PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D M Austin

Publications and source records attributed to D M Austin.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Mary Parker Follett: epilogue to or return of a social work management pioneer?

The authors present an overview of the major concepts and contributions of Mary Parker Follett to the development of social work management theory, past and present. The case is made for Follett to be afforded a more visible role in the profession's understanding and teaching of modern management theory and practice. The authors show how Follett's work served as an important bridge between changing eras in management thought, specifically as related to scientific management and the subsequent human relations models. Even after six decades, Follett's work, in its timelessness and timeliness, remains contemporary, for it is rooted in her keen ability to grasp the complexities inherent in the human services enterprise, and thus it continues to inform one's understanding and behavior within the organizational context.

Conflict, Psychological↗

Decision making style and leadership patterns in nonprofit human service organizations.

The authors report on the adaptation of twelve nonprofit human service organizations. This analysis is part of a research project that entailed a comprehensive study of both the fiscal patterns and policy patterns of nonprofit organizations. Through the use of interviews in an exploratory descriptive design, several major patterns were identified concerning organizational adaptation. Three categories of events effected the adaptation of these organizations: executive staff turnover, program/service structure change and financial issues. The three industrial subsectors studied demonstrated unique patterns in these events. A reactive decision making style was the overwhelming choice of these organizations. Leadership was a phenomenon shared by CEOs and Boards of Directors. Resource dependency theory offers some explanation for the change that occurs in this cluster of organizations.

Child↗

Old age and environmental docility: the roles of health, support and personality.

This study assessed the generalizability of Lawton and Simon's environmental docility hyopthesis across three domains of personal competence. The hypothesis was supported, in that a survey of 102 people (aged 60 to 92) found environmental press to be related significantly to adjustment only among less competent individuals in terms of (a) health (i.e., those with poor ratings of health, vision, and hearing, the old-old, and men); access to caregiving networks, (i.e., those who were unmarried, had infrequent contact with children and family, and lived in smaller communities); and (c) personality, (i.e., those with low self-esteem, and external locus of control, low assertiveness, and an inability to deal with the threat of dependency).

Aged↗

Program design issues in the improved administration of human services programs.

Current changes in the role of the federal government in human service programs are forcing states and local communities to deal with issues of administrative and program design. This involves making explicit choices among a number of alternatives in each element of program design. The author examines the alternatives in program model, program rationale, program mode, administrative auspice and form of consumer participation.

Models, Theoretical↗

Exploring norms and beliefs related to AIDS prevention among California Hispanic men.

A focus-group study gathered qualitative information from Hispanic males in California regarding ethnic factors that might enhance or interfere with AIDS prevention efforts. A predominantly working-class convenience sample of 75 men aged 18-40 participated in seven groups of 10-12 participants each. Three groups were composed of single men, three of married men and one was composed of homosexual and bisexual men. Four groups included only participants born outside the United States; and Spanish was the preferred language in five of the groups. Evaluation of the discussions indicates that while AIDS awareness is high among this population, condom use is sporadic. Few participants knew that someone infected with the human immunodeficiency virus could appear healthy; most believed they could easily determine if a woman is risky by her appearance or social standing. Although many participants thought HIV could be transmitted through casual contact, the homosexual and bisexual men were more likely to acknowledge that they were at some risk of infection; most of the heterosexual men did not perceive themselves as being at risk, even those who engaged in sex with prostitutes or women they met at bars. The participants had ambivalent attitudes toward women who suggested condom use and were often reluctant to initiate condom use themselves. Religion did not seem to play a major role in the men's attitudes about AIDS, sexuality and condom use.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗