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The effects of minority status versus ethnic culture on Mexican-Americans' underutilization of mental health services were reassessed through development and testing of an analytic path model that proposes a sequence of factors, including Mexican-American ethnicity, socioeconomic status, degree of social and institutional support, and depression, which culminate in a person's decision to utilize mental health facilities. The model also predicts that life stress will affect utilization through its influence on depression. Data from 783 subjects generally supported the model's predictions. A multifactorial approach to the causes of mental health problems and utilization behavior in the Mexican-American population is suggested.

This paper presents findings from a tri-cultural study in which we argue that class differences pertain not only to rates of mental illness but also to recognition of symptoms of mental illness and to recommendations concerning what should be done by those exhibiting 'disordered behaviour'. It is hypothesized that regardless of respondent's cultural background, the extent to which a deviant behaviour will be defined as a mental health problem, and professional therapy will be suggested as a source of help for that problem, will be positively related to class. Findings from a sample selected from two small West Texas communities, and samples selected from Durango, Mexico, and Juiz de Fora, Brazil, indicate strong support for the first prediction only among the West Texas sample, whereas the second hypothesis concerning therapy suggestions is strongly supported among respondents in all three cultural settings. We conclude that these class differences in perceptions and suggestions concerning five examples of 'disordered' behaviours read to respondents relate to conditions of lower-class life in general. Particularly, structural support found for our hypothesis leads us to suggest a need for informal, nonbureaucratic mental health care systems created to serve lower-class populations residing in class-oriented societies, regardless of cultural differences which may exist among these societies.

This paper is a replication of a study in which we argue that class differences pertain not only to rates of mental illness but also to the recognition of symptoms of mental illness and to recommendations concerning what should be done by those exhibiting 'disordered behaviour'. Our previous findings from a sample of two small West Texas communities indicated that class differences did hold for both recognition of an recommendations fo9r help regarding behaviours which are commonly considered as 'disordered' by professional mental health personnel. We concluded that these differences were related to conditions of lower-class life, particularly a sense of powerlessness. In this paper we hypothesize that in societies where the two classes share high powerlessness, the differences in response to disordered behaviour will be less pronounced. To test this thesis, we obtained data from lower- and middle-class samples in Durango, Mexico, where both classes have been found to possess a high degree of powerlessness compared with the American sample. Findings lend support to our hypothesis.

"A 'deviant behavior' interpretation of childlessness has led many researchers to view this phenomenon as psychosocial in nature. Married persons who decide to remain childless are seen as having a unique set of personality and behavioral characteristics that go beyond the simple decision not to have children. An alternative explanation for these differences could center around the structural factor of childlessness per se, in that a family with one or more children may be a totally different social system than the dyadic-type relationships which comprise the childless couple. This paper reports research findings from an empirical test of the extent to which a national sample of [U.S.] respondents who are members of voluntary or nonvoluntary childless couples differ in terms of 12 psychosocial characteristics selected either on the basis of past research findings, or predicted on the basis of these findings....Findings showed that the two groups of respondents did strongly differ, but in ways opposite to those predicted on the basis of past research. An argument is presented that these strong, but contrary findings might be better explained by structural, as opposed to psychosocial, factors.", (excerpt)

Although the use of recovering alcoholics as counselors in professional settings is increasing, there is little information on the factors important in selecting counselors. This study looks at previous occupational socialization as one such factor. On the basis of a study of alcoholism rehabilitation counselors and their supervisors in Indiana it has been concluded that such socialization is an important factor. It is recommended that prospective employers be wary of applicants without some experience in "bureaucratic" types of work experience, that is, who have not had experience in work settings or with work requirements somewhat analogous to those in the professional setting.