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Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT February 6, 2004 "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Short Subjects
LINKS Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:
CRISES IN RURAL AMERICA
Crisis Interventions And
Critical Incident Stress Management:
Current Status and Future Directions
April 21-24, 2004
Casper, Wyoming
Registration: 1-800-442-2963 ext 2212
Society of Australasian
Social Psychologists 33rd Annual Meeting
April 15 - 18, 2004
Location: Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
27th National AACBT Conference
(Australian Association for
Cognitive and Behavior Therapy)
May 15 - 19, 2004
Location: Perth, Western Australia
AUSTRALIA
Society of Australasian Social Psychologists
33rd Annual Meeting
April 15 - 18, 2004
Location: Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Contact: SASP@auckland.ac.nz
Deadline for submissions: 1 February 2004WFPHA 10th International Congress on
Public Health: Sustaining Public Health
in a Changing World: Vision to Action
April 19-22, 2004
Location: Brighton, ENGLAND
Contact: Allen K. Jones, PhD
Secretary General World Federation of
Public Health Associations
Email: stacey.succop@apha.orgXIV. IFTA World Family Therapy Congress
March 24 - 27, 2004
Location: Istanbul, TURKEY
14th Biennial Meeting of the Society
for Research in Human Development
(formerly the Southwestern Society for
Research in Human Development -- SWSRHD)
April 1 - 3, 2004
Location: Park City, Utah, USA
7th European Conference on Psychological Assessment
April 1 - 4, 2004
Location: Malaga, SPAIN
Contact: Antonio Godoy
Facultad de Psicologia
Universidad de Malaga
29071 Malaga.( SPAIN)
Tel. (34) 952 13 25 32
Fax (34) 95213 11 00
Email: godoy@uma.esAnnual Conference Society for
Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
April 2 - 4, 2004 Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Email: lhakel@siop.bgsu.edu
Smith County, Texas Opens State-of-the-Art EOC
On January 15, 2004 Smith County opened a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as the centralized 911 communications dispatch and emergency operations center (EOC) for approximately 30 agencies. Notable features of this 15,000-square-foot facility include a roof and exterior walls hardened to resist tornadic forces, a lobby designed to minimize blast effects, multiple security access levels, and an area specifically planned for press conferences, interviews, and other interaction with members of the media. for the full Story, Go To: http://www.fema.gov/txt/fima/CS_SmithCountyTX_EOC.txt or http://www.fema.gov/pdf/fima/hardened.pdf
Anti-Terror Mitigation Publications Released
FEMA has released four new publications in the Multi-Hazard Risk Management Series. The publications contain guidance on designing, constructing, and engineering high occupancy buildings that are more resistant to damage resulting from terrorist attack. For More, Go To: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=10407
Annan calls for international aid in response to Indonesian earthquake
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced hope that the international community will give "generous and timely" assistance to the Government and people of Indonesia following today's earthquake in the country's Papua province. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9687&Cr=indonesia&Cr1=
Millions of natural disaster deaths could be averted by better preparedness – UN
With billions of people in more than 100 countries facing at least one earthquake, cyclone, flood or drought during their lifetimes, millions of lives could be saved if developing countries did more to anticipate and reduce the risks from natural disasters, according to a new United Nations report. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9638&Cr=Natural&Cr1=Disasters See Also: http://www.undp.org/bcpr/disred/rdr.htm
UN announces start of reintegration process for ex-fighters in Afghanistan
The reintegration of former fighters in Afghanistan began in the capital, Kabul, where over 100 ex-soldiers are expected to rejoin society in the coming days, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA). For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9694&Cr=Afghanistan&Cr1=
Afghanistan's drug economy is fuelling terrorism, senior UN official says
Surging opium production in Afghanistan is contributing to instability and even terror campaigns in the war-ravaged country, the United Nations' most senior anti-drugs official said on the eve of an international conference on the issue. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9686&Cr=drugs&Cr1=crime
Annan appeals for funds, international support to rebuild Liberia
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to the international community to support Liberia in its efforts to rebuild after a devastating 14-year civil war, ensuring peace and stability not only in the West African country but throughout the region as well. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9683&Cr=Liberia&Cr1=
With splits over Iraq subsiding, Annan urges joint efforts to face new challenges
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said differences over Iraq that had plagued the United Nations in the past are subsiding, and stressed that unity is essential to tackling a range of global ills. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9690&Cr=iraq&Cr1=
Senior UN official urges parties in Nepal to sign human rights accord
Responding to an upsurge of abuses in Nepal, a senior United Nations official today urged action on an accord governing human rights in the country. Bertrand Ramcharan, the acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a statement in Geneva raising concern over the increasing number reported human rights violations since the breakdown of the ceasefire. For More, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9681&Cr=Nepal&Cr1=
UN experts urge targeted bird flu vaccination backed by global funding
United Nations experts fighting the Asian bird flu epidemic called for possible targeted vaccination of poultry outside infected sites, along with mass cullings inside them and substantial international financial aid, to stop the virus spreading among birds and reduce its potential to infect humans. For the Full Story, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9669&Cr=Bird&Cr1=Flu
WHO Open Access to Research Initiative: An Expert Interview With Barbara Aronson
The Health InterNetwork: Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) provides free or low-cost access to more than 2,000 scientific publications for more than 1,000 health and research institutions in developing nations. For the Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/467785?mpid=24245
Spotlight on Remission: Achieving an Evidence-Based Goal in Depression and Anxiety Disorders
Debate and authoritative peer exchange confronting current clinical challenges and evidence-based perspectives associated with achieving remission in depression and anxiety disorders. For the article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/2544
Enhancing Outcomes by Addressing Critical Challenges in the Treatment of Schizophrenia
Understand the treatment options for first episodes, maintenance, relapse, and with cognitive deficits/agitation. Examine metabolic effects/safety of typical and atypical antipsychotics. For the article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/2632
MEN'S HEALTH IS FOCUS OF NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Men are more reluctant than women to face up to worrisome symptoms or go to the doctor for check-ups, notes Tim Johnson, the medical editor for ABC News and keynote speaker for the upcoming National Conference on Men's Health, organized by Penn State. "That's probably one big reason why men's life expectancy lags behind women's," he said. The May 20-22 conference in Arlington, Va., is the only national conference to explore critical health issues facing men. The conference will bring together nearly 70 of the nation's most respected health authorities, including David Satcher, former U.S. surgeon general; Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association; and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center experts. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/5487
THE MEDICAL MINUTE: SIMPLE WAYS TO AVOID GETTING BURNED
Government statistics count 16,000 injuries and 3,000 deaths annually from fires. Thousands more are burned by hot water, the leading cause of burn injuries and tragically, most of these are children, the elderly and disabled. Fortunately, according to the latest edition of the Medical Minute, a service of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, there are some simple things you can do to reduce the likelihood of these accidents. Read the full story at http://live.psu.edu/story/5484
FARM AND RANCHING CRISES
Background
Recent concerns in agriculture have caused people to take a look at where their food comes from. The crisis in the cattle industry as a result of concerns surrounding Mad Cow Disease and, in the Far East, concerns about "Bird Flu" in chickens contribute to stressors not only in the general public, but also among farmers and ranchers who strive to keep the population fed.
The US farm crisis in the 1980s refocused national attention on the plight of rural areas. Data indicate that, relative to urban areas, rural America suffers from the double burden of (a) high levels of poverty, disability, and impairment and (b) inadequate health and human services. Wagenfeld (1988) introduced a special issue of the Journal of Rural Community Psychology that presented a status report on the mental health problems of rural areas during that period. Topics discussed included the social ecology of inpatient mental health services, the response of community mental health centers to the farm crisis, innovative mental health services, policy approaches to improving mental health services, and a research agenda for rural community psychology.
Ramirez-Ferrero (2002) challenges interpretations of the ongoing restructuring of the American agricultural sector as simply an economic phenomenon with psychological consequences. Ramirez-Ferrero argues that male farmers' responses to the farm financial crisis are not strictly psychological, individual or idiosyncratic, but cultural. Subjects' actions and beliefs are a consequence of a multiplicity of cultural discourses. It is their socially-constructed sense of self or subjectivity (mediated by cultural processes of power) that determines which ones they internalize, consider and act upon. Rural northwest Oklahoma served as the locus of this study. Research was conducted with farm families and included the collection of life histories from 13 couples, periodic participant-observation on a farm, unstructured and structured interviews with health professionals and focus group research. This study incorporated farmers' life stories, particularly those of crisis, to understand local notions of gender, kinship, land, farming styles, familial and farm goals, and community. Informants' life stories are presented in the context of broader discussions of the history of northwest Oklahoma, agricultural economics, corporate and capitalist processes, and Christianity to understand the social construction of the emotion of pride, an emotion that is critical in understanding men's responses to the farm crisis. Ramirez-Ferrero suggests that emotions are culturally mediated, embodied thoughts that are necessarily evaluative, and therefore challenges the common understanding of emotions as biological and psychological phenomena. Because the patriarchal foundation of farming communities is being eroded by industrial values, men experience the devaluation of cultural ideas that supported their subjectivity, specifically, the emotion of pride. This devaluation, in turn, leads men to actions and inactions that are often negative, destructive and tragic.
Stein (1984) explored the cultural ethos and psychodynamics underlying a duality in the midwestern/southwestern US male character, which is encapsulated in the image of the steadfastly sedentary farmer and that of the adventuresomely vagabond cowboy--both at war with one another in the same person. This duality is considered primarily within the context of Oklahoma wheat-farming and cattle-ranching families, but it is in fact a variation upon a regional midwestern/southwestern US identity. Stein argues that the psychologically primitive qualities attributed and allocated to the midwest/southwest by the larger national group keep the unstable regional masculine character "stirred up" and thereby available to the rest of the nation as both negative example and positive source for the current national nostalgia and as support for political "conservatism" and international militarism.
As things change in rural areas, the need for appropriate social services also changes. Martinez-Brawley & Blundall (1991) interviewed 44 farm families in Iowa and Pennsylvania concerning beliefs and attitudes about need and social services. Families in Iowa had been severely affected by an agricultural crisis and were more likely to have had contact with organized social services. Seeking assistance appeared more acceptable in Iowa than in Pennsylvania. Among the families, there was a sense that success and failure had little to do with deservingness. The perception that the world is unfair was overwhelming in Iowa. Families did not view themselves as needing special help as a class of people, yet they did voice concerns about not being understood by outside systems. Services that were found to be the least acceptable in both Iowa and Pennsylvania were those closely associated with depression indicators (e.g., problems with spouse, increased dependency on school, feelings of anxiety or isolation).
Schulman & Armstrong (1990) analyzed interview data from statewide surveys of 670 farm operators collected during a period of economic and ecological crisis to examine relationships among perceived stress, social support, and survival in agriculture. While the level of perceived stress had no relationship with survival, social support had a significant impact on both social psychological and behavioral dimensions of survival in agriculture. Perceived social support increased plans to remain in agriculture and increased the probability of a person continuing farming.
Using data from a statewide survey of 725 North Carolina farm operators collected during a period of economic and ecological crisis in 1986, Schulman & Armstrong (1989) analyzed the relationships between perceived social psychological distress, social support, and demographic, farm structure, and socioeconomic characteristics. Younger operators showed higher distress levels, and age and social support interacted so that social support lowered distress levels more for younger than for older operators. Results also suggested that total family income had a curvilinear relationship with perceived distress. Low and high income farm operators manifested higher levels of distress than middle income operators. Results have implications for policy intervention and farm crisis support programs.
Cook, John R. & Tyler (1989) examined the attitudes of 34 North Dakota farm couples toward receiving help for a personal problem. Ss were assigned to groups according to level of financial coping with respect to the possible loss of their farm (stable, declining, and out of business). Ss who were out of business or declining were more open to receiving help from educational sources than Ss whose farms were stable. Female Ss were open to receiving help regardless of their level of financial coping while their husbands were as receptive to help only at times of financial crisis. Ss showed reluctance to make use of outside resources of any kind.
Leaving The Farm
Early on, Lamarche (1960) suggested that rural crises are created by the movement to the city, especially on the part of the young, and abandonment of the land. Rapid social evolution without any preparation can have undesirable psychological effects.
In the 1980s there was a high level of interest in retirement of farmers because of an aging farm population and concern that the "farm crisis' may have disrupted succession patterns. Keating & Munro (1989) described the process of exit from farm businesses of a group of older farmers and determined the relationship between goals of family succession and behaviors in the exit phase. A sequence of exit from work, management, and ownership was found. Farmers (aged 50+ yrs) who value continuity were most likely to involve sons in management of the operation. Keating & Munro suggested that programs for two-generation farm families may be useful in the early part of the exit phase while estate planning information and programs may be more appropriate to those in the latter part of the process.
Stress On The Farm And On The Range
Carson; Araquistain & Ide (1994) examined the relationship between potential family vulnerability factors (stressors and strains), manifestations of maladaptation (family discord and distress), family strengths (hardiness), and measures of bonadaptation (quality of life) as reported by 188 men and women representing 100 Idaho farm and ranch families. Ss completed a battery of tests, including the Farm/Ranch Stress Scale, a demographic questionnaire, and four measures from the Family Invulnerability Test. Family strains and stressors unique to farming and ranching were positively associated with family discord and distress but negatively associated with hardiness and quality of life. Greater family hardiness as reported by both wives and husbands was positively correlated with their perceptions of family quality of life.
Plunkett; Henry & Knaub (1999) studied 77 adolescents in farm and ranch families to examine the relationship of demographic variables, family stressor events, and family coping strategies to adolescent adaptation. Results indicated that adolescent age and family transitions were positively related to individual stress. Males reported less family stress than did females. Seeking spiritual support was negatively related to family stress, while the perceived impact of the farm crisis was positively related to family stress. Family support was positively related, and family substance use issues were negatively related, to adolescent satisfaction with family life.
Swisher; Elder & Lorenz (1998) examined how the occupation of farming structures the stress experiences of individuals through the timing and placement of actions. They showed how occupations have effects that spillover into family and friendship relationships. The sample came from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, a longitudinal study of siblings and parents in the aftermath of the farm crisis of the 1980s, and included 424 married couples who had one child in the 7th grade and another child within four years of age of the 1st child. Results show that farming affects both exposure and vulnerability to stressors. Specifically, farm men are more exposed to financial and job-related stressors, while less prone to marital conflict, than non-farmers. Given the importance of cohesion in farm family operations, farm men are more vulnerable to such conflict when it occurs. However, farm men are unaffected, if not consoled, by knowledge of undesirable events in the lives of their friends. It was concluded that farm men use downward social comparisons to cope with the high levels of uncertainty characteristic of farming in the aftermath of the 1980s farm crisis. The lives of rural families who suffered economic hardship and economic pressure caused many to face difficult choices in response to hardship. Multiple adjustments created significant pain for many of these families. This was evidenced by the extreme emotional distress among families who lost a farm as a result of the crisis.
Rettig; Danes & Bauer (1991) describes a resource exchange theory that outlines the dimensions of life quality and presents a multidimensional scale measure of personal evaluations of family life quality based on this theory. The scale includes items representing love, status, services, information, goods, and money resources received from the family. It is suggested that receipt of these resources satisfied personal needs for (1) love and affection, (2) respect and esteem, (3) comfort and assistance, (4) shared meaning, (5) personal things, and (6) money for personal use.
Van Hook (1990)Interviewed 49 adolescents (mean age 16.8 yrs) during the farm crisis. In 66% of the families, there was an increase in parental work responsibilities outside the family farm or business. Family tensions increased in response to the economic uncertainties and change in family roles. The farm crisis was an anxious time for Ss, who described major gaps in family and community information systems. Feelings of personal responsibility for family economic problems were found in 63% of the Ss. The determination of Ss to prepare to cope with an uncertain and unfair world may involve the shift from farming to other occupations. Increased levels of anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts make this a high-risk population during difficult times.
Cecil (1998) describes the development and implementation of Stress: Country Style, an Illinois program designed as a response to stress problems among farm families created by an economic downturn. The program involved a crisis line, outreach counseling, and community education about stress. The relationship between the program and community mental health centers is also addressed. Successes and failures of the program are considered.
Walker & Walker (1998) studied the self-reported incidence of stress-related symptoms in 476 male and 341 female farmers and 70 male and 39 female urban residents. Close to 50% of the farmers reported the frequent to constant occurrence of the symptoms of trouble relaxing, loss of temper, and fatigue; over 30% reported similar occurrence rates for 6 additional symptoms. Self-reported symptom rates were significantly higher in farm women than in farm men, higher in younger farmers, higher in mixed farming operations, and higher in farmers who were holding off-farm employment. Symptom scores were significantly higher in the farmers compared with the urban Ss. Scores on five symptoms distinguished farm and urban Ss. Walker & Walker suggest that the chronic stress associated with the farm financial crisis may have caused a high self-reported incidence of symptoms among farmers.
Loeb & Dvorak (1987) discuss the high level of stress experienced by many of today's farm families. THey suggest that health professionals should be aware of the current situation to deal effectively with the farm family as a unit. Therapists must be well versed in farm family dynamics before they can understand the impact of external factors. The following topics are of importance: the economics of farming; the farm family (husband, wife, in-laws, adult children); communication in farm families; and health issues. Loeb & Dvorak conclude that there is no end in sight to the farm crisis and that many more families will need support from trained experts in the future.
Hargrove (1986) examined the myth of rural communities uniting under stress and suggests clinical and community activities for mental health workers during farm crises. A model for understanding human response to natural disasters is useful for understanding response to such crises. Hargrove suggests that the clinical/advocate model developed by G. B. Melton (1983; see also PA, Vol 61:9256) provides a useful perspective from which to operate.
Olson & Schellenberg (1986) examined stressors in farm environments, using data from questionnaire surveys of general, familial, and extrafamilial farm stressors. General stressors include problems such as machinery breakdown and harvests, while familial stressors involve role incongruence and conflict. The discussion of extrafamilial stressors emphasizes financial stressors and farm financial crises. Olson & Schellenberg suggest that financial stressors are becoming more intense relative to familial factors because of farm crises. They consider directions for community psychology in terms of four types of programs aimed at preventing or alleviating farm financial stress: (1) general education/socialization, (2) individual skill training, (3) development of supportive social agencies, and (4) political action. They also note the importance of a multiple program approach emphasizing early detection of farm financial stress.
Farmer (1986) suggests that farmers who have failed in the farm crisis of the 1980's blame themselves, although even top producers and managers had been affected. The prevalence of depression is not surprising considering the severity of the losses, the prolonged nature of the stress, and the minimal control farmers have in overcoming their problems. Participation in farm support groups may be effective for families working through a fairly predictable grief cycle involving denial, anxiety, guilt, anger, hostility, confusion, and depression.
Internal and external threats could soon squeeze some ranch and farm families out of business. To assist ranch families with these threats and with amiably transferring the operation to the next generation, Zimmerman (1984) offers a six-step Consensus Management Model that combines strategic planning with psycho-education/family therapy. A pilot test with an intergenerational ranch family indicated improvements in family functioning, including reduced stress and depression and improved self-esteem and family coping levels.
Suicide
Ragland, John D. & Berman (1990-1991) examined the relationship between the farm economic crisis and farmer suicide rates, using data from 15 states in the US from 1980 to 1985. Suicide frequencies for farmers and two control occupations (forestry and transportation workers) were obtained. The 1980 US Census occupational population data were used to convert these frequencies into suicide rates. Suicide rates for farmers were greater than rates for transportation workers (truck drivers), but no different from rates for forestry workers. A significant positive correlation between the declining farm economy and increasing state suicide rates was also found.
Changing Roles
In a longitudinal study using preferences for living near family and in the local community obtained in the 8th and 11th grades, Elder; King & Conger (1996) modeled the social and developmental pathways by which adolescents approach decisions to leave home and settle in other parts of the country. Data come from 351 two-parent families in the Iowa Youth and Family Project, launched in 1989 to investigate the economic stresses and family consequences of the farm crisis. Lack of socioeconomic opportunity; relatively weak and declining ties to parents, kin, and the religious community; and strong educational prospects emerged as strong sources of a declining preference for living near family and in the local community among boys and girls. Whether coupled with family attachments or not, plans to settle elsewhere after education were linked to more elevated feelings of depression and unhappiness about life.
Conger; Elder & Lorenz (1994) examined the plight of several hundred rural families who lived through the years of economic hardship in the mid-1980s. The participants in the Iowa Youth and Families Project included farmers, people from small towns, and those who lost farms and other businesses as a result of the "farm crisis." Conger et al traced the influence of economic hardship on the emotions, behavior, and relationships of parents, children, siblings, husbands, and wives. They interviewed four members in each of 451 rural families. All of the families in the study included a seventh-grade adolescent when they were interviewed in 1989. In addition to this target adolescent, both parents of the seventh-grader and a sibling within four years of age participated in the study. They were particularly concerned with the quality of social relationships both within and outside the family that might affect the various linkages in their theoretical model of family economic stress.
Cook & Heppner (1997) investigated the role of coping strategies, perceived control, and problem-solving appraisal in farmers' career transition processes. The sample, examined previously by P. P. Heppner et al (1991), included 79 male and female farmers (aged 39.2 and 41.6, respectively) who were participating in career transition workshops. Relationships among the three variables and an outcome variable, depressive symptomatology, were examined. Significant correlations were found between problem-solving appraisal and all other variables in this study. Coping strategies were found to be related to depressive symptomatology. In a regression equation, only coping strategies contributed significantly, and no significant interaction was found between coping strategies and perceived control as hypothesized.
McInnes (2000) focused on the complex dynamics related to the family farm and their effect on the rural couple's relationship. The typical relationship examined was where the man is from a farming background and the woman from the city, or, if originally from the land, has lived or studied away from the district and been independent. The challenge for the counselor is to work with the two levels the couple bring: (1) the couple's 'individual' story and (2) the larger context, including the man's family of origin, the family farm, the rural community, and the rural crisis nationally. A case study of the typical couple's process and outcome in counseling was provided. It was concluded that the traditional stories about men, women and relationships that once ordered the lives of couples on the land are no longer valid in times of enormous social and political change.
In life course theory, the principle of human agency states that "individuals construct their own life course through the choices and actions they take within the constraints and opportunities of history and social circumstances." Elder & Russell (2000) explore the implications of this principle, drawing upon three other principles of life course study: the location of individual lives in historical time and place, the differential timing of lives through events and experiences, and linked lives. They focus on two historical periods in which adolescence was shaped by the agency of young people and their opportunities and constraints: the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the Great Farm Crisis and rural decline of the 1980s and 1990s. The resulting portrait is documented by research on lives in changing times over three decades. Within these historical eras, Elder & Russell view the agency of youth in terms defined by specific historical times and places. World War II played a major role in structuring pathways out of Depression disadvantage. Fifty years later, migration to urban areas of economic prosperity provided a general escape route for youth in the disadvantaged rural Midwest of the US. In each era, societal changes left their mark on the expression of human agency in youth's "negotiation of adolescence."
Conger; Rueter & Conger (2000) presents research from the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP), a longitudinal study of Iowa families who were living in small towns and on farms during the farm crisis of the 1980s. The research was designed to assess how the macrosocial change and economic upheaval that occurred across the US during the 1980s influenced family functioning and the well-being of parents and their children. (4) describes the empirical and theoretical foundations for the Family Stress Model. The sections that follow summarize findings from the IYFP and other studies relevant to the various processes and mechanisms proposed in the Family Stress Model. (4) also consider research on hypothesized protective mechanisms or dimensions of vulnerability that may moderate the causal linkages proposed in the theoretical model. After reviewing the possible applied significance of this work, they close with a discussion of conclusions that can be drawn from the research conducted thus far and the implications of these findings for future investigations of family economic stress.
In another example, the crisis in the farming industry in the Netherlands has had far-reaching negative consequences for the well-being of farm-families. Based on identity-theory, Gorgievski-Duijvesteijn (1999) hypothesized that job-involvement (the psychological importance of the professional role) would intensify the negative relationship between role-relevant stressors and well-being. Specifically, 107 Dutch, self-employed dairy farm-couples (mean age 52 yrs for husbands and 49 yrs for wives) participated in a study that examined whether job-involvement exacerbates the negative effect of three role-relevant stressors (potential threats to business continuity, restrictions on autonomy as a self-employed person, and financial problems) on two indicators of well-being (job-related worrying and mental health complaints). Gender differences were also explored. Results show partial support for the hypotheses derived from identity-theory in that job-involvement only exacerbates the positive relationship between financial problems and job-related worrying for both spouses. No other moderating effects of job-involvement were found. Although husbands were more involved in farming than wives, the direct effect of the three role-relevant stressors on the two indicators of well-being were similar for both spouses.
During economic downturns, traditional gender allocations of labor have been considered to vary more than in prosperous times. While most studies have examined the division of labor in the household or in paid employment, Lobao & Meyer (1995) examined it where both intersect, in family-owned and family-operated enterprises in the farm sector of the 1980s. This context, combining crisis conditions and the agency of economic actors, should be related to greater flexibility in labor allocations, leading to the feminization of farming. However, a contrasting perspective argues for rigidity of gender roles in farming. Lobao & Meyer use data from a twelve-state midwestern sample and a more detailed Ohio study. The results failed to support the flexibility thesis. The rigidity of production roles was further translated into different factors related to women's and men's stress.
DeFrain & Schroff (1991) examined how city life and country life differences influence parents in their efforts to rear children as well as endeavor to paint a more realistic picture of rural life. They begin with a section on the impact of urbanization on fathers and mothers in the United States, discusses the pluralistic nature of the city, the increased leisure of urban youth as compared to rural youth, the power of the youth peer group in urban areas, the impersonality and anonymity of the city, the pervasive nature of the urban mass media, and the urban ghetto. They focus on the positive aspects of urbanization: the advantages urban organization offers families and the relative affluence of the city compared to the country. They discuss special problems of rural fathers and mothers in the United States, including the dramatic decline in the farm population, the most recent wave of the continuing farm crisis, agricultural fundamentalism, resettlement, the impact of urbanization on farm parents and their children, the fact that the farm parents often find themselves preparing their children for an urban-industrial world they themselves do not fully understand, the difficult realities of the rural economy today, and rural social class barriers farm families face.
Willson (1928) deals with the education of farm children and the relation of education to the migration to non-farming occupations. It is based upon original research of the author for Western North Dakota (N. Dak. Agr. Exper. Sta. Bull. 214, 1928) during the agricultural depression of 1920-1926. The data show that improved agricultural conditions and better financial returns from farming result in improved educational facilities and increased grade and high school attendance by farm children. A decrease in the number of farms did not operate to deprive the children of grade school education. The amount of high school education is decreased as distance from secondary schools and the proportion of foreign-born--especially the Russians--within the community are increased. The percentage of farm children in high schools is increasing. The percentage of farm children entering non-farming occupations increased directly with the amount of education they received. A point demonstrated in this study is the relationship between ability to survive the agricultural crisis and type of family organization. The married individuals who had children survived the depression best of all.
Different Approaches
Peeks (1989) posits that school counselors must be ready to work with children of farm families in crisis to direct solutions to the presenting problems and provide the family with hope for the future. She notes that the problem of the student from a farm family can be viewed as a metaphor (mirroring the parents' own fears about the future and feelings of hopelessness) and a form of protection (diverting parental attention toward a solvable problem).
Mermelstein & Sundet (1998) focused on the decision criteria that influenced 118 directors of rural community mental health centers (CMHCs) as to whether to adopt innovative programming with regard to the crisis among farmers. Five criteria were postulated as independent variables: compatibility with the director's values and relative advantage, observability, feasibility, and trialability of the innovation. The dependent variables were the amount and type of farm crisis programming and the date of introduction into the CMHC. Findings demonstrate the widespread failure of CMHCs to respond effectively to mental health concerns arising from massive environmental stress. Impediments to innovation appear to be a real or perceived paucity of resources and a mentality favoring existing programs.
Peeks (1989) reviewed the transitions faced by adults from farm families whose farms have failed in the agriculture crisis, including career transition, relocating, a redefined lifestyle, and refocusing on future goals. Students' school problems are discussed as behavioral metaphors for the family's crisis, and a school-based strategy for counselors to help students whose problems are related to the family transitions is described. Six strategic interventions for solving student problems by inviting the parents to school and focusing on positive problem-solving solutions are presented.
Paulsen (1988) asserts that the rural crisis is creating new numbers of rural individuals who are in need of assistance as they cope with the stress of economic dislocation and the overwhelming difficulties that occur after the loss of a farm or business. Individual, family, and community treatment aspects are discussed within the thematic context of a culture in crisis. An urban-based regional family service agency, Farmers Helping Farmers, is presented as an example of a systems response to the rural crisis. The proposed treatment involves a multilevel community response that includes self-help support groups, instruction of adaptive coping skills, and sharing information in rural communities. Mental health professionals are challenged to further their understanding of the rural crisis and to adopt more flexible treatment strategies to encompass a multilevel systems response.
Jurich & Russell (1987) evaluated 15 farm families who underwent therapy at the Kansas State University Family Center, using a model of family adaptation to stress by H. I. McCubbin et al (see record 1981-30250-001). Major interventions included reframing, mobilizing resources, and utilizing less indirect means of intervention. Ss showed a greater increase in well-being at three months than did a general sample of clients. However, stress levels were not lowered as much as the general sample and life satisfaction was lower at follow-up than the general population.
Davis-Brown & Salamon (1987) argues that families' responses to the loss of their farm due to the agricultural crisis depend on whether shared agricultural goals originate primarily from financial or familial motivations. S. Salamon's (1985) farm management style types are combined with a family stress model by H. I. McCubbin and J. Patterson (1983) to develop a framework for identifying contrasting capabilities and definitions possessed by families holding divergent agricultural goals. An instrument based on the application of stress concepts to farm family research is presented for use in counseling families who lose their farms.
Rosenblatt (1990) offers testimony from 42 adults in 24 Minnesota farm couples who were caught in the farm crisis. They speak of how they struggled economically, what they understood and felt about their economic situation, and how their relationships within the family and outside of it were affected by the economic difficulties. The purpose was to go beneath the statistics, to record people's experiences, feelings, and reflections in their own words, and to understand what happened to them as individuals and families. That understanding has implications for policy, service delivery, and community action. Extensive face-to-face interviews were carried out in 1986 by three graduate students in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Telephone follow-up interviews were carried out in the latter half of 1987 and early part of 1988 with adults in 23 of the 24 households. Interviews were wide-ranging but focused mainly on the history of the farm operation, what happened in family and community relationships as economic difficulties developed, problems with lenders and creditors, and personal feelings and reflections as things happened. People were also asked to fill out a checklist of feelings, personal reactions and aspects of family relationships that might be influenced by the crisis.
Ferguson & Engels (1989) discussed the 1980s farm crisis that had large numbers of farmers and their families abandoning farming due to new and frequently unmanageable economic realities. Selected issues were discussed with regard to farmers who (1) were then working and living on family farms and (2) were being or had been forced to pursue other occupations. Ferguson & Engels note that farmers are at a geographical disadvantage for receiving mental health and career counseling services, and most traditional support services are centered in keeping the farmer in agriculture. Counselors and state national counseling organizations need to consider pro bono and sponsored approaches to working with farm families; farmers might benefit from modification of programs aimed at adult education, career development, retirement, and separation and grief.
Van Hook (1987) used the ABCX family-crisis model developed by R. Hill (1949) to identify needs and design intervention strategies while long-term solutions to the crisis are being developed. Basic to the model is the concept that each event has not only an external reality but an internally experienced reality as well. Van Hook suggested that focusing on the family unit strengthens both individual and family resources. Because many farm families have considerable strengths, relatively small intervention efforts may be needed to enable them to mobilize for survival.
To summarize, it is important that the mental health profession be aware of the factors involved in rural crises, socially, economically, community wide and other related variables. Providing appropriate responses, approaches, methods and programs that are individualized for communities and individuals are important in thees times of change and increased levels of stress.
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RECOMMENDED READING
Ranching West of the 100th Meridian: Culture, Ecology, and Economics
by Richard L. Knight (Editor), Wendell C. Gilgert (Editor), Ed Marston (Editor)
From Book News, Inc.
Arguing that, if done right, ranching has the power to restore ecological integrity to American western lands, the editors of this book present essays, anecdotes, and a few poems that address the state of the rancher and suggest ways to improve the practice of ranching in view of today's realities. Essayists attack what they perceive as the two enemies of ranching, the developers of suburban subdivisions and Wal-Marts, as well as over-zealous environmentalists who "see cows as the source of all evil." The essayists also address the failures of ranchers themselves, suggesting at various times that ranchers must get used to a marginal economic existence, must interact more with urban environments and peoples, and must steward the ecosystems of their lands with greater care.Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR
Book Description
Recommended by The Nature Conservancy magazine.
Ranching West of the 100th Meridian offers a literary and thought-provoking look at ranching and its role in the changing West. The book's lyrical and deeply felt narratives, combined with fresh information and analysis, offer a poignant and enlightening consideration of ranchers' ecological commitments to the land, their cultural commitments to American society, and the economic role ranching plays in sustainable food production and the protection of biodiversity.
The book begins with writings that bring to life the culture of ranching, including the fading reality of families living and working together on their land generation after generation. The middle section offers an understanding of the ecology of ranching, from issues of overgrazing and watershed damage to the concept that grazing animals can actually help restore degraded land. The final section addresses the economics of ranching in the face of declining commodity prices and rising land values brought by the increasing suburbanization of the West. Among the contributors are Paul Starrs, Linda Hasselstrom, Bob Budd, Drummond Hadley, Mark Brunson, Wayne Elmore, Allan Savory, Luther Propst, and Bill Weeks.
Livestock ranching in the West has been attacked from all sides - by environmentalists who see cattle as a scourge upon the land, by fiscal conservatives who consider the leasing of grazing rights to be a massive federal handout program, and by developers who covet intact ranches for subdivisions and shopping centers. The authors acknowledge that, if done wrong, ranching clearly has the capacity to hurt the land. But if done right, it has the power to restore ecological integrity to Western lands that have been too-long neglected. Ranching West of the 100th Meridian makes a unique and impassioned contribution to the ongoing debate on the future of the New West.
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