Indicators for democratic debate

One possible way for official statistics to become more useful and visible in public debate is to time the publication programme to match major events in society, such as local and general elections. Svein Longva , head of Statistics Norway, describes how, in the run-up to the last three Norwegian elections, Statistics Norway has published statistics and background analyses considered relevant to issues addressed in the election campaign. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and there have been no complaints that Statistics Norway interferes in the political debate or presents biased information.     

The ICD diagnoses of fetishism and sadomasochism

In this article we discuss psychiatric diagnoses of sexual deviation as they appear in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), the internationally accepted classification and diagnostic system of the World Health Organization (WHO). Namely, we discuss the background of three diagnostic categories: Fetishism (F65.0), Fetishistic Transvestism (F65.1), and Sadomasochism (F65.5). Pertinent background issues regarding the above categories are followed by a critique of the usefulness of diagnosing these phenomena today. Specifically, we argue that Fetishism, Fetishistic Transvestism, and Sadomasochism, also labeled Paraphilia or perversion, should not be considered illnesses. Finally, we present the efforts of an initiative known as ReviseF65, which was established in 1997, to abolish these diagnoses.     

Obstacles for child participation in care and protection cases—why Norwegian social workers find it difficult

Although some attempts are being made to increase children's participation in Norwegian child protection cases, much needs to be done in order to comply with the participation principle in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This paper reports on a study of factors that are likely to predict if social workers will attempt to give children an effective voice in decision making processes. 53 child protection case managers and 33 social work students participated in a questionnaire survey in which they were asked to agree or disagree with 20 statements about child participation. Statistical factor analysis was used in order to identify underlying factors in the dataset. The results suggest three main reasons for children not being allowed to participate: communication difficulties (communication factor); because child participation was not deemed necessary (participation advocacy factor); or that participation was considered inappropriate because it might be harmful (protectionism factor). This research suggests that, if we are to improve participation within the child protection system, formal regulations and guidelines need to be accompanied by a greater attention to development of social work skills in working with children through participatory processes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visualization of regulations to support design and quality control--a long-term study

The aim of the study was to visualize design regulations of furniture by means of interactive technology based on earlier studies and practical examples. The usage of the visualized regulations was evaluated on two occasions: at the start when the first set of regulations was presented, and after six years of usage of all regulations. The visualized regulations were the result of a design process involving experts and potential users in collaboration with IKEA of Sweden AB. The evaluations by the different users showed a very positive response to using visualized regulations. The participative approach, combining expertise in specific regulations with visualization of guidelines, resulted in clear presentations of important regulations, and great attitudes among the users. These kinds of visualizations have proved to be applicable in a variety of product areas at IKEA, with a potential for further dissemination. It is likely that the approaches to design and visualized regulations in this case study could function in other branches.     

Beyond talking – children's participation in Norwegian care and protection cases

The attempt to give children an effective voice in social work processes which can have substantial impact on their lives takes different forms in countries with varying professional cultures and legal frameworks. This paper reports on a study of children's participation in decision-making in care and protection services in Norway, which was carried out in conjunction with a project to support social work teams in enabling children to participate, using materials borrowed from England and Wales. The results showed that (a) taking an active part in decision-making did not correlate perfectly with (b) having an influence on the outcome. Cases were therefore classified as ‘participation’ or ‘non-participation’ using a combination of both the above criteria. Statistical analysis of the factors influencing children's participation enabled the proposition of a model which appeared to explain much of the variance. The results point to the inadequacy of equating social work conversation with children with effective participation in decision-making.     

Marriage and cohabitation in a changing society: Experience of Norwegian men and women born in 1945 and 1960

Retrospective survey data are used to estimate the effect of various factors on the transitions to first marriage or first cohabitation among single Norwegian men and women born in 1945 and 1960. A high educational level is not found to reduce marriage intensities for women, although educational enrollment appears to be less compatible with marriage for women than men. The effect of employment varies according to prevailing sex-role expectations. The data support the assumption that modern cohabitation developed from two socially opposite origins, the educated elite and the working class. A social value dimension is assumed to have a major effect upon the present-day choice between marriage and cohabitation.Nous utilisons ici les données d'une enquête rétrospective pour estimer l'effet de différents facteurs sur la première entrée en mariage ou en cohabitation de célibataires norvégiens nés en 1945 et 1960. Nous montrons que, chez les fammes, un niveau d'éducation élevé ne réduit pas l'intensité de la nuptialité, quoique le fait d'être étudiant apparaisse moins compatible avec le mariage pour les femmes que pour les hommes. Les données confirment l'hypothèse selon laquelle les formes modernes de cohabitation se sont développées à partir de deux origines sociales opposées: l'élite éduquée et la classe ouvrière. Une dimension liée à la norme sociale est supposée avoir un effet majeur sur les choix entre mariage et cohabitation qui ont lieu de nos jours.

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Revised version of a paper presented at the 10th Nordic Demographic Symposium in Lund, Sweden, 12–14 August 1992. The financial support from the Norwegian Ministry of Children and Family Affairs is gratefully acknowledged. The author is in debt to Jan M. Hoem at Stockholm University for generous education and supervision. Thanks are also due to Østein Kravdal and Inger Texmon at Statistics Norway for valuable assistance.     

Helping families when child sexual abuse is suspected but not proven

This paper reports from a project investigating reactions within families when intra‐familial child sexual abuse was suspected, and family members’ responses to a therapeutic approach. Data were obtained from therapeutic sessions and follow‐up interviews with mothers, children and alleged perpetrators. Before treatment the mothers felt uncertain as to how to interpret the children’s unclear signs. The children had severe symptoms, but had seldom disclosed abuse. The alleged perpetrators were often not informed about the suspicions. The families were in a state of crisis and shock, and communication within the family was characterized by uncertainty about what to talk about and whether the suspicions should be shared. In most cases after treatment the conflicts had been reduced, the children had few symptoms, supervised contact had been established, and the clients were satisfied with the treatment. One conclusion is that therapeutic sessions, where family members share information about concerns and take part in the decisions of how to protect children, seem relevant and helpful to the clients in unclear abuse cases.     

An Analysis of Verbal Stimulus Control in Intraverbal Behavior: Implications for Practice and Applied Research

A common characteristic of the language deficits experienced by children with autism (and other developmental disorders) is their failure to acquire a complex intraverbal repertoire. The difficulties with learning intraverbal behaviors may, in part, be related to the fact that the stimulus control for such behaviors usually involves highly complex verbal stimuli. The antecedent verbal control of intraverbal behavior may involve discriminative stimuli (i.e., discriminated operants), conditional stimulus control, and/or control by compound stimuli. Distinctions among these different types of antecedent control are presented, along with recommendations for intervention procedures that may facilitate the acquisition of intraverbal behavior.