Exploring Children/Adolescents’ Final Conversations with Dying Family Members

In the current study, the authors expanded on a program of qualitative inquiry exploring final conversations (FCs) to the understudied population of children/adolescents. Participants were 61 children/adolescents aged 5–18, who participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their FCs with a dying family member. Inductive coding analysis led the authors to discover four overarching themes of children/adolescents’ FCs messages, in order of descending prominence, are: everyday communication, messages of love, messages of individual identity, and messages related to religion/spirituality. The authors applied Functional Theory to further delineate how participants used, and continue to use, the messages from each theme within their FCs. Discussion of results, including limitations and directions for further research, is outlined.     

Migration and health

Investigation of migration and health often forces us to acknowledge that the types of migration (international, internal, and residential) interact with each other as well as other population parameters such as the age/sex structure, sexual activity, fertility, mortality, and family structure. Research on migration is often obscured by these interactions. In fact, the adoption of a health perspective in the design of migration research represents a substantial improvement over traditional approaches that are based on distinctions among the various types of population movement. This is because a health perspective treats population movement as a dynamic process by which individuals are related to specific locations by reason of their participation in human networks. In other words, migration is regarded as a human process rather than a discrete event, and accordingly, it becomes less important to describe the individual's involvement with human networks and the institutions sustaining them. The use of a health perspective in migration research often calls our attention to the ways in which the types of migration are interconnected. For example, a migrant from Mexico might exhibit considerable internal mobility and may circulate between Mexico might exhibit considerable internal mobility and may circulate between Mexico and the US over several years until he develops enough contacts in the US to settle in a particular community in which his personal contact with human networks and place-specific institutions are conducive to settlement. Through him, family members may attach to the community. In the process, they all encounter health risks, make demands on the health care system, change the demographic/health characteristics of both sending and receiving places, sometimes act as transmitting agents of disease to those with whom they interact and, undergo changes in their levels of personal development and well-being. A research perspective that investigates these processes will consider all of the types of movement and characterize them as dynamic processes rather than as discrete events. The articles in this issue all touch on the ways in which migration can affect the health of migrants, and show the circle range of ways migration and health are interrelated. A special introductory note also suggests Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) should receive special attention in the study of this interrelationship. The uneven distribution of AIDS is heightening concern about the health implications for receiving countries.     

State Educational Investments and Economic Growth in the United States: A Path Analysis*

Objective. This article investigates direct and indirect relationships between state investments in education and economic growth measured as change in per‐capita gross state product (GSP). As a basis for selecting control variables, it also applies a conceptual framework borrowed from the cross‐national growth research. Method. We gathered 18 years of panel data on the 48 continental states and ran GLS regressions with panel corrected standard errors after executing an AR1 correction for autocorrelation. Results. Per‐capita savings deposits, college attainment, and initial GSP are the most consistent predictors of GSP growth over the 18‐year period investigated. However, all the independent variables in the model, except high school attainment, predict per‐capita GSP growth from 1997 to 2005. Conclusion. The study supports the virtues of a path model and a cross‐national framework for explaining the relationship between educational expenditures and GSP growth, especially from 1997 to 2005.     

Why observe children?

CCETSW have made strenuous efforts to reintroduce child observation as a core area for teaching in DipSW Programmes. The supportive evidence for this trend comes almost exclusively from psychodynamic and child care influences on social work practice (CCETSW, 1991). The individualistic and ‘client’-specific approaches of these theoretical standpoints means that some of the most pressing reasons for making observation a central activity in the development of good social work practice go largely unremarked. This paper redresses that balance by developing the arguments for using observation as a tool for assessing not only individual difference but also the collective experience of all current and prospective service users. Observation is thus argued as a core skill for anti-oppressive practice.     

Do leaders reap what they sow? Leader and employee outcomes of leader organizational cynicism about change

Despite increased attention given to the attitude of organizational cynicism, few studies have examined the impact of leader cynicism in organizations. The present study sought to investigate relationships between leader cynicism about organizational change (CAOC) and outcomes relevant to both the leader (performance and organizational citizenship behavior ratings) and his/her employees (employee organizational commitment and CAOC). Using data from 106 manufacturing managers, leader CAOC was found to negatively influence both leader and employee outcomes. Of particular importance, transformational leader behavior was found to fully mediate these relationships and thus served as an important explanatory mechanism. A discussion concerning the potential consequences of these findings for organizations is provided.     

From Communities to Neighbourhoods-I

Increasing confusion and dissatisfaction with so-called 'care in the community' and 'community care' initiatives has prompted a search for greater clarity and accuracy in human services. An attempt has been made to specify some of the means and ends required to establish local comprehensive services for a range of client groups. The first of two papers describes some of the skills required by workers for successful involvement and examines methods of developing individual neighbourhoods. Tensions between clients, users, residents, planners and workers are examined within the context of integrative neighbourhood services. A subsequent paper describes the means by which this transition to local neighbourhood services is planned, recorded and evaluated.     

Bounds on minimum mean squared error in ridge regression

The minimum MSE (mean squared error) of ridge regression coefficient estimates (for a given set of eigenvalues and variance) is a function of the transformed coefficient vector. In this paper, the authors prove that the minimum MSE is bounded, for a given coefficient vector length, by the two cases corresponding to the signal completely contained in the component associated with the smallest or largest eigenvalue. The implication for evaluating proposed estimators of the ridge regression biasing parameter is discussed.     

Suicidal Thoughts/Behaviors in Sexually Abused Children

This study examined the frequency of suicidality based on self-report and parent report in 430 sexually abused outpatient youth ages 3 to 17. Thirty-four percent of youth experienced suicidal ideation or behavior. However, when both parent and child completed measures, the rate of suicidality increased to 45.3%. The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behavior was not higher based on relationship to the perpetrator, race, or previous placement outside the home. Suicidal youth rated themselves as more depressed, anxious, and angry on self-reports. Child self-reports of post-traumatic stress disorder were greater among the suicidal youth. Parent reports of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder were greater among suicidal youth. A logistic regression model including Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children Depression and Anger scores correctly classified 74.2% of suicidal and nonsuicidal children and adolescents, but not self-criticism, was predicted by depression and anger. These findings support the need for formal multi-informant evaluations of suicidality in sexually abused youth.