Social enterprises as enabling workplaces for people with psychiatric disabilities

In recent years, western governments influenced by neoliberalism have emphasized paid work as a key route to social inclusion and community participation for people with psychiatric disabilities. Although paid work can offer many rewards, access to mainstream employment for people with psychiatric disabilities is difficult as they continue to encounter discrimination and a lack of workplace accommodation. One response to these challenges has been the creation of social enterprises as ‘alternative spaces’ of employment for people with psychiatric disabilities. On the basis of interviews with key informants from 21 different social enterprises across Ontario, Canada, this paper critically analyzes the strategies used by organizations to create jobs that are both accommodating for people, but also conducive to the ongoing success of the business.     

Honoring the Experiences of Gay Stepfamilies: An Unnoticed Population

This article will acquaint the reader with the experiences of a largely overlooked yet growing subpopulation of stepfamilies: gay stepfamilies. The article presents available data on the prevalence of gay stepfamilies, their identified strengths, their known challenges, and the implications of these family experiences for family counselors who serve this population. The reader will also be provided with directions for future research and study specific to this population.     

Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection in a Female College Student Population

Abstract

“Physical Dependence on Nicotine in Gum: A Placebo Substitution Trial,” JOHN R. HUGHES, et al. To test whether ex-smokers become physically dependent on nicotine in gum, we entered eight ex-smokers who were using nicotine gum into a randomized, double-blind, placebo-substitution trial. When placebo was substituted, seven of the eight subjects were observed to have withdrawal symptoms and two relapsed to smoking or nicotine gum. This result suggests that physical dependence (i.e., withdrawal) may be a cause of behavioral dependence on nicotine gum (i.e., use of gum beyond the recommended period) and physicians should emphasize the need for gradual reduction of nicotine gum. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1986;255:3277–3279.)

“Absence of Therapeutic Benefit From Antacids or Cimetidine in Non-Ulcer Dyspepsia,” OLOF NYREN, et al. We randomly assigned 159 patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia, defined as chronic or recurrent epigastric pain without concomitant symptoms of the irritable bowel syndrome and with no evidence of organic disease, to treatment for three weeks with an antacid suspension one and three hours after meals, 400 mg of cimetidine twice a day, or placebo, according to a double-blind, double-dummy model. The intensity and duration of epigastric pain were recorded by the patients four times daily during a one-week period without therapy and during the three weeks of treatment. The mean reduction in pain intensity after three weeks in the placebo group was 25 percent. Neither antacid nor cimetidine treatment resulted in more than a 4 percent better effect. The reduction of pain was statistically significant (P < 0.01) in all three groups. The time course of the pain scores in the groups receiving active drugs followed closely those in the placebo group, and there were no significant differences between the groups at any stage of the treatment. We conclude that the neutralization or suppression of gastric acid is of no clinical value in patients with this syndrome. (New England Journal of Medicine 1986;314:339–43.)     

Kinship networks that cross racial lines: The exception or the rule?

I estimate the frequencies of interracial kin relations, an important indicator of the isolation of racial groups in the United States. I use two techniques to estimate the size and heterogeneity of extended families. First, I develop a simple model that takes account only of kinship network sizes and intermarriage levels by race. This model allows a crude estimation of the frequency of multiracial kinship networks. Second, I produce more precise empirical estimates using a new hot-deck imputation method for synthesizing kinship networks from household-level survey data (the June 1990 Current Population Survey and the 1994 General Social Survey). One in seven whites, one in three blacks, four in five Asians, and more than 19 in 20 American Indians are closely related to someone of a different racial group. Despite an intermarriage rate of about 1%, about 20% of Americans count someone from a different racial group among their kin.     

Probabilistic Forecasting Using Stochastic Diffusion Models, With Applications to Cohort Processes of Marriage and Fertility

In this article, we show how stochastic diffusion models can be used to forecast demographic cohort processes using the Hernes, Gompertz, and logistic models. Such models have been used deterministically in the past, but both behavioral theory and forecast utility are improved by introducing randomness and uncertainty into the standard differential equations governing population processes. Our approach is to add time-series stochasticity to linearized versions of each process. We derive both Monte Carlo and analytic methods for estimating forecast uncertainty. We apply our methods to several examples of marriage and fertility, extending them to simultaneous forecasting of multiple cohorts and to processes restricted by factors such as declining fecundity.