The Sustainability of Substitute Family Care for Children Separated from Their Families by War: Evidence from Mozambique

This article presents the findings of an empirical study exploring the sustainability of the substitute family in supporting children separated from their families during Mozambique's 16‐year civil conflict. It describes shifts in the boundaries that have defined arrangements for the care of children separated from their normative family care givers and shows that, contrary to received wisdom based on traditional forms of child care, children and substitute families have achieved lasting relationships through new forms of mutual support that typify indigenous coping mechanisms in times of stress.     

Specifying Risk Goals: Inherent Problems with Democratic Institutions

Many risks have the property that large numbers of people are exposed and have little or no individual control over the risks they face. Dams, nuclear power plants, and recombinant DNA research have proven controversial not simply because there is vast uncertainty about the true level of risk associated with each, but because a fundamental issue is that in each case social risks can be lessened by spending more on safety: dams can be designed to withstand larger earthquakes, nuclear plants can have additional safety equipment, and DNA research could be done in yet more carefully isolated laboratories. Since each person will have preferences regarding the proper trade-off between increased cost and increased safety, there is little possibility of consensus. More importantly, we show that a voting process for expressing individual preferences can be manipulated and is seriously flawed in the sense that it does not lead to an "efficient" outcome. In addition, we show that virtually all people are unhappy with the safety decision, in the sense that each would prefer either a safer or a cheaper outcome. Thus, making safety decisions that affect a large group of people who will not be able to control the outcome is even more difficult than has been appreciated. We suggest some ways of handling some of the difficulties.     

The non-profit sector in a national accounts framework

This paper first reviews the measurement and presentation of non-profit institutions in the US national income and product accounts. For the most part in these accounts, transactions of non-profit institutions serving individuals are consolidated with those of the individuals served and recorded in the personal income and outlay account, a treatment that a majority of users have never found satisfactory. The paper next details the recommendations for these institutions proposed for the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA). The paper then offers some suggestions on how the treatment of non-profit institutions in the US national income and product accounts might be modified in the light of the 1993 SNA recommendations.This paper was originally prepared forImproving Economic Statistics: Measurement of the Nonprofit Sector and Its Presentation in Federal Statistics, a workshop sponsored by The Committee on National Statistics, National Research Council, May 21–22, 1992, at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.The author wishes to acknowledge the helpful comments of colleagues at the Bureau of Economic Analysis and other participants in the Workshop, as well as those of two anonymous reviewers. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bureau of Economic Analysis or the Department of Commerce.     

Urban Air Quality in North-East England: Exploring the Influences on Local Views and Perceptions

We set out to explore potential influences on public views about urban air quality in two different, but geographically close, districts in North-East England via a postal survey. The neighborhoods surveyed were chosen to contrast material deprivation, proximity to industry, and two districts (Teesside and Sunderland), and the respondents within them were contrasted by their gender, age, and illness status. The strongest influences on views about local air quality were found to be proximity to industry, residence in Teesside, and, to a lesser extent, age and illness status. This suggests that neighborhood characteristics play an important role in shaping public perceptions of air quality.     

Can participatory research be a route to empowerment? A case study of a disadvantaged Scottish community

The growth of participatory research in recent years has beennotable. This paper considers its potential for empowering disadvantagedcommunities and providing a route for overcoming social exclusion.Problems of definition and key challenges for undertaking participatoryresearch are reviewed based upon work undertaken in a deprivedcommunity in Scotland. Opportunities exist for researchers andcommunity developers together to develop participatory approaches.A principal role for researchers is in bridging the gap betweenservice users and policy makers, funders and other service providersby working with service users to demonstrate the impact of socialexclusion. The authors conclude that participatory researchmerits close attention as long as its difficulties are acknowledged.     

Socio-Economic Status and Changing Work Attitudes in High School Students

Two samples of South Australian high school students were surveyed, one in 1980 and one in 1986. The 1986 students displayed greater optimism about their prospects of obtaining satisfactory employment despite the fact that official statistics show that the rate of youth unemployment did not decline between 1980 and 1986. The increased optimism, along with a greater willingness to stay longer at secondary school, to undertake tertiary study and to upgrade qualifications was apparent mainly in the students of low socio-economic status and represented a shift in their work attitudes towards those displayed by the students of higher socio-economic status. It is suggested that the students of low socio-economic status had become aware of the importance of qualifications in securing satisfactory employment and their increased optimism was realistically based on a determination to acquire those qualifications.     

African Americans and Graduate Social Work Education

This article reports on a study of career influences for a sample of African-American and other black graduates of MSW programs. The study isolated significant relationships between enrollment influences and selected demographic and career-related variables. ”Very important“ influences were career advancement, acquisition of new skills, professional status and credibility, and understanding professionalism in social work. Desire for professional development in social work was the dominant influence. Findings suggest that recruitment of African-American/black graduate social work students should incorporate strategies that address issues of job satisfaction, and recognize career priorities and professional aspirations. Implications for graduate social work education are discussed.