Coping in context: sociocultural determinants of responses to sexual harassment

The authors investigated coping responses to sexual harassment across 4 samples of working women from 3 cultures and 2 occupational classes. Complete-link cluster analyses provide preliminary support for D. E. Knapp, R. H. Faley, S. E. Ekeberg, and C. L. Z. Dubois's (1997) coping framework, suggesting that avoidance, denial, negotiation, advocacy seeking, and social coping are universal responses to sexual harassment. Further, L. F. Fitzgerald's (1990) internal-external dichotomy appears to capture higher order relationships among coping responses. In addition, regression analyses suggest that Turkish and Hispanic American women engage in more avoidance than Anglo American women, and Hispanic women also use more denial but less advocacy seeking. No differences emerged in social coping. The authors discuss these results in the context of coping theory, individualism-collectivism, power distance, and patriarchal gender norms.     

Adolescents' orientation toward the future: Sex role differentiation in a sociocultural context

The present study examines sociocultural variations of gender differences reflected in the future orientation of Israeli Jews and Arabs as cases of modernity vs. transition to modernity, respectively. One hundred and twelve Jewish adolescents (61 males and 51 females) and 116 Arab adolescents (67 males and 49 females), all high school seniors in a college-bound program, responded to an open-ended future orientation questionnaire and listed their hopes and fears for the future. These responses were categorized into eight life domains (school and matriculation, military service, higher education, work and career, marriage and family, self, others, collective issues) and each domain was analyzed in terms of salience (i.e., importance and interest, assessed by number of pertinent statements) and specificity (i.e., extent of detail and concreteness, rated on a 1–3 scale). Results supported the hopothesized instrumental-expressive division between Jewish males and females and the primacy of higher education for Arab females. Analysis employing U. Bronfenbrenner's (The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979) ecological model of development suggests that these gender differences are sustained by the developmental settings of Jewish and Arab adolescents.     

The origins of modern divorce

High rates of marital dissolution and easy access to divorce are not unprecedented, historically or cross-culturally. But contemporary divorce in North America and Western Europe has different origins and features than divorce in previous cultures. The origins of modern divorce patterns date back more than 200 years, to the invention of the historically unprecedented idea that marriage should be based on love and mutual affection. Ironically, then, the fragility of modern marriage stems from the same values that have elevated the marital relationship above all other personal and familial commitments: the concentration of emotion, passion, personal identity, and self-validation in the couple relationship and the attenuation of emotional attachments and obligations beyond the conjugal unit. The immediate causes of divorce may range from factors as diverse as the personal psychological characteristics of one or both spouses to the stresses of economic hardship and community disintegration. But in a larger perspective, the role of divorce in modern societies and its relatively high occurrence both flow from the same complex of factors that have made good marriages so much more central to people's happiness than through most of the past, and deterioration of a marital relationship so much more traumatic.     

The role of sociocultural context for culture competence and depressive symptoms among ethnic minority youths in junior high school

The aim of the study was to examine whether school sociocultural context affects culture competence and its relationship to depressive symptoms. As part of the Youth, Culture and Competence study conducted in the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, questionnaire data was collected from 373 immigrant students in two junior high schools within Oslo. The school contexts were represented in terms of proportion of ethnic minority students, 90% versus 60% referred to as the concentrated and balanced context, respectively. Results showed a relatively low level of depressive symptoms and high level of ethnic and host culture competence regardless of context. Ethnic culture competence showed an inverse relationship to depression in both contexts. Host culture competence was also negatively correlated with depression, but only in the balanced context. In the concentrated context this correlation was unsubstantial. Thus, the sociocultural context was found to moderate this correlation.     

Dealing with the abdication dynamic in the post divorce family: a context for adolescent crisis

Separation and divorce can exacerbate or precipitate abdication of parental functions. This is often associated with disengagement and acting-out by the adolescent offspring. This paper describes a therapy oriented to the management of four specific processes: (a) the restoration of parental nurturing functions, which tend to collapse under the personal and interpersonal tensions of divorce, with the result that the adolescent is without sustenance or seeks it elsewhere; (b) the recovery of parental guiding and controlling functions; (c) the correction of distortions that accompany the separation process and restoration of a relatively more accurate view of family reality; and (d) the repair of parental unity. Excerpts from a case study are used to illustrate the orchestration of this therapy.     

Psychological adaptation and birth outcomes: the role of personal resources, stress, and sociocultural context in pregnancy.

Prenatal psychosocial predictors of infant birth weight and length of gestation were investigated in a prospective study of 120 Hispanic and 110 White pregnant women. Hypotheses specifying that personal resources (mastery, self-esteem, optimism), prenatal stress (state and pregnancy anxiety), and sociocultural factors (income, education, ethnicity) would have different effects on birth outcomes were tested using structural equation modeling. Results confirmed that women with stronger resources had higher birth weight babies (beta = .21), whereas those reporting more stress had shorter gestations (beta = -.20). Resources were also associated with lower stress (beta = -.67), being married, being White, having higher income and education, and giving birth for the first time. There was no evidence that resources buffered the effects of stress. The importance of personal resources in pregnancy is highlighted along with implications for understanding the etiology of adverse birth outcomes.     

Workaholism and divorce

This study compared workaholism components and workaholic behaviors of managers currently divorced or currently married. Data were collected using anonymous questionnaires from 530 women and men. 44 divorced and 415 still-married managers indicated similar workaholism and workaholic behaviors.     

Amniocentesis in sociocultural perspective

This article reports on an anthropological investigation of the social impact and cultural meaning of amniocentesis conducted in New York City, illustrating how class differences, as well as sociocultural diversity, deeply affect pregnant women's acceptance, rejection, and interpretation of prenatal testing. The article also suggests the importance of recognizing how counselors' cultural backgrounds and styles affect patient-counselor communications.     

Rational divorce counseling

Although most couples' problems are brought to marriage counselors, a great percentage of these marriages, treated or not, will end in divorce. In this article, the importance of the role of the therapist's values and attitudes about divorce is stressed as a significant ingredient in the therapy on this difficult decision. A number of the tasks of RET divorce counseling are reviewed, including helping the individual(s) decide whether to remain married or divorce, reviewing their perceptions for distortions of data and their cognitions for distortions of evaluation or reasoning,and helping them to implement the decision, survive the aftermath, and work out a changed relationship with the exspouse.There have always been many things you can do short of actually ending an unhappy marriage—buying a house, having an affair, and having a baby are the most common, I suppose. Nora Ephron,Heartburn     

Parent interaction after divorce: Comparison of mediated and adversarial divorce processes

The interactions and perceptions of two groups of divorcing parents using different dispute resolution processes were compared at final divorce and at 1 and 2 years post-divorce. Using objective and standardized measures, the effectiveness of a comprehensive divorce mediation process was contrasted to the more customary two attorney adversarial process. The 153 parents at final divorce were part of a larger, longitudinal study of 435 divorcing men and women who were followed from the beginning of divorce to 2 years post-divorce. Parents in the divorce mediation group reported less conflict during the divorcing period, and less conflict, more contact and communication, and a more positive attitude toward the other parent at final divorce, results which remained significant after controlling for several baseline group differences. The majority of differences favoring the mediation intervention continued through the first year after divorce, and disappeared by the 2 year post-divorce data collection. The nature of the mediation process is discussed in relation to these parental behaviors and attitudes.     

The effect of the divorce experience on spiritual growth

This essay presents the findings from a study of the effect of divorce on spiritual growth among Protestants. Looking at movement in the areas of love of God, self, and others, it shows that the divorce experience can have varying levels of impact which relate at least partially to the traumatic intensity of the experience itself.Excerpted from The Effect of Divorce on Spiritual Growth: A Study in Protestant Spirituality (unpublished thesis), (c) 1984 Jean M. Blomquist. All rights reserved.     

Clergy divorce and remarriage

The incidence of clergy divorce and remarriage requires a rethinking of the church's position when the divine intent for marriage is not fulfilled. A ministry to clergy couples and families marked by truth and grace can lead to a restoration of persons and an effecting of constructive ministries for clergy who have themselves been restored.Dr. Brown is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, CN 821, Princeton, New Jersey 08540. She is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Theological and Social Concerns Committee of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.     

The crisis of divorce: An opportunity for constructive change

In this article the authors seek a partial answer to the intriguing question of the nature of the factors which help some persons achieve healthy resolution of the divorce crisis with personal gains and successful post-divorce adjustment. A group of 24 divorced people (all members of different Israeli kibbutzim) who fulfilled the criteria used by the authors to identify good adjustment to crisis and personal growth after divorce reported on the beneficial influences which, in their opinion, contributed to the gainful outcome.     

The crisis of divorce: An opportunity for constructive change

In this article the authors seek a partial answer to the intriguing question of the nature of the factors which help some persons achieve healthy resolution of the divorce crisis with personal gains and successful post-divorce adjustment. A group of 24 divorced people (all members of different Israeli kibbutzim) who fulfilled the criteria used by the authors to identify good adjustment to crisis and personal growth after divorce reported on the beneficial influences which, in their opinion, contributed to the gainful outcome.(1982, Winter)     

Making sense of divorce grief

The various models of divorce recovery put forward by researchers have previously been divided into two general categories. The first focuses on emotional or affective stages, while the second describes the recovery in terms of behavior/event dimensions. These two approaches are now integrated by recognizing that the behavior/event stages represent specific psycho/social losses in the life of the divorcing person. Stages of grief, therefore, may arise repeatedly in response to the different losses. These emotional stages may reappear with varying intensity, depending on the varying amount of importance of each loss to the individual. The complex interaction between sequential losses and responding emotional stages is described. Erikson's thematic theory of development and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale are offered as helpful tools for clarifying the meaning of emotions and needs which appear to spiral back and forth within the individual's experience.Mr. Hagemeyer is co-author, with Sue Richards, ofMinistry to the Divorced, to be released by Zondervan in June, 1986, and is a D.Min. candidate at Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI. He is the former Director of Good News Community, a ministry to single adults in Grand Rapids. He may be addressed at 2377 Post Drive, Belmont, MI 49306.