Ethical Issues in the Use of Putative Father Registries in Infant Adoption: Implications for Administrators and Practitioners

Infant adoption policy and practices are laden with potential ethical dilemmas for adoption professionals, state and federal government, and society in general. Putative father registries raise new ethical issues in the provision of adoption services and the rights and roles of birthfathers. Birthfathers have relatively little power in the policy arena and the power differential between the parties in an adoption is evident. Administrators and practitioners at all levels of practice have an obligation to see that birthfathers are treated fairly and with dignity. This article examines the issues related to the use of putative father registries and the ethical implications regarding birthfather rights.     

The role of attributions in psychological reactions to job relocation

Job relocation refers to the process of simultaneously moving to a new job and house and this can cause considerable stress for the relocator and his/her family. Based upon an attributional analysis, we predicted that negative psychological reactions would be a function of (1) number of relocation problems, and (2) making pessimistic attributions for relocation problems (that is, the tendency to attribute negative events to internal, stable and global causes). Furthermore, these factors should interact, such that individuals with many relocation problems who also make pessimistic attributions will experience the worst psychological reactions. The results from a cross-sectional survey of 93 relocators supported these predictions. As expected, those relocators who had many relocation problems and made pessimistic attributions reported the worst mental health and relocation-specific stress. In addition, a reanalysis of a longitudinal study of relocators by Martin (1996) also supported the above predictions using attributions of perceived control. Furthermore, the relocators predicted to be most at risk (many problems}/low control) reported the worst changes in mental health during the course of the move.     

MASCOT: An agent-based architecture for dynamic supply chain creation and coordination in the internet economy

The emerging global internet economy will increasingly put a premium on the ability of companies to quickly and accurately evaluate new market opportunities, new product/ subcomponent designs, and other strategic business decisions (e.g. make-or-buy) in coordination with potential supply chain partners. It also requires that companies be able to effectively and efficiently coordinate activities, e.g. production and transportation across supply chains that are dynamically set up in response to constantly changing and increasingly customized market requirements. This paper provides an overview of MASCOT ('multi-agent supply chain cordination tool'), a reconfigurable, multi-level, agent-based planning and scheduling architecture aimed at supporting these functionalities. It reviews key innovative elements of the MASCOT architecture with a special emphasis on its support of realtime mixed-initiative 'what-if' functionalities, enabling endusers at different levels within the architecture to rapidly     

People, Land and Sustainability: Community Gardens and the Social Dimension of Sustainable Development

Community gardens vary enormously in what they offer, according to local needs and circumstance. This article reports on research and experience from the USA. The context in which these findings are discussed is the implementation of Local Agenda 21 and sustainable development policies. In particular, emphasis is given to exploring the social dimension of sustainable development policies by linking issues of health, education, community development and food security with the use of green space in towns and cities. The article concludes that the use of urban open spaces for parks and gardens is closely associated with environmental justice and equity.     

ANOMIE, SOLIDARITY, AND CONFLICT: French Sociology and the Limits of Dialogue

What explains the splintering of the sociological imagination? Why do so many rival schools contend for influence? Is there a chance for consensus? Donald N. Levine seeks to answer these questions in his intriguing recent study of the sociological tradition. He contends that sociology has been divided from the start along national lines, yet continues to progress towards harmony thanks to the “dialogical’ commitments of the various national traditions. I argue that Levine misjudges the character and depth of past and present rifts, and that he overestimates the likelihood of future disciplinary unity.     

Health-Based Screening Levels to Evaluate U.S. Geological Survey Ground water Quality Data

Federal and state drinking-water standards and guidelines do not exist for many contaminants analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, limiting the ability to evaluate the potential human-health relevance of water-quality findings. Health-based screening levels (HBSLs) were developed collaboratively to supplement existing drinking-water standards and guidelines as part of a six-year, multi-agency pilot study. The pilot study focused on ground water samples collected prior to treatment or blending in areas of New Jersey where groundwater is the principal source of drinking water. This article describes how HBSLs were developed and demonstrates the use of HBSLs as a tool for evaluating water-quality data in a human-health context. HBSLs were calculated using standard U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) methodologies and toxicity information. New HBSLs were calculated for 12 of 32 contaminants without existing USEPA drinking-water standards or guidelines, increasing the number of unregulated contaminants (those without maximum contaminant levels (MCLs)) with human-health benchmarks. Concentrations of 70 of the 78 detected contaminants with human-health benchmarks were less than MCLs or HBSLs, including all 12 contaminants with new HBSLs, suggesting that most contaminant concentrations were not of potential human-health concern. HBSLs were applied to a state-scale groundwater data set in this study, but HBSLs also may be applied to regional and national evaluations of water-quality data. HBSLs fulfill a critical need for federal, state, and local agencies, water utilities, and others who seek tools for evaluating the occurrence of contaminants without drinking-water standards or guidelines.     

Survivors of Downsizing: Helpful and Hindering Experiences

Thirty‐one downsizing survivors from both the private and public sector were interviewed to determine incidents that either helped or hindered their transition through 1 or more organizational downsizings. A critical incident technique was used to analyze and organize the data around themes that emerged. Themes were represented by both positive and negative incidents and were grouped using transition phases. Results support and add new detail and insight into topics developed in previous studies. Implications are discussed for organizations' handling of downsizing or restructuring as well as reducing negative and enhancing positive influences and events. Counseling recommendations are offered for easing survivors through the transition.     

Psychological Well-Being Throughout the Transition From Adolescence to Adulthood

A cohort of 172 high school leavers were followed over a 2-year period to determine factors that affect well-being throughout transition. High school leavers are those individuals who are graduating from high school and are progressing to further schooling, to work, or are unemployed. Employment and school continuation were unrelated to self-esteem and depression. Factors that influenced the transition process included money and activity problems, internality, stability, and controllability both of attributions about general transition difficulties at specific time periods and of external attributions about unemployment. The need for new approaches to career theory and practice is discussed.