Leadership and Rehabilitation Training for Troubled Adolescents in a Tri-ethnic Setting

In many school systems in the country, especially in urban areas, large numbers of adolescent students feel alienated and frustrated because they are not allowed to participate in the decision-making process and in school activities. The result of this lack of participation is illustrated by the large number of adolescents who drop out, are pushed out, or are suspended and expelled. Unless these students become involved, rehabilitated, and their leadership potential is developed, the gap will continue to widen between those who have assumed leadership through authority (administrators, teachers, and counselors) and those who are most affected by a lack of involvement (students).     

Resistance to Group or Personal Insults in an Ingroup or Outgroup Context

This experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of different types of insults in different social contexts on the victim's resistance to the attack. In a teaching exercise, which was purportedly measuring their intelligence, students were insulted for their incompetence by their teacher in various situations: when alone, in front of an ingroup member, or in front of an outgroup member. In half the cases this personal insult was augmented by one impugning the competence of the student's academic ingroup as well. Direct resistance showed a complex pattern of results, reflecting concerns about managing an impression of group loyalty and personal detachment. Measures of indirect resistance showed higher levels in the public, as opposed to the private contexts, and were conceptualised as reflecting esteem deflation. These results thus amplify and extend into the logic of a collectivist culture hypotheses (Felson, 1978) about aggression as impression management.     

Gender differences in the family-relatedness of relocation decisions

Using a dyadic study design, the present study draws on research into the family-relatedness of work decisions to examine the impact of the spouse's characteristics on an employee's willingness to engage in job-related relocation. With a sample of 1234 employees, the results show that spousal willingness to relocate mediates (a) the negative effect of the spouse's community ties and (b) the positive effect of the spouse's job alternatives on an employee's willingness to relocate. The indirect effect of the spouse's job alternatives was stronger among female than among male employees. To validate employees' perceptions, this study uses matched data from a subsample of 207 employees and their spouses to test a multi-source model, which revealed several notable inconsistencies. Our exploration of discrepancies between employee and spousal ratings helps explain these differences between single-source and multi-source models. Overall, findings suggest that employees consider various spousal factors in their career decision-making, and the family-relatedness of relocation decisions is particularly strong among female employees.     

Gender-Role Cognition in Three-Year-Old Boys and Girls

Although the multidimensionality of gender roles has been well established, few researchers have investigated male and female roles separately. Because of the substantial differences in the ways male and female roles are portrayed in our culture, boys and girls may think and learn about these roles differently. The male role is more clearly defined, more highly valued, and more salient than the female role; thus, children's cognitions about these two roles may be expected to differ. The present study addressed the question of whether there is sex-typical variation in gender labeling, gender-role knowledge, and schematicity. Participants were 120 families; 15% were from minority ethnic groups, and 17% were single-parent families; 25% of the parents had a high school education or less. Results indicated that at 36 months of age, boys were less able to label gender and less knowledgeable about gender roles than were girls. Boys' knew more about male stereotypes than female stereotypes, whereas girls knew considerably more than boys about the female role and as much as boys about the male role. Boys and girls were found to be similar in gender schematicity. Traditionality of parental attitudes regarding child-rearing and maternal employment were not strongly related to children's gender cognition.     

The welcome baby program: A community-based volunteer prevention model of caring,sharing, and support for new parents

Primary prevention is one of the most important components of any community child abuse and neglect program. Welcome Baby is a community-based, volunteer primary prevention program that offers caring, sharing, and support to parents of newborns through hospital visitation and follow-up contacts during the adjustment period that surrounds the birth of a baby. Program goals include personal support for the new mother, prevention of child abuse and neglect by providing support and information for all parents, reinforcement of strengths and support for quality parenting, improving emotional preparation for parenthood, and early identification and intervention for families with the potential for maltreatment. Program rationale and conclusions agree with research findings that early and consistent support and intervention with high-risk families improve the quality of parent-child interaction and significantly reduce the risk of maltreatment. This article outlines the basic philosophy, goals, and operations of this community prevention program.