bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conceptual Development and Empirical Use of the Family Intrusiveness Scale
Authors: GAVAZZI STEPHEN M. , REESE MARLA J. , SABATELLI RONALD M.
Published: March 2007

This article reports on the conceptual development and empirical use of the Family Intrusiveness Scale (FIS), an instrument designed to reflect levels of intrusiveness in the family system. The development of the FIS and initial data regarding its psychometric properties are presented. Furthermore, use of this instrument in published studies is reviewed as evidence of the scale's reliability and validity. Finally, consideration is given to the use of the FIS as a practical and effective tool in future research efforts that focus on adolescents and families.
Too Much Privacy?
Authors: NOCK STEVEN L.
Published: March 2007

Americans enjoy vastly more privacy today than their ancestors did. When people are able to live large portions of their lives outside the watchful eye of others, there are few traditional bases for trust. In the place of intrusive methods of ensuring conformity that relied on family members and neighbors to closely monitor and supervise one another, new and more effective methods have arisen and will continue to arise. The underlying theme in the expansion of personal privacy has been a “separation from family and neighbors.” Therefore, the consequence of increasing amounts of privacy is the development of sophisticated and reliable methods of detecting deviance and secrecy that do not depend on family members. What most perceive to be the gradual “loss of privacy” in this century is actually the development of such safeguards.
“It’s Not Just Cricket!”
Authors: Madan Manu
Published: March 2007

In promoting both global consumerism and postcolonial nationalistic patriotism, World Series Cricket requires its audiences to negotiate and rationalize affiliations and allegiances that exist outside national boundaries through the construction of spatial neighborhoods. These alliances, inflected by postcolonial narratives of race, nationalism, and international politics, are conditional and shift constantly; they are subject to who is playing on the day. World Series Cricket, and the “play on allegiance” it promotes, provides a space in which diasporic Indian identity can be negotiated and a discourse through which it can be spoken. It serves to highlight the role of popular culture in the process of decolonization and the negotiation of ethnicity and diasporic nationalism.
Differences in the Recruitment of Black and White Football Players At a Big Eight University
Authors: Evans Arthur S.
Published: March 2007

In the United States, collegiate and professional sports are avenues of social mobility for individuals from low-income households and are particularly important for blacks. But mobility of a few minority individuals does not erase the stereotypical image of their group held by the dominant group. When individual members of a minority group acquire positions in the dominant society from which they formerly had been excluded, they re main inferior and unequal in the minds of dominants. This paper compares procedures at Kansas State University for recruiting black football players with those for recruiting non- black players. Two themes are argued in this paper. First, minority individuals must be more qualified occupationally if they are to participate in a dominant setting. Second, in a dominant setting, members of minority groups are treated unequally regardless of how qualified they are.
Race and Career Opportunities in Major League Baseball: 1960-1980
Authors: Phillips John C.
Published: March 2007

The issue of racial discrimination in sport has generated a solid body of literature. In the professional baseball industry two forms of discrimination have been apparent: "marginality" - the tendency to exclude blacks of marginal ability in favor of whites, and "centrality"-the tendency to exclude qualified black players from positions which involve interaction with and control of the action of teammates. Data from 1960 to 1980 reveal a diminution of marginality, but an increase in centrality.That is, centralityas aform of racial discrimination has increased during the past twenty years. A methodological improvement over prior studies-the use of slugging percentage to measure offensive productivity-is also discussed.
Contrasting Orientation Toward Sport: Pre - and Post-Title Ix Athletes
Authors: Blinde Elaine M.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine possible changes which have transpired in the attitudes, perceptions, and reactions toward sport of pre- and post-Title IX athletes. It was hypothesized that along with the structural changes which have transpired in post-Title IX programs, a concurrent shift occurred in the attitudes, perceptions, and reactions toward sport of female athtetes. Based on data from 697 former female intercollegiate athletes, pre- and post-Title IX athletes varied on items relative to reasons for selection of a university, sport role commitment, importance of scholarship offer, reactions to the intercollegiate sport experience, and reactions to "retiring from intercollegiate sport. When contrasted to a comparable sample of former male inter collegiate athletes, the responses of post-Title IX female athletes were found to be more similar to those of their male counterparts than was true of pre-Title IX athletes.
Notes On Entry Routes Into a Sport/Recreational Role: The Case of Sailing
Authors: Aversa Alfred
Published: March 2007

Interest and participation in sailing, a sport/recreational activity historically associated with the upper class, is on the rise, especially among newcomers from middle class backgrounds. Starting with an explanation for this rise, the article continues by raising sociological questions concerning the problems of attracting and socializing these newcomers to the world of sailing. Ideal type descrip tions of entry routes into sailing are presented along with the implications for newcomers and for sailing itself.
GLOBAL SPORT AND CANADIAN CONTENT
Authors: Valentine John
Published: March 2007

The media and sport can play a significant role in the creation of national identity, but when both have foreign origins, national identity may be compromised. This article explores the question of Canadian cultural sovereignty in an era of globalization and the role of the state with regard to cultural policy in an open economy. Technological advancements and the search for new markets led to the establishment of Sports Illustrated Canada. The Canadian government, employing a protectionist policy designed to limit cultural incursions, halted the production of SI Canada. A content analysis of the SI Canada issues reveals that the periodical offered more “Canadian content” than the American Sports Illustrated; however, it did not meet the 80% level required by Canadian law. Furthermore, the “Canadian-ness” of the periodical declined dramatically during its 3-year existence.
Decision Makers' Judgments
Authors: Hawkins J. David , Roffman Roger A. , Osborne Phillip
Published: March 2007

Evaluators often assume that outcome studies assessing agency effectiveness should pro vide the most relevant data for decision makers who must form judgments about treat ment in order to make policy, program, and clinical decisions. Yet evaluators have found that decision makers often fail to use results of evaluation studies. To shed light on the utilization problem, the research reported here was undertaken to learn about the criteria, information sources, and beliefs decision makers in the environment of nine drug treat ment agencies used to form judgments about treatment programs before evaluative data concerning outcomes became available. The results showed that decision makers in different occupations tended to use similar information sources (primarily informal verbal exchanges) yet used different evaluative criteria to judge treatment programs. The impli clations of these results for the design of evaluation studies and utilization of evaluation results are discussed.
Establishing Evaluation Objectives
Authors: Rossi Robert J. , McLaughlin Donald H.
Published: March 2007

Establishing evaluation objectives requires formal, frequent, and extensive interaction among program evaluators and administrators. The fundamental purpose of this inter action is to obtain from administrators the information necessary to make the most effective choices in planning and carrying out evaluations. In this paper, three techniques are described that can be used to ensure that this interaction is constructive: (1)prepara tion of a systems analysis of the program, (2) systematic identification of evaluation issues, and (3) evaluation of information needs as a function of decision-making responsi bilities. Examples of how these techniques have been employed in the recent evaluation of one of A CTION's full-time domestic volunteer programs are presented.
Two Regional Mental Health Treatment Facilities
Authors: McSweeny A. John , Wortman Paul M.
Published: March 2007

One of the major social programs of the 1960s was the development of community mental health centers. As with most early attempts at evaluation, the results were pessimistic. This article reanalyzes one of the earliest, and best-known, evaluations of a community-based treatment facility. Following the conceptual framework of Campbell and his associates, it was found that the various threats to the validity of the findings indicate a consistent and systematic bias against detecting a positive effect for the new mental health center. In light of recent federal legislation mandating formal evaluations, appropriate procedures are discussed.
The Advocate, the Auditor, and the Program Manager
Authors: Jones Bryan D.
Published: March 2007

Many decisions in administering human service programs, as well as other govern ment programs, involve value conflicts that often go unrecognized. This article uses statistical decision theory to analyze the disparate decision frameworks brought into the decision-making process by major participants. Using data collected to analyze the needs of the elderly, it illustrates the consequences for programs of different decision frameworks.
Multivariate Analysis
Authors: Baggaley Andrew R.
Published: March 2007

A diagram is used to aid discussion of how several of the frequently used multivariate statistical techniques are interrelated. All of those discussed can be regarded as special cases of canonical correlation.
Using Qualitative Methods in Evaluation Research
Authors: Filstead William J.
Published: March 2007

This article describes the ways in which qualitative methods have been viewed relative to evaluation research. The topics included in the bibliography cover a broad area including the changing climate in evaluation research, the philosophical and conceptual background behind this approach to research, actual evaluation efforts which employed qualitative methods, the use of various data gathering techniques, and how one "makes sense" of these data. It is hoped that the bibliography will serve as a resource to those who choose to use such procedures in their evaluation research as well as testimony to the feasibility and utility qualitative methods offers evaluation researchers and policy makers.
Studying Evaluation Utilization Through Simulations
Authors: Braskamp Larry A. , Brown Robert D. , Newman Dianna L.
Published: March 2007

Simulation studies evaluation utilization employing communication theory as aparadigm have found that characteristics of the message sender (evaluator), the content of the message (the evaluation report), and characteristics of the receiver (evaluation audience) affect the evaluation audience's reactions. Among the independent variables examined were title and sex of evaluator, language and content of the report, and professional role and personality characteristics of the audience. Dependent measures include indices of credibility and acceptance of the recommendations.
Performance Monitoring in the Evaluation Process
Authors: Poister Theodore H.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews the underlying logic and usefulness of true performance monitoring, as distinguished from the more customary administrative monitoring, and explores the potential contribution of performance monitoring to improved program evaluation in terms of (1) providing an accumulating data base which may serve many different research designs and (2) supporting the evaluation process in general. The article concludes that increased emphasis on performance monitoring will lead to the development of more cost-effective evaluation programs in terms of policy relevance and utilization.
The Validity of Some Routine Evaluative Data
Authors: Krause Merton S. , Jackson John C.
Published: March 2007

The magnitude of discrepancies between agency and state data on volume ofstatefunded mental health services is sample estimated for one state. Some explanations for these discrepancies, in terms of bureaucratic problems and of agencies'efforts to circumvent the effects of these problems on their statistics, are developed from correlations of volume discrepancies with ancillary agency variables.
Energy Conservation Research of California's Utilities
Authors: White Lawrence T. , Archer Dane , Aronson Elliot , Condelli Larry , Curbow Barbara , McLeod Beverly , Pettigrew Thomas F. , Yates Suzanne
Published: March 2007

More than 200 evaluations of energy conservation programs conducted by California's four major utilities between 1977-1980 were reviewed and critiqued. In general, the evaluations were conducted in the marketing research tradition, were formative (rather than summative), and were dominated by nonexperimental surveys. Major threats to validity included:failure to consider secular economic and attitudinal trends, inadequate prior explication of key constructs, lack of random assignment, lack of appropriate comparison groups, overreliance on attitudes and self-reported behaviors as indices of conservation, and multiple unprotected statistical comparisons. Alternative evaluation techniques designed to reduce validity threats are presented, and a sample of the utilities' more recent work is assessed.
Testing for Nonresponse Bias
Authors: Hirst Eric , Goeltz Richard
Published: March 2007

This article discusses two recent evaluations of utility energy conservation programs in which testsfor nonresponse bias were possible. In these evaluations, data were obtained both from the sponsoring utilities (fuel consumption records, energy audit reports) and from households (mail and telephone surveys). Fortunately, data from one source was usually available for those households missing datafrom the other source. This permitted comparisons of respondents and nonrespondents on several dimensions—pre- and post- program energy consumption, energy audit results, and household demographic char acteristics.
The Evaluation of Lifeline Electricity Rates
Authors: Hennessy Michael
Published: March 2007

This article first reviews the sections of the National Energy Act as it applies to electricity rate innovations. It then focuses on one particular rate structure ("lifeline" rates) and identifies three research designs commonly used to evaluate its effects. Finally, it discusses the analytic and interpretive assumptions inherent in these studies and suggests how these assumptions will have to be altered before social scientists can contribute effectively to policy research in this area.
Visitor Evaluation
Authors: Pearce Philip L. , Moscardo Gianna
Published: March 2007

An attempt is made to collate and develop psychological research into visitor evaluation. The current state of visitor evaluation research is considered by outlining the literature on four topics; specifically, museums, natural environments, tourist sites, and tourist facilities. An assessment of the problems of much visitor evaluation work is included in this material. In a subsequent section the role of psychology-social psychology in particular—in contributing to improved studies in this area is outlined. A discussion is included of the psychologist's role in stimulating better data collection, more varied analysis, and a tighter hypothesis testing approach to visitor surveys. In particular, it is argued that this area of inquiry holds far more promise for interesting psychological research than might be supposed by an inspection of current market survey practices in the field.
The Adequacy of Statistically Derived Prediction Instruments in the Face of Sample Selectivity
Authors: Rhodes William M.
Published: March 2007

Prediction of success in a special program is often used to guide the selection of program participants and the treatment that they receive. Statistical analysis can be instrumental in developing such predictions, but if the analysis is based on data that resulted from the special selectivity built into the program, the predictions can be misleading and validation tests can be less informative than is commonly realized. This argument is developed and applied to problems in criminal justice administration. Data from pretrial release in federal district court is used as an illustration.
Information Focus and Data Sources
Authors: Majchrzak Ann
Published: March 2007

Information utilization was examined among 90 social service decision makers. Results indicated that propensity to use a particular type of information is relatively independent of the propensity to use a particular source from which the information is obtained. Moreover, the information type used by a decision maker is predicted in part by the type of decision needing to be made. In contrast, use of a particular source is related to the decision maker's role. Suggestions for evaluators concerned with utilization of their information as well as for researchers developing theories of information use are offered.
A Quasi-Experimental Assessment of the National Impact of the 1981 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (Obra) On the Aid To Families With Dependent Children (Afdc) Program
Authors: Griffith Janet D. , Usher Charles L.
Published: March 2007

The 1981 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) called for important changes in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. This article reports the findings of a study that tracked two nationally representative samples of AFDC cases to learn about caseload dynamics prior to and following OBRA's implementation. Simple comparisons and the use of life-table techniques revealed that amendments to the AFDC program had a significant impact on program participation and costs that was not offset by any change in work behavior. Various features of the evaluation design and their relationship to the study objectives are described.
An Approach To Estimating Net Earnings Impact of Federally Subsidized Employment and Training Programs
Authors: Finifter David H.
Published: March 2007

This study presents estimates of net earnings impact for adult-oriented CETA programs. The data bases used are the Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey and a matched comparison group derived from the Current Population Survey. After linking net impact to the human capital model, we estimate fixed effects regressions for numerous subgroups. The estimated equations were used to decompose earnings differentials to provide net impact estimates and to evaluate the quality of the matching procedure. Results are compared with related studies. We also examine broader issues comparing the potential for quasi-experimental versus experimental design in national evaluations of employment and training programs.
Subjective and Objective Methods of Evaluating Social Programs
Authors: Alemi Farrokh
Published: March 2007

A practical problem in evaluation studies with limited resources is that all methodologies cannot be tried. Thus the evaluator must decide what questions must be answered and then choose which method would best provide the answers. The choice, however, is not simple. It involves several different trade-offs. These trade-offs are articulated through a discussion of the differences between (a) Bayesian and traditional statistics, (b) decision and cost benefit analysis, and (c) anthropological and traditional case studies. The intent of the article is to make evaluators sensitive to the implicit trade-offs associated with choosing a subjective or an objective method.
Evaluating Appropriate Technology for Development
Authors: Ahmad Aqueil
Published: March 2007

Developing countries today face serious dilemmas regarding introduction of new technologies for development. Their need for a wide variety of technologies is increasing rapidly. Lacking expertise and experience, they find it hard to determine the appropriateness of technological alternatives in terms of cost, quality, scale, degree of sophistication, risk of failure, and environmental risks. Having made certain choices may sometimes compound problems rather than solve them, particularly if the chosen technology happens to be an advanced technology (to be) acquired from abroad, involving high costs and high risks. Criteria and mechanisms for evaluating appropriateness of the needed or chosen technologies before and after their intro duction have not been fully developed in most developing countries. This article discusses these issues in light of the contemporary experience of Third World societies and suggests some measures to help incorporate technology assessment in the policy and planning apparatus at various levels.
Impact of the 1980-1983 Selected Traffic Enforcement Program On Traffic Accidents in Batavia, Illinois
Authors: Rock Steven M.
Published: March 2007

During the period 1980-1983, the police department of the City of Batavia, Illinois, received a grant to reduce traffic accidents. To analyze whether this program was effective, an interrupted time series design was used. Using yearly statistics from 1972 to 1987, changes in the trend and level of accidents were calculated One explicit control variable, weather, was included. A statistically significant decline in intercept and slope were discovered To confirm the impact, a similar analysis was performed on a nearby community that did not have such a program. Some of the same declines were noted, indicating either some spillover from the Batavia program or the existence of other factors during the same time period that also affected accidents However, the more significant declines in Batavia versus the control community lead to the conclusion that the program was effective. The long-run nature of the decline in accidents seems to be due to the extensive training in accident investigation of the Batavia officers This contributed to suggested and implemented redesign of problem intersections.
Economic Efficiency of Forest Tree Improvement Programs in the North Central Region
Authors: Stier Jeffrey C.
Published: March 2007

An ex ante benefit-cost analysts was conducted of applied tree improvement programs in the North Central Region through the year 2030. The analysis covered 19 species used to produce timber, 4 species used for Christmas trees, and sugar maple used for sap production. Gross benefits of tree cmprovement were defined to be the drscounted increase in net value due to the higher productivity of improved stock when managed on identical rotations as unimproved stock, and costs were defined to be the present value of expenditures necessary to establish and operate seed orchards. The aggregate benefit-cost ratio for all species throughout the region was estimated to be 19.5 at 4%, with net benefits of $187 million. Of all net benefits, 90% stem from work with Chrtstmas trees, but the aggregate benefit-cost ratco for timber species is 2.8. Differences exist in the estimated efficiency of programs among states, but in general, states have focused their efforts on species with the greatest economic potential. Returns are greatest for species with short rotations and high product value that are planted in large numbers and that produce seed in large volume and reliably, characteristics which favor softwoods over hardwoods. Despite a professional and institutional climate that encourages long-term view points, forestry professionals have considerable difficulty expressing confidence in biological forecasts over even a few decades. This makes ex ante evaluation of forest tree improvement programs difficult, but the intuition of the scientists appears to have efficiency considerations built into it.
Evaluating the Risks
Authors: Pinkerton Steven D. , Abramson Paul R.
Published: March 2007

The lifespan sexual history of many Americans can be modeled as a series of long-term monogamous relationships coupled with some number of brief affairs. Implicit in this model is the assumption that these monogamous relationships arise as a natural consequence of the search for a single partner with whom to share one's life, and therefore cannot be eliminated. Hence the only opportunity to reduce the number of sexual partners is by decreasing the number of short-term relationships. In contrast, condoms can be used in all relationships, regardless of the expected duration. But which is more effective at reducing the risk of HIV infection, the consistent use of condoms or decreasing the number of short-term sexual partners? This article employs a Bernoulli process model of HIV transmission to evaluate the infection risks associated with various sexual behavior patterns in an attempt to answer such questions.
Design and Analysis Issues in Community Trials
Authors: Murray David M. , McKinlay Sonja M. , Martin Don , Donner Allan P. , Dwyer James H. , Raudenbush Stephen W. , Graubard Barry I.
Published: March 2007

The National Institutes of Health sponsored a conference on the Design and Analysis Issues in Community Trials on March 23,1992, in Bethesda, MD. This article presents a synopsis of each of the seven presentations given at that conference and summarizes the discussion that followed.
Effects of Interventions On Relapse To Narcotics Addiction
Authors: Hser Yih-Ing , Yamaguchi Kazuo , Chen Jane , Anglin M. Douglas
Published: March 2007

Event-history analysis was applied to the life history data of narcotics addicts to specify the concurrent, postintervention, and durational effects of social interventions on relapse to narcot ics addiction. Data were based on two face-to-face interviews conducted in 1974/1975 and 1985/1986 to continue follow-up investigations of 581 male narcotics addicts who were admitted to the California Civil Addict Program from 1962 to 1964. A separate hazard rate model was applied to data collected at each interview to reflect the respective stages of addiction careers In the first model, both methadone maintenance (MM) and legal supervision (LS) showed a concurrent effect of postponing relapse to addiction, and the effect of MM was stronger than LS. The second model indicated a higher relapse risk during the year after MM termination (relative to those that had not been on MM) and a positive relation between the length of time on MM and subsequent relapse. The results suggest either that those long-term narcotics addicts who cannot remain abstinent without MM need to be maintained on MM indefinitely or that treatment programs should apply intensive relapse prevention strategies during and after methadone maintenance intervention.
Validating Quality Indicators
Authors: Salzer Mark S. , Nixon Carol T. , Schut L. James A. , Karver Marc S. , Bickman Leonard
Published: March 2007

Theory and research have not kept pace with the growing interest in evaluating quality of mental health care, resulting in the use of unvalidated quality indicators. A framework for validating quality indicators is offered by which quality is viewed as the relationship between service structures, processes, and outcomes. Adoption of this framework will facilitate the measurement of quality using valid indicators and should be useful to agencies in their continuous quality improvement efforts. Valid information about the quality of mental health care services will help purchasers and consumers make more informed health care decisions.
Joint Commission Evaluation of Behavioral Health Care Organizations
Authors: Cesare-Murphy Mary , McMarill Cheryl , Schyve Paul
Published: March 2007

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has accredited behavioral health care organizations since 1957. Accredited behavioral health care organizations include organizations providing services to persons with psychiatric disorders, substance abuse disor ders, or developmental disabilities/mental retardation; or, provide social services to other related populations. In the late 1980s, the Joint Commission initiated the redesign of accredita tion to include performance measurement. Performance measurement initiatives include the IMSystem, Requests for Indicators, National Library of Healthcare Indicators, ™ and a national Council on Performance Measurement. These initiatives are steps toward the integration of performance measurement data into the accreditation process.
The Distributional Impacts of Social Programs
Authors: Friedlander Daniel , Robins Philip K.
Published: March 2007

We illustrate the use of nonparametnc quantile regression in examining the impacts of social programs on the distributions of noncategorical outcome measures. We apply the method to earnings effects and income effects in four evaluations of employment and training programs for welfare recipients. The distributional impact estimates yield pictures of program impacts that are different from those yielded by simple mean impact estimates, especially for income. The distributional impact estimates also assist in differentiating the effects of programs using similar activities but organizing those activities to achieve different goals. Accurately estimating effects at the tail of a distribution remains a problem.
Does Mentoring Work?
Authors: Grossman Jean Baldwin , Tierney Joseph P.
Published: March 2007

Our random assignment evaluation found that this type of mentonng had a significant positive effect on youths ages 10 to 16. Over the 18-month follow-up pertod, youths participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters Programs were significantly less likely to have started using illegal drugs or alcohol, hit someone, or skipped school. They were also more confident about their school performance and got along better with their families. Mentors were carefully screened, trained, and matched with a youth whom they met, on average, three or four times a month for approximately a year The program also provtdes careful professional supervision of these matches.
Meanings of Menopause to Korean Immigrant Women
Authors: Im Eun-Ok , Meleis Afaf Ibrahim
Published: March 2007

The meanings of menopause among a vulnerable group of women—low-income Korean immigrant women—were explored using a cross-sectional descriptive research design focusing on how these meanings were constructed with their daily life experiences. Twenty-one peri- or post-menopausal women were recruited using convenience sampling methods; 2-hour in-depth interviews were conducted with audiotaping and field notes, and the data were analyzed using the-matic analysis, including line-by-line coding and categorization. Several themes related to the meanings of menopause emerged. The shock of menarche, various definitions of menopause, the negative view on middle age as falling down the hill, and other transitions the women were experiencing shaped the nature of their responses to menopause. The women were ambivalent about their menopausal transition, welcoming and fearing it. The authors propose that nurses initiate a dialogue about menopause with diverse populations to support the normalization of their menopausal transition and empower them to use culturally appropriate resources.
A Biomedical and Feminist Perspective on Women's Experiences with Weight Management
Authors: Allan Janet D.
Published: March 2007

Weight concerns and dieting have become so normative for U.S. women that weight is the lens through which experience is viewed. The obsession with weight and dieting among women is considered byfeminists to be one result of the oppression by women resultingfrom questionable weight standards and weight control programs that foster a view of overweight as a sign of addiction and lack of control. Feminist critique is used to deconstruct both the literature related to weight standards and health and the research on weight loss/weight management. Feminist and ethnographic methods are used to describe successful and unsuccessful experiences with weight management of 20 Euro-American women who had participated in a 1985 weight study and agreed to be reinterviewed. Success at weight management was examinedfrom a biomedical perspective using Body Mass Index (BMI) norms and from a feminist perspective using participants' subjective definitions of success. Based upon BMI, only 8 members of the study group were defined as successful, whereas based upon the women's perspectives, 11 members were successful. Participants'definitions of successful weight management were divergentfrom biomedical definitions and could be categorized into three perspectives: biomedical, reframed normal weight, and holistic. Women who ascribed to the biomedical definition of success embodied the cultural ideal of thinness by adhering to an underweight weight norm. Participants using the reframed normal weight definition of success rejected biomedical weight norms and created their own weight norms. The holistic perspective on success involved the use of a broader, health-focused definition of successful weight management and offers some directions for revising current health promotion care relative to weight.
Correlates of Stress in HIV Disease
Authors: McCain Nancy L. , Cella David F.
Published: March 2007

A group of 53 men with HIV Disease participated in this correlational study of the relationships among psychological distress, quality of life, uncertainty, coping patterns, stress, and CD4+ T-lymphocyte levels. Meaningful correlations (r > .40, p < .01) indicated that higher levels of negative-impact stressful experiences were associated with more frequent use of emotionfocused coping; both higher levels of negative stress and more frequent use of emotion-focused coping were associated with lower quality of life, higher psychological distress, and more uncertainty; lower quality of life was associated with higher psychological distress and more uncertainty; and lower CD4+ counts were associated with higher levels of positive-impact stressful experiences.
The Stress of Immigration and the Daily Lived Experiences of Jordanian Immigrant Women in the United States
Authors: Hattar-Pollara Marianne , Meleis Afaf I.
Published: March 2007

Literature specifically focused on women as immigrants and on the nature and quality of the immigrant experience is limited. Similarly, in spite of early Arab immigration to the different regions of the world, there is a limited knowledge base regarding the dynamics and problems involved in their integration into their new society. In this article we describe the lived experiences of Jordanian women who immigrated to the United States and the focus is on providing an in-depth account of their perceived stressors as related to their immigration experience. Thirty Jordanian American women, all wives and mothers with a mean age of 45, were interviewed. Three major themes of the sources and contexts of stress emerged from the narrative and qualitative data analyses of their responses. Women experienced many challenges and stressors surrounding their work in the daily living of settling in, in their quest for ethnic continuity, and in their attempts to re-create familiarity. Social and health support resources cannot be created without careful attention to these themes.
A Family's Coming to Terms with Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Perry Jo Ann , Olshansky Ellen F. , Koop Priscilla M. , Cardea Jane Mannweiler
Published: March 2007

Findings of a qualitative analysis of several members of a family in which one member has Alzheimer s Disease (AD) support the notion that differences in how eachfamily member defines and makes meaning of the situation have consequences for the family as a unit. Ten in-depth individual and dyadic interviews of five available fanily members were conducted during a period of 18 months. Data support the finding that each member of the family experienced a similarprocess of coming to terms with changes in theperson who has AD. Thisprocess consisted of three stages: identifying how the person with AD was the same as he was before, as well as how he was different, prior to disease onset; redefining the identity of the person with AD; and rewriting one's relationship with the person with AD. This study supports both Knajl's and Deatrick's concept of family management and Patterson's concept offamily meaning.
Measuring Organizational Readiness for Nursing Research Programs
Authors: Snyder-Halpern Rita
Published: March 2007

Nursing research programs are important innovationsfor health services organizations (HSOs). Evidence supports the positive impact that successful programs have on both clinical practice and patient outcomes. In the current era of scarce health care resources, decision makers must be able to accurately judge HSO readiness for nursing research programs to facilitate their success. Judging innovation readiness is an important and complex processfor decision makers. An Innovation Readiness Scale (IRS) was developed from research-based HSO contextual cues identified by nurse researchers as supportive of successful hospital-based nursing research programs. The IRS provides decision makers with a measure by which to judge HSO readiness for nursing research programs. Psychometric results are reported from a pilot and actual test of the IRS in two urban acute care settings involved in nursing research program innovation.
Caregivers' Experiences in Making Placement Decisions
Authors: Penrod Janice , Dellasega Cheryl , Strang Vicki R. , Neufeld Anne , Nolan Mike
Published: March 2007

Demographic trends indicate a growth in the older adult population, and in turn, are affecting the availability and use of health services. Although placement of an older adult charge into nursing home care is often described as a logical progression through the continuum of available services, informal caregivers often view placement as a last resort or as an indication of failure. This qualitative study used grounded theory methods to explore the experiences of caregivers actively involved in the process ofplacing an older adult in a long-term carefacility upon discharge from acute care. Four themes (uncertainty, surrendering to the system, urgency, and validating) were interwoven throughout caregivers'perspectives of the conflictive decision to use nursing home care after hospitalization.
Discourse Ethics and the Regulation of Media: The Case of the U.S. Newspaper
Authors: Wahl-Jorgensen Karin , Galperin Hernan
Published: March 2007

This article draws on Jürgen Habermas's discourse ethics work to build a case for the regulation of U.S. media, with particular attention to the newspaper. The authors focus on two facets of Habermas's theory: they draw on his distinction between the system and the lifeworld to illustrate the need to protect sites for democratic discourse, and outline his idea of the ideal speech situation as a tool for critique. Against this dual-level theoretical backdrop they investigate the conceptions and practices that structure the U.S. newspaper, and take a closer look at the relationship between market metaphors of media operation and the conditions for free expression. Finally, the article analyzes how the potential for public deliberation is affected by three consequences of U.S. newspapers' market orientation: (1) the central role of advertising support, (2) the concentration of newspaper ownership, and (3) the professionalization of journalism.
From Discourse to Golf Course: The Serious Play of Imagining Community Space
Authors: DeChaine D. Robert
Published: March 2007

This study examines the Web-based promotional discourse of the American golf community in an effort to highlight the intimate relationship between material and social space. It is argued that golf communities represent uniquely imagined spaces in which identity is worked and power is wielded. In examining specificities of the physical space that the residents share, the requirements for accessing and/or belonging to the golf community, and in particular the marketing strategies employed by community developers, an attempt is made to bring into relief the broader themes that underlie formative American ideologies of nature, individualism, democracy, and class privilege. A rhetorical analysis of Web-based appeals to prospective golf community members reveals a complex negotiation of American core values, underpinned by significant tensions concerning purity, exclusivity, freedom, and control.
Corporate Expansion, Textual Expansion: Commodification Model of Communication
Authors: Fürsich Elfriede , Roushanzamir Elli P. Lester
Published: March 2007

The authors argue that the contemporary situation of media saturation and hypercommercialism calls for an alternative model of communication that accounts for the current political-economic conditions. This study shows how corporate discursive strategies contribute to the expansion of hegemonic corporate interests and how they redefine public communication. The authors analyze two corporate museums, The World of Coca-Cola and the CNN Studio Tour, as discursive spaces (i.e., text). In support of the authors' concerns, they develop the Commodification Model of Communication. This model moves beyond the traditional “four theories of the press” to theorize how the text has expanded to accommodate corporate expansion by equating earlier concepts of public goods and services with private interests. By using the contradictory textual strategies of authority and choice, corporations work to normalize private, profit-oriented communication and thus solve what they pose as a problem, the cacophony of unlicensed public communication.
Home ownership and socialism in Britain : a bulwark against bolshevism
Authors: Ginsburg Norman
Published: March 2007

This paper suggests that the British working class is roughly equally divided between tenants and home owners, and that the growth of home ownership is likely to continue, encouraged as it has been by both Labour and Conservative govern ments. Nevertheless government promotion of relatively insecure low income owner occupation in the inner city has illustrated the limits of such a strategy. Homeownership has not depoliticised the housing question for the working class but has transformed it into a central part of the politics of prices and incomes. Socialist policies which concentrate on the defence ofpresent-day council housing or an even-handed approach to council tenants and homeowners are doomed to favouring the latter. The problems of a more radical reformist approach to the housing question are outlined.
Welfare pluralism: the new face of Fabianism
Authors: Beresford Peter , Croft Suzy
Published: March 2007

Concepts of 'welfare pluralism' and 'the mixed economy of welfare' have recently come to increasing prominence in social policy discussions. They are used to describe a reduced role for state intervention in welfare and greater emphasis an voluntary action informal and the marker. Criti ques from the left have so far largely concentrated on their legitimating role for the right. This paper suggests that more significantly, despite occasionally progressive rhetoric, they represent a shift to the right in the fabian consensus, which reinforces and supports privatisation and increased reliance on unpaid caring, particularly by women.
The politics of 'race policy' in Britain
Authors: Saggar Shamit
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the ways in which the local politics of race have been shaped by national concerns and priorities. It argues that the centre-periphery relationship has been a central theme of the liberal settlement that underpins the British tradition of 'race policy'. The settlement offered to remove race from national political debate and relegate it to the supposedly non-political world of local politics. How ever, it was at the local level perforce that racial conflicts were at their sharpest both prior to, and irrespective of, the push to introduce liberalising reforms in the 1960s. The strategy was ultimately flawed since it was based on a series of ill-conceived assumptions, namely that (a) the issue could be taken out of the political realm; (b) the local context offered the best hope of achieving its depolitkisation; and (c) the local authoddes were better suited- or indeed at all suited-to 'manage' race issues than the centre.
Social movements and social need
Authors: Hewitt Martin
Published: March 2007

A central issue about social movements is whether or not their needs- eg women's, Green's, welfare recipients' - are relevant to society at large; whether their needs are universal or specific. Theorists divide between those stressing the specificity of movement needs and others their universality - a division at the core of debates about postmodem politics. This: article argues that Touraine's, Melucci's and Laclau & Mouffe's accounts maintain a particularist view alongside a problem atic universalism. By contrast, writers as diverse as Habermas, Doyal & Gough and Townsend provide more coherent accounts of universal and particular needs. These maintain the universality of: real needs, despite their cultural variations; social norms; and notions of human natute, which provide important rational foundations for social policy
The degradation of labour market programmes
Authors: Jones Martin
Published: March 2007

This article provides the background and subtext to a series of concerns recently raised on the degradation of labour market programmes deliv ered through the implementation of Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). It illustrates and deconstructs these concerns by way of a critical commentary on the demise of South Thames TEC. This innovative TEC, which was declared bankrupt in December 1994, was caught between juggling the competing demands of the government's arbitrary targets and the needs of the unemployed. Based on the South Thames experi ence, the article argues that there needs to be a radical rethink on the purpose of training (and its funding mechanisms) to prevent further social exclusion and the marginalization of those with special training needs.
Contemplating the unthinkable: men who sexually abuse children
Authors: Featherstone Brid , Lancaster Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

This article argues that current theoretical and practice approaches to men who sexually abuse are based on universalist and overly rationalist assumptions. It explores the increasingly harsh societal context in which this work is currently being conducted. Contemporary ethical debates in probation and social work are also explored in an attempt to delineate the consequences of what appears to be a shift away from 'respect for persons' to a commitment to anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practices. The authors use feminist and pro-feminist writings to argue that differ ences between men are important to interrogate. It also argues that some of the psychoanalytic post-structuralist writings may be useful in explor ing masculine subjectivities.
Lamppost modernism: traditional and critical social policy?
Authors: Mann Kirk
Published: March 2007

This article considers aspects of the recent debate over the relationship of social policy to accounts of postmodernity. It will be argued that the treatment of welfare and social policy by some observers of postmoder nity/post-traditional society has been inadequate, neglecting scepticism and critique from within social policy. Despite some serious reservations regarding the treatment of welfare in their accounts, it will be suggested that there are features of a postmodern analysis that are significant for a critical social policy. The article concludes by suggesting that dialogue needs to be promoted, but it is not simply a case of social policy listening to social theorists. They would do well to be a little more reflexive and a little more attentive to debates from within social policy.