A Conceptual Framework for Differential Use of Mediation and Family Therapy Interventions With Older Adults and Their Families

The purpose of this article is to present a family-centered approach to working with older adults. This framework utilizes a differential use of family therapy and therapeutic mediation theoretical concepts and skills. This provides an effective approach to conceptualizing and intervening with these often complex situations regarding the decision-making processes related to care of older members. Family-centered mediators/clinicians must be skilled in both models to understand and intervene in the challenging issues presented by families. A case example is included in the article to illustrate the framework.     

On the Differential Attachments of Migrants from Central and Eastern Europe: A Typology of Labour Migration

In this article we develop an empirically grounded typology of labour migration patterns among migrants from Central and Eastern Europe, based on two dimensions: attachment to the destination country and attachment to the country of origin. We conducted a survey (N=654) among labour migrants in the Netherlands from Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. We found four migration patterns in our data: (i) circular migrants (mostly seasonal workers) with weak attachments to the country of destination, (ii) bi-nationals with strong attachments to both the home country and that of destination, (iii) footloose migrants with weak attachments to both the home and the destination country, and (iv) settlers with weak attachments to the home country. Our findings demonstrate the relevance to the debate on transnationalism and integration of distinguishing different migration patterns. Successful integration in Dutch society can go hand-in-hand with ‘strong’ as well as with ‘weak’ forms of transnationalism. The bi-national pattern shows a tendency to strong transnationalism, while the settlement pattern demonstrates less transnational involvement with the country of origin.     

A Multiple-community Overlap Measure Based on a Probabilistic Approach

Species diversity indices are designed to measure the species diversity of a community and to compare the species distribution structure of two communities. The Shannon and Simpson indices are for describing one community, and the Jaccard and Morisita indices are for comparing two communities. Only a few indices allow the simultaneous comparison of three or more communities. In this study, we propose a multiple-community similarity index based on a probabilistic approach, and compare it with other multiple-community indices. Empirical examples are considered as a demonstration of the proposed similarity indices.     

Reducing Requirement Incorrectness and Coping with Its Negative Impact in Information System Development Projects

The negative impact of incorrect requirements on information system development (ISD) project performance has long been acknowledged. This study addresses the problem of incorrect requirements by proposing a model that combines the error reduction and coping concepts proposed by Field, Ritzman, Safizadeh, and Downing (2006) with the view that ISD is a knowledge‐intensive process. The model hypothesizes that when developers and users possess an understanding of each other's primary domain of knowledge, the prevention of incorrect requirements and the mitigation of the negative consequences of incorrect requirements tend to improve project performance. Data collected from 250 ISD professionals on the basis of their experiences of recently completed ISD projects confirmed all of our hypotheses. The results demonstrate that the eliciting of incorrect requirements can be reduced when users and developers possess cross‐domain understanding and when requirement analysis methodologies and techniques are available. Furthermore, the negative impact of incorrect requirements on project performance can be mitigated when developers have sufficient ISD knowledge and behavioral knowledge.     

告别i奴：富士康、数字资本主义与网络劳工抵抗

什么是数字资本主义条件下的世界工厂？它与过去的资本主义世界体系有何区别,又有何关联？在互联网和智能手机的时代,劳工真能形成自己的网络,抵御资本吗？本文以史鉴今,首先回顾17世纪“大西洋三角贸易”的奴隶制世界体系,再讨论当代富士康劳工问题、“21世纪奴隶制”及其内在的新三角贸易结构。四百年沧海桑田,不料在变劳工为奴隶这个问题上,无论是实证材料的细节,还是世界资本主义体系的宏观层面,依然存在种种勾连。文章在此基础上勾勒出网络化抵抗与新三角团结关系,并强调：劳工研究需要重新认识过去,让思想在全球历史的长河中重新扎根。 在关注生产过程之外,还须重视消费,特别是虚拟空间里的生产性消费行为。     

Decreasing absolute risk aversion, prudence and increased downside risk aversion

Downside risk increases have previously been characterized as changes preferred by all decision makers u(x) with u????(x) > 0. For risk averse decision makers, u????(x) > 0 also defines prudence. This paper finds that downside risk increases can also be characterized as changes preferred by all decision makers displaying decreasing absolute risk aversion (DARA) since those changes involve random variables that have equal means. Building on these findings, the paper proposes using ??more decreasingly absolute risk averse?? or ??more prudent?? as alternative definitions of increased downside risk aversion. These alternative definitions generate a transitive ordering, while the existing definition based on a transformation function with a positive third derivative does not. Other properties of the new definitions of increased downside risk aversion are also presented.