Ferris J Ritchey
Biographic Data
| ID | 309932 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ferris J Ritchey |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ferris J |
| FAMILY NAME | Ritchey |
| SIGNATURE | RITCHEY F J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 154 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Medical Malpractice in the United States
Medical malpractice is, according to the Dictionary of Medical Sociology , “an instance in which a physician or other medical practitioner causes injury or death to a patient through negligent behavior,” involving actions that fail to follow acceptable standards of practice. Uncertain medical conditions, however, make establishing negligence very difficult. Fewer than 20 percent of claims in the United States involve res ipsa loquitur cases, thos…
Assessing Practitioner's Knowledge of Evaluation: Initial Psychometrics of the Practice Evaluation Knowledge Scale
Practice evaluation is an important component in the implementation of evidence-based practice. Until recently it has been difficult to assess practitioner knowledge in evaluation in the field. This study discusses the development and initial psychometrics of an 8-item scale to assess practitioner competency in evaluation. The Practice Evaluation Knowledge Scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency (alpha = .925) and validity. Results indi…
Social assets and mental distress among the homeless: Exploring the roles of social support and other forms of social capital on depression
Just Thinking about It: Social Capital and Suicide Ideation among Homeless Persons
Suicide ideation is a sensitive indicator of personal well-being. While ideation occurs in roughly 3 percent of the US population annually, in this study rates are 10 times higher. This article explores the role of social capital in mediating negative life circumstances on ideation for a sample of 161 homeless adults in a mid-sized Southern US metropolitan area. Our results imply that social capital does not function the same way for homeless per…
Racial Differences in Attitudes toward Euthanasia
This article examines racial differences in attitudes toward euthanasia. Many researchers assert distrust of medicine as a substantive explanation for less favorable attitudes toward euthanasia among African Americans, although quantitative measurement has been unsuccessful in showing this. In this article, spiritual meaning, perceived capacity for discrimination (distrust), individual experiences with physicians, and access to healthcare are hyp…
A Scale to Assess Attitudes toward Euthanasia
The topic of euthanasia has been a matter of public debate for several decades. Although empirical research should inform policy, scale measurement is lacking. After analyzing shortcomings of previous work, we offer a systematically designed scale to measure attitudes toward euthanasia. We attempt to encompass previously unspecified dimensions of the phenomenon that are central to the euthanasia debate. The results of our pretest show that our at…
Life Chances and Choices: Assessing Quality of Life among the Homeless
A Weberian lifestyles approach is employed to examine differences in quality of life among the homeless. Using a systematic random sample of 161 homeless people in a mid-sized, Southern metropolitan area, the study focuses on the impact of life chances and social choices on aspects of quality of life in this severely challenged population. Regression results show that a number of life chance and social choice variables affect general and domain-s…
Dangerous places: Exposure to violence and its mental health consequences for the homeless
The association between exposure to violence and symptoms of mental health problems among 161 homeless adults in a mid-sized Southern metropolitan area was examined. Results indicated a significant relationship between witnessing violence and the reporting of mental health symptoms; no relationship was found between criminal victimization and symptom reporting. Implications for clinical practice and social policy are discussed
The Myth of the Migrant Homeless: An Exploration of the Psychosocial Consequences of Migration
While migration status is frequently used to differentiate homeless subgroups, little empirical work has explored sociological distinctions between migrant and nonmigrant homeless. This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature by comprehensively examining differences in the two groups in terms of demographic characteristics, psychological and social resources, life stressors and circumstances, and psychological well-being. We use a rand…
Gender Differences in Social Support: Mental Health Consequences among the Homeless
We examine gender differences in patterns of social support among the homeless, testing genderspecific mediation models of the effects of social supports on psychological distress for a systematic sample of 150 homeless men and women in Birmingham, Alabama. Our research demonstrates that homeless women receive both more instrumental and more expressive support. These supports, however, do not advantage homeless women. The distress process appears…
A Response to the Comments of Walter R. Gove on Gender Differences in Health Risks and Physical Symptoms Among the Homeless
Ferris J. Ritchey, Mark La Gory, Jeffrey Mullis, A Response to the Comments of Walter R. Gove on Gender Differences in Health Risks and Physical Symptoms Among the Homeless, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Jun., 1993), pp. 182-185
Role-Taking Accuracy in Medical Encounters: A Test of two Theories
This paper tests five hypotheses derived from two contrasting theoretical perspectives on role-taking accuracy: a social contact theory and an institutional resource theory. We investigate how well doctors and patients perceive one another's perspectives in a medical encounter. The cumulative weight of the data supports the proposed social contact theory. Increased contact between residents and patients, as reflected in physician's year in reside…
Gender Differences in Health Risks and Physical Symptoms Among the Homeless
Gender differences in health risks and symptoms are compared for a survey sample of 100 homeless persons and for the general population. Homeless men appear at greater risk of exhibiting symptoms. Nonetheless, homeless women report more symptoms, a result consistent with general population trends. Predisposing illnesses were the most accurate predictors of the number of reported symptoms, but gender explained a significant amount of variation in …
Homelessness and Affiliation
Sociological theory portrays affiliation as an important source of personal power. Accordingly, some students of homelessness suggest that the extreme poverty and powerlessness of homeless individuals can be traced to a lack of social ties. Using data from a quota sample of 150 homeless persons in Birmingham, Alabama, this study examines (1) whether the homeless are disaffiliated and (2) the relationship between affiliation and power-related life…
Born Again: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church
A comparison of homeless, community-wide, and selected distressed samples on the CES-Depression Scale
Center for Epidemiological Studies (CES) Depression Scale results for surveys of homeless, community-wide and selected distressed samples are compared. Nearly four times the percentage of homeless fit the criterion for clinical caseness (a score of 16+) compared to the general population (74 to 19 percent). None of the distressed samples exhibited a higher rate except psychiatric patients diagnosed as acutely depressive. High rates of depression …
Depression among the Homeless
Very little is known about one of the most common mental health problems facing the homeless: high levels of depressive symptomatology. This paper explains variation in the prevalence of depressive symptoms (CES-D) for a random sample of 150 shelter- and street-based homeless persons in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Fifty-nine percent of the sample show the signs of "probable clinical caseness"; yet there is significant variation in the level…
Perceptual correlates of physician referral to physical therapists: Implications for role expansion
Physicians' Opinions of Expanded Clinical Pharmacy Services
A statistical interaction model explaining 27 per cent of the variation in physicians' attitudes toward clinical pharmacy among 180 Alabama physicians is presented. Young primary care physicians who prescribe drugs with a low risk of adverse reactions are the most favorable toward pharmacists practicing clinical tasks. Older solo-practice physicians who lack exposure to clinical pharmacy are the least favorable. The implications for the wider acc…
Medical Role-Task Boundary Maintenance: Physicians?? Opinions on Clinical Pharmacy
Mailed questionnaires were analyzed for 100 physicians concerning their favorability toward allowing clinical pharmacists to perform role tasks which potentially encroach on the physician's role. A Guttman Scale of Task Favorability was computed and revealed that physicians were unfavourable to those pharmacy tasks that allow pharmacists to make independent technical-therapy decisions. Physicians were favorable toward clerical and patient-managem…
Medical Rationalization, Cultural Lag, and the Malpractice Crisis
The theses of this paper are that (1) the practice of medicine has become more formally rationalized in the past century; (2) this rationalization process has been retarded by the professional aspects of medical practice, e.g., the service ethic and the medical profession's exclusive jurisdiction over medicine; (3) this retardation is evident in cultural lag between the development of medical knowledge and how medicine is practiced; and (4) the "…
Physician's Perceptions of the Suit-Prone Patient
The medical profession is experiencing tremendous increases in the number of malpractice claims and suits. The individual physician is confronted with the question of whether he has patients who are prone to sue him. This paper examines physicians' tendencies to label certain patients as suit-prone and identifies the social characteristics of those labeled as such. The findings suggest that physicians may be labeling the wrong patients. Further, …
Social assets and mental distress among the homeless: Exploring the roles of social support and other forms of social capital on depression
Depression among the Homeless
Very little is known about one of the most common mental health problems facing the homeless: high levels of depressive symptomatology. This paper explains variation in the prevalence of depressive symptoms (CES-D) for a random sample of 150 shelter- and street-based homeless persons in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Fifty-nine percent of the sample show the signs of "probable clinical caseness"; yet there is significant variation in the level…
Just Thinking about It: Social Capital and Suicide Ideation among Homeless Persons
Suicide ideation is a sensitive indicator of personal well-being. While ideation occurs in roughly 3 percent of the US population annually, in this study rates are 10 times higher. This article explores the role of social capital in mediating negative life circumstances on ideation for a sample of 161 homeless adults in a mid-sized Southern US metropolitan area. Our results imply that social capital does not function the same way for homeless per…
Homelessness and Affiliation
Sociological theory portrays affiliation as an important source of personal power. Accordingly, some students of homelessness suggest that the extreme poverty and powerlessness of homeless individuals can be traced to a lack of social ties. Using data from a quota sample of 150 homeless persons in Birmingham, Alabama, this study examines (1) whether the homeless are disaffiliated and (2) the relationship between affiliation and power-related life…
Life Chances and Choices: Assessing Quality of Life among the Homeless
A Weberian lifestyles approach is employed to examine differences in quality of life among the homeless. Using a systematic random sample of 161 homeless people in a mid-sized, Southern metropolitan area, the study focuses on the impact of life chances and social choices on aspects of quality of life in this severely challenged population. Regression results show that a number of life chance and social choice variables affect general and domain-s…
Gender Differences in Health Risks and Physical Symptoms Among the Homeless
Gender differences in health risks and symptoms are compared for a survey sample of 100 homeless persons and for the general population. Homeless men appear at greater risk of exhibiting symptoms. Nonetheless, homeless women report more symptoms, a result consistent with general population trends. Predisposing illnesses were the most accurate predictors of the number of reported symptoms, but gender explained a significant amount of variation in …
A comparison of homeless, community-wide, and selected distressed samples on the CES-Depression Scale
Center for Epidemiological Studies (CES) Depression Scale results for surveys of homeless, community-wide and selected distressed samples are compared. Nearly four times the percentage of homeless fit the criterion for clinical caseness (a score of 16+) compared to the general population (74 to 19 percent). None of the distressed samples exhibited a higher rate except psychiatric patients diagnosed as acutely depressive. High rates of depression …
The Myth of the Migrant Homeless: An Exploration of the Psychosocial Consequences of Migration
While migration status is frequently used to differentiate homeless subgroups, little empirical work has explored sociological distinctions between migrant and nonmigrant homeless. This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature by comprehensively examining differences in the two groups in terms of demographic characteristics, psychological and social resources, life stressors and circumstances, and psychological well-being. We use a rand…
Role-Taking Accuracy in Medical Encounters: A Test of two Theories
This paper tests five hypotheses derived from two contrasting theoretical perspectives on role-taking accuracy: a social contact theory and an institutional resource theory. We investigate how well doctors and patients perceive one another's perspectives in a medical encounter. The cumulative weight of the data supports the proposed social contact theory. Increased contact between residents and patients, as reflected in physician's year in reside…
Medical Rationalization, Cultural Lag, and the Malpractice Crisis
The theses of this paper are that (1) the practice of medicine has become more formally rationalized in the past century; (2) this rationalization process has been retarded by the professional aspects of medical practice, e.g., the service ethic and the medical profession's exclusive jurisdiction over medicine; (3) this retardation is evident in cultural lag between the development of medical knowledge and how medicine is practiced; and (4) the "…
Assessing Practitioner's Knowledge of Evaluation: Initial Psychometrics of the Practice Evaluation Knowledge Scale
Practice evaluation is an important component in the implementation of evidence-based practice. Until recently it has been difficult to assess practitioner knowledge in evaluation in the field. This study discusses the development and initial psychometrics of an 8-item scale to assess practitioner competency in evaluation. The Practice Evaluation Knowledge Scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency (alpha = .925) and validity. Results indi…
Perceptual correlates of physician referral to physical therapists: Implications for role expansion
Gender Differences in Social Support: Mental Health Consequences among the Homeless
We examine gender differences in patterns of social support among the homeless, testing genderspecific mediation models of the effects of social supports on psychological distress for a systematic sample of 150 homeless men and women in Birmingham, Alabama. Our research demonstrates that homeless women receive both more instrumental and more expressive support. These supports, however, do not advantage homeless women. The distress process appears…
Physicians' Opinions of Expanded Clinical Pharmacy Services
A statistical interaction model explaining 27 per cent of the variation in physicians' attitudes toward clinical pharmacy among 180 Alabama physicians is presented. Young primary care physicians who prescribe drugs with a low risk of adverse reactions are the most favorable toward pharmacists practicing clinical tasks. Older solo-practice physicians who lack exposure to clinical pharmacy are the least favorable. The implications for the wider acc…
Physician's Perceptions of the Suit-Prone Patient
The medical profession is experiencing tremendous increases in the number of malpractice claims and suits. The individual physician is confronted with the question of whether he has patients who are prone to sue him. This paper examines physicians' tendencies to label certain patients as suit-prone and identifies the social characteristics of those labeled as such. The findings suggest that physicians may be labeling the wrong patients. Further, …
Medical Role-Task Boundary Maintenance: Physicians?? Opinions on Clinical Pharmacy
Mailed questionnaires were analyzed for 100 physicians concerning their favorability toward allowing clinical pharmacists to perform role tasks which potentially encroach on the physician's role. A Guttman Scale of Task Favorability was computed and revealed that physicians were unfavourable to those pharmacy tasks that allow pharmacists to make independent technical-therapy decisions. Physicians were favorable toward clerical and patient-managem…
Medical Rationalization, Cultural Lag, and the Malpractice Crisis
The theses of this paper are that (1) the practice of medicine has become more formally rationalized in the past century; (2) this rationalization process has been retarded by the professional aspects of medical practice, e.g., the service ethic and the medical profession's exclusive jurisdiction over medicine; (3) this retardation is evident in cultural lag between the development of medical knowledge and how medicine is practiced; and (4) the "…
Physicians' Opinions of Expanded Clinical Pharmacy Services
A statistical interaction model explaining 27 per cent of the variation in physicians' attitudes toward clinical pharmacy among 180 Alabama physicians is presented. Young primary care physicians who prescribe drugs with a low risk of adverse reactions are the most favorable toward pharmacists practicing clinical tasks. Older solo-practice physicians who lack exposure to clinical pharmacy are the least favorable. The implications for the wider acc…
Perceptual correlates of physician referral to physical therapists: Implications for role expansion
Born Again: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church
A comparison of homeless, community-wide, and selected distressed samples on the CES-Depression Scale
Center for Epidemiological Studies (CES) Depression Scale results for surveys of homeless, community-wide and selected distressed samples are compared. Nearly four times the percentage of homeless fit the criterion for clinical caseness (a score of 16+) compared to the general population (74 to 19 percent). None of the distressed samples exhibited a higher rate except psychiatric patients diagnosed as acutely depressive. High rates of depression …
Depression among the Homeless
Very little is known about one of the most common mental health problems facing the homeless: high levels of depressive symptomatology. This paper explains variation in the prevalence of depressive symptoms (CES-D) for a random sample of 150 shelter- and street-based homeless persons in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Fifty-nine percent of the sample show the signs of "probable clinical caseness"; yet there is significant variation in the level…
Gender Differences in Health Risks and Physical Symptoms Among the Homeless
Gender differences in health risks and symptoms are compared for a survey sample of 100 homeless persons and for the general population. Homeless men appear at greater risk of exhibiting symptoms. Nonetheless, homeless women report more symptoms, a result consistent with general population trends. Predisposing illnesses were the most accurate predictors of the number of reported symptoms, but gender explained a significant amount of variation in …
Homelessness and Affiliation
Sociological theory portrays affiliation as an important source of personal power. Accordingly, some students of homelessness suggest that the extreme poverty and powerlessness of homeless individuals can be traced to a lack of social ties. Using data from a quota sample of 150 homeless persons in Birmingham, Alabama, this study examines (1) whether the homeless are disaffiliated and (2) the relationship between affiliation and power-related life…
A Response to the Comments of Walter R. Gove on Gender Differences in Health Risks and Physical Symptoms Among the Homeless
Ferris J. Ritchey, Mark La Gory, Jeffrey Mullis, A Response to the Comments of Walter R. Gove on Gender Differences in Health Risks and Physical Symptoms Among the Homeless, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Jun., 1993), pp. 182-185
Role-Taking Accuracy in Medical Encounters: A Test of two Theories
This paper tests five hypotheses derived from two contrasting theoretical perspectives on role-taking accuracy: a social contact theory and an institutional resource theory. We investigate how well doctors and patients perceive one another's perspectives in a medical encounter. The cumulative weight of the data supports the proposed social contact theory. Increased contact between residents and patients, as reflected in physician's year in reside…
Gender Differences in Social Support: Mental Health Consequences among the Homeless
We examine gender differences in patterns of social support among the homeless, testing genderspecific mediation models of the effects of social supports on psychological distress for a systematic sample of 150 homeless men and women in Birmingham, Alabama. Our research demonstrates that homeless women receive both more instrumental and more expressive support. These supports, however, do not advantage homeless women. The distress process appears…
Dangerous places: Exposure to violence and its mental health consequences for the homeless
The association between exposure to violence and symptoms of mental health problems among 161 homeless adults in a mid-sized Southern metropolitan area was examined. Results indicated a significant relationship between witnessing violence and the reporting of mental health symptoms; no relationship was found between criminal victimization and symptom reporting. Implications for clinical practice and social policy are discussed
The Myth of the Migrant Homeless: An Exploration of the Psychosocial Consequences of Migration
While migration status is frequently used to differentiate homeless subgroups, little empirical work has explored sociological distinctions between migrant and nonmigrant homeless. This article attempts to fill the gap in the literature by comprehensively examining differences in the two groups in terms of demographic characteristics, psychological and social resources, life stressors and circumstances, and psychological well-being. We use a rand…
Life Chances and Choices: Assessing Quality of Life among the Homeless
A Weberian lifestyles approach is employed to examine differences in quality of life among the homeless. Using a systematic random sample of 161 homeless people in a mid-sized, Southern metropolitan area, the study focuses on the impact of life chances and social choices on aspects of quality of life in this severely challenged population. Regression results show that a number of life chance and social choice variables affect general and domain-s…
A Scale to Assess Attitudes toward Euthanasia
The topic of euthanasia has been a matter of public debate for several decades. Although empirical research should inform policy, scale measurement is lacking. After analyzing shortcomings of previous work, we offer a systematically designed scale to measure attitudes toward euthanasia. We attempt to encompass previously unspecified dimensions of the phenomenon that are central to the euthanasia debate. The results of our pretest show that our at…
Racial Differences in Attitudes toward Euthanasia
This article examines racial differences in attitudes toward euthanasia. Many researchers assert distrust of medicine as a substantive explanation for less favorable attitudes toward euthanasia among African Americans, although quantitative measurement has been unsuccessful in showing this. In this article, spiritual meaning, perceived capacity for discrimination (distrust), individual experiences with physicians, and access to healthcare are hyp…
Just Thinking about It: Social Capital and Suicide Ideation among Homeless Persons
Suicide ideation is a sensitive indicator of personal well-being. While ideation occurs in roughly 3 percent of the US population annually, in this study rates are 10 times higher. This article explores the role of social capital in mediating negative life circumstances on ideation for a sample of 161 homeless adults in a mid-sized Southern US metropolitan area. Our results imply that social capital does not function the same way for homeless per…
Social assets and mental distress among the homeless: Exploring the roles of social support and other forms of social capital on depression
Assessing Practitioner's Knowledge of Evaluation: Initial Psychometrics of the Practice Evaluation Knowledge Scale
Practice evaluation is an important component in the implementation of evidence-based practice. Until recently it has been difficult to assess practitioner knowledge in evaluation in the field. This study discusses the development and initial psychometrics of an 8-item scale to assess practitioner competency in evaluation. The Practice Evaluation Knowledge Scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency (alpha = .925) and validity. Results indi…
Medical Malpractice in the United States
Medical malpractice is, according to the Dictionary of Medical Sociology , “an instance in which a physician or other medical practitioner causes injury or death to a patient through negligent behavior,” involving actions that fail to follow acceptable standards of practice. Uncertain medical conditions, however, make establishing negligence very difficult. Fewer than 20 percent of claims in the United States involve res ipsa loquitur cases, thos…
Psychology (18 works) · Medicine (14 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Psychiatry (9 works) · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies (8 works) · Mental health (7 works) · Demography (6 works) · Gerontology (6 works)