Leslie L. Clarke

The effect of religious concentration and affiliation on county cancer mortality rates.

Previous research has documented lower cancer mortality rates among religious groups characterized by doctrinal orthodoxy and behavioral conformity. In addition, there is evidence that the general population in an area with a high concentration of religious participants may experience health benefits resulting from diminished exposure to or increased social disapproval of behaviors related to cancer mortality. This research examines the effect of religious concentration and denominational affiliation on county cancer mortality rates. Our findings suggest that religion has a significant impact on mortality rates for all malignancies combined, for digestive cancer, and for respiratory cancer when we control for demographic, environmental, and regional factors known to affect cancer mortality. These results provide new insight into the relationship between religion and health at the macro or community level and suggest that the influence of religion on social structure warrants further attention.

RELIGIOSITY, SOCIAL CLASS, AND ALCOHOL USE: An Application of Reference Group Theory

This paper illustrates how religiosity influences behavior in everyday life by investigating the linkages among religiosity, social class, and alcohol consumption. Reference group theory provides a theoretical basis for understanding these linkages.

Assessing the Importance of Family Structure in Understanding Birth Outcomes

In this study, we address the effect of family structure on adequacy of prenatal care and resultant birth outcomes by examining data for 18,594 women who experienced either a live birth, fetal death, or infant death in 1988. Using Kotelchucks adequacy of care index, we find major differences in the effect offamily structure across racial/ethnic groups. For Hispanics, women living with the father of the expected child, as opposed to living alone or in an extended family, have substantially higher probabilities of receiving adequate prenatal care. The effect of family structure is less important for black or white women and its effect on infant birth weight and mortality for all women is modest. We argue for richer measures of family structure than are often available in large secondary data sets.

Community-Based Social Marketing: Involvement in Health Programs

Social marketing is a strategy that uses marketing approaches developed within the business arena to design, implement, and evaluate socially beneficial programs. This approach can be an effective social change strategy for groups working in the profession of community development. This paper describes two community-based projects that employed social marketing to design and implement interventions to promote health in Arkansas and Florida. We describe the stages of the research, as well as the limitations and strengths of this approach.

Searching for Family: Voices of Florida's Foster Children

SUMMARY The growing shortage of foster homes in Florida and new challenges to recruiting foster parents prompted the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to commission a statewide study. The study was designed to identify the perceptions of foster parents, foster children, Department staff and other agency representatives concerning ways to improve foster parent recruitment and retention. This paper presents the purpose and scope of the study, and the state of foster care in the United States (U.S.) and Florida. In particular, we focus on the perceptions of the foster teens in the sample and their ideas to improve foster parent recruitment and retention, as well as methodological challenges to interviewing foster parents and children. A consistent theme noted by the teenagers was that they thought some parents were dedicated to giving a good home and support to children in need. Foster children also reported that monetary concerns played a major role in people choosing to foster or remaining in foster parenting. Many children are in foster care many years longer than they should be and often experience multiple foster homes, making if difficult for them to feel secure. Specific attention is given to the implications for family social work practice.