The Role of the Church in Career Guidance and Development: A Review of the Literature 1960–Early 2000s

In the last ten years, professional and popular literature focused on the relatedness of spirituality and career. The field of career guidance and development is beginning to integrate individuals' religious and spiritual beliefs. Likewise, it seems the Church would be a source of career assistance. This paper reviews professional literature, from 1960–early 2000s, regarding the role of the Church in the United States in career guidance and development. The focus is on vocational themes in relation to the Church, Church involvement in career guidance and development programs, and recommendations for the role of the Church in career guidance and development. The review concludes that over the past 40 years, the professional literature on this topic has declined. The Church has made grassroots efforts at providing career guidance, but only through improved communication of ideas and program results will the Church provide effective career programming on a larger scale.     

The self-esteem of children with physical disabilities: a review of the research

The prevalent view is that children with physical disabilities are likely to have greater emotional and psychological problems, including lower self-esteem, than that of their able-bodied peers ( Arnold & Chapman, 1992 ). The basis for this is explored and the psychological research analysed to see whether it supports such a view. The analysis highlights the assumptions that have been made when researching this area, and the methodological difficulties in the research. The findings are that present research does not support the view that children with physical disabilities have a lower self-esteem than their able-bodied peers. It is suggested that a recognition of the psychological resilience of these children may be a helpful starting point when considering future research in this area.     

Attachment to Mother/Attachment to Father: A Meta-Analysis

An important tenet of attachment theory is that classification of security or insecurity as derived from the Strange Situation reflects the quality of an infant's relationship with its caregiver. One piece of evidence supporting this claim is the lack of concordance of classification between an infant and its mother and father. We performed a meta-analysis of the 11 studies that have examined the concordance of mother/father attachment to an infant. We found that security of attachment to one parent was dependent upon security to the other parent, that type of insecurity (avoidant/resistant) to one parent was dependent upon type of insecurity to the other, and that subcategory classification within the secure category (B1B2/B3B4) to one parent was dependent upon subcategory classification to the other. These data raise important questions regarding the meaning of infant attachment classification as derived from the Strange Situation. Among the possible explanations for the pattern of data are existence of concordant parenting styles and/or influence of infant temperament (possibly the tendency to cry upon separation) on classification of security/insecurity in the Strange Situation.     

Externalizing Problems in Head Start Children: An Ecological Exploration

The increased familial and environmental stressors affecting Head Start families over the last two decades have precipitated an escalation of mental health difficulties among participant children (Yoshikawa & Knitzer, 1997). Using an ecological framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). this study explored externalizing behavior problems among a group of Head Start children in a suburban county. Children were assessed for externalizing behavior problems in the home and classroom. Additionally, parents participated in interviews about a variety of ecological factors related to children's behavior problems. Almost one-quarter of the children were identified by their parents as having externalizing behavioral problems in the borderline or clinical range. Twice as many girls as boys had borderline or clinical levels of behavioral problems. Child externalizing behavior was positively associated with child internalizing behavior, parent psychological symptomatology, child temperament, family environment, and exposure to community violence. Children with parent-identified externalizing behavior did have specific social problem-solving skills deficits. Additionally, they were observed to have high levels of specific inappropriate behavior, but did not exhibit high levels of teacher-rated behavior problems. The implications of these findings for Head Start program planning are discussed.     

Being highly prolific in academic science: characteristics of individuals and their departments

Higher Education - The prolific (exceptionally high producers of scholarly publications) are strategic to the study of academic science. The highly prolific have been drivers of research activity...