Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

In The Shadow Of Best Interest: Negotiating The Facts, Interests, And Interventions In Child Abuse Cases, Gene Kassebaum, David B. Chandler

Sociological Practice

Most cases of child abuse and neglect are not as extreme or clear-cut as those reported in the media. In routine cases the perpetrator is usually a family member, the evidence of injury is ambiguous and the identity of the perpetrator is uncertain. Prosecution, removal of the child, and therapy for the family are sometimes contradictory mandates which courts and social service agencies must balance.

Norm centered negotiation is the decision making process found in this study of child protective work. Child protection workers sometimes negotiate with families in their decisions to confirm abuse, representatives of different agencies negotiate with …

Spousal Violence And Outcome In Custody And Visitation Mediation, Richard D. Mathis, Flo Whinery

Sociological Practice

To examine whether custody and visitation mediation is appropriate in cases with a history of spousal violence, the outcomes of 49 self-reported violent couples were compared to those of 29 never-violent couples in court-ordered mediation. Outcomes were not adversely affected significantly except in chronic cases where incidents had occurred both during the marriage and after separation (p - .011). This report calls for standardized screening to identify chronically violent spouses as well as for modified approaches to treatment of such cases.

Resistance To Mediation: Understanding And Handling It, Maria R. Volpe, Charles Bahn

Sociological Practice

One of the major challenges confronting mediators is the resistance to their intervention efforts by disputants. This article examines some of the explanations for resistance to the mediation process as well as suggested ways of coping with resistant disuptants.

Section: Dispute Resolution Processes: Practice And Research Efforts, Sociological Practice Editors, Maria R. Volpe, Charles Bahn, Richard D. Mathis, Flo Whinery, Gene Kassebaum, David B. Chandler, Jennifer Adams Mastrofski, Patricia A. Gwartney-Gibbs, Denise H. Lach, Drew Hyman, John Shingler, Mitchell Miller

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Sociologists And The Processing Of Conflicts, Maria R. Volpe, Peter R. Maida

Sociological Practice

Sociologists bring a unique perspective to the study of the processing of conflicts. They may be experts in substantive areas in which alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques are used as well as experts in process such as getting the parties to the table and keeping them there to discuss the issues. Sociologists are also trained to observe social interactions and remain neutral in their analyses of what they observe. The authors discuss the contributions that sociologists can make in the study of ADR, including theoretical, research, and critical works on conflict resolution process.

Editors' Preface, Sociological Practice Editors

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Selected Publications In Sociological Practice And Health Sociology, Sociological Practice Editors

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Teaching Social Epidemiology: An Applied Assignment For Undergraduate Instruction, Suzanne M. Selig, Harry Perlstadt, Robin D. Gorsky

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Translating Social Science Concepts Into Medical Education: A Model And A Curriculum, Patricia P. Rieker, James W. Begun

Sociological Practice

Most serious efforts aimed at linking social and behavioral sciences knowledge tomedical practice have included "models" which integrate social and behavioral scienceconcepts. We argue that such an integration is intellectually problematic due toan important analytic distinction between "social" sciences and "psychological" sciences.If the social explanation of illness is to become useful in medical education, adistinctly social model is necessary for conceptual clarity and for guidance of which isuseful for explicating the link between social science knowledge and medical practiceand for organizing the knowledge for teaching in medical schools.

Section: Teaching Health Sociology, Sociological Practice Editors

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Influencing Test Ordering In Primary Care Using Influential Physicians, James G. Anderson, Stephen J. Jay, John B. Zimmerer, Reza S. Farid, Marilyn M. Anderson

Sociological Practice

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of influential physicians to influencetest ordering in a primary care setting. Structured order forms for three commonly orderedtests were developed in conjunction with the chief residents in internal medicineand family practice at Methodist Hospital of Indiana, a 1120 bed private teachinghospital. After data were collected for a nine month baseline period, the forms wereintroduced by the chief residents to the house staff in the Adult Ambulatory Care Centerand the Family Practice Center. After two months, the study was discontinued. Thedata were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance with repeated …

Assessment Of Health Needs In Rural America: A Comparison Of Amish And Non-Amish Families, Kathy K. Trier

Sociological Practice

This study examines a state-sponsored initiative to identify the primary health needsin rural areas so that the appropriateness of existing programs and services could bedetermined, and the development of new ones could be planned. Data were collectedthrough a survey of 200 families, 50 of whom were Amish. Relatively few differencesexisted between Amish and non-Amish families on health status and use of biomedicalservices; however, Amish families reported more behavioral risk factors and usedmore alternative therapies. Benefits from this assessment and planning process wereincreased public awareness about county health problems, and increased cooperationbetween the formal biomedical care system and the Amish community.

Evaluation Of A Commodity Supplemental Food Program Among The Aged Poor In Detroit, David J. Kallen, Chris Reimann, Andrea Doughty

Sociological Practice

This article reports on the evaluation of a demonstration program in which elderly residentsof the Detroit area were provided foods through the Commodity SupplementalFood Program. Organized in a short period of time, the evaluation of this demonstrationprogram had to take into account the realities of program needs, and lack offunding for the evaluation. Elderly participants in the Focus:Hope Food for Seniors

Employee Health Benefits: Corporate Strategies For Cost Containment, Judith K. Barr

Sociological Practice

With health care costs increasing and a major portion of employee benefits attributableto health care, employers have turned their attention to a range of strategies for controllingcosts. A typology of the employer role in employee health care is presentedwhich suggests that cost containment strategies may bring increasing influence by theemployer in the health care decisions of employees. Four roles for employers havebeen identified: (1) the Enabler, providing traditional health benefits, with increasinguse of deductibles and copayments; (2) the Advocate, providing benefit and alternativedelivery options (e.g., HMOs) with incentives for less costly choices; (3) the Mediator,providing programs which intervene in health …

Predicting The Organizational Response To Employee Tobacco Use: An Environmental Model, Susan Penner, Maurice Penner

Sociological Practice

The control of risk behaviors to reduce morbidity and mortality is a leading concernin public health, as is the protection of the public from hazardous exposure to tobaccosmoke and fires caused by smoking. Measures to restrict tobacco use are increasinglypopular in society and in the workplace as a result. This paper discusses cultural,economic, legal, and ethical factors in the external environment and the organization'sinstitutional and technical environment to predict organizational responses toemployee tobacco use.

Opportunities flourish to test this environmental model, as organizations ban tobaccouse or institute policies such as discrimination in hiring, cessation programs,and differential health benefits. Organizational responses …

Black/White Differences In Cancer: A Framework For Intervention Linking Social Structure And Survival, C. Allen Haney, Elizabeth Gear

Sociological Practice

Black/White differences in cancer survival persist. Factors shown to be differentiallyrelated to survival, and to differ by race, include the extent of disease present at diagnosis,disease classification or tumor histology, and host vulnerability. It is suggestedthat efforts to reduce this survival differential generally have been unsuccessful due toa failure to accurately identify the sources of this differential. Differences in the extentof disease present at diagnosis, for example, may not be a function of failure to seekphysicians or dollars spent on health care, but may be due to differences in the natureof health care provided. Similarly, differences in socioeconomic status, lifestyle …

Aids And The Challenge Of A Plague, Alice Cullinan

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Drug And Alcohol Abuse Prevention: Defining The Need In Organizations, W. David Watts

Sociological Practice

This paper outlines initial interventions to prevent drug and alcohol abuse in organizations.Grounded in sociological theory, the first intervention is to define the natureof the problem through data gathering and analysis, particularly self-reports of drugand alcohol use by the organization's members. The self-report data, when comparedwith national data, provide a base of information from which direct interventions canbe designed. Student, faculty, administration, and staff survey results from a universityand their applications are reported as a case study. Interventions which centeron peer prevention are briefly discussed. Self-report survey data of drug and alcoholabuse define the problem and the types of interventions …

The Clinical Sociologist As Health Broker, John G. Bruhn

Sociological Practice

One of the key aspects that distinguish clinical sociologists from other sociologistsis the former's more active role in intervention and change. The clinical sociologistperforms several functions as a broker. This paper discusses the role of healthbroker and the opportunities it provides for clinical sociologists, especially in largeorganizations.

Section: The Practice Of Health Sociology, Sociological Practice Editors, John G. Bruhn, W. David Watts, Alice Cullinan, C. Allen Haney, Elizabeth Gear, Susan Penner, Maurice Penner, Judith K. Barr, David J. Kallen, Chris Reimann, Andrea Doughty, Kathy K. Trier, James G. Anderson, Stephen J. Jay, John B. Zimmerer, Reza S. Farid, Marilyn M. Anderson

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Toward A Sociology Of Medicine, Bernhard J. Stern

Sociological Practice

This paper, first presented in 1951, promotes the emergence of a sociology of medicine.

The Importance Of The Study Of Medical Sociology, Charles Mcintire

Sociological Practice

This 1894 article by a physician discusses the relationshp between the medical profession and the general field of sociology.

The Contributions Of Clinical Sociology In Health Care Settings, Jan M. Fritz

Sociological Practice

This paper focuses on the emergence and promise of clinical sociology. Particular attention is paid to certified practitioners' contributions (theoretical analysis, social systems perspective, levels of analysis, methodological sophistication, intervention skills and specialized body of knowledge) in health care settings.

Section: Historical Overview, Sociological Practice Editors, Jan M. Fritz, Charles Mcintire, Bernhard J. Stern

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Elizabeth J. Clark

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Appendix Iii: Readings In Contemporary Sociological Practice, Sociological Practice Editors

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Appendix Ii: Sociological Practice: Defining The Field, Elizabeth Clark, Jan M. Fritz

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Section: Apendices, Sociological Practice Editors, Elizabeth Clark

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Are International Private Voluntary Organizations Preaching What They Practice?, G. David Miller

Sociological Practice

The concept of community development organizations providing assistance to communitiesin furthering the goals of community participation and self-help is conflictive.Providing institutionalized assistance often fosters dependency rather than advancingparticipation and self-help. The author examines goal statements of twenty leadingAmerican private voluntary organizations (PVOs) carrying out international communitydevelopment. Eighteen of the twenty espouse self-help, yet concentrate more on deliveringassistance than promoting empowerment. Their idea of self-help consists of supportingcommunity level administration of resources rather than advocating actualcommunity control. Most PVOs are donor-driven and transfer that dependency to thecommunities they serve. This raises the question of who is the client of the PVO, …

Methodological Issues In The Evaluation Of International Community Participation Projects, Michael Bamberger

Sociological Practice

International donor agencies and governments of developing countries are seeking waysto increase the involvement of project beneficiaries in the design and management ofdevelopment projects. However, very little systematic evidence is available on thepotential costs and benefits of community participation (CP). The evaluation of CP iscomplicated by a division between advocates of efficiency and empowerment objectives.Achieving consensus on evaluation strategies is further complicated by the closeassociation between empowerment objectives and qualitative evaluation methods on theone hand and efficiency objectives and quantitative evaluation methods on the other. Anumber of methodological issues are discussed with respect to the application ofcost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, …