Nora Gold | McMaster University (original) (raw)

Papers by Nora Gold

Summary This paper describes the structure and content of rationales given by social work profes ... more Summary This paper describes the structure and content of rationales given by social work profes sionals for risk assessments and recommendations they make with regard to cases of children at risk. We compare professionals in Canada and in Israel. We used conveni ence samples of 52 social workers from Israel and 67 from Canada. The participants reviewed a case vignette, indicated their assessment of risk and their recommended intervention. They provided rationales for their risk assessment and recommendation. We analysed the structure and content of these rationales. We used Toulmin's (Toulmin et al., 1984) framework to analyse the structure of arguments, and Rosen's (1994) cat egories were used to classify the content of their rationales. We found that most workers provided basic level arguments but did not supply complementary level argu ments (missing in particular were qualifying and rebuttals). Workers said that they relied mostly on theory, general knowledge, and experience. They rarely mentioned values or policy as the foundations of their claims, and never cited empirical knowledge in the backing up of their arguments. Canadian and Israeli workers shared similar pat terns. The most striking differences were that Canadian workers tended to mention theory and experience more than the Israelis who tended to mention general know ledge to back up their arguments. Canadian workers also used fewer warrants, backing

The research presented here is part of a study of Canadian Jewish women and their experiences of ... more The research presented here is part of a study of Canadian Jewish women and their experiences of antisemitism and sexism. Participants were located through advertisements in the English and Jewish newspapers in Toronto and Montreal, where the study was briefly described and interested Jewish women were invited

Journal of Social Work Education, 1996

Abstract Anti-Semitism has existed for over 3 millennia and has expressed itself through extensiv... more Abstract Anti-Semitism has existed for over 3 millennia and has expressed itself through extensive social and economic discrimination and systematic attempts at genocide. Yet, anti-Semitism has been almost completely excluded from discussions of racism and from anti-racism efforts (such as curriculum changes) within U.S. and Canadian schools of social work. This article places the history of anti-Semitism, and its current manifestations, within the context of the profession's explicit commitment to multiculturalism and anti-racism in social work and social work education. It then offers concrete suggestions on how content on anti-Semitism can be integrated with other anti-racist course content and initiatives already underway in North American schools of social work, and makes recommendations for policy development within CSWE.

Social Work, 1990

Motivation is an important construct in social work, yet it is one that has been relatively unexp... more Motivation is an important construct in social work, yet it is one that has been relatively unexplored. In this article, motivation is defined, the social work literature on the subject is briefly reviewed, and the recent empirical re search in psychology is summarized. The most significant findings that relate motivation to theories of locus of control and self-determination are dis cussed in terms of applications to social work practice. Further empirical study in this area is strongly recommended. THE IDEA of motivation is everyNora Gold and thus illustrate the difficulty in arriv where in social work. Cutting ing t some common, ag eed-upon

‘Mirror tables’ is a new technique for qualitative data analysis that involves the use of special... more ‘Mirror tables’ is a new technique for qualitative data analysis that involves the use of special matching tables to organize and compare data from two distinct groups of participants with multiple characteristics. It was developed in the course of a qualitative longitudinal study which explored the everyday experiences of 14 Canadian Jewish girls (ages 10-12). The girls’ characteristics used for analysis included: type of school attended – Jewish (7) or secular (7); subset of Jewish religious identification (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Other); Overall Attributional Style (CASQ) score; and life satisfaction score (0-10 scale). Thematically coded and sociodemographic data collected from the girls were organized into a 4-column table, with columns 1-2 containing data on the girls from Jewish schools and columns 3-4 data on the girls from secular schools. The analysis revealed that, surprisingly, participants with seemingly opposite sociodemographic characteristics literally ‘mirro...

This paper introduces an innovative qualitative approach to analyzing and interpreting quantitati... more This paper introduces an innovative qualitative approach to analyzing and interpreting quantitative data that came out of a longitudinal multimethod study of Canadian Jewish girls aged 10-13. The study aimed to explore the everyday experiences of growing up Jewish, female and Canadian, and to examine, over time, the Canadian Jewish girls' encounters with antisemitism and how these relate to the girls' mental health and well-being. The study combined qualitative interviews and focus groups with measuring the girls' attributional styles using the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire, and asked the girls to rate their lives on the scale of 0 (terrible) to 10 (perfect). Among the many aspects of the participants' lives that we wanted to examine was a possible link between these girls' antisemitic experiences and their attributional styles, the type of school they attended, and their family's religious affiliation. Because the small, non-random sample ...

Child welfare

Forty female workers from child welfare agencies were interviewed in focus groups regarding the p... more Forty female workers from child welfare agencies were interviewed in focus groups regarding the positive and negative aspects of their work, their perceptions of its effects on their physical and mental health, and what they did in response to either cope or to protect their health. The results showed that despite certain positive aspects of their work, these women overwhelmingly felt that their work had adversely affected both their physical and mental health, and that they used a variety of strategies (both problem focused and emotion focused) to cope. Implications are discussed in terms of the need for intervention at the micro-, mezzo-, and macrolevels, as well as in terms of the appropriateness of participatory research methods for future studies with this population.

Social Science & Medicine, 1999

The terminology used to refer to persons with disability may both re¯ect and in¯uence attitudes t... more The terminology used to refer to persons with disability may both re¯ect and in¯uence attitudes towards them. Negative references may perpetuate negative attitudes and stereotypes. This is of particular importance in the mass media which reaches a broad spectrum of the population. This study looked at disability terminology used in major newspapers in Canada and Israel. It focused on the nature of that terminology and whether its use was related to other factors, such as the disability model re¯ected in the article, the content of the article (e.g. attributes of the disabled person) and its context (e.g. type of newspaper, feature versus news items). Overall, the use of inappropriate terminology of varying types was quite prevalent in both countries. In addition, in Canada there were a considerable number of articles which had no direct reference to the disability. In general, the terminology used was considerably more positive in articles dealing with individual persons with disabilities (as opposed to groups), with disabled children and with problems of mobility and rights. The results of the study indicate that the choice of terminology cannot be explained by journalistic expedience and conciseness alone.

Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity, 2013

Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 1992

Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues

Translations into English of fiction by Yiddish women writers are still relatively rare, so the t... more Translations into English of fiction by Yiddish women writers are still relatively rare, so the translation of Rokhl Faygenberg’s Strange Ways by Golda and the late Robert Werman is a welcome, even important, addition to this body of work. Strange Ways was first published in 1925 in Warsaw, and, according to Golda Werman’s introduction, this was a milestone in Yiddish letters, since back then it was “almost unprecedented” for a full-length novel by a woman to be published in Yiddish. From a literary point of view, Strange Ways is a fine novel, one that even today feels surprisingly modern and fresh. At least one reason for this is that, at its core, it is a clear-eyed indictment of the patriarchy of shtetl life, and it depicts unflinchingly the double standard applied to women and men, and the damaging effects of this on the women in that time and place. Strange Ways is set in a shtetl that, thanks to the development of a new railway line, becomes increasingly connected to the outside world, thus exposing its residents to the new norms and customs of the city (the “strange ways” of the title). The winds of change affect everything from clothing fashions to political, social, and religious ideology. Socialism, Zionism, atheism and assimilationism all make their appearances here, along with new ideas about the role of women (some of the girls in this novel study in gymnasia and acquire professions). This theme—social change in the shtetl—was not, of course, new ground in Yiddish literature. But what makes Strange Ways different and fascinating, especially for a contemporary Jewish feminist, is that Faygenberg examines these changes through the lens of gender. The main character in Strange Ways is Sheyndel, a beautiful, intelligent young woman who is in love with Borukh, a married man. In order to accommodate this relationship, Sheyndel moves to the city, ostensibly to study midwifery, and there she also learns to play chess and holds a nightly salon, where she and her circle of men discuss literature and politics. Ultimately, however, there is no way for Sheyndel to really escape the stultifying judgments and sexism of the shtetl. The ending of Strange Ways (no spoiler—the details will not be revealed here) is essentially an utter

Women's Studies International Forum, 2004

... Nora Gold. ... 1997a; Gold, 1997b; Gold, 1998; Henry & Taitz, 1996; Hyman, 2002; Hyman &a... more ... Nora Gold. ... 1997a; Gold, 1997b; Gold, 1998; Henry & Taitz, 1996; Hyman, 2002; Hyman & Dash Moore, 1997; Joseph, 1992; Joseph, 1997; Kaye/Kantrowitz & Klepfisz, 1986; Medjuck, 1988; Medjuck, 1993; Plaskow, 1990; Pogrebin, 1991; Schneider, 1984; Siegel, 1986; Siegel ...

Women & Health, 1999

This research compared how over a three-month period Canadian and Israeli newspapers wrote about ... more This research compared how over a three-month period Canadian and Israeli newspapers wrote about females and males with disabilities. The results showed that in both countries there was significantly greater coverage of males than females. In addition, different (and stereotypical) types of details were used to describe the two groups, and females were associated with different kinds of problems than males, including a higher incidence of violence and victimization. There were also some significant differences between the male and female journalists in this study, and evidence of sexism within the newspaper industry. This paper concludes with some ideas for altering the images of disabled women in the media.

British Journal of Social Work, 2003

Social Service Review, 1993

Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues, 2011