Lillian A. Phenice

Ecocultural Adaptive Research: A Synthesis of Ecocultural Theory, Participatory Research, and Adaptive Designs

Recently ethical codes of conduct for research with ethnic families, communities, and groups have emerged. Therefore, a model that includes ethical codes of conduct for researchers and ethnic participants is needed to advocate for change. By integrating aspects of ecocultural theory with the strengths of various research designs and approaches, revisions and strategic changes during the course of planning, proposing, and conducting research can result in specific applications congruent with a unique ethnic population as well as optimized outcomes. The proposed research model is a synthesis of ecocultural theory, participatory research, and adaptive designs. This research model is built on the uniqueness of the ethnic community, issues of participatory social justice and the need for sense making, and valuing the balance of power between the professional researcher and the participants of communities and groups.

Minority Family Agendas: The Home-School Interface and Alternative Schooling Models

Educational policies in the United States are moving from a more paternalistic compensatory attitude of earlier years toward a healthier notion of cultural democracy. This latter philosophy supports and emphasizes the concept that the home, community, and school share in the socialization experiences of all children, regardless of their cultural background, and are valuable in their own right. With this movement has emerged a new educational theme, the “new pluralism” or “new ethnicity”, which is bringing about curricular reforms in the public schools. This “new ethnicity” has brought about multicultural activities and ethnic heritage programs; however, the future effect of these programs on the school remains uncertain. Whether intense and aggressive assertions of ethnic cultural autonomy and self-determination of ethnic minorities can be absorbed into the present system of public education is difficult to assess at this time (Olneck and Lazerson, 1980). With this awakening and recognition of educational policies that emphasize cultural democracy, a new national consciousness could emerge embodying principles of respect and appreciation of all people who compose the rich ethnic mosaic in the United States.

The Importance of Object Memories for Older Adults

The memories of treasured objects are essential in giving life meaning. In the process of development in later adulthood, most changes involve significant loss including loss of physical and mental ability, loss of family and friends, and loss of possessions. Objects and their associated memories are especially important in maintaining an internal working model of self. This study explores the roles and functions of object memories in the lives of elders in a residential home. An interview process is used to examine the functions and memories of objects for elderly men and women. These objects and memories became the means of communicating the substance, meaning, and justification of a life history. Good long-term care facilities are places where the elderly are respected and allowed and encouraged to have personal items.

Causality and the Ecology of Human Development

This paper outlines an approach to research on the ecology of human development that emphasizes a multidimensional view of causality. From an Aristotelian perspective, causality incorporates material, formal, efficient, and final causes. Each type of Aristotelian cause may be defined specifically in ecological research on human development, and particular examples of variables that represent each type of cause may be identified. Suggested are research designs that involve the intersection of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological approach with Aristotelian causal types. These designs might involve variables associated with one type of cause across several levels of ecological organization, or variables representing all types of causes within a level or across all levels of the ecosystem. Research on child maltreatment is used to provide an example of the approach proposed in this paper.

Child Nurturance: Patterns of Supplementary Parenting

Without consistent, long-term care, the human infant would not survive. In Western cultures, the family unit has traditionally been seen as the most advantageous and viable social context for meeting the biophysical and psychosocial needs of a young child. As a result, theorists and researchers have long been interested in the range of variability and consistency that may be found in both particular and universal family settings and the ultimate effect these characteristics have on human development. Moreover, there is growing interest, as well as growing concern, that there may be certain aspects of childrearing that are unique to, and dependent upon, the family as we have come to know it. Today, these are being more urgently examined in light of the rather dramatic social changes being experienced by families and other social institutions. It may be that resulting adaptations have mandated an increasing prominence in the supplementary parenting patterns described in the bulk of this volume.

Virtual Models of Long-Term Care

Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home-care organizations, use web sites to describe their services to potential consumers. This virtual ethnographic study developed models representing how potential consumers may understand this information using data from web sites of 69 long-term-care providers. The content of long-term-care web sites can be understood based on common concepts such as services provided, quality of life, autonomy, values, and goals. However, the use of a human ecosystems organizing framework results in systemic, contextualized, in-depth, and useful models for understanding and highlighting similarities and differences across the three forms of long-term care. This research has implications for those interested in long-term care and for researchers organizing qualitative data in ethnographic research.

Farmers’ Beliefs and Risks of Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle

This research examined farmers’ beliefs and possible association with Mycobacterium bovis in cattle. A survey of farmers in Midwest, U.S. with TB Positive herds, a Matching Control sample from TB positive areas, and farmers from areas that were TB Free was conducted. Data from 31 respondents yielded insights about the beliefs of farmers concerning how Bovine TB was transmitted and how the disease can be prevented. Comparison of the three groups suggests some important differences. Evidence suggests that farmers’ beliefs are important factors to consider with regard to control of the transmission of Bovine TB. While beliefs alone do not translate into behaviors, the findings suggest possibilities for preventive solutions that are specific to characteristics of a particular human ecosystem.