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Reviews the history, goals, achievements, and future of a graduate internship program sponsored by the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. Students are placed in internships in a variety of clinical and research areas concerned with the development of health policy and careers in applied medical sociology. (NL)

The psychological consequences of job loss was studied using a sample of working-class men who had either been laid-off for economic reasons or been dismissed for shortcomings on the job. Taking the nature of causal attribution for the loss of a job as the reference point for comparison, the levels of self-blame and psychological distress among the men were examined. In general, the laid-off workers showed much less distress and were less prone to indulge in self-blame for the loss of their jobs. The dismissed men, on the other hand, experienced heightened feelings of distress and were more likely to blame themselves for the loss of their jobs. However, self-blame was not necessarily linked to psychological imbalance. As a rule, those who blamed themselves were coping with unemployement much better than those who believed others were to blame.

This article compares the results of a 1985 survey of elderly seasonal migrants to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with those of five earlier studies to provide a more comprehensive profile of such migrants than is currently available. Sociodemographic, life-style, and health characteristics are reviewed. Based on apparent similarities among elderly seasonal migrants in the six studies, suggestions are made for the direction of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Data from seven U. S. national surveys were used to estimate the effects of number of siblings on eight dimensions of psychological well-being among adult white males and white females. All of the statistically significant estimated effects of having siblings are negative, and most of these cannot be accounted for by the lower mean family incomes and amount of education of the persons with siblings. The evidence for negative effects is stronger for white males than for white females. The evidence from this and previous studies is generally inconsistent with the popular stereotype of the unhappy, maladjusted only child, but additional evidence is needed before the issue is considered closed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data are presented on drinking patterns and alcohol-related problems among 164 Anglo and 149 Mexican American male regular drinkers. The paper examines the role of acculturation with regard to alcohol use by categorizing Mexican American respondents into three acculturation groups using a multi-item measure developed for this study. Data from a random sample of males drinking at least 2-3 times a month, aged 20-50, showed that, even after socio-demographic controls, Mexican Americans were less frequent, but higher quantity drinkers than were Anglos. No ethnic differences were found for alcohol-related problems. Quantity was significantly higher among less acculturated Mexican Americans than among the more highly acculturated. "Escape" drinking motives were most common among Mexican Americans, particularly among the least acculturated. Exploratory analyses among Mexican Americans using a combination of acculturation and generational status measures indicated the heaviest drinking patterns and the highest prevalence of both alcohol-related problems and escape drinking motives among the least acculturated second generation males. These suggestive data do not support either a "simple acculturation" or an "acculturation stress" model. Rather, the data suggest a cultural marginality/stress model wherein risk of heavy and problem drinking is greatest among younger Mexican Americans who have not become acculturated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we examine ethnic differences in divorce likelihood for a sample of 900 divorce petitions filed in San Antonio, Texas, during 1985. The present study explores ethnic differences in the nature of the divorce process and examines the extent to which observed ethnic differences in divorce likelihood are accounted for by differences between groups in dimensions such as socioeconomic status, marital history, and nature of complaints. Divorce likelihood is viewed from the perspective of Levinger's (1965) exchange model of marital instability, as recently applied to the phenomenon of divorce petition withdrawal by Kitson et al. (1983). Observed differences between Spanish surname and non-Spanish surname petitions in divorce likelihood and divorce delay are largely explained by controls for background and exchange model variables. Significant interaction effects with ethnicity suggest the complexity of the divorce process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]