The overall focus of this study was to investigate the initial adaptation process to college. The adaptation process was viewed as embedded within the ecological transition of leaving home to live at college. The primary psychosocial tasks which provided the process criterion for adaptation were contained in the "divestment-investment" process. The study was divided into 2 phases which used a cross-sectional design. The major hypotheses of Phase I predicted a relationship between perceived adjustment and perceived family characteristics, as well as between perceived adjustment and separation feelings. For Phase II the hypotheses predicted a relationship between perceived adjustment and four adaptation criterion variables: information processing, autonomy, motivation, self-esteem. The Ss for Phase I of the study consisted of 105 male freshmen from Columbia College and the School of Engineering. The Ss were administered the Bell Adjustment Inventory which determined perceived adjustment; the Family Adaptation and Cohesion Evaluation Scale which enabled assessment of perceived family cohesion and perceived family adaptation; a Separation scale which yielded scores on separation affect; and a demographic questionnaire which measured environmental variables. In Phase II, adjustment scores derived from Phase I were compared with the four adaptation criterion variables. The four criterion variables for adaptation were determined by four judges using a content analysis of taped interviews with Ss from a subgroup (N = 30) of the sample population. A multivariate analysis of variance, Eta and Oneway analyses were used to obtain results from the data of Phase I. A univariate analysis of variance, and Eta analysis were used to analyze Phase II data. The major findings of Phase I were that relationships were found to exist between the Perceived Family Cohesion scores and the perceived adjustment scores, as well as between Perceived Family Cohesion scores and the Separation scores. The major findings of Phase II were that relationships were found to exist between the adaptation criterion variables of Motivation, Autonomy, and Self-esteem on the 3 Bell Adjustment groups for the two content areas of separation issues, and academic issues. On the basis of the information which this exploratory study has provided, it seems reasonable to suggest that the individual's perceived level of family cohesion was instrumental in his initial adaptation to college.

In this work we examined a series of hypotheses to test whether social class, mother's stress, mother's ethnicity, child's sex, level of child's impairment and the severity of the patterns of the child's symptoms were related to whether mothers brought their children for help with their problems. Each of the variables were examined to ascertain their contribution and the extent to which they intervene in the social process, leading to referral. Using data obtained in a mid-Manhattan longitudinal study of a randomly selected sample of 1,034 families, we focused on 732 mothers seen at Time 1 and Time 2 (1966-67 and 1971-72). Information was gathered by a comprehensive questionnaire. The topics handled can be summarized as follows: What are the similarities or differences in stress for mothers of different socioeconomic levels and how is this related to mother's behavior regarding pursuit of help for her child. Does the degree of stress experienced influence whether or not they will refer their children for help? Does educational background affect the salience of a child's symptoms in the mother's decision concerning seeking help for her child? To what extent do mothers of different socioeconomic levels use different resources to cope with comparable problems with their children? And to what extent does education through media and other informational sources influence a mother's decision to seek help for her child? The findings of a pattern of highly educated mothers referring at a consistently higher percentage than mothers with medium or low education remained consistent for a majority of the childhood disturbances studied. A child is more likely to be referred if his mother is highly educated for all levels of childhood disorder; whereas children of mothers with medium education have a better chance of receiving help for their problems if they are considered to be in the high category of child disturbances, and much less if they are in the medium or low categories. Mothers of low education seldom refer. Mothers with high education referred twice as frequently as those mothers in the lowest educational category in the earlier time, and almost three times as often at Time 2. We found a greater response to the stress factor by highly educated mothers. Stress was less related to referral at the lowest educational level in contrast to highly educated mothers whose rate of referral increased four-fold as their stress increased from low to medium to high. Ethnic group membership apparently affects help-seeking behavior by mothers of disturbed children. Black mothers and White mothers refer their highly disturbed children at a much higher rate than Spanish mothers (Time 1 and Time 2). There is a relationship between stress levels, referral and ethnicity. Black mothers who refer most when under high stress, also have the highest proportion of their population in the high stress category. All three ethnic groups respond to greater stress by larger percentages of referrals, however Black mothers and White mothers refer at statistically significant levels while Spanish mothers do not. Educational differences in referral vary with the type of problem and this is reflected in the referral patterns of highly educated mothers who referred at statistically significant levels for mentation problems, delinquency and fighting. In contrast to this, class differences were minimal in relation to conflict with parents, where all three groups referred in similar percentages. The findings indicate that the extent to which one is informed by television, reading, discussion groups, and other media in general, seems to have little effect on whether or not mothers will bring their disturbed children for help. Upper socioeconomic mothers utilize psychiatrists and psychologists at much higher levels than middle and lower classes both at Time 1 and Time 2. The upper classes utilize social workers least at both times in contrast to middle and lower classes. As compared to the other two classes, lower class mothers refer proportionately less to doctors, school counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists. Teachers and social workers seem to be utilized by them at rates comparable to the middle classes. The police and courts are rarely utilized by any of the three classes. It is interesting to note that within the category of low education, psychiatrists were sought out by them in both times as the resource of choice for help with their disturbed children, a pattern consistent with that of the middle and upper socioeconomic groups. The aim of the paper was to determine if the mothers referred their children appropriately--and if they were indeed cognizant of the various types and degrees of disturbed behavior. The goals (only suggested in this paper) would be to determine how these patterns might be changed -- as indeed the evidence suggest they should be -- by educators and those in the "helping professions". A major obstacle in attempting to institute viable programs to properly service those in need, has been the relative lack of pertinent information concerning those factors which are central to leading people to seek help. Hopefully these findings can clarify some of these issues.

This study was a comparative, cross-sectional analysis of maternal reactions to separation from their young children at school entrance. The first observation was of mothers who were entering their children in school for the first time. The second observation, made concurrently, was of mothers who entered their children in school at least six months before the observation. These were the "experienced" mothers. The sample population consisted of 177 mothers drawn from nine schools. Data was collected by means of a written questionnaire, distributed to the mothers at the school. The study sought to discover factors which might influence the ease or difficulty which a mother experienced during separation. Six major and seven minor hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis stated that reactions to separation change over time and will be most intense at the initial separation. It was confirmed. The separation reactions of the "inexperienced" mothers were significantly different from those of the "experienced" mothers, and in the predicted direction. The second hypothesis stated that separation reactions change according to the mothers' view of her relationship with her child and her perception of the degree of independence between her child and herself. It was hypothesized that a mother who was able to recognize her child as a separate individual, with needs different from her own, would have less difficulty at parting than a mother who saw her child as an extension of herself. In the operationalization of the hypothesis, four different content areas were created. In the findings, two of these areas proved to have significant relationships to the mothers' difficulty separating: her early mothering experience and her assessment of the child's current level of independence. The mothers who indicated great satisfaction with the early mothering experience were the ones who had the most difficulty separating. Those who only moderately enjoyed the early mothering experience had a much easier time separating. Second, mothers who saw their children as able to function fairly independently were able to undergo the separation with much less anxiety themselves. The third hypothesis examined the effect of a mother's social network on her difficulty separating. It was predicted that the more isolated a mother was, the more difficulty she would have separating at school entrance. The findings confirmed the hypothesis for the "inexperienced" mothers. The ones receiving the lowest amount of support from their husbands, parents, and relatives were very clearly the ones who had more difficulty separating. The fourth hypothesis stated that mothers who had difficulty separating were less likely to find new activities and also less likely to have an improvement in their relationship with their children. The findings were not significant. The fifth hypothesis stated that differences in the mothers' responses to separation related to their views of the school. Did they see the school as helpful and supportive, indifferent, or even intrusive? It was hypothesized that a mother who feels that the school cares about her child and herself will have an easier time separating. The findings were that there was no relationship between a mother's difficulty separating and her view ·of the school. Hypothesis 6 stated that separation reactions related to the amount of separation experienced prior to school entrance. It was predicted that a mother who has frequently been apart from her child will experience less separation anxiety. Conversely, a mother who has never left her child will experience greater separation anxiety. The hypothesis was confirmed. The mothers who spent more time away from their children before school entrance had an easier time separating from them at school entrance. Hypotheses 7 through 13 explored the relationship of the main dependent variable, "difficulty separating" and seven antecedent variables: "general morale", "age", "social class", "ethnic group", "religion", "length of employment", and "number of children". None were found to relate significantly to "difficulty separating".

This study examines the relative influence of professional education, the conditions of practice and other factors on the social worker's orientation to the welfare of his clients. The hypothesis, that professionally trained social workers are more oriented to the welfare of their clients than are their untrained co-workers, is tested. The relationship between the extent of perceived organizational constraints and the worker's orientation is assessed to determine if functional autonomy is related to practitioner orientation. The study also examines whether professional education generates commitment to the professional norms of social work. When a worker agrees with a standardized prescription for practice, does agreement imply legitimation, or the usefulness, of the prescription--or both? Inter- and intra-positional consensus, on evaluations of the legitimacy and usefulness of practice prescriptions, is examined in order to locate formal and informal organizational sources of influence on practice orientation. One thousand seventy-five respondents from twenty-three geographically distributed state probation and/or parole agency system populations answered a questionnaire which included instruments treating practitioner orientation, functional autonomy, and the legitimacy and utility of a set of professional prescriptions for practice which were standardized on a national sample of "transmitters" of professional norms--casework teachers. As hypothesized, trained practitioners were more client welfare oriented than those who were not trained. When employing organization was held constant, this finding persevered in a majority, but not all, of the employing organizations. These findings held when status, tenure and experience were also held constant. Female practitioners with every type and at every level of education were more client welfare oriented than male practitioners. Sex, or its social concomitants, and professional education emerge as independent sources of client welfare orientation. Regardless of its sources, practitioner orientation was specified by organizational contingencies. Among these, two elements of caseload composition reduced differences between trained and untrained workers: (1) probation caseloads; (2) adult caseloads. In contrast to earlier findings, the practitioner's perception of his freedom to determine case decisions is not related to his practice orientation. Functional autonomy may be a function of the practitioner's visibility, which is related to organizational complexity. Practitioners with rural caseloads perceive themselves as having greater autonomy than those with urban caseloads. Although professional education exerts a powerful influence on the worker's orientation to the welfare of his clients, it isn't the influence which educators are likely to want. Workers who consistently agree with professional prescriptions for practice do not consistently legitimate them when they are required to consider both their legitimacy and their usefulness. When social workers must consider more than one implication of "agreement" at a time, they do not make judgements which are uniformly consistent with professional norms. Some of the evidence suggests that practitioners tend to legitimate what they believe to be useful. There is consensus, within and among organizational positions, on evaluations of legitimacy and utility of practice prescriptions. Workers' perceptions of supervisors' evaluations are accurate. The substantial consensus on punitive case actions includes legitimation of breaches of confidentiality, routinized forms of persecution of homosexuals, and the automatic response to initiate revocation proceedings for physically aggressive children or clients who engage in extended sexual affairs. Although professionally trained workers are differently oriented to these matters than untrained workers, a large proportion of trained practitioners contribute to the consensus on punitive case decisions. Finally, there is a minor trend in the data indicating somewhat greater consensus among workers than between workers and supervisors. Similarly, there is a greater worker-supervisor consensus than worker-top administrator consensus. This suggests that elective relationships among organizational peers may yield more powerful influences on practice orientation than formally defined hierarchically structured organizational relationships.

The study design called for a longitudinal evaluation of one hundred subjects enrolled in a vocational counseling program for recovering alcoholics. Due to CETA stipend cuts, and slowing of referrals, eighty subjects were studied. Subjects were administered two questionnaires, one at program entry, the second at a six month follow-up point. The study's primary purpose was to identify those factors associated with success. Success was defined as diminution or elimination of the problem drinking pattern and employment at follow-up. A number of hypotheses were tested. The study was carried out over the course of twenty-three months. The mean age for subjects was 41. There were sixty-one men and nineteen women, 28% were members of a minority group. Subjects were typical of clinical treatment samples, more socially and psychologically impaired than a cross-section of the general drinking population. The majority were referred to the program by out-patient treatment facilities. Seventy-seven percent of the subjects mailed in their follow-up questionnaire. At follow-up the rate of employment was 56%. Employment was associated with the following factors: Program completion, younger age, some college education or beyond, abstinence or controlled drinking, higher rates of religious participation. Women and minority members were as successful in securing jobs as white males. The majority of the subjects were abstinent, with 13% problem drinking. Abstinence or controlled drinking was associated with the following factors: Employment, older age, minority group membership, no use of other drugs. Comparing employed with unemployed subjects, we found the unemployed were more likely to be drinking, and were experiencing higher rates of depression. Few subjects had strong family or friendship ties. Counselors' predictions of subject performance reflected a favorable bias toward subjects with particular characteristics. Predictions had a high rate of accuracy, raising questions about the effect of counselor bias on subject performance. Overall, subjects rated the impact of the program high to moderately high.

This dissertation employs qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the relationship between religion and sexual HIV risk among 1,342 male migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, employed in Baraholka Market, located in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Drawing on a conceptual theoretical framework which incorporates decision-making, social support, and gender and power theories, research questions examine how religion contributes to engagement in or avoidance of sexual HIV risks through the mechanisms of decision-making, social supports, and gendered norms; whether affiliation and religiosity are associated with sexual HIV risks; and whether changes in religiosity over time are associated with sexual HIV risks. Study findings identified that most men were Muslim and religious norms contributed to their understanding of sexual relationships. Some associations with protective behavior were found for men who were Muslim, men with higher levels of religiosity, and men who maintained higher than average religiosity over time. Men with higher than average religiosity were more likely to consider themselves protected from acquiring HIV. Study findings have a number of implications for HIV prevention efforts in Central Asia.

This is an exploratory study designed to examine the contracting process with respect to specific variables thought to be related to contract negotiation. Research questions pertaining to contract negotiation include a focus on those issues which are vulnerable to disagreement between paired caseworkers and clients. The study is deigned to find associations between the following variables and high and low contract status between actual casework-client pairs: (1) Client Perception of the Relationship; (2) Verbal Participation in the Contracting Process; (3) Relationship Communication and (4) Background Characteristics of Workers and Clients. The study sample is comprised of fifteen client-worker pairs drawn from a Veterans Administration outpatient medical and psychiatric clinic. Two main sources of data are used: (1) Worker and Client Questionnaires distributed to clients and workers after the first three casework interviews and (2) Audiotape recordings of the first three interviews which were subject to content and process analysis of communication. Findings concerning contract status show a statistically significant correlation between agreement on worker role and other dimensions of the contract (client needs and tasks), suggesting that an understanding of the worker's tasks are pivotal to successful contract negotiation. However, the client's needs and tasks are underdeveloped aspects of contract negotiations and do not develop in relation to one another. Though in this study worker and client consensus on expectations of each other was fairly high, disagreement, when it occurred, was generally in the direction of clients wanting to lean more on the workers for concrete help and workers wanting clients to take more initiative and be more introspective. At the same time, the preferred role positions of the majority of clients (10 out of 15) was for equal status with their workers, and an overwhelming majority of workers (14 out of 15) favored hierarchical position of authority. These findings suggest an inherent contradiction between consciously held expectations and unarticulated role positions, which do not reconcile each other and thus prevent workers and clients from working collaboratively. Findings on Client Perception of the Relationship were not significant, suggesting that whether the client perceives the worker as caring, genuine and/or empathic is independent of contract status. Findings on Verbal Participation indicate that workers carry major responsibility for contracting, that clients follow workers in the rhythm and pacing of contracting and that most contracting activity occurs in the first interview. Findings on the Relationship Communication Variable showed a statistically significant association between successful contract negotiation, and role negotiation, with reciprocity of role position achieved in high contract pairs. Moreover, workers tend to prefer relationship positions indicating a hierarchical position of authority; worker-client pairs who achieved role reciprocity were characterized by worker-up client-down role complementarity. Findings on Background Characteristics were found to be independent of contract status.

Previous research has shown that adult children are the predominant service and health care providers to the impaired elderly. However, relatively little is known about the conditions under which caregiving is either enhanced or hindered. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to systematically examine the caregiving relationship in order to better understand its causes and consequences. Data were collected via in-depth structured interviews with a sample of adult children (n = 131) identified as the primary caregiving relative to an older parent currently receiving home care or day care services. Bivariate and multivariate analytic techniques were utilized to identify the most salient variables associated with the two dependent variables of interest: caregiving involvement (the task and time commitment) and caregiving consequences (the perceived impact of providing care). Study findings indicate that the typical caregiving child is a late middle-aged daughter who holds concurrent responsibilities to other family members as well as working outside the home. Emotional support was the most universal caregiving activity although substantial proportions also assisted with linkage tasks, instrumental services as well as financial assistance. The primary strains of caregiving were found to be the result of the emotional aspects of providing care and the restrictions on time and freedom necessitated by caregiving responsibilities. The most salient independent predictors of caregiving involvement were: the parent's level of impairment; the quality of the parent-child affective relationship; the child's sex and marital status; and the degree of anticipatory planning for caregiving. Contrary to expectations, the child's employment status did not impinge upon fulfilling caregiving responsibilities. The significant variables predicting perceived negative consequences included: the extent of caregiving involvement; the parent's level of impairment; the perception of unmet service needs; the quality of the parent-child affective relationship; and the child's social class, sex, and health status. The extent of formal service utilization did not emerge as a significant predictor of caregiving consequences although the qualitative data gave support to the hypothesis that service input reduced caregiving strains. Implications for policy, practice, and service delivery in support of families caring for frail older relatives are discussed.

Emerging studies have identified a specific kind of stress called social defeat, which occurs when a person is dominated, humiliated, and oppressed by another person or group. The sense of social defeat might play an important role in the development of psychosis. Meanwhile, scholars have increasingly studied the occurrence of Psychotic Experiences, which are expressions of psychosis that manifest in the general population without causing significant distress or functional impairment. Very few studies have examined the relationship between social defeat and Psychotic Experiences in the United States, and I utilize the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys to examine three facets of social defeat, which are (1) everyday discrimination, (2) major discriminatory events, and (3) immigrant status, and I explore whether they predict risk for Psychotic Experiences. In the first paper, I analyzed the National Latino and Asian American Survey and the National Survey of American Life, and found that among Latino-, Asian-, and Black- Americans, everyday discrimination was associated with increased risk for Psychotic Experiences in a dose-response fashion after adjusting for demographics and socioeconomic status. Discrimination perpetrated at the interpersonal level seems to impart a profound sense of defeat that raises risk for psychosis. In the second paper, I analyzed the National Survey of American Life and found that among Black Americans, certain major discriminatory events (being denied a loan, receiving unusually bad service, and police abuse) were associated with increased risk for Psychotic Experiences after controlling for demographics and socioeconomic status. Major events seem to capture a distal source of distress stemming from the institutions and structures of society, elevating risk for psychosis among Black Americans. In the final paper, I examined the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, the National Latino and Asian American Survey, and the National Survey of American Life, and found that immigration was not associated with increased risk for Psychotic Experiences in the United States, supporting the extant literature that suggests immigrants are paradoxically healthier than native-born populations. I discuss theoretical and practical implications of my findings, and present future directions for research.

In a democracy, the concept of citizen participation is the essence of that system: it may not be an overstatement to declare that without citizen participation there is no democracy. The concept plays an important role in the study reported here. The writer examines a major element in the implementation of Title XX of the Social Security Act in New York City. The aim is to critically assess the perceived impact of the implementation of the citizen participation process of Title XX in New York City from 1979-1981. To accomplish this task, a survey focuses on citizen participation as this was acted out during July and August 1981. The information acquired illuminates the matter of who participated in the process, why they participated and what was the perceived impact of their participation. Citizen participation and decentralization are issues which have become salient during historical periods. Clearly during the 1960s it characterized the thrust of southern blacks who demanded greater respect for their voting rights. It also had its echo in the cry for community control of schools in Brooklyn. There is no doubt that the concept of citizen participation was on the national agenda. By 1975 it was not clear if the two concepts, citizen participation and decentralization, had the same meaning as they did during the 1960s. This study investigates the New York City Title XX citizen participation process, in general, the public hearings in particular. A total sample population of (47) made up of public officials (9), voluntary organization leaders (26), and community based advisory chairpersons (12) was examined through the use of quantitative and qualitative methodology. All respondents were interviewed, the interviews were tape recorded, the tapes were codified and a quotation bank was developed. The findings suggest that a strong ambivalence tone is present. This perception transcends both the respondents' classification and race. On the manifest or decision making level the process was perceived as not efficacious. However, on the latent level long run benefits are viewed as a possibility. While the ambivalence, quantitatively, transcended race; qualitatively the black and white ambivalence appears to emerge from different perspectives. In sum, this study shed some light on the Title XX citizen participation process from the point of view of those actively involved.