Geoffrey L. Greif

Preparing the Way: A Qualitative Study of High-Achieving African American Males and the Role of the Family

Employed qualitative methods to examine the role of the family in the academic success of very high-achieving African American males. Findings revealed a complex tapestry of family processes and contexts involved in each youths journey to outstanding academic achievement. Specifically, the combined importance of parental-determined academic engagement, strict discipline, nurturance, and community connectedness appeared to counteract potentially negative contextual influences of neighborhood, peers, schools, and society. The qualitative findings tell a multifaceted, rich, and compelling story of the pathways to academic success for Black males, and highlight the need for culture-specific and ecologically based conceptualization, research, and intervention approaches.

Normative and Child-Maltreating AFDC Mothers

Susan Zuravin is Research Assistant Professor and Geoffrey L. Greif is Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland. Senior authorship was determined by toss of a coin. This research was supported in part by grant FPR-oooO28-01-0, Office of Population Affairs. This article was adapted from a paper presented at the Fifth National conference on Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation in Public Social Services. 15 17 June 1988, Washington, D.C.

Common issues for parents in a methadone maintenance group

Change has been noted in some of the group members. For example, one long-term group member who never spoke when she was in a previous group that focused on addiction-related problems has become the role model for other members. In this group, she says, she feels more competent. She is appropriately outspoken and has established relationships with her children which consistently underpin the parent-child boundaries that need to be drawn. One specific issue she resolved involved her 19-year-old son and his girlfriend who was pregnant with the group members grandchild. By role playing the different positions that each of these people held in the home (the group member was paying the rent and had the right to set the rules, the girlfriend was feeling unaccepted by the group member and was acting out inappropriately, and the son was caught between trying to please the two females), the group member was able to clarify for herself how to approach future conflicts. A second member has improved her relationship with her youngest son (age 3) but still struggles with her 15-year-old daughter. What has been most effective for her was teaching her to count to 10 before responding to what she considers the goading of both of her children. In addition, she was feeling pressured by her mother, in whose house she lives, to have her son toilet trained.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Single Fathers Rearing Children.

A national survey of single fathers rearing children alone following separation and divorce adds to our understanding of this underresearched and growing population. A questionnaire was printed in the May 1982 issue of The Single Parent, the membership magazine for Parents Without Partners, to which 1,136 custodial fathers responded, making it the largest study of the topic to date. In addition to providing needed background information, the findings revealfour primary reasons for the divorce and four broad situations in which the father obtains custody. These latter situations often are affected by the mothers desire to relinquish custody. A new impression of the mother is also gained.

Where are the Fathers in Social Work Literature

A review of five major social work journals published during a 27-year period indicates that the literature on fathers is sparse. The view of fathers that emerges from articles that have been published shows fathers as perpetrators, as missing, and as embattled. If the social work profession is to remain committed to working with families, then researchers and practitioners must study the changing patterns of fatherhood.

Single Fathers with Custody

As the number of single fathers raising children alone grows, increased demands are placed on mental health practitioners to meet their needs. A significant portion of single fathers with custody feel uncomfortable in their role. A 1987–88 survey of 1,132 single fathers is used to identify the characteristics of those fathers who are potentially at risk for problems related to feeling uncomfortable in their role. Implications for work with this population are discussed.

African American Fathers of High-Achieving Sons: Using Out -standing Members of an At-Risk Population to Guide Intervention:

Research on the highest-achieving members of a population can be instructive in assisting those who are less successful. The authors present findings from a study of 29 fathers of academically successful African American males, an untapped area of study, to illustrate how such findings can be used to guide interventions. Six parenting practices were observed among the fathers, most notable of which were their strong identity as a Black male and the support they received from the broader community. Implications for practice and research are suggested.

Schools of social work and the nature of their foreign collaborations

English US schools of social work were surveyed to determine the extent of their collaborations with social work programs outside the US. One school of social works experiences with collaborations with a school in India and a school in Ghana are described. Recommendations for future collaborations are given. French Nous avons passé en revue les é coles de travail social é tats-uniennes afin de dé terminer la porté e de leur collaboration avec des programmes de travail social hors frontiè res. Nous dé crivons par la suite les expé riences de collaboration de une é cole de travail social avec une é cole en Inde et une au Ghana. Des recommandations pour des projets de collaborations futurs sont donné es. Spanish Investigamos escuelas de trabajo social en los Estados Unidos para determinar los alcances de sus colaboraciones con programas de trabajo social fuera de los Estados Unidos. Despué s, se describen las experiencias de una escuela de trabajo social con colaboraciones con una escuela en India y otra en Ghana. Ademá s se ofrecen recomendaciones para futuras colaboraciones.

Issues of fatherhood and recovery for VA substance abuse patients.

Abstract Drug-addicted fathers bring to treatment many uncertainties about their relevance to their children. Whether they are in contact with their children or not, they often believe their children are better off without contact with them. In working with these fathers, the authors have observed these men raising a number of issues concerning the father role. These include having no concept of what a father should be, confusing the roles of manhood and fatherhood, feeling inadequate as a provider, and not knowing how to reconnect with children they have not seen, particularly daughters. The fathers also have to learn to deal with their own guilt concerning their abandonment of their children. Suggestions for interventions with the fathers are given and include offering a workshop for fathers where they are shown visual images of positive fathering and can discuss their own parenting experiences.

Significant others of I.V. drug abusers with AIDS: New challenges for drug treatment programs

When an I.V. drug abuser has AIDS, the impact on significant others (parents, lovers, siblings, and friends) can be devastating. Yet little is known about this portion of the population that often provides the bulk of the physical and emotional caregiving to the person with AIDS. This article provides a case example of what the authors believe to be typical of what happens in a family when a drug abuser who had previously been estranged from the family is diagnosed with AIDS. A treatment program for dealing with I.V. drug abusers with AIDS is also described.