bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changes in Saliva Testosterone Levels During a 90-Day Shock Incarceration Program
Authors: THOMPSON WENDY M. , DABBS JAMES M. , FRADY ROBERT L.
Published: March 2007

Saliva testosterone concentrations were measured upon admission and at four-week intervals among inmates in a 90-day shock incarceration program, modeled after military boot camp. Testosterone was highest on the day of admission, dropped to a low four weeks later, and rose thereafter. There were significant differences among individuals in both mean scores and changes over time. Inmates showing the most improvement dropped less in testosterone early in the program and increased more later in the program. The results extend earlier findings that testosterone concentrations decline under conditions of stress and loss of social status.
Evaluation and Prediction in Expert Parole Decisions
Authors: CARROLL JOHN S. , BURKE PAMELA A.
Published: March 2007

Parole decisions are based on a combination of evaluations of prior conduct and predictions of future conduct, depending on the perceived role of the parole decision in the criminal justice system and on the personal ideologies of individual decision makers. Evaluative and predictive judgments are based on diagnostic attributions regarding the causes of criminal behavior. Two experiments using realistic case materials and expert decision makers from two state parole boards are reported that explore attributions, evaluations, and predictions in parole decisions as a function of case evidence, structural position of the parole decision within the criminal justice system, and guidelines recommendations. Results showed good support for the attributional model, in that evaluations for punishment are important only when judges give no minimum sentence. However, reactions to a drug habit were difficult to interpret. Guidelines seemed to have less impact than case based recommendations.
A Comparison Between Self-Report and Interview-Based Inventories in Offender Classification
Authors: MOTIUK MICHELE S. , MOTIUK LAURENCE L. , BONTA JAMES
Published: March 2007

A paper-and-pencil measure of offender risk/needs was derived from the Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI), an interview-based classification instrument. This resulting Self-Report Inventory (SRI) was evaluated on 100 male inmates with respect to reliability, validity, and utility. A psychometric battery including the LSI was administered. The SRI demonstrated acceptable interrater reliability and internal consistency as well as modest validity. The results suggest that offender self-reports, in combination with more traditional risks/needs assessment, can be useful for offender prediction and the identification of needs.
Attributions for Pride, Anger, and Guilt among Incarcerated Adolescents
Authors: HUDLEY CYNTHIA A.
Published: March 2007

Previous research has identified a number of cognitive variables that characterize delinquent youth. However, research has infrequently questioned whether social cognitive processing and content differ between delinquent and nondelinquent youth. Therefore, the aims of the work reported here were to (a) explore the linkages between attributions and affect and (b) compare the content of causal thinking among incarcerated delinquent youth and their nondelinquent peers. Study 1 investigated attributions for the emotions of anger, pride, and guilt among 26 incarcerated male adolescents. Relatively few causes were found for anger and guilt, but a larger variety of causes were cited for pride. A follow-up study then compared causal attributions of 56 incarcerated adolescents with those of 57 secondary school adolescents, both male and female, for the affect of pride. Incarcerated youth typically attributed feelings of pride to activities culturally appropriate for adults. In addition, females cited school success as a source of pride at twice the rate of males. The importance of this research for understanding and ameliorating the impact of typical life experiences on at-risk youth is discussed.
Background Risk Factors Associated with Parasuicide among Male Prison Inmates
Authors: IVANOFF ANDRÉ
Published: March 2007

This study identified selected factors of state prison inmates' preincarceration background that were associated with the probability of parasuicide in a stratified random sample of 123 male inmates with and without histories of parasuicide. Three domains theoretically linked to parasuicide were examined: problem histories, maladaptive social network members or models, and life events. The results indicated that, following inmates' own psychiatric history, the parasuicide and arrest record of significant network members were the strongest background predictors of inmates' parasuicide. Implications for clinical identification are discussed.
Sensation Seeking as a Factor in Police Pursuit
Authors: HOMANT ROBERT J. , KENNEDY DANIEL B. , HOWTON JIMMY D.
Published: March 2007

The Sensation Seeking Scale was administered to 69 patrol officers of a suburban police department to investigate the relationship between sensation seeking and officers' tendencies to engage in high-speed vehicular pursuit. Pursuit tendencies were measured by official departmental records, self-reports of previous pursuits, and responses to two hypothetical situations. The official records and self-report measures of pursuit were found to correlate significantly with sensation seeking. It was concluded that attention to personality differences may help supervisors implement a more predictable pursuit policy.
Cross-Validation of Two Measures for Assessing Feigned Mental Incompetence in Male Prison Inmates
Authors: HISCOCK CHERYL K. , LAYMAN LESLIE BRENT , HISCOCK MERRILL
Published: March 2007

A pair of two-alternative forced-choice tests—one concerning general knowledge and the other concerning moral reasoning—were administered to male prison inmates who were assigned randomly to one of three experimental conditions: control, naive faking, and coached faking. The majority of inmates in the naive and coached faking conditions scored significantly below chance on at least one of the tests. No one in the control condition scored below chance on either test. When a cutoff score suggested by a previous study was used as the classification criterion, sensitivity increased modestly, but there was a corresponding decrease in specificity. First-time offenders did not differ significantly from inmates with previous prison terms. The data cross-validate the two tests as means of identifying individuals who are feigning a lack of mental competence.
The Effect of Functional Family Therapy for Delinquents on Adult Criminal Behavior
Authors: GORDON DONALD A. , GRAVES KAREN , ARBUTHNOT JACK
Published: March 2007

Functional family therapy, based on Alexander's model for treating families of juvenile delinquents, was provided to 27 rural, lower socioeconomic status delinquents and their families. A comparison group of 27 delinquents received only probation service. Outcome during adulthood was measured by the number of offenses committed during a 32-month period following the 28-month adolescent follow-up period reported on by Gordon, Arbuthnot, Gustafson, and McGreen. The delinquents who had received family therapy showed a rate of 9% for adult criminal offenses, while those delinquents who had received only probation services had a rate of 41%. These results were consistent with the study's previously reported adolescent follow-up rates. Procedural differences between Alexander's work and the present approach are noted, and may account for the current study's lower rate of recidivism.
Does Viewing a Televised Execution Affect Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment?
Authors: HOWELLS GARY N. , FLANAGAN KELLY A. , HAGAN VIVIAN
Published: March 2007

Two hundred and ninety one registered California voters completed Peterson and Thurstone's Attitude Toward Capital Punishment scale. About half of the participants then viewed a videotape of two executions, and the other participants watched a nature film. All of the respondents then completed an alternative version of the capital punishment attitude scale. Significantly more viewers of the execution videotape reduced their support for capital punishment than did viewers of the control film, suggesting that resumption of public (i.e., televised) executions may somewhat reduce support for the death penalty.
Role Stress and Job Stress among Detention Care Workers
Authors: LIOU KUOTSAI TOM
Published: March 2007

This study examined predictors of role and job stress among detention care workers. Using a sample of detention care workers in two metropolitan detention centers in a southeastern state, the study found that role stress was correlated significantly with supervisor trust, job security, and a punitive orientation, whereas job stress was correlated significantly with supervisor trust and a treatment orientation. Personal variables, such as age, gender, race, and education, did not contribute significantly to either role stress or job stress. Implications of these results for the management of stress in detention settings are discussed.
Don't Confuse me with the Facts
Authors: CUNNINGHAM MARK D. , REIDY THOMAS J.
Published: March 2007

The life and death context of a capital risk assessment requires a comprehensive forensic evaluation. Mental health professionals routinely testify regarding future dangerousness in capital proceedings but too often limit assessment to DSM-IV diagnoses and criminal history without integrating empirical and actuarial data from other sources. Given the grave magnitude of a capital risk assessment both for the defendant and society, methodological and conceptual errors of this type must be avoided. This article will describe violence risk-assessment errors made by mental health professionals testifying at capital sentencing. Observed errors include inadequate reliance on base rates, failure to consider context, susceptibility to illusory correlation, failure to define severity of violence, overreliance on clinical interview, misapplication of psychological testing, exaggerated implications of antisocial personality disorder, ignoring the effects of aging, misuse of patterns of behavior, neglect of preventive measures, insufficient data, and failure to express the risk estimate in probabilistic terms.
The Politics of Resource Recovery, Energy Conservation, and Solid Waste Management
Authors: Antunes George E. , Halter Gary
Published: March 2007

Environmental and political factors are driving up the cost of traditional solid waste disposal methods. Some cities are considering new refuse disposal technology which partially offsets disposal costs through the sale of energy and recovered materials. After reviewing municipal solid waste problems and the new disposal technology, we consider the many political and economic difficulties which local governments are likely to encounter in attempting to use new disposal methods. Finally, we describe the federal policies regulating commodity produc tion which, if unchanged, will make it more difficult for these new disposal technologies to be economically successful.
What Caused the Hawthorne Effect?
Authors: M H.
Published: March 2007

The studies that produced the Hawthorne effect have been the biggest Rorschach blot in behavioral and social science. Commentators read into them their own identifications of the confounding variable that caused a progressive rise in worker's production rates. But the clues to the real perpetrator of the Hawthorne effect were there all the time. Scientific detective work has yielded hard evidence showing that the workers were systematically receiving information feedback, i.e., knowledge of results about their output rates. The same research on research brought into greater prominence an accomplice, a method of piecework payment whereby the workers earned more when they worked faster. Together, information feedback and differential reward could account for the gradually increasing productivity, especially in an explanatory framework of response shaping in operant conditioning. After the solution to the Hawthorne mystery was published, it was learned that the perpetrator had been identified years earlier by an eminent psychologist who had worked briefly in the Hawthorne studies, but the word never got around. Industry should be interested in the implications, which support the proliferating use of behavior modification to increase productivity.
Anonymous Communications and Bureaucratic Politics in Thailand
Authors: Krannich Ronald L. , Krannich Caryl Rae
Published: March 2007

This article analyzes the origins, interpretations, and impacts of anonymous letters in the municipal system of Thailand. First, these letters are one form of political communication. Second, they have political origins and result in political interpreta tions and actions. Third, they have important psychological and behavioral impacts on individuals, groups, and organizations. As both causes and consequences of bureaucratic politics, anonymous letters arise from jealousy, envy, and vindictive power relations; they generate greater complexity, uncertainty, and instability in government. In the end, anonymous letters are one important dimension of bureau cratic-political behavior that prevents bureaucracies from becoming highly central ized, rational, competent, and apolitical.
Beyond Explanation
Authors: Denhardt Robert B. , White Jay D.
Published: March 2007

In response to Michael Urban's article, "Bureaucratic Ideology in the United States and the Soviet Union: Some Empirical Dimensions," this commentary argues that three modes of knowledge acquisition: the explanatory, the interpretive, and the critical, may be employed by those seeking an explication of our general adherence to hierarchical principles. However, an understanding of the specific purposes to be served by each of these modes is a necessary prerequisite to their use in specific cases.
Domain Consensus in Alabama Health Systems Agencies
Authors: Burns Mark
Published: March 2007

The literature on organization behavior suggests four types of influences on domain consensus of organizations: (1) organizational design, (2) routine patterns of technical interorganizational contacts, (3) persuasive efforts by organizational leaders, and (4) organizational environment. In this study, conducted prior to the phase-out of health systems agencies (HSAs) in Alabama by the governor, responses from questionnaires to administrators of HSAs and hospitals in the state were used to compute a measure of HSA domain consensus. This measure served as the dependent variable in a regression analysis, with measures of the four types of influences as independent variables. The analysis suggests that one major influence on domain consensus was persuasion by HSA officials, particularly subtle, long-term efforts; a second major influence was organizational environment, specifically the experience and training of hospital administrators interacting with HSAs.
Federal and State Impact on Local Governments
Authors: Abney Glenn , Henderson Thomas A.
Published: March 2007

On the basis of a survey of 665 city and county chief executives in eight states, the authors examine the perceived impact of state and federal institutions on local government. The state legislature is the institution most often cited for its influence, and the institutions at the state level are generally perceived as more influential than those at the federal level. Centralization of state-local relations is found to be correlated negatively with perceived influence by state institutions.
Bureaucratic Reactions to Political Pressures
Authors: Anagnoson J. Theodore
Published: March 2007

This article addresses the question of how federal grant administrators handle political pressures. The data originated in a study of two federal project grant programs—the US. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration and the US. Department of Housing and Urban Development's water and sewer program. The central finding is that the key to handling project pressures in grant programs lies in the careful handling of project turndowns through preapplication procedures and quick decisions. Policy tradeoffs involved in the use of preapplication procedures are explored.
Public Agencies and Private Firms
Authors: Rainey Hal G.
Published: March 2007

There is an increasing interest in applying organization theory to public organizations as such, and a need for clarifying the distinction between public and private organizations. This quantitative case study compares questionnaire responses by middle managers in nonprofit public agencies and private profit-making corporations, to test hypotheses concerning differences in incentive structures, organizational goal clarity, and individual role characteristics. The public managers perceive a weaker relationship between performance and extrinsic rewards (weaker "expectancies'") and regard formal personnel procedures (e.g., civil service systems) as constraints on the administration of such rewards. They show higher scores on formalization scales, and are lower on certain dimensions of work satisfaction. There are no differences on scales of organizational goal clarity, role conflict, role ambiguity, and motivational variables.
Bureaucracy as Externalized Self-System
Authors: Diamond Michael A.
Published: March 2007

In this article the author uses Harry Stack Sullivan's theory of social psychiatry and various psychoanalytic applications of organizational theory to suggest to what extent bureaucratized human relations and formal organizational stuctures are products of the psyche and thereby perpetuated by people. A central theme is that bureaucracy enhances the structural manifestation of embedded defensive operations of the person. Asserting the dominance of security needs as motivating forces over other human needs, Sullivan's psychiatry uncovers a serious paradox for students of organizational behavior and development interested in directing the course of bureaucratic reform and organizational change. This article directs future empirical research on the topic of interpersonal and organizational resistance to change and psychological reliance on bureaucratic styles of management.
Neighborhood Identity and Citizen Participation
Authors: Haeberle Steven H.
Published: March 2007

An individual's decision to participate in community affairs is influenced by demographic characteristics such as education and socioeconomic status, and by environmental variables that make public activity more or less attractive. Using data on participation in neighborhood associations in the city of Birmingham, Alabama, it was found that education and SES correlate positively with neighborhood activity, but participation in these associations is more fully explained by environmental factors such as population size and age of housing stock. Those areas that have acquired the physical characteristics of a tightly bound community induce neighborhood participation to overcome factors such as low SES or level of education that often work against communal involvement. Hence the findings suggest that community development projects aimed at improving a sense of neighborhood identity may, in the long run, have the additional benefit of encouraging community participation.
The Phoenix Project
Authors: White Orion F. , McSwain Cynthia J.
Published: March 2007

Social theory seems to be moving toward what Charles Perrow has called the "garbage can paradigm" of deconstructionism, while at the social level, the trend seems to be toward a technicist social order of hyperrelativism. By building on the school of public administration which the article identifies as the traditionalist, the field can raise a renewed image of public administration that can serve as a protection against the potentially destructive consequences of technicism.
The Public Agency as Polis
Authors: Stivers Camilla
Published: March 2007

This article offers a view of active citizenship in an administrative context. It argues that the classic features of active citizenship-authoritative action, public interest focus, practical wisdom, and community can be enacted in an agency setting, when community people join with professional administrators in exercising a measure of administrative discretion. Using a framework developed from the theories of Anthony Giddens, it is suggested that such interaction between lay citizens and administrators, constrained and enabled by bureaucratic rules and resources, constitutes a polis, a public space in which members act together in order to achieve limited ends and to lead a virtuous life. The federal Community Health Center program in the Bureau of Health Care Delivery and Assistance, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, is offered as an illustration.
Norms of Professional Behavior in Highly Speclalized Organizations
Authors: Fiore William J. , Brunk Gregory G. , Meyer C. Kenneth
Published: March 2007

Three attitude dimensions are apparent among zoological managers. They concern professional ethics, organization, and responsibility toward animals. In this article, four models of the acceptance of professional norms are tested, and career-related goals are found to be the best predictors of such attitudes. Noneconomic goals seem to promote zoological professionalism, whereas entrepreneurial activities reduce support for generally accepted norms of behavior. The implications of these findings and possibilities for further research are discussed.
The Impact of Courts on the Decision to Expand Jail Capacity
Authors: Duncombe William D. , Straussman Jeffrey D.
Published: March 2007

Over the past 20 years, an extensive literature has focused on the role of courts in shaping public policy and management. Yet despite the continuing interest in the topic, very little "hard" evidence exists on the actual impact of court interventions in public agencies. The objective of this study is to estimate the impact of court orders and mandates on public programs in one of the most important areas of judicial intervention, local jails. The authors' findings for a national sample of jails in 1983 and 1988 confirm that court orders do influence the decision to expand the capacity of local jails. However, other jail-related factors—the level of overcrowding and jail age-actually have stronger impacts on the probability that a jurisdiction will decide to expand capacity than does the presence of a court order. These results imply a reconsideration of the conventional wisdom that court orders force reluctant elected officials to vote for unpopular capital projects, such as jails. The authors' findings indicate that many jurisdictions, given adequate fiscal resources, are likely to plan for capital expansion when they need it—not when forced by the courts to act.
Revealing the Feminist in Mary Parker Follett
Authors: Morton Noel O'R. , Lindquist Stefanie A.
Published: March 2007

In this article, the authors interpret the work of Mary Parker Follett, a well-known but underappreciated theorist of public administration. In a formal philosophical analysis organized around the traditional categories of ontology, epistemology, and ethics, they relate contemporary feminist theory to Follett slife experiences and writings, particularly those on democratic and organization theory. Besides making a case for the interpretation of Follett as a feminist thinker, the authors also relate her work to contemporary trends in theories of public administration and management. Finally, they argue that in addition to being a precursor to these trends, Follett's work may help scholars of public administration build a coherent theoretical foundation for public administration in general, a foundation that may find a strong theoretical link to contemporary feminism.
African American Women’s Definitions of Spirituality and Religiosity
Authors: Mattis Jacqueline S.
Published: March 2007

These two qualitative studies explore the meanings of spirituality for African American women and the distinctions that women make between spirituality and religiosity. In Study 1, content analyses of women’s (N = 128) written narratives reveal 13 categories of meaning that are assigned to spirituality. In Study 2, indepth interviews with a subsample of women (N = 21) reveal three key differences between religiosity and spirituality. First, whereas religiosity is associated with organized worship, spirituality is defined as the internalization of positive values. Second, religion is conceptualized as a path and spirituality as an outcome. Finally, whereas religion is tied to worship, spirituality is associated with relationships.
Stability and Change in Self-Perception and Achievement Among Black Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: Hare Bruce R.
Published: March 2007

This study of self-perception and achievement among Black adolescents surveyed 248 thirteen- and fourteen-year-old eighth graders in 1980 who were previously surveyed as ten- and eleven-year-old fifth graders in 1977. The major devel opmental dimensions investigated were stability—whether or not these youngsters exhibited self-perception and/or achievement patterns of an erratic turmoil ridden or con tinuous nature, and chunge—the nature of the differences found in self-perception and achievement between the pre- adolescent and adolescent periods. Data are presented also on the White youngsters included in the survey. The objec tive of providing these data is to assess whether adolescent development occurs differently in Black and White Ameri can culture. Along this line the problematic tradition of generalizing to Black children, the patterns of cognition and performance found in White children, and some ideological problems of critical importance to an emerging "Black" psychology are discussed. The findings indicate that the developmental pattern of Black adolescents may be charac terized as one of positive instability. Some reasons are presented why adolescent development may differ across cultural (racial) lines, and further study of the possibility is urged.
Underemployment, Underpayment, Attributions, and Self-Esteem among Working Black Men
Authors: Johnson Gloria Jones
Published: March 2007

This study examines the relationship between underemployment, underpayment, attributions, and self-esteem among Black men. The data for the study were available from Black males sampled in the National Survey of Black Americans (Jackson et al., 1980). The sample consisted of 794 males, 500 of whom were currently employed full time and were used to investigate the relationships of this study. Because secondary data were used, this is an objective, not subjective assessment of the relationships between underemployment, underpayment, attributions, and self-esteem. The results showed that underemployment and underpayment did not lower the self-esteem of Black men. In addition, the attributional effects of underemployment and underpayment on self-esteem were not significant, but in the expected directions. Future studies should measure the self-esteem of men and women, both Blacks and Whites, and should relate it to their employment status and their subjective feelings of underemployment.
Applying Social Psychological Models to Predicting HIV-Related Sexual Risk Behaviors among African Americans
Authors: Cochran Susan D. , Mays Vickie M.
Published: March 2007

Existing models of attitude-behavior relationships, including the Health Belief Model4 the Theory of ReasonedAction, and the Se4f-Efficacy Theory, are increasingly being used by psychologists to predict human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related riskbehaviors. The authorsbrieflyhighlightsome of the dfficulties that might anse in applying these models to predicting the risk behaviors of African Americans. These social psychological models tend to emphasize the importance of individualistic, direct control of behavioral choices and deemphasizefactors, such as racism and poverty, particularly relevant to that segment of the Afncan American population most at riskfor HIV infection. Applications of these models without taking into account the unique issues associated with behavioral choices within the African American community may fail to capture the relevant determinants of risk behaviors.
Ethnicity, Social Support, and Injection Drug Use
Authors: Taylor Dorothy L. , Chitwood Dale D. , McElrath Karen , Belgrave Linda Liska
Published: March 2007

There is considerable agreement that the prevalence of diagnosed AIDS cases and the prevalence of HIV infection is greater among African American and Hispanic injection drug users (IDUs) than among Anglo (White, non-Hispanic) IDUs. There is less agreement on why this is the case. This lack of knowledge is related, in part, to the paucity of research on the cultural diversity among IDUs and the impact that cultural differences have on injection risk behaviors of those three groups. This analysis examined possible differences in the sources from which each ethnic group obtained their works (IVequipment) in a sample of 711 injecting drug users drawn from six methadone clinics, three residential treatment programs, and one drug detoxification program between June 1987 and August 1988 in South Florida. It was found that African Americans were more likely (69.4%) to acquire their works from street suppliers than were Hispanics (49.4%) or Anglos (36.1%). It is conceivable that "source of works" is a contributing factor to the higher prevalence of AIDS among minority IDUs.
Race and Sex Differences in Reactions to a Simulated Selection Decision Involving Race-Based Affirmative Action
Authors: Doverspike Dennis , Arthur, Winfred
Published: March 2007

Affirmative action policies lead to social psychological costs for the intended beneficiaries in the form of negative reactions and reduced perceptions of competence. However, most of the research has involved affi rmative action based on sex rather than race and has compared males to females rather than Blacks to Whites. Two hundred and thirty-five (235) college students completed a scenario study involving reactions to having received afellowship position based on affirmative action. The independent variables included race (Black White), sex (male, female), type of affirmative action (soft, hard), and qualifications (less or equally qualified). Data were collected on evaluations of negative affect, fairness, and competence. The results indicated that although sex-based affirmative action may result in certain social psychological costsforfemales, the same effect may not occur as afunction of race, for Blacks compared to Whites. Even in those situations where affirmative action did affect reactions of participants, competence information served as a moderator As a result, it would be premature to accept uncritically the presumption that results for affirmative action based on gender generalize to race.
Stress Levels, Family Help Patterns, and Religiosity in Middle- and Working-Class African American Single Mothers
Authors: McAdoo Harriette Pipes
Published: March 2007

In this survey of 318 middle- and working-classAfricanAmerican mothers, stress andfemale-related stress were found to be intense andfrequent. Women experienced serious life changes. Younger mothers, with younger children, had more stress than older mothers, and college-educated women had more stress than those without a college education. Religion was important; women prayed frequently but tended not to attend church services. Faith provided strong emotional support, especiallyfor the working class and those in stress, but women who were not religious had the lowest stress.
African American and Anglo-American Gender Identities: An Empirical Study
Authors: Harris Allen C.
Published: March 2007

Although research has shown that the gender identities ofAfricanAmericans are more androgynous than the gender identities ofAnglo-Americans, little effort has been made to determine how representative of the African American population these gender patterns are. A study was designed to determine whether the gender identities of African American male and female middle-class subjects are the same as the gender identities of theirAnglo-American male andfemale counterparts. Usinga modifiedversionoftheBemSex-RoleInventory, AfricanAmerican men and women were found to be more androgynous than Anglo-American men and women. African American males and females have an equal propensity to regard masculine traits as more self-descriptive, whereasAnglo-American males regard masculine traits as more self-descriptive than do Anglo-American females. Females of both races regardfeminine traits as more self-descriptive than do males, but this tendency is slightly stronger for Anglo-Americans than for African Americans. Anglo-Americans have a greater tendency than African Americans tofind "gender-appropriate" traits to be self-descriptive in subscales of masculinity andfemininity.
Racial Identity Attitudes, School Achievement, and Academic Self-Efficacy Among African American High School Students
Authors: Witherspoon Karen McCurtis , Speight Suzette L. , Thomas Anita Jones
Published: March 2007

Literature has postulated that African American students often choose not to succeed in school because achievement is seen as acting White. This study examined the extent to which racial identity, self-esteem, and academic self-concept were related to academic achievementfor 86African American high school students. The majority of students indicated supportfrom both peers and parents for their academic work. Multiple regression analysis indicated that grade point average is best predicted by immersion racial identity attitudes and academic self-concept. Limitations of the present study, implications, and suggestionsforffuture research are presented.
Africentric Cultural Identity and the Stress Experience of African American College Students
Authors: Chambers John W. , Kambon Kobi , Birdsong Bobbi Davis , Brown Jamye , Dixon Pamela , Robbins-Brinson Larmia
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this analysis was to determine if there were distinct behavioral profiles involving perceived and daily stress and Africentric identity in a sample of 701 African American college students who attended eight historically Black colleges and universities. It was hypothesized that there would be a negative relationship between Africentric identity and stress and other personality dispositions that are often associated with stress, such as depression and anger A cluster analysis resulted in three cluster groups. The most efficacious cluster group had significantly higherAfricentric identity, self-esteem, and angercontrol, and lower perceived stress, suppressed anger, experienced anger, and depression. Although Africentric identity and stress were not correlated, the cluster with the highest level of Africentric identity exhibited the lowest level of perceived stress.
A Scale to Assess African American Acculturation
Authors: Snowden Lonnie R. , Hines Alice M.
Published: March 2007

This study examined an acculturation scale designed for use in the African American population. Consisting of 10 items presented in Likert-scale format, the scale asked about: race-related cultural and media preferences (music, radio, television); racial balance in contexts of social interaction (friends, church congregation, parties, neighborhoods); race-related attitudes (relying on relatives for help, desirability of interracial marriage); and degree of comfort in interaction with Whites versus Blacks. Responses were gathered from a national probability sample of more than 900 African Americans. The data generally indicated an African American orientation within the sample but demonstrated notable variation on all items. The scale showed good reliability (internal consistency). Results from factor analysis pointed toward unidimensional structure. Evaluation of construct validity by examining sociodemographic correlates provided notable evidence of validity.
Cross-Validation of the Schedule of Racist Events
Authors: Klonoff Elizabeth A. , Landrine Hope
Published: March 2007

This article presents a cross-validation study of the Schedule of Racist Events (SRE), a brief inventory that assesses the frequency of various types of racist dis-crimination in Blacks’lives. A new, larger, more representative sample of 520 Af-rican Americans residing in 10 randomly-selected southern California census tracts completed the SRE and a measure of psychiatric symptoms. Results re-vealed that 96% of Blacks reported experiencing some type of racist discrimina-tion in the past year, 98% reported experiencing racism at some point in their lives, and 95% found racism to be stressful. Factor analyses revealed that all items in the SRE subscales load on a single factor, and reliability and validity co-efficients were high and were similar to those previously reported. Participants’ reports of the frequency of racism in their lives were unrelated to participants’ age, social class, and education, but were related to gender, with men reporting more frequent racism than women. Experiencing racism was strongly related to total psychiatric symptoms. This cross-validation study provides further evi-dence on the reliability and validity of the SRE.
The Use and Effects of Anti-Bullying and Anti-Harassment Policies in Australian Schools
Authors: Soutter Alison , Mckenzie Anne
Published: March 2007

Although it is widely recognized that bullying in schools has long term negative consequences, many schools respond to incidents as they arise rather than taking a systematic approach. When this is the case, physical bullying may be addressed but indirect bullying may flourish. This article examines best practice examples of student welfare policies which address bullying and harassment through strategies to promote a positive school ethos. This article stresses the importance of teacher modelling of respectful relationships and promotion of effective conflict resolution procedures throughout the school community.
The Seria-Think Instrument
Authors: Tzuriel David
Published: March 2007

The Seria-Think Instrument is a novel dynamic assessment measure developed for assessment and intervention with young children showing a variety of arithmetic difficulties. The Seria-Think Instrument is based on Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) concept and Feuerstein's mediated learning experience (MLE) theory. The Seria-Think Instrument tasks require the operation of seriation, in combination with mastery of maths skills of addition and subtraction. The task is to insert a set of cylinders into a set of holes varying in depth (in a wooden block) so as to get rows with equal height, increasing height, and decreasing height. The task must be performed with as few insertions as possible; the holes can be measured by a measuring rod. Solving problems on the Seria-Think Instrument requires planning, systematic exploratory behaviour, simultaneous consideration of few sources of information and control of impulsivity. The dependant measures are number of insertions, number of measurements and performance. A sample of grade 2 children randomly assigned to experimental (n =24) and control (n = 24) groups. Both groups were administered a preand post-teaching phases on the Seria-Think Instrument before and after an intervention. The experimental group received mediation of planning, regulation of impulsivity, comparison and computation whereas the control group received free-play manipulative experience with no teaching. Both groups received a content related maths test after the post-teaching phase. A repeated measures MANOVA of treatment by time (2 x 2) was carried out with number of insertions, number of measurements and performance scores as dependent variables. The findings showed significant treatment by time interaction (F (3, 44) = 8.41, p < .0001) indicating that the experimental children significantly increased their number of measurements and decreased their number of insertions from preto post-teaching phase. The control children showed about the same pattern of response before and after the treatment. Stepwise regression analyses showed that maths score were predicted in the experimental group by post-teaching number of insertions (R2 = .19)-the less insertion the child used in the post-teaching phase, the higher the maths score. In the control group maths scores were predicted by post-teaching number of measurements and post-teaching performance (R2 = .54)-the higher the score on both variables the higher the maths score. In both groups the post-teaching scores were more accurate in predicting the maths scores than the pre-teaching scores. The findings are discussed in view of previous dynamic assessment findings, Vygotsky's ZPD concept, and MLE theory.
Children's Affective Reactions and Coping under Threat of Uprooting
Authors: Klingman Avigdor
Published: March 2007

This study examines the response of children in the Golan Heights to the ambiguous situation during the continuing peace talks between Israel and Syria concerning a possible evacuation of the region's settlers. The study sample consisted of 218 fourth-grade children who responded to an adaptation of the Bar-Ilan Picture Test for Children (Itskovitz and Strauss, 1982, 1986). The results suggest that social support, defensiveness, religion and living in smaller settlements predicted better coping, whereas less social support and high emotional expressiveness predicted greater anxiety. The implications of these findings for school psychologists are discussed.
Students' Perceptions of Their Rights in Denmark
Authors: Jacobsen Elisabeth , Schlegel Ilse
Published: March 2007

Research on the perceptions of 12-15 year old Danish students regarding the importance and existence of children's rights in homes and schools was conducted during 1993. The population sampled, from two Danish municipalities, is sufficiently representative of the Danish youth population of this age at that period to give somewhat general value to findings. Overall, the results indicate that Danish childrenjudge the importance of rights in both the home and school and the level of existence or support for those rights in the home to be high, and in all these cases their ratings average above those of the average for the composite of the other countries involved in similar research. However, the existence ofrights in the school on the average was judged not only to be below the level of importance given to them, the usual finding across countries, but also to generally be below the average level of existence found for the all-countries composite, a surprising finding. Specific rights topics of concern to Danish children are identified and preliminary interpretations are provided. An historical context for Denmark and its schools is presented to bring additional meaning to findings.
Intern Supervision in School Psychology
Authors: Ward Sandra B.
Published: March 2007

This research investigated the supervision practices of fieldbased and university supervisors of school psychology interns in the United States. A national sample of 239 field-based supervisors and 41 university supervisors completed questionnaires on various aspects of their supervision. In addition to descriptive statistics, comparisons were made between the two groups of supervisors. The findings revealed a highly qualified group of supervisors who met the standards set forth by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). Although the field-based and university intern supervisors' shared many similar goals and practices, differences were evident. For example, field-based supervisors focused their supervision goals/activities toward the interns' skills and the impact of these skills on the client. While the university supervisors also emphasized skill development in their supervision goals, their supervision activities were more global and reflected the indirect nature of their supervision. The field-based supervisors' rated themselves as more effective than did the university supervisors. In general, the supervisors' practices adhered to the recommendations in the conceptual literature. The findings of this study support the need for open communication between the two groups of supervisors.
Reassessing Psychometric Techniques in Exploration of a Relational Self
Authors: Schott Gareth , Bellin Wynford
Published: March 2007

It has been argued that the application of self-report inventories in investigation of the self has permitted a set of 'esoteric psychometric qualities' (Bracken, 1992) to determine psychological understanding of the self-concept. The desire to achieve solid psychometric foundations for measures ofthe selfhas meant that the self-concept is often measured as an independent entity, separate from the contexts in which it is constructed. This article describes the development of a new measure of the self that takes greater account of the way individuals ruminate their external actions to inform and maintain their self-image. An item pool designed to measure the social impact of the school context upon the self was tested on adolescent school pupils (n = 1,002) from eight contrasting secondary schools in the UK. Factor analysis revealed six structurally independent constructs related to pupils' school related self-perceptions. The ensuing scale revealed how it is possible to utilize psychometric techniques to produce more ecological means of investigating the self. The implications of this study for existing measures of the self are then discussed.
Parenting Practices, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement in Adolescents
Authors: Park Hae-Seong , Bauer Scott
Published: March 2007

This study was concerned with the relationship between parenting practices and academic achievement of high school students. A sample of 873 Asian Americans, 1449 Hispanics, 1176 African Americans and 8292 European Americans was selected from the first follow-up (1990) and second follow-up (1992) of the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS). Analysis of variance (ANOVA), hierarchical and stepwise multiple regressions were employed to determine the extent to which parenting practice predicts academic achievement. The results of the study showed that European Americans are more authoritative than other ethnic groups, but the relationship between having an authoritative parenting style and student academic achievement is supported only for the majority group. Implications for practices and suggestions for future research are offered.
Females and Males as Participants in School Psychology Research
Authors: Holverstott Katherine M. , Ehrhardt Kristal E. , Parish Trisha , Ervin Ruth , Jennings Lanai , Poling Alan
Published: March 2007

Overall, 35 percent of the articles published in Journal of School Psychology, School Psychology International, School Psychology Quarterly and School Psychology Review from 1985 through 1999 that used participants failed to report whether they were female or male. Three, six and 56 percent of articles with participants used only females, only males, and both females and males, respectively. The failure of many articles to specify the sex of participants is a potentially serious problem. Unless the sex of participants is reported, one cannot ascertain to whom results should generalize or whether the sex of participants affects the variable under investigation. For these and other reasons, we recommend that researchers routinely specify how many of their participants are males and how many are females. This information requires little space to report and in most cases is easy to obtain.
Editorial: To Be a Good Parent
Authors: Lowenstein L. F.
Published: March 2007

This editorial differs from others of its type in that it will, it is hoped, give both a general direction and concrete specific advice on how to bring up children. In a world filled with contrary notions about parenthood, parents yearn to use methods that are based on scientific studies as well as on meaningful basic intuitive ways of carrying out the most vital job of our existence. It is the most important of all our endeavours because it not only influences the life of the next generation of parents but also perpetuates ideas and behaviours in generations to come.