The context of decision-making in cases of child neglect

This paper explores professional decision-making in cases of child neglect within the context of child protection practice in Britain. The literature on the nature of neglect is reviewed. Difficulties associated with decision-making are then examined within a framework that addresses the social, political and organizational context of child protection practice. It is argued that the current system, which focuses on incidents of abuse rather than the context of children's lives, provides inadequate protection for many children experiencing chronic neglect. Conclusions are drawn with regard to the development of practice that supports vulnerable parents while still remaining the child's welfare as paramount. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Processes of Social Construction in Talk

Sociologists have paid a great deal of attention to the idea that many aspects of human life are socially constructed. However, there has been far less attention to the concrete interactional processes by which this construction occurs. In particular, scholars have neglected how consensual meaning is constructed in verbal interaction. This article outlines nine generic construction tools used in everyday talk, based on a review and synthesis of past work. These tools fall into three general categories: building blocks, linking devices, and finishing devices. The authors argue that scholars must pay greater attention to the interactional nature of social construction, and discuss three interactional processes that are central to the social construction of meaning in talk: challenge, support, and non‐response. The article presents concrete illustrations of these processes using examples from focus group discussions about gender and violence. These micro‐interactional processes often reproduce, sometimes modify, and (more rarely) resist larger institutions and structures, and thus are indispensable to understanding social life.     

The Cost of Low Fertility in Europe

We analyze the effect of fertility on income per capita with a particular focus on the experience of Europe. For European countries with below-replacement fertility, the cost of continued low fertility will only be observed in the long run. We show that in the short run, a fall in the fertility rate will lower the youth dependency ratio and increase the working-age share, thus raising income per capita. In the long run, however, the burden of old-age dependency dominates the youth dependency decline, and continued low fertility will lead to small working-age shares in the absence of large migration inflows. We show that the currently very high working-age shares generated by the recent declines in fertility and migration inflows are not sustainable, and that significant drops in the relative size of the working-age population should be expected. Without substantial adjustments in labor force participation or migration policies, the potential negative repercussions on the European economy are large.     

Finance organizations, decisions and emotions

Analyses of global financial markets are dominated by atomized models of decision-making and behavioural psychology ('exuberance' or 'panic'). In contrast, this paper argues that overwhelmingly, finance organizations rather than 'individuals' make decisions, and routinely use emotions in formulating expectations. Keynes introduced emotion (business confidence and animal spirits) but in economics, emotion remains individualistic and irrational. Luhmann's system theory lies at the other extreme, where emotions like trust and confidence are central variables, functional in the reduction of complexity in sub-systems like the economy. The gap between irrational emotions aggregated to 'herd' behaviour in economics, and 'system trust' applied to finance and money as a 'medium of communication' in sociology, remains largely unfilled. This paper argues that while organizations cannot be said to 'think' or 'feel', they are rational and emotional, because impersonal trust, confidence and their contrary emotions are unavoidable in decision-making due to fundamental uncertainty. These future-oriented emotions are prevalent within and between organizations in the financial sector, primarily in generating expectations. The dynamic of corporate activities of tense and ruthless struggle is a more plausible level of analysis than either financial 'manias' in aggregate or 'system trust'.     

The Contribution of Voluntary Organizations to the Care of Children with Life-limiting Incurable Disorders and their Families

A national postal survey of voluntay organizations providing for children with life-limiting incurable disorders (n = 147) is described. The majority of organizations originated from the motivation of parents or care workers in response to deficiencies in service provision from other agencies. A wide variety of services were available from the organizations with over half providing an information service, emotional support and counselling, patient and family support and a telephone helpline. The provision of some services, for example respite care, was, hoverer, associated with the size of annual budgets. Publicity, referral and funding arrangements are also discussed. The role of voluntary organizations as partners in care with statutory agencies is discussed in the light of instability of funding arrangements and the use of health and social work staff as the main source of information about voluntary services to parents. Areas of further research in this field are suggested.     

Influenza-Like Illness Among University Students: Symptom Severity and Duration Due to Influenza Virus Infection Compared to Other Etiologies

Abstract

Objective: University students with influenza-like illness (ILI) were assessed to determine whether symptom severity, duration, or missed days of school or work varied according to etiology. Participants: Sixty persons presenting to a university health clinic with ILI symptoms during 3 consecutive influenza seasons completed baseline survey and viral testing; 51 (85%) completed follow-up. Methods: Influenza viral culture and polymerase chain reaction and respiratory virus immunofluorescence assay testing were performed. Information collected at baseline and follow-up included symptom occurrence, severity, duration, and numbers of days of work and school missed. Results: Influenza virus was confirmed in 63% of participants. Influenza-positive individuals were no more likely to report any symptom or miss more days of school or work. Self-reported severity and durations of symptoms were similar between groups. Conclusions: Students with influenza-associated ILI were similar to those with noninfluenza ILI with respect to severity, duration, and numbers of days of school and work missed.     

Bad news about bad news: the disclosure of risks to insurability in research consent processes

One of the phenomena associated with research is "incidental findings," that is, unexpected findings made during the research, and outside the scope of the research, which have potential health importance. One underappreciated risk of incidental findings is the potential loss of the research subject's insurability; or if a research subject fails to disclose incidental findings when applying for insurance, the insurance contract may be voidable by the insurer. In this article, we seek to explain the insurability risks associated with incidental findings and to make recommendations for how researchers and research ethics committees should address the issue of disclosure of these risks.     

Activities and social contact as antecedents to sleep onset time in U.S. adolescents

This study evaluated adolescents' evening patterns in activities, social contact, and location to better understand antecedents to adolescents' sleep onset time (SOT). The SOT is important for sleep duration and related health outcomes. Using a nationally representative sample of 15- to 18-year-old adolescents from the American Time Use Survey (N = 10,341; 47% female; 57% white), structural equation modeling demonstrated that late SOTs mediated links between evening activities, social contact, locations, and shorter sleep durations. Passive leisure, time in public locations, and time with friends late in the evenings were associated with later SOTs, whereas homework and active leisure did not. Parents and practitioners can use this information to carefully evaluate evening activities, social contact, and location to support healthy SOTs for adolescents across time.