The Social Nature of Demeanor*

Goffman argues that individuals offer themselves to the group through well demeanored appearance for which they are granted deference. In this paper, I try to expand Goffman's insights by focusing directly on demeanor itself. From observations in Intensive Care Units, I find that demeanor is an achievement, a cooperative social accomplishment, and a form of deference. It is normatively a working ideal by which individuals gain acceptance as competent group members. A well de-meanored appearance makes interaction more pleasant; it permits others to antici pate that one will try to conform to interactional norms; it facilitates whatever task is at hand; it validates the deference that an individual grants; and it is itself a form of deference. It does not remain the responsibility of the individual, and we must therefore examine how groups constitute individuals. From the analysis, I derive explanations of the level of demeanor in a given setting, and propositions predicting the behavior of individuals within a setting.     

REMARRIAGE AND ITS ALTERNATIVES FOLLOWING DIVORCE: MOTHER AND CHILD ADJUSTMENT

The current literature on the effects of new parental relationships following separation on the child's well-being has overemphasized remarriage, per se, and has failed to analyze other types of relationships. The present study examines how mother and child adjustment varies among four categories of "blending": (a) remarriage, (b) living together but not remarried, (c) seriously involved but not living together, and (d) not seriously involved.     

Immigration and the stable population model

This paper reports on work aimed at extending stable population theory to include immigration. Its central finding is that, as long as fertility is below replacement, a constant number and age distribution of immigrants (with fixed fertility and mortality schedules) lead to a stationary population. Neither the level of the net reproduction rate nor the size of the annual immigration affects this conclusion; a stationary population eventually emerges. How this stationary population is created is studied, as is the generational distribution of the constant annual stream of births and of the total population. It is also shown that immigrants and their early descendants may have fertility well above replacement (as long as later generations adopt and maintain fertility below replacement), and the outcome will still be a long-run stationary population.     

Differential Assessment of Residential Group Care for Children and Young People

Summary Twelve qualitative variables frame the production of outcomesin residential group care for children and young people. Theseare used to examine contemporary themes in social care practicewith children and families. This assessment typology offerssocial workers, managers, researchers and policy-makers bothvalid and reliable baseline measures for use in evaluating residentialservices for children and young people. The typology also providescomparative interval measures for use in longitudinal evaluationsof quality. Close attention needs to be given to the impacteach of these variables has on the quality of residential groupcare services offered to children, young people and their familiesor significant others.     

Simex approaches to measurement error in roc studies

This paper explores the estimation of the area under the ROC curve when test scores are subject to errors. The naive approach that ignores measurement errors generally yields inconsistent estimates. Finding the asymptotic bias of the naive estimator, Coffin and Sukhatme (1995, 1997) proposed bias-corrected estimators for parametric and nonparametric cases. However, the asymptotic distributions of these estimators have not been developed because of their complexity. We propose several alternative approaches, including the SIMEX procedure of Cook and Stefanski (1994). We also provide the asymptotic distributions of the SIMEX estimators for use in statistical inference. Small simulation studies illustrate that the SIMEX estimators perform reasonably well when compared to the bias-corrected estimators.     

Student field units: A rehabilitative educational response in the juvenile justice system

This article depicts the integration of social work students in the development of a juvenile justice field unit. This collaborative experience was seen as mutually beneficial to the community, the university, the juvenile justice field unit and the student. Thirty-one students were able to gain direct practice knowledge as well as assessment and disposition skills in the juvenile justice setting. This pilot project served to demonstrate and support the utility of this service. Overall, self-reports and ratings from supervisors and students participating in the project were positive. Further, this information is presented to facilitate future usage of this type of placement in the field setting as well as presenting the inherent challenges that were faced while introducing students to the juvenile justice system.     

Downsizing and alcohol use: A cross-lagged longitudinal examination of the spillover hypothesis

An area of concern for investigators and practitioners is the possible linkage between stressful workplace events and alcohol use and abuse; however, work in this area, specifically testing a “spillover hypothesis,” offers inconclusive evidence of a relationship between many work-based stressors and alcohol use. Using a three-wave panel sample (N=455) from a large US industrial firm that has undergone numerous downsizing events in the last decade, four alternative causal hypotheses using fully cross-lagged three-wave mediational latent factor models were compared via structural equation modelling. Separate models were analysed for layoff experience and job security perceptions; a motivational factor, escape reasons for drinking, was included in each model. We found large autoregressive effects for problem alcohol use in the stability models. One reason for weak support for spillover models may be that problem alcohol use is more stable over time than previously theorized. All alternative causal models fit the data well; however, the only model comparisons showing significant improvement over the stability models were those including reverse paths. Reverse causal models should be explicitly considered when examining the link between alcohol problems and the workplace. We suggest that, for some workers, problematic alcohol use may be antecedent to, rather than a consequence of, stressful workplace experiences.