Asian American career development: A qualitative analysis

This study used a modified version of consensual qualitative research design to examine how contextual, cultural, and personal variables influence the career choices of a diverse group of 12 Asian Americans. Seven domains of influences on career choices emerged including family, culture, external factors, career goals, role models, work values, and self-identity. Furthermore, several overarching themes were discovered that expressed elements of many of these domains. These themes highlighted the pervasive and influential role that both culture and family of origin play in the construction of meaning that these Asian American participants made from their career choices. Implications of these domains and themes and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

African American adolescent mothers and grandmothers: A multigenerational approach to parenting

This study is an adaptation and extension of Apfel and Seitz’s (Family Relations, 40(4), 421–429, 1991) models of adolescent parenting and adolescent-grandmother relationships to a sample of 148 African American, first-time adolescent mothers and their 6-month-old infants. The Parental Supplemental model, in which adolescent mothers and grandmothers shared caregiving, described 63% of Apfel and Seitz’s (1991) sample and 66% of the current sample. Shared caregiving was not associated with conflict in the adolescent mother–grandmother relationship. Adolescent mothers who had caregiving responsibilities and a supportive adolescent-grandmother relationship also reported competence in their parenting role. Findings provide support for Apfel and Seitz’s Parental Apprentice model, in which young mothers gain competence through direct caregiving experience in the context of a supportive relationship.     

Homosexual Applicants to the Priesthood: How Many and Are They Psychologically Healthy?

The current investigation evaluated the psychological profiles of applicants to seminary who were identified as being either homosexual or heterosexual in orientation. The MMPI-2 from 63 seminary applicants conducted between 1990 and 2004 was reviewed. Results indicate that 49 applicants (78%) identified themselves as being heterosexual while 14 applicants (22%) identified themselves as being homosexual. Few psychological differences emerged on the MMPI-2 when comparing heterosexual to homosexual applicants.     

American Indian Youth: Personal,Familial, and Environmental Strengths

We present data from interviews with 401 youths on the relationship of personal, familial, and environmental strengths to the outcomes of urban and reservation American Indian youths. Urban youths consistently nominated more strengths than tribal youths, except in the area of tribal strengths. Quantitative data show how those strengths relate to their school success, daily functioning, mental health, and ethnic identity. Personal and familial strengths are related to positive school success and functioning. Environmental strengths demonstrate complex relationships in which tribal strengths are related to increased mental health problems and school strengths are related to fewer problems. The results of our study speak to the need to include multiple categories of different strengths in research and to focus on strengths as well as problems in clinical interventions.     

Beyond Dichotomy—Towards Creative Synthesis

There are two ways for overcoming limitations of methods used in psychology, as Toomela (Integr. Physiol. Behav. Sci. doi:, 2007) points out. These are inventing new methods of research, and looking back into the history of methodological thought for new ideas. Though he limited the former as if it is a quantitative area and he declared to take the latter path, his paper actually advocates the need to create new methodology for understanding the human psyche through historical approach. We discuss problems of sampling and generalization in that context, and suggest a new way to creative synthesis through elaboration of qualitative methodologies. To us this direction constitutes an updated version of the German–Austrian methodology exactly as Toomela suggests.

Moral Deliberation in a Public Lutheran Church

Abstract : Variety and complementarity characterize the views of six Lutheran theologians regarding the place of the church in the public square: Martin Marty, Ronald Thiemann, Robert Benne, Gary Simpson, Cynthia Moe‐Lobeda, and Patrick Kiefert. This article explicates their thought in with respect to the internal and external life of the church. To think of the church as a “community of moral deliberation” in the public square becomes the preferred model for Lutherans in North America.     

The Role of Religion on the Health Practices of Mexican Americans

Twenty million Mexican Americans live in the U.S. (U.S. Census 2000 Summary File, 2000). It is vital that health care clinicians become familiar with and acknowledge the role of religion or religiosity on the health practices of Mexican Americans so that these needs may be addressed through holistic care. This paper reviews the origin and role that religion plays in the health practices of Mexican Americans. The potential benefits of addressing these client’s religious needs are examined and suggestions are offered on how health care clinicians may address these needs in a culturally sensitive manner.Josefina Lujan, MSN, RN is a first generation Mexican American who has been practicing nursing for 25 years in the Texas-Mexico border community of El Paso, Texas.Howard Campbell is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso. e-mails: jlujan1@utep.edu; hcampbel@utep.edu     

Environmental Influences on Fighting Versus Nonviolent Behavior in Peer Situations: A Qualitative Study with Urban African American Adolescents

This qualitative study explored environmental factors that influence adolescents’ responses to problem situations involving peers. Interviews were conducted with 106 middle school students (97% African American) from an urban school system. Participants were asked to describe factors that would make it easier and those that would make it more difficult for adolescents to make specific responses to problem situations. Two types of responses were presented: nonviolent responses identified as effective in a previous study, and fighting responses. Qualitative analysis identified 24 themes representing family, peer, school, and neighborhood and broader social factors that were related to both nonviolent behavior and fighting. The identification of environmental influences on fighting and nonviolent responses has important implications for efforts to reduce aggression and promote effective nonviolent responses to problem situations encountered by adolescents.     

Psychosocial Correlates of Medical Mistrust Among African American Men

The current study proposed and tested a conceptual model of medical mistrust in a sample of African American men (N = 216) recruited primarily from barbershops in the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States. Potential psychosocial correlates were grouped into background factors, masculine role identity/socialization factors, recent healthcare experiences, recent socioenvironmental experiences (e.g., discrimination), and healthcare system outcome expectations (e.g., perceived racism in healthcare). Direct and mediated relationships were assessed. Results from the hierarchical regression analyses suggest that perceived racism in healthcare was the most powerful correlate of medical mistrust even after controlling for other factors. Direct effects were found for age, masculine role identity, recent patient–physician interaction quality, and discrimination experiences. Also, perceived racism in healthcare mediated the relationship between discrimination experiences and medical mistrust. These findings suggest that African American men’s mistrust of healthcare organizations is related to personal characteristics, previous negative social/healthcare experiences, and expectations of disparate treatment on the basis of race. These findings also imply that aspects of masculine role identity shape the tone of patient–physician interactions in ways that impede trust building processes.     

Beyond the “Birds and the Bees”: Gender Differences in Sex‐Related Communication Among Urban African‐American Adolescents

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full‐text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ). The current study examined gender differences in communication about sex‐related topics in a community sample of urban, African‐American mothers and adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods with high HIV rates. One hundred and sixty‐two mother–adolescent dyads completed self‐report measures of sex‐related communication. Youth also reported on their sexual risk. We identified the range of sexual‐based topics that adolescents discussed with their mothers, fathers, friends, and at school. The relationship between the frequency of sexual communication and sexual risk was examined. We also investigated congruency between adolescent and mother report about whether sexual‐based discussions occurred. Consistent with prior research, girls talked to their mothers, fathers, friends, and at school about sex‐related topics more than boys. Findings indicated that mothers not only communicated more frequently about sexual issues with their daughters than sons but that parental messages for girls were more protective. Greater sexual communication with mother was significantly associated with decreased HIV risk in the past 90 days and increased protection from HIV. Inconsistencies between mother and adolescent reports about sexual communication were marginally associated with decreased protection from HIV. Findings reveal the protective effect of sexual communication and the general lack of congruence between mother and adolescent reports of sexual communication.