Assessment of issues facing immigrant and refugee families

This article identifies the different problems immigrants and refugees face in the United States, especially socioeconomic and psychosocial concerns that often relate to the experience of migration. Traditional familial roles and responsibilities are frequently challenged, exacerbated by sociocultural differences and inadequate understandings between the new arrivals and the host country. Essential in assessments of immigrant and refugee families is evaluating resources for social, economic, and cultural integration; discriminating between realistic and unrealistic expectations; evaluating families' problem-solving abilities; exploring family functioning within the context of heritage; identifying the transferability of work skills; and gauging families' learning capabilities and motivation for adaptation.     

Ending the International-Domestic Dichotomy

This article calls for social work educators to abandon the conceptual separation of domestic and international content and move toward a curriculum with a truly global perspective. After reviewing the history and current state of the profession’s global-mindedness, the authors present three strategies for achieving a curriculum to meet students’ needs in the global environment of the millennium: the interim step of internationalizing the curriculum, then revising the profession’s value base, and adopting three unifying frameworks that offer channels for international dialogue and encourage a global outlook.     

Stimulus-Modeling (SM) Videotape for Marital Counseling: Method and Application*

The development of a classification system for analysis of specific verbal marital communications utilizing videotaped Stimulus-Modeling procedures is described. This instrument is applied to a study measuring the relative effects of modeling, modeling plus videotape feedback, and verbal counseling procedures on 30 couples seen in marital counseling. The Stimulus-Modeling (SM) tape portrays both functional and dysfunctional marital communicational patterns. Findings reveal that specific marital verbal behaviors can be operationalized and reliably measured. When these behaviors are depicted through modeling procedures and combined with videotape feedback, they are effective in changing specific problematic verbal behaviors. The results indicate the need to combine modern technology with modeling procedures in marital counseling.     

“Priestesses unto the Most High God”: Gender,Agency, and the Politics of LDS Women’s Temple Rites

This study builds upon previous research on religious women’s agency by drawing from in-depth interviews with active Latter-day Saint (LDS) women to examine the interconnections among LDS temple initiatory rituals, religious identity, and institutional patriarchy. Interviews reveal the ways in which the women in this study used ritual movements, vestments, and symbols to challenge Mormon patriarchy and reimagine themselves as “priestesses unto the Most High God.” The women forged oppositional identities not through resistance but through observance. Despite the construction of these alternative identities, their stories highlight the diverse mechanisms through which the LDS Church appropriates, manages, and suppresses women’s priestess beliefs and identities in ways that maintain the patriarchal organization of the Church. Mechanisms, including the pervasive culture of shaming, silencing, and disciplining LDS women, are explored and implications for the sociology of religion are discussed.     

Response to Mark Lusk

This empirical study examined the association between social work students' ratings of teaching ability and several course, student, and instructor variables. Over 5,000 standardized evaluation forms rating instructors' specific skills and overall effectiveness were collected between 1991-93 at a school of social work in a large urban university. The results showed strong positive relationships between ratings of teaching effectiveness and ratings of skills reflecting course organization, rapport with students, and fair grading. This study supports the legitimacy of student ratings in assessing faculty, and the authors discuss implications for faculty development of the strong relationship between effective teaching and organizational skills.     

The Play‐Learning Binary: U.S. Parents’ Perceptions on Preschool Play in a Neoliberal Age

Although many studies have examined parental decision‐making patterns in regard to early childhood care and education, few studies have examined how parents’ perceptions on play influence those patterns. This study explores parental perceptions regarding play in early education and the broader socioeconomic context within which these perceptions emerge. Twenty parents of preschool‐aged children completed questionnaires comprised of ratings and open‐ended questions. Findings indicate that the parents in this study defined play and learning in binary terms as opposed to mutually constitutive processes. Subsequently, while parents rated play as important, they also described it as peripheral to, and less important than, the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills. This study argues that this binary thinking is an outgrowth of neoliberalism and ultimately undermines child well‐being.     

End of double taxation: Is the policy better when announced?

This paper examines the effectiveness of the “end of double taxation” (on dividends) policy in stabilizing an economy. Both announced and unannounced policies are considered. A reduction in double taxation stimulates investment and improves welfare, but its impact on output is moderate and it has a negative effect on work hours. A temporary cut creates an investment boom but also generates an investment slump when the tax cut expires. Announcements of future tax cuts are found to have important effect on output dynamics. Agents respond to the tax policy even before it is implemented. If the tax cut is announced to be temporary, its impact on output is greatly reduced. Our study suggests that a temporary dividend tax cut is most effective in stabilizing a recession stricken economy when the policy change comes as “news” to the economy.     

The Foundations of Democracy: U.S. Foundation Support for Civil Society in South Africa, 1988–96

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper analyzes the grantmaking to South African civil society of six major U.S. foundations between 1988 and 1996. It...