On the Effect of Risk Aversion in Bimatrix Games

Nash equilibria with identical supports are compared for bimatrix games that are different with respect to the risk aversion of player 2. For equilibria in 2× 2-bimatrix games and for equilibria with efficient supports in coordination games it is established for which cases increased risk aversion of player 2 benefits or hurts player 2.     

System abuse: towards a greater understanding from the perspectives of children and parents

The present article explores the concept of system abuse from the perspectives of children and parents. Four main ways in which the term has been used are highlighted and, with reference to the literature, the commonalities underlying the various uses of the term are explored. Reviewing the available evidence suggests that many families may become unnecessarily involved in the child protection system; this finding is discussed within the parameters of the current Section 17/Section 47 debate. Features of the investigation identified as particularly salient for children and parents include the initial phase of the investigation; investigative interviews and medical examinations; case conferences; social-worker/family interaction and the lack of follow-through services. Gaps in service provision when workers do not consider that abuse has occurred are also considered. Finally, pointers for practice during investigations are discussed in the light of this review     

Strategic Planning for Support Services for Children with a Parent or Close Relative in Prison

It has long been recognized that children with a parent or close relative in prison are more likely to experience educational difficulties, emotional distress, family breakdown and a substantial reduction in family income (Boswell 2002; Smith et al. 2007; Morgan et al. 2013b; Morgan and Gill 2013). Consequently, children with a parent in prison are more likely to require support from statutory services, especially education and social care. However, statutory support for this group of children is sparse, and children of prisoners tend not to be identified as a priority group. The demand on local authorities to spend their limited budgets wisely means tough decisions have to be made. These decisions are not taken in a vacuum: they are taken in a context of local need, consumer representation, central and local politics; underpinned by the values and attitudes of individual members as well as by the ethos or culture of the local authority itself. In this article we apply Axford's typology (2009) of the different cultures which underpin local authority service provision to data from a research study carried out in 2011 in one local authority which explored support provision in schools for children of prisoners. We examine the contradictions and gaps within the local authority's attempts to synergize the different modules of service delivery into a coherent pattern of provision, and we explore how changes in strategic culture might lead to improvements being made in terms of service delivery to this group of ‘vulnerable’ children.     

"Bridging the Gap": New Relationships between Primary Care Groups and Local Authorities

Current policy places great emphasis on the development of "partnerships", particularly between NHS and local authority services, with the aims of increasing service coordination and delivery and improving health. To this end, primary care groups (PCGs), at the forefront of NHS organizational developments, are required to include a social services representative on their governing boards; similarly, primary care trusts (PCTs) have a social services representative on their executive committees. Drawing on a representative longitudinal national survey of English PCGs, the paper evaluates the contribution of these new governance arrangements to the development of inter-agency partnerships. Despite poor histories of collaboration and some major organizational barriers, there are some signs of progress, with social services representatives playing an active part in PCG affairs and having clear lines of communication about PCG matters with their employing authorities. Equally significantly, PCGs have also quickly established a wide range of contacts directly with other local authority services and departments. However, these early gains risk being limited by traditional professional inequalities between social work and medicine and, in particular, by the prospect of further organizational upheaval as PCGs merge with each other and/or acquire trust status.     

The Relationship Between Family Mealtime Interactions and Eating Disorder in Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review

During childhood and adolescence, family meal frequency has been found to have an inverse relationship with disordered eating behaviour. Also, family interactional patterns differ in families where there is a child with and without an eating disorder. This paper examines the relationship between family mealtime interactions during childhood and adolescence and eating disorder behaviour through a systematic review of the literature. The method was an asystematic electronic search of PsycInfo, Medline and Web of Knowledge undertaken in April 2012. Ten studies demonstrated a significant relationship between family mealtime interactions and disordered eating behaviour. Families where there is a child with an eating disorder display less positive interactions during mealtimes. While the findings can be linked to family based treatment for anorexia nervosa there is a need for prospective research in this area.     

Music Education and minority groups cultural and musical identities in the ‘newer’ South Africa: white Afrikaners and Indians

Music Education, as well as cultural and musical identities are all being renegotiated, post‐Apartheid, within the so‐called ‘newer’ rather than the commonly known ‘new’ South Africa. The developing situation with certain minority groups is particularly interesting. Education in general has undergone much change since the first democratic elections in 1994: music education specifically has been affected by such change in terms of content, delivery and assessment. Within the South African context, cultural and musical identities are often intertwined with language, racial and even tribal identities, and discussing one implies the others. We are particularly interested here in the role of formal Music Education in relation to white Afrikaners and Indians as they renegotiate their cultural development, including musical aspects.     

Increasing Choice and Control for Older and Disabled People: A Critical Review of New Developments in England

This paper critically examines new policies currently being implemented in England aimed at increasing the choice and control that disabled and older people can exercise over the social care support and services they receive. The development of these policies, and their elaboration in three policy documents published during 2005, are summarized. The paper then discusses two issues underpinning these proposals: the role of quasi‐markets within publicly funded social care services; and the political and policy discourses of consumerism and choice within the welfare state. Despite powerful critiques of welfare consumerism, the paper argues that there are nevertheless very important reasons for taking choice seriously when considering how best to organize and deliver support and other services for disabled and older people. A policy discourse on consumerism, however, combined with the use of market mechanisms for implementing this, may be highly problematic as the means of creating opportunities for increased choice and, on its own, risks introducing new forms of disadvantage and social exclusion.     

Parents,Perceptions and Belonging: Exploring Flexible Working among UK Fathers and Mothers

This paper advances knowledge regarding how fathers and mothers perceive and experience flexible working opportunities. It does this through applying the theoretical concept ‘belonging’ to ‘Parsonian’ classifications of parenting and work. In so doing it makes transparent the misconceptions and inequities which exist among parents and their organizational environments. Focusing initially on a qualitative study of fathers’ experience of working flexibly, the paper shows how fathers felt marginalized from the possibilities of flexible work due to line managers’ assumptions that men belonged to an ‘instrumental’ economic provider group. The paper contributes a new angle to debate by articulating how fathers perceived employed mothers as belonging to an ‘expressive’ child‐oriented group, with privileged access to flexibility. However, drawing upon a study of maternity and flexible work we query fathers’ assumptions that flexibility was easily available to mothers, suggesting that fathers’ perceptions of maternal privilege were misconceived. While mothers were categorized as belonging within an ‘expressive’ group associated with childcare, they were nevertheless discouraged from accessing flexibility. Inequities between women and men (with regard to flexibility) thus appeared to be less significant than fathers supposed.     

The Impact of Human Factors on Ab Initio Pilot Training

This article examines critically the power effects of a branch of psychology called Human Factors within the context of commercial aviation. A review of the aviation literature highlights the significance of Human Factors and its relevance to the recruitment and training of ab initio pilots. However, research in the field is criticized for failing to account for existing power relations and the potential effects of a new discursive format. This article uses the concept of discourse associated with Michel Foucault to analyse empirical data from interviews with individuals involved in ab initio pilot training at a European flying college. The analysis illustrates how staff at the training college use the rhetoric of Human Factors to enhance their own contribution and status, without fundamentally changing existing practices. Although this reinforces existing power relations, the Human Factors discourse also potentially empowers a different set of management employees. By illustrating the conflicting values and interests of two sets of managers and trainers at the college, the article is able to demonstrate the negative effects of the new discursive format on male ab initio pilots. It also discusses attitudes to female pilots, contributing to the debate about the ability of management discourses to promote gender equality within commercial organizations.