acase@tulane.edu

This study was undertaken to assess social workers' perceptions of the nature of social policy and its relevance in practice. Two dimensions of the term 'social policy' were considered. A comprehensiveness dimension referred to the referents of the term; a location dimension referred to where social policy decisions are determined. Assessments were also made of social workers' perceptions of their responsibility to attempt to influence social policy, and of social workers' perceptions of the influence of social policy in direct practice. Data was collected by questionnaire from a nationwide, random sample of professionally trained NASW members Two conceptions of social policy were found to prevail among social workers. The first, a comprehensive conception, consisted of two referents: social welfare agencies, and the social consequences of any policy. The second, a detached conception, included only the referent, the social consequences of any policy, and excluded the social welfare agency referent. Each conception was held by roughly half of the respondents. Social workers' conceptions of social policy were found to be unrelated to their views of the relevance of social policy in practice, suggesting a need for more deliberate knowledge development in the area of social policy for use in practice / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

Social workers reach executive positions without academic training in management theory and practice. Executive succession served as a model management area for this study which explored three relationships of the strain experienced by executives during and after a management succession episode. The study sample comprised 20 top-level executives in 4 small ( 2500 personnel) general medical surgical hospitals in Los Angeles County. Four hypotheses were tested: (1) perceptions of the length of succession episodes vary significantly among executives; (2) the larger the medical center, the less the strain reported by the executives, during and after succession; (3) executives who have gone through more total successions in their managerial career, and more successions at executive levels, will report less strain during the most recent succession; and (4) executives who report more ways of coping with stressful situations will report less strain. Strain scores were determined using the questionnaire of Caplan et al. to measure 39 items of job dissatisfaction, boredom, workload dissatisfaction, somatic complaints, anxiety, depression and irritation. The Ways of Coping score was determined using the Folkman and Lazarus questionnaire using 24 items related to job situations. The hypothesis that perceived duration of succession varies widely among executives was strongly supported; the range reported was 0.5 to 24 months. The second hypothesis, that strain is related to hospital size, was not supported by the data. The third hypothesis, that an increased number of managerial and executive successions was associated with less strain was also not supported. The fourth hypothesis, relating strain with the number of ways of coping, was also not supported by the data. Limitations of the study and implications for social work and for further research are discussed, including the possibility that small and large hospitals may be similarly bureaucratized, that factors outside of the work situation might be correlated with strain experienced by executives during succession episodes and that management training included in social work education should pay attention to the special needs of female social workers, who are seriously under-represented in executive positions / acase@tulane.edu

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between husbands' and wives' perceptions of changing sex-role attitudes, division of household labor, decision-making, and to determine to what extent these perceptions varied as a function of sex, race, age, and socio-economic status. The study also examined the normative pressures for women to work for pay to determine the extent these pressures varied as a function of race The sample consisted of 922 married persons ranging in age from 20-77 and residing in the City of New Orleans. The sample comprised two major racial groups: Caucasian (49.3 percent) and Black (48.7 percent) The findings showed respondents' sex-role attitudes differed by race and age. Their perceptions of the division of household labor differed as a function of race and sex. However, respondents' perceptions of household decision-making differed as a function of sex and age Black females experienced greater normative pressures to work for pay than white ones / acase@tulane.edu

This study has presented the general problem and sub-problem under review, as well as, the basic questions that were posed and answered. In addition, contained in this study is an extensive review of the literature focusing upon theories of homicide, aggression, and violence The basic met / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu