Alternative systems of ethics and their application to education and evaluation

Three schools of moral thought are presented to illustrate differences in moral reasoning and the assignment of value claims. Several educational program alternatives are used as illustrations of moral reasoning within and across the schools of thought. Finally, the schools of moral thought are used in a discussion of evaluation practice. Good practice in the current evaluation literature is shown to be a blend of the three schools of thought.     

EMPHASES OF THE MAJOR FAMILY THERAPY MODELS: A FAMILY FIRO ANALYSIS

This paper analyzes 13 models of family therapy according to their special emphases on the Family FIRO model's dimensions of inclusion, control and intimacy. We first examined chapters on each model in Gurman and Kniskern's Handbook of Family Therapy; we then sent our preliminary ratings to the authors of the chapters for comment. The final conceptual analysis of the models indicated that 4 family therapy models emphasize inclusion as a primary focus, 4 emphasize control, and 5 emphasize intimacy. We also rated the secondary and tertiary emphases of the models. This analysis provides a possible guide for therapists who wish to be eclectic or integrative in their work, specifically, by suggesting a way to match therapy techniques from different family therapy models to the presenting family issues that each model emphasizes most strongly.     

Le depart des cerveaux de la cei en occident: Fuite ou mobilite? Enquetes en France

La fin du rideau de fer, l'effondrement du communisme et l'éclatement de l'URSS provoquent, depuis la fin des années 80, une nouvelle vague d'émigrations. Celle‐ci recouvre une fuite des cerveaux dont attestent tous les chiffres disponibles. Cet exode, qui prive les nouveaux Etats de la partie la plus créatrice de leur capital humain au moment où ils ont besoin pour leur reconstruction de toutes leurs forces vives, est à première vue très préoccupant. L'appréciation de ce phénomène doit cependant être nuancée. Il est en lui‐même plus complexe qu'il n'y paraît à première vue. Il a en outre des effets très differents selon les attitudes adoptées d'une part par les pays d'accueil et d'autre part par les migrants. Ce qui ressort d'enquêtes faites en France, c'est que l'ouverture des frontières et la fin de la guerre froide ont profondément changé la signification du départ. Analysé en termes de mobilité et non pas d'émigration, le phénomène actuel d'exode des cerveaux n'apparaît plus sous le même jour. La mobilité, synonyme de coopération entre l'Est et l'Ouest, peut, immédiatement ou à long terme, être très utile aux nouveaux Etats de la CEI. En ce sens, elle devrait, non pas être freinée, mais au contraire encouragée.     

Adolescent development and adolescent pregnancy among late age African-American female adolescents

Prematurely constituted families are a problem of considerable magnitude in inner city communities. Research was conducted to compare and contrast a random sample (N36) of pregnant and nonpregnant late age low income African-American adolescent females' perceptions about their transition to adulthood. Findings suggest that adolescent pregnancy, although problematic, may be a solution to developmental concerns for some Black females and serves as a rite of passage to adulthood. Thematic categories of mate selection, opportunity mobility, and care protection represented psychological-attitudinal variables where the two groups differed significantly. Nonpregnant females were more frequently invested in behaviors that reflected social mobility goals than pregnant females.This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the 3rd Statewide Social Work Symposium, The Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, Marlborough, Mass, 4/22/94.     

"THE STORY" OF A DEATH: THERAPEUTIC CONSIDERATIONS WITH BEREAVED FAMILIES

Facilitating and listening to bereaved families tell "The Story" of their loss is an important component of therapeutic work with bereaved families. Following a discussion of the general functions of stories, the authors use a variety of case examples to illustrate how "The Story" can be used as an assessment device, as an initial intervention, and as a gauge of the progress of treatment. Family stories of loss are conceptualized as constructions, and the emphasis is on how individual and family context affect and are affected by these stories. Throughout the paper, particular attention is paid to ways stories canbe useful for children in families.     

Gerontological research on the quality of life: The Guelph satellite method

This paper describes an interdisciplinary research strategy designed to address gaps in research on the quality of life of older people. We propose that such gaps be addressed through small intensive studies, and that the limitations of such studies be addressed by combining them in phases with a panel approach in the form of “satellite” studies. The emphasis is on the intensive studies as an integral rather than a subsidiary part of the strategy, and on the panel as a vehicle for the satellite studies. As an illustration of the strategy, we describe a project in which the satellite studies focus on intensive examination of specific topics such as family relationships and the panel method employs interviews and questionnaires to collect baseline information and quality of life ratings. We then focus on methodological issues, such as participant selection and the sequencing of phases, and briefly compare the present strategy to other longitudinal approaches. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the methodological and substantive advantages of the strategy.     

A Question of Friendship: Community Care and the Relationships of People with Learning Difficulties

There is evidence that a number of people with learning difficulties living in the community do not enjoy a range of satisfactory social relationships. This paper will examine the way that the issue of the apparent loneliness of people with learning difficulties has been approached in the community care literature. I will argue that there is a clear assumption in much of the literature that friendships between disabled and non-disabled people are of greater value than those relationships between disabled people. The low value accorded to friendships between disabled people is very damaging to their individual self-esteem, as well as to the possibility of political action based on a sense of solidarity. The paper will point also to the constraints that many people with learning difficulties face which render it difficult for them to form friendships and, therefore, reinforce their isolation.     

Disentangling the sources of variation in the survival of the European dipper

The population growth rate of the European dipper has been shown to decrease with winter temperature and population size. We examine here the demographic mechanism for this effect by analysing how these factors affect the survival rate. Using more than 20 years of capture-mark-recapture data (1974-1997) based on more than 4000 marked individuals, we perform analyses using open capture-mark-recapture models. This allowed us to estimate the annual apparent survival rates (probability of surviving and staying on the study site from one year to the next one) and the recapture probabilities. We partitioned the variance of the apparent survival rates into sampling variance and process variance using random effects models, and investigated which variables best accounted for temporal process variation. Adult males and females had similar apparent survival rates, with an average of 0.52 and a coefficient of variation of 40%. Chick apparent survival was lower, averaging 0.06 with a coefficient of variation of 42%. Eighty percent of the variance in apparent survival rates was explained by winter temperature and population size for adults and 48% by winter temperature for chicks. The process variance outweighed the sampling variance both for chick and adult survival rates, which explained that shrunk estimates obtained under random effects models were close to MLE estimates. A large proportion of the annual variation in the apparent survival rate of chicks appears to be explained by inter-year differences in dispersal rates.