The social networks of young people in Ireland with experience of long‐term foster care: some lessons for policy and practice

This paper presents findings from the first study of the social networks of a group of young people in Ireland who have experienced long‐term foster care. The study group was composed of two groups of young people, a group who were currently in care and a group who had left the care system. The central focus was to examine the impact of foster care on the social network experience of the young people. Findings indicated that foster care impacts on the young people's social network experience in the following ways: losing contact with extended family; a greater challenge in making and sustaining friendships; an impact on education; and an inability to maintain contact with groups and activities that are of significance. This paper also presents recommendations in relation to policy and practice, including the raising of awareness of the importance of a social network approach in working with young people with care experience.     

Modelling mass-size particle data by finite mixtures

A minimum distance procedure, analogous to maximum likelihood for multinomial data, is employed to fit mixture models to mass-size relative frequencies recorded for some clay soils of southeastern Australia. Log hyperbolic component distributions are considered initially and it is shown how they can be fitted satisfactorily at least to ungrouped data using a generalized EM algorithm. A computationally more convenient model with log skew Laplace components is subsequently shown to suffice. It is demonstrated how it can be fitted to the data in their original grouped form. Consideration is given also to the provision of standard errors using the idea of a quasi-sample size.     

Bayesian bivariate survival analysis using the power variance function copula

Copula models have become increasingly popular for modelling the dependence structure in multivariate survival data. The two-parameter Archimedean family of Power Variance Function (PVF) copulas includes the Clayton, Positive Stable (Gumbel) and Inverse Gaussian copulas as special or limiting cases, thus offers a unified approach to fitting these important copulas. Two-stage frequentist procedures for estimating the marginal distributions and the PVF copula have been suggested by Andersen (Lifetime Data Anal 11:333–350, 2005), Massonnet et al. (J Stat Plann Inference 139(11):3865–3877, 2009) and Prenen et al. (J R Stat Soc Ser B 79(2):483–505, 2017) which first estimate the marginal distributions and conditional on these in a second step to estimate the PVF copula parameters. Here we explore an one-stage Bayesian approach that simultaneously estimates the marginal and the PVF copula parameters. For the marginal distributions, we consider both parametric as well as semiparametric models. We propose a new method to simulate uniform pairs with PVF dependence structure based on conditional sampling for copulas and on numerical approximation to solve a target equation. In a simulation study, small sample properties of the Bayesian estimators are explored. We illustrate the usefulness of the methodology using data on times to appendectomy for adult twins in the Australian NH&MRC Twin registry. Parameters of the marginal distributions and the PVF copula are simultaneously estimated in a parametric as well as a semiparametric approach where the marginal distributions are modelled using Weibull and piecewise exponential distributions, respectively.     

Rationality on the rise: Why relative risk aversion increases with stake size

How does risk tolerance vary with stake size? This important question cannot be adequately answered if framing effects, nonlinear probability weighting, and heterogeneity of preference types are neglected. We show that the observed increase in relative risk aversion over gains cannot be captured by the curvature of the value function. Rather, it is predominantly driven by a change in probability weighting of a majority group of individuals who weight probabilities of high gains more conservatively. Contrary to gains, no coherent change in relative risk aversion is observed for losses. These results not only challenge expected utility theory, but also prospect theory.     

Overtime in Relation to Blood Pressure and Mood During Work, Leisure, and Night Time

This study examined the association between characteristics of the workplace and overtime. A sample of 117 women and 126 men were assessed over 24 hours of a working day by means of a computerized diary and ambulant monitoring of blood pressure. Of the total sample, 178 participants had a contractual weekly working time of 40 hours. Of these, 106 participants worked overtime (OT) and 72 worked regular time (RT). Contrary to expectations, a significant association was found between the amount of OT and the quality of task design (e.g., high decision latitude, high level of freedom). Men and women working OT had less leisure time, and men also reported less obligatory time (e.g., time for household, childcare etc.) than those working RT. Women, but not men, working OT had a higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure during work than those working RT. Significantly more participants in the group of men and women working OT were found to have a disturbed ability to recover and to display clinically relevant sleep disturbances than in the group working regular hours. Furthermore, working OT was associated with less positive affect after work (obligatory and leisure time) in men, and with more negative affect during work and before going to bed in men and women. The results imply the need for jobs that can be finished within regular working hours and that give employees opportunities for job control. Such jobs enable a balance to be found between work load and recovery and represent a prerequisite for occupational health and well-being.     

The effects of the child support provisions of the Family Support Act of 1988 on child well-being

The provisions for child support reform in the Family Support Act of 1988 are likely to have a large impact upon the well-being of children eligible for child support, a group expected to include half of the children in the country. The reform is expected to increase child support payments and thereby reduce the economic insecurity and poverty of children who live apart from a parent. It is also expected to lead to increased contact between noncustodial parents and their children, which may also enhance well-being. This paper reviews the child support system in the United States, summarizes the empirical research that has been carried out on children from disrupted families, analyzes the impact that the Family Support Act may have on child well-being, and discusses the key variables that should be measured as well as the most promising sources of data to evaluate child support reform.Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the sponsoring institutions.     

Philanthropy in 18th-Century Central Europe: Evangelical Reform and Commerce

This article focuses on the close linkage between domestic philanthropy and commerce at the end of the early modern period, and the sophistication with which well-connected evangelical institutions transcended the confines of established religion and territorial boundaries. Use of a large set of primary and secondary sources that are relatively unknown in the history of the voluntary sector permits the examination and analysis of several notable aspects of the Francke Orphanage Foundations, an 18th-century central European institution of evangelical reform and colonial mission. Particular attention is given to the innovative efforts of their founder, August Hermann Francke, to secure an independent financial base for his institutional goals. These goals, which were supported in large part by members of the German nobility and of merchants in the imperial cities, included but were not limited to reform of charity care and education. From the outset, a close network of personal supporters and evangelical institutions that extended throughout Protestant Europe proved essential for both trade and evangelical mission; this network permitted expansion into Russia and the Baltic provinces, Hungary, the Near East and India, and eventually the British North American colonies.     

Jackknifed kernel quantile estimators

A new quantile estimator is obtained by jackknifing the kernel quantile estimator. The asymptotic relative deficiency of the kernel quantile estimator relative to the jackknifed quantile estimator is investigated.     

Solidarität

Which socio-psychological terms are connected with the term “solidarity”? Solidarity is understood as a specific attitude and quality of relationships between individuals in groups and organizations and on the level of society. A disturbed balance between “self-enhancement” and “self-transcendence” caused by socio-cultural developments diminishes solidarity. The questions that are considered and discussed, are the following: Under which conditions does solidarity arise, which conditions in groups allow individuals to learn about solidarity, do current organizational structures affect the well tried forms of organized solidarity and how does empowerment conflict with the balance of power in society?