluation and to aggregate data for program evaluation. The implications of this integrated evidence-based strategy for social work practice are discussed.     

Examining Outpatient Health Care Utilization Among Adults with Severe or Profound Intellectual Disabilities Living in an Urban Setting

Abstract

The present study examined the health status and outpatient health care utilization among 52 adults with severe or profound intellectual disabilities (IDs) living with their families or in group homes in New York City. Bivariate and regression analyses among demographic variables, medical conditions, health care utilization, and type of living situation were conducted. Findings indicate that demographic factors andhealth statuses were similar regardless of living situation, except for ageand the presence of Down Syndrome, that is, younger people and people with Down Syndrome were more likely to live with family than in group homes. The results indicated that regardless of where they lived, individuals had high rates (70%) of overweight/obesity. The mean number of internal medicine, specialty medicine, nursing, and total clinic visits were significantly higher for those living in group homes compared to those living with their families. The findings and their implications are discussed with respect to social work policy and practice.     

Who Is a Jew?

Abstract

When a social worker incurs professional obligations in two different actions, but cannot do both, this is termed “an ethical conflict concerning expectations in concurrently affected arenas” (Levy, 1976, p. 113). This article addresses an ethical dilemma that is centered in one of the most complex and controversial issues within Jewish life today: the question of “who is a Jew.” A case is presented which depicts the complexity of ethical conflicts which may arise from this unanswered question. The values at issue are explored and the process used to clarify, legitimate, and operationalize a plan of action is articulated. Ethical dilemmas invariably arise in social work practice. Resolutions that are clear, easily applied, internally consistent, and that consider the values of all concerned should help in reaching an ethical solution.     

Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act

Abstract

This study explored the perceptions of one state's policy stakeholders toward the implementation of the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act (PAIMI Act). This congressional act established state programs authorized to investigate abuse, neglect, and civil rights violations against individuals with mental illness in residential facilities. A qualitative case study approach was selected to study the perceptions of the impact of this law. Participants were chosen using a maximum variation sampling of four diverse stakeholder groups. In-depth interview responses were developed into a series of proposed assertions regarding the impact of the PAIMI Act.     

Predicting the Condom Assertiveness of Collegiate Females in the United States From the Expanded Health Belief Model

ABSTRACT. Collegiate females in the United States are susceptible to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to their propensity for sexual exploration, multiple sexual partnerships, and inconsistent safe-sex practices. Despite the potential for safe-sex communication to contribute to safer sex, little is known about the predictors of this form of sexual communication. Research on condom assertiveness—the unambiguous messaging that sex without a condom is unacceptable—is especially rare. This study employed the Expanded Health Belief Model (EHBM) in an attempt to understand why some collegiate females are more condom assertive than others. Compared with less condom-assertive females, more condom-assertive females have more faith in the effectiveness of condoms, believe more in their own condom communication skills, perceive that they are more susceptible to STIs, believe there are more relational benefits to being condom assertive, believe their peers are more condom assertive, and intend to be more condom assertive. Overall, EHBM variables accounted for nearly 70% of the variability in condom assertiveness. Several of these associations, however, were moderated by sexual compulsivity and general assertiveness. Implications of these findings for sexual health practitioners are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.     

Efficacy of Statistical Outlier Analysis for Monitoring Quality of Care

Researchers have proposed that hospitals with excessive statistically unexplained mortality rates are more likely to have quality-of-care problems. The U.S. Health Care Financing Administration currently uses this statistical “outlier” approach to screen for poor quality in hospitals. Little is known, however, about the validity of this technique, since direct measures of quality are difficult to obtain. We use Monte Carlo methods to evaluate the performance of the outlier technique as parameters of the true mortality process are varied. Results indicate that the screening ability of the technique may be very sensitive to how widespread quality-related mortality is among hospitals but insensitive to other factors generally thought to be important.     

Serials Clutter in Online Catalogs

Abstract

Finding and deciphering serials records in online catalogs is a challenge to many library users. To understand and analyze these challenges, the author conducted searches for scientific journal titles in the online catalogs of Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) libraries. The first part of the study measures the difficulty of retrieving serial records from online catalogs comparing one-word versus multiple-word titles. The second part analyzes displays for complexity by measuring the length of the complete record and the length of the holdings statements. These data show the complexity of displays and indicate the potential confusion that these displays may induce in library users.     

A latent variable model for analyzing mixed longitudinal (k,l)-inflated count and ordinal responses

A random effects model for analyzing mixed longitudinal count and ordinal data is presented where the count response is inflated in two points (k and l) and an (k,l)-Inflated Power series distribution is used as its distribution. A full likelihood-based approach is used to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of the model. For data with non-ignorable missing values models with probit model for missing mechanism are used.The dependence between longitudinal sequences of responses and inflation parameters are investigated using a random effects approach. Also, to investigate the correlation between mixed ordinal and count responses of each individuals at each time, a shared random effect is used. In order to assess the performance of the model, a simulation study is performed for a case that the count response has (k,l)-Inflated Binomial distribution. Performance comparisons of count-ordinal random effect model, Zero-Inflated ordinal random effects model and (k,l)-Inflated ordinal random effects model are also given. The model is applied to a real social data set from the first two waves of the national longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health (Add Health study). In this data set, the joint responses are the number of days in a month that each individual smoked as the count response and the general health condition of each individual as the ordinal response. For the count response there is incidence of excess values of 0 and 30.     

Wilderness adventure therapy effects on the mental health of youth participants

Adventure therapy offers a prevention, early intervention, and treatment modality for people with behavioural, psychological, and psychosocial issues. It can appeal to youth-at-risk who are often less responsive to traditional psychotherapeutic interventions. This study evaluated Wilderness Adventure Therapy (WAT) outcomes based on participants’ pre-program, post-program, and follow-up responses to self-report questionnaires. The sample consisted of 36 adolescent out-patients with mixed mental health issues who completed a 10-week, manualised WAT intervention. The overall short-term standardised mean effect size was small, positive, and statistically significant (0.26), with moderate, statistically significant improvements in psychological resilience and social self-esteem. Total short-term effects were within age-based adventure therapy meta-analytic benchmark 90% confidence intervals, except for the change in suicidality which was lower than the comparable benchmark. The short-term changes were retained at the three-month follow-up, except for family functioning (significant reduction) and suicidality (significant improvement). For participants in clinical ranges pre-program, there was a large, statistically significant reduction in depressive symptomology, and large to very large, statistically significant improvements in behavioural and emotional functioning. These changes were retained at the three-month follow-up. These findings indicate that WAT is as effective as traditional psychotherapy techniques for clinically symptomatic people. Future research utilising a comparison or wait-list control group, multiple sources of data, and a larger sample, could help to qualify and extend these findings.