bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sexual Intimacy in Dating Relationships
Authors: Peplau Letitia Anne , Rubin Zick , Hill Charles T.
Published: April 2010

The patterning of sexual interaction in male‐female dyads and the links between sexual behavior and emotional intimacy were investigated as part of a two‐year study of college dating couples. Despite generally permissive and egalitarian attitudes, traditional sexual role playing in which the man encourages intercourse and the woman limits the couple's sexual intimacy was common. Three types of couples were compared: sexual traditionalists who abstained from coitus, sexual moderates who had coitus only after emotional intimacy was established, and sexual liberals who had coitus prior to developing emotional intimacy. Findings are discussed in terms of the psychological meaning of sexual behavior for young adults.
Cultural Values and the Therapeutic Definition of Sexual Function and Dysfunction
Authors: LoPiccolo Joseph , Heiman Julia
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews the role of cultural attitudes toward sexuality in shaping sex researchers' and sex therapists' views of “normal” sexual behavior. The theoretical systems and therapeutic procedures of the pioneer sex researchers Havelock Ellis and R. von Krafft‐Ebing are reviewed, as is the work of Freud. Kinsey's work, and the more recent work of Masters and Johnson, are discussed in the context of how their views both reflected and also challenged cultural assumptions about sexuality. The role of mass media in shaping both popular and therapeutic views of male/female roles and sexual function is discussed, and the cultural biases of the current generation of sex therapists are examined.
Ethical Requirements for Research on Human Sexual Behavior: From the Perspective of Participating Subjects
Authors: Abramson Paul R.
Published: April 2010

This study utilized procedures representative of published research on human sexual behavior as a means of establishing a direct approach (via a postexperimental questionnaire) to generalizing about ethical standards for this area of investigation. The 40 males and 40 females who volunteered (as part of their introductory psychology requirement) to participate anonymously in this investigation completed a questionnaire about past sexual experiences and a personality measure of sexual attitudes, read an erotic story and rated their arousal to the story, were observed in a waiting room that contained sexually explicit magazines, responded to double‐entendre words, and were tested for retention of information on reproductive biology. Subjects were then provided with a detailed, personally oriented debriefing session. The postexperimental questionnaire, which was completed following the debriefing, indicated that subjects viewed their participation as constructive and void of negative aftereffects.
Research among Racial and Cultural Minorities: An Overview
Authors: Montero Darrel
Published: April 2010

This paper has three objectives: (a) to provide a brief review of the status of research among racial and cultural minorities, (b) to present an overview of the volume's contributed papers, and (c) to discuss certain recurring themes in the articles of this issue. Several themes have important implications for conducting research — techniques of gaining entree to the minority community, theoretical concerns, the use of field methods, the use of the survey method, and ethical, political, and ideological concerns. This paper suggests ways in which social scientists, while being sensitive to and meeting the needs of the community under study, can contribute to our fund of knowledge regarding racial and cultural minorities.
Survey Methods for Minority Populations
Authors: Myers Vincent
Published: April 2010

The social survey, as the most widespread data‐gathering device, has come under increasingly heavy fire from phenomenological sociologists, minority social scientists, and spokespersons for racial and ethnic minority populations at‐large. These criticisms underscore the need for innovative ways of carrying out survey tasks. A large‐scale drug‐related survey is described, wherein unconventional assumptions and techniques were put into operation. The study was fielded by senior researchers and young blacks and chicanos, who were given collegial responsibility for all phases of the inquiry. Based on the study, it is concluded that respondents who are poor and/or of racial or ethnic minority backgrounds require unconventional rules of survey procedure.
Respondent Militancy as a Control Variable for Interviewer Effect
Authors: Shosteck Herschel
Published: April 2010

This paper describes the apparent predictability of interviewer effect which arises between white interviewer and black respondents and the contingent conditions under which it operates. Three tentative conclusions emerge: (a) interviewer effect operates only when questions treat opinions and attitudes; (b) black respondents are more likely to identify “racially sensitive” problems as areas of high concern when speaking to black interviewers, however, the relative frequency with which black respondents cite these problems remains the same regardless of the race of the interviewer; and (c) militant blacks appear uninfluenced by the white interviewer. This suggests that in studying black and other minority groups, the views of militants may prove accurate indices of the felt but unexpressed views of the overall group. Should this be so, rather than recruit, train, and retain minority interviewers, one might use white interviewers together with questionnaire scales to filter out the less truculent respondents.
Merging Fieldwork and Survey Research in the Study of a Minority Community
Authors: Tsukashima Ronald Tadao
Published: April 2010

This paper directs its attention to a study of interminority hostility by joining two competing methodological traditions — fieldwork and survey research. I examine the following contributions of fieldwork to survey research in the study of black anti‐Semitism: (a) selecting a suitable research site and sampling strategy, (b) generating theoretical clues, (c) garnering clues for data collection, and (d) analysis of data. In so doing, I am calling for a new style of research where both methods become the common mode of study.
A Case Study of Collaboration: The Chicano Pinto Research Project
Authors: Moore Joan W.
Published: April 2010

This paper describes a collaborative project involving academics and Chicano convicts and addicts which, despite the potential for serious strain between the groups involved, was in fact a success. The funded part of the project was designed to examine barriers to the utilization of formal resources by ex‐convicts and addicts, and was staffed both with convict and nonconvict personnel, all but the director being Chicano. In later phases the project goal was directed more broadly to social change. Its history is analyzed in terms of the importance of different subgroup norms at different points in time, and some specific hypotheses about research in minority communities developed from this experience are presented.
Lewinian Space and Ecological Substance
Authors: Bronfenbrenner Urie
Published: April 2010

It is proposed that Lewinian theory — a bundle of paradoxes in which the perceived is viewed as more important than the actual, the unreal more valid than the real, motivation inheres in the environment, and the content of structures remains unspecified — constitutes a set of ideas whose time has just now come. A theory of form but not of substance, it proposed a redefinition of psychology as the study of behavior in the psychological field, a terrain which is as yet to be explored. A current program to obtain some of the requisite substantive data about the nature of the perceived environment, an experimental ecology of human development, is outlined. The environment is conceptualized as a series of nested and interconnected structures, moving from the innermost, the microsystem, through the meso‐ and exo‐ to the macrosystem at the cultural (or subcultural) level. Examples of conceptual and empirical work with these several system‐levels are reported.
On Becoming a Client
Authors: McCleary Richard
Published: April 2010

Participant observation and interview methods were used to study the informal typing decisions of parole officers employed in urban branch offices of a state parole agency. The data show that routine career contingencies determine not only the typology but also the nature of the typing decision. In general, parole officers are punished and rewarded on the basis of how much or how little trouble their caseloads cause the parole agency. To minimize this trouble, parole officers must control their parolees in an absolute sense. To control parolees in an absolute sense, parole officers misuse the informal typing system. The essay describes the data on which typing decisions are made, the decisionmaking process, and three types of parolees: dangerous men, noncriminals, and clients. Finally, the phenomena are related to Merlon's theory of the bureaucratic personality.
The Institutional Reaction to Child Mental Illness: Co‐Deviant Labeling
Authors: Suchar Charles S.
Published: April 2010

This paper reports the findings of a study of the bureaucratic processing of emotionally disturbed children. It focuses on the components of bureaucratic decisionmaking and evaluation which determine the biographical documentations of clients constructed by mental hospital staff. Specifically, bureaucratic practioners of child psychotherapy engage in co‐deviant labeling: a labeling process which places responsibility for the child's pathology on the parents and casts the parent into the role of “co‐patient.” Institutional evaluation ostensibly designed for the recipient of service—the child—is extended to the child's parents, most often without their knowledge. Co‐patient labeling is shown to affirm the ideological assumptions of institutional staff.
Culture Conflict in a Community Mental Health Center
Authors: Schwartzman Helen B. , Kneifel Anita W. , Krause Merton S.
Published: April 2010

The ordinary ambiguity of clients' membership in service organizations is heightened when lay members of an organization's service community or catchment area are made members of its service staff. It is further heightened when the methods of training, supervising, and governing staff resemble the methods of serving or treating clients. The ethos or culture of the early community mental health movement promoted an extreme form of this ambiguity: an expressive openness between and equality of clients and staff, and a structural openness which allowed easy movement from the client role to the staff role and vice versa. A service organization of this kind would conflict with a more traditionally bureaucratic and professional organization, but an organization containing both community and traditional mental health ideologies contains a destructive form of culture conflict within itself. In such a self‐contradictory organization the structural ambiguity of the client role cannot be adequately understood without first examining the nature of this culture conflict; this is the purpose of our ethnographic analysis of a community mental health center.
The Client Role in Staff Burn‐Out
Authors: Maslach Christina
Published: April 2010

The intense involvement with clients required of professional staff in various human service institutions includes a great deal of emotional stress, and failure to cope successfully with such stress can result in the emotional exhaustion syndrome of burn‐out, in which staff lose all feeling and concern for their clients and treat them in detached or even dehumanized ways. This paper focuses on the role that clients themselves play in staff burn‐out. Important client factors include the type and severity of the clients' problems, the prognosis of change or cure, the degree of personal relevance for the staff member of the clients' problems, the rules governing staff‐client interaction, and the clients' reactions to the staff themselves. Changes in the structure of the staff‐client interaction and changes in client expectations about staff can alleviate staff burn‐out. It should be recognized that clients can dehumanize staff just as staff can dehumanize them, and that steps to humanize the staff‐client relationship must focus on both participants in this interaction.
On the Irrelevance of Evil: The Organization and Individual Action
Authors: Silver Maury , Geller Daniel
Published: April 2010

The phenomenon of obedience is usually considered on an individual level, although typically acts of obedience are committed by an individual who is acting within an organizational framework. This paper discusses how the structure and function of the hierarchical organization alters the perspective by which individuals view their actions, and changes an individual's perception of his or her role and responsibility. Organizational dehumanization and act fragmentation and their function in the facilitation of evil acts are considered.
The American Trial Jury on Trial: Empirical Evidence and Procedural Modifications
Authors: Wrightsman Lawrence S.
Published: April 2010

The trial jury is one of the most long‐lasting and revered of American institutions. Yet recently it has been the recipient of criticism. These attacks have questioned the validity of the assumptions made by the legal system regarding the jury process. Specifically, these assumptions deal with the composition of the venire, the effectiveness of the voir dire process, the ability of jurors to disregard pretrial publicity and inadmissible evidence, the capacities of jurors to reconstruct the trial presentation from memory, and the ability of the jury as a deliberative body to act in a rational, evidence‐oriented manner. Empirical evidence is presented with respect to each of these assumptions, and suggested reforms are generated whenever the evidence conflicts with the assumptions.
Psychology and Values
Authors: Smith M. Brewster
Published: April 2010

Gordon Allport's contribution to psychology was infused with value‐related issues and exemplified ways in which psychology as a science contributes to the clarification of values. Values as conceptions of the desirable are at risk of attrition into mere preferences. Skinner would so reduce them. In application to personality (“mental health”), evaluative perspectives have not successfully crossed the barrier between fact and value. Nor has Piagetian developmentalism (Kohlberg, Loe‐vinger). No frontal assault on it works. Yet psychology can participate legitimately and has participated in the dialectic of value controversy. The social role of Allport's The Nature of Prejudice is cited as a model for psychology's dialectical role in social, historical process.
Children's Rights and Society's Duties
Authors: Stier Serena
Published: April 2010

Recent legal decisions affecting the rights of children are reviewed and analyzed in terms of efforts to balance the often competing interests of children, their families, and the state. Several decisions that have resulted in an extension of children's rights have been based primarily on clarification of general constitutional principles rather than on a changing conception of children and their appropriate rights. The courts also see legislative action as the appropriate mechanism for responding to children's needs. In this regard, it is important to distinguish between legal rights and society's duties. The former are the province of the court while the latter are the province of the legislature and the community.
Ethical Issues in the Treatment of Children
Authors: Rosen Alexander C. , Rekers George A. , Bentler Peter M.
Published: April 2010

It is consistent with contemporary community standards and accepted professional ethics for psychologists to provide treatment for children who exhibit maladaptive behavior, including gender dysphoria. We do not believe it possible to obtain proper consent from the child which truly satisfies the legal criteria of being informed and competent. Although some critics allege that it is inappropriate for parents or professional to impose their standards on children, there seems no more appropriate reference group to make the social value judgment than the parent in consultation with professionals who are, in turn, sensitive to the broader social codes and moral expectations of the community. To distinguish psychological treatment from other forms of intervention for children (such as school attendance, dental care, and medical treatment) would imply that psychological intervention should follow different ethical standards, a conclusion we reject. All professions have the same ethical obligation to guarantee to children a foundation for happy and productive lives, whether it be through appropriate educational, psychological, medical, or dental intervention.
Beliefs about Males
Authors: Cicone Michael V. , Ruble Diane N.
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews the empirical literature on people's beliefs about males, particularly how the “typical male” is described on paper‐and‐pencil adjective‐list studies. A threefold categorization is suggested of the traits that seem to be mentioned most often as characteristic of the typical male: (a) how a man handles his life (active and achievement‐oriented), (b) how a man handles others (dominant), and (c) how a man handles his psyche (level‐headed). In addition, several methodological and interpretational problems are described. On the basis of these problems and of findings from studies that examine beliefs about males in different ways, it is suggested that highly stereotypic beliefs about males may be less pervasive than usually thought.
Latitudes of Masculinity: Reactions to Sex‐Role Deviance in Men
Authors: O'Leary Virginia E. , Donoghue James M.
Published: April 2010

The popular assumption that the male role, as traditionally defined in our society, is narrowly defined and that men who deviate from that role risk devaluation is reexamined. Two studies are presented which did not support the hypothesis that the adult male role is restrictive. A review of the literature relevant to the latitudes of acceptable masculine behavior is presented and a reconceptualization of the definition of the adult male role is proposed.
Emotional Intimacy among Men
Authors: Lewis Robert A.
Published: April 2010

Although males report more same‐sex friendships than women do, most of these are not close, intimate, or characterized by self‐disclosure. Many barriers exist to emotional intimacy between men, some stemming from the demands of traditional male roles in our society, such as pressures to compete, homophobia, and aversion to vulnerability and openness, as well as from the lack of adequate role models. Exercises to increase self‐disclosure, openness, and the potential for deeper affection between men are described as the goals of workshops developed to enable male participants to initiate and maintain meaningful relationships with other men.
Research on Fathering: Social Policy and an Emergent Perspective
Authors: Fein Robert A.
Published: April 2010

Three historical conceptualizations of fathering are described: the traditional perspective, marked by the model of the aloof and distant father; the modern perspective, concerned with child outcome variables of sex‐role identity development, academic achievement, and moral development, all of which may be furthered by father‐child contact; and the emergent perspective, exploring the premise that men have the capacity to be effective nurturers of their children. It is suggested that social science has lagged or run parallel to society's discussions about fathering. With increasing social attention on families and the relationship between family life and work life, social scientists have an opportunity to rethink understandings of fathering and to contribute to evolving social policies that affect families in the United States.
The Boy Scouts and the Validation of Masculinity
Authors: Hantover Jeffrey P.
Published: April 2010

The success of the Boy Scouts of America in the early twentieth century can in part be understood in terms of increased concern over the maintenance of traditional concepts of masculinity. Adult men at the turn of the century believed that the opportunities for the development and expression of masculinity were being restricted. Scouting was a means to counteract perceived forces of feminization in the world of adolescents. An analysis of the social background and motivations of scoutmasters suggests that the Scouting movement provided adult men, denied by their occupations, an opportunity to validate the traditional image of masculinity.
Relating to Children: Gays as Role Models
Authors: Riddle Dorothy I.
Published: April 2010

Within the framework that same‐sex sexual preference can be a positive outcome, the developmental aspects of sexual identity are traced. It seems that gender identity is fixed in early childhood, rigid sex‐role identity has questionable effects while more flexibility in sex‐role behaviors has definite advantages, and sexual preference choices continue to evolve throughout one's lifetime. A review of the literature on role modeling leads to the conclusions that children internalize particular traits from a variety of models, and that gays are more likely to serve as nontraditional sex‐role models than as determiners of same‐sex sexual preference.
Psychologists' Attitudes toward Homosexual Psychotherapy Clients
Authors: Garfinkle Ellen M. , Morin Stephen F.
Published: April 2010

Forty male and forty female psychotherapists were asked to rate both a hypothetical client, based on an intake case history, and their concept of the “psychologically healthy person” on a semantic differential scale. Participants were assigned case histories where the hypothetical client was a heterosexual male, heterosexual female, homosexual male, or homosexual female. Attributions of psychological health were found to differ as a function of sexual orientation of client and sex of therapist. No significant difference was found between evaluation of male homosexual and female homosexual clients. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of perceived violations of sex‐role stereotypes in the evaluation of psychological health.
Adult Development and Aging: A Gay Perspective
Authors: Kimmel Douglas C.
Published: April 2010

To provide a model for understanding gay adult development and aging, Levinson's developmental periods are applied to the existing data on older gays. In addition, an historical lifeline for a hypothetical gay person born in 1910 is presented to illustrate the relationship between developmental data and historical events. The lack of data on older lesbians and nonadvantaged males is noted. Stereotypes of lonely, depressed, sexually frustrated aging gay men are clearly not valid for the majority of respondents studied. However, there are particular needs of older gays, e.g., support during bereavement, assistance if physically disabled, and a reduction in stigmatization.
Nonverbal Communication Between Patients and Medical Practitioners
Authors: Friedman Howard S.
Published: April 2010

Proper health care necessitates face‐to‐face interaction between health providers and their patients. This direct contact is important for two sets of reasons: the provider must assess the special quality and intensity of the patient's symptoms, emotions and pain; and the provider must create positive expectations, provide emotional support, and enlist the patient's cooperation with treatment. Regarding medical diagnosis, patients are often unable or unwilling to describe precisely and completely what is wrong with them. Regarding medical treatment, a number of factors make kind words and verbal prognoses from practitioners insufficient to communicate the expectations essential to “placebo” effects and the sense of commitment known to be therapeutic to a distraught patient. Effective nonverbal communication—through touch, facial expression, voice tone, etc.—is essential for successful patient‐practitioner interaction. Major aspects of nonverbal communication that are of direct relevance to health care have been studied scientifically but have not yet been systematically utilized. Promising areas of application are reviewed in this paper.
Abortion: A Social‐Psychological Perspective
Authors: Adler Nancy E.
Published: April 2010

More than most medical procedures, abortion is embedded in a social context that has implications for psychological reactions of patients. Following a brief history of legislation and research on abortion, correlates of post‐abortion reponses are reviewed. A social‐psychological framework is suggested which views abortion as a stress experience. Responses to the experience will be a function of the nature and meaning of the pregnancy to the individual woman, her defensive and coping style, and the social environment surrounding the abortion experience. Psychological effects of the procedure on the partner and on health professionals who perform abortions are also considered.
Child Abuse and Family Stress
Authors: Elmer Elizabeth
Published: April 2010

Child abuse is one example of violence in the family. This paper reviews sources of stress on the family, and especially considers infants as specific sources of stress within the family system. The problems of unrealistic expectations, use of physical punishment for child training and discipline, and the escalation from punishment to abuse are explored. Abuse cases are currently managed through mandatory reporting, official investigation, and disposition by authoritative bodies. This system of management appears both inadequate and inappropriate. Effective prevention programs are needed. This paper reviews current prevention efforts using three criteria of assessment. The mass media are presented as an important untapped resource for prevention efforts. Attractive media programs can address parents' feelings as well as provide information and advice.
Analysis of the Protected Status of Maltreated Children and Youth
Authors: Bross Donald C.
Published: April 2010

Violence to children has been common throughout history, yet society's response to child abuse and neglect has developed quite slowly. The delay in recognizing and responding to child maltreatment, and the problems of structuring protection for children, are related strongly to the fact that children cannot exercise adult powers. Changes in the “status” of children will be enduring only as adults continue exercising their powers wisely on behalf of children. Under the law, status is a concept both used and misused on behalf of children. There seems to be no coherent view of childhood providing a consistent influence on legal decisions. Rather than ignoring many of the complexities of children's status, children's law should be better related to the degree of protection required by the child's or youth's developmental stage.
Play and Social Interaction in Children Following Divorce
Authors: Hetherington E. Mavis , Cox Martha , Cox Roger
Published: April 2010

This paper presents the results of a longitudinal study of the effects of divorce on play and social interaction in children. Forty‐eight middle class white preschool children from divorced families and a matched group of forty‐eight non divorced families were studied at 2 months, 1 year and 2 years after divorce. In the first year following divorce disruptions were found in both play and social relations for boys and girls from divorced families. The adverse effects had largely disappeared for girls by two years after divorce; however, the effects were more intense and enduring for boys. The play patterns of children from divorced families, in comparison to those of children in non divorced families, were less socially and cognitively mature when measured shortly after divorce. Limitations and rigidity in fantasy play were particularly notable. In the year following divorce both boys and girls showed high rates of dependent helpseeking behavior and acting out, non‐compliant behavior. This again was more enduring in boys than girls. Even when the behavior of boys from divorced families had improved they were viewed and responded to more negatively by peers and teachers than were children from non divorced families or girls from divorced families.
Growing Up a Little Faster: The Experience of Growing Up in a Single‐Parent Household
Authors: Weiss Robert S.
Published: April 2010

On the basis of interviews with single parents, and with adolescent children living with single parents, a theory of the structure and functioning of single‐parent households is proposed. The premise of this theory is that the two‐parent household maintains a hierarchy—an echelon structure—that the one‐parent household can forgo. The absence of hierarchy permits the single parent who works full time to share managerial responsibility for the household with the children. The consequences for the children may be a fostering of an early maturity.
Father Custody and Social Development in Boys and Girls
Authors: Santrock John W. , Warshak Richard A.
Published: April 2010

The effects of father custody on children's social development are being studied by comparing children whose fathers have been awarded custody, children whose mothers have been awarded custody, and children from intact families. Half of the subjects are boys, and half are girls aged 6–11 years. Families are matched on SES, family size, and sibling status. The data presented here were based primarily on videotaped observations of parent‐child interaction in 60 families. The most intriguing findings to date suggest that children living with the opposite sex parent (father custody girls and mother custody boys) are less well adjusted than children living with the same sex parent. However, in both father custody and mother custody families, authoritative parenting by the custodial parent was positively linked with the child's competent social behavior. Also, in both sets of divorced families, contact with additional adult caretakers was associated with positive social behaviors shown by the child.
Children of Divorce: Can We Meet Their Needs?
Authors: Benedek Richard S. , Benedek Elissa P.
Published: April 2010

The high incidence of divorce, coupled with its profound consequences, suggest that the psychological needs of the children involved, the degree to which these needs are being met, and the measures that might be taken to better meet them must be explored. This paper outlines some of the service needs of children of divorce, examines existing systems for the delivery of services, and assesses the extent to which the systems are meeting those needs. It concludes that existing services are essentially inadequate and describes the major characteristics of a model program designed to deal appropriately with the specific needs of children of divorce. Research to develop and evaluate services and programs is urged.
Children of Divorced Parents in Demographic Perspective
Authors: Glick Paul C.
Published: April 2010

The rise in the number of children with divorced parents has been associated with many other demographic changes. Among the changes discussed are the increasing proportion of children under 18 who are of school age; who live with a stepparent; who spend some time in a one‐parent family; whose divorced parent has a college education; and who live with an unmarried couple. A projected one‐third of the children 18 years of age in 1990 will have lived with a divorced parent. It is assumed that the rate of divorce will increase more slowly in the next decade than in the last decade.
The Micro and Macro Dimensions of Gambling in the United States
Authors: Kallick‐Kaufmann Maureen
Published: April 2010

A national probability sample of 1736 respondents and a Nevada State probability sample of 296 respondents were surveyed during the summer of 1975 to determine the extent of gambling activity in the United States, to estimate the amount of government revenue that could result from various changes in the gambling laws, and to predict the social consequences of these changes. While there were large variations among regions and demographic groups, a majority of all adult Americans gamble. Wagers on commercial games amounted to $22.4 billion in 1974 of which $17 billion was wagered legally and approximately $5 billion illegally.
The Dilemmas of Regulating Casino Gambling
Authors: Skolnick Jerome H.
Published: April 2010

One of the major reasons for the reluctance to legalize many of the popular forms of gambling is the belief that these forms are particularly difficult to control honestly. It is generally believed that organized crime has been able to undermine regulatory mechanisms. This paper reports on the difficulties and successes of the Nevada Gambling Control Board's efforts to deal with a sophisticated and complex form of gambling organization and compares and contrasts that regulation with the regulation of casino gambling in England.
Public Opinion and The Politics of Gambling
Authors: Joyce Kathleen M.
Published: April 2010

This paper examines the relation between the attitudes of the public toward gambling and recent changes in gambling laws. The nineteenth century wave of antigambling sentiment found expression in many state constitutions. Consequently, legalization or decriminalization of gambling became unusually difficult among that class of activities often referred to as “victimless crimes.” Renewed interest in gambling as a revenue source, in the last few decades, has produced a number of surveys dealing with attitudes toward gambling and has required statewide votes on some 45 separate gambling items. Public attitudes are compared, along several dimensions, for results of a national survey and results of voting on particular gambling proposals. Attitudes are consistent between survey data and voting data, particularly as they pertain to administrative and regulatory form. Also, in one state, demographic variables discriminating favorability in the survey data predict voting outcome on a lottery proposal.
Patterns and Outcomes of Mother‐Daughter Communication About Sexuality
Authors: Fox Greer Litton , Inazu Judith K.
Published: April 2010

Drawing from a sample survey of 449 black and white mother‐teenage daughter dyads, this study examines patterns, correlates, and consequences of direct verbal communication about sex between mother and daughter. Findings suggest that while mothers and daughters reported frequent discussions of sex‐related topics, they differed in terms of how comfortable they felt talking with each other, what roles each played in initiating discussions, and whether they desired more frequent discussions in the future. Higher frequencies of current communication were associated with more responsible patterns of daughters' sexual behavior. The authors suggest that future research be directed at determinants of parental involvement in sexual socialization, and at analyses of the underlying processes of parent‐child sexual communication.
The Adolescent Father's Impact on the Mother and Child
Authors: Parke Ross D. , Power Thomas G. , Fisher Teresa
Published: April 2010

The adolescent father's impact on the mother and child is the focus of this review. Research on the father‐infant relationship is reviewed and the role of the father as caregiver and playmate is emphasized. The consequences of the adolescent father's participation for the development of the infant's cognitive and social‐emotional development is examined. A model that distinguishes direct and indirect paths of influence for adolescent fathers is proposed. The nature of support systems that may help adolescent fathers more adequately perform their parental role is discussed and an empirical investigation that provides one type of supportive intervention is outlined.
Life Course Perspectives on Adolescent Parenthood Research
Authors: Caldwell Steven B.
Published: April 2010

Three strategies to make models of adolescent parenthood more realistic and more relevant to social policy are presented:

Behavioral hypotheses linking early parenthood to presumed causes and later consequences should reflect a “continuous adjustment” perspective on the young adult life course rather than the prevailing “fixed‐order equilibrium” perspective.

Variables used to measure the timing of first childbearing should differentiate among distinct actions and circumstances that lead to the initial childbearing.

Constraints and incentives (especially those subject to policy influence) present in the immediate environments of young adults and potentially affecting the transition to parenthood should be explicitly represented in models.
Constructions of Reality
Authors: Estes Carroll L.
Published: April 2010

This paper examines the perspectives and practice orientations of professionals influential in local policy making and service delivery for the aged. A study of staff and members of community planning agencies for the elderly reveals that the majority of professionals perceive problems of the aged to be social structural in origin, yet the most influential and expert respondents were more likely to perceive the problems as individually generated by older persons themselves. Suggested solutions to and interventions for problems of the aged were unanimously institutional level, requiring broad social change efforts. In contrast to these beliefs, the professionals studied work in settings that practice traditional accommodative, adjustment‐oriented (rather than restorative) approaches to the aged in their social and planning agencies. The sociological and policy implications of these findings are discussed.
Toward a Continuum of Caring Alternatives: Community Based Care for the Elderly
Authors: Blum Stephen R. , Minkler Meredith
Published: April 2010

This paper examines the roots and consequences of the “medicalization” of aging in America. The present set of programs under Medicare, Medicaid and Title XX are described, with particular attention given to the unproductive “dichotomy” created between health and medical needs (addressed primarily under Medicare and Medicaid) and the interrelated social needs of the elderly, provided for, albeit inadequately, through Title XX.

The present medically and institutionally based approach to care for the elderly in America is contrasted with approaches that seek to create environments that increase self‐reliance for the elderly. Programmatic redesign strategies providing a full continuum of care are premised on such concepts as “normalization” and the “least restrictive alternative.” Particular attention is focused on the area of community based home health and social services.

The experiences of several states in providing more comprehensive community based services are explored. One such program—California's recently initiated Multi‐Purpose Senior Services Project—is described. It potentially provides a wide range of services that previously were unavailable through more narrowly designed categorical programs. The importance of broader programs of community based care for the elderly, and important research directions, are examined.
Beyond the “Me Decade”: Social Gerontology in the Eighties
Authors: Kleff Ramsey
Published: April 2010

As we stand on the threshold of a new decade, we are faced with dramatic changes in the demography of the elderly population; in the political power of special interest groups; in the values of society; and in the economic realities of life in the United States. These changes will undoubtedly have profound effects on perceptions of old age and the elderly, their roles and functions, their needs and the services appropriate to meet these needs and to help them age successfully. Social gerontology, as a “professional discipline” can play an important role in refining methodologies for assessing needs of the elderly and in suggesting appropriate services, and simultaneously continue to expand the general body of knowledge relevant to aging. If it is to fulfill this role, social gerontology must accept its dual nature as a basic discipline and as an applied profession. Furthermore, it must recognize the effects of environmental factors on the aging individual, a relationship that has so far received little attention in research and in literature.
Psychological and Policy Perspectives on the Law: Reflections on a Decade
Authors: Tapp June Louin
Published: April 2010

The progress and products of ten years of interaction between psychology and law provide the opportunity to probe the relationship of science to society and underscore the need to make social psychological theory and research a resource for social policy. The analysis begins with an overview of the boundaries of psychology and law, thus reconsidering the geography of psychology. An appraisal of the research activity of a decade evokes four critical observations on the current state of psycholegal study: (a) the overcriminalization of psychology; (b) the seduction of one's day‐in‐court; (c) the myth of mockery; and (d) the myth of law as font. These are considered in light of two basic issues that may be limiting contemporary psychology generally:
Urban‐Nonurban Differences in Social Behavior and Social Psychological Models of Urban Impact
Authors: Korte Charles
Published: April 2010

An examination of urban‐nonurban differences in several aspects of social behavior shows that urbanites are different only in limited ways from their less urban counterparts. In an urban environment, there does appear to be less social contact between neighbors and less helpfulness and consideration shown toward strangers, while social contact between relatives and between friends is no different from what is found in smaller‐sized communities. These findings are most consistent with the urban impact models proposed by Milgram and Fischer, while they disconfirm Wirth's model. A fourth model developed by Gans seems also disconfirmed by this pattern of urban‐nonurban differences, though the Gans model is less firmly tied to the expectation of overall urban‐nonurban differences. A case is made in the paper that the city's influence on social behavior seems mediated by situational forces rather than by alterations of individual personalities. The paper concludes with an account of recent research on urban social behavior in Turkey. This study found urban‐nonurban differences on a number of measures, as well as differences within Turkish cities between an urban sample and a sample of squatter settlement residents, who resembled the town dwellers in their social behavior.
Environmental Preference, Habitat Selection and Urban Housing
Authors: Rapoport Amos
Published: April 2010

This paper addresses the suitability of various forms of housing for particular groups and the possibility of applying experiences derived from other cultures. The dangers of overgeneralization, and hence the need to be culture‐specific, are stressed. At the same time a general approach is proposed which enables lessons to be derived from other cultures that clarify the suitability and acceptability of various environments and suggest ways in which acceptability and suitability of new urban and housing forms can be improved.
Long and Short Range Criteria for Housing Choice and Environmental Behavior
Authors: Michelson William
Published: April 2010

Psychological and anthropological theories purport that individuals do not maintain conflicting attitudes or values, opting for one position which is consistent with emergent behavior. A longitudinal study of 761 families in the process of choosing housing and then living in it leads to an extremely different conclusion, based on the added dimension of time.

Many families choose housing and evince behavior once there on the basis of criteria that stand in sharp contrast to those which they personally consider most important. Yet, such conflict is neither a source of dissatisfaction nor of attitude change. Understanding aspiration‐related sequencing of life events leads not only to a fuller explanation of residential satisfaction but to an additional perspective on how people deal with life goals and choice criteria.
Ideology, Effectiveness, and Public Sector Productivity: With Illustrations From the Field of Higher Education
Authors: Kelly Rita Mae
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews the value trade‐offs made when one chooses among productivity models. It articulates how one's ideology, and one's perspective on the role of politics in implementation, affects one's view of productivity in the public sector. Two alternative approaches to examining productivity in the public sector are presented: a Quality Productivity Ratio and a Service Productivity Rating, with emphasis being placed upon the latter. Illustrations of the issues discussed are provided from the field of higher education.
Deinstitutionalization and the Rights of the Deviant
Authors: Scull Andrew
Published: April 2010

The deinstitutionalization movement has been widely hailed as a beneficent reform which reflected advances in understanding produced by social scientific research. Yet close attention to the achievements rather than the rhetoric of the movement suggests a much bleaker picture. For neither the mentally ill nor the criminal has the outcome matched proponents' expectations and intentions.
Effective Community Treatment of the Chronically Mentally III: What is Necessary?
Authors: Test Mary Ann
Published: April 2010

This paper reviews research on the community treatment of the chronically mentally ill, in order to determine what services are necessary for deinstitutionalization to succeed with this population. Residential services, assistance in meeting basic needs, crisis intervention services, somatic therapies, problem‐solving outpatient contacts, and comprehensive psychosocial treatments are found to be necessary in order to achieve a number of commonly cited goals in the treatment of the chronically mentally ill. Furthermore, the way that services are delivered may be of equal importance to what services are made available. To be effective services must be delivered in a highly individualized manner, be made assertively available, be structured to maximize the provision of continuity of care, and be provided in an ongoing rather than time‐limited fashion. While clearly more services are needed than currently exist for the chronically mentally ill, it is suggested that treatment can be improved by altering the way in which existing services are delivered to this population.
Psychiatric Deinstitutionalization: A Sociocultural Analysis
Authors: Estroff Sue E.
Published: April 2010

This paper analyzes deinstitutionalization and community treatment of psychiatric patients from a sociocultural perspective, discusses the social values and processes of the movement, and presents an overview of the experience of patients in the community. It argues that, in sociocultural terms, deinstitutionalization of the most needy patients has failed. Economic, clinical, and social hypotheses about why these failures have occurred are presented. The analysis suggests that deinstitutionalization has failed in large part because it did not address the sociocultural reasons for institutionalization.
Family Participation for Juvenile Offenders in Deinstitutionalization Programs
Authors: Mahoney Anne Rankin
Published: April 2010

This article reviews the literature dealing with the impact of deinsti‐tutionalization on families. It focuses on empirical research that has produced data on the outcome of family treatment, labeling, scape‐goating of the youth, and widening the net of the juvenile justice system. In spite of the increasingly widespread use of family intervention techniques for juveniles the review yields little empirical information about effects of deinstitutionalization programs on families. It does, however, raise some serious concerns about the potential cost of deinstitutionalization to different family members, and the relative rights of family members who are brought into treatment.