Economic theory and women's household status: The case of Japan

Economic development disadvantages wives. Conventional microeconomic theory predicts this. As household incomes rise, wives have incentives to specialize in intangible household production. This may raise total household production according to the theory of comparative advantage, but disproportionately favors husbands in distribution of the gains according to the marginal productivity theory of distribution. Wives may become better off in absolute terms but more dependent financially on their husbands and lose power within the household. Historically, Japanese gender roles became highly specialized and wives’ legal status declined, although other Meiji-era features protected wives. Policies to improve women's status should address the precise economic problem involved.     

Strategies of interaction

Our general theoretical orientation proposes that individuals in a task-oriented group setting have a variety of strategies or rules by which they decide how to organize their exchange behavior. Status consistency, reciprocity, and sex roles are examined as possible bases for interpersonal strategies. Hypotheses derived from this examination are tested in a two-person game experiment, in which independent variables are payoff matrix (mixed motive vs. cooperative), information transfer (one-way vs. two-way), and social context (married couples, mixed sex strangers, and same sex strangers). The dependent variables are number of cooperative choices and reciprocity, the latter being measured by the correlation between number of cooperative choices by one subject in a five-trial block and the number of cooperative choices by his/her partner in the previous five-trial block.     

Work and Health: A Study of the Occupational and Domestic Roles of Women Registered Nurses and Registered Practical Nurses in Ontario,Canada

Links between work and health are explored in this study of a proportional random sample of 1190 women Registered Nurses (RNs) and 643 women Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) in the province of Ontario, Canada. First, features of the paid and unpaid work of the RNs and RPNs are outlined. The professional status of RNs is reflected in their greater control, responsibility, accountability and tensions embedded in their relationships with physicians. In contrast, RPNs are frontline workers with fewer career opportunities, less control in their work and lower pay. There are also common elements in their nursing work: heavy workloads, exposure to hazards, and the stress of dealing with death and dying and with violent patients. The main difference with respect to the domestic sphere is the substantially higher mean household income of RNs. Multivariate analysis is then used to explore the combined effects of paid and unpaid work on nurses' health. Exposure to hazards in nursing, time pressures with respect to home responsibilities and overall stress in life were associated with increased health problems. There is also evidence that workload issues are linked with poorer health. Social support in the form of a confiding relationship with a friend is associated with better health. One of the main differences between RNs and RPNs in the variables associated with health is in relation to children; contrary to our expectations, having one to four children is linked with better health for RNs. It is suggested that the higher household incomes of RNs may alter the nature of their home responsibilities and the interaction between the two spheres of work may differ. In conclusion, the findings are set in the context of restructuring in the healthcare sector.     

Violence against and the Harassment of Women in Canadian Public Housing: An Exploratory Study*

Aucune étude nord-américaine n'a examiné de façon systé'matique l'importance des divers types degressions sexuelles, notamment le harcèlement sexuel et racial, que subissent les femmes dans les logements sociaux. Les logements sociaux et les rues des quartiers pauvres du centre-ville sont les endroits typiques où se jouent les relations de force entre les sexes et où l'influence de la drogue a exacerbé la violence exercée contre les femmes. À l'aide de données provenant du Quality of Neighbourhood Life Survey, dans lequel sont interrogés des ménages habitant dans six logements sociaux situés dans un centre urbain de Test de l'Ontario, cet article permet de combler une lacune importante dans la recherche. On y étudie les données exploratoires sur l'incidence de la violence conju-gale et de la violence extérieure ainsi que trois types de harcèlement vécus par des femmes vivant dans des logements sociaux. No North American study has systematically examined the extent of various types of woman abuse in public housing, including sexual and racial harassment. Public housing communities and inner-city ghetto streets are key arenas where gendered power relations are played out, and where the influx of drugs has exacerbated the degradation and abuse of women. Using data from the Quality of Neighbourhood Life Survey, administered to households in six public housing projects in an urban centre in Eastern Ontario, this paper helps fill a major research gap. Exploratory data on the incidence of intimate violence, stranger violence, and three types of harassment experienced by women in these dwellings are discussed. As men on the street lose their former authoritarian power in the household, they lash out against the women and children they can no longer control. Men are not accepting the new rights and roles that women are obtaining; instead, they are desperately attempting to reassert their grandfathers' lost autocratic control over their households and over public space.     

Identification of Local Causal Effects with Missing Outcome Values and an Instrument for Non Response

Even in randomized experiments the identification of causal effects is often threatened by the presence of missing outcome values, with missingness possibly being non ignorable. We provide sufficient conditions under which the availability of a binary instrument for non response allows us to non parametrically point identify average causal effects in some latent subgroups of units, named Principal Strata, defined by their non response behavior in all possible combinations of treatment and instrument. Examples are provided as possible scenarios where our assumptions may be plausible.     

Social Work Gerontological Practice: The Need for Faculty Development in the New Millennium

There is a pressing need to upgrade the gerontological knowledge and skills of practicing social workers. Geriatrics and gerontology, as specialized fields of knowledge, have not been sufficiently integrated into formal academic training programs. There are major trends in the health care environment which impact on social work education, including technological advances, a shift from inpatient to outpatient and community care settings, increasing diversity of the older population, and client and family participation in decisionmaking. These trends necessitate social work education to emphasize new content areas in gerontology and the development of new skills in clinical, case management, care coordination, and teamwork. A significant obstacle to the preparation of future social workers to deliver the complex services needed by older adults and their families is a serious shortage of social work faculty in gerontology. Sustained and broad initiatives, such as the John A. Hartford Foundation funded Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program, are needed to develop academic and practice-based faculty in gerontology. This is crucial if social work is to maintain an important service role in the new millennium.     

Irmgard Wessel: The Making of a Clinical Social Worker

Irmgard Wessel is a unique woman whose quiet, hard-working way generates ideals that are inspirational. With little fanfare, Irm's work has had a major impact in the field of clinical social work and clinical social work education. As each of us is inspired and encouraged by the knowledge of such exceptional social work clinicians, the discipline, as a whole, is enhanced. This paper describes not only Irmgard Wessel's career, but also adds a biographical understanding of her development from childhood to clinician, educator, and activist. It is about the making of an extraordinary clinical social worker.