Eleven characters in search of an ethic,or the spirit of capitalism revisited

This fiction represents scenes from an imaginary MBA class's reaction to the showing of the Oliver Stone film, Wall Street, to explore different perspectives on the meanings of work and society in the light of Max Weber's pessimistic vision of the inexorable rise of capitalism. It is meant to end on an optimistic note.     

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.     

Home Visiting Family Therapy for Children at Risk

Home visiting has a long history in the areas of health and welfare (Baldock, 1990: 121). Early intervention through home visiting programs has been found effective in preventing abuse and neglect in many countries including the USA (Olds, 1992), Ireland (Johnson, 1993) and Europe (Cox, 1993). The success of these programs lay in their effectiveness in reducing social isolation, improving parenting skills and enhancing self esteem. This paper reports on the role of family therapy in home-based early intervention for families with newborn infants.     

Reliability,Validity, and Classification Accuracy of the DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria for Gambling Disorder and Comparison to DSM-IV

The DSM-5 was published in 2013 and it included two substantive revisions for gambling disorder (GD). These changes are the reduction in the threshold from five to four criteria and elimination of the illegal activities criterion. The purpose of this study was to twofold. First, to assess the reliability, validity and classification accuracy of the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for GD. Second, to compare the DSM-5–DSM-IV on reliability, validity, and classification accuracy, including an examination of the effect of the elimination of the illegal acts criterion on diagnostic accuracy. To compare DSM-5 and DSM-IV, eight datasets from three different countries (Canada, USA, and Spain; total N = 3247) were used. All datasets were based on similar research methods. Participants were recruited from outpatient gambling treatment services to represent the group with a GD and from the community to represent the group without a GD. All participants were administered a standardized measure of diagnostic criteria. The DSM-5 yielded satisfactory reliability, validity and classification accuracy. In comparing the DSM-5 to the DSM-IV, most comparisons of reliability, validity and classification accuracy showed more similarities than differences. There was evidence of modest improvements in classification accuracy for DSM-5 over DSM-IV, particularly in reduction of false negative errors. This reduction in false negative errors was largely a function of lowering the cut score from five to four and this revision is an improvement over DSM-IV. From a statistical standpoint, eliminating the illegal acts criterion did not make a significant impact on diagnostic accuracy. From a clinical standpoint, illegal acts can still be addressed in the context of the DSM-5 criterion of lying to others.     

Using administrative data to estimate population displacement and resettlement following a catastrophic U.S. disaster

After a large scale evacuation, authorities need to know the new and frequently changing population distributions in order to meet needs for housing, schools, health care, and other services. This paper reviews literature from the fields of demography and other disciplines to identify available administrative data sets that can form the basis of sound, relevant, and timely county-level population estimates following a catastrophic U.S. event. The most appropriate data to estimate population in damaged counties will be disaster-specific data such as housing damage estimates and FEMA applicant counts initially, and later electric accounts and USPS active residences. In heavily damaged counties, data on electric accounts and USPS active residences may not be consistently collected for many months, during which time sample surveys may be needed. For counties that receive an influx of population, school enrollment data provide the most appropriate basis for population estimates. Population estimates for large, heavily damaged counties are highly uncertain. Sensitivity analysis when using estimates for planning in these areas is recommended. The Census Bureau can build on this research by codifying recommendations to local authorities for developing frequent post-disaster population estimates.     

Understanding the Relationship between Income and Health: How Much Can be Gleaned from Cross‐sectional Data?

The aim of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the relationship between income and health using a cross-sectional survey of the general British population. It is divided into two parts. First, it examines a number of methodological inconsistencies in the existing literature and assesses their consequences for the inferences that can be drawn about the income–health association. These issues include: the measurement of income and its functional form; health selection; and the role of confounders. Second, it explores the relative strength of the income–health association in contrast to that of other socioeconomic measures. The relationship between income and health is complex. However, having taken into account a range of methodological problems, income is still significantly associated with health. The association appears to be non-linear and is attenuated but not removed by controlling for health selection effects. The inclusion of a wide range of confounders into models of income and health reduces the association between them, but does not make it insignificant. In comparison to other socioeconomic measures, income appears to be a better discriminator of health status than education or occupation. However, tenure and car ownership seem to be at least as good if not better than current income.     

The Importance of Freedom in the East and the West Over Time: A Meta-analytic Study of Predictors of Well-Being

We examined whether sense of freedom is an important predictor of well-being, as compared to other typical predictors, across different periods in modern times (1981–2011), and in the East and the West. We applied a meta-analytical approach to the results of a series of multiple regression analyses conducted on six individual waves of Japanese data sets and five individual waves of American data sets from the World Values Survey. The final sample comprised 6389 Japanese and 6176 American respondents during all study periods. The main findings were that sense of freedom was one of the strongest predictors of life satisfaction (a) among several predictors (i.e., health condition, household income, marital status), (b) consistently across waves, and (c) in both Japan and the United States, as typical collectivistic Eastern and individualistic Western countries. We conclude that the greater importance of sense of freedom in ensuring well-being than other typical predictors is applicable to individuals across time and cultures.     

Community Practice Researchers as Reflective Learners

The article outlines a process for community practice researchas a reflective process. Through the interplay of key conceptsassociated with subjective research–personal engagement,experiential affinity and parallel struggles–and transcribedinterviews with community practitioners, the authors elaboratethe subjective community researcher posture. Subjectivity contributesto the researchers’ position as learners within the researchprocess. The research team plays a key role in reflecting onthe effects of the research on participants.