Americans’ Attitudes Toward Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide, 1936–2002
Jen Allen, Sonia Chavez, Sara DeSimone, Debbie Howard, Keadron Johnson, Lucinda LaPierre, Darrel Montero and Jerry Sanders
Public opinion polls conducted from 1936 to 2002 found that Americans support both euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Although public opinion regarding end-of-life decisions appears to have been influenced by the events of the times, Americans have consistently favored the freedom to end one’s life when the perceived quality of life has significantly diminished, either by one’s own hand or with the assistance of a physician. This paper indicates that existing policy regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide conflicts with the American public’s attitudes regarding
the matter, as well as examines implications for social workers who serve clients facing end-of-life decisions.

Professional Hope in Working with Older Adults
Terry Koenig and Richard Spano
Writings about hope within gerontological literature assume social workers already possess hope that they can use in their practice. The purpose of this article is to challenge this assumption and to examine ways in which social workers can sustain hope in personal life, in their agencies, and in the reform of larger social structures that impact older adults. The authors examine culture change in nursing homes as an emerging approach that can be more fully developed by applying the strengths perspective to interpersonal work with elders, agency change and broader structural change.

Program Development During Fiscal Crisis:
A Community/University Response
Dianne Rush Woods, Phu Tai Phan and Terry Jones
This article discusses the often difficult and challenging process of setting up a new academic department, especially during a time of budget crisis. Furthermore it examines the role and purpose of the university, the place of so-called applied programs within the university, curriculum development of a new program, racial and cultural diversity at the university, and the overall relevance of the university as a vehicle for addressing community needs. The paper concludes with a discussion on how a Social Work faculty was able to use the university’s mission to persuade its leadership into setting up a Social Work Department.

The Politics of Indigenization: A Case Study of Development
of Social Work in China
Miu Chung Yan and Kwok Wah Cheung
Internationalization and indigenization are dialectical processes of knowledge transfer. However, social work literature has paid scant attention to the process
of indigenization, which can best be understood as one of recontextualization. This paper introduces Basil Bernstein’s theory, which contends that recontextualization
is a political process, as an analytical tool for us to understand the politics of indigenization. To demonstrate the usefulness of this tool, this paper analyzes
how, in China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and social work academics interactively compete for this control.

Reshaping Retirement Policies in Post-Industrial Nations:
The Need for Flexibility
Angela L. Curl and M. C. “Terry” Hokenstad, Jr.
Social Security programs in post-industrial nations are facing the need for policy reforms. Fiscal shortfalls in current Social Security programs are a major driving force
promoting these reforms. At the same time, changes in longevity and the nature of work and retirement also suggest the need for policy reform. This article begins with
a broad overview of some of the policy innovations of the Europe Union as a whole, and then focuses more indepth on policy reforms in three countries that exemplify
Esping-Andersen’s (1990) typology of welfare states: Sweden, Germany, and Canada. These three countries have passed policies that promote fl exibility in retirement
for older adults, including “gradual retirement”, “partial retirement”, and credit for caregiving activities. Keeping older adults in the labor force longer retains the tax base of contributors into Social Security as well as allowing those who want to stay in the labor force more choice. The reforms are discussed, along with their potential usefulness for future Social Security policy reforms in the United States.

Social Welfare before the Elizabethan Poor Laws:
The Early Christian Tradition, AD 33 to 313
Vincent Faherty
Current social welfare history texts in the United States tend to cover quickly the time periods before the passage of the Elizabethan Poor Laws in 1601. This is an unfortunate informational gap since what is labeled social welfare today has been organized and delivered for centuries before 1601 through the rich religious traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and thousands of other traditional religions throughout the world. This article provides a broad historical overview of the organization, the roles, and the services provided by the social welfare system in Christian communities, during their first three centuries, throughout what is now considered Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. This article also encourages
scholars representing the other major religious traditions to also chronicle their unique social welfare heritage.

Acculturative Stress and Social Support among Korean and Indian Immigrant Adolescents in the United States
Madhavappallil Thomas and Jong Baek Choi
This study examined acculturative stress and its relationship with social support among Korean and Indian immigrant adolescents. The data were collected from 165
Korean and Indian adolescents using the Acculturation Scale for Asian American Adolescents and Social Support Scale. Findings show that respondents experience
low to moderate level of acculturative stress. Social support activities reduce the level of acculturative stress. Social support from parents is the most important predictive
factor in determining the level of acculturative stress. These findings not only contribute to social work education and practice but also increase cultural sensitivity
and awareness in working with these populations.

Welfare Reform and Post-Secondary Education in Maine: A Supplemental Bibliography
Luisa S. Deprez

BOOK REVIEWS
Troubled Fields: Men, Emotions and the Crisis in American Farming.
Eric Ramirez-Ferrero.
Reviewed by Leon Ginsberg.

School Violence in Context: Culture, Neighborhood, Family, School and Gender.
Rami Benbenishty and Ron Avu Astor.
Reviewed by Susan Stone.

From Welfare to Workfare: The Unintended Consequences of Liberal Reform 1945-1965.
Jennifer Mittelstadt.
Reviewed by Margaret Sharrard Sherraden.

The SAGE Handbook of Quantitative Methodology for the Social Sciences.
David Kaplan (Ed.).
Reviewed by John G. Orme.

AIDS, Rhetoric and Medical Knowledge.
Alex Preda.
Reviewed by Cudore L. Snell.

Queer Wars: The New Gay Right and Its Critics.
Paul Robinson.
Reviewed by Greg Mallon.

BOOK NOTES
Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women put Motherhood before Marriage.
Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas.

What We Know About Child Care.
Alison Clarke-Steward and Virginia D. Allhusen.

Just Around the Corner: The Paradox of the Jobless Recovery.
Stanley Aronowitz.

Illicit Drug Policies, Trafficking and Use the World Over.
Cathrina Gouvis Roman, Heather Ahn-Redding and Rita J. Simon.

Perspectives on Health and Human Rights.
Sofia Gruskin, Michael A. Grodin, George J. Annas
and Stephen P. Marks (Eds.).

Industrial Ruins: Space, Aesthetics and Materiality.
Tim Edensor.