Estimating Residency Rates for Undetermined Telephone Numbers

The method for estimating residency rates in random digit dial(RDD) telephone surveys is important for computing responserates. This article reviews existing methods of estimating residencyrates and introduces a new "survival" method that takes advantageof more information to provide improved estimates. Examplesof applying this to large RDD samples are given along with suggestionsfor use of the method in other surveys.     

Social Representations and Repression: Examining the First Formulations of Freud and Moscovici

The English edition of Moscovici's classic work on the social representation of psychoanalysis enables us to reflect on the historical origins of psychoanalytic ideas and of social representation theory itself. Moscovici claimed that science was both univocal and abstract and, in these respects, it differs from the social representations of commonsense. This paper explores these notions, especially in relation to Moscovici's claim that psychoanalytic theory is to be found in Freud's first formulations. It is suggested that some of the processes, which Moscovici attributes to the passage of psychoanalytic ideas to commonsense, can be found occur in the early history of psychoanalysis. This can be seen in Freud's criticisms of the way Jung used the concept of “complex”. Moreover, psychoanalytic theory could never be univocal for it incorporated the voices of patients and their representations of the world. An examination of Studies on Hysteria reveals further multivocality as Freud uses both the “action” language of ordinary life and the reified, nominalized language of science. Examples are given in relation to the first formulations of the key psychoanalytic concept of “repression”. Some comparisons are made between Freud's first formulations of “repression” and Moscovici's first formulations of “social representation”.     

A Comparative Study of the Management of Cases of Deliberate Self-Harm in a District General Hospital

Correspondence to Michael Bateson, Senior Psychiatric Social Worker, Lancaster Moor Hospital, Lancaster, Lanes. Summary A controlled study was undertaken of two services assessingand managing cases of deliberate self-harm admitted to a casualtydepartment. The first service featured psychiatrists only andthe second included psychiatric social workers as well as psychiatrists. A combination of standardized instruments, a structured questionnaire,a twelve month diary and medical and social work files wereused to collect information. Demographic factors, repetitionrates, types of help offered, client satisfaction, social circumstancesand general health were investigated. Few significant differences were found to have existed betweenthe client populations of the two services at initial assessment.Also, there were no apparent differences in factors interveningbetween initial assessment and follow-up. However, the analysisof outcome measures indicates that clients benefited substantiallyfrom the addition of a psychiatric social worker in the followingareas: help offered, client satisfaction, social circumstancesand general health. These results are discussed.     

GEOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATES: A VARIANCE DECOMPOSITION APPROACH

This paper analyzes the determinants of the geographic dispersion of unemployment rates. The model presented here recognizes that structural labor market relationships differ across areas and that area unemployment rates and some of the explanatory variables are determined simultaneously. Most importantly, the methodology introduced here provides an estimate of the impact of each of the explanatory variables on the overall dispersion of unemployment rates, allowing comparison of several competing hypotheses that purport to explain why areas differ so widely in terms of their unemployment rates. The empirical results indicate that inter-area differences in product market demand and in sensitivity to changes in conditions in the product market are the most important factors accounting for geographic differences in unemployment rates. More generally, the results indicate that unemployment rates differ widely across areas not so much because areas differ in terms of the underlying characteristics that determine unemployment rates but because areas are so heterogeneous with respect to labor market structure.     

Maternal Depression, Child Care and the Social Work Role

Correspondence to Michael Sheppard, Principal Lecturer, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA. Summary This article reviews findings on the relationship of maternaldepression and child care problems, a relationship which haslargely been ignored in social work. These findings are of particularimportance in view of the philosophy in the Children Act 1989that the best place to bring up a child is usually with theirfamily and the duty of local authorities to promote this. Thefindings consistently identify a clear relationship betweenemotional and behavioural child care problems and maternal depressionshowing that depression is likely to affect the mother's childcare abilities and also her perceptions of the child's behaviour.These have important implications for education, training andpractice, and these are discussed.     

THE EFFECT OF TECHNICAL CHANGE ON MARKET STRUCTURE

The paper examines the effects of technical change on market structure. It is found that: 1) the role of independent inventors and small firms is much more important in the early stages of the evolution of a product; 2) the net effect of innovations on entry reverses itself over the product cycle; 3) there is a shift in the importance of various sources of innovation over the product cycle. The two forces which contribute to this result are: 1) a decline in the importance of innovations as technology matures and 2) the proliferation of products adapted to specialized uses.     

The Problems of Managing the Family Contacts of Children in Residential Care

Summary The study explores the problems of managing the family contactsof children in residential care. It focuses on the family linksexperienced by two children undergoing a two month long periodof observation and assessment. It is seen that the family linksof these children take a low priority, particularly as socialwork plans change and the informal world of the institutionbecomes pervasive. The outcomes of the two cases are charted.