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A year-long study of public child welfare administrators examined the effects of role conflict on their attitudes and performance. Popular belief and some of the literature have suggested that burnout is inevitable for those confronted with role conflict. Other literature has proposed that it may instead be energizing to individuals and lead to greater personal and organizational effectiveness. This qualitative study found that individuals in the study had developed specific, effective skills for responding to role conflict. Although there was a public presentation of self that indicated they were under stress and in "impossible" situations, there was in fact an energizing effect resulting from the ongoing challenge of dealing with conflict.

This article examines low-income family characteristics that are important to the American public in judging deserved amounts of public assistance. Results are based on a nationally representative survey that included vignettes describing poor families with varying levels of income, numbers of children, marital status, work motivation, and so on. The findings suggest that the public focuses more on characteristics of need in evaluating mother-only families but focuses more on work status and motivation of the father in evaluating two-parent families. The average benefit designated by respondents exceeded the poverty line, suggesting that the public supports higher levels of assistance to families than legislators currently grant.