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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Reaching higher in community psychology: social problems, social settings, and social change.

Forty years after the founding of community psychology, we have yet to deliver on the full promissory note of our birth, where we were poised to address social problems, social settings, and social change. Despite some success, we are at risk for selling ourselves short, for dying out in the discipline of psychology, and for failing to improve the common good. Given changes in demographics and in the safety net, the problem of entrenched disparities is even more urgent-in perception of the other, in the provision of opportunities for development, and in outcomes. Envisioning and enabling will be critical as we work with unified purpose toward a cumulative science where failure will not be predictable.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Problem social behavior in the workplace: an analysis of social behavior problems in a supported employment setting.

The social skills problems that may influence the work-related success of supported employees has been only infrequently documented in the research literature. Though a multitude of research describes the performance-related challenges faced by supported employees, few papers address the interpersonal difficulties encountered by supported employees in the workplace. The present paper uses job trainer or "coaches" logs and two promising rating scales (the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults [PIMRA and PIMRA-S]) to describe the social problems encountered by some supported employees. Job coach's logs indicated that approximately 58% of supported employees had experienced one or more incidents of interpersonal difficulty during their employment tenure and that 40% of the problems experienced by these individuals could be described as sexuality-related. Overall, about 25% of all supported employees had reported incidents of conflict with employees or customers that seemed sexuality-related. In addition, social and developmental factors that might contribute to the interpersonal problems found in the present research are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adolescent perceptions of relevant social problems.

PROBLEM: Social problems can be a significant stressor for adolescents. Disturbed youth often experience negative outcomes to social problems, solve problems poorly, and display distortions in reasoning about social problems. METHODS: A series of focus groups was conducted with adolescents (N = 36), and the data was analyzed inductively. Activities to increase the rigor of the study data (establishing credibility, trustworthiness, and transparency) were incorporated into the phenomenological research design. FINDINGS: Five social problem themes with critical attributes were perceived to be relevant to teenagers in today's society. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents' social problems shift in response to a changing society. Findings from this study can be used to help target assessments and treatment plans when working with disturbed youth.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Social problem solving, social behavior, and children's peer popularity.

This study examined social problem-solving ability and peer social behavior in popular and unpopular 5-6-year-old children. The 4 most popular and 4 least popular individuals in a school class of 26 children were identified. Responses to a series of four social dilemmas were obtained, and the children were videotaped during free class activities. Popular children gave significantly more effective (p < .01) and relationship oriented (p < .05) strategies for resolving social dilemmas than unpopular children, and they were involved in more peer interactions (p < .05), were more positively reinforcing (p < .01), and showed more positive activity when alone (p < .01).

Child↗
PubMed1989

[Ambulatory and inpatient costs for diagnosis and therapy of one AIDS patient at the Frankfurt University Clinic, with special reference to the increasing social problem, including social welfare from the time of diagnosis to death].

Exact cost analysis related to an exemplary case of AIDS disease at the university hospital of Frankfurt. There have been calculated the hospital and out patient care costs according to a completely documented case study. The calculation of the indirect costs does concern the payment of sickness benefit as well as social security costs.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1996

[Work-related diseases--a medical problem or a social problem?].

The author presents, on the basis of the available literature, an issue of work-related diseases which are identified as diseases of multi-factor etiology. This group of diseases can be induced or progressed by unfavourable working conditions. Among them, the effect of certain chemicals, dust pollution, unphysiological job performance and psycho-social factors plays an essential role. Because of multi-factor etiology of some work-related diseases such as back pains, arterial hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, chronic bronchitis and psycho-somatic illnesses, the diagnosis, collection of information on the incidence and undertaking of preventive measures involve a muldisciplinary system of health care, mainly based on occupational health services.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

Social dominance orientation and opinions about what is America's most serious social problem.

This study tested whether a measure of Social Dominance Orientation was associated with opinions about America's most serious social problem. 150 undergraduates enrolled in social problems classes responded to the 14-item scale and to an open-ended question, "In your opinion, what is the most serious social problem in our country today?". Analysis shows that mean scale scores differed significantly across social problem responses. Correspondence analysis, plotting association between scale scores and social problem responses, was interpreted as support for social dominance theory. Higher scale scores were associated with problems of crime and negative values and lower scores with problems of education and racism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Social problems.

It has long been established that social deprivation adversely affects health, including that of the pregnant woman and her baby; it is therefore justifiable to use medical resources in the treatment of social problems. Antenatal inpatient care was originally seen as potentially beneficial for women without major medical problems, but such a philosophy is not reflected in current practice. Current antenatal outpatient services do not address the needs of women with social problems who, viewing such services as hostile, may fail to attend. Special services such as help with drugs problems or HIV counselling or screening may be rejected from fear of prejudice and consequent repercussions. Such prejudice often arises because staff do not fully understand the issues involved. Antenatal care for women with social problems should consider women in the context of their families and social environment and should be provided by a small number of familiar staff forming part of an integrated multidisciplinary team in close and regular contact. Antenatal admission, if it is the woman's wish, should be viewed as justified in the management of social problems; conversely, women should not be pressurized into admission or made to feel guilty if unable to comply. Outpatient antenatal services should be conveniently sited in the community close to other relevant services and should be flexible, not only in terms of organization and format, but also in the roles of the participants. They should be comprehensive, but with special services in addition to, not instead of, routine care, and provided by a team of appropriately trained staff. In the provision of antenatal care for women with social needs, no single format will be universally applicable or desirable, and the precise design and content of the service should be variable according to local requirements and should take account of the women's wishes as well as their needs. Ultimately it will only be if the women perceive the service as being in their interests and as meeting their needs that they will use it; only if they choose to use it, will it have any chance of success.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed2000

Self-appraised social problem solving abilities, emotional reactions and actual problem solving performance.

Self-report measures of social problem solving abilities have yet to be associated with objective problem solving performance in any consistent manner. In the present study, we investigated the relation of social problem solving abilities--as measured by the Social Problem Solving Skills Inventory--Revised (SPSI-R [Maydeu-Olivares, A. & D'Zurilla, T. J. (1996). A factor analytic study of the Social Problem Solving Inventory: an integration of theory and data. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 20, 115-133])--to performance on a structured problem solving task. Unlike previous studies, we examined the relation of problem solving skills to performance curves observed in repeated trials, while controlling for affective reactions to each trial. Using hierarchical modeling techniques, a negative problem orientation was significantly predictive of performance and this effect was not mediated by negative affectivity. Results are discussed as they pertain to contemporary models of social problem solving.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[Indicators for evaluating social problems in daily health care practice].

OBJECTIVES: To define some social indicators which allow the social problems of primary care patients to be studied. DESIGN: A descriptive, crossover study. SETTING: A health district with a socially depressed urban population. PATIENTS: Consecutive sampling of 403 patients. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Social risk factors were standardised in function of these criteria: economic, cultural, family, housing, old age and social margination. From these some social indicators were identified, with which a questionnaire with a person-to-person interview was filled in and then the clinical records reviewed. 35% of patients had social problems. We found no connection with gender or age. Pathologies related to the existence of social problems were: mental disorders, infectious diseases, liver and digestive diseases and ill-defined symptoms and signs. There were also more out-patient visits and hospital stays by patients with social problems. CONCLUSIONS: An active search for social problems reveals a much higher occurrence than expected. The finding of a connection between the existence of social problems and determined psychological and organic pathologies could assist the patient's diagnosis and treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The construction of elder abuse as a social problem: a Canadian perspective.

This article uses the social constructionist approach to social problems as claims-making activities and Blumer's theory of the developmental stages of social problems to analyze how elder abuse has been constructed as a social problem in Canada and how interest groups have been mobilized to deal with the alleged problem. Clearly, elder abuse has emerged as a social problem (often under the family violence rubric) and has received some legitimation from professional groups and representatives of government. Efforts to mobilize social action against elder abuse at a national level and to develop legislation and other policy initiatives have, however, so far met with mixed success. While elder abuse has been trumpeted by some claims-makers as a major new form of family violence, the absence of a strong elder lobby group and the absence of developed ideologies (e.g., feminism in the case of wife abuse and child sexual abuse) have resulted in elder abuse receiving much less attention than other problems grouped under the family violence rubric. Indeed, most of the legislation that presently exists in Canada deals not with the abuse of the elderly as a class but with the provision of services to dependent, incompetent adults whether they are elderly or not.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

[Role of the family physician in mental and social problems in homes for the aged].

Based on Dutch nationally representative data, this article reports on the number of psychological and social problems that residents of homes for the elderly (n = 2893) present to their general practitioner (GP). Furthermore, the number of encounters residents with psychological or social problems have with the general practice and the interventions which the GP applies are described. A comparison is made with elderly patients living independently (n = 28056). In a three-month period the GP found psychological problems in 33 per cent of the patients from homes for the elderly. For elderly patients living independently this was 17%. Controlling for background variables the patients from homes for the elderly still show considerably more psychological problems. Social problems are reported less frequently to GP's; 8% of patients from homes for the elderly and 5% of patients living independently report these problems. After controlling for background variables no statistically significant differences were found. The most frequently used intervention is the prescription of drugs. In both groups almost 80% of the respondents received drugs. Referral to mental health care is the least frequently used intervention. Many patients living in homes for the elderly have psychological or social problems. This implies a high workload for the GP. However, no evidence is found that GP's treat their patients in homes for the elderly differently from those living independently.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Influence of social problems on management in general practice: multipractice questionnaire survey.

OBJECTIVES: To find how often social problems influence clinical management in general practice, how management is changed, and how the characteristics of patients, doctors, and the doctor-patient relationship influence this management. DESIGN: Multipractice survey of patients consulting general practitioners. Doctors completed a questionnaire for each patient. SETTING: General practices in Buskerud county, Norway. SUBJECTS: 1401 consecutive adult patients attending 89 general practitioners. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: How often management of patients was influenced by different types of social problem and main reasons for consultation; frequency and intercorrelation of different types of management applied; odds ratios for social problems' influence on management, controlled for by characteristics of doctors, patients, and their relationship. RESULTS: In 17% of all consultations the doctors' knowledge of patients' social problems influenced their management, stressful working conditions being the most frequent influencing type of problem. Knowledge of social problems influenced management more often when the doctor knew a patient well, but less often the longer a doctor had worked in a practice. When social problems influenced management, the commonest types of management offered were extra time for consultation (51%), advice (42%), authorisation of sick leave (28%), and prescription of a psychotropic drug (20%), while referral to community services was used in 2.6% of these consultations. Prescription of a psychotropic drug was positively correlated with use of extra time, and was made more often by female doctors. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' social problems influenced choice of management in at least a sixth of consultations. Prior knowledge of the patient, the doctor's time in present practice, age and sex of the patient, and sex of the doctor significantly influenced management of patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Social problems in oncology.

A study was undertaken to describe, evaluate and categorise the social problems experienced by cancer patients. Ninety-six adult cancer patients at all stages of disease participated in either a telephone focus group discussion, a face to face focus group or an individual interview which were tape recorded and transcribed. Six experts analysed the transcripts. A total of 32 social problems were identified categorized under eight headings plus four single items. The categories were: problems with (1) managing in the home, (2) health and welfare services, (3) finances, (4) employment, (5) legal matters, (6) relationships, (7) sexuality and body image and (8) recreation. Problems with relationships and communication were the most frequently reported with financial, employment, body image and domestic problems also being widely endorsed. Female groups, younger patient groups and groups where the aim of treatment was palliative reported more social problems than other groups. Social problems are common and important to cancer patients. The social problems identified in this study will contribute to an item pool generated for developing a Social Problems Inventory that may be included in patient centred assessment as part of routine oncology practice.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Which patients talk about stressful life events and social problems to the general practitioner?

BACKGROUND: Life events and social problems are common in primary-care attenders and contribute to the high rate of emotional distress observed in this setting but are often not disclosed during the consultation. Physicians' characteristics associated with patients' disclosure of psychosocial problems are well documented, but less empirical evidence is available on the contribution of patients' variables. METHOD: Logistic regression analyses were performed on a set of clinical and psychosocial data from 319 primary-care attenders with stressful life events and/or social problems in the presence or absence of emotional distress, in order to identify the variables that predict disclosure of such problems during the consultation. RESULTS: Two-thirds of patients with stressful life events and social problems had mentioned them to their GP. In both sexes a positive attitude about confiding and emotional distress were the best predictors of confiding. In men they accounted for 76% of correct predictions and, in women, together with past confiding, long-lasting relationship with GP, and coexistence of life events and social problems, for 81%. A positive confiding attitude was related in males to age and severity of medical condition and in females to age and experience of past confiding. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the high prevalence of positive attitude towards confiding the efforts by GPs should focus on the reduction of disclosure thresholds. This would require increased abilities to elicit psychosocial information and show emphatic understanding of patients' life difficulties. By contrast there is a need to promote a positive attitude in confiding that concerns only a minority of primary-care patients. More data are needed for shaping more specific strategies for these patients.

Adult↗