Athena's Legacy: Preparing Women for a Mentoring Program

ABSTRACT

A community-based research study conducted in 2004 identified a number of women from disadvantaged communities who sought mentoring in personal, educational, and vocational aspects of their lives. Informed by this earlier research, a program titled Map Your Future was developed, and a pilot mentoring program commenced in 2005. This article describes the group program that was developed to prepare the women for a mentoring relationship, and the research methodology underpinning its development. It concludes with an exploration of the women's experiences of the program.     

A case history based assessment of female genital mutilation in Sudan

The subject of female genital mutilation is discussed through a selection of excerpts from a narrative derived from interviews with educated Sudanese women. The original interview form ensures an inside, contextual presentation of the subject, providing the clues for approaches towards elimination of the practice. With evaluation and planning strategies in mind, the issues are placed in the conceptual framework of the segregation of the sexes and viewed through the ideas of gender-based discrimination as outlined in CEDAW.     

Deterrence: Testing the Effects of Perceived Sanction Certainty on Probation Violations

Deterrence theory has been repeatedly used to explain individuals'choices to commit vs. not commit crimes. Its utilitarian premise is that individuals will choose to commit or not commit crimes based on the certainty, swiftness, and severity of punishments. This study examines the perceived certainty of sanctions among offenders mandated into intensive probation and the effects of varying levels of perceived sanction certainty in deterring offenders from violating probation requirements. Data from an Intensive Supervision Probation program in New Jersey are used. Results support the salience of offenders'perceptions of sanction certainty on their intensive probation outcomes, and implications for policy are discussed.     

Worker Exposure Standard for Phosphine Gas

The 1998 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) re-registration eligibility decision (RED) for phosphine fumigants has generated much interest in defining safe levels of exposure for workers and worker bystanders. This report summarizes the pertinent literature on phosphine toxicity, including animal inhalation studies and human epidemiology studies, and also describes a margin-of-exposure (MOE) analysis based on available worker exposure data. In addition, a safe occupational exposure limit is estimated using typical OPP assumptions, after determination of appropriate uncertainty factors, based on quality of data in the principal study and pharmacokinetic considerations. While a conservative 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 0.1 ppm was calculated, the overall weight of evidence, from a risk-management perspective, supports a conclusion that an occupational TWA of 0.3 ppm provides adequate health protection. In addition, a 15-minute short-term exposure limit (STEL) of 3 ppm was estimated. Finally, in contrast to the MOE analysis described in the OPP's phosphine RED, the MOE analysis described herein does not indicate that fumigation workers are currently being exposed to unacceptable levels of phosphine. Collectively, these findings support the occupational exposure limits of 0.3 ppm (8-hour TWA) and 1 ppm (STEL) established in the updated applicator's manuals for phosphine-generating products, which recently received approval from OPP.     

The Influence of ISO 9000 Certification on Process Compliance

This article examines the influence of ISO 9000 certification on plant‐level process compliance, which arguably is its first‐order, targeted performance dimension. The empirical setting is the medical device manufacturing industry. Process compliance is measured through Food and Drug Administration inspections of manufacturing plants. We control for several observable factors that possibly affect process compliance by matching certified plants with non‐certified plants. Using longitudinal data, we find plants that obtained certification in the earlier diffusion period (early‐certified plants) tend to have significantly better process compliance than a matched, non‐certified control group of plants. The compliance difference between early‐certified plants and their matched control group is greater than the compliance difference between late‐certified plants and their matched control group. We also find deterioration in process compliance over time after certification. Because we capture longitudinally the first‐order effects of ISO 9000 on process compliance, this study provides a useful baseline for assessing causality in ISO 9000‐performance linkages. Also, we explain, in part, the inconsistencies observed in related ISO 9000 literature examining the performance effects of certification. Further, this research offers managerial insights on the dynamics of certification and process compliance with time, and highlights the need for continued vigilance post certification.     

Why Laundry,Not Hegel? Social Class,Transition to College,and Pathways to Adulthood

This article is part of a larger study looking at upper‐middle‐class, college‐bound high school seniors and their parents as they go through the college application process. The seniors we interviewed expect college to be a transformative experience that will affect their identities. But they also know they will experience upheavals in the routines of everyday life as they face changes of place, changes in responsibility for tasks, and changes in familial relationships. At this point of upheaval their anxiety is focused more on issues such as how to get their laundry done than on whether they will understand thinkers such as Hegel. These college‐bound students also see their ongoing transition to adulthood as a gradual, emerging process. The connection between social class and pathways to adulthood is explored.     

Inferring Australian children's sense of community: A critical exploration

Sense of community (SOC) has been found to be a predictor of adult well-being and psychological health. Recent research has begun to explore adolescents' SOC. However, there is a dearth of research on the meaning children attach to their community and the development of their SOC, despite its potential for providing an understanding of important aspects of children's lives. Conversational interviews were conducted in schools with 46 children aged from 9 to 12 years. The results were analysed using an unfolding strategy. The findings indicate that for children, understandings of community focus on the relationships shared with the significant others central to their experience of childhood--family, friends, and neighbours, consistent with Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework. Children also described community in terms of environment, both built and natural. Further exploration of the children's understanding of community yielded insights into the role of activities, interactions, good and bad aspects of community and problem solving in their understanding of community. The implications of the research are discussed in terms of programme planning at the individual and systemic levels. Le sentiment d'appartenance àune communauté est un indicateur qui nous permet de prévoir la santé psychologique et le bien-être chez les adultes. Les chercheurs ont commencé récemment à explorer le sentiment d'appartenance à une communauté par les adolescents. Cependant peu de recherche a étéfaite sur le sens que les enfants donnent àla communauté à laquelle ils appartiennent et au développement de leur esprit communautaire. Ceci est important pour comprendre certains aspects essentiels de la vie des enfants. Nous avons conduit dans quelques écoles des entretiens non dirigés avec 46 enfants âgés de 9 à 12 ans. Les résultats ont été analysés étape par étape. Ils nous ont indiqué que la prise de conscience par les enfants de leur communauté proche dépendait de rapports-clés associés à leur expérience--en famille, avec leurs amis et leurs voisins, selon le modèle écologique de Bronfenbrenner. Les enfants décrivent également leur communauté en faisant des liens avec leur environnement (la nature et les bâtiments). D'autres études sur la manière dont les enfants assimilent la notion de communauté ont aidé à comprendre le rôle jouépar leurs activités, leurs interactions, les aspects positifs et négatifs de la vie de groupe et par la résolution des problèmes. Nous présenterons des applications de cette recherche à l'élaboration de programmes au niveau individuel et systémique.