Strengthening Support to Families: Basing a Family Support Worker at a Primary School in Melbourne,Australia

This mixed methods study examines the benefits of basing a family support worker (FSW) at a primary school in Melbourne, Australia. The school has a number of high needs families requiring extensive support from school staff. Pre and post intervention data was collected on the time spent on social problems in the school community. These included managing students with behavioural and emotional issues, providing support and practical assistance to parents with problems and liaising with agencies to access support for students and families. Pre and post intervention Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires were completed by teachers whose students and families were clients of the FSW (n = 8) and compared with non clients (n = 10). Semi-structured interviews were held with FSW clients (n = 6), class teachers (n = 3) the assistant principal, principal and the FSW. Employing a FSW showed a reduction in the amount of time spent on welfare cases for teachers, and therefore a monetary saving for the school. Qualitative data collected from school staff and FSW clients was overwhelmingly positive. Having a FSW based at a primary school provides savings in teacher time, and expenses to the school. Teachers are freed to concentrate on education and the parents valued the relationship provided by the FSW.     

Bargaining over waiting time in ultimatum game experiments

While preference-based explanations play an increasing role in economics and sociology, the accurate measurement of social preferences deserves more attention. Most laboratory experiments measure social preferences by studying the division of “a cake that nobody had to bake” (Güth and Kliemt, 2003). This article reports results of the first ultimatum game experiment with bargaining over waiting time. The experiment was created to avoid effects of windfall gains. In contrast to donated money, time is not endowed by the experimenter and implies a natural loss to subjects. This allows for a better measurement of the inherent conflict in the ultimatum game. We implemented three anonymity conditions; one baseline condition, one condition with anonymity among subjects and one double-blind condition in which the experimenter did not know the division of waiting time. While we expected to observe less other-regarding behavior in ultimatum game bargaining over time, our experimental results rather confirm previous ultimatum game experiments, in which people bargained over money. The modal offer was half of the waiting time and only one offer was rejected. Interestingly, anonymity did not change the results significantly. In conclusion, our experiment confirms other-regarding behavior in the ultimatum game.     

Birds of a Feather? The Effect of Organizational Value Congruence on the Relationship Between Ministries and Quangos

In this paper we investigate differences between the organizational values of ministries and semi-autonomous executive agencies (quangos) that operate at arms’ length. Quangos are expected to operate more business-like, hence they can be expected to value profitability and other NPM-related values higher than ministries. Value incongruence between quangos and ministries is hypothesized to decrease their level of trust. These hypotheses are tested, using combined data from two Dutch surveys (n = 324). The results confirm the expectations, although different types of quangos have different degrees of value (in)congruence, which may lead to variations in the quality of the relationship with their parent ministry.     

Beliefs about overconfidence

This experiment elicits beliefs about other people’s overconfidence and abilities. We find that most people believe that others are unbiased, and only few think that others are overconfident. There is a remarkable heterogeneity between these groups. Those people who think others are underconfident or unbiased are overconfident themselves. Those who think others are overconfident are underconfident themselves. Despite this heterogeneity, people overestimate on average the abilities of others as they do their own ability. One driving force behind this result is the refusal to process information about oneself: not only does this lead to overestimation of one’s own ability, but by means of social projection also to overestimation of others’ abilities.     

An empirical approach to theoretical perspectives on sentencing in a young offender court

Cette communication présente une analyse de cinq théories des déterminants des decisions des tribunaux à la lumière des donnees quantitatives tirées d'entrevues realisees avec un échantillon de parents de jeunes contrevenants. Les résultats indiquent qu'en dépit des réformes législatives, les infractions liées au statut juridique de la personne demeurent une réalité dans le système judiciaire canadien, et les facteurs associés aux décisions des tribunaux different selon que le délit est de nature criminelle au sens traditionnel ou qu'il est lié au statut juridique de la personne. À la différence de certaines études récentes, les résultats n'appuient pas la thèse libéralo-consensuelle, car diverses variables juridiquement pertinentes n'ont aucune influence sur les décisions du tribunal à l'égard de l'un ou de l'autre type de contrevenant. Par contre, les données relatives aux contrevenants de type traditionnel cadrent assez bien avec l'approche féministe, font penser que les sentences rendues sont plutôt l'inverse ce que prédirait un modèle strictement néo-marxiste et semblent indiquer que les tribunaux entretiennent des liens «flous» avec d'autres secteurs du systeme judiciaire juvénile. D'après les données relatives aux infractions liées au statut de la personne, l'explication des décisions des tribunaux résiderait surtout au niveau des mécanismes de contrôle social. Based on interviews with parents of a sample of young offenders appearing before a family court, this paper presents a quantitative test of five theoretical perspectives on sentencing. The results indicate that despite legislative change, status offenders are still a reality in Canadian courts and factors associated with court outcomes differ depending on whether the offence is of a traditional criminal nature or is a status offence. Contrary to recent research findings, results do not support a liberal/consensus perspective. Legally relevant variables are not found to affect court outcomes for either type of offence. Results for traditional offenders provide considerable support for a feminist perspective on court decision-making processes, suggest that social class effects on court outcomes may be the opposite to that predicted by a strictly neo-Mamian perspective, and provide some support for the notion that courts are ‘loosely coupled’ to other sectors of the juvenile justice system. Results for status offenders point in the direction of a social control explanation for court outcomes.     

A New Era in Governmental Reform: Realizing Community

The good government models of the 1990s realized a focus that included reinventing, reengineer-ing, rethinking, quality, empowerment, and devolution of the organization. These organizational reform ideologies sought to increase involvement, improve productivity, manage performance, and drive results. One essential key that has been disregarded in these government models is the involvement of community in the decision-making process. This paper points to the importance of involving and empowering citizens in the decision-making process, particularly in regard to community justice based on the notion of restorative justice system. Community justice, a modern day reform movement with international proportions, is based on the principles of empowering community, repairing harm caused by a crime or disturbance, and reducing risk to the community.     

Evaluating from the outside: conducting cross-cultural evaluation research on an American Indian reservation

There is limited guidance for conducting competent and responsive cross-cultural evaluation research with American Indian communities. The authors draw on Fisher and Ball's Tribal Participatory Research Model to highlight ways in which this project is attempting to be culturally appropriate and sensitive as they partner with an American Indian community to implement and evaluate a youth-based initiative. Challenges encountered during the evaluation are shared, as well as the authors' collective responses to such challenges. Implications for future cross-cultural evaluation researchers are also discussed in light of these experiences.     

A "good death" for whom? Quality of spouse's death and psychological distress among older widowed persons

Ethicists, policy makers, and care providers are increasingly concerned with helping the dying elderly to experience a "good death." A "good death" is characterized by physical comfort, social support, acceptance, and appropriate medical care, and it should minimize psychological distress for the dying and their families. I identify the predictors of death quality and evaluate how the quality of an older adult's death affects the surviving spouse's psychological adjustment six months after the loss. Analyses use Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) data, a prospective study of married persons ages 65 and older. Positive spousal relationships during the final days increase survivors' yearning yet reduce their anger. Having a spouse die a painful death is associated with elevated anxiety, yearning, and intrusive thoughts. The perception of physician negligence is associated with elevated anger. These findings suggest that improved end-of-life care and pain management will benefit both the dying and their bereaved spouses.