Christine C. Cook

Understanding Constraints and Residential Satisfaction Among Low-Income Single-Parent Families

Housing adjustment models theorize that demographic and personality characteristics of families combine to explain residentfal satisfaction. This article reports the operationalization of several personality characteristics. The Leford Test of Tenant Locus of Control, measures of household planning styles, an index measuring willingness to work to improve residential conditions, an index measuring participation in community activities, measures of expected and of experienced discrimination, and selected demographic characteristics are hypothesized to predict residential satisfaction. Two components of residential satisfaction, housing and neighborhood, are tested in separate regression models. The results suggest that personality characteristics are powerful predictors of housing satisfaction, whereas residental characterstics, feeling safe, and having friends in the neighborhood are powerful predictors of neighborhood satisfaction.

Understanding Self-Determination and Families of Young Children With Disabilities in Home Environments

This article is about emergent self-determination for young children with disabilities in their home environments. The purpose of this study was to better understand family and home characteristics and how they influence the ways in which families can support the development of self-determination for their children with disabilities. Thirty families of young children with disabilities were interviewed, and their homes were systematically observed. Using a grounded theory design, an emergent model was developed that examined family and home context and the influence of context on the strategies that families used to support self-determination. Future research and practice implications of this research for supporting families are discussed.

How to Promote Self-Determination for Young Children With Disabilities Evidenced-Based Strategies for Early Childhood Practitioners and Families

Fran Martin, an early interventionist, arrives at the apartment of Jenny, a 3-year-old child with Downs syndrome, to provide services for Jenny and her mom, who is a single parent. Jenny is wearing a pretty pink dress that she chose to wear today. When she enters the family room, Fran is happy to see that the furniture has been rearranged to encourage Jennys emerging gross motor activity while ensuring her safe use of the space. The toys provided are attractive and interesting to encourage Jennys activity. Although Jenny has motor movement delays because of a cardiac condition and a number of surgeries to repair her malformed feet, she is beginning to pull up and shift her weight in a standing position. Fran talks with Jennys mother about both her hopes and her concerns for her daughter. Fran and Jennys mother continue to discuss ways to provide a safe environment that promotes movement that is both stimulating and interesting.

A home-centered approach to assistive technology provision for young children with disabilities.

This article discusses a home-centered approach to the use of assistive technology. A home-centered approach essentially addresses two questions: (a) How can assistive technology interventions for children with disabilities be implemented successfully in the home environment? and (b) How can the family system be considered in the use of assistive technology in the home environment? This article helps answer these questions by reviewing the literature in two encompassing areas: childrens home environments and self-determination, and family systems and assistive technology. The first area examines the home as the primary learning environment for children and how the home environment can contribute to the development of skills. The second area discusses how family culture, resources, interactions, and goals for the future must be considered if assistive technology is to be susccessful in the home environment. The article provides a discussion of suggestions for working with families in the process of identifying and providing assistive technologies for young children in the home environment.

Urban Regeneration and Public Housing in New Orleans

Public housing, if located proximate to the central business district or other valued development sites, is often seen as a threat to urban regeneration activities. Growth coalitions may develop strategies to remove the threat to increase the value of the land and probability of reinvestment. In cities with an African-American majority electorate, like New Orleans, the electoral coalition of the governing regime is inherently unstable and has to pursue its development strategies carefully. Public housing poses a more intractable political barrier to regeneration strategies than do privately owned slum neighborhoods. In New Orleans, the governing coalition has been forced to retreat to its previously faltering spatial-containment policy.

Financial well‐being of Malaysian college students

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between personal and family backgrounds, academic ability, childhood consumer experience, financial socialization, financial literacy, and perceived financial well‐being of college students.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected using a multi‐stage sampling technique from 11 public and private universities across Malaysia and the sample consists of 2,219 college students. Structural equation modelling was utilized to test the hypotheses.Findings – Childhood consumer experiences such as savings habits contribute to students’ financial well‐being (money saved, current financial situation, and financial management skills). Financial socialization agents, for example, through parents and religion sources could increase college students’ financial well‐being. Financial literacy was related to financial well‐being. There were important differences between the Malay and Chinese ethnic groups in Malaysia.Research limitations/implicatio...

Housing and Neighborhood Assessment Criteria among Black Urban Households.

In much of the previous research on residential evaluation criteria, scholars have neglected to examine possible variations by household type, particularly among black households. In this research, the housing and neighborhood satisfaction of six black household types are reported. The specified model predicted neighborhood somewhat better than housing satisfaction and was more predictive for some household types than for others. Neither the housing and neighborhood satisfaction of couple-headed households nor women alone was particularly well defined. The results highlight the limited housing and neighborhood options of blacks, particularly female-headed families and the elderly, and suggest public policy intervention in urban settings on their behalf.

Children and Privacy Choice, Control, and Access in Home Environments

This article examines privacy in the home environments of families who have young children with disabilities. Literature supports the importance of privacy in developing self-identity and autonomy in children with disabilities. Early experiences with privacy help develop a sense of self-esteem and help define the range, limits, and consequences of individual autonomy. Data from parent interviews, surveys, and home observations of 32 families who have children (age 3-10) with disabilities are analyzed. Results describe opportunities for being alone; choice, control, and access in bedrooms; privacy during toileting or bathing; and privacy-promoting modifications. Parents agree that privacy is important; however, it is being restricted by access and control in the environment. A majority of children have some control and opportunity for choice making in their bedrooms. Privacy in the bathroom is most difficult. The findings suggest that parents are cognizant of the need for privacy, but the physical environment of the home stymies opportunities.

Housing Assistance and Residential Satisfaction among Single-Parent Women

AbstractThe purpose of this paper was to identify the variables that predict residential satisfaction among non metropolitan and metropolitan single-parent women. A model was tested in which residential satisfaction was divided into two components, housing and neighborhood satisfaction. The role of housing subsidy assistance in attenuating neighborhood and housing problems also was investigated. The model explained 30% of the variance in housing satisfaction among metropolitan single-parent women and 21% for nonmetropolitan respondents. The relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variables differed by location, nonmetropolitan compared to metropolitan. Furthermore, there were some important differences in the bundle of independent variables that were associated with neighborhood compared to housing satisfaction. The findings showed that housing and income assistance played a role, albeit small, in helping to explain neighborhood and housing satisfaction, but only for metropolitan ...

Determinants of housing quality: A comparison of white, African-American, and Hispanic single-parent women

This study examines housing quality among three groups of single-parent women: white, African-American, and Hispanic. Three indicators of housing quality—crowding, affordability, and satisfaction—are used to discover the extent to which these groups experience housing problems. This study also explores differences and similarities in the factors that precipitate problems in housing quality for these three groups of single parents. Findings suggest important differences and similarities in the nature of housing quality problems among white, African-American, and Hispanic single-parent women. The specified variables explained about 20% of the variance in crowding, housing affordability, and housing satisfaction. On measures of objective and subjective housing quality, white single mothers are better housed than their African-American or Hispanic counterparts. Hispanic single mothers have the largest housing cost burden and average more persons per household than the other groups. African-Americans are twice as likely as either group to live in low-quality housing and reported the lowest average satisfaction with their housing.