This article is a description of a study that sought to examine the applicability of Ronald Akers' social learning theory. According to Akers' theory, differential associations with smokers, differential reinforcements for smoking, favorable definitions of smoking and the availability of role models (imitation) offer an explanation as to why…

Governments are concerned to promote positive parenting but it is difficult to know how and where to target the necessary support. How should we listen to the concerns expressed by parents themselves? Social work and health care professionals and those involved in developing parenting programmes tend to base their interventions on their…

This article presents a critical review of Steve Taylor's Caught in the Continuum. Steve Taylor describes the flawed thinking associated with the "least restrictive environment" (LRE) principle and the related continuum model of human services that linked severity of disability with segregation, and required improvements in skills as a…

In a series of New Jersey Supreme Court decisions known as Abbott v. Burke, the 28 (now 31) urban school districts serving the state's poorest students were ordered to create systems of high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-old children, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. The Abbott Preschool Program now serves approximately…

In this article, the authors proposed a distillation and matching model (DMM) that describes how evidence-based treatment operations can be conceptualized at a lower order level of analysis than simply by their manuals. Also referred to as the "common elements" approach, this model demonstrates the feasibility of coding and identifying the…

This learning module, which is part of a three-block series intended to help human service workers develop the skills necessary to solve the problems encountered in their daily contact with elderly clients of different cultural backgrounds, deals with communication and adjustment from the standpoint of the special cultural background of…

This learning module, which is part of a three-block series intended to help human service workers develop the skills necessary to solve the problems encountered in their daily contact with elderly clients of different cultural backgrounds, deals with the work environment of a human services worker who deals primarily with elderly minority…

This learning module, which is part of a three-block series intended to help human service workers develop the skills necessary to solve the problems encountered in their daily contact with elderly clients of different cultural backgrounds, deals with Ukrainian culture. The first two sections provide general information about the size and general…

This report recounts experiences of 99 single parents in British Columbia and New Brunswick who were offered the opportunity to receive cash payments in addition to their earnings if they left the income assistance (IA) rolls and took full-time jobs. The experiences are from participants of focus groups who were mostly female single parents, about…

This paper describes the development of the National Skill Standards for Community Based Human Service Practitioners and reports on a survey of states' training and certification requirements. The standards are grouped into 12 broad competency areas: (1) participant empowerment; (2) communication; (3) assessment; (4) community and service…

Information about which clients perceive psychologists as professional resources for which type of symptom is of interest in the marketing of psychological services. Gender and age have shown the most consistent relationships, while race, income, and education are less clear. This study examined absolute and relative preference for various types…

This paper examines and analyzes a Human Services reform initiative in West Virginia and shows how various components responded to the reform particularly in identity construction. The analysis used an immunological metaphor within a Foucauldian understanding of power and knowledge. The study gathered data through participant and observer…

Three agency teams at an ARC sheltered workshop providing comprehensive services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families were surveyed about the dynamics of the team process and then received inservice training on the team process and on evaluating teams. The inservice training included lecture, discussion, role play, and…

This book is intended to serve as a primary resource in traditional courses in group counseling. Chapter 1 discusses the rationale for using group counseling and chapter 2 reviews the history of group counseling. In chapter 3, the two authors explain their theories of group counseling, one a group-centered theory and one an eclectic approach.…

If schools are to play the role of integrators of human services, state and local policymakers must create a favorable policy context in which schools may operate. Six critical policy issues are discussed: ensuring comprehensive service delivery to children and families; developing alternative funding strategies; ensuring family support; ensuring…