Social Work Research Papers

Objective: To examine the significance of neonatal risk factors from the individual, family, social, and parenting behavior domains of the ecological model of child maltreatment in predicting maltreatment reports in the first 4 years of life, and to examine the extent to which the interactions of life event stress and social support modify those risk factors. Method: Mothers of 708 predominantly at-risk infants were interviewed in their homes soon after their infants' discharge from the hospital. State child abuse and neglect central registry data were tracked every 6 months until the infants reached their fourth birthdays. Results: The incidence of maltreatment reports was higher in households where the mothers were depressed, complained of psychosomatic symptoms, had not graduated from high school, consumed alcohol, participated in public income support programs, cared for more than one dependent child, or were separated from their own mothers at age 14 years (p Ͻ .1). In interaction models including these seven predisposing variables, there were significant interactions (p Ͻ .01) between social support, as measured by the social well-being index after the birth of the index child, and depression, and between social well-being and stress, as measured by an increase in total life events. Conclusion: Some predisposing risk factors measured soon after birth continue to be significant predictors of child maltreatment reports through the fourth year of life. In general, families with low levels of social support had a higher risk of a maltreatment report. For families with lower levels of maternal depression and/or life event stress, low social support significantly increased the risk of a maltreatment report by as much as a factor of four.

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- Psychology, Social Work, Child abuse and neglect, Parenting

The end of World War II and the Civil War (1946–1949) found a great section of the population of Greece struggling with serious economic and social problems, while the next two decades witnessed important socioeconomic and cultural changes. Within this context, a group of mental health professionals claimed that their mission was not limited to the treatment of the mentally ill. They founded the Centre for Mental Health and Research and argued that 'mental hygiene' could improve the lives of all, relieve social problems and contribute to the modernisation and democratisation of society. During the late 1950s and the 1960s they sought to apply this vision not only in mental health but also in welfare services, the Social Aid Stations in Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki and Patrai. The Stations' clientele originated from the less privileged social strata of these cities and surrounding villages, and requested material and practical assistance, and to a lesser extent, help with emotional and interpersonal problems. Based on unexplored case material, and building on existing literature on social psychiatry and mental hygiene, this paper addresses the gap in our knowledge of the history of mental health-cum-welfare services. It argues that the Stations envisioned and implemented an original combination of mental health and social welfare , which in the late 1950s was perceived as matching the needs and potential of the Greek population, while offering an ideal vehicle for the dissemination of mental hygiene. However, by the mid-1960s the Stations started to focus on mental health, and in the late 1960s the Athens and Patrai Stations were closed down, and the Thessaloniki and Piraeus Stations were turned into Social Psychiatry Services. This paper follows and interprets the shift from psy-chosocial welfare to social psychiatry, taking into consideration the transformations of Greek society, the specificities of the Stations' operation and the profile and intentions of the Centre of Mental Health and Research. It asserts that the history of the Stations is significant in helping us understand and rethink the uneasy relationship between the social and the psychological in mental healthcare and social welfare.

- by Despo Kritsotaki
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- Social Work, Modern Greece, Social History of Medicine, History of mental health

Background: Guidelines recommend multifactorial intervention programmes to prevent falls in older adults but there are few randomised controlled trials in a real life health care setting. We describe the rationale, intervention, study design, recruitment strategies and baseline characteristics of participants in a randomised controlled trial of a multifactorial falls prevention programme in primary health care.

- by Eileen McKinlay
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- Primary Care, Social Work, Primary Health Care, Health Care

Dunedin Academic Press, Edinburgh, 2009. 133pp. ISBN 978-1-903765-96-8 (Pbk), £14.95 Sharon Vincent has tackled an almost impossible problem head on, and come out the other side with something worthwhile, readable and robust. While there has been much study and analysis on this subject elsewhere in the UK, this book provides a fi rst attempt to collate information from inquiries into serious and fatal maltreatment in Scotland, giving a much-needed insight into trends and approaches to legislation and policy on child neglect and abuse. The heterogeneous and infrequent nature of the public inquiries reported, however, makes any meaningful collation of the material extremely diffi cult. From individual cases of fatal abuse, through to systematic abuse in children's homes, to the removal of children from their families in island communities, the scope is vast. Unlike England, prior to 2007 Scotland did not have a system requiring a serious case review for every fatal or serious case of maltreatment, nor any mechanism for collating information from such reviews to inform national learning. The decision to undertake an inquiry or review therefore appears arbitrary. This in itself raises an enormous question which Vincent fl ags up in the fi nal chapters-does a systematic approach to reviewing every case of fatal maltreatment and a regular national review of these reviews improve learning or practice? The question remains unanswered.

- by Peter Sidebotham
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- Social Work, Child Abuse

Interpreting the significance of anal findings in child sexual abuse can be difficult. The aim of this study is to compare the frequency of anal features between children with and without anal penetration. This is a retrospective blinded review of consecutive charts of children seen for suspected sexual abuse at a regional referral center from January 1. 2005 to December 31. 2009 Based on predetermined criteria, children were classified into two groups: low or high probability of anal penetration. The charts of 1115 children were included, 84% girls and 16% boys with an age range from 0.17 to 18.83 years (mean 9.20 year). 198 children (17.8%) were classified as belonging to the anal penetration group. Bivariate analysis showed a significant positive association between the following features and anal penetration: Anal soiling (p = 0.046), fissure (p = 0.000), laceration (p = 0.000) and total anal dilatation (p = 0.000). Logistic regression analysis and stratification analysis confirmed a positive association of soiling, anal lacerations and anal fissures with anal penetration. Total anal dilation was significantly correlated with a history of anal penetration in girls, in children examined in the prone knee chest position and in children without anal symptoms. Several variables were found to be significantly associated with anal penetration, including the controversial finding of total anal dilatation. Due to limitations in the study design, this finding should still be interpreted with caution in the absence of a clear disclosure from the child.

- by Cynthia Kuelbs and +1
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- Psychology, Social Work, Child abuse and neglect, Adolescent

In recent years, there has been considerable attention within the social work profession surrounding diverse personal, family, and community issues pertaining to sexuality, yet social workers typically receive very little training on sexuality. This article discusses several such issues before introducing a recently proposed positive sexuality framework, which was designed to help facilitate sexual diversity and resolve a wide range of sociosexual problems. The positive sexual-ity framework is comprised of eight interrelated dimensions and, while designed to address sexual issues specifically, overlaps with and complements social work generalist practice. Thus, social workers and helping professionals may find increased success in better understanding and addressing a wide variety of sociosexual problems and issues by utilizing a positive sexuality framework in conjunction with generalist practice.

- by DJ Williams
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- Social Work, Psychotherapy and Counseling, Sexuality, Strengths Based Practice
- by Philippa Garety and +1
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- Psychology, Family Therapy, Social Work, Family

Content analysis of 23 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Master Series tapes was used to determine how well feminist behaviors have been incorporated into "ideal" family therapy practice. Feminist behaviors were infrequent, being evident in faver than 3% of time blocks in event sampling and I0 of 39 feminist behaviors of the Feminist Family Therapist Behavior Checklist. These eminent therapists most often dealt with empowerment of male clients and management of power differentials in the therapeutic relationship in a relatively feminist mannel; but they tended to hold women responsible for family issues, endorsed traditional rather than egalitarian relationships, and overlooked how the social context affects families. Several of the therapists were blatantly sexist in their treatment of female clients, communicating disrespect of and pathologizing them. The fav tapes portraying effective incorporation of feminist principles in family therapy indicate that a handfil of behaviors are key to this approach.

- by David Macphee
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- Psychology, Family Therapy, Social Work, Content Analysis

Claire (2010) Corporate strategy, corporate capture : Food and alcohol industry lobbying and public health. Critical Social Policy, 30 (4). pp. 564-589. ISSN 0261-0183 Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output... more

- by Claire Harkins
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- Sociology, Social Work, Global Governance, Political Science

Guidelines for Evidence-Based Treatments in Family Therapy are intended to help guide clinicians, researchers, and policy makers in identifying specific clinical interventions and treatment programs for couples and families that have scientifically based evidence to support their efficacy. In contrast to criteria, which simply identify treatments that ''work'' and have been employed in the evaluation of other psychotherapies, these guidelines propose a three-tiered levels-of-evidence-based model that moves from ''evidence-informed,'' to ''evidence-based,'' to ''evidence-based and ready for dissemination and transportation within diverse community settings.'' Each level reflects an interaction between the specificity of the intervention, the strength and readth of the outcomes, and the quality of the studies that form the evidence. These guidelines uniquely promote a clinically based ''matrix'' approach in which the empirical support is evaluated according to various dimensions including strength of the outcomes, the applicability across cultural contexts, and demonstration of specific change mechanisms. The guidelines are offered not only as a basis for understanding the evidence for diverse clinical approaches in couple and family therapy within the systemic tradition of the field, but also as an alternative aspirational model for evaluating all psychotherapies.

- by Thomas Sexton and +1
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- Psychology, Family Therapy, Social Work, Evidence Based Medicine

This study examined the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and parenting outcomes including parenting stress, feelings of competence and discipline strategies. Maternal depression and current partner violence were hypothesized to be mediators of the association between CSA and parenting. This study is based on secondary data analysis of archived data. The participants were 263 primiparous mothers (107 with a history of CSA and 156 comparison mothers recruited from a prenatal clinic prior to the birth of their first child. Mothers were interviewed twice: once when they were between 28 and 32 weeks gestation and again when their child was between 2 and 4 years of age. During the first interview, women were asked about childhood experiences of sexual abuse. During their second interview, they were asked about current symptoms of pathology and experiences with partner violence and parenting beliefs and practices. Structural Equation Modeling indicated that the relationship...

- by Pamela Schuetze
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- Pathology, Psychology, Social Work, Domestic Violence
- by carroy ferguson
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- Sociology, Cultural Studies, Social Change, Psychology

Abstract As increased attention has been directed toward the disparities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities in achieving positive health outcomes, the importance of promoting the active involvement of people with intellectual disabilities in efforts to reduce such disparities and promote positive health and wellness outcomes has been acknowledged by researchers and policymakers. This parallels the larger movement within the disability field to promote the self-determination and empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities. The authors more explicitly discuss the implications of self-determination, as it has been conceptualized in the disability field, for promoting positive health and wellness outcomes in people with intellectual disabilities. They review the current research on self-determination and its impact on health, as well as the implications of this research for the development of strategies that promote self-determination in the achievement of health and wellness outcomes in people with intellectual disabilities. The authors posit the need to extend an understanding of the implications of self-determination for promoting health in people with disabilities not only to the disability field, but also to the medical and public health fields. They also provide recommendations for future research and practice.

- by Karrie Shogren
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- Psychology, Social Work, Health Promotion, Health Disparities

This article presents a quasi-experimental study of a mindfulness-based intervention for traumatically bereaved individuals using a single group with pre-test and post-test design. The intervention consists of the ATTEND model, which is comprised of the following elements practiced by the clinician: attunement, trust, therapeutic touch, egalitarianism, nuance, and death education. The study is based on the charts of 42 clients seeking grief counseling at a mental health agency viewed retrospectively. Participants' intake scores on the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), which measures trauma symptoms, and 25-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25), which measures depressive and anxious symptoms, were compared to their scores after an average of 14.64 hours of counseling. Paired samples t tests showed a statistically significant decline in trauma symptoms on the IES-R, and in anxious and depressive symptoms on the HSCL-25. These results provide preliminary support for the use of this mindfulness-based approach for difficulties associated with traumatic bereavement, though more extensive research is needed to determine the effectiveness of this approach.

- by Joanne Cacciatore
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- Social Work, Clinical Social Work

Compares conceptualizations of homelessness as a temporary state through which people pass or a permanent trait that emanates from individual characteristics. Evidence from a longitudinal study of 564 homeless families in New York City and additional secondary sources supports the view that for families, homelessness is a temporary state that is resolved by the provision of subsidized housing. Even for single individuals with severe mental disturbances, housing is a key factor in ending homelessness, although here there is more evidence that social services also contribute. Policy implications are that governments should take a more active role in reducing homelessness by providing access to subsidized housing.

- by Marybeth Shinn
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- Program Evaluation, Psychology, Social Work, Family

Community development is a form of social intervention which relies on the participation of local actors on delivering endogenous processes of development. As local actors we consider the people who is related to a community and has power of agency. Sociocultural animation is a method of empowering people to participate in the development of their own groups or communities, looking at their own needs, capabilities, knowledge and skills to identify problems and the adequate strategies to solve them. It concerns all social, cultural and educational dimensions as part of a development process. This paper explores the contribution of sociocultural animation as a tool for social work aiming to community development.

- by Mário M V Montez
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- Social Work, Community Development, Sociocultural Animation

ABSTRACT A psychoanalytical approach to the climate crisis in terms of the individual psychological background as object relations determine the relationship to nature as holding female representations and group dynamics at work in the reaction or lack thereof. A further exploration into the ability to sustain frustration as a key element to personal and societal development allowing to shed primitive libidinal patterns whereas certain psychological structures are hindered from this ability. As a result, the dysfunctional narcissism feeds relationships of dominance and power completing a self destructive pattern where only adaptation and symbolisation processes could counter the traumatic effects of sudden change to our modern lifestyles.

- by Delphine Treville
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- Social Work, Social Work Practice
- by Don Embuldeniya
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- Social Work, Business and Management, Voluntas, Public Administration and Policy

In this time of reconciliation, Indigenous researchers-in-relation are sharing research paradigms and approaches that align with Indigenous worldviews. This article shares an interpretation of the Mi'kmaw concept of Two-Eyed Seeing as the synthesis of Indigenous methodology and participatory action research situated within an Indigenous paradigm of relevant, reciprocal, respectful, and responsible research. Two-Eyed Seeing is discussed as a guiding approach for researchers offering Indigenous voices and ways of knowing as a means to shift existing qualitative research paradigms. The author offers practical considerations for conducting research with Indigenous peoples in a "good and authentic way." Through the co-creation of knowledge with Indigenous communities, a collective story was produced as a wellness teaching tool to foster the transfer of knowledge in a meaningful way.

- by Cindy Peltier
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- Nursing, Social Work, Qualitative Methods
- by Lisanne Warmerdam
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- Psychology, Social Work, Psychotherapy, Depression
- by Marian Brandon
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- Social Work, Child Abuse

Current thinking suggests that little productive work can be undertaken with families where serious physical or sexual abuse of children has occurred in the absence of a clear acceptance of responsibility for that abuse. This means that children are often removed from their families because of the perceived risks, with the disadvantages that being looked after in local authority care often brings. Alternatively, children may be left in the same environment where serious abuse has taken place with little or no work being undertaken with the family. Either approach fails children, especially those who have made clear and believable allegations in the hope of bringing about a process of change and protection. This article describes the work of a pilot project at the Avon NSPCC in Bristol working with families where the alleged abuser disputes responsibility for maltreating the child. Key to this approach is the support of the non-abusing carer and the childhen while the concerns of the professional agencies are addressed. The work has two main phases. The first looks for structural change in the organization of family life. The second part asks carers to role-play a 'similar' hypothetical family where child abuse has been established. This enables difficult issues raised by the abuse to be addressed and provides an opportunity for carers to express thoughts and feelings to their partner regarding abuse without the seriousness of the concerns being lost. KEY WOROS: dispute; reunification; family safety; child maltreatment ver the last 3 years many requests have been received 0 at the Avon NSPCC to work with families where serious physical and/or sexual abuse of children has occurred. What characterized many of these families was that the alleged abusers (all male) disputed responsibility for the abuse, or sometimes, in the case of sexual abuse, that it had happened at all.

- by Colin Luger
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- Social Work, Child Abuse

The authors present an overview of the academic literature on charitable giving based on a literature review of more than 500 articles. They structure their review around the central question of why people donate money to charitable organizations. We identify eight mechanisms as the most important forces that drive charitable giving: (a) awareness of need; (b) solicitation; (c) costs and benefits; (d) altruism; (e) reputation; (f) psychological benefits; (g) values; (h) efficacy. These mechanisms can provide a basic theoretical framework for future research explaining charitable giving.

- by Pamala Wiepking
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- Marketing, Sociology, Social Psychology, Economics
- by Ndangwa Noyoo
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- Social Work, Social Welfare

Despite the growing popularity of narrative approaches to couple and family therapy and the demonstrated effectiveness of enactments-a clinical process typically articulated and utilized in more modern or positivistic approaches to therapy-there is very little, if any, literature exploring how enactments may fit within a narrative therapeutic framework. In this paper we suggest: That narrative therapy theoretical assumptions, principles, and therapeutic processes may coexist within an enactment framework articulated by Butler and Gardner; that such assumptions and processes may be enhanced when clinicians use an enactment "scaffolding" throughout the therapeutic process; and that this enactment framework "empirically informs" the narrative therapy process and strengthens the stance of narrative therapy under the scrutiny of those claiming a need for an evidence basis in psychotherapy.

- by Brandt Gardner
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- Psychology, Family Therapy, Social Work

Purpose: Information sharing and joint working between agencies undertaking direct work with children have long been recognised as fundamental to robust and effective safeguarding and child protection arrangements The public health response to Covid-19 disrupted those arrangements abruptly This study aims to identify some of the innovative practices that have been implemented and how responses might inform planning for multi-agency working in the future Design/methodology/approach: This study presents reflections on preliminary fieldwork from a study of how agencies in London are responding to the challenges for multi-agency safeguarding arrangements created by the Covid-19 measures It draws on the experience of expert practitioners in the research team as well as interviews with 17 senior professionals from local authorities, safeguarding partnerships and health Findings: The study participants endorsed known concerns around increased risks to children and raised new concerns about...

Collaborative therapists acknowledge their role in influencing clients and the outcomes of therapy. But the word`influence', for many new to the collaborative therapies, can be mistakenly connoted as an undue exercise of therapist power. From a dialogic and social constructionist perspective, this article reflects on how therapists can be influential in collaborative ways. Negotiating`shared intentionalities' with clients, while privileging their preferences in meaning-making and changeöas part of respecting their primary authorship over their livesöassists therapists to employ their influence in ways that stay collaborative. Furthermore, by regarding client`resistance' and misunderstanding as instructive, therapists can enhance their efforts to stay collaborative.

- by Tom Strong
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- Psychology, Social Work, Public health systems and services research

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- by William Feigelman
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- Social Work, Social Service, Long Term Effect

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

- by Charles Hoy-Ellis
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- Social Work, Cultural Competency, Forecasting, Homophobia
- by Helen Payne
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- Psychology, Social Work, Grounded Theory, Clinical Practice

Over the past few decades, the role and presence of the paraprofessional, that is the educational assistant, within the classroom has evolved from providing teacher and student support to involving greater decision-making concerning instructional content and practice. The extent to which this shift is impacting students with a variety of mild to severe developmental disabilities is a crucial question that to date remains under-researched and unanswered. The authors studied this issue by probing students' perceptions concerning the role of their paraprofessionals and their impact on the student's inclusive education experience. The authors explored the following perspective areas noted by the students: student personal control, impact on peer relations, dependency on adults, instructional relationship of teachers compared to paraprofessionals, and inclusion of peers. In general, the authors found that students felt that their paraprofessionals were viewed favorably by peers, but that promotion of socialization and peer networking may have been compromised as they reported that they spent a majority of the school day interacting with the paraprofessional as opposed to other students. Other factors bear consideration as well, and the authors conclude that the educational system continues to be in need of revamping, and that the efficacy of the system needs to be demonstrated by empirical evidence.

- by Judy Lupart
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- Psychology, Social Work, Social Networks, Socialization

This article is a critical review of how forgiveness is conceptualized in the family therapy, counseling, and clinical psychology literature. A systematic analysis of themes in a fairly comprehensive set of texts was carried out. Three main dimensions emerged along which therapist authors' viewpoints can be located: essentiality, intentionality, and benevolence. Therapy practices and values that correspond with positions along these dimensions are presented. The analysis reveals that greater exploration is needed regarding how forgiveness is related to diversity (e.g., gender, culture, religion, etc.), marginalization, and relations of power. Our objective is to provide a conceptual map for clinicians so that they might locate their own thinking about forgiveness and be better equipped to work sensitively with the forgiveness views and values of their clients.

- by Susan Lollis
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- Psychology, Family Therapy, Social Work, Empathy

Clients in substance abuse treatment need, in addition to evidence-based and sensitive treatment services in general, a system of care that takes into account the impact of trauma and violence in so many of their lives. In addition, services need to be delivered in a way that avoids triggering trauma memories or causing unintentional re-traumatization. To that end, this article describes an agency self-assessment process that combines a trauma-informed assessment, a NIATx process of "walking-through" and use of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement's Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, and a user-friendly format. The trauma-informed assessment is designed to address issues of safety of clients and staff members, reduction of re-traumatization, consistency in practice, and client empowerment. It brings a non-judgmental, collaborative approach to process and practice improvement. The article describes how the assessment process can be-and has been-used to develop an Action Plan, including trainings and the identification of "trauma champions"; i.e., staff who will continue to spread trauma-informed changes and new evidence-based practices throughout the agency. As we enter a period of healthcare reform, addressing trauma as an integral part of addiction treatment also allows us to better deal with the totality of our clients' health problems.

- by Roger Fallot and +1
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- Psychology, Nursing, Social Work, Substance Abuse Treatment

This article describes the rationale and methodology of a supervisory approach that recruits family-of-origin members as resources to help resolve professional dilemmas. We have found that professional impasses resonate with family-of-origin themes. As supervisory consultants, family-of-origin members have access to family stories, rules, myths, and resources that can provide new messages for a more differentiated use of self in the clinical setting. The standard format of this family supervisory consultation is separated in three phases. First, the supervisor discusses and explores the nature of the supervisee's professional dilemma (i.e., difficulty with angry clients). Second, the supervisor explores the evolution of this same theme through the historical and personal stories of the family-of-origin members. Third, the supervisee anonymously presents a specific case that exemplifies this theme. The supervisor, along with consultation from the family, focuses on the development of a more flexible use of self in the therapeutic system. Thus, the session begins and ends with the professional development of the supervisee. However, there is personal sharing during the second phase, so there are sections that address developmental, supervisory, and ethical considerations. Even though the goal of this meeting is to promote professional growth, personal and family changes are common by-products. Four supervisory anecdotes illustrate this approach to supervision.

- by Russell Haber
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- Psychology, Social Work

È "lavoro di partito" tutto ciò che contribuisce al movimento reale che abolisce lo stato di cose presente. In Marx la teoria del partito non è del tutto esplicita, però è facile da ricavare da molti dei suoi scritti. Nel Manifesto il quadro teorico offre già una buona traccia per una lettura di tutto ciò che egli scriverà successivamente: i comunisti sono coloro che anticipano la società futura; non fanno già più parte di questa società anche se vivono dentro di essa. L'enorme importanza di questo concetto non è stata capita dalla maggior parte di coloro che si richiamano a Marx.

- by n+1 Magazine
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- Social Theory, Social Work, Social Networks, Social Sciences

This paper explores the tension within advanced capitalist economies between the growing need for social security and emerging pressures to scale back the Welfare State. Empirical evidence related to recent Welfare State developments is surveyed along three dimensions: (1) summary statistical indicators of state redistribution efforts; (2) specific policy areas that affect the level of employment, distribution of employment, distribution of earnings, and redistribution of income; and (3) public management practices. The results show that the primary building blocks of the postwar Welfare State have eroded significantly. Important design considerations for future Welfare State reforms are then discussed.

- by Barbara Vis
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- Economics, Social Work, Welfare State, Policy Studies

cool breakdown of the crisis theory and accompanied intervention

- by Jason Lester
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- Sociology, Psychology, Education, Social Work

The discipline of international relations~IR! is witnessing a "constructivist turn." In this article, we argue that the new preoccupation with constructivism provides a unique opportunity to further understanding between feminism and the IR mainstream. Feminism and constructivism share a commitment to an ontology of becoming that can serve as a common basis for conversation. Yet there are also profound differences between feminists and constructivists. First, most IR feminists approach gender and power as integral elements in processes of construction, whereas most constructivists consider power to be external to such processes. This failure to conceptualize power and gender as social and pervasive leads constructivists to miss an important part of the empirical reality of power politics. Second, constructivists tend to ignore the implications of a postpositivist epistemology, whereas for feminists the question of "Who knows?" is crucial. We argue that the constructivist failure to problematize the research process as a social~and therefore political! process of construction is logically inconsistent with an ontology of becoming. We introduce empirical materials to illustrate the advantages of feminist approaches. We hope to advance a dialogue between feminism and constructivism because the two approaches add to each other and in combination can yield better theoretical and empirical understandings of the world. Seeking greater understanding across theoretical divides, and the scientific and political cultures that sustain them, might be the best model if feminist international theory is to have a future within the discipline.

- by Birgit Locher and +1
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- Social Work, Political Science, Public Administration and Policy

In a sample of 143 parent-child dyads from two-parent and separated families, this investigation documented the links between parental psychological violence and separation or divorce, severity of parental conflict, triangulation of the child in this conflict, and polarized parent-child alliances. The unique and combined contributions of all these variables to children's behavior problems were also assessed. Participants were parents, mostly mothers, and their 10-12-year-old child. They were recruited through schools, community organizations, and newspapers. Questionnaires were administered at home. Findings suggest that separated families undergo more relational disturbances than twoparent families (more severe conflicts, more triangulation, stronger parent-child alliances), but the amount of parental psychological violence was similar in both groups. Psychological violence was associated with the severity of parental conflict, especially in two-parent families. Triangulation of the child in parental conflict was another correlate of psychological violence. Once all variables were controlled for, psychological violence remained the only significant correlate of children's externalized behavior problems. These findings raise the importance of preventing psychological violence toward children, especially in families plagued with severe parental conflicts. Fonds québécois de recherche sur la société et la culture], Quebec City (Quebec), Canada. We thank Hans Ivers for statistical support, and the team of interviewers.

- by Rachel Lépine and +1
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- Psychology, Social Work, Violence, Social Interaction
- by Pinazo-hernandis Sacramento
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- Psychology, Nursing, Geriatrics, Social Work
- by jide maxy
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- Social Work, Social Policy, Disability Studies, Disability

Securing financial sustainability through fundraising and other forms of financing is a critical issue for many nonprofit organizations. This article extends the benefits theory by adding beneficiary and organizational characteristics to it and examines how these characteristics affect revenue source composition. Based on a survey of International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs) with headquarters in Switzerland, the results quantitatively demonstrate a predictive relationship between programmatic and financial management: First, Swiss-based INGOs’ revenue sources rely heavily on income-generating revenue sources. Second, the efficacy of the benefits theory of nonprofit finance is demonstrated outside of the organizational context of U.S. local/national nonprofits. Third, INGOs’ organizational and beneficiary characteristics influence their revenue source composition. Fourth, the results demonstrate clear differences between revenue sources. Fifth, overall, the beneficiary field is the most influential of the proven
characteristics in determining revenue source percentages.

The article develops the concept of sensus communis in order to describe the fundamentally interactive and socially embedded nature of human experience. In the introduction, we focus on the historical relevance of phenomenological psychiatry for social psychiatry, especially in Germany, and give a short outline of the philosophy of common sense. The concept of sensus communis is then considered under three aspects: (1) as a fundamental intermodal capacity of sensing oneself and the world through the medium of the lived body; (2) as a social sense, derived from primary social interactions with others, and enabling a habitual, pre-reflective and confident relation with the social world; (3) as ‚common sense‘, that means, the capacity to perceive and think in accordance with intersubjectively shared, self-evident rules, and to apply them to specific situations. All three aspects must be considered as mutually interwoven. On this basis, psychopathological implications of sensus communis as well as socio-epidemiological findings on the connection between social environment and mental disorders will be taken into account. Finally, the paper points out possible applications of the concept to therapeutic approaches such as assertive community treatment and open dialogue.

- by Samuel Thoma
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- Social Psychology, Psychiatry, Social Work, Psychopathology
- by Dr Emma Katz
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- Social Work, Sociology of Children and Childhood, Social Sciences, Domestic Violence
- by Barbra Teater and +1
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- Statistics, Social Work, Quantitative Methods

Social Work Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)