Theory in the Bedroom: A Report from the Macquarie University AIDS and Heterosexuality Project

The political and social questions raised by AIDS/HIV are particularly complex ones, concerned as they are with changing the sexual practices of both the heterosexual and the homosexual population. In many ways these questions have tested the limits of orthodox policy-making processes. The Macquarie University ‘AIDS and Heterosexuality’ project is one of a small number of research projects which have attempted both to analyse critically existing AIDS policy assumptions and to provide alternative conceptual methods for understanding the processes of changing sexual practices. The Macquarie University project is particularly concerned with the way that women have been represented within mainstream policy: this paper describes this representation and presents some alternative suggestions for understanding the place of women in preventing transmission within the heterosexual population.     

A Case for Correction

Summary Current criticisms of the correctional approach to offendersare examined, viz. (a) that it is ineffective, (b) that it isoften unjust, (c) that it is deterministic and (d) that thereare other approaches to which these strictures do not apply.It is concluded that these arguments do not justify the abandonmentof correctional policies.     

A Plea for Poetry

This is an affirmation of the relevance of poetry in the nuclear age by a leading Soviet poet. Tikhonov also directs some critical comments at the literary efforts of some younger contemporaries. ["The Great Truth of Poetry," Voprosy Literatury, 1960, No. 5—abridged.]     

A Stage for Memory

No abstract available for this article.     

A Reconviction Predictor for Probationers

Correspondence to Ken Pease, Professor of Criminology, University of Manchester, Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, Manchester M13 9PL. Summary This paper reports the development of a predictor of reconvictionsuitable for use with probationers. The predictor, based onthe Burgess method of prediction, was developed using a sampleof 750 probation cases and a prediction period of three years.Its predictive power is substantial, being of the same orderas that of the parole predictor (see Nuttall et al., 1977; Ward,1988). Despite the increasing emphasis on offence-focused work in theprobation service, the work of the service is not routinelyor comprehensively measured in terms of its alteration of criminalcareers. By detailing the development of the predictor, andwelcoming experimentation with it amongst individual area probationservices, it is hoped that this paper will encourage a morefocused consideration of the effect of probation supervisionon offending behaviour, and therein facilitate the incorporationof broader service quality issues within performance evaluation.     

A strategy for active ageing

This article argues that a strategy of active ageing, by linking the key policy domains of employment, pensions, retirement, health and citizenship, provides a sound basis for industrialized countries to respond to the challenges presented by population ageing. The article outlines the genesis of the concept of active ageing and the principles that should be embodied in a modernized, comprehensive approach fit for the twenty-first century. It then considers the potential for active ageing to address problems in the five key policy domains. Finally the article sets out a strategy on active ageing and illustrates how it might be operationalized at different stages of the life cycle. In conclusion the potentially beneficial nature of a comprehensive strategy on active ageing is emphasized: it represents the unusual combination of a morally correct policy that also makes sound economic sense.     

A formal framework for deliberated judgment

Theory and Decision - While the philosophical literature has extensively studied how decisions relate to arguments, reasons and justifications, decision theory almost entirely ignores the latter...     

A Broader Perspective for Social Indicators

Following in the wake of R. W. Taylor's The Problems with Social Indicators in the Australian Journal of Social Issues, this article defends the use of indicators as practical policy tools. It argues that, in assessing the use of indicators, researchers should differentiate more clearly between ‘ideal’ indicators and ‘existing’ indicators, and between inadequacies within the indicator and subjective interpretations by the user.     

构建和谐社会的宪政秩序

宪政建设不仅是和谐社会的应有之义,而且是和谐社会建设的政治保障。稳定的宪政秩序能使社会更加和谐、民主。党的领导要在宪政的轨道内运行;树立人民代表机关的权威,加深人民代表的民意基础及代表性;正确对待“分权”;保持宪法的相对稳定性,培养宪法信仰,树立宪政文化。     

A theorem for Bayesian group decisions

This paper presents a natural extension of Bayesian decision theory from the domain of individual decisions to the domain of group decisions. We assume that each group member accepts the assumptions of subjective expected utility theory with respect to the alternatives from which they must choose, but we do not assume, a priori, that the group as a whole accepts those assumptions. Instead, we impose a multiattribute utility independence condition on the preferences of the group with respect to the expected utilities of its actions as appraised by its members. The result is that the expected utility of an alternative for the group is a weighted average of the expected utilities of that alternative for its members. The weights must be determined collectively by the group. Pareto optimality is not assumed, though the result is consistent with Pareto optimality.     

A Rhythmic Time for the Digital

ABSTRACT

For the past twenty years, different theoretical accounts in the humanities have either denigrated the digital as precipitating the recession of reality, praised it for constructing new cultural identities, or understood it to empower sensory perception. Broadly speaking, whether positive or negative, most theorists of the digital have tended to focus on a somewhat traditional understanding of technology as separate from the human body, one that enables, extends, addresses or severs, but remains consistently external. This article explores the idea of a rhythmic virtual movement that lurks in the unknown and “unthought” dimensions of experience, in particular it considers how digital art environments can act as an expression of rhythmic time.     

A Non-Treatment Paradigm for Probation Practice

Summary Empirical and theoretical critiques of treatment can no longerbe ignored in probation practice, but the probation service'straditional core values of respect for persons and hope forthe future can be realized in a non-treatment context. Fourtraditional aims of the probation service are identified, namely(i) the provision of appropriate help for offenders; (ii) thestatutory supervision of offenders; (iii) diverting appropriateoffenders from custodial sentences; (iv) the reduction of crime.It is argued that each of these aims remains worth pursuing,but that they need radical reconceptualization in the lightof the collapse of treatment A paradigm for practice in respectof each aim is offered for criticism and comment     

A genuine foundation for prospect theory

In most models of (cumulative) prospect theory, reference dependence of preferences is imposed beforehand and the location of the reference point is determined exogenously. This paper presents principles that provide critical tests and foundations for prospect theory preferences without assuming reference-dependent preferences a priori. Instead, reference dependence is derived from behavior and the reference point arises endogenously.     

A quantum leap for social theory

I discuss the revolutionary implications of Alexander Wendt's Quantum Mind and Social Science for social theory. These center on the significance given to society as a possibility space in which observable social reality amounts to quantum decoherent states in the system. I discuss how Wendt radicalises social constructivism and goes considerably beyond Bourdieu's conceptions of society as a field. A signature feature in Wendt's theory, the state as a hologram, comports well with the implied view of the social order in much public opinion and market research. In this respect, Wendt's theory is very attuned to the spirit of our times.