Initial Validation of the Open Adoption Scale: Measuring the Influence of Adoption Myths on Attitudes Toward Open Adoption

All adoptions, including those facilitated by public agencies, should be evaluated for openness. Although there are no national figures related to openness in public welfare, there are indications that it is not considered in all cases. Adoption myths may be one of the reasons that adoption workers do not always assess a family's ability to maintain a more open adoption arrangement. The following study is the initial validation of a multidimensional psychometric instrument developed to measure myths as they relate to open adoption. Based on a sample of 547 university students, the results indicate very good reliability and acceptable factorial and construct validity. The instrument was designed as a training and research tool to inform child welfare personnel and policy makers of the influence of adoption-related myths on child welfare adoption practice.     

The Development of a Student-Run Ambulance

Abstract

Abortion decisions have a potentially meaningful effect on the lives of men. Previous research suggests that both men and women generally believe that men have the right to be involved in such decisions. However, very little research attention has been devoted to identifying individual difference correlates of discrepant levels of endorsement for male involvement in abortion decisions. The extent to which abortion attitudes (on a pro-choice to pro-life continuum), conceptualization of abortion as strictly a female issue, and interest in the issue operate as effective predictors of the appropriate level of male involvement in abortion decisions was examined in a sample of 1,387 college students. Results of a multiple regression analysis revealed that 44% of the variance in male involvement scores was explained by the predictor variables.     

Role of social welfare in European suicide prevention

Yur'yev A, Värnik A, Värnik P, Sisask M, Leppik L. Role of social welfare in European suicide prevention The aims of this study were to assess the relationship between suicide mortality and social expenditure in 26 European countries, explore attitudes towards welfare systems and their relationship with suicide mortality, and compare attitudes towards welfare provision in Eastern and Western Europe. The World Health Organization suicide data and Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development social expenditure data for 1980–2005 were used. Data on attitudes towards welfare systems were taken from the European Social Survey. Differences between mean scores for attitudes in Western and Eastern European countries were calculated. Correlations between social expenditure and suicide trends were negative in most countries for both genders. Inverse correlations between attitudes towards welfare provision and suicide mortality rates were demonstrated for males only. Differences in attitudes were found between Eastern and Western European countries; for example, confidence in the welfare system was found to be stronger in Western Europe. Higher social expenditure and greater confidence in welfare provision appear to have suicide‐preventive effects.     

Measuring Sexual Prejudice Against Gay Men and Lesbian Women: Development of the Sexual Prejudice Scale (SPS)

The presence of bias against gay men and lesbian women remains an ongoing issue, and accurate measurement is essential to targeted intervention. A validation study of a new instrument, the Sexual Prejudice Scale, is reported. Students (N = 851) from 4 different universities participated in this study. An exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted, and results of these analyses indicated a 3-factor solution (affective – valuation, stereotyping, and social equality beliefs) for each of the sex-specific scales. Evidence of validity and the results of the reliability analysis are reported. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Elder Abuse in Residential Settings in Israel—Myth or Reality?

ABSTRACT

The article tries to answer the question: Is elder abuse in residential care in Israel a myth or a reality? A broad definition of abuse was used, including the ‘classical’ forms presented in the literature, and also violation of rights and any act that infringes on quality of life of residents. As no data exist which directly explored this issue, the analysis was based on: recent laws mandating the report of abuse, governmental surveillance data, court cases, media clippings, and data from quality of life studies. Findings reveal that abuse in its ‘classical’ form exists only in a limited number of small private unlicensed facilities. However, when using the broader definition, abuse is a reality in many settings, exercised mainly by nurses' aides.     

Suspicious minds: local context and attitude variation across Swedish municipalities

Johansson Sevä I. Suspicious minds: local context and attitude variation across Swedish municipalities
Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 225–235 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article investigates whether degree of suspicion of welfare abuse relates to local context in Sweden. It is suggested that certain features of Swedish municipalities can create a local information bias influencing individual suspicion of welfare abuse. Prevalence of social problems and political climate are features of the municipal context having the potential to influence opinion formation. Social problems are captured by local unemployment, social assistance and ill‐health rates. Political climate is captured by electoral support for conservatives. The results indicate that local context can influence suspicion of welfare abuse, contexts where social problems are widespread reduce such suspicion. While local political climate seems important in itself, it also interacts with social problem level, increasing suspicion if a conservative political climate and social problems coexist. While social problems seem to generate less suspicion regarding social policy abuse, they also provide ‘raw material’ for political rhetoric regarding suspicion.     

Role of Negative Emotion in Communication about CO2 Risks

This article describes how the effectiveness of risk communication is determined by the interaction between emotional and informative elements. An experiment is described that examined the role of negative emotion in communication about CO₂ risks. This experiment was based on the elaboration likelihood model and the related heuristic systematic model of attitude formation. The results indicated that inducing fear of CO₂ risks leads to systematic processing of information about energy conservation as a risk-reducing strategy. In turn, this results in more favorable attitudes toward energy conservation if strong arguments are provided. Individual differences in concern seem to have similar effects.     

Perceptions of Achievement and Achieving Peers in U.S. and Chinese Kindergartners

Two studies were conducted to examine perceptions about achievement and achiev‐ing peers in 190 U.S. and Chinese kindergartners. Children provided free‐narrative responses to story beginnings about an achieving protagonist in school settings. We found marked cultural differences. For achievement, U.S. children perceived more intellectual development, positive affects of the protagonist, and adult praise, where Chinese children perceived more social respect and their ability to help others. For lack of achievement in non‐achieving peers, U.S. children identified more negative affects, and Chinese children anticipated more negative reactions from adults. Moreover, although children in both cultures used non‐ability factors to explain achievement, Chinese children did so more consistently. Most strikingly, whereas Chinese children often expressed peer respect and desire to emulate the achieving protagonist, U.S. children frequently attributed peer negative reactions toward him or her. We interpret these differences as reflecting U.S. and Chinese cultural values regarding learning, achievement, and related self‐other perceptions.     

The purchaser/provider separation in child and family social work: Implications for service delivery and for the role of the social worker

This paper discusses some of the findings from a research study that was carried out in 1995. The study aimed to examine the implications of the use of the purchaser/provider separation (and associated care management processes) in social work with children and families, focusing on the effects of separation on service delivery and on the role of the social worker. The research involved two stages: a telephone survey (to gather quantitative data about the prevalence of organizational separation in England and qualitative data about perceived advantages and disadvantages of separation) and a single exploratory case study in a Local Authority Social Services Department.
The paper is concerned primarily with the case study findings. It begins by locating organizational separation within a social policy context. This is followed by an overview of the existing literature on the implications of the purchaser/provider separation and care management for service delivery and for the social work role. The methods and key findings for the telephone survey and the case study are then described. Analysis of the case study data suggested that separation in this setting could be understood along three dimensions: efficient processing versus delays; control of the work and work processes versus lack of control; and clarity of role and task versus duplication. The paper ends with a discussion of the study's main conclusion – that the purchaser/provider separation in child and family work may introduce benefits of specialization whilst also bringing problems associated with fragmentation of the traditional social work role.     

Ideologised values for British accents1

We report quantitative results from a large online survey of 5010 U.K. informants' reactions to 34 different accents of English, based on simple accent labels. Patterns of accent evaluation, in terms of adjudged levels of prestige, social attractiveness and some other variables, in many regards confirm broad findings from earlier research. Accent‐types associated with ‘standard’ speech are, for example, strongly favoured in the prestige and attractiveness dimensions. Several urban U.K. vernaculars, but not all, are systematically downgraded. On the other hand, robust differences emerge which have not been strongly evidenced previously – particularly differences according to informant gender (with females regularly producing more favourable evaluations) and region (with informants often favouring their own and linked varieties). There are also some important effects by informant age, for example with younger informants attributing less prestige to ‘standard’ accents. We interpret the findings as indicating rather persistent U.K. language‐ideologies around accent difference that are being reconstituted only gradually and in specific regards.