The Ties That Bind: Family Systems Correlates of Parental Decision-Making in Custody/Access Disputes

Family systems theorists have developed certain concepts which they claim predict marriage outcome and the possible success of divorce mediation, should the marriage fail. In this paper I examine concepts of individual and family functioning. The concept of ‘emotional flexibility’ is presented as a criterion predisposing marriage partners to a more or less fused marriage. This in turn, is seen as predisposing the partners, in the event of separation, either to search for their own parental agreement with regard to their children's wellbeing, or to insist on a Judicial decision. In order to test the applicability of this concept, I explore the results of 64 conciliation conferences conducted by me in the Sydney Registry of the Family Court. I also consider a typology of divorcing couples worked out by divorce therapists, which uses type of spousal interaction as a criterion for predicting suitability for divorce mediation. I analyse the results of 30 Family Reports prepared by me, to test the usefulness of the typology for deciding on the most appropriate method of family dispute resolution for a given couple. I conclude by suggesting systematic exploration of core family system concepts and variables having a modulating effect, that can be used as predictors of client suitability for negotiation as well as to anticipate the type of custody/access arrangements that can be achieved.     

Visitations and Transfers After Divorce

Recent research reveals that divorce negatively impacts children's welfare as a consequence of the reduction in monetary and time contributions of the non-custodial parent. After divorce, the variables that link the absent parent to the child are visitations, child support transfers, and direct expenditures the non-custodial parent makes on the child. In our framework parents constitute a bilateral exchange economy where the mother is endowed with control over visitations and the father has control over financial resources. We use data from National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (5th follow up) to estimate the parameters of the model. We then use the estimates to simulate the effects of alternative endowment levels (such as joint custody) on the proportion of time spent with the non-custodial parent and the ex post parental income distribution. The results indicate that an endowment of equal time for both parents, reducing time under the mother's control implies a reduction in the child support transfers from the father, and, therefore, a loss in the mother's consumption levels. However, a more equally shared time with the children also increases the father's direct expenditures on the child, with the effect of allowing the mother to spend less on child goods and partially compensate her consumption loss.     

Internet use, abuse, and dependence among students at a southeastern regional university

OBJECTIVE: To assess Internet use, abuse, and dependence. PARTICIPANTS: 411 undergraduate students. RESULTS: Ninety percent of participants reported daily Internet use. Approximately half of the sample met criteria for Internet abuse, and one-quarter met criteria for Internet dependence. Men and women did not differ on the mean amount of time accessing the Internet each day; however, the reasons for accessing the Internet differed between the 2 groups. Depression was correlated with more frequent use of the Internet to meet people, socially experiment, and participate in chat rooms, and with less frequent face-to-face socialization. In addition, individuals meeting criteria for Internet abuse and dependence endorsed more depressive symptoms, more time online, and less face-to-face socialization than did those not meeting the criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health and student affairs professionals should be alert to the problems associated with Internet overuse, especially as computers become an integral part of college life.     

Using government manifestos to analyse the political salience and shape of anti-corruption policies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

In an innovative use of government manifestos, this paper examines the salience and shape of anti-corruption policies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic during the period 1990–2013. Both the intensity and shape of anti-corruption efforts appear to be related less to the actual extent of corruption or external influences and more to the growing domestic electoral pressure expressed through the higher ranking of corruption on the list of public problems and to an ideological bent of governments. We also use cultural theory to examine the philosophy of anti-corruption measures. We find that the hierarchical approach clearly dominates, but there is also extensive evidence of an egalitarian approach. There are only a small number of individualist measures and there is nearly no evidence of fatalist measures. We found that the political right in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia is associated not just with an individualist and market-based approach to anti-corruption, but even more with emphasis on anti-corruption itself and empowerment, civil society and public accountability as a means of fighting corruption.     

Weighted nonparametric regression

In the fixed design regression model, additional weights are considered for the Nad a ray a-Watson and Gasser-Miiller kernel estimators. We study their asymptotic behavior and the relationships between new and classical estimators. For a simple family of weights, and considering the AIMSEAS global loss criterion, we show some possible theoretical advantages. An empirical study illustrates the performance of the weighted kernel estimators in theoretical ideal situations and in simulated data sets. Also some results concerning the use of weights for local polynomial estimators are given.     

Pivotal Quantities Based on Sequential Data: A Bootstrap Approach

A bootstrap algorithm is provided for obtaining a confidence interval for the mean of a probability distribution when sequential data are considered. For this kind of data the empirical distribution can be biased but its bias is bounded by the coefficient of variation of the stopping rule associated with the sequential procedure. When using this distribution for resampling the validity of the bootstrap approach is established by means of a series expansion of the corresponding pivotal quantity. A simulation study is carried out using Wang and Tsiatis type tests and considering the normal and exponential distributions to generate the data. This study confirms that for moderate coefficients of variation of the stopping rule, the bootstrap method allows adequate confidence intervals for the parameters to be obtained, whichever is the distribution of data.     

A multiple buyer – supplier relationship in the context of SMEs’ digital supply chain management*

Abstract

By underlining the relevance of the use of ICTs, knowledge sharing and electronic markets for SMEs, it emerges the need for stimulating a debate on digitisation process of supply chain management (SCM). Electronic infrastructure in the service sector are reducing each kind of cost and improving multiply buyer–supplier relationships, facilitating negotiations and transactions. However, since the coordination costs are still high, the use of ICTs is limited. This phenomenon thus attracts the interests of scholars and practitioners. Although it still needs to further investigate. Especially, the optimal use of ICTs within SMEs’ SCM have not been studied yet. Therefore, by leveraging on four proxies: ICTs specialised human resources, knowledge sharing activities, buyer–supplier relationships, adoption of electronic markets this optimal was analysed via structural equation modelling based on a sample of 1254 SMEs operating in the service sector in Italy.     

The Role and Implications of Values-based Leadership

This paper aims at analysing conceptually spiritual leadership in the organizational field. First, we identify if a relation between spirituality and leadership can exist and then if and how this influences employer/employees reciprocal behaviour. In the early years, the focus has changed, trying to deepen the differences between religion and spirituality and emphasizing the last one as a source of success for leaders. We focused on the understanding of the effects that spirituality has on the system of values and the role of values and emotions in determining a successful leader. Finally, we emphasize the role of values-based leadership capabilities within strategic management, aiming at highlighting the importance of a shared system of values in leading employees.     

A Bayesian Approach for Multiple Response Surface Optimization in the Presence of Noise Variables

An approach for the multiple response robust parameter design problem based on a methodology by Peterson (2000) is presented. The approach is Bayesian, and consists of maximizing the posterior predictive probability that the process satisfies a set of constraints on the responses. In order to find a solution robust to variation in the noise variables, the predictive density is integrated not only with respect to the response variables but also with respect to the assumed distribution of the noise variables. The maximization problem involves repeated Monte Carlo integrations, and two different methods to solve it are evaluated. A Matlab code was written that rapidly finds an optimal (robust) solution in case it exists. Two examples taken from the literature are used to illustrate the proposed method.     

New critical region tables for Fisher's exact test

The best-known non-asymptotic method for comparing two independent proportions is Fisher's exact text. The usual critical region (CR) tables for this test contain one or more of the following defects:they distinguish between rows and columns; they distinguish between the alternatives H = p1 < p2 and H = p1 > p2; they assume that the error for the two-tailed test is twice that of the one-tailed test; they do not use the optimal version of the test; they do not give both CRs for one and two tails at the same time. All this results in the unnecessary duplication of the space required for the tables, the construction of tables of low-powered methods, or the need to manipulate two different tables (one for the one-tailed test, the other for the two-tailed test). This paper presents CR tables which have been obtained from the most powerful version of Fisher's exact test and which occupy the minimum space possible. The tables, which are valid for one- or two-tailed tests, have levels of significance of 10%, 5% and 1% and values for N (the total size of both samples) of less than or equal to 40. This article shows how to calculate the P value in a specific problem, using the tables as a means of partial checking and as a preliminary step to determining the exact P value.