Reviews

Abstract

Michelle DeMars reviews The Indispensable Academic Librarian: Teaching and Collaborating for Change; Norma Durian reviews The Library Outreach Casebook; Trina Boykin Nolen reviews Licensing Digital Content: A Practical Guide for Librarians, Third Edition.     

Self-management of Initiations by Students Diagnosed with Autism

During prebaseline observations, three students diagnosed with autism were unable to make social initiations to another individual. The ability to make initiations would be considered a “pivotal response” in that it would allow an individual to come into contact with a wide variety of social reinforcement. A multiple-baseline design was implemented to measure the effects of a using a self-management package to teach the students to make social initiations. Two interventionists worked with each student to prompt and reinforce initiations. All students acquired social initiations during externally-determined reinforcement. The initiations were maintained when reinforcement changed from externally determined to a self-management system. The prompts to initiate and self-reinforce were faded over the course of the sessions. The use of self-management by the student led to less need for staff intervention. Implications from the literature are discussed.     

A simultaneous-equations model of the relationship between public sector bargaining legislation and unionization

This paper estimates a simultaneous-equations model with public sector bargaining laws and union membership treated as jointly-determined variables. The extent of public sector unionization has a significant positive influence on the passage of prolabor bargaining legislation and bargaining legislation has strong, independent effects on the extent of public sector unionization. We gratefully acknowledge the research support provided by Minbo Kim and Parisun Chantonahom.     

The influence of risk and protective factors on burnout experienced by those who work with maltreated children

The aim of the study was to explore the degree (and type) of burnout and trauma symptoms, personal histories and coping strategies retrospectively reported by those who work with maltreated children and their families. A self‐selected sample of workers (N = 44) completed a self‐report questionnaire assessing childhood maltreatment, family background characteristics, current adjustment, coping strategies and burnout. Workers reported high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and a low to moderate sense of personal accomplishment. Family background characteristics predicted the occurrence of maltreatment and current adjustment, and a personal history of maltreatment predicted current trauma symptoms, but not burnout. Workers most frequently used problem‐focused coping strategies and sought social support; however, coping strategies were not associated with the level of either trauma symptoms or burnout. Despite employing positive coping strategies, their efficacy may be affected by other interpersonal, intra‐individual and job resource issues. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation and process evaluation of a student "school-as-community" group. A component of a school-based drug abuse prevention program

Little documentation exists regarding the functioning of formalized adolescent groups as drug abuse prevention agents. Two studies are described that were conducted at high schools whose students are at high risk for drug abuse. Twenty-one schools were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) standard care, (b) classroom drug abuse education only, or (c) classroom plus school-as-community. Results of the first study indicated that the school-as-community component--which involved weekly meetings and periodic events at seven schools--was implemented as planned, drug abused focused, and perceived as productive in discouraging drug abuse. In the second study, staff in the classroom plus school-as-community condition self-reported involvement in the greatest number of community activities across the school year, compared with staff from the other two conditions. These two studies support the feasibility of formalized groups of high-risk youth to promote drug-free events.     

Program analysis using the client oriented cost outcome system.

The client oriented cost outcome system has been under development in Pennsylvania community and hospital programs since 1972. The system builds upon the behavioral and decision data generated with or on behalf of consumers. Flexibility for local program system design is permitted if the procedures of consumer intake, review, and termination document each consumer's (a) problems, resources, and goals, (b) overall functioning level in their ordinary community, and (c) services intended and rendered as related to (a), above. While the system's primary application is in providing feedback for local program quality assurance and evaluation procedures, aggregation of data permits program planning and evaluation at county, state, and federal levels in terms of (a) client demographic or diagnostic characteristics, and (b) program service characteristics and objectives.