Applying Bateson's theory of learning to social work education

This article considers the implications of Gregory Bateson's theory of learning for social work education. It gives an example of the application of the theory to the introduction of a new subject — introduction to information technology — on two social work courses. It suggests that there is currently an over-emphasis on competencies without the underpinning of a theory of learning which can address the need for changes of values and beliefs.     

Social Anxiety in Obese Youth in Treatment Setting

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of social anxiety in obese children treated in a weight management clinic. We hypothesized that social anxiety would positively correlate with obesity, and that “extremely obese” patients would have significantly higher rates of social anxiety when compared to “obese” patients. Information was collected at a multidisciplinary treatment clinic for obese youth during the first clinic visit. The social anxiety scale was administered (including parent-report and self-report scales for both elementary and adolescent versions) and demographic data was obtained. Social anxiety was found to be significantly positively correlated with BMI percentile. In addition, “extremely obese” patients had significantly higher social anxiety scores than “obese” youth at least for elementary-age youth. Trends in gender differences and racial differences in this obese pediatric clinical sample were consistent with results found in community samples. Social anxiety and obesity were found to be positively correlated in this pediatric clinic-based population. For elementary-age patients, “extremely obese” patients were at greater risk than “obese patients” for social anxiety and its various symptoms—fear of negative evaluation, social avoidance/distress in new situations, and social avoidance/distress in general. Results for adolescents were less clear. Clinical implications of these results were discussed. Limitations of this study, and directions for future research were also discussed.     

The Relationship of Birth Order and Gender with Academic Standing and Substance Use Among Youth in Latin America

Alfred Adler attempted to understand how family affects youth outcomes by considering the order of when a child enters a family (Adler, 1964). Adler's theory posits that birth order formation impacts individuals. We tested Adler's birth order theory using data from a cross-sectional survey of 946 Chilean youths. We examined how birth order and gender are associated with drug use and educational outcomes using three different birth order research models including: (1) Expedient Research, (2) Adler's birth order position, and (3) Family Size theoretical models. Analyses were conducted with structural equation modeling (SEM). We conclude that birth order has an important relationship with substance use outcomes for youth but has differing effects for educational achievement across both birth order status and gender.     

Self-Employment and Social Security: A Literature Survey

Over 100 references to recent international literature, legislation, reforms and social security schemes have been compiled. The sources are described, indicating current themes for each. Conclusions are sketched on developing literature coverage.     

Promoting Scholarship that Matters: The Uselessness of Useful Research and the Usefulness of Useless Research

Our ambition in this essay is to challenge received wisdoms about the importance of ‘useful’ management scholarship. Suggesting that usefulness and uselessness are contingent on issues of temporality and power, we advocate caution in assigning terms such as useful and relevant – they are inherently problematic, we argue, and should be viewed more as ideology than as empirical statements. We conclude by a call for reflexivity about what it is we are doing when we do ‘useful’ research, along with a greater concern for the values for which business schools stand.     

Quantifying experts' uncertainty about the future cost of exotic diseases

Since the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak of 2001 in the United Kingdom, there has been debate about the sharing, between government and industry, both the costs of livestock disease outbreaks and responsibility for the decisions that give rise to them. As part of a consultation into the formation of a new body to manage livestock diseases, government veterinarians and economists produced estimates of the average annual costs for a number of exotic infectious diseases. In this article, we demonstrate how the government experts were helped to quantify their uncertainties about the cost estimates using formal expert elicitation techniques. This has enabled the decisionmakers to have a greater appreciation of government experts' uncertainty in this policy area.     

Improved confidence estimators for Fieller's confidence sets

Fieller's confidence set C_F for ratios of location parameters, although of great importance in practice, is often cited as an example to criticize frequentist theory. The reason is that the set can consist of the whole parameter space and yet the confidence is γ = 1 – α in any case. In this paper, we study the problem of constructing data-dependent estimators better than γ₊, A reasonable estimator appears to be γ₊, which is one if C_F is the whole parameter space and γ otherwise. By using an estimated confidence approach and a squared-error loss, it is shown that γ₊ dominates γ. The risk improvement of γ₊ over γ can be sizable. Also, by numerically comparing γ₊ with a generalized Bayes estimator γ_L, which is shown to be admissible when one or two ratios are concerned, it is shown that γ₊ is nearly admissible. We also conclude that the common practice of reporting 1 – α only when C_F is not the whole parameter space is nearly admissible.     

Representing children's views and best interests in court: an international comparison

This paper provides a comparison of a number of alternative models of international practice in relation to the appointment and organization of guardians ad litem and other children's representatives in child care and family proceedings. The paper notes that, in their attempts to address the need for children to have representation in matters affecting their welfare, English‐speaking countries have tended to conflate the two salient Articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that is, Article 3, which deals with the child's best interests, and Article 12, which deals with their right to express their wishes and feelings. Where systems other than ‘stand alone’ legal representation have been put in place, the child's representative is charged with both assessing their best interests and, often as a secondary duty, communicating their views. The paper concludes that for some groups of children in public or private law proceedings, an advocate (rather than a best interest oriented guardian, and where necessary in addition to a legal representative) may enable better representation of the child in the courts and greater participation by children in legal proceedings, an increased role for children as citizens and a fuller implementation of their rights. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.