By applying Kenneth Burke's concepts of Order, the Secret, and the Kill to the newspaper-audience-advertiser relationship, the narrow imagery that depicts that relationship only in economic terms can be counteracted. Burke's maps of hierarchy, mystery, and transcendence in human action allow the depiction of a complex meshing of patterns,…

Although researchers have found a correlation between health and social participation, more data are needed to determine the influence of health on the institutionalized elderly's participation. A study was conducted to explore the relationship between the perceived health status of the institutionalized elderly and their social participation. The…

Since a discourse community may have its membership assigned both on the basis of speech or of writing, it follows that the concept of discourse community needs to be both medium-neutral and unconstrained by space and time. The defining characteristics of a discourse community might be (1) communality of interest, (2) mechanisms for…

The reliability and validity of the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors (ISSB), a measure designed to tap behaviors pertaining to the provision of social support, were studied. Data were analyzed on a pre-test sample of 100 adults from a community-based, epidemiologic study of 1,008 black adults in Virginia. Findings are presented on the…

This report focuses on individual financial support networks which supplement the incomes of persons who live in different households. It introduces a new data set from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). Information was collected in a supplement to the SIPP conducted between January and April 1985 in about 17,000 households.…

Caregiving studies often focus on the impaired elder who is the care receiver and the one family member who is perceived as the primary caregiver. Such studies fail to consider all members of the family, whether or not they are involved in providing care. This study was conducted to explore the effects of an elder's health-related dependency on…

Research indicates that aging processes include changes in health, social, and financial resources. A study was conducted to determine if three quantitative approaches to the measurement of longitudinal change would yield similar results when the relationship between subjective well-being and measures of health, social, and financial resources…

For rural women in America to gain some measure of empowerment, they must first have an opportunity to reinforce among themselves their common perceptions of what is happening to them in this culture. Those perceptions, while accurate, deviate from those commonly represented by the media in an urban, male-normed society. Group work is essential…

The proceedings of 34 workshops held to consider ways of solving the problems of black single mothers, held in 1984 in different cities, are collected in this report. All of the workshops were part of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority's pilot program, "Summit II: A Call to Action in Suppprt of Black Single Mothers," an effort to strengthen the…

Describes preliminary findings of an ongoing study, launched in the summer of 1985, that has sought to identify the different undocumented Central American populations in Houston and to explore aspects of their settlement, work, and motivations for emigrating. (PS)

Investigated types of help provided to divorcing mothers (N=88) by their parents. Identified four parental network patterns, each distinct with respect to type of help they provided as well as other characteristics of divorcing mother's relationship with her parents. Findings suggest importance of family network support in adjustment of divorcing…

A questionnaire administered to older Russian Jews who recently migrated to the United States and who now live in New York City probed their attitudes toward assistance from informal and formal agency sources. Results indicated a reliance on agencies for assistance and a need to examine relevance of traditional paradigms of ethnic cultures.…

Analyzes the character and consequences of changes in the social networks of spouses following separation and divorce. For men, traditions encourage the development of personal friendships while simultaneously encouraging independence. Women, who accept responsibility for "kinkeeping" during and after marriage, simultaneously discouraging bonds…

Delineates the patterns of interdependance and linkages of Canadian communities with the Canadian international networks in developing countries. Focuses on the roles of government and nongovernmental organizations and community-citizen participation in development processes. Examines micro-macro influences that limit or enhance possibilities for…

Examines the relation between maternal social networks and mother-infant interactions in 34 mother-preterm and 20 mother-full term dyads with infants aged six months. Results demonstrate that, although full-term infant birth is typically positive, it is less clear that preterm birth is positive, with the result that network members are unsure of…