Police work creates unique marital difficulties. There are many factors that add stress to police officers' marriages, including shift work, long hours and unconventional schedules, divided commitment between work and family roles, and perceived personality changes among officers. When police officers carry work-related stress and behaviors into the home, they may experience difficulties in their family relationships. Unfortunately, relatively few researchers have investigated the impact of police work on spouses. In this study, we administered a needs assessment to police officers and their spouses to determine the types of difficulties evident in their marriages. Results indicated that officers and spouses generally agreed on stressors and sources of support. Although spouses reported feeling pride about being married to an officer, they also noted financial concerns, workfamily conflict, and law enforcement-specific stressors, such as negative public attitudes toward police. Officers and spouses reported relying on friends and family for support more than on professional sources. Implications for prevention and intervention when working with police officers and their spouses are discussed.

No abstract

The well-being of a child who has experienced abuse or neglect is dependent on whether or not an interdisciplinary, holistic treatment perspective is applied in the hospital setting. This paper examines the different interdisciplinary approaches used by two major hospitals, one in the United States and the other in Brazil, in their attempt to confront the social problem of child maltreatment.

As professional members of interdisciplinary teams in health care settings, chaplains and social workers must be prepared to interface with each other in a competent manner and to work cooperatively in caring for the needs of patients and their families. This article shares the results of a combined qualitative and quantitative research study (N = 403) that focused on determining chaplains' perceptions of their professional collaborative relationships with social workers. The findings indicate that chaplains have an overall positive perception of their interdisciplinary relationships with social workers. However, the results suggest areas that should be addressed in order to maintain and improve their functioning as colleagues who each play a critical role in providing holistic treatment.

No abstract