A time series of instrumental fertility variables

Temporal variations in conventional fertility measures reflect the operation of instrumental variables: quantitative and temporal intentions; success in achieving intentions; and reproductive conditions. A set of such variables is described, using data from the 1975 National Fertility Study. There was a large decline in the number of intended conceptions, a recent large rise in the extent of their delay, a very large decline in rates of failure to delay or terminate fertility, and a very large recent rise in sterilization. But one problem proved important and intractable: When the data source is a cross-sectional survey, the length of open interval is inherently different for real and for synthetic cohorts, it is strongly related to reproductive intention, and that affects the classification of exposure to risk in the open interval.     

Where College‐Bound Students Send Their SAT Scores: Does Race Matter?*

Objective. I examine where Texas students send their SAT scores in 1998 to identify their revealed preferences for higher education and determine if race/ethnicity influences their decision. Methods. Using data from the Texas Schools Microdata Panel, I estimate the influence of race/ethnicity on various college choice sets using a multinomial logit model. Results. The empirical estimation indicates that minorities perceive their opportunities at Texas public institutions to be different from whites. Furthermore, although blacks and Hispanics are less likely than whites to send their SAT scores to selective Texas institutions, they are more likely to send their scores to selective institutions out of state. Conclusion. Although the reasons for this are currently unclear, a possible suspect is the Hopwood v. Texas decision, a court ruling ending affirmative action initiatives in the admissions decisions of all Texas public colleges and universities.     

Health and Social Policy Responses to Unemployment in Europe

This paper analyzes health policy development in Europe in response to economic instability, and describes agreements and declarations at a European level as well as commitments in some selected countries. One significant example is the European Health for All Strategy, which encompasses 38 operational targets agreed upon by all 32 member states of the European region. The Council of Europe and the Commission of the European Communities have instituted study groups on psychosocial and health effects of long-term unemployment, and on intervention measures taken or contemplated. This paper discusses interventions such as psychological and socio-pedagogic training schemes, measures for long-term unemployed, and a "social guarantee" of employment or training, as well as prevention of unemployment and empowerment of the unemployed. A local approach in a region of the Federal Republic of Germany illustrates the need for political involvement and strategies.     

The responsibility of public welfare in family planning

The primary objective of the paper is the implementation of family planning programs in and by the public sector. Providing health service is the category that family planning falls into within public welfare. Only 700,000 patients are now receiving family planning services from all public and private agencies combined. This is only 13% of the target population. All too many policy statments have been made with little done to implement them. The estimation is that in 1966 and 1967 HEW spent about three million dollars on family planning. Public programs have progressed farther through Office of Economic Opportunity than through HEW. Religious sources are the strongest opposition to welfare involvement in family planning. Social work as a profession has a role in family planning to the extent that it considers its role helping people and enhancing family functioning.     

Partial vs. general equilibrium analysis and choice of functional form: Implications for policy modeling

In formulating empirically tractable, economywide models, researchers are often forced to employ “convenient” functional forms. These forms embody restrictive maintained hypotheses. Alternatively, flexible functional forms may be utilized in a partial equilibrium setting. Estimation and incorporation of flexible functions into computable general equilibrium models is considerably more demanding of research resources. Assuming that shortcuts will continue to be necessary for researchers attempting to respond to current policy problems, this paper compares these two alternatives. Specifically, a general equilibrium model for New York State is employed to evaluate the relative performances of flexible partial equilibrium models and their more restrictive, general equilibrium counterpart. In the particular application considered, the former approach is found to dominate the latter.     

The regulation of family involvement in deinstitutionalization

Conflicting legal, administrative, and professional policies surround family involvement in the deinstitutionalization process. This article addresses these discrepancies and makes recommendations for developing effective and consistent channels of policy among social workers and other helping professionals.     

Asian‐Pacific Islander Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Defensive Aggression*

Objective. This study used the differential‐outcomes hypothesis as a theoretical guide to examine the association of Guam's same‐sex‐ and both‐sex‐oriented Asian‐Pacific Islander adolescents and their participation in defensive aggression. Methods. Using ordinary least squares multiple regression analysis we tested the hypothesis with a probability sample of Guam's Asian‐Pacific high school students. Results. The results of the study demonstrated that same‐sex‐oriented males were less likely to participate in physical aggression and that same‐sex‐oriented adolescent females were significantly more likely to report that they had participated in defensive aggression. Conclusions. Same‐sex‐oriented females are more likely than same‐sex‐oriented males to participate in defensive aggression, primarily because they may be more likely to experience threatening situations on Guam's high school campuses.     

Information-seeking during acquaintanceship: Effects of level of social understanding and personal relevance

Two studies examined how individual differences in social understanding influence children's information-seeking orientations during an initial meeting with a peer, in which they do or do not anticipate future interaction. Study 1 involved a relatively controlled, laboratory setting in which 7-9 year old children were presented a list of questions from which to choose what to ask the peer. The findings indicate that children who view a person's behavior in terms of stable dispositional characteristics (high SDC), express greater interest in gathering trait-related information about an unfamiliar peer than children who do not perceive people in terms of stable traits (low SDC), but only when they expect to play games with that peer in a future interaction. Study 2 involved a more naturalistic observation of the actual questions 7-9 year old children ask during an initial meeting with an unfamiliar peer. The findings showed that high SDC children asked more questions of the peer when they expected interaction than when they did not, whereas low SDC children did not differ significantly across conditions. Taken together, the two studies indicate that the future, predictability orientation of high SDC children leads to a more extensive information search about a peer when they expect interaction with that peer involving instrumental choices.