DIVORCE THERAPY OUTCOME RESEARCH: A SUBSTANTIVE AND METHODOLOGICAL REVIEW

Empirical studies related to divorce therapy are reviewed both substantively and methodologically. There is strong evidence for the superiority of mediation to traditional adversary methods for custody and visitation disputes. Conciliation counseling appears to increase the number of reconciliations in the short-term. Other conclusions must remain very tentative. Overall, the methodologies of the 22 studies are weak; however, there are wide variations in quality. Investigations of divorce mediation utilized the best designs and studies of separation techniques the worst. What we know and what we need to know about divorce therapy is answered critically and suggestions are made for future research and practice.     

OCCUPATION AND ELECTORAL SUCCESS IN CANADA: THE 1974 FEDERAL ELECTION*

Des données professionnelles sont examinées pour les candidats au Parlement en 1974. Pour tous les parties politiques, les professions de rang élevéétaient sur-représentées, par comparaison aux données du marché du travail, et principalement dans les parties Libérale et Conservateur. Uniquement dans le cas du Crédit Social, a-t-on rencontré une majorité numérique de candidats venants de professions de rang inférieur. En examinant le succes électoral, on a trouvé que indépendamment de l'attache politique, un candidat d'une profession de rang élevé a presque une probabilité deux fois plus grande d'être élu qu'un candidat d'une profession d'un rang inférieur. Les données montrent un phénomène double, dans le sens que premièrement l'ensemble de tous les candidats constitute une plus grande proportion de personnes de rang élevé que la population adulte du Canada et deuxièmement les membres finalement élus constituent encore une plus grande proportion de personnes de rang élevé. Occupational data were examined for all candidates for Parliament in 1974. For all parties, high status occupations were over-represented, relative to labour force statistics, expecially in the Liberal and the Progressive Conservative parties. Only in the Social Credit party did we find a numerical majority of lower status candidates. In examining electoral success, it was found that regardless of political affiliation, a high status candidate had almost twice as high a probability of election as a low status candidate. The data illustrate a two-step phenomenon, wherein the pool of all candidates contains a larger proportion of higher status persons than the total adult Canadian population, while the elected members contain yet a larger proportion of high status persons.     

OUTCOME RESEARCH ON FAMILY THERAPY TRAINING: A SUBSTANTIVE AND METHODOLOGICAL REVIEW2

This article examines developments in empirical research in family therapy training since Kniskern and Gurman's (1979) review. It assesses present knowledge concerning training outcomes in marital and family therapy, evaluates research methodologies, and makes recommendations for future rearch.     

DECEPTION AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: THEORY AND LABORATORY EVIDENCE

We model two‐candidate elections in which (1) voters are uncertain about candidates' attributes; and (2) candidates can inform voters of their attributes by sending advertisements. We compare between political campaigns with truthful advertising and campaigns in which there is a small chance of deceptive advertising. Our model predicts that voters should vote in‐line with an advertisement's information. We test our model's predictions using laboratory elections. We find, in the presence of even a small probability that an advertisement is deceptive, voters become substantially more likely to elect a “low‐quality” candidate. We discuss implications of this for existing models of voting decisions. (JEL C92, D72, D82)     

POLITICAL IDENTITIES AND POLITICAL LANDSCAPES:

This article presents case studies of two men who have a history of political activism on "women's' issues. The aim of my analysis is to describe the interpretive practice (Gubrium and Holstein 1994) through which the respondents construct individual political identities that make sense of their activism. The analysis treats identity as a narrative construction and also demonstrates that the context of this identity work is itself a construction. When respondents talk about their involvement in women's issues, they simultaneously construct an image of the political landscape, their own identities, and a relationship between the two.
In their narratives, the two men constructed very different images of the political landscape and identities in relation to it. One man interpreted the autobiography he constructed in terms of socialization and social learning in an effort to demonstrate an ongoing engagement with feminist concerns. The other man invoked a folk theory, consistent with feminist standpoint epistemology (Harding 1990), that used his gender to "define him out' of activism on women's issues.
I argue that these cases (1) demonstrate that narrative operates as a site at which men negotiate their relationship to gendered politics and women's issues and (2) represent a previously unrecognized dynamic of interpretive practice (Gubrium and Holstein 1995) in which actors assume discretion over the narrative construction of both their identities and the context in which that identity is to be understood.     

FISCAL ILLUSION AND THE GRANTOR GOVERNMENT IN CANADA

Recent work on the U.S. concludes that one or more illusions are responsible for the empirically observed "flypaper effect." Using annual Canadian data for the period 1962–84, we test the "single-illusion" and "dual-illusion" specifications currently in the literature. While the empirical results support the dual-illusion specification, it is not the unambiguous choice over single-illusion specifications as previously found. Further, the nature of the grant system in Canada raises questions about whether illusions or real factors produce the empirical results.     

THE BOOKER DECISION AND DISCRIMINATION IN FEDERAL CRIMINAL SENTENCES

I test how federal criminal sentences changed after the Supreme Court decision U.S. v. Booker changed the sentencing guidelines from “mandatory” to “advisory.” Conditional on final guideline cell, results show Booker significantly reduced sentences, especially for women and defendants with a terminal high school degree, but less so for college graduates. This suggests discrimination among federal judges. When accounting for judges' control over final offense level, evidence regarding high school graduates and college graduates is unchanged, but evidence that sentences fell for women and the default group weakens substantially. This latter result suggests, perhaps, a new methodology by which judges applied offense levels and guideline‐conditional sentences post‐Booker.     

SNAP EXPANSIONS AND PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT SAFETY NET PROGRAMS

This paper investigates the interactions between health and nutritional assistance programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and school lunch programs. Exploiting variation in SNAP eligibility across states and over time, I find strong evidence of program interactions: when a state moves from the federal rule to the most extensive SNAP eligibility rule, enrollment in free school lunch and WIC increases by 4.1 and 7.9 percentage points, respectively. I estimate that the federal government spends an additional 74 cents on the school lunch program and WIC for each dollar spent on SNAP due to the expansion. (JEL H53, I38, J22)     

RACE AND TRUST IN GOVERNMENT: TESTING THE POLITICAL REALITY MODEL

Ever since the Institute for Social Research began measuringpolitical trust more than twenty years ago, racial differenceshave been noted. Since 1968 blacks have been notably less trustingthan whites. The explanation most commonly offered is the politicalreality model. This note directly tests the political realitymodel by comparing the relationship of race to trust in twosettings. One is the nation in 1984 and the second is a citywhere a black mayor and black administration had been in officefor eight years. If the political reality model is correct,the relationship of being black to trust should be positivein the local setting, precisely the opposite of the negativedirection in national samples. The political reality model performedwell under this direct comparison. As others have found, theCPS trust questions measure in large part one's evaluation ofincumbents. These incumbent evaluations are part of the politicalreality that blacks respond to in answering the trust questions.     

RESPONDING TO PLAGIARISM IN SCHOOLS OF SOCIAL WORK: CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Recognizing the challenges of addressing plagiarism within schools of social work and diverse faculty opinion on the issue, our school of social work engaged in several efforts to clarify issues and establish consensus among the faculty. Issues that required clarification included: definitions of plagiarism, steps to take when confronted with suspected plagiarism, the role of the administrative disciplinary committee, and the range of consequences. At a minimum, consensus was needed regarding faculty steps in confronting suspected plagiarism to ensure equitable treatment of students and to fulfill the school's role as a gatekeeper to the profession. This article describes the concerns, steps, and outcomes of the work that was conducted. We offer recommendations and invite further professional discussion about this educational issue.     

INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND MONOPOLY POWER IN THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Predictions of various models of public sector supply rely on the assumption of bureau monopoly power. This assumption is tested first by measuring industrial structure of the federal public sector using the concentration ratio and Herfindahl index, and second by examining the relationship between the resulting estimates and bureau monopoly power. The findings indicate that monopoly structure of the federal bureaucracy is more limited than is generally assumed. Interpretations on the basis of traditional industrial organization theory and contestable market theory suggest that bureau monopoly power is questionable and may not be the source of observed inefficiencies in bureau supply.     

MASS AND ELITE ATTITUDES ABOUT WIRETAPPING IN CANADA: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEMOCRATIC THEORY AND POLITICS

Evidence from a recent study of Canadian attitudes toward civilliberties indicates that the issue of wiretapping presents animportant exception to the familiar theory of democratic elitism.Ironically, the very sophistication and knowledge that leadselites to support individual rights and freedoms also makesthem more likely to support wiretapping than the Canadian populationas a whole.     

MONETARY POLICY AND ENDOWMENT RISK IN A LIMITED PARTICIPATION MODEL

A limited participation model is constructed to study the risk‐sharing role of monetary policy. A fraction of households exchange money for interest‐bearing government nominal bonds in the asset market and the government injects money through open market operations. In equilibrium, money is nonneutral and monetary policy redistributes consumption across households. Without idiosyncratic endowment risk, monetary policy becomes a perfect risk‐sharing tool, but with idiosyncratic endowment risk, it is not. The Friedman rule is not optimal in general. (JEL E4, E5)     

BRIDGING THE NATURAL AND THE SOCIAL: SCIENCE AND CHARACTER IN JEVONS'S POLITICAL ECONOMY

A common characterization of the "marginalist revolution" is that it focused on individuals, depicted economics as the universal application of behavioral laws of choice, and made a clear distinction between the analyses of "pure" economic theory and economic policy. This characterization effaces a number of important differences between the work of W. Stanley Jevons and later supply and demand theories. Using Jevons's discussion of reductions in working hours to illustrate the analysis, the paper shows how he used the Victorian language of "civilization" and "character" to designate class and race behavior in the Theory of Political Economy.