Adult Protective Services workers' experiences with serious illness and death

This study examined the emerging issue of experiences with end-of-life issues in adult protection. A national survey of adult protective services (APS) workers (N=508) examined encounters with serious illness, injury, death, and bereavement and how these situations were handled professionally and personally. APS workers often encountered clients and caregivers with life-threatening illnesses, and clients receiving hospice services. About three-quarters had worked on at least one case involving a client's death. Overall, more education and training about serious and terminal illness, death, grief, and bereavement is needed to prepare APS workers to work with clients and their families facing a variety of end-of-life situations.     

Dissociation in medical practice: Social distress and the health care system

The average physician has developed several different heads, each representing another self on the same body. One is that of the conventional, ethical professional who wants nothing more than to improve mankind's health and well-being, the standard model. Another is the scientist who intends to be perceived as calculating, cold, and factual in determining what will or will not assist the ailing patient (Uexkull & Hannes, 1986). His tools are drugs, surgery, and hospitalization for presumed physical and mental ills. The third, and the one that concerns us the most, is what I will call the neo-capitalist professional hero (Lifion, 1971). This persona is an evolution of our American dominated international culture which the medical profession as a group has honored by honing and polishing with extraordinary skill, second only to politicians and bankers, maximizing it to the further detriment of the entire society. Though the body needs all three to function, none of these heads willingly acknowledges or supports the importance of the others. In what follows, a variety of media, journals, professional books, and a survey are referred to in documenting data about ethical laxity and fraud in the medical profession. Institutional, social concepts are developed that explain the data, and revealing how social distress is the embodiment of the neo-capitalist professional hero. There are also suggestions for remedies in what follows, which are presented without realistic hope for implementation very soon, unfortunately, since they involve deep changes in established social institutions. However, the country at large has developed some awareness of a problem which has reached epidemic proportions in the medical profession. Further increments in awareness promise to tip the balance into positive government action.     

Institutions matter! Why the Herder Problem is not a Prisoner’s Dilemma

In the game theory literature, Garrett Hardin’s famous allegory of the “tragedy of the commons” has been modeled as a variant of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, labeled the Herder Problem (or, sometimes, the Commons Dilemma). This brief paper argues that important differences in the institutional structures of the standard Prisoner’s Dilemma and Herder Problem render the two games different in kind. Specifically, institutional impediments to communication and cooperation that ensure a dominant strategy of defection in the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma are absent in the Herder Problem. Their absence does not ensure that players will achieve a welfare-enhancing, cooperative solution to the Herders Problem, but does create far more opportunity for players to alter the expected payoffs through cooperative arrangements. In a properly modeled Herder Problem—along the lines of an assurance game—defection would not always be the dominant strategy. Consequently, the Herder Problem is not in the nature of a Prisoner’s Dilemma.     

How do people value extended warranties? Evidence from two field surveys

Extended warranties are popular but expensive. This paper examines how consumers value these warranties, and asks whether economic considerations alone can account for their popularity. Results from two field surveys show that consumers greatly overestimate both the likelihood and the cost of product breakdown. However, these biases alone do not explain their willingness to buy warranties. In fact, we find evidence of probability neglect, in which warranty purchase decision depends on the magnitude of the possible consequences of not having insurance and not on the probability of having to suffer these consequences. The expected emotional benefits from having a warranty was the best predictor of purchase decision and willingness to pay. We also found that people with higher cognitive skills are less likely to overestimate the economic determinants of warranty value, yet are still highly influenced by emotional considerations when deciding whether to purchase a warranty.     

Examining the Developmental Impact of Youth Participation in Education Governance: The Case of Student Trustees

Youth participation in school governance is on the rise with increased opportunities for student involvement. The objective of this mixed method study was to provide the first analysis of the student trustee role, a relatively new form of participation where high school students represent their peers on local school boards. Specifically, the aim was to gain an understanding of the meaning of student trustee participation from the perspectives of those in the role. Data collection included qualitative interviews with 16 participants, field observations, and questionnaires administered to 39 student trustees. This article focuses primarily on 2 main themes related to developmental processes and outcomes associated with youth participation. One theme identifies possible factors that may elicit or support youth participation while a second theme examines identity formation and transformative learning. Theories derived from human development and adult education comprise the conceptual framework that illuminates the meaning of student trustee participation.     

Perceived Impact of Economic Downturn on Worry Experienced by Elderly Chinese Immigrants in Canada

The economic downturn impacts older immigrants, who may not have the financial security or resources to mitigate the effects. This project examines the effects of the economic downturn on elderly Chinese immigrants using a survey gauging the effects of the recession on their life and their worry about the economy. The participants were aware of the recession and they spent less and halted investments. Their economic situation seemed to have worsened or remained unchanged. Gender, education level, self-rated financial adequacy, and worry about family’s quality of life were significant correlates of worry. Those with a higher level of worry were female, had higher education, and were less financially adequate. Worry about family’s quality of life is the most important correlate.