Sexual abuse prevention: a rural interdisciplinary effort

The alliance of social work and theater is a natural and powerful coalition. The cooperation of two undergraduate programs to produce a preventive program on sexual abuse education reached over 4,000 children. Social work was the catalyst in terms of identifying the need, obtaining grant money, and developing community support. Theater provided the talent to produce an outstanding performance. Communities planning to develop successful prevention programs must develop community support, clear goals, a well-trained follow-up team, education for professionals who work with children daily, a clear channel for reporting abuse, and an evaluation process. The use of volunteers keeps the cost of the project to a minimum.     

Court-ordered foster family care reform: a case study

The authors examine the implications of G. L. v. Zumwalt, a case that resulted in a far-reaching consent decree that mandates specific reforms in policy and practice to be implemented by a public social welfare agency in its delivery of services to foster children and their families.     

Patterns of Childlessness among Catholic and Non-Catholic Women in the U.S.: A Log-Linear Analysis*

The principal objective of this paper is to conduct a log-linear analysis of patterns of childlessness among Catholic and non-Catholic women in the United States. We address this issue by examining white women between the ages of thirty-five and forty-four, ascertaining whether they are voluntarily, involuntarily, or temporarily childless or childed. Given the long-standing emphasis of the Catholic Church regarding the importance of children in marriage and the family, an emphasis which was not reversed during the Second Vatican Council, we suggest that even after controlling for religious activity and educational attainment, Catholic women should be less disposed than non-Catholic women to choose voluntarily to have no children. We review various aspects of Church doctrine leading to such an hypothesis. Our results do not suggest an “end” to Catholic-non-Catholic differentials in childlessness. Catholic women between the ages of thirty-five and forty-four in 1976 were very far apart from non-Catholic women with respect to the voluntary decision to have no children. And they are also very different from non-Catholic women regarding patterns of involuntary childlessness. These differential patterns of voluntary and involuntary childlessness are discussed and analyzed.     

Non-parametric recursive estimates of a probability density function and its derivatives

Recursive estimates of a probability density function (pdf) are known. This paper presents recursive estimates of a derivative of any desired order of a pdf. Let f be a pdf on the real line and p?0 be any desired integer. Based on a random sample of size n from f, estimators f^(p)_n of f^(p), the pth order derivatives of f, are exhibited. These estimators are of the form $\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{∑n}\text{j=1}\text{δ}{}_{\mathrm{jp}}$, where δ_jp depends only on p and the jth observation in the sample, and hence can be computed recursively as the sample size increases. These estimators are shown to be asymptotically unbiased, mean square consistent and strongly consistent, both at a point and uniformly on the real line. For pointwise properties, the conditions on f^(p) have been weakened with a little stronger assumption on the kernel function.     

Determining the expected value of information for new product introduction

Bayesian analysis is an important technique for marketing decision-making. To this point, however, these procedures have been used infrequently by practicing managers. Two major obstacles to the application of Bayesian analysis are the difficulties associated with generating input values and with performing the necessary calculations. In this paper a procedure is presented which, in most cases, removes both of these obstacles. The procedure has assessment needs with which the practicing manager may be more familiar. Tables are developed to alleviate computational difficulties.     

Assessment of family planning programme effects on births: Preliminary results obtained through direct matching of birth and programme acceptor records

Abstract In order to match birth and family planning acceptance records and thereby to obtain estimates of pre- and post-acceptance fertility, use is made of seven-digit national identity card numbers, issued to all adult West Malaysians. These unique numbers are recorded on live-birth records and national family planning programme acceptor records of West Malaysian women. The application and preliminary results of this method of direct computer matching of these sets of records for assessing the effects of a family planning programme on fertility are described. Pre- and post-acceptance fertility rates are presented in terms of contraceptive methods used, and the key characteristics of race and age of programme acceptors, and are discussed in terms of marital duration and number of children at the time of acceptance.