Psychosocial Problems Associated With Homelessness in Sexual Minority Youths

Sexual minorities are overrepresented among homeless youths, and this is often related to reactions to their status as sexual minorities. While on the streets, they are at increased risk for victimization, substance and alcohol use, sexual risk behaviors, and mental health issues compared to homeless heterosexual youths. This article uses ecological systems theory to examine psychosocial problems associated with homelessness among sexual minority youths and reviews empirical literature examining outcomes related to homeless sexual minority youths including mental health, substance use, and sexual risk behavior. Implications for social work are discussed including practice, policy, and suggestions for future studies.     

The Second Generation in Belgium

A growing proportion of second‐generation Moroccan and Turkish youngsters in Belgium are moving on to higher secondary education and beyond. This trend is greater among Moroccan youngsters than among their Turkish peers. Turkish girls in particular are still married off at a young age, which inevitably affects their educational opportunities. Despite higher participation rates for youngsters from immigrant backgrounds, the educational gap with Belgian pupils and students remains wide. This is largely attributable to differences in socioeconomic background. It appears that the concentration of second‐generation immigrant pupils in certain schools is also a major explanatory factor. Despite their increased participation in education, second‐generation immigrants are still not well represented in the labor market and they are, moreover, employed mostly in less favorable segments of that market. An interesting development among second‐generation immigrants is the polarization that is taking place in relation to the significance of Islam. A growing number of second‐generation youngsters are opting for a more secular way of life, while an increasingly large group is choosing Islamist ideologies or at least a more conscious form of Islam. For young people of the second generation, who often have little to hold on to socially, Islamism can provide a transparent, supportive, and all‐embracing frame of reference.     

Energy interdependence in the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany

The paper reports an input-output analysis of energy flows in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) economy which includes a capital flows matrix. Results include a quantification of the interdependence of energy with other manufacturing resources, and an estimate of energy and energy-related costs of commodities. An approximate method of estimating the effects of changes in technical coefficients and primary input costs is assessed.     

Working Class Politics: An Interpretation of the Quebec Case*

L'echec repete des partis politiques de gauche au Quebec est generalement attri-bue au conservatisme et au nationalisme de la classe ouvriere canadienne-fran-caise. Cependant, quand on considere l'appui disproportions des ouvriers pour l'Union Nationale, il appert que cet appui ne peut s'expliquer par de telles attitudes. Nous suggerons plutot que la montee de l'Union Nationale durant les an-nees de 1935 a 1936 represente surtout la montee d'un mouvement politique de protestation economique, et que les ouvriers s'attacherent peu a evaluer son ideologic propre. De facon plus generate, nous pretendons que les valeurs et les inte-rets des elites sont plus importantes que ceux des classes inferieures pour ex-pliquer 1'orientation conservatrice et nationaliste de la politique au Quebec et l'echec des partis de gauche. The failure of leftist parties in Quebec is usually interpreted as a result of the conservatism and ethnic consciousness of the French Canadian working class. However, when the disproportionate support of the workers for the conservative Union Nationale party is considered, one finds that it cannot be explained by these and related attitudes. As an alternative interpretation, it is suggested that the Union Nationale rose during the 1930s as an economic protest movement and that the workers turned to it independently of its philosophy. More generally, we argue that the values and interests of the elites are more important than those of the lower classes to explain the conservative and nationalist character of Quebec politics and the failure of leftist parties.     

On optimal control and macroeconomic policy

Control theory has important contributions to make to the theory of macro-economic policy. These include a unified view of estimation, forecasting and control and a consequently clearer focus in identifying performance criteria. Further, the methods of control theory imply objectivity and a need for assumptions to be made explicit. By contrast, the UK lacks a research body for forecasting and policy evaluation detached from doctrinal or methodological commitment. Engineering control methods, however, diverge from those wholly acceptable to economic systems in that, in the latter, the controller is himself part of the system he controls and some of his controls operate only indirectly. A further difference is that economics cannot as yet furnish the controller with reliable models of system behaviour linking policy instruments to set targets.     

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