Testing the Underclass Concept by Surveying Attitudes and Behavior

Recent interest in the problems of an underclass has highlighted deficiencies in the conceptual understanding of the term and empirical investigation into its dynamics. This research note describes the current definition of the concept and presents recent empirical tests of it. By presenting available survey data sets that can identify underclass attitudes, values and behavior, the note refines the deliberations on measurement. Two underclass groups, welfare recipients and criminals, are used to illustrate the methodolog

Predicting service utilization with the child and adolescent functional assessment scale in a sample of youths with serious emotional disturbance served by center for mental health services-funded demonstrations

This study investigated level of restrictiveness of living arrangements and number of days in out-of-family care at six months postintake, based on the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS), the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), gender, age, and level of family income at intake. It was composed of youths who met the criteria for serious emotional disturbance (SED) and were for the most part living in families that are described as socioeconomically disadvantaged. A multinomial logit model was used in the analysis of level of restrictiveness of living arrangements, and an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was conducted on number of days in out-of-family care. The CAFAS score at intake was found to be a significant predictor of service utilization between intake and six months and was a more consistent predictor than the CBCL. Results suggest that the CAFAS can be used to match service needs with resource allocation and to monitor performance-based outcome indicators.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45770/1/11414_2005_Article_BF02287803.pd

Blue Collar Workers: Their Work Environment And Job Experiences.

Empirical research exploring the determinants of blue-collar workers' job attitudes is scanty. Studies of the relationship between job structure and work attitudes are marred by several limitations which threaten the generalizability of findings or create problems of reactivity, making measures unreliable or causal direction questionable. Additionally, studies with precise occupational categories tend to ignore other work rewards such as pay and prestige. The present study investigates the relationship between various objectively defined dimensions of the work environment and subjective job experiences of blue-collar men and women, defined by craftsworkers, operatives, laborers, and service workers. National survey data collected in 1976 (Study of Modern Living) provide the basis for an analysis of job-related satisfactions and dissatisfactions, perceptions of job adequacy, experiences of work problems, and role commitments. Work dimensions derived from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (1965) are Prestige, Involvement With Data, People, Things, Variety, Repetition, Instruction, and Control. Pay as a dimension of work is based on the survey data. Correlations were examined separately for men and women to discover bivariate relationships between work dimensions and job experiences. Multivariate logit analysis was then conducted to determine which dimensions of work significantly affected job experiences net of the other dimensions. Although men and women are located in different sectors of the labor market, the internal organization of their work is quite similar with work dimensions positively correlated for both. Analysis of the job experiences of blue-collar workers reveals that life at work is reportedly satisfying in a general way, but undercurrents of specific discontents pervade the apparent satisfaction. Furthermore, dimensions of work are more relevant to workers' interpretations of global and specific satisfactions than to perceptions of adequacy, work problems, role commitments, and sources of dissatisfaction. The mental challenge of work is important to both men and women for overall job satisfaction. Workers in jobs offering complexity, responsibility, and lack of routinization experience ego-satisfactions. Workers in other jobs are more likely to report extrinsic satisfactions. Women's satisfaction with money is influenced by internal aspects of work, while pay itself influences men's satisfaction with money. Men appear to react to variations in their work environment in terms of the opportunities they afford for achievement gratifications, while women use these variations to assess opportunities for affiliation.Ph.D.Occupational psychologyPsychologySocial psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/127604/2/8215070.pd

THE INFLUENCE OF DRYING ON THE STRUCTURE AND MECHANICS OF POLY (P-PHENYLENE BENZOBISTHIAZOLE) FIBERS (HIGH MODULES/STRENGTH, DRY-JET WET SPINNING, PERFORMANCE, PROCESSING)

A study of the influence of the drying process in developing fiber properties during the dry-jet wet spinning of poly (p-phenylene benzobisthiazole) is undertaken. The fiber\u27s structure and mechanical characteristics from the coagulated state through the drying process to the as-spun and heat treated state are investigated herein. The wet fiber is composed of a swollen macro and microfibrillar network of highly oriented molecules with lateral but no longitudinal order and exhibits a high degree of mechanical anisotropy. The structural and mechanical features of the as-spun fiber appear to develop during coagulation. The drying process during drying is characterized by a distinct radial contraction and axial elongation due to the porous and anisotropic nature of the coagulated fiber. Alterations in the structure and mechanics of PBT fibers are observed upon drying which is rationalized in terms of the collapse process. The drying process is a fiber modification phase. High temperature and tension are employed to optimize the driving force toward property enhancement during the drying stage. Tension during drying straightens the wet fibrillar network while offsetting axial compressive internal stresses whereas the use of high temperature increases the extent of the lateral molecular order and increases molecular orientation resulting in enhanced tensile properties. The compressive strength and shear modulus increase after drying suggesting that removal of water may serve to enhance lateral interactions within the swollen fibrillar network inhibiting shear and compressive deformation and the onset of buckling instabilities. Further increases in the compressive strength through high tension and temperature drying are not achieved since further enhancements in intermicrofibrillar and fibrillar associations are speculated to be minimal. A force-temperature (F-T) technique is implemented to study thermal expansion characteristics of these rigid rod aromatic fibers through examination of the reversible F-T behavior. Subsequent mass loss and microstructural changes during the F-T experiment (an effective post processing heat treatment) is detected from irreversible F-T effects. An assessment of the effectiveness of the initial drying and heat treatment processing to induce thermal stability and material alterations is obtained through this F-T technique