The use of the thematic apperception test in the study of Native American psychological characteristics: a review and archival study of Navaho men.

The present study was designed as a "snapshot in time"--an archival analysis of the psychological characteristics of four Navaho men taken from Navaho Veterans--A Study of Changing Values (E. Z. Vogt, 1951). From a sample of 15 men, Vogt judged 2 as "most acculturated" and 2 as "most unacculturated." The present study was an attempt to examine the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) protocols of these men on the basis of any recurring and psychologically significant thematic patterns, shared and unshared by the "acculturated" and "unacculturated" subjects. Vogt administered cards from the original TAT set created by H. A. Murray (1943). In this article, a section concerning the definitional use of the term acculturation is provided, followed by a discussion of the limitations inherent in the analysis of TAT protocols. A general survey of psychological and cultural studies of Native Americans using the TAT or TAT modifications is also provided. The examination of the protocol sets resulted in the identification of four themes or approaches to the TAT cards that were thought to be most pervasive and significant across both levels of acculturation: economic deprivation and physical suffering, loneliness/isolation, interpersonal conflict/violence, and individualistic vs. familial orientations. These themes and approaches are illustrated with quotations from the original protocols and are later summarized as the first four categories of a table comparing the psychological characteristics of the most acculturated men with the most unacculturated men. Results of the thematic analyses are discussed within the framework of economic and social pressures traditionally experienced by Native Americans.

The Safe Teen Work Project: a study to reduce cutting injuries among young and inexperienced workers.

A tool used to cut cardboard containers, known as a case cutter, frequently causes lacerations among adolescent grocery store workers. We evaluated a safety program using a less hazardous case cutter combined with worker education. Nine supermarket stores were divided into three groups. In Group A stores, employees received new safety case cutters with education; in Group B stores, employees received education using old cutters; Group C stores were the control. Case cutting lacerations were tracked 3 years before, and 1 year after, the intervention. There were 199 cutting injuries. Cutting injury rates decreased 3.5/100,000 man-hours in Group A stores, compared to 1.5 in Group B stores and 1.6/100,000 man-hours in control stores, with a marked reduction of compensation-related injuries in A stores. Estimated cost savings for A stores were $245/year/store and $29,413/year for the chain. An intervention to decrease case cutting injuries among adolescent grocery store workers can be protective and cost-effective.