Generational equity and the reformulation of retirement

Starting from an examination of the essential components of the long-established contract between the generations, the analysis moves on to examine public policy responses to the aging of populations. Observing an international inclination to panic at the growth of old age and to restrict expenditure on services to older people, the article addresses practical questions of political economy within the generational contract. On the one hand, cuts to pensions and services are seen not to be economically inevitable. On the other, it is argued that modern retirement breaches the compact between the generations and will need to be reformulated, enabling more people to earn income well beyond current retirement ages.     

How Reassuring are Risk Comparisons to Pollution Standards and Emission Limits?

Pollutant emissions or ambient levels are often justified by reference to a higher benchmark, such as a public health standard or permit limit. However, does this risk comparison persuade the public audiences to whom it is frequently directed that such pollution levels are “acceptable”? A substantial proportion of people living within one mile of New Jersey's industrial facilities, perhaps as much as half, is indeed reassured by a comparison to such benchmarks. Positive attitudes toward discharge limits were linked to speaking English at home; positive attitudes toward drinking water standards were associated with seeing local benefits of industry as outweighing its risks, not speaking English, and relative youth (49 years old or less). Three scenarios involving drinking water contamination varied pre‐ and post‐treatment levels of the pollutant, though all post‐treatment levels were below the standard. In all cases great concern was expressed, with no significant differences across scenarios; net benefits, being white, and non‐English speaking were linked to lower concern. Relative trust seems a better explanation of different attitudes toward benchmark comparisons than varying levels of knowledge, but both hypotheses have drawbacks that merit further testing. These results imply that people with negative views of industry or government, the ones officials might most wish to reassure, will tend to doubt that regulatory benchmarks offer a valid risk comparison.     

Derivation of a Target Level of Lead in Soil at Residential Sites Corresponding to a De Minimis Contribution to Blood Lead Concentration1

Inability to define either a clear toxicologic threshold or a stochastic all-or-nothing (cancer-type) response model for the noncarcinogenic effects of lead (Pb) in young children has posed difficulties for derivation of risk-based target levels of Pb in residential soil. Approaches based on empirical relationships between Pb levels in blood (PbB) and Pb in soil suffer from inability to specify the numerous variables which mediate between these two quantities. Approaches based on achieving a toxicologically de minimis target PbB level (e.g., 10 μg/dl) are subject to large uncertainty in estimating the distribution of existing PbB levels in a specific exposed population and in estimating the relative contribution from nonsoil sources of Pb. The multisource contribution to the distribution of PbB makes this approach unsuited for determination of a target Pb level in a single medium. An alternative approach is presented based on achieving a de minimis contribution to PbB (ΔPbB) from soil. Contributions to Pb exposure from outdoor soil and indoor soil-derived dust (ISDD) are modeled and appropriate values are suggested for input parameters. This analysis predicts that chronic exposure of young children to 200 μg Pb/g (ppm) in residential soil will result in a ΔPbB of 2 μg Pb/dl blood. This concentration of Pb in soil may provide an appropriate target level for residential soil when other significant sources of Pb exposure are present. In other cases, this approach can be used to predict a soil concentration of Pb corresponding to an appropriate non-de minimisΔPbB.     

A cross‐cultural test of the work‐family interface in 48 countries

This study tests a cross‐cultural model of the work‐family interface. Using multigroup structural equation modeling with IBM survey responses from 48 countries (N= 25,380), results show that the same work‐family interface model that fits the data globally also fits the data in a four‐group model composed of culturally related groups of countries, as well as a two‐group gender model. This supports a transportable rather than a culturally specific or gender‐specific work‐family interface model: notably, job flexibility related to reduced work‐family conflict, reduced family‐work conflict, and enhanced work‐family fit. Work‐family fit related to increased job satisfaction. Findings suggest that investment by multinational companies in job flexibility initiatives may represent a dual‐agenda way to benefit men, women, and businesses in diverse cultures.     

Action, movement, and intervention: Reflections on the sociology of Alain Touraine

Cet article examine les déclarations qu'Alain Touraine fait pour sa sociologie de Taction. On argumente qu'alors que Touraine presente une critique puissante des assomptions des fonctionnels en sociologie, sa propre analyse de la société'post-industrielle' ou 'programmée'à des implications historiques et théologiques qui le raménent à une analyse des fonctionnels plus conventionnelle. Nous continuons ensuite à examiner les implications de cette tension centrale pour sa méthode 'd'intervention sociologique' et pour son analyse substantielle de la nature de 'nouveaux mouvements sociaux.
This paper examines the claims Alain Touraine makes for his sociology of action. It is argued that while Touraine presents a powerful critique of functionalist assumptions in sociology, his own analysis of the 'post-industrial' or 'programmed' society has historicist and teleological implications which lead him back towards more conventional functionalist analysis. We examine the implications of this central tension for his method of 'sociological intervention' and for his substantive analysis of the nature of 'new social movements.     

The effects of gender and type of romantic touch on perceptions of relational commitment

This study investigated the relationship between intimate touching behaviors and corresponding cognitions of relational commitment as a function of gender. One hundred fifty-two subjects were surveyed regarding perceptions of commitment for seven intimate touches. The 2-way ANOVA revealed significant effects for gender, type of touch, and the touch by gender interaction. Progressively intimate touches were associated with greater commitment. Females associated significantly higher levels of commitment than males, particularly for the more intimate touches. The discrepancy in the level of commitment inferred by gender increases as the touching behavior grows more intimate, resulting in a greater potential for miscommunication across the more intimate channels of haptic communication.