Visual evaluation using microcomputer-based imaging technology

Microcomputer-based imaging technology reestablishes the direct link between evaluation and environmental design by allowing evaluators and urban designers to visually explore and prospectively evaluate alternative simulations of design proposals. This article describes the microcomputer hardware and software used to create simulations and how these simulations are being used in planning education at the author's university. Imaging technology is presented as a useful and promising addition to the existing repertory of evaluation techniques.     

Older Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Adults: Tools for Age-Competent and Gay Affirmative Practice

This article presents a demographic snapshot of older GLB adults, discusses the barriers to service provision, and melds aging competencies with that of affirmative practice with GLB individuals. Its goals are to delineate the specific knowledge, attitudes, and skills recommended for age-competent and gay affirmative practice with an aging GLB population.     

Support for Waste Facility Siting: Differences between Community Leaders and Residents

Abstract Decisions regarding hazardous waste facility siting are now open to extensive public debate. Efforts on the part of public officials and private companies to site waste management facilities have been thwarted by public opposition. Using survey data from leaders and residents in communities which are hosting or siting facilities, this study examines their sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, levels of trust, perceptions of risk, perceptions of economic impacts, perceptions of equity issues and the differential effects of these factors on acceptance of local waste facility siting. Leaders in these communities were more supportive of local waste facility siting than were other community residents. The major determinant of leaders' acceptance of waste siting was their perceptions of the economic benefits of a facility to the community. Although this was also important to residents, perceptions of health, safety, and environmental contamination risks had larger effects on their acceptance of such facilities.     

Identifying and measuring unintended outcomes

Unintended outcomes of governmental actions have received little attention from evaluators. The argument made here is that outcome evaluations should routinely include efforts to identify and measure unintended outcomes. A systems perspective is presented which treats governmental actions as disequilibrating intrusions into reacting systems that produce an array of outcomes, only some of which are intended. Intended and unintended outcomes can be valued monetarily, in terms of human rights, or both; specifically, outcomes having monetary value alter both the level and distribution of income while outcomes with rights value alter the level and distribution of rights. More needs to be done on unintended outcomes. The systems approach offered here requires further elaboration. Design modification that increase the chances of identifying and measuring unanticipated outcomes are needed, especially for designs based on non-equivalent groups and time-series data. Instrumentation is needed for designs based on non-equivalent groups and time-series data. Instrumentation is needed that will more accurately and sensitively register unanticipated outcomes. In the meantime, evaluators should pay more attention to theoretical predictions, the experiences of those involved with programs similar to the ones being evaluated, intercultural differences, and to unintended outcomes that originate within government itself.     

Does job resource loss reduce burnout and job exit for professionally trained social workers in child welfare?

This study contributes to the literature on burnout and turnover in child welfare by examining the applicability of conservation of resources theory (COR). This theory argues that a loss of resources leads to the stress underlying burnout. This article examines the loss of two resources in particular: (a) the loss of a member of the entering cohort of workers and (b) change in the coethnic population of the community in which the social worker practices. In this sample of 1001 specially trained social workers, 44.3% reported high levels of emotional exhaustion or burnout. Stress was positively associated with burnout. Likewise, job satisfaction was protective against burnout. Furthermore, coethnic resources were associated with higher personal accomplishment scores for Asian–American, Hispanic, and Caucasian workers. Cohort member loss was not associated with burnout when controlling for personal resources and organizational factors, but cohort member loss did triple the odds of others in the cohort leaving. However, burnout was not associated with job exit in this sample. Although this study did not find evidence that cohort loss or coethnic loss was associated with burnout, it raises questions for further research about the social network implications of turnover.     

Effects of goal-striving stress on the mental health of black Americans

Although many scholars have theorized about how responding to the stress of blocked opportunities can affect the well-being of black Americans, few scholars have empirically examined the relationships between striving efforts, personal goals, and mental health among black Americans. This investigation examines the relationship between goal-striving stress and mental health in a national sample of black Americans. Results indicate that goal-striving stress is significantly related to lower levels of happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and higher levels of psychological distress. We find that poverty status moderates the relationship between goal-striving stress and mental health. Compared to poorer persons, individuals above poverty with high goal-striving stress have significantly lower levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Overall, the findings provide a more complete context for understanding associations among socioeconomic status, goal-striving stress, and adverse mental health outcomes among black Americans.     

Professional development opportunities as retention incentives in child welfare

This study examined the career paths of 415 Title IV-E MSW graduates in one state retrospectively over 180 months post-graduation to discover factors that could be important in affecting retention in public child welfare agencies. The Title IV-E educational program is designed to be a retention strategy at the same time as it is a professionalization strategy. We surmised that perceived organizational support (POS) contributes to retention by acknowledging the workers' needs for career development support. The median survival time for these child welfare social workers was 43 months for the first job and 168 months for the entire child welfare career. The initial analysis showed steep drops in retention occurred at 24–36 months post-graduation, approximately at the end of the Title IV-E work obligation. Upon further examination, Kaplan–Meier tests showed organizational factors relevant to workers' professional career development predicted retention. Having access to continuing education and agency-supported case-focused supervision for licensure were correlated with retention at the 24–36 month post-graduation mark. At 72 months post-graduation, promotion to supervisor was a significant factor found to encourage retention. Being a field instructor for MSW students and being promoted to a managerial position were not significantly related to retention.     

The Research Potential of Mental-Health Social Workers: A Qualitative Study of the Views of Senior Mental-Health Service Managers

Social workers have undoubtedly played a significant role inmental-health care in Britain. Yet their contribution to themental-health knowledge base is decidedly meagre compared tothe prolific research activity of psychiatry and allied healthprofessions. A qualitative study was conducted on the researchpotential of mental-health social work, based on the views ofsenior service managers in London boroughs. Social-work researchwas found to suffer from a combination of structural, economicand academic constraints. The impact of social work on mental-healthpolicy and practice developments, particularly in the lightof a growing emphasis on evidence-based practice, is likelyto remain weak until this issue is addressed.     

Goal-Striving Stress and Racial Differences in Mental Health

This study investigated the associations among goal-striving stress, racial related stressors, and mental health. Goal-striving stress was defined as the discrepancy between aspiration for and achievement of a better way of life, weighted by the subjective probability of success, and the level of disappointment experienced if those life goals were not realized. Data are from the National Survey of American Life’s African American (N = 3,570) and non-Hispanic white (N = 891) adult samples. Regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between goal-striving stress and five mental health outcomes: happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, psychological distress, and depressive symptoms. After controlling for socio-demographic factors, a personal problems checklist, and racial discrimination, goal-striving stress was significantly related to all mental health measures such that as goal-striving stress increased, mental health worsened. Additionally, the relationship of goal-striving stress to mental health was found to be conditional upon race. Specifically, goal-striving stress had a stronger effect among white Americans than African Americans. Goal-striving stress was associated differentially with lower levels of mental health for black and white Americans. Racial differences in the impact of goal-striving stress suggest a need for analyses exploring resilience and coping in relation to the impact of goal-striving stress on black–white differences in mental health.     

Undergraduate students' attributions of depicted adult-adolescent and adolescent-adolescent sexual interactions

The grayest areas of defining child sexual abuse appear to involve the age and sex of the individuals involved, resulting in a potential for different attributions regarding child sexual abuse across individuals. As a result, this study examines the responses of 262 male and female college student participants after viewing a series of hypothetical sexual abuse vignettes that depicted a 15-year-old victim that neither resisted nor encouraged the advances of a 15-, 25-, or 35-year-old perpetrator's actions. Gender roles and sexual attitudes were examined as potentially important covariates. Using a series of analyses of covariance, female participants gave more pro-victim ratings than male participants, and younger perpetrators were viewed less negatively than older perpetrators. Gender roles and sexual attitudes served as significant covariates. These findings emphasized the need to educate individuals about child sexual abuse and unwanted sexual contact involving individuals under the age of consent.