Keith M. Kilty

Adjustment to Retirement: Continuity vs. Discontinuity

This research examines gender differences in adjustment to retirement during the first year of retirement. It identifies differences in patterns of adjustment and differences in the discriminating variables that predict these patterns. The study was longitudinal in design and included a pretest interview of 250 people at the time of retirement, a posttest interview of 242 retirees six months after retirement, and a one-year follow-up of 222 completed by mail. A significant main effect for time was found for all three adjustment variables, with well-being declining at the six-month interval. A discriminant analysis of three types of adjustment groups revealed that responses to retirement varies depending on several factors. The findings suggest the need for a dynamic view of continuity theory.

LATINO POPULATION GROWTH, CHARACTERISTICS, AND SETTLEMENT TRENDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN A DYNAMIC POLITICAL CLIMATE

This paper identifies a number of significant contemporary trends in the Latino population, including the striking growth of the community, new points of entry and settlement for recent immigrants, the mixed-status nature of families, and the increase in the proportion of U.S. households that speak Spanish. The implications of these trends for social welfare practice, programming, policy, and social work education are discussed in the context of a dynamic political climate regarding immigration. The paper concludes with a focus on the critical role of schools of social work in developing more meaningful responses to bilingual manpower needs and the complex cultural and social policy issues this community presents. Examples of curricular and programmatic responses are provided.

Gender and racial inequities in retirement resources.

ABSTRACT Two waves of a Social Security Beneficiary survey were analyzed to consider differences in the retirement resources of women and men based on marital status and race/ethnicity. Despite increased workforce participation the economic situation of single women, including white women, worsened over time. A bifurcation in retirement resources was found, with men relying more on private income sources and women depending more on Social Security. Current retirement policies based on privatization will continue to adversely impact women who work at low-paying jobs, receive lower wages, and live longer than men.

Scarce Resources for Retirement Planning

The need for pre-retirement planning for women is of growing concern today. Little is known about female professional workers and the problems they experience with pre-retirement planning. This study surveyed 218 professional women regarding their retirement plans and compared their responses to those of 239 professional men. The study focused on several issues: (a) what resources are available to professional women as compared to professional men for pre-retirement planning; (b) how gender is related to financial planning among professional workers; and (c) how gender is related to expectations about retirement income. In general, women were found to be disadvantaged, and strategies to meet their pre-retirement needs were suggested.

Situational Context and the Meaning of Drinking

Since most drinking takes place within a social context, a study was designed in which the described situational context of drinking could be systematically varied on the basis of three at least potentially basic contextual characteristics: type of activity or situation, presence of others, and mood. All three variables were found to have strong effects on reactions to or perceptions of drinking as measured by a set of 20 semantic differential scales. Of most importance were the interaction effects which clearly supported the assertion that drinking behavior if a function of culturally structured contexts--that it is learned and situation-specific. Not only did fine distinctions occur in evaluative reactions (including normative expectations) to the various contexts, but perceptions of the effects or impact of alcohol were related to situational context. Furthermore, the appropriateness of focusing exclusively on either the individual drinker or the situational context was addressed. Both sorts of variables were involved in this study, and they were found to interact in affecting reactions to drinking. Situational context, then, is a function not only of contextual variables but also of the persons involved in the situation.

Political Promises for Welfare Reform

SUMMARY Public debate by policymakers prior to the passage of the PRWORA reflected a common set of attitudes and beliefs of those in power about public assistance and the poor. The power of their language to shape and inform policy is significant in our society. Those who hold power use language to mold and rationalize public policies. From a critical theory perspective, examination of the use of language by those in power to set norms, disempower, and marginalize those people who are nondominant is vital to effect social change. This research critically examines the speeches given on the floor of the House of Representatives prior to the final vote of PRWORA on July 31, 1996, to identify the power of language. Findings reveal that the content of the speeches reflects maintenance of the status quo and continued marginalization of the poor, particularly women.

Social and Economic Inequality and Asian Americans in the United States

ABSTRACT Describing social and economic inequality within the Asian American community is difficult. Depending on how “Asian American” is defined, there are twenty to thirty cultures, countries of origin, and a wide range of identities and circumstances that influence economic and social well-being. It is almost presumptuous to attempt to categorize such a diverse collection of identities as one group. At the same time, Asians and Pacific Islanders have been an increasing population group in the U.S. over the past thirty years. A common conception of them now is that of the “model minority”; i.e., as a minority group which has through hard work rather than political confrontation achieved the American Dream. Simple economic and educational comparisons suggest that Asian Americans have done quite well. Yet those comparisons are misleading. When controlling for educational status, Asian Americans have lower incomes than their White counterparts. Asian Americans, especially recent immigrants, also have higher poverty rates, whether for individuals, families, or children, than Whites. Overall, the impact of race continues to be significant for the well-being of this minority group, putting them at a disadvantage in American society.

Drinking status and stigmatization.

Research focused on the stigmatizing effects of alcohol-related labels has typically focused on social rejection (usually using a social distance scale). In the present study, affective reactions (or attitudes) were obtained with regard to four labels: alcoholic, problem drinker, recovered alcoholic, and social drinker. These attitudes were compared across four groups: an urban sample, a rural sample, a sample of graduate social work students, and a sample of alcoholics from a detoxification center. The results indicated that labeling persons as alcoholics or problem drinkers may lead to stigmatization, with the extent of stigmatization a function of the type of social group to which the respondents belonged. In addition, the destigmatization potential of certain labels that are used by self-help groups appeared to be questionable. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for treatment, particularly with respect to the similarities and differences between the alcoholic and the student-practitioner samples.

Genetics and Biological Determinism: Scientific Breakthrough or Blaming the Victim Revisited?

Blaming the victim has been a recurring explanation for social problems in this country and a justification for punitive social responses by those in power. Whether the problem was poverty, illiteracy, or racial unrest, some variant of biological determinism has frequently been used as a means for identifying why individuals are responsible for their social conditions. If explanations are “scientific,” then they are objective and value-free, as scientific racism and eugenics attempted to be in the past and as sociobiology and similar approaches are at present. Such explanations become acceptable because they convert the language of oppression, exploitation and inequality into scientific terms that justify what would otherwise need to be seen as invidious characterizations of individuals and their problems. Once again the language of biological determinism is increasingly being used to justify punitive and hostile social policies toward the most disadvantages members of our society. While we believe that the application of science to society can be a positive enterprise, scientific ideas can also be used to justify the maintenance of social hierarchy. Furthermore, many presumably “scientific” ideas are not as precise and clear as we might like them to be.

Introduction: Transforming LGBTQ inequalities in the twenty-first century

The US public sends and receives competing messages about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. Across the country, individuals and organizations expend significant effort and money to sustain anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Recently, an anti-LGBTQ organization published a “report” revealing the truth about the so-called homosexual agenda and putative dangers inherent to gay families. However, anti-LGBTQ efforts are not limited to official statements available on Websites. For example, during an informal conversation with participants in a community college annual diversity day, an elected member of the college governing board lamented the existence of the Gay/Straight Alliance on campus. At the same time, media representations have flourished, at least of white gay men, ranging from the stereotypical to the poignant. The cable television show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has been harnessed as evidence by some, that the LGBTQ struggle for equality has been won, albeit in the guise of a self-improvement television show in which fashionable gay men work to convince straight men how to be better heterosexuals. Remarkably, new research indicates that viewing such shows decreases prejudice and develops more positive attitudes towards gay men. Still, a recent New York Times column, written by a graduating high school senior who came out at school in the eighth grade, described himself as the “gay date”–the guy straight girls who