宗教与两方环境伦理学

林恩怀特争论始于怀特关于对基督教进行重新思考或者由非西方宗教取而代之的呼吁。林恩怀特争论已经被证明成为处理环境危机的一个障碍。由此而起的对基督教的辩护制约了亚洲和其他比较环境伦理学在西方的发展,没有产生对环境有益的结果。无论何时,当人们谈及宗教和环境的关系的时候,讨论都会迅速转向有关基督教对环境危机责任的讨论。这一争论的关键在于,怀特的论文在很多方面是对的:基督教的确在相当大的程度上造成了自然的世俗化,并且在中世纪,基督教在政治上对现在看来有害的人口增长的政策提供了支持,促进了科学和技术的发展,很多诸如此类的政策已经被证明对环境是有害的。但是,基督教还存在另一种对环境友好的传统,Assisi城的"圣芳济"运动就是其中一例,这种传统也许对于从环境角度重新认识基督教是有益的。但是,对于非西方国家环境伦理的发展,基督教将很难能够有所作为,非西方宗教也不大可能成功地在西方产生出某种环境伦理。因此,对于研究宗教的学者们而言,重要的是要走出谁应该为环境危机受到指责的争论,找到世界各主要宗教如何在其各自的文化范围内对发展环境伦理提供最佳帮助的方法。     

Civic Culture Meets the Digital Divide: The Role of Community Electronic Networks

The concept of social capital reflects the norms and social relations embedded in the social structure of societies that enable people to coordinate community action to achieve desired goals. Our research focuses on the role that norms of cooperation and civic and political culture play in addressing the "digital divide" in computer use and Internet access. We review evidence from mail surveys of randomly selected respondents in two rural Minnesota communities as well as qualitative focus group and archival evidence suggesting that the communities have adopted different approaches to technology diffusion. Whether information technology is viewed as a public or private good depends in part on the civic culture of a community.     

Differentiating the Social Service Needs of Homeless Sexual Minority Youths from those of Non-homeless Sexual Minority Youths

While homeless youths and sexual minority youths are at greater risk for negative life experiences, and homeless sexual minority youths are at greater risk than homeless heterosexual youths, little is known about the differential risks for homeless sexual minority youths compared to non-homeless sexual minority youths. Using a sample of 187 sexual minority youths from a community-based social service agency in Denver, Colorado, the findings of this study suggest that homeless sexual minority youths are at greater risk for victimization, mental health issues, substance abuse, and illegal or dangerous activities than their non-homeless counterparts. Implications for social work practice and social service provision are discussed.     

Multivariate meta-analysis for data consortia,individual patient meta-analysis,and pooling projects

We discuss maximum likelihood and estimating equations methods for combining results from multiple studies in pooling projects and data consortia using a meta-analysis model, when the multivariate estimates with their covariance matrices are available. The estimates to be combined are typically regression slopes, often from relative risk models in biomedical and epidemiologic applications. We generalize the existing univariate meta-analysis model and investigate the efficiency advantages of the multivariate methods, relative to the univariate ones. We generalize a popular univariate test for between-studies homogeneity to a multivariate test. The methods are applied to a pooled analysis of type of carotenoids in relation to lung cancer incidence from seven prospective studies. In these data, the expected gain in efficiency was evident, sometimes to a large extent. Finally, we study the finite sample properties of the estimators and compare the multivariate ones to their univariate counterparts.     

Beliefs about Deliberation: Personal and Normative Dimensions

Democratic deliberative theory has long emphasized the importance of citizen deliberation as a form of political participation and a centrally important component of any vital democracy. Public deliberation and discourse among citizens has been less frequently investigated as a form of political participation than more standard indicators such as voting or volunteering for political organizations. This research examines the extent to which internalized beliefs about deliberation are associated with deliberation outcome measures among a national sample of high school students participating in a year-long deliberation forum, Project 540. Using a multilevel analysis, the research specifically tested the extent to which scales of personal and normative deliberation beliefs, independently and moderated by Project 540 participation, predict key deliberative outcomes (e.g., civic skills, intention to participate in civic affairs). We find that predeliberation endorsement of both personal and normative beliefs predicts increases in certain positive deliberative outcomes, and that these effects are not moderated by participation in Project 540. The implications of these findings for deliberative democracy theory and for developing effective citizen deliberation forums are discussed .     

Differences in perceived barriers to volunteering to formal organizations: Lack of time versus lack of interest

This article reports the findings of a study of perceived barriers to volunteering to formal organizations by nonvolunteers. We examine the types of barriers, their frequencies, and their relationships with individual‐level sociodemographic characteristics of nonvolunteers. Data from a 2001–2002 national survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are analyzed using multiple regression techniques. Contrary to general expectations, only three barriers—lack of time, lack of interest, and ill health—are fairly common. Furthermore, as expected, different social class groups identify different types of barriers. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical implications of the findings (for example, how indicators of social and cultural capital affect access to volunteer opportunities) and practical implications concerning recruitment of volunteers.     

Behavioral Therapy for Marital Disharmony: An Educational Approach*

A behavioral approach to marital therapy in groups includes training in communication skills; increasing the recognition, initiation, and acknowledgement of pleasing interactions; redistributing time spent in recreational and social activities; and contingency contracting. These treatment modules are offered during eight to 10 sessions spaced over a three month period. The specific techniques are imbedded in a matrix consisting of an alliance between the spouses and the co-therapists, and group cohesiveness. Evaluations of the approach with 40 couples indicate that the group methods produce statistically significant improvements in marital satisfaction. An experimental comparison revealed that the behavioral methods led to significantly greater improvements in the observed interactions between spouses than in a group which used a discussion-interaction format.     

MBO: The fad that changed management

Management by Objectives was introduced just over 30 years ago by Peter Drucker. It has been one of the most widely written business topics but, in spite of this, there has been a continuing controversy about the meaning of MBO and whether it has been of value. The author argues that most of the problems have been due to the lack of a generally accepted definition. A new and comprehensive definition, based on Peter Drucker's original work on the subject, is presented. The author believes that this definition will help organizations use MBO to increase productivity, improve quality, lower costs, make faster decisions and serve customers better.