The Australian Landcare movement: towards ‘post-productivist’ rural governance?

This paper analyses whether the Australian Landcare movement complies with notions of ‘post-productivist rural governance’. The paper argues that Landcare has been a vast improvement on previous approaches to the management of the countryside in Australia, and that it has managed to mobilise a large cross-section of stakeholders. However, the Landcare movement only depicts certain characteristics of post-productivist rural governance. Although Landcare has some elements that fit in with theorisations of social movements, it still depicts many characteristics that show its close affiliation with the state and its agencies (in particular budgetary shackles). Landcare cannot be conceptualised as a fully inclusive movement, and there is little evidence that Landcare has been able to actively shape government policy. However, Landcare has contributed towards changing environmental attitudes, which can be seen as a key precondition for the successful implementation of post-productivist rural governance structures. In particular, Landcare's innovative approach of mutual farm visits, and its emphasis on the demonstration of ‘best practice’, has led to both an increased awareness of land degradation problems and the creation of grassroots ‘information networks’. There has also been some success with regard to Landcare's ability to change attitudes of the wider Australian public. Two important lessons with regard to conceptualisations of post-productivist rural governance emerge. First, individual components of post-productivist rural governance may change at different times, with the attitudinal level most influenced by Landcare, while underlying socio-political productivist structures will take much longer to change. Second, the problem in being able to label Landcare (the most innovative rural programme in advanced economies) as an expression of post-productivist rural governance shows how far away rural programmes in advanced economies still may be from such new forms of governance. The results, therefore, support those advocating that post-productivism may only be a theoretical construct in the minds of academics, rather than an expression of reality on the ground.     

Stress in two-generation farm and ranch families

Family relations and economic issues may predict stress in two-generation farm families. Marital adjustment, length of time married, income satisfaction, and number of household dependents are examined as predictors of stress for each family member (i.e., separately for each member) using multiple regression analyses. The model is significant for fathers with marital adjustment, length of time married, and income satisfaction significantly contributing to fathers' stress. The model is not significant for mothers, sons, or daughters-in-law; but income satisfaction is significantly related to stress for mothers. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.Support for this research was provided by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station Grant No. MONB00266 and is part of the AES Western Regional Project W-167.Stephan M. Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Studies and is the Director of the Center for Kentucky Children & Families Research, University of Kentucky, 107 Erikson Hall, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0050. His research interests include family stress, rural families, parent-adolescent relations, and adolescent development. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1985.Ramona Marotz-Baden is a Professor, Department of Health and Human Development, Montana State University, Herrick Hall, Bozeman, MT 59717. Her research interests include family stress, work and the family, retirement and succession in family-owned business, and dual-earner families. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1970.David Holloway is the Outreach Coordinator for Aspen Crest Hospital, 1970 East 17th Street, Suite 119, Idaho Falls, ID 83404. His interests include marriage and family therapy, parent-child relations, and family development through the lifespan. He received his M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Montana State University in 1987 and M.Ed. in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Idaho in 1985.     

The diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and adopted adolescents: A cautionary note

Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and adopted emotionally-disturbed adolescents share many personality and psychodynamic characteristics: problems with object loss, separation and abandonment, identity disorders. Emotionally-disturbed adopted adolescents are likely to receive a BPD diagnosis because of 1. unknown genetic or constitutional components, 2. defects in early mothering or chaotic parenting seen in late adoptions, 3. possible misdiagnosis, 4. psychodynamic similarities. Authors caution against the possibility of misdiagnosis because of this environmental reinforcement provided by an adopted status.     

TOWARD A REVISED FRAMEWORK FOR EXAMINING BELIEFS ABOUT THE CAUSES OF POVERTY

This study uses survey data from Baltimore, Maryland to assess predictions from the dominant ideology thesis and the public arenas theory concerning causal beliefs about three specific types of poverty—welfare dependency, homelessness and impoverished migrant laborers. Findings indicate that the incidence and determinants of causal beliefs are more complex than has been reached in prior "generic' poverty research and the findings provide greater support for the public arenas theory. Three findings are of particular note: (1) sample respondents have distinctive causal beliefs for different types of poverty: for welfare dependency, individualistic beliefs are dominant; for homelessness, structural causes are emphasized; a causal "middle ground' is most popular for impoverished migrant laborers (2) status characteristics do not operate as determinants of causal beliefs in a straightfor-ward fashion for any of the three poverty types and, (3) variables that measure types of exposure to, and perceived racial composition of, the poor are also significant determinants of causal beliefs. The effects of variables that measure perceived racial composition are particularly strong and the pattern of "color coding' suggests that racial prejudice shapes causal beliefs about the plight of the poor. The implications of the findings for the mobility opportunities of the three impoverished groups are discussed.     

COMPLIMENTS WILL GET YOU NOWHERE:

Benign stereotypes of Jews are widespread, but whether they are genuinely complimentary remains unresolved. This study addresses the question using data from the 1990 General Social Survey. There are four main findings. First, benign Jewish stereotypes are far more common than corresponding blatantly anti-Semitic images. Second, there is no evidence that benign stereotypes are genuinely complimentary but strong indications that they are subtle expressions of underlying prejudice. Third, many non-Jews simultaneously both benign stereotypes and blatantly anti-Semitic stereotypes. Fourth, unlike blatant expressions of prejudice, benign stereotypes are more common among the well educated and affluent. Implications are drawn concerning the nature, extent, and future of anti-Semitic prejudice.     

Groups for Incest Survivors; A New Context

This article outlines a new context for group work with young women who have experienced incest. It describes how ideas from the work of White, Epston, Kamsler and de Shazer on the evolution, maintenance and resolution of problems can be applied to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of group work with teenage survivors of incest. Externalisation, exploration of beliefs and restorying are found to assist the young women greatly to reconnect with their own resourcefulness.     

Comparison of the Dependence of the TD50 on Maximum Tolerated Dose for Mutagens and Nonmutagens

The relationship between the minimum TD50 (i.e., the TD50 measured at the most sensitive site) and the maximum dose administered (maxD) in rodent carcinogenicity bioassays was investigated separately for mice and rats. The relationship between log(1/TD50) and log(1/maxD) was analyzed as a function of (1) mutagenicity and (2) the statistical significance cutoff for selecting the minimum TD50 values. For rat bioassays, the variance of log(1/TD50) is larger and the correlation of log(1/TD50) with log(1/maxD) is weaker for mutagens than for nonmutagens, suggesting that the relationship between minimum TD50 and MTD is, in general, stronger for nonmutagens than for mutagens. The difference in correlation does not depend on the TD50 statistical significance cutoff, but the difference in variance is not significant for the most stringently selected dataset. For mouse bioassays, no significant mutagen/nonmutagen differences in log(1/TD50) variance are found. A significantly weaker correlation of log(1/TD50) with log(1/maxD) for mutagens in comparison to nonmutagens occurs only for the dataset with minimum TD50 chosen at the least stringent level, suggesting that this difference may be due to chance variation. We also looked for changes in correlation and regression parameters as a function of mutagenic potency in Salmonella; the variance of log(1/TD50) and its correlation with log(1/maxD) are not found to vary in a consistent manner. Taken as a whole, our results indicate that (1) mutagenicity is a determinant of the TD50/maxD relationship in rats and (2) any effect that mutagenicity may exert on the TD50/maxD relationship in mice is unimportant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Essential emotions: The place of passion in a feminist network

Using a case study, the authors argue that emotions play a highly significant part in voluntary organizations, and that present significant part in voluntary organizations, and that present academic approaches to emotions are unhelpful, both theoretically and practically. The distinction between emotional work and emotional labor is unclear in nonprofit organizations using volunteers. More research is needed in this area.