bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Levels of Moral Reasoning Among Female Domestic Violence Offenders: Evaluating the Impact of Treatment
Authors: Buttell Frederick P.
Published: April 2003

Objective: The purpose of this study was to: (a) investigate the level of moral reasoning of female batterers beginning court-mandated treatment, (b) investigate whether the current standardized treatment program was effective in altering the level of moral reasoning of female batterers, and (c) determine if there was an association between level of moral reasoning and recidivism at 2 years following treatment completion. Method: The study employed a nonequivalent control group design in examining the moral reasoning level of 91 women court ordered into a standard group treatment program for domestic violence offenders. Results: Analysis of the pretest data indicated that the entire sample of batterers was employing a level of moral reasoning two standard deviations lower than adults in general. Additionally, analysis of the posttest data demonstrated that there was no significant increase in moral reasoning at the conclusion of the treatment program, indicating that the current treatment program was ineffective in influencing moral reasoning. Women were monitored for a period of 2 years following treatment completion and a low positive correlation was found (r = .32) between level of moral reasoning and rearrest. Conclusion: Implications of the findings for enhancing intervention efforts with court-ordered, female batterers were explored and discussed.
What’s There and What’s Not: Measuring Daily Hassles in Urban African American Adolescents
Authors: Miller David B. , Webster Susan E. , MacIntosh Randall
Published: April 2003

Objective: A review of current empirical research on adolescent stress reveals that measures of stress were developed using primarily suburban adolescents. However, there has not been a thorough examination of stressors that specifically affect urban minority adolescents. This article discusses the findings from the Urban Hassles Scale (UHS). Method: A nonrandom sample of 131 African American adolescents was surveyed to assess the stressors within their environments. Results: Findings suggest that the UHS has construct and concurrent validity with a Cronbach’s alpha of .85. Conclusions: The UHS has practical implications for practitioners providing services to adolescents residing in the urban milieu. Social worker researchers can utilize the UHS to further study the cumulative effect of constant stress on adolescents living in such environments.
Creating and Validating Rapid Assessment Instruments for Practice and Research: Part 1
Authors: Springer David W. , Abell Neil , Hudson Walter W.
Published: April 2003

In this age of accountability, social work practitioners face greater demands to demonstrate the effectiveness of their interventions. A practical way to accomplish this is to use rapid assessment instruments (RAIs) to measure a client’s level of functioning so that any subsequent change in functioning can be accurately detected over time. Although great strides have been made during the past three decades in the development of RAIs, there remains a paucity of reliable and valid scales when compared to the increasingly complex range of problems that practitioners confront in their day-to-day work with clients. This article, the first in a two-part series, outlines how to conceptualize and create a scale and how to plan and subsequently implement a design testing the newly created scale’s reliability and validity. The second article in this series provides illustrations of these steps from the authors’ own works, detailing decision making and strategies for analyzing psychometric data.
The Center for Social Work Research at the University of Texas at Austin: A Profile
Authors: Lewis Carol M. , Henney Susan M. , McRoy Ruth G. , White Barbara W.
Published: April 2003

The Center for Social Work Research (CSWR) in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin demonstrates how interdisciplinary research collaborations between faculty, social work practitioners, and administrators can enhance social work practice and policy development. With limited infrastructure funding since 1974, CSWR has operated with grant monies renewed through contracts with state agencies and foundations seeking program evaluation, data collection, and/or data analyses. Research has focused on topics such as at-risk youth, teenage pregnancy, open adoptions, foster care, child abuse, child care services, welfare reform, and many others. CSWR is now utilizing federal funding opportunities to expand its functions and obtain infrastructure funds necessary for supporting investigator-initiated research.
Evidence-Based Practice: Counterarguments to Objections
Authors: Gibbs Leonard , Gambrill Eileen
Published: April 2003

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of clients. The authors describe and offer counterarguments to objections to EBP. These objections could result in premature dismissal of this new form of practice and education that offers potential benefits to social work and its clients. Objections to EBP fall into six categories: (a) arguments from ignorance about the nature of EBP, (b) misinterpreted professional standards, (c) arguments appealing to tradition, (d) ad hominem arguments, (e) arguments on ethical grounds, and (f) philosophical arguments. Reviewing objections to EBP may help us to increase our understanding of barriers to use of practice-related research findings in the helping professions and honoring related requirements described in our code of ethics.
Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Interactional Problem-Solving Inventory
Authors: Cheung Siu-Kau
Published: April 2003

Objective: This study aimed at examining the internal consistency, construct validity, and factor structure of the Chinese version of the Interactional Problem-Solving Inventory, which, in the original Dutch version, assesses people’s abilities to solve marital problems. Method: 335 Chinese respondents in Hong Kong with and without significant marital problems were recruited to fill in the inventory. Results: The scale scores had an alpha value of .91. The inventory correlated with marital satisfaction and discriminated between groups with and without marital problems. Principal components analysis revealed two interpretable factors, namely, General Problem Orientation and Couple Communication. Conclusions: The Chinese version of the inventory demonstrates adequate internal consistency and construct validity for use in assessing marital problem solving in marital training and treatment.
Assessment of Family Functioning in Chinese Adolescents: The Chinese Version of the Family Assessment Device
Authors: Shek Daniel T. L.
Published: April 2003

Objective: The reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Chinese version of the McMaster Family Assessment Device were examined in three studies. Method: In Study 1, data based on 361 adolescents were examined. In Study 2, data analyzed from a clinical group and a nonclinical group (N = 281 and 451, respectively) were carried out. In Study 3, data based on 3,649 secondary school students were analyzed. Results: Findings support the internal consistency, concurrent validity, and discriminant and construct validity of the scales in different samples. In contrast to the proposal that there are seven dimensions in the scale, three stable factors could be extracted from the Chinese version, and the related subscales had adequate internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct and discriminant validity in different samples. Conclusions: The Chinese device possesses good psychometric properties, although its factor structure might differ from that based on the original English version.
Measuring Drug Abuse: The Development of the Chinese Drug Involvement Scale in Hong Kong
Authors: Lam C. W. , Ng H. Y. , Boey K. W.
Published: April 2003

Objective: The development of the Chinese Drug Involvement Scale for use in Chinese communities. Method: A battery of scales, including the Chinese Drug Involvement Scale and three mental health measures, were administered to 152 students of 13 to 18 years of age. Reliability and validity analyses were performed. The refined version was then cross-validated on a group of identified drug abusers (N = 77). Results: The final version of the Chinese Drug Involvement Scale is a 22-item scale. Validation results demonstrate that the Chinese Drug Involvement Scale has high reliability and a satisfactory level of validity. Conclusion: The Chinese Drug Involvement Scale is a global assessment of an individual’s beliefs and values relating to drug use, apart from actual drug abuse behavior. The scale will be particularly useful for periodic assessments or outcome evaluation in treatment programs.
An Evaluative Study on the Effectiveness of a Parent-Child Parallel Group Model
Authors: Chan Ko-Ling , Yeung Ka-Ching , Chu Chi-Keung , Tsang Kar-Yee , Leung Yuk-Ki
Published: April 2003

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a parent-child parallel group model that attempted to reduce parent-adolescent conflict. Method: A single group research design with pretest, posttest, and follow-up assessments was employed. Results: Results showed that the level of mother-adolescent conflict at posttest was lower than the level at pretest. The findings, based on the target problem rating, indicated that after the group intervention, both the mothers and adolescents perceived that the problems they had identified in the mother-child relationship had become less severe. The findings, based on subjective outcome measures, were also positive. Conclusion: The present study provides some evidence to support the effectiveness of the parallel group intervention for social work practice.
Evaluating Service Recipient Outcomes in Psychiatric Residential Services in Hong Kong
Authors: Chan Charles C. , Lui Wacy W. S. , Wan Deborah L. Y. , Yau Sania S. W.
Published: April 2003

Objective: The service output and outcomes of psychiatric residential services in Hong Kong have been increasingly reported; however, there was still a gap concerning the factors and interaction effects between service recipients and facility factors on recipient outcomes. Method: 757 residents in 11 halfway houses and 2 long-stay care homes were assessed by social workers during routine service delivery. Results: The service recipients’ functioning was positively associated with working under a supported employment service, having finished secondary school education, having an upward vocational mobility in the past 6 months, having insight of one’s illness, and having less frequent psychiatric and medical follow-ups. Multilevel analysis revealed significant interaction effects between service recipient factors and facility factors on functioning and recipients’ perception of quality of life. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the benefit of integrating research into practice for effective social work and of using multilevel analysis for data with hierarchical structure.
A Statewide Follow-Up Study of Alcohol and Illegal Drug Use Treatment
Authors: Delva Jorge , Allgood Jane , Morrell Ronald , McNeece C. Aaron
Published: April 2003

Objective: Estimates of the 6- to 12-month prevalence of substance use and results of tests comparing drug use among individuals that completed and did not complete substance abuse treatment are provided. Method: The sample consists of 499 participants in a computerized assisted telephone interview in 1999. Results: Alcohol was the most commonly used substance followed by marijuana and cocaine or crack. Individuals that completed outpatient treatment were less likely to have used cocaine or crack when compared with individuals that did not complete out-patient treatment. A lower percentage of individuals that completed residential treatment used alcohol, marijuana, or crack when compared to noncompleters; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Frequency of family arguments and shorter treatment episodes were significantly associated with drug use. Conclusions: Posttreatment substance use varied as a function of the type of drug used, treatment modality, familial relationship, and length of treatment.
Validating the Internal Structure of the Practice Skills Inventory
Authors: O’Hare Thomas , Tran Thanh V. , Collins Pauline
Published: April 2003

Objective: This study describes a confirmatory factor analysis of the internal structure of the Practice Skills Inventory (PSI) and assesses reliability and criterion validity of the subscales. Method: The study used a combined survey sample of social work master’s students and experienced practitioners (N = 566) who responded to the 75-item questionnaire. Results: A three-factor model measuring supportive, therapeutic coping, and case management skills significantly fits the data (based on several fit indices) with high factor loadings and good reliability ratings. Subscales also predicted the level of social work practice experience. Conclusions: The PSI demonstrates adequate factorial validity and internal consistency and provides a practical tool to further study the utilization of social work practice skills.
A Comparison of Computer-Based Versus Pencil-and-Paper Assessment of Drug Use
Authors: Sarrazin Mary S. Vaughan , Hall James A. , Richards Christopher , Carswell Christopher
Published: April 2003

Objective: This randomized trial explores whether client responses to a structured interview differed when the interview was administered using a paper instrument or a computer. Method: 100 clients in substance abuse treatment were randomly assigned to undergo a comprehensive clinical assessment by either standard pencil-and-paper interview or computer-assisted interview. The reported use of drugs and incidence of drug-related problems were compared across the two types of administration using ANOVA, independent sample t tests, and chi-square statistics. The difference in the effect of the computerized interview on clients with and without pending legal issues was also evaluated. Results: In general, clients provided the same responses to standard pencil-and-paper interviews and computer-assisted interviews. Having pending legal issues did not affect the client’s sensitivity to the computer-assisted interview. Conclusion: We found no evidence that the use of computerized clinical assessments by social work practitioners compromises the validity of client responses.
A Psychometric Study of the Multi-Problem Screening Inventory Depression Subscale Using Item Response and Generalizability Theories
Authors: Nugent William R.
Published: April 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the measurement characteristics of the Multi-Problem Screening Inventory (MPSI) depression subscale. Method: A sample of 542 responses to the MPSI was obtained from persons seeking assistance in any of several child and family service agencies. The responses on the depression subscale were analyzed using item response theory and generalizability theory methods. Results: The MPSI depression subscale produced scores with very desirable measurement properties for use in (a) monitoring a client's change in depression across time and (b) making tentative decisions concerning the clinical significance of a client's depression level. The measurement error characteristics of the MPSI depression subscale scores reach a minimum just below the clinical cutting point and then remain constant across the clinical cutting point and across the range of clinically significant depression levels. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the MPSI depression subscale can be used by social work practitioners to both assess and monitor their clients' problems with depression.
Characteristics of the Safe At Home Instrument for Assessing Readiness to Change Intimate Partner Violence
Authors: Begun Audrey L. , Murphy Christopher , Bolt Daniel , Weinstein Benjamin , Strodthoff Terri , Short Lynn , Shelley Gene
Published: April 2003

Objective: This article describes the development, factor structure, concurrent validity, and predictive validity of the Safe At Home instrument, a 35-item self-report measure designed for social work assessment of individuals' readiness to change their intimate partner violence behaviors. Method: Multisite data (five sites, a total of 1,359 men at intake) addressed questions concerning instrument properties. Results: Initial exploratory factor analysis identified three scales that are consistent with the early stages outlined in the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (Precontemplation, Contemplation, and Preparation/Action). Confirmatory factor analysis further supported the three-factor solution. Concurrent and predictive validity were examined on a subset of cases. Conclusions: The Safe At Home instrument has applicability for social work evaluation of batterer's treatment intervention; additional study is needed for reliable use as an individual clinical assessment tool.
Meta-analysis of Interventions With Co-occurring Disorders of Severe Mental Illness and Substance Abuse: Implications for Social Work Practice
Authors: Dumaine Marian L.
Published: April 2003

Objective: A quantitative analysis of 15 empirical studies is conducted to determine effective interventions with the dually diagnosed. Method: Client and practitioner characteristics, types of interventions, and treatment effectiveness are examined through meta-analytic techniques. Results: (a) Age of client was positively correlated with effect size, (b) there were no statistically significant correlations between practitioner training or practitioner-to-client ratio and effect size, (c) intensive case management was associated with the greatest effect size, and (d) a small positive effect size was found for standard aftercare with outpatient psychoeducational treatment groups. Conclusions: Social work practice implications, based on the results of the quantitative analysis and trends identified in the studies, are that there is a unique role for practitioners in advocating for linkage of resources, additional supports for clients, and the dismantling of barriers that impede resource access.
Teaching Evidence-Based Practice: Toward a New Paradigm for Social Work Education
Authors: Howard Matthew O. , McMillen Curtis J. , Pollio David E.
Published: April 2003

The scientific literature relevant to social work practice has grown expansively in recent years. Corollary developments, including the widespread availability of electronic bibliographic databases, improved indexing services, and increased acceptance of systematic reviews and evidence-based practice guidelines, have made research findings increasingly accessible to practitioners. For the first time in the history of the profession, social work educators are confronted with the challenges posed, and opportunities afforded, by this accumulating body of practice-relevant scientific information. Evidence-based practice is a new paradigm that promotes more effective social interventions by encouraging the conscientious, judicious, and explicit use of the best available scientific evidence in professional decision making. Pedagogically, evidence-based practice involves teaching students the values and skills they need to identify, critically appraise, and apply practice-relevant scientific evidence over the course of their professional careers. This article describes the potential benefits of evidence-based social work professional education and ongoing efforts of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University to implement curriculum-wide changes supportive of evidence-based professional practice education.
Emerging Narrative Forms of Knowledge Representation in the Health Sciences: Two Texts in a Postmodern Context
Authors: Abma Tineke A.
Published: April 2003

Qualitative health researchers have recently begun to experiment with narrative forms of knowledge representation, often incorporating postmodern theory and related constructivist epistemology. However, misunderstanding of these ideas may lead to rejection of, or lack of interest in, these unconventional texts, which in turn might impede the use of narrative forms in the health sciences. The author’s aim is to “open up” the provocative domain of ideas about knowledge representation and explain how the forms operate. Two texts are described with respect to narrative plotting, author’s stance, character building, voices, and rhetorical tropes: Troubling the Angels, Patti Lather and Chris Smithies’s account of support groups for women living with HIV/AIDS, and The Social Meaning of Surgery, Nicolas Fox’s description and sociological analysis of daily life in the operating theater. Other examples of emerging forms are integrated and made relevant to the substantive texts chosen for analysis.
In the Thick of it: A Reflective Tale from an Australian Social Worker/Qualitative Researcher
Authors: Gair Susan
Published: April 2003

Engagement in qualitative research incorporating feminist principles means that researchers must view themselves within the research boundaries and actively render transparent their own research experiences. This researcher explored motherhood with 50 adoptive mothers across Queensland, Australia. This article describes in detail her motivation for undertaking the study and some of her personal thoughts about, and experiences with, qualitative, feminist, women-centered research.
Controllers and Noncontrollers: A Typology of Older Americans and their Caregivers’ Approaches to Managing the Private Funding of Long-Term Care
Authors: Peters Cynthia Mikolas , Pinkston Elsie M.
Published: April 2003

Virtually all the parents of the baby boom generation are now elderly, and baby boomers are facing long-term care as a real-life, intensely personal problem. The inadequacies of the American long-term-care system for meeting the needs of anyone—regardless of age, illness, or disability—are widely discussed. Many of these inadequacies relate to the financing of long-term care. In this study, the authors focus on older Americans’ reactions to this issue and, in particular, how life course events and family background affect their ability to privately finance care. Using qualitative data, the authors propose highly focused views of individual responses to the current long-term care system in the United States.
How Much Subjectivity is Needed to Understand Our Lives Objectively?
Authors: Carter Shelly
Published: April 2003

The author provides a first-person account, based on diaries and reminiscences, of a woman living in an abusive relationship. Using parallel texts, she juxtaposes the experience of spousal abuse against information derived from research literature and raises questions concerning objectivity in scholarship.
Struggling to Understand: The Experience of Nonsmoking Parents with Adolescents who Smoke
Authors: Small Sandra P. , Brennan-Hunter Andrea L. , Best Donna G. , Solberg Shirley M.
Published: April 2003

Smoking among adolescents is a major public health concern. Most parents would not want their children engaged in this risk-taking behavior. Although a majority of parents of smokers are themselves smokers, many are nonsmokers. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to understand what nonsmoking parents experience due to their adolescent children’s smoking behavior. The purposive sample consisted of 25 parents. The interview data generated the theory that nonsmoking parents struggle to understand their adolescents’ smoking. They experienced four stages: discovering the smoking, facing the problem, reflecting, and waiting it out. Their experience can be examined from a stress paradigm. Programs are needed that provide parents with the knowledge and skills required for effective prevention and intervention strategies.
The Process of Preventing Pregnancy: Women’s Experiences and Emergency Contraception Use
Authors: Esacove Anne W , Andringa Kimberly R.
Published: April 2003

The model of “unintended“ pregnancy has dominated reproductive health research and policy since the early 1970s. The concept reflects the prevailing highly rational model of behavior in public health and the assumption that the only acceptable points of preventing pregnancy are before or during intercourse. This model is simplistic, overly utilitarian, and does not reflect the experiences of the more than 1 million women who use emergency contraception (EC) and have abortions each year in the United States. Based on stories gathered through open-ended interviews of 32 women seeking EC, the authors propose a dynamic process of pregnancy prevention, spanning the act of intercourse and situated in a complex cultural context. Such a model reconceptualizes efforts to control one’s fertility, normalizes the experiences of women who do not fit the existing models, and generates new ideas for supporting women and their male partners in their efforts to control their reproduction.
“The Strongest Women”: Exploration of the Inner Resources of Abused Women
Authors: Davis Ruth E.
Published: April 2003

Domestic violence is reaching epidemic proportions and is designated a national health crisis in the United States. Yet, the stories of abused women and their experiences are only just recently appearing in the literature. The use of coping strategies in dealing with abusive intimate partners is one such area that invites further research. Using the phenomenological method, 17 volunteers discuss their inner resources for surviving abusive experiences and developing ways to protect themselves in future relationships. Women’s accounts of abuse experiences add depth to what is known about their strength and portray them as survivors rather than as victims. Future research is called for that adds to the understanding of the inner resources attributed to the women in the study findings.
Chinese Family Obligations Toward Chronically Ill Elderly Members: Comparing Caregivers in Beijing and Hong Kong
Authors: Holroyd Eleanor E.
Published: April 2003

In this ethnographic study, the author outlines the contextual background to family caregiving in China and Hong Kong. She interviewed 10 Beijing family caregivers and compared them with 35 Hong Kong family caregivers, examining cultural differences and continuities in the care of the elderly with chronic illnesses that necessitate almost complete dependency. The socially circulating messages and resources (e.g., pension allocation, marriage laws, housing options, and women's employment) inform an individual's decisions on negotiating and enacting care. Beijing family caregivers described reciprocity and the emotional forces of affection and hostility. The author highlights an emergent family transition both in China and in Hong Kong from presocialist duty-centered family obligations to those now centered on affective relationships, and she details caregiving options available within societies that are culturally identifiable as Chinese.
Qualitative Research in a Cross-Cultural Context: Fijian Experiences
Authors: Laverack Glenn R. , Brown Kevin M.
Published: April 2003

In this article, the authors discuss the experiences of conducting qualitative research in traditional Fijian communities. This provided the setting for the cross-cultural exchange between the researcher and research participants and from which the authors draw important considerations for the design of future qualitative studies. In particular, the authors discuss the need to adapt essentially Western research designs to accommodate different cross-cultural styles of facilitation, group dynamics, spatial arrangements, gender issues, protocol, patterns of participation, and perception of time. They propose a model that clarifies the types of roles and styles of facilitation observed in a Fijian workshop setting and comment on how different cross-cultural dynamics between the researcher and participants can influence the success of qualitative research.
Defining Recovery: An Interactionist Analysis of Mental Health Policy Development, Wisconsin 1996-1999
Authors: Jacobson Nora
Published: April 2003

The author examines how, as part of a reform of Wisconsin's public mental health system, a workgroup of system stakeholders defined and operationalized the concept of recovery. Based on participant observation, document analysis, and interviews, with an analytic framework drawn from symbolic interactionism, the author finds that although individual members held a range of definitions of recovery, the workgroup was able to reach consensus in its policy recommendations through processual means and by tacitly agreeing on a set of overarching values that were flexible enough to accommodate many definitions.
The Problem of Bracketing in Phenomenology
Authors: LeVasseur Jeanne J.
Published: April 2003

Phenomenology has become a popular approach for nursing inquiry, yet certain questions about the methodology have not been fully addressed in the literature. Specifically, the technique of bracketing is often regarded as a way of indicating scientific rigor in the phenomenological approach, yet a precise description of how it is achieved and why it is appropriate in individual studies has sometimes been overlooked. The author reviews philosophical roots of phenomenology and discusses the issue of using bracketing within hermeneutic frameworks. A fresh interpretation of bracketing is offered in an effort to resolve the incongruity of employing the technique within essentially hermeneutic research.
Collecting Sensitive Data: The Impact on Researchers
Authors: Johnson Barbara , Clarke Jill Macleod
Published: April 2003

The authors undertook an exploratory study to identify issues that arose for researchers while conducting fieldwork. Ten researchers engaged in "sensitive" inquiry were purposefully sampled and encouraged to talk about their experiences during the data collection process. Interviews were transcribed and common themes identified. The findings indicate that these researchers experienced a number of difficulties that centered around issues of lack of training, confidentiality, role conflict, costs to the participants, the desire for reciprocity, and feelings of isolation. The authors discuss the implications of the findings, including the need for support for researchers for further research.
Health Diaries in a Rural Australian Study
Authors: Keleher Helen M. , Verrinder Glenda K.
Published: April 2003

The authors designed a study around the use of health diaries comprising both open- and closed-ended questions and kept over a 16-week period by 118 rural and remote-dwelling families in Victoria, Australia. Participants documented their use of health services, episodes of illness, actions taken to keep healthy, and reflections on services and programs. In this article, the authors report on the health diary method. They discuss the qualitative ways in which the participants used their study involvement to enrich their lives: accessing health information and advice, furthering their concerns about rural health, and using the research process for social support. The authors discuss issues surrounding the rural and remote context of the study and the length of time over which the diaries were kept.
Encountering the Continuing Challenges for Women With Chronic Pain: Recovery Through Recognition
Authors: Werner Anne , Steihaug Sissel , Malterud Kirsti
Published: April 2003

This work is based on experiences from a group treatment for women with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The authors explored the nature and consequences of the reported benefits from being met with recognition in the groups, focusing the potential usefulness in everyday life. In-depth interviews of six participants of various age and backgrounds were conducted. The women’s answers reflected how recognition had enhanced strength, confidence, and awareness expressed as increased bodily, emotional, and social competence. This competence provided tools to handle their pain and illness. Achieving the sense of a better life with chronic pain represents an important recovery process. Because of the normative and gendered way the term “coping(ability)” has been used, the authors introduce recovery competence as a more fruitful concept.
Accessing the Community: Gaining Insider Perspectives From the Outside
Authors: Sixsmith Judith , Boneham Margaret , Goldring John E.
Published: April 2003

Accessing participants for research projects is often treated as unproblematic. However the experience outlined here of negotiating access to participants within a community setting illustrates the inherent difficulties of recruitment. The authors describe the techniques used and practical challenges faced when accessing participants within a socially deprived community for a qualitative research project on social capital. They used a number of different strategies to generate a diverse sample including advertising, snowballing, accessing gatekeepers, and street surveys. The value of a stakeholder analysis is described alongside issues surrounding the use of gatekeepers. Rather than acting as outsiders seeking participants at every available opportunity, a more fortuitous strategy involved the ethnographic approach of “being there” as active contributors to community life. Here, the cornerstones of credibility and trust were addressed in a process of continually negotiating access from a semi-insider position.
The Dignity of Elders in an Acute Care Hospital
Authors: Jacelon Cynthia S.
Published: April 2003

In a grounded theory study of the social processes engaged in by elderly individuals while hospitalized, dignity arose as one central focus of their strategies. Dignity was found to have two attributes: self-dignity, the individual’s sense of self-worth; and interpersonal dignity, that attributed to the elder by others and manifested by the respect they received. Privacy was conceptualized as an interface between the hospitalized elders and staff, visitors, and roommates. The author presents an in-depth discussion of the meaning of dignity for five hospitalized elderly participants for each of three phases of hospitalization. Strategies used by the elders to affect their dignity included making meaning out of interactions with others, adjusting attitude, managing image, managing information, and life reviewing.
Body Positive
Authors: Stewart Tiffany M. , Williamson Donald A.
Published: April 2003

Four women who had previously undergone extensive treatment for an eating disorder but continued to have persistent body image disturbances participated in a new body image therapy program, called the Body Positive program. This project was conceptualized as a pilot study in which all participants were treated using the same protocol. There was no control group. Participants underwent pre- and post- treatment assessment that measured indices such as: body size estimation, depression, anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptoms. The treatment consisted of 16 total sessions and was conducted on an outpatient basis over a 20-week period. The treatment implemented in this study was based on a cognitive-behavioral conceptualization. Components of the treatment were: relaxation and rebreathing training, self-monitoring, cognitive-behavioral treatment for body image concerns, mirror exposure (involving in- session and homework exposure to the body), behavioral exposure, and relapse prevention. Treatment efficacy was evaluated by changes in the outcome measures from pretreatment to posttreatment. Results indicated an overall improvement for all four participants in the areas of depression, state and trait anxiety, and body dissatisfaction. In addition, improvement was found for eating disorder symptoms such as; binge eating, purging, fear of fatness, restrictive eating, and avoidance of fear foods. These preliminary findings suggest that body image therapy can be used to effectively treat persistent weight/shape concerns in persons who have partially recovered from an eating disorder.
Evaluating Environmental Impact Statements as Communicative Action
Authors: Dayton David
Published: April 2003

An environmental impact statement (EIS) is supposed to ensure that a government agency thoroughly evaluates a project's impacts, studies feasible alternatives, and gives all stakeholders an active role in project-related decisions. Previous rhetorical studies of the EIS describe a failed or subversive genre routinely used to advance the strategic aims of an agency seeking to implement a project despite significant opposition. This article contends that an EIS motivated by a genuinely persuasive purpose can serve as the discursive focus of democratic decision making about major projects and substantially achieve Habermas's norms of communicative action. This may happen, for example, when a local transportation agency develops an EIS for a federal transportation agency. To illustrate this possibility, two EISs involving distinct federal-local relationships in Puerto Rico are evaluated using criteria proposed by John Forester for investigating the degree to which public decision-making processes fulfill Habermas's norms of communicative action.
Toward a Synthesis Model for Crisis Communication in the Public Sector
Authors: Horsley J. Suzanne , Barker Randolph T.
Published: April 2003

This article explores approaches to crisis communication and the application of those approaches by organizations responding to a disaster. The authors conducted a survey of 107 state government agencies to learn about government efforts in situations requiring crisis communication. Generally, the survey results suggest that although state agencies enjoy a positive relationship with the media, they have little proactive communication with the media, and less than half have a written crisis communication plan. Significant associations were found between the variables under study, including size of the organization, roles in crisis situations, media relationships, and preparation of a crisis communication plan. Case studies and additional evaluations of communication resources are needed to help determine the ability of the public sector to respond effectively to crises. This article considers the needs of state agencies and proposes a conceptual approach that synthesizes a crisis communication process designed for the public sector.
Toward Integrating Our Research Scope
Authors: Spinuzzi Clay
Published: April 2003

Technical communicators have recently become interested in user-centered design (UCD) for designing and evaluating technical genres. Yet, a critical examination of the field methods of UCD suggests that they suffer from unintegrated scope: an undesirably limiting focus on a particular level of scope (either the macroscopic level of human activity or the mesoscopic level of goal-directed action) in their theoretical underpinnings and data collection and analysis. This focus is often paired with the assumption that this particular level of scope causally affects what happens at the other levels. Both the focus and the assumption are at odds with sociocultural theories of human activity. This article lays out the problem of unintegrated scope and examines it through critical analyses of two field methods used in UCD research. It concludes by proposing an integrated-scope research methodology for UCD research, with roots in both sociocultural theory and the central issues of technical communication.
Gender and Modes of Collaboration in an Engineering Classroom
Authors: Ingram Sandra , Parker Anne
Published: April 2003

Research suggests that men and women have different communicative styles that contribute to women's lack of acceptance in male-dominated fields. However, this perspective can lead to stereotypes that limit the range of interactional strategies open to individuals. This article profiles two women from student engineering teams who participated in a study on collaboration and the role of gender. The study, which used a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis, showed that men and women alike displayed both gender-linked and non-gender-linked behavior. It also showed that successful collaboration was influenced less by gender and more by such factors as a strong work ethic, team commitment, and effective leadership.
Teaching Intracultural and Intercultural Communication
Authors: Devoss Dànielle , Jasken Julia , Hayden Dawn
Published: April 2003

Within an increasingly global marketplace, discussions of intercultural communication are important in business and technical communication classrooms. Although many business and technical communication textbooks integrate discussions of intercultural communication, they do not go far enough in engaging the complicated nature of this issue. This article summarizes recent literature about the importance of paying attention to intercultural communication and analyzes the productive approaches in popular business and technical communication textbooks. It presents five challenges for business and technical communication teachers to consider and includes teaching modules that address these challenges. Although the article focuses on classroom practice, such intercultural explorations are also of value to authors of business and technical communication textbooks, who might consider integrating modules such as these into their textbooks.
Using Customer Data to Drive Documentation Design Decisions
Authors: Smart Karl L. , Whiting Matthew E.
Published: April 2003

This article shows how user-centered design can be applied to documentation and reports the results of a two-year contextual design study. The article (1) demonstrates how contextual design can be applied to information and (2) reports some of the study's results, outlining key insights gleaned about users. The study found that users vary widely in their information needs and preferences. Users employ a variety of learning strategies in learning new software and in overcoming problems encountered within applications. Documentation can better meet variances in learning styles and user preferences when tightly integrated into applications, accessible in the user's own language. Additionally, documentation is most beneficial when several assistance options exist for users to choose among, varying according to context, task, and user need. Finally, the article discusses the constraints that affect the implementation of design ideas and explores implications for practice and additional research.
Theorizing Structure and Agency in Workplace Writing
Authors: Schneider Barbara
Published: April 2003

This article proposes ethnomethodology as a theoretical approach for resolving the structure-agency binary and for treating the activities of writers in organizations as simultaneously embedded in and constitutive of organizational context. Structure is defined as those elements of social circumstances that writers orient to as relevant to their immediate writing task. In orienting to these elements, writers reproduce them as external and constraining social facts. The value of ethnomethodology is illustrated with data from a study examining the social practices that surrounded the writing of an evaluation report by two managers in an educational institution.
When Cultures and Computers Collide
Authors: St.Amant Kirk
Published: April 2003

Online communication technology makes intercultural communication faster and more direct than was ever before possible, but, in doing so, it may also amplify cultural rhetorical differences. Communication scholars, therefore, need to begin examining potential areas of conflict in international cyberspace to anticipate and to resolve potential cross-cultural misunderstandings related to online exchanges. This commentary proposes that researchers need to compare the communication patterns noted in the computermediated communication (CMC) literature and in the intercultural communication literature to see where these communication patterns collide.
A Historical Look at Electronic Literacy
Authors: Selfe Cynthia L. , Hawisher Gail E.
Published: April 2003

This article investigates the ways in which a subset of technical communicators acquired electronic literacy from 1978 to 2000, a period during which personal computers became increasingly ubiquitous in the United States in educational settings, homes, communities, and workplaces. It describes the literacy autobiographies gathered from 55 professional communicators participating on the Techwr-l listserv, focusing on the large-scale trends that these autobiographies reveal. To supplement the findings from these autobiographies, the authors conducted face-to-face interviews with four case-study participants: a faculty member, a professional communicator, and two students of different backgrounds majoring in technical communication. The article concludes with observations about the development of technical communication instruction in the twenty-first century.
Public Rhetoric and Public Safety at the Chicago Transit Authority
Authors: Coogan David
Published: April 2003

This article compares three rhetorical approaches to accident analysis: materialist, classical, and constructivist. The focal points for comparison are the two accident reports issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)—reports that attempted (and failed) to persuade the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to change a problematic policy about rail communication alongside its technology for rail communication. The central question the article asks is, How can rhetorical theory help explain the CTA”s inaction, which ultimately led to property damage, injury, and death? Classical and constructivist approaches, emphasizing rational deliberation between equals, on one hand, and the social construction of technical knowledge between professionals, on the other, offer plausible explanations for what went wrong. But only the materialist approach appears capable of discerning the ideological nature of the CTA”s resistance to the NTSB”s recommendations.
User Perceptions of E-Mail at Work
Authors: Dawley David D. , Anthony William P.
Published: April 2003

This article examines employee sentiments concerning the use of e-mail. An exploratory study at one state agency was used to create a survey of employee perceptions of e-mail use. The survey was then administered to a second state agency. The survey findings show that although most employees found e-mail to be highly useful, they also complained of information overload. The findings also suggest that employees perceive peer misuse and lack of peer training to be culprits of e-mail overload. The article discusses the theoretical implications of the study and makes recommendations for improving e-mail training.
Educating For Sustainability: Developing Critical Skills
Authors: Kearins Kate , Springett Delyse
Published: April 2003

This article explores the contribution a pedagogical approach based in critical theory can make to education for sustainability in business schools. In addition to the regular business and environmental management curriculum that provides tools for incremental improvement, we advocate introducing a radical change perspective aligned more with the “strong” sustainability paradigm. Concepts from critical theory can be usefully employed to bridge weak and strong sustainability paradigms. A critical skillset incorporating reflexivity, critique, and social action/engagement is elaborated and illustrated through the incorporation of these skills in the framing of an environmental management/sustainability elective and through exercises.
Challenges Of Integrating Environmental Sustainability Issues Into Business School Curriculum: A Case Study From The University Of Jyväskylä, Finland
Authors: Pesonen Hanna-Leena
Published: April 2003

This article evaluates the challenges of integrating environmental sustainability issues into business school curricula reflecting the experiences of the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. Lessons learned in Jyväskylä are summarized as central pieces of advice for other business schools planning a program of corporate environmental management.