Suchergebnisse

Objective: The objective of this study was to reaffirm, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the four value subscales (respect for basic rights, sense of social responsibility, commitment to individual freedom, and support of self-determination) identified in the initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the Professional Opinion Scale (POS). Method: The CFA reported here suggests that four items included in the original POS be repositioned, and eight items be removed, resulting in a 32-item updated version of the POS. Results: A final model, incorporating correlations of disturbances or errors between four pairs of similarly worded items, resulted in the best fit model. Conclusion: Although the final CFA does not support the entirety of the four factors identified by EFA, the resulting version of the POS, supported by goodness of fit indices, does support the four value subscales with minor modifications.

This study employed the Professional Opinion Scale (POS) to analyze the values of a sample of 128 social workers representing more than 25 countries. Value scores indicate that social workers across cultures share a respect for basic rights and support self-determination. In addition to identifying data collection strategies for international samples, the findings should be useful as the social work profession becomes more global in its orientation to practice.

This guide should prepare volunteers to more effectively cope with the challenges presented by the homeless. It provides an overall picture of what it means to be homeless, guidelines for relating and assessing this population, and basic self- protection techniques.

The work lives of the low-income welfare poor vary greatly from those in the primary job market with respect to barriers to employment, availability of child care, workplace conditions, wages and hours of work, job stability, industries of employment, and health benefits. Returners have a pattern of consistently greater barriers to employment, reflective of their gender, racial, and single parent status and their neighborhood environments. Both groups appreciate job training and search activities and could benefit from greater offerings, especially efforts geared to their specific barriers and workplace issues. These findings suggest that the work lives of the low-income poor can be improved by supplementation of wages, increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and minimum wage, enhanced child care, and neighborhood development programs.