Closed Circuit TV Debate Bridges the Gap between Schools

Abstract

Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors, compiled by Dith Pran. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1998. 199 pp. ISBN 0-300-06839-5. $14.95.     

The Challenges of the Post of Dean in Social Work Education

This paper reports an experiment in teaching social welfare policy content to first year students in a school of social work. In the context of an integrated class-field experience, the course sought to teach student practitioners a process of inquiry which might be useful in their efforts to change social welfare policies and programs. The project was based on the premise that social action is likely to be more effective when it is based on a systematic assessment of the problem in question and how it is being dealt with by existing policies and services. The authors discuss the advantages and limitations of this approach that were observed during the two year experiment and suggest that with certain modifications it can be an effective means for teaching social welfare policy.     

Modern racism on campus: a survey of attitudes and perceptions

Contemporary society is beset with subtle racial tensions. Modern racism is a form of racism often found in modern, politically correct America. In this form of racism, racist beliefs are often expressed only indirectly. In the present paper, race differences in attitudes about and perceptions of racism were examined through the use of a survey. Results showed several differences in the way Blacks and Whites perceive race relations on a university campus. This information helps to gain insight into the causes of modern racial tensions. The results also suggest strategies to reduce racism on college campuses.     

Mean squared error of prediction approach to the analysis of a combined array

SUMMARY The combined array provides a powerful, more statistically rigorous alternative to Taguchi's crossed-array approach to robust parameter design. The combined array assumes a single linear model in the control and the noise factors. One may then find conditions for the control factors which will minimize an appropriate loss function that involves the noise factors. The most appropriate loss function is often simply the resulting process variance, recognizing that the noise factors are actually random effects in the process. Because the major focus of such an experiment is to optimize the estimated process variance, it is vital to understand the resulting prediction properties. This paper develops the mean squared error for the estimated process variance for the combined array approach, under the assumption that the model is correctly specified. Specific combined arrays are compared for robustness. A practical example outlines how this approach may be used to select appropriate combined arrays within a particular experimental situation.     

Managing Children’s Friendships Through Interparental Relationships: Roles of Ethnicity and Friendship Context

Twenty African American and European American mothers of fourth‐grade students reflected on strategies for managing children’s friendships maintained across a variety of contexts. Ethnicity differentially located families within specific social contexts that yielded children’s friendships, then informed social processes as they unfolded within these contexts. Maternal knowledge concerning children’s friendships developed as a function of the types of relationships formed among parents encountered within different settings. Findings suggest that interparental relationships represent a key source of information about children’s friendships. Yet, maternal opportunities to establish such relationships differ on the basis of both ethnicity and the nature of contexts in which children’s friendships are maintained.     

'I don't know what I'd do without our Mam' motherhood, identity and support networks

This paper explores the role and importance of kinship within the lives of 14 working class women as they seek to make sense of motherhood and their own self‐identity as a young mother. Within late modernity, numerous discourses suggest that kin networks and the role and importance of kinship are in decline as ‘the family’ changes and adapts. Indeed, the idea of extended family support and networking is frequently viewed as a historically cozy image rather than an everyday reality as we enter the twenty‐first century. However, this paper demonstrates that the situation is far from straightforward. The young mothers’ discourses and everyday experiences remain firmly grounded in relations of class, gender and the locality within which they live. Hence, although many of the young women are increasingly individualised, self‐reflexive actors seeking to make sense of intimate relations and kinship in an ontologically insecure world, kin networks, especially female kinship continue to play a pivotal role in their lives—practically, socially and emotionally. Indeed, female kinship is closely interwoven with their self‐identity as a caring and capable mother.     

Changing mortality and morbidity rates and the health status and life expectancy of the older population

This paper demonstrates the consequences of changes in mortality and health transition rates for changes in both health status life expectancy and the prevalence of health problems in the older population. A five-state multistate life table for the mid-1980s provides the baseline for estimating the effect of differing mortality and morbidity schedules. Results show that improving mortality alone implies increases in both the years and the proportion of dependent life; improving morbidity alone reduces both the years and the proportion of dependent life. Improving mortality alone leads to a higher prevalence of dependent individuals in the life table population; improving morbidity alone leads to a lower percentage of individuals with problems in functioning.