Counselors\u27 Social Class and Socioeconomic Status Understanding and Awareness

Nine licensed professional counselors participated in semi-structured interviews designed to reveal their awareness and understanding about social class and socioeconomic status (SES). Findings suggest that participants\u27 descriptions of social class and SES often are in-congruent with how they use the terms, and their awareness and understanding may be limited because of developmental factors, indicating potential clinical liabilities. The authors suggest that counselors should develop stronger social class consciousness to provide affirming counseling services and that further research on such strategies is needed

WOMEN LEADERS IN HIGH‐POVERTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS: WORK‐RELATED STRESS AND FAMILY IMPACT

This qualitative study explores the experiences of women administrators in high‐ poverty community schools, investigating four women’s perspectives on work demands and the impact on their families. Their work demands are related to the characteristics of impoverished communities, whereas their work resources are based on intrinsic rewards and social justice. Family demands and resources are related to the developmental stages of families, and therefore vary among the women inter‐ viewed. The research identifies the boundary‐spanning demands between work and home, and the resources and strategies used by these educational leaders to manage the challenges of working in high‐poverty community schools. Key words: school leadership, urban education, principals, inner‐city schools Cette étude qualitative porte sur les expériences de directrices d’école dans des milieux défavorisés. L’auteure analyse le point de vue de quatre femmes sur les exigences de leur travail et l’impact sur leurs familles. Les exigences de leur travail sont reliées aux caractéristiques des milieux pauvres tandis que leurs ressources professionnelles se fondent sur des récompenses intrinsèques et la justice sociale. Les exigences et les ressources en matière familiale sont liées au stade de développement des familles et varient donc d’une répondante à l’autre. La recherche identifie les exigences quant à l’interpénétration des frontières entre le travail et la maison ainsi que toutes les ressources et stratégies utilisées par ces cadres en vue de faire face aux défis de travailler au sein d’écoles implantées dans des milieux défavorisés. Mots clés : direction d’école, école urbaine, directeurs d’école, écoles dans des milieux défavorisés

Charitable Giving: Motivations, Deterrents & Consequences

Charitable giving has been suggested to be beneficial to everyone involved in the activity. This study has shown charitable giving can be costly to involved participants. Motives, deterrents and outcomes of charitable giving will be discussed in this paper. Implications for future practice and study will also be discussed

WOMEN LEADERS IN HIGH‐POVERTY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS: WORK‐RELATED STRESS AND FAMILY IMPACT

This qualitative study explores the experiences of women administrators in high‐ poverty community schools, investigating four women’s perspectives on work demands and the impact on their families. Their work demands are related to the characteristics of impoverished communities, whereas their work resources are based on intrinsic rewards and social justice. Family demands and resources are related to the developmental stages of families, and therefore vary among the women inter‐ viewed. The research identifies the boundary‐spanning demands between work and home, and the resources and strategies used by these educational leaders to manage the challenges of working in high‐poverty community schools. Key words: school leadership, urban education, principals, inner‐city schools Cette étude qualitative porte sur les expériences de directrices d’école dans des milieux défavorisés. L’auteure analyse le point de vue de quatre femmes sur les exigences de leur travail et l’impact sur leurs familles. Les exigences de leur travail sont reliées aux caractéristiques des milieux pauvres tandis que leurs ressources professionnelles se fondent sur des récompenses intrinsèques et la justice sociale. Les exigences et les ressources en matière familiale sont liées au stade de développement des familles et varient donc d’une répondante à l’autre. La recherche identifie les exigences quant à l’interpénétration des frontières entre le travail et la maison ainsi que toutes les ressources et stratégies utilisées par ces cadres en vue de faire face aux défis de travailler au sein d’écoles implantées dans des milieux défavorisés. Mots clés : direction d’école, école urbaine, directeurs d’école, écoles dans des milieux défavorisés

The Hobby Farm

On the family farm, the romance of farming and emotional ties to the land are in opposition to economic forces that arise from the inherent vulnerability and inefficiency of small scale operations in a market dominated by agribusiness. Some small farmers, however, have developed strategies to keep their farms in business. This paper focuses on how two of these strategies, capitalization on the popular vision of the small farmer and the dual career, combine to affect the fate of farms that can no longer entirely support themselves. These farms tend to evolve into “hobby farms” as they call themselves, marginally commercial farms that have a cheery recreational outward appearance. Most family farms provide a minority of the income of the families that operate them. They are stabilized and sometimes subsidized by their owners’ off-farm occupations. At the same time, the need for farmers to be creative in the production of their work has caused them to seek out niche markets where the small size of their farms is an advantage. In the presence of sufficient off-farm income, they frequently remain as farms retaining their title and acreage but with only minimal output. The small remaining animal herds are often characterized as pets for the family to play with

Implications of State Policy Changes on Mental Health Service Models for Students with Disabilities

For over 25 years, students with disabilities in California received educationally related mental health services through interagency collaboration between school districts and county mental health agencies. After a major change in state policy that eliminated state-mandated interagency collaboration, school districts in California are now solely responsible for providing all mental health services entitled to students with disabilities. This collective case study included three school districts, and examined mental health service provision immediately following the elimination of legally mandated coordination with county mental health professionals. Interviews were conducted with three district representatives from each of three school districts in California. Participant responses indicated confusion regarding the change in statutory regulations and disagreement surrounding assessment procedures and service providers. Implications for school districts as part of a system of care framework are discussed

Examining cultural competence in health care: implications for social workers.

This article examines and unpacks the "black box" of cultural competence in health interventions with racial and ethnic minority populations. The analysis builds on several recent reviews of evidence-based efforts to reduce health disparities, with a focus on how cultural competence is defined and operationalized. It finds that the use of multiple similar and indistinct terms related to cultural competence, as well as the lack of a mutually agreeable definition for cultural competence itself, has resulted in an imprecise concept that is often invoked but rarely defined and only marginally empirically validated as an effective health intervention. This article affirms the centrality of cultural competence as an essential values-based component of optimal social work practice, while also suggesting future directions for operationalizing, measuring, and testing cultural competence to build an evidence base on whether and how it works to reduce health disparities

Alzheimer's disease research: past approaches and future directions

Background: Three decades after the amyloid cascade hypothesis was first proposed, research into discovery of effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease has not yet produced any disease-modifying treatments.  Aims: This review outlines the progress made by dementia research thus far, and provides a brief overview of the therapeutic approaches resulting from the amyloid cascade hypothesis. It then describes the shift in research focus to the early stages of the condition, the challenges it presents and potential consequences for care.  Methods: A literature overview was undertaken by reviewing research papers, published protocols and policy guidelines.  Findings: Past research has failed to produce effective treatments for dementia, yet the causes of this failure remain debated. Discovery of affordable, early biomarkers has emerged as a key target of investigation as the focus has shifted from treatment to prevention of the condition.  Conclusions: Failures in identifying effective treatments for dementia have highlighted the importance of earlyidentification and intervention in patients as a way to prevent neurodegeneration and progression to dementia. Discovery of biomarkers is a key focus of current research. In the future, regular screening for dementia may be recommended for all older people in an effort to assess individual risk. Care may reflect a combination of early pharmacological interventions and lifestyle modification programmesbased on risk

Chronic Shoulder Pain in Manual Wheelchair (MWC) Users with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI): The Lived Experience

Background: Existing research on the lived experience of those with spinal cord injury (SCI) resulting in paraplegia who use a manual wheelchair and experience shoulder pain is extremely limited. This research aimed to begin the process of understanding the lived experience of this population and to describe how chronic shoulder pain impacts occupational engagement and quality of life. Method: A phenomenological approach using a constant comparative method was used to analyze data and to construct and redefine themes throughout the research process. The qualitative data obtained from two semi-structured interviews with the four study participants is presented below. Results: Five overarching themes emerged. The themes of putting on the brakes, intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors, hope, and resilience emerged among the participants to describe their lived experience of shoulder pain as a manual wheelchair user with SCI. Conclusion: The themes presented increased the understanding of the lived experience of shoulder pain in this population. Though the experience was unique to each participant, many similarities emerged from the themes, such as the benefit of having a strong support network including others wheelchair users with SCI and demonstrating a resilient spirit

Advancing the Rights of Children and Adolescents to Be Altruistic: Bone Marrow Donation by Minors

This article examines the standards used for answering the question of whether minors should be allowed to donate bone marrow. Part II introduces the legal background and the standards currently used by courts. Part III explores the unsatisfactory nature of these standards. Part IV presents an empirical study that is intended to provide some help in understanding what might be a useful and respectful standard. Part V concludes the article with a discussion of two alternative revised standards grounded in the doctrines of substituted judgment and the best interests of the child