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This paper applies the concepts of culture, organizational culture, and culture conflict to a study of relationships between children, their families and a number of mental health and other social service organizations. The culture of a specific children's mental hospital ward is examined and a sample of 12 patients is followed on their course through the service system (pre- and post-hospitalization). A cultural interpretation of current mental health service delivery problems is suggested.

The effect of long-term intravenous administration of L-carnitine on the lipid pattern of 18 patients on intermittent haemodialysis has been evaluated. Serum levels of carnitine were assayed at the beginning and after 4 months of treatment: no significant change was observed. At the end of our investigation, we found a significant reduction of HDL-cholesterol and a significant increase of triglyceride levels, compared with basal values. On the contrary cholesterol levels did not change. Five of the patients though behaved as responders to the treatment: their triglyceride levels decrease while their carnitine values rose significantly. The Authors discuss the therapeutic importance of L-carnitine and its possible influence on dyslipaemia of uremic haemodialysed patients.

The impact of three variations of a family life education (FLE) program for 172 inner-city, junior-high-level students was investigated. Variations in exposure time, instructional methods, and teacher quality led to the classification of each intervention on a general intensity dimension. Separate pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison group designs were utilized to assess program impact along seven knowledge and attitudinal dimensions. Survey results revealed that, in comparison to no-treatment groups, the more intensive the program (a) the greater the gains in knowledge about reproductive physiology, contraception, and the consequences of teen pregnancy and parenthood (especially among experimental group females); and (b) the more birth control methods participants became familiar with over time. Changes in personal acceptance of premarital intercourse and perceived responsibility for contraception were observed only in the study examining the most intensive treatment. The results of the evaluations point to the combined importance of instructional methods, teacher quality, and in-class exposure time for producing change in young adolescents' knowledge of and attitudes toward sexuality. Further potential for the impact of school-based sex education programs on knowledge and attitudes is discussed within the broader context of the young adolescent's social environment.

A sample of 283 teching nuns described the White Pupil, the Black Pupil, and the Ideal Pupil on an adjective description form. A Prejudice score was computed by subtracting the Ideal minus Black differences summed across 52 items from the Ideal minus White differences. Analyses based on 269 subjects revealed that neither age nor amount of prior contact with minorities predicted level of prejiduce. However, high and low-F-scale scorers differed significantly on the Prejudice score and on selected pupil perception factors. Implications in regard to training programs on racial attitudes were discussed.

This paper presents a baseline evaluation of four demonstration family support programs located in communities identified as having a disproportionate number of families at risk for malfunctioning. In this baseline evaluation, a one year cohort of 422 family support participants were assessed along key dimensions of parenting known to contribute to child well-being and potentially to the incidence of child abuse or child neglect. These dimensions include parents' attitudes toward child rearing, knowledge of child development, level of perceived social support, and level of depression. Black participants and teenage parents had more punitive attitudes toward child rearing, less knowledge of child development, and less perceived social support than white or older parents. Overall, attitudes, knowledge, level of perceived social support and depression are interrelated in accordance with previous clinical observations and developmental theory, e.g., depressed parents are less knowledgeable, more punitive and have less support than nondepressed parents. The results of the baseline evaluation suggest that the demonstration projects are successful in reaching some subgroups of families at risk for parenting problems.

The mothers of 87 male and female adolescents accepted at a counseling agency described their offspring by completing the Institute of Juvenile Research Behavior Checklist. A factor analysis of the initial data yielded nine symptom factors. These were used in combination with selected demographic variables, to compare the 54 continuers in treatment with the 22 early defectors and the 18 cases improved after a year of a full course of treatment with the 16 unimproved cases. Both discriminant function analyses indicated that the groups could be successfully differentiated; however, variables most predictive of continuance in treatment were not most predictive of a successful outcome.