Class and Disability: influences on learning expectations

This paper describes some findings from in-depth interviews with 10 adults with disabilities, most of whom had strong working class connections. It places the findings in the context of feminist post-structuralist theory. Whilst the research is not directly to do with gender relationships, the theoretical framework highlights notions of difference, cultural value and meaning which play a significant role in the power relationships between dominant and subordinated groups. The interviews invited participants to tell their life story with regard to educational experiences. Analysis of these stories indicated that expectations, rather than ambitions, had influenced most people's educational activities as adults. The combination of poor childhood experiences, class and disability attitudes, had a powerful influence on personal goals, which appeared to misrepresent real potential or real interest, once stimulated. The extract here is part of a larger research project which is looking at differentials amongst three different learner group cultures. The research is concerned with the mismatch of expectations among university continuing education providers and those of under-represented groups.     

Estimating demographic characteristics using the ratio-correlation method

Studies of the relative accuracy of methods of estimating the population at the substate level have generally found that the greatest degree of accuracy is provided by the ratio-correlation, or regression, method. This paper reports on research aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of this method in estimating the age and race composition of populations at the substate level. In addition to the basic multiple regression equation, variants such as stratification and the averaging of estimates from simple regression equations are also tested. Surprisingly, for Virginia localities the most satisfactory results are generated by the nonstratified multiple regression equation.     

Welfare expenditure and policy orientation in Canada in comparative perspective

J'examine dans cet article les politiques sociales canadiennes pour la période 1960–1983, à lumière des expériences d'autres pays. Les politiques considérées se lisent sur quatre dimensions: dé-marchandisation, solidarité, redistribution et plein emploi. Au regard des dépenses d'autres pays membres de l***'OCDE, les dépenses gouvernementales de consommation civile au Canada sont relativement élevées; elles sont, cependant, principalement cantonnées dans les secteurs de la santé et de l'éducation. Ainsi, les dépenses générates et orientées vers la prévention sont faibles, indiquant la petite taille des budgets consacrés au logement et à la création d'emplois. En ce qui concerne le plein emploi, le Canada est l'un des membres de l'OCDE qui connaissent le moins de succès. Malgré des niveaux de chômage qui demeurent élevés, les dépenses de redistribution sont basses; elles contribuent malgré tout à réduire les inégalités de revenu primaire et elles demeurent plus importantes à ce chapitre que le régime fiscal. Une quantité considérable de données indique que l'Etat-providence canadien est en voie d'être restructuré de façon à redistribuer les bénéfices selon des critères de classe, plutôt que des critères de citoyenneté. This paper examines welfare effort in Canada in the 1960-83 period in the context of cross-national patterns. Welfare effort is considered on four dimensions: decommodification, solidarity, redistribution and full employment. Canada has relatively high government civil consumption expenditure by OECD standards but this consists mostly of health and educational expenditure. General and preventively oriented expenditure is low, reflecting the low expenditure on housing and employment creation. In terms of the full employment dimension Canada is one of the least successful of the OECD welfare states. Despite consistently high unemployment, social transfer expenditure is low but does contribute to the reduction of inequality of primary income and is consistently more important in this regard than the tax system. There is considerable evidence to indicate that the Canadian welfare state is being restructured towards a distribution of benefits based on class rather than citizenship.     

The road to functional flexibility: white collar work and employment relations in a privatised public utility

This paper is concerned with the changing nature of office work in one region of a privatised public utility, which will be referred to as National Utility (NU). It describes how clerical work at NU, traditionally characterised by a detailed division of labour and functional specialism, is being transformed by the introduction of on-line processing and multi-functional team-working. At the same time, NU management is seeking to change the nature and pattern of clerical employment. The intention is to increase the ratio of part time to full time staff, to increase the ‘personal accountability’ of staff, and to move towards a performance-based, rather than a seniority-based, pay and promotion structure. These changes are of some broader theoretical significance. As Batstone et al. (1987) note, much industrial sociology literature has focused on job content as the primary determinant of a number of features of work and employment, including worker autonomy, supervisory styles, and management control strategies. Indeed, much recent industrial sociology, management and institutional economics literature has tended to link employment patterns and conditions, as a whole, with job content, in a direct and unproblematic fashion. In particular, it is often assumed that in order to secure multiple skills, high quality work and the innovative capacities of labour, employers will have to offer not only better pay, but also a better package of conditions, job security, fringe benefits and training and promotion opportunities. Developments at National Utility suggest that the link between job content and employment relations may be weaker than has sometimes been implied, and cast doubt on the theoretical basis for ‘post-Fordist’ confidence in the emergence of a new deal for labour as a result of flexible methods of work organisation.     

Age at placement and adult adopted people's experience of being adopted

Older age at placement has long been recognized as a risk factor in successful adoption outcomes. The findings of the present study emerged as part of a larger study that looked at the adoption experiences and reunion outcomes of 472 adults who had either searched for or been sought by one or more of their birth relatives. As part of the investigation, adopted adults were asked to evaluate their adoption experience. Age at placement was used as a key variable in examining whether or not adopted people felt different to their adoptive family, felt they belonged in their adoptive family, and felt loved by their adoptive parents while growing up. Respondents were also asked to evaluate their overall experience of being adopted. Older age at placement significantly increased the risk of adopted people viewing major aspects of their adoption experience with either mixed or negative feelings.     

Scenario-Based Risk Assessment of Multi-Use Chemicals: Application to Solvents

The risk through chemical exposure is commonly characterized by ratios of exposure concentrations and effect levels (risk quotients). For chemicals with many different applications such as solvents, however, in addition to the risk quotients of different exposure situations it is useful to determine the corresponding numbers of exposed individuals, that is, not only the magnitude but also the extent of the risk. To this end, the Scenario-Based Risk Assessment (SceBRA) method has been developed that makes use of a large set of scenarios, each of which describes a typical situation regarding handling a solvent or solvent-containing product. The scenarios cover the life-cycle steps of production, distribution, and use of solvents. For each scenario, SceBRA provides the risk quotient, r, and the number of exposed individuals, N. This study investigated seven solvents that are used in large amounts in Switzerland. For each solvent, characteristic distributions of r and N values were calculated, making it possible to compare different solvents with respect to their risk profile. Graphical representations of the r, N data provide an informative way for analyzing and communicating the results of SceBRA.     

Behavior of Mothers and Infants With and Without Down Syndrome During the Still‐Face Procedure

There has been limited study of how the constitutional characteristics of infants with Down syndrome (DS) influence the patterning of their relations with caregivers. To assess natural and perturbed interactions between infants with DS and their mothers, we tested ten 6‐month‐old infants with DS and 20 typically developing (TD) 4‐month‐old of similar mental age. Participants were videotaped with their mothers in a natural face‐to‐face interaction, a brief period when the mothers adopted a still‐face, and a subsequent reengagement phase. There was little to distinguish the infants in the initial phase of natural interaction, but the mothers of infants with DS were more likely to show assertive warmth, and unlike in the case of mothers of TD infants, high maternal directiveness tended to be associated with lower levels of infant looking and lack of fussing. During the still‐face episode, infants of both groups showed reduced looking and smiling, although infants with DS tended to show lower levels of fussing and fewer in this group showed fussing in the reengagement phase. Therefore DS infants were somewhat similar to TD infants of comparable mental age in being responsive to the still‐face procedure, but showed indications of group differences in intense emotional reactivity.     

A GENOGRAM WITH AN ATTITUDE

The approach described in this paper is predicated on the fundamental belief that in order to become competent and ethical practitioners, students must understand themselves and how they see others. They must be given tools and skills that facilitate examinations of their own assumptions and beliefs about themselves, other, and how the world works. It is also essential that students examine how these assumptions and beliefs will influence the way they choose to conduct therapy. Once they are aware of their biases, they must learn to choose to consciously influence themselves in a way that permits their clients the largest room for change within the clients' own contexts of belief, understanding, experience, and possibility. In this paper I describe the use of the genogram as a tool to facilitate the process of gaining self knowledge. This tool has been used in a multicultural counseling course, as well as in professional development workshops for psychologists, mental health counselors, and marriage and family therapists.