This study explores help seeking patterns of Black women in Black churches. The intent of the study, is to examine use of a historically vital component of the Black community and to ascertain its role in the support system of a population. The theory of shared functions is used to look at the utilization of different support systems, and to understand the role of the church as a bureaucratic institution with primary characteristics and functions. The data was collected over a six month period, at six Black churches in the Essex County area of New Jersey. The information is derived from a questionnaire administered to 196 women. In the analysis of the data, participants are grouped by socioeconomic status and size of church they attend. The hypotheses are: (1) The lower the socioeconomic status of the church member, the more likely the minister will be selected for help. (2) members of smaller churches are more likely to select the minister as a vehicle for help, than those in larger churches. (3) The minister is more likely to be selected for help with concerns classified as non-uniform. (4) The more active a woman is in church life, the more likely she is to choose the minister as a help source. The findings confirm, women classified as low income and those active in church life, utilize their pastor more than other women in the study. The findings do not confirm, hypothesis 2 and 3, but show that women from large churches utilize the minister more than women in smaller churches and that the minister is selected as a help source in a range of concerns. The data highlights, that women see the minister as the primary source for help and that for many, the pastor is as important, as the relative or professional counselor in seeking assistance. The implications of this study suggest the profession of social work, seek avenues of collaboration with local ministers to offer support and information on the concerns members bring. The findings also suggest the profession find ways to accurately access client's church involvement and support from the religious community.

Job satisfaction and burnout are important areas of study because of the social and economic effects of job satisfaction and the damaging physical/psychological impacts of burnout. 200 family/children and psychiatric workers of seven social service organizations were surveyed in the spring of 1990. Instruments used were the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Staff Burnout Scale for Health Professionals. Reported levels of job satisfaction and burnout are within normal limits. Psychiatric and family/children workers report equal job satisfaction levels, but the latter group reports significantly higher burnout levels. Both groups are particularly satisfied with the amount of praise delivered by supervisors and are reportedly dissatisfied with salary levels and promotional opportunities. Praise delivered by supervisors, promotional opportunities, and salary satisfaction are strongly associated with job satisfaction levels of both groups. Correlates of burnout for psychiatric workers are dissatisfaction with amount of praise delivered by supervisors and dissatisfaction with salary; correlates for family/children workers are limited social services employment and dissatisfaction with amount of praise. Findings have practical implications for social service administrators and practitioners. Correlates of satisfaction and burnout can be altered in order to maintain employee satisfaction and reduce burnout, absenteeism and turnover.

This study explored trust in the professional relationship from the perspective of social workers employed in a large voluntary mental health agency. Its purpose was to provide a systematic understanding of social workers' judgments of the function of trust in the professional helping process. Barber's (1983) theoretical formulations provided the framework within which this study examined social workers' understanding of the significance of trust in the professional relationship and the relative importance of professional competence and commitment to serving clients' best interests in the development of trust. The study's questionnaire was completed by 118 social workers in 18 community-based programs, with supplemental information gathered by interviews with 25 social workers in these and other settings. Variables of interest included demographic and agency practice data as well as social workers' judgments about various components of trust as measured by a series of Likert scale response items. Findings indicated that social workers judged professional commitment to serving clients' best interests to be significantly more important than competence in three aspects of the helping process: development of client trust, client cooperation with workers' suggestions or recommendations, and client decisions regarding transfers to other professionals. A factor analysis of data resulted in the identification of four trust-related factors: match, or fit, between client and worker; clients' emotional/attitudinal system; case status; and, political/economic conditions. A one-way analysis of variance indicated no significant differences in social workers' judgments of the importance of competence and commitment in relation to workers' agency practices. Correlational analysis of data also indicated weak relationships among variables. Findings suggest that social workers perceive trust development as related to the interplay among client, worker, agency, and public policy variables. Although workers may see themselves, to some extent, as active agents in the generation of trust, they emphasize the importance of client-centered factors, such as, clinical diagnosis, in the development of trust in the professional relationship. Further research is needed to compare respondents' judgments about the development of trust with perceptions held by clients, social workers in other fields of practice, and/or professionals in other disciplines.

Parents are central to adolescents’ lives and extensive research shows that parents can influence adolescent and young adults’ sexual decision-making in positive ways. However, the ability of interventions to help parents influence their children’s sexual health has been modest. In many cases, interventions for parents have not been guided by theory or strong research and many interventions for parents are based on only a general sense that more communication between parents and their children on topics related to sexuality is helpful. Currently, millions of dollars in public funding in the United States are designated for programs to reduce teen pregnancy and prevent sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, many foundations and individuals contribute significant funds to organizations that implement programs that strive to improve adolescent sexual health. Increasingly, there is an interest in including program components for parents in order to help them to positively influence their teens’ sexual decision-making. At this time, few interventions for parents related to influencing their teens sexual decision-making and behavior have been developed that have resulted in positive outcomes, with the notable exceptions of Families Talking Together and Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education that Works, which have both been added to the United States Department of Health and Human Services list of evidence-based programs in the last 18 months. In order to develop additional interventions of benefit to parents and adolescents and to ensure that policy and practice are strengthened, up-to-date information from large, diverse samples about the frequency and content of family communication about sexuality currently taking place between parents and teens is critical. Few studies have allowed for direct comparison of African American, Hispanic and White families in terms of communication about sexuality and parental monitoring of adolescents. Understanding both similarities and differences can help with tailoring interventions to have more positive effects on teen sexual decision-making and behavior. One challenge to better understanding the influence of parental communication on adolescent sexual health is the wide variety of measures used in research, with some studies relying only on single item measures of communication. Without consistent measurement of communication and its many facets, it is difficult to ascertain which aspects of communication may be the drivers of behavior or to compare results across studies. Scales with strong psychometric properties are needed to strengthen the consistency and quality of research on parent-child communication about sexuality. Further, these scales must be tested with samples that include participants that are racially and ethnically diverse and samples that include fathers and mothers, as well as teen males and females to allow for scales to be validated by gender and race/ethnicity and for both parents and teens. The current study resulted in the development of three new scales with strong psychometric properties, which can now be used in research on parent-child communication about sexuality. This study also allowed for an examination of current barriers to communication about sexuality including the ways that those barriers differ and influence communication for African American, Latino and White parents and teens. Further, understanding the role that monitoring can play in promoting teens’ sexual health also merits up to date exploration as well as greater understanding of whether monitoring practices vary in diverse families or for teen males compared to females is needed to increase awareness of opportunities for positive influence on young people’s sexual development. The current study is particularly valuable given that many data sets do not allow for direct comparisons of African American, Latino and White teens and parents. The extent to which family communication or monitoring practices differ may suggest ways that interventions should be tailored for various populations or may suggest positive practices that can be promoted across groups. In addition, a current understanding of how communication and monitoring may vary with sons compared to daughters can provide awareness and insight to both parents and program developers about the types of parenting behaviors that might be addressed by programs and improved in order to make a difference in the lives of young people. The papers in this dissertation utilize data collected from 1,663 parent-child dyads in July, 2014 by Gfk, Inc. Gfk, Inc. has constructed a large, diverse panel of adults in the United States. They recruit their panel using a combination of random digit dial phone techniques and address-based sampling. More information on the construction of the overall Gfk, Inc. panel is available at: http://www.gfk.com/us/Pages/default.aspx. For this study, parents were sampled from the broader Gfk, Inc. panel using e-mail invitations and were asked to consent on behalf of themselves and one of their children between the ages of 9 and 21. For non-Latino White parents, a random selection of parents were invited. All Latino and African American parents in the panel were invited to participate. An algorithm was used to request which of the parent’s children to invite when a parent had more than one child in the eligible age group which was age 9-21. The organization requesting the data had a particular interest in 15-19 year olds and the algorithm was constructed accordingly. Within a household, when there was more than 1 child in the 9-21 year old age range, 15-19 year olds were selected at a 3:1 ratio (e.g. when there was a 15-19 year old and a 9-14 year old or a 20-21 year old in the same household, for every three times a 15-19 year old was selected, a non-15-19 year old was selected one time). The final sample included 749 teens ages 14 and younger, 740 teens ages 15-19, and 174 teens ages 20-21. In addition to parental consent, teens assented for their participation in the study. The parent questionnaire contained 91 items and the teen questionnaire contained 46 items. The median completion time was 17 minutes. Seven hundred eleven Whites, 300 African Americans and 652 Latino dyads completed the surveys. One thousand eighty one mothers and 582 fathers completed the surveys and 801 girls and 862 boys completed the surveys. Surveys for parents were customized using the name of the child that parents stated would take the survey and teen surveys were customized to include the term father or mother based on which parent had completed the survey. I completed a preliminary analysis of the demographics of the study sample compared to available nationally representative data prior to beginning the research for the dissertation. That analysis immediately follows this introduction. The three papers follow. Paper 1 is a confirmatory factor analysis on five potential scales for measuring parent-child communication about sexuality and barriers to communication. Paper 2 explores parent-child communication about sexuality related topics including differences in communication by race/ethnicity, gender and age and whether communication is associated with changes in the likelihood of adolescents’ ever having engaged in any sexual behavior, ever having engaged in oral sex, ever having engaged in vaginal sex, consistency of condom use in the past 3 months and/or consistency of birth control use (other than condoms) in the past 3 months. Paper 3 examines parent and teen reports of parental monitoring and the association between monitoring and sexual behavior outcomes as well as differences in monitoring among African American, Latino and White families and of sons compared to daughters. Conclusions and implications follow the third paper.

This study attempts to document the process of change in an example of cognitive behavior therapy conducted as part of larger research project in the effectiveness of this approach with parents having a potential for child abuse. One example of therapy was chosen for in depth analysis using a discourse analysis approach based on that of Labov and Fanshel (1977). Tape-recordings of the eight meetings between the client and the therapist--six therapy sessions, and two additional sessions to administer a pre and post test questionnaire required by the larger study--were transcribed. Selected segments of these transcripts were subjected to a microanalysis, the aim of which was to identify evidence of therapeutic change. Although the client did not follow the therapist in every respect, considerable evidence was found of a process of change--which began prior to the first therapy session with the research oriented questionnaire session and ended with the final questionnaire session. Certain moments in the dialogue, which occurred in nearly every session, were especially significant in revealing change. Through the sessions, a process was identified in which the client adopts, but also adapts ideas put forward by the therapist.

This study examined the chronic psychiatric patients who were referred to Fountain House for psychosocial rehabilitation. Differences between the dropouts vs. the non-dropouts were tested. Applying a longitudinal design and using discriminant analysis, it was found that 70% of patients dropout over a period of six months; and that patients' personal characteristics as well as service variables are predictors of dropout and community adjustment. Although issues of collecting follow-up data on the dropouts were inherent, it was possible to identify patterns of adjustment for the non-dropouts. It was found that patients who stay longer in a rehabilitation setting, attend therapy, and comply with medication had better adjustment levels than others. This led to the conclusion that comprehensive long-term treatment is more effective than other single specialized model of treatment. Theories of milieu therapy, ego psychology, and empirical research pertaining to adjustment and dropout provided a rationale for developing this study, its conclusions, and its recommendations. One recommendation to emerge from this study is that deinstitutionalization should be perceived as a step in the rehabilitation process rather than as a goal by itself. This study concludes that it is possible for chronic psychiatric patients to adjust to the community, but only if all elements of the system work as a complementary unit in which inpatient and aftercare facilities are integrated around the goals of rehabilitation and independent living. The application of milieu therapy based upon sound social work philosophy, research, and methods is essential for the promotion of the adjustment process and reduction of the dropout rate in aftercare facilities. Continuation of research and commitment for long-term, comprehensive treatment will meet the scientific and clinical challenges for dealing with those patients who are "difficult to reach." A second recommendation is that in addition to the usual concern with patient adjustment to services, there is a need to be concerned with the adjustment of services to patients.

This study of the West Side Urban Renewal Area (WSURA) in New York City examines the motives, preferences, and values of a selected group of householders residing in the WSURA. The findings should benefit social work and other planners in decision-making roles. The study identified a group of householders who had the option of choosing to move into urban integrated housing during a period when many of their counterparts were choosing the suburbs in order to escape urban problems such as deteriorating neighborhoods, the high cost of living, poor schools, a rising crime rate, and integrated neighborhoods. In order to better appreciate the householders' decision-making, the study explored the householders' reasons for moving from their previous homes to the WSURA, their expectations concerning life in the WSURA, some of their living experiences in the area, and their satisfaction with the decision to move into the WSURA. In order to effectively answer these questions, the variables of age, income, occupation, family cycle, and race and socioeconomic status were analyzed. The population from which the selected sample was drawn consisted of 774 black and white households located in the Stage I area of the WSURA project. The area was conducive to investigation because it had the physical and socioeconomic characteristics envisioned by the WSURA planners. A research instrument, the questionnaire, was prepared to conduct the study. A total of 173 householders were interviewed: 82 white and 91 black. The items in the questionnaire were coded, edited, and rechecked. Open-ended questions were coded according to a scheme developed from a content analysis of the first fifty questionnaires. The coded data were then keypunched and processed on an IBM 360 computer. The findings of the study demonstrated that the variables of age, income, occupation, family cycle, and race and socioeconomic status did define certain preferences and values of the respondents. The WSURA project was fortunate in its location in an area where highly valued amenities such as theaters, shopping facilities, and restaurants were already located. But the respondents were dissatisfied with schools, health and medical services, and police protection. Differences by race were distinguishable. Less racial tension was perceived in the WSURA than is evident nationally. But the respondents reported a lack of interracial contact on other than a superficial level. An additional survey of key informants. eight people who had been involved professionally in the WSURA project, revealed that the planners hoped to remove the stigma of urban renewal. They revealed also that because of citizen participation the planners and planning recipients had common areas of agreement. It was found that consideration of economics and social attitudes resulted in tradeoffs by the respondents in terms of their moving into the WSURA project. Detailed planning is viewed as a significant component of effective housing policy. No recipient group should be taken for granted. The most visible planning flaw is seen as a lack of sensitivity toward the poor. Limited income, poor education, and inequality in opportunity constituted a cycle that is not fully appreciated by planners. Past methods used by planners should be viewed skeptically. Plans for future housing and neighborhoods should reflect a more realistic view of the needs and preferences of all groups and a greater appreciation of the quality of life.

Little research has been undertaken to show how women in South Africa are integrating their work and family lives. The purpose of this study was to generate data on one area which could facilitate such integration, namely, maternity benefits. Although employers in South Africa are prohibited from employing pregnant women for one month prior to and two months after confinement, they are not compelled by law to transfer women to less strenuous work during pregnancy or to reinstate these women after the enforced period of leave. Whilst the state has not legislated such transfers or reinstatement, they have urged employers to be "sympathetic" to requests for transfers and reinstatement. The study was designed to provide an exploratory and descriptive perspective on maternity-related rights and benefits in the textile industrial sector in selected areas of Natal. Such research data is essential for the purposes of policy advocacy and policy development. Data for this study were collected through the use of the social survey method. The main part of the study included structured interviews with all textile employers in the geographical areas of the study who employed more than ten women. The subsidiary part of the study included structured interviews with selected female employees who had become pregnant whilst working in the textile industry in the area of the study. The purposive sampling method was used. Forty-six textile employers were interviewed and 301 employee interviews were conducted at 31 of these establishments. It emerged from the study that the governmental policy of merely requesting employers to provide benefits has not been effective. In nearly all cases where a maternity benefits package was provided this was as a direct result of pressures to which employers found themselves subject. Unions were the major factor in supplying such pressure. However, even where maternity benefit packages did eventuate, there were two important factors that inhibited their availability. Firstly, women lacked sufficient education about the benefits and the ability to assert their rights sufficiently. Secondly, even where these difficulties could be overcome, no adequate legal machinery exists for the enforcement of the women's maternity-related rights.

This study had three main goals. The first was to describe the institutionalized Black aged in terms of their relevant demographic characteristics and reasons for admission. The second was to explore the relative importance of ethnic and cultural factors in service delivery to this population. The third was to examine the role which the Black family plays within the institutional setting as measured by patterns of visiting and task performance. The application of the Shared Function Thesis to the situation of aged Blacks in nursing homes resulted in the formulation and testing of eight hypotheses. These hypotheses put forth possible explanations as to how the family and the nursing home work together as a Shared Function and how this cooperative relationship affects resident satisfaction with care and resident morale. Data on these areas were obtained in structured interviews with nursing home administrators, residents, and family members. The sample was drawn from five selected voluntary nursing homes in New York City. A combination of random and purposive sampling resulted in the selection of 93 residents who were interviewed as part of the study between January and September 1978. Sixty-four of the 93 residents in the study sample had family available. Twenty-seven of these family members were interviewed. In addition, data on resident physical and mental health status, as well as corroborative data on family involvement were collected in questionnaires completed by the nursing home staff. Several major findings emerged in each area. Data on the demographic characteristics of this population were compared to existing norms for Black aged in the community. The institutionalized persons in the study sample were significantly older and there were many more widowed and never married persons. These findings would seem to indicate that lack of spouse or other familial supports in the face of advancing age and impairment is a major reason for admission to the nursing home. It was also found that availability of family was significantly related to sex of the older person. Black aged males in the study sample were less likely than aged females to have family available. On the question of ethnic factors in service delivery, two major findings emerged. The nursing homes which serve a majority of Black residents and were therefore defined as "ethnic" were more likely than the non-ethnic nursing homes to include cultural components in routine activities. These components included the celebration of holidays important to Black aged, the regular provision of ethnic foods and the inclusion of Black music and art in social activities. The second finding was that consumer attitudes were related to the ethnic orientation of the host facility. This was especially true for issues of matching provider and consumer on the basis of ethnicity than for the inclusion of cultural components in routine activities for which there was ample support from most residents and family members. With reference to the third area, the role of the family within the nursing home, data were obtained on patterns of visiting and patterns of task performance by family members and friends. On both indicators of shared function, visiting and task performance, there was evidence that family continue to play a meaningful role in the lives of their aged members even after institutionalization. Findings indicate that friends also visit frequently. Resident and family reported levels of visiting were very high and were above established norms for all Blacks in nursing homes. The reported level of visiting was also significantly higher than that reported for a sample of predominantly white, middle-class institutionalized aged in a similar study in the same locale. With respect to task performance by family and friends, the most commonly reported tasks performed were the provision of food treats, shopping and running errands, and the provision of clothing. Both the level of visiting and task performance were significantly related to resident and family satisfaction with care in a positive direction.

The study is an exploratory examination of the relationship between the psychosocial diagnostic evaluation and the treatment procedures used by the caseworker in the interview. The psychosocial diagnosis has been defined by twenty-four selected variables assumed to be relevant indicators of the diagnostic process. The treatment procedures have been defined by the Hollis' typology of casework treatment. The variation in the use of the treatment procedures is also examined in relation to three intervening variables: (1) treatment phase; (2) casework method (supportive vs. modifying); and, (3) caseworker. The study is based upon a secondary analysis of data originally collected for the Casework Methods Project, Center for Social Casework Research, Community Service Society of New York. The clients studied are a well defined group. The sample represents motivated, lower-middle class, Negro and White clients of slightly above average general intelligence living in intact families and seeking assistance from a private family agency for difficulties in marital and/or parent-child relationships. The sample tends to represent clients who continue in service through at least the ninth assigned service interview. These are clients who have agreed to partake in a research project and to have their interviews tape recorded. The study has examined eighty-seven tape recorded interviews drawn from thirty-five clients representing twenty-two families. Individual clients are represented by a range of from one to three interviews drawn from a maximum of three phases of treatment. The interviews are representative of assigned service client interview one through fourteen and assigned service case interview one through thirty-nine. The caseworkers treating the clients assessed the clients' status and functioning on the selected diagnostic variables. The treatment procedures used by that same caseworker with each client were determined through the content analysis of tape recorded interviews with the clients. Each worker statement (clause) was classified as one of eleven possible treatment procedures. The proportionate use of each procedure was computed for each interview. Differences in proportions were examined in relation to the independent variables. Variation in the use of the treatment procedures in relation to the independent variables of treatment phase, casework method, and case- worker were examined through a series of multivariate analyses of variance tests. The associations between the twenty-four diagnostic variables and the eleven procedures were assessed through a correlational analysis. In addition the twenty-four diagnostic variables were factor analyzed. Three hypothetical components were identified. Factor scores were computed for each client on each of the three components and correlated with the treatment procedures used with the clients. Non-parametric techniques were used for supplementary analysis. The general hypothesis that the procedures are associated with the diagnostic variables is partially confirmed for nine of the eleven procedures in the sense that a larger number of significant correlations occur than attributable to chance. However, the amount of variation explained by the diagnostic indicators is generally rather small. The degree of the associations are from weak to moderate. The theoretically expected associations tend to occur although to an extent less than anticipated. The largest amount of variation in the use of the treatment procedures was explained by differences among caseworkers. Differences among treatment phases explained a significant amount of the variation in one of the procedures. The writer anticipates that control for caseworker and phase would increase the diagnostic-treatment associations. In addition to the testing of the study hypotheses the study describes the treatment process in this sample of eighty-seven tape recorded interviews.