The journey to adopt a child who has special needs: Parents' perspectives

Many of the children eligible for adoption from the public child welfare system are considered to have special needs. Given the importance of securing adoptive families for these children, knowing more about the adoption process as it is experienced by prospective parents who complete (or are in the process of completing) their adoption pursuit and those who discontinue it are critical. Using qualitative inquiry, prospective adoptive parents in nine families were studied in an effort to learn more about their motivations, expectations, preparation, and experiences. Although the adoption outcome (continued versus discontinued) was different, the process, including negative experiences, was quite similar. Programming implications and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Optimal Policies for Recovering the Value of Consumer Returns

This study characterizes the class of Pareto optimal returns policies between a manufacturer and a retailer who receives consumer returns. The manufacturer may take a costly hidden action that reduces the expected number of products returned by consumers, which when realized is hidden information known only to the retailer. When faced with consumer returns, the retailer must decide whether to send the product back to the manufacturer, who harvests a low salvage value, or to engage in costly refurbishment that permits the returned product to be resold to consumers. We find that the optimal returns policies may be implemented through the payment by the manufacturer of a full refund to the retailer of the wholesale price for any returns as well as a bonus paid to the retailer that is decreasing in the number of returns to the manufacturer.     

Family Cohesion in the Lives of Mexican American and European American Parents

This study investigated similarities and differences in relations between stress and parenting behaviors for 509 Mexican American and European American fathers and mothers in Southern California. Our model posited that family cohesion mediates the relation between stressors and parenting behavior, and we found that family cohesion strongly mediated most of the relations between stress and parenting behaviors. Important ethnic and gender differences were evident. In contrast with other groups, Mexican American fathers reported higher levels of family cohesion when faced with economic pressures. Implications for future research on stress and parenting are discussed.     

Modes of Network Governance: Structure, Management, and Effectiveness

This article examines the governance of organizational networksand the impact of governance on network effectiveness. Threebasic models, or forms, of network governance are developedfocusing on their distinct structural properties. Propositionsare formulated examining conditions for the effectiveness ofeach form. The tensions inherent in each form are then discussed,followed by the role that management may play in addressingthese tensions. Finally, the evolution of governance is explored.     

A Technological Science Perspective for Sociology1

Abstract The traditional positivist model is an inadequate foundation for sociology as a science. The phenomena of society differ from the phenomena assumed by positivism and existing in the world of nature in ways that prevent the successful use of that traditional approach. Agency, the ability to choose among alternatives where the choice makes an important difference, exists in social phenomena but has no counterpart in nature and cannot be dealt with adequately by positivism. A technological science perspective is suggested as an alternative for a science of sociology that can deal with the reality and importance of agency. Eight differences between the traditional perspective and the alternative are sketched. The alternative requires changes in the kind of generalized knowledge produced and the way it is produced, accumulated, and refined. The changes, though seemingly small, would produce a major reconstruction of much of sociology; such changes could result in important progress by the field of sociology.     

Community Development in the 21st Century: A Case of Conditional Development

During the last 5 years, the UK government has increased supportfor and resources to community development projects and strategies.These interventions have been deployed to assist the state addresskey issues of social exclusion notably at neighbourhood level.The thrust for tackling social exclusion and therefore the growthin community development can be linked to New Labour’sadherence to a neo-liberal agenda. The two articles and theworking paper considered here reflect this expansion of activityand articulate some of the central issues and challenges facingcommunity development. The central problem for community developmentappears to be that whilst it has secured a more prominent placewithin contemporary social policies, it is in danger of losingits ability effectively to address the expressed needs of localcommnuitties. Hence the development we are witnessing can beconsidered to be a case of conditional development.     

Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944–2004*

Objective. Perennial questions in electoral studies are what constitutes realignment, and when and where do realignments occur? Using the concepts of critical and secular realignments as a framework, we model change in the end product of realignment, election outcomes. We test for secular and critical changes in partisan strength across six geographic regions of the United States, focusing on office‐holding data at both the federal and state legislative level. Methods. Using an interrupted time‐series model, we examine evidence for secular realignment and posit five critical interventions that have affected American politics since World War II. Results. Our findings suggest that there are elements of both critical and secular realignments at work with different patterns in each region, and that different regions have been affected by a variety of elections associated with critical events since 1944. Conclusions. The collapse of Republican hegemony in the Northeast and Pacific West has gone largely unnoticed, buried in the intense examination of the growth of the Republican Party in the American South. The 1994 election is the most prominent in terms of its impact on seat holding by the parties at both the state and national level, and constitutes a realigning election.