Diagnosis and therapy of male gamblers in a university psychiatric hospital

From 1980 to mid-1990 fifty-one gamblers were evaluated and treated at the psychiatric university hospital of Homburg/Saar in Germany. All were men with a mean age of 33.7 years. Gambling had lasted 5.2 years on average. Most patients were motivated to undergo therapy by members of their family. The majority of them had been in psychotherapeutic treatment before. Thirty-six of the 51 patients had committed punishable acts including fraud and embezzlement and, in 7 cases, robbery. The sample could be divided into three clinical subgroups. The first group consisted of patients with severe psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness or organic brain disorder. Patients of the second group suffered from serious personality disorders. Those of the third group showed deep-rooted problems in their current relationships.This article is an extension of the special issue on Gambling in Europe edited by Iver Hand, M.D.     

Dramatically reducing cycle times through flash development

The reduction of cycle time has emerged as a fundamental element of new product development strategy. Many companies look solely at speed enhancement and increase the human, capital and technical resources allocated to development projects. However, additional resources do not guarantee significant reductions in cycle time. As well as speed enhancement activities, there exist two other sets of activities that are key to shortening the development cycle: those that act to prevent delays (friction) in the development process and those that define the scope of the final outcome (direction). This paper describes flash development as an alternative approach to reducing product development cycle times. Flash development works by creating a process that focuses on speed, friction and direction. The process is illustrated through an analysis of the Galileo Project at Nortel Networks.     

Sektion Jugendsoziologie Tätigkeitsbericht 2004

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Happiness has traitlike and statelike properties: A reply to Veenhoven

Veenhoven (1994) contrasted hypotheses of whether happiness is a trait or state, concluding that it is a state variable. This article critiques the conceptual foundation of Veenhoven's paper, and examines technical deficiencies in his review of evidence. Based on previous findings and new analyses, we conclude that happiness has both traitlike and statelike properties, but that individual differences in happiness endure despite its situational reactivity, and explain greater variance than situational effects.     

I'm Telling! The Content, Context, and Consequences of Children's Tattling on their Siblings

Tattling on siblings was observed in 40 families with 2- and 4-year-old children. All but 5 children reported sibling misbehaviour to parents with younger siblings tattling largely to recruit parental help in resolving conflict issues, and older siblings tattling both in the context of conflict and merely to inform parents of their siblings' misbehaviour. Parents rarely reprimanded children for tattling, but either ignored it, or responded to information in tattlers' reports regardless of context or whether older or younger children tattled. Children did not tattle equally on all sibling transgressions, but emphasized physical aggression and property damage, issues that also elicited parental discipline. Tattling is discussed in relation to children's understanding of the dynamics and moral standards of family life.     

Monitoring the education gap in Thailand: trends and differentials in lower and upper secondary schooling

"Using 1980 census and 1987 survey data on birth cohorts to examine recent primary and secondary school enrollment trends [in Thailand], this study reports that primary enrollment is nearly universal but secondary enrollment is much less prevalent. The study assesses several factors thought to influence enrollment and finds that urban residence, parents' completion of primary school, the mother's positive attitude toward education, and the family's being comfortable economically to be associated with children's enrollment in secondary school. It also indicates that, for moderately well-off families, proximity to schools has a major influence on secondary school attendance. For the wealthiest families, however, distance is not a hindrance to attendance, and for the poorest families, having a school nearby is not sufficient to ensure attendance."