A New Model for Information Diffusion in Heterogeneous Social Networks

This paper discusses a new model for the diffusion of information through heterogeneous social networks. In earlier models, when information was given by one actor to another the transmitter did not retain the information. The new model is an improvement on earlier ones because it allows a transmitter of information to retain that information after telling it to somebody else. Consequently, the new model allows more actors to have information during the information diffusion process. The model provides predictions of diffusion times in a given network at the global, dyadic, and individual levels. This leads to straightforward generalizations of network measures, such as closeness centrality and betweenness centrality, for research problems that focus on the efficiency of information transfer in a network. We analyze in detail how information diffusion times and centrality measures depend on a series of network measures, such as degrees and bridges. One important finding is that predictions about the time actors need to spread information in the network differ considerably between the new and old models, while the predictions about the time needed to receive information hardly differ. Finally, some cautionary remarks are made about using the model in empirical research.     

Parenting and child experiences in shelter: A qualitative study exploring the effect of homelessness on the parent–child relationship

Depending on the data source, between half a million and 2.48 million children in families experience homelessness each year in the United States. Recent data suggest that approximately half of all homeless children are under the age of 6. A considerable body of quantitative research has documented the occurrence of poor outcomes associated with childhood homelessness in the domains of social–emotional development, physical and behavioral health, academic achievement, and family stability. This qualitative study presents results from 19 interviewers with formerly homeless parents reflecting upon how the experience of being homeless affected their young children and their ability to parent. Findings are contextualized within an attachment perspective. Parental reported effects included confusion, sadness, anxiety or depression, withdrawal, lack of appetite, aggression, and disregard for authority. Parents also talked about the disempowering experience of parenting while in shelter. Unexpectedly, parents of infants said their children were not affected by homelessness, and few parents identified the need for mental health services for their children. The experiences of parents with whom we spoke provide invaluable insight into what shelter staff, social service agencies, philanthropy, policymakers, and researchers can do to support and respect the parent–child relationship in families who are experiencing homelessness.     

The Culture of Surveillance

Postmodern cultural theory after Foucault, Debord, and Baudrillard has tended to indict surveillance as a disciplinary apparatus, producing a society that is both carceral and increasingly virtual. At the same time, social critics like Lasch have decried the growth of narcissism amid the failure of liberalism. This essay aims to complicate both of these perspectives by examining the contradictory desire for surveillance in popular media like reality TV and in the social sciences themselves. It may be that the desire to watch and be watched is a more deeply rooted element of the liberal democratic impulse than we normally care to admit.     

Measuring public sector size in the advanced market economy countries: The problem of deflators

A great deal of scholarly attention has been directed to understanding the causes of the growth of the public sector in the developed market economy countries in recent decades. Unfortunately, this literature has been clouded by uncertainty over measurement of the central variable at issue, the relative size of the public sector. Traditionally, public sector size has been measured as the ratio of government expenditures to GDP, with both figures expressed in current national currencies. Recently, however, this standard approach has been criticized by those who argue that figures for government expenditures and GDP should be separately deflated to account for different rates of inflation in the public sector and the economy as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to explore the empirical relationship between same- and different-deflator indicators of public sector size, focusing on social expenditures in 19 developed market economy countries over the period 1960–1981. The analysis finds that same- and different-deflator indicators are generally strongly correlated and that the choice of deflators, while of some importance, is not of overriding significance in assessing four major explanation of public sector growth in the countries examined.     

Dual agency and fiduciary responsibilities in modern medicine

In today's complex medical world, physicians often face difficult decisions about whom they serve first--patients, corporations, insurance companies, the government, etc.     

Voting under the threat of secession: accommodation versus repression

We build a simple model of secession crises where a majority of voters may wish to accommodate a minority in order to prevent a secession attempt. We first show the existence of a majority voting equilibrium, where the median voter is decisive and most prefers a government’s type that is biased in favor of the minority. We propose a measure of the secession risk at equilibrium, which depends upon the comparison of the willingness to secede by the minority and to accommodate by the majority. We show that focusing only on the willingness to secede, as previous literature has done, is misleading when studying the impact on the risk of secession of the size of the minority region, the probability that a secession attempt by the minority is successful, and the cultural heterogeneity in the country.     

The Influence of Transformational Leadership and Job Burnout on Child Protective Services Case Managers' Commitment and Intent to Quit

ABSTRACT

Job burnout is prevalent in child welfare with turnover rates estimated between 20% and 40% nationwide. Although effective leadership has been shown to facilitate positive job attitudes and low job burnout in many industries, including healthcare organizations, limited research exists examining whether transformational leadership affects job burnout and job attitudes among child protective services (CPS) case managers. Moreover, no research exists examining whether job burnout mediates the relationships between transformational leadership and job attitudes. This study was designed to examine the relationships between transformational leadership, job burnout, and job attitudes among CPS case managers and whether job burnout mediates those relationships. Bass's theory of transformational leadership and Maslach's theory of job burnout provided the theoretical frameworks for this study. In this nonexperimental study, 197 CPS case managers (83% women) participated by completing an online survey. Results indicated that transformational leadership and job burnout correlated with each other and with job attitudes as hypothesized, and job burnout partially mediated the relationships between transformational leadership and the criterion variables. Our findings suggest that child welfare organizations should hire and/or train transformational leaders to reduce job burnout and increase job attitudes among CPS case managers. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Personality, perceptions and retrenchment decisions of managers in response to decline: Evidence from a decision-making study

Drawing on the strategic leadership and leadership cognition literature, we develop a theoretical framework linking personal characteristics of strategic leaders with their perceptions of organizational decline and retrenchment activities. Our hypotheses are tested using a sample of 110 experienced MBA students in a scenario-based study. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that strategic leaders' perceptions of the severity of a firm's decline play an important role in the recommendation of extensive retrenchment activities in response to decline. However, perceptions of the severity of decline vary substantially across decision makers and are influenced by an individual's locus of strategic control, functional background and maturity. The study's findings that perceptions of decline and planned responses to decline vary substantially and predictably across individuals are discussed in light of existing theory and practice.