Paul H. Ephross

Initial reactions of sexually abused children.

Twenty children younger than thirteen years old who were reported as sexual-abuse victims were studied to determine the relationship between the childs perception and cultural definition of the abuse and trauma. The interaction between these factors may produce a negative definition of the situation.

STAFF AND ELDERLY KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TOWARD ELDERLY SEXUALITY

This study compared staff and elderly knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to sexual expression by elderly persons in a long‐term care setting. Volunteers (N = 194) responded agree or disagree to 159 items. Significant differences were observed between the staff and elderly responses on 36 items. Areas of greatest differences involved knowledge and attitudes about consensual sex and sexual abuse, issues related to family attitudes toward remarriage and sexual expression, and age‐related changes and health problems related to sexuality. Items related to masturbation received the greatest percentage of no response. The staff had significantly higher total scores as compared to the elderly reflecting more knowledge, positive attitudes, and support for more proactive responses toward elderly sexuality. Findings have major implications for staff training in long‐term care settings.

The Ideology of Some Social Work Texts

Fourteen introductory social work textbooks published during the 1970s were reviewed, by means of a comparative content analysis, to ascertain their ideological and sociopolitical assumptions. Virtually all were found to contain assumptions about the political-economic structure of society, the nature of social class and social class relationships, and the nature of social change. Contrary to our expectations, most authors stated their assumptions quite explicitly. A spectrum of assumptions was constructed, and the implications for using these textbooks were discussed.

Group Work with Families of Nursing Home Residents

Group work with families of nursing home residents can play important functions in assisting families to overcome feelings of guilt and stress that often accompany placement of a relative in a home. The functions of the group are therapeutic in that they permit the families to express and deal with these feelings. The group also involves socialization functions in that it provides a milieu in which new roles and behaviors appropriate to the institution are leaned. The role of the group leader should be that of a facilitator, rather than that of a healer, who works to unlock and mobilize the helping and teaching potential of the group members.

Toward an Effective Practice Model for the Homeless Mentally Ill

THE PLIGHT OF THE HOMELESS is a major social problem of our time. Why a particular problem comes to public consciousness at a particular time is a complicated question.’ Social problems become defined as critical, or as emergencies, by a complex process that involves professional communities, mass media exposes, perceptions of available resources and competing claims on them, the development of public perceptions of needs, and public indignation, among other factors.* However, the seriousness of the problem for its victims and for society as well as its importance for the mental health professions and for social work in particular is beyond dispute.3 Studies have concluded that approximately 30 percent to 50 percent of the homeless are mentally ill.4 Wandering the streets in search of food and shelter, the homeless mentally ill represent both private tragedies and public reminders of human suffering in an affluent society.

Worker and Agency in Textbooks— Images of Which Reality?

A comparative content analysis of major social work texts shows significant variations in the ways in which they treat the relationship between social workers and employing agencies. The implications are relevant to the tensions among workers, agencies, and educators.