Review of Disability, work and social policy—Models for social welfare (Springer series on social work, vol. 2).

Reviews the book, Disability, work and social policy—Models for social welfare (Springer series on social work, vol. 2) by Aliki Coudroglou and Dennis L. Poole (1984). This book is dedicated "to the people of PUSH for their determination and courageous example." PUSH, or "People United for Self-Help," was established in 1970 in Phoenix, Arizona. The book addresses rationally and at times with understandable emotion the social and moral problems of caring for disabled persons; it describes the merits of and need for an advocacy organization like PUSH; and it offers a mainstreaming model that conceivably might provide "occupational opportunity for all disabled workers in the least restrictive environment." While most students of social work, rehabilitation, policy science, sociology, and even psychology or medicine would profit from reading this book, it is not clear as to the audience for which it was written or the role it should play in graduate curricula. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An elastic computerized brain atlas for the analysis of clinical PET/SPET data

An elastic computerized brain atlas was developed for the analysis of positron emission tomography/single-photon emission tomography (PET/SPET) data. It consists of a set of digital anatomical contours and a template of regions of interest, schematically describing the brain, derived from a currently used anatomical/functional brain atlas. A warping algorithm, matching equivalent contours, was implemented to elastically fit the atlas to individual brain images. The elastic computerized brain atlas was applied to representative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-PET/SPET studies, MRI providing the anatomical information used by the matching procedure. The atlas is suited for clinical use in a nuclear medicine environment.     

Inadequate data base.

Suggests that T. I. De Vol's (1974) article comparing British and US graduate enrollment should not have been published since average British enrollment was based on returns from only 38% of the British psychology departments surveyed. Also, no comparison was made between departments that did and did not respond. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of social work intervention with bereaved clients: some implications for hospital social work practice

During infection of a mammalian host, African trypanosomes are in constant contact with the host's immune system. These protozoan parasites are infamous for their ability to evade the immune responses by periodically switching their major variant surface glycoprotein (VSG), a phenomenon called antigenic variation. Antigenic variation, however, is likely to be only one of several mechanisms enabling these organisms to thrive in the face of the immune defenses. The ability to grow in high levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and to avoid complement-mediated destruction may also facilitate the parasite's survival. In this review we summarize (i) the activation of trypanosome genes for three different VSGs during antigenic variation, (ii) the secretion of a trypanosome protein that induces host CD8 T cells to produce IFN-gamma, and (iii) the evidence for trypanosome protein similar to a surface protease of Leishmania that plays a role in resistance to complement-mediated lysis.     

Cleft palate patients--the social work approach

From birth to maturity, the needs of cleft lip and cleft palate patients change. For such patients, fixed teams of specialists headed by a surgeon may not be the best answer. The authors outline theclinicl characteristics of both deformities and show how social workers are uniquely equipped to coordinate a changing constellation of helpers in an adaptable form of long-term treatment.     

Data base or data bias?

Presents evidence from researchers (M. Straus et al [1980] and M. Schulman [1979]) that refutes L. E. Walker's (see record 1989-26311-001) claim that most violence by women is a reaction to men's violence against them. Straus et al found that among couples reporting violence, in 24% of the cases the violence was unilateral by the woman, and in 27% of the cases the violence was unilateral by the man. In a study with all female Ss, Schulman found that among those reporting violence, in 30% of the cases the violence was unilateral by the woman, and in 23% of the cases women reported unilateral violence by the male. Incidence by type of violence reported varied little as to male-to-female or female-to-male. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Protestant work ethic moderates social loafing.

Prior research on social loafing has emphasized situational factors and has largely neglected personality influences. The current study attempted to close this gap by exploring the potential for Protestant work ethic (PWE) to reduce or eliminate social loafing. Individuals who had been pretested on PWE were asked to work either coactively or collectively on an idea generation task. As predicted, PWE moderated the effects of work condition on individual effort such that PWE scores were negatively associated with social loafing. These results highlight the potential importance of personality influences on group motivation and suggest that individuals with a strong personal work ethic are unlikely to engage in social loafing. Implications for theory and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature.

Indicates that research in social psychology has largely been based on college students tested in academic laboratories on academiclike tasks. How this dependence on one narrow data base may have biased the main substantive conclusions of sociopsychological research in this era is discussed. Research on the full life span suggests that, compared with older adults, college students are likely to have less crystallized attitudes, less formulated senses of self, stronger cognitive skills, stronger tendencies to comply with authority, and more unstable peer-group relationships. These peculiarities of social psychology's predominant data base may have contributed to central elements of its portrait of human nature. According to this view, people are quite compliant and their behavior is easily socially influenced, readily change their attitudes and behave inconsistently with them, and do not rest their self-perceptions on introspection. The data base may also contribute to this portrait of human nature's strong emphasis on cognitive processes and to its lack of emphasis on personality dispositions, material self-interest, emotionally based irrationalities, group norms, and stage-specific phenomena. The analysis implies the need both for more careful examination of sociopsychological propositions for systematic biases introduced by dependence on this data base and for increased reliance on adults tested in their natural habitats with materials drawn from ordinary life. (127 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Malignant melanoma: social status and outdoor work

The incidence of, and mortality from, malignant melanoma of skin in whites are strongly influenced by socio-economic conditions. Professional and administrative workers have the highest rates of all. Clerks and salesmen have higher rates than skilled manual workers, who have higher rates than unskilled workers. Women, when classified by the occupation of their husbands, show a similar relationship to social status. The biases of incidence data from systems of cancer registration, and mortality data from death certificates are different, and the consistency of the data from different periods and from different populations suggests that the relationship is real. The bulk of the data is from Britain, but there is sufficient from the U.S. to indicate that the effect is not restricted to one country. No consistent increase in risk was found in outdoor workers compared with indoor workers of similar socio-economic status.     

Immigrant policy: issues for social work practice

Immigrants make up a significant segment of U.S. society. Immigration to the United States has been characterized by steady growth, dramatic changes in ethnic composition, and declining socioeconomic levels. The challenge for social work is to respond to the social services needs of immigrants by designing appropriate programs that will contribute to the social and economic integration of immigrants. This article provides an overview of the major policy issues relevant to social work practice with immigrants and describes the recent U.S. immigrant population. It discusses current federal policy that affects service provision to immigrants, defines immigrant eligibility for social services, outlines the major areas of need among immigrants, and considers implications for social work practice.     

Perinatal loss: considerations in social work practice

The death of a fetus or newborn infant prompts a grief response which has numerous unique aspects. Pregnancy losses are similar in many respects to other losses, but raise additional issues which require attention and consideration. This article addresses these issues, and offers guidance to social workers who are working with persons following this special type of loss. Parental communication, sibling needs and follow-up programs are also reviewed, along with caregiver issues.     

Treating tuberculosis: the essential role of social work

The resurgence of tuberculosis gives cause for alarm. Compliance with an effective medication regimen leads to cure; yet, many patients fail to comply. This paper discusses factors affecting compliance and the essential role of social work, from an ecological perspective, when intervening to increase compliance. The authors relate comments made by patients at the only hospital originally and still serving as a TB sanatorium in relation to literature on compliance. Changes at the hospital include the development of a social work department which uses the ecological perspective in working with patients whose histories include non-compliance, as well as alcoholism, homelessness, loneliness, joblessness, and AIDS. The content of interviews with patients reveal and identify problems for future research.     

Human versus computerized evaluations of polygraph data in a laboratory setting.

Computer algorithms that process physiological reactions to polygraph test questions and assess the probability that the questions were answered truthfully were evaluated with data obtained in two mock crime experiments. One half of the subjects in each experiment were guilty of committing a mock theft, and one half were innocent. Data from 100 subjects in one experiment (standardization sample) were used to develop a discriminant function of electrodermal, cardiovascular, and respiration measures. The distributions of discriminant scores were used to derive Bayesian assessments of the probability of truthfulness. Data from 48 subjects in another experiment were used to cross validate the computer model (validation sample). Dichotomous computer classifications of subjects in the standardization sample were 93% correct. Blind numerical evaluations of the same data by an expert interpreter were 89% correct. On cross-validation, computer outcomes were 94% correct, and numerical evaluations were 92% correct. There were no significant differences between computer and human evaluations. The findings suggest that computer techniques may be developed for applied settings and would perform at least as well as expert human interpreters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The processing of self-criticism by social work editorial boards.

D. Lindsey (see record 1977-30147-001) agrees that N. Gilbert (1977) correctly identifies the omission of the discussion of the substantive theoretical problems that arise when comparing a profession with academic disciplines in Lindsey's study. Lindsey explains the omission in a brief history of his research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perinatal social work and the high risk obstetrics patient

Even under the most favorable conditions, pregnancy and childbirth may tax the family's ability to cope. If there are problems with the pregnancy, these coping capacities may be further stressed. This article examines the common high risk obstetrical problems, frequently seen emotional reactions to the treatment of those problems, and social work assessment and intervention with families.