Making Low Probabilities Useful

This paper explores how people process information on low probability-high consequence negative events and what it will take to get individuals to be sensitive to the likelihood of these types of accidents or disasters. In a set of experiments, information is presented to individuals on the likelihood of serious accidents from a chemical facility. Comparisons are made with other risks, such as fatalities from automobile accidents, to see whether laypersons can determine the relative safety of different plants. We conclude that fairly rich context information must be available for people to be able to judge differences between low probabilities. In particular, it appears that one needs to present comparison scenarios that are located on the probability scale to evoke people's own feelings of risk. The concept of evaluability recently introduced by Hsee and his colleagues provides a useful explanation of these findings.     

Payment of Universal Credit for couples in the UK: Challenges for reform from a gender perspective

Universal Credit has been rolled out gradually in the United Kingdom since 2013 as one integrated means-tested benefit replacing six different transfers with a single monthly payment. Previously, these benefits were awarded for distinct purposes and, for couples who claimed them, were potentially payable to different partners. Concerns about Universal Credit’s single payment include the opportunities it may create for facilitating domestic abuse, the fostering of more unequal power relations within couples, the reduction of financial autonomy for individuals, and the de-labelling of benefit payments. This article explores debates about the prospects for individual payments to partners in couples of Universal Credit as a jointly assessed integrated means-tested benefit, including different approaches emerging from the United Kingdom’s devolved governments (mainly Scotland and Northern Ireland). Whilst payment to each partner is likely to be more feasible where there are separate rather than integrated means-tested benefits, it concludes that genuine financial autonomy for partners in couples is best pursued via individually based non-means-tested benefits.     

Play in Middle Childhood: Everyday Play Behaviour and Associated Emotions

Children's reports about their play in middle childhood and the emotions they associate with play have received limited research attention. Using focus groups, this study asked 38 children in the UK about what, where and with whom they played. They were also asked how play made them feel. Children reported a wide range of play behaviours, with outdoor and traditional games being just as prominently mentioned as play with electronic devices. The emotional importance of play in middle childhood was apparent, with children associating play with strong positive emotions, and not being able to play with negative emotions and anxiety.     

SUBSIDIZING ALTRUISM IN LIVING ORGAN DONATION

The current supply of deceased donor organs is insufficient to meet the growing demand for transplantable organs. Consequently, candidates for kidney transplantation are encouraged to find a living donor. In 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services began to reimburse donors' travel‐related expenses via the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC). Using variation in transplant centers' applications for donor assistance, we use a difference‐in‐difference model to estimate the relationship between the NLDAC and living donor kidney transplants. We find that among participating transplant centers, the program increased the number of living donor kidney transplants by approximately 14%. (JEL I12, I18, D64)     

Determining Localisation Metrics

Assisting those wanting to explore localisation as a transformative sustainability strategy, this article provides the results of interviews with six localisation experts to determine localisation metrics. The interviews aimed to determine localisation qualities that should be captured for localisation measurement, and/or metrics that might be used to measure these. The shared expert belief and opinion regarding these metrics and qualities was expanded using writings by these and other experts. The formed metric set includes: (1) resource self-reliance; (2) resource dependence; (3) social health; (4) environmental damage/impact; (5) localisation type/governance participation; and (6) control and ownership of resources, land, assets and business. These metrics may be used to determine how localised a community, region, or country is, and to form localisation indexes. This article describes the formation of the metric set, and may assist clarification of localisation understandings by enabling measurement.     

International Student Exchange in Australian Social Work Education

International student exchange is pursued by Australian schools of social work as a strategy to engage with the internationalisation agenda set by government, universities, and the profession. However, little concrete information about the nature and scope of these activities exists. The study reported here aimed to address this gap. Twenty-seven of the 30 Australian universities that offer social work programs participated in an online survey about international student exchange activities. The results indicate that a majority of schools (n?=?23) do engage in such activities, with international field placements the most frequent form of exchange. Exchanges are most likely to be facilitated and managed by social work staff. The findings, and their implications for the development of good practice in international student exchange, are discussed. This research provides a “point-in-time” snapshot of international exchange in Australian social work education and a benchmark for future analyses of this expanding practice in the profession.     

Part II: differences between sexually victimized and nonsexually victimized male adolescent sexual abusers and delinquent youth: further group comparisons of developmental antecedents and behavioral challenges

In a recent paper published in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, we assessed the differences between sexually victimized and nonsexually victimized male adolescent sexual abusers ( Burton, Duty, & Leibowitz, 2011 ). We found that the sexually victimized group had more severe developmental antecedents (e.g., trauma and early exposure to pornography) and behavioral difficulties (sexual aggression, arousal, pornography use, and nonsexual offenses). The present study compares sexually victimized and nonsexually victimized adolescent sexual abusers with a group of nonsexually victimized delinquent youth. Findings included that delinquent youth had fewer behavioral and developmental problems than the comparison groups. In addition, sexually victimized sexual abusers had the highest mean scores on trauma and personality measures. Implications for research and treatment are offered.