BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article:
Fanning, P., & McKay, M. (Eds.). Family guide to emotional wellness: Proven self-help techniques and exercises for dealing with common problems and building crucial life skills.
Leiblum, S., & Rosen, R. (2000) (Eds.). Principles and practice of sex therapy (3rd ed.).
Sturkie, K., & Bergen, L.P. (2001). Professional regulation in marital and family therapy.
Kaslow, F. (Ed.). (2000). Handbook of couple and family forensics: A sourcebook for mental health and legal professionals.     

What is a ‘Handbook of Sociolinguistics’?

Florian Coulmas (ed.). The Handbook of Sociolinguistics (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics, 4). Oxford: Blackwell. 1997. x + 532 pp.Cloth (0–631–19339–1) £70.00.     

Variance decompositions of nonlinear time series using stochastic simulation and sensitivity analysis

In this paper, A variance decomposition approach to quantify the effects of endogenous and exogenous variables for nonlinear time series models is developed. This decomposition is taken temporally with respect to the source of variation. The methodology uses Monte Carlo methods to affect the variance decomposition using the ANOVA-like procedures proposed in Archer et al. (J. Stat. Comput. Simul. 58:99–120, 1997), Sobol’ (Math. Model. 2:112–118, 1990). The results of this paper can be used in investment problems, biomathematics and control theory, where nonlinear time series with multiple inputs are encountered.     

HIV disclosure and subsequent sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men who meet online

To assess HIV disclosure discussions and related sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM) who meet sex partners online, 28 qualitative interviews with Seattle-area MSM were analyzed using grounded theory methods and themes and behavior patterns were identified. MSM found a greater ease in communicating and could prescreen partners through the Internet. However, no consistent relationship was found between HIV disclosure and subsequent behaviors: some were safer based on disclosure while perceived HIV status led others to risky behaviors. Interventions need to promote accurate disclosure while acknowledging its limitations and the need for men to self-protect.     

Practitioners' Documentation of Assessment and Care Planning in Social Care: The Opportunities for Organizational Learning

This paper analyses practitioners’ documentation of socialcare assessments and care plans for disabled adults of workingage. The data were collected in the course of an innovativeproject that introduced new outcome-focused documentation intoroutine social care assessment, care management and review processes.The project aimed to encourage practitioners to focus duringthese processes on the full range of outcomes that individualdisabled adults might seek to achieve; and identify the appropriateservices for realizing those outcomes. Analysis of the new documentationprovides insights into the diverse range of priorities and outcomesthat service users aspire to achieve as a result of receivingservices, and the service inputs that were agreed between practitionersand service users. However, despite the new documentation, themajority of both outcomes and services that were recorded tendedto cluster around a fairly narrow range of conventional socialcare service functions. Moreover, the emphasis of both outcomesand service inputs differed between different groups of socialcare professionals. In the context of current policies to makesocial care services more individualized and outcome-focused,each of these findings has major organizational implications.The opportunities for using routine practitioner documentationto identify areas of organizational and professional changeand learning are discussed.     

Optimism in the Face of Despair: Black‐White Differences in Beliefs About School as a Means for Upward Social Mobility*

Objective. This study aims to provide a better understanding of how beliefs about the system of social mobility affect students' schooling outcomes. Previous studies reach conflicting conclusions because they conflate two forms of beliefs about social mobility (i.e., perceived value of school and perceived barriers despite schooling). Methods. The Maryland Adolescence Development In Context Study (MADICS) is used to examine black‐white differences in beliefs about the value of school and barriers to upward mobility despite schooling and how these beliefs predict academic achievement and educational attainment. Results. The analyses show that relative to whites, blacks hold stronger beliefs in both the value of school and barriers to social mobility, and have greater affective attitudes toward schooling. However, belief in barriers to social mobility is not consequential for academic outcomes. Conclusions. Beliefs about upward mobility are mechanisms by which the opportunity structure influences individuals' schooling behaviors and making clear distinctions between various beliefs about the system of social mobility can refine the understanding of this link. This study suggests that individuals make nuanced distinctions about the role of schooling for upward mobility, each with separate effects on academic outcomes.     

The knowledge-based economy: intellectual origins and new economic perspectives

This paper discusses the intellectual origins of the knowledge-based economy or KBE, and recent economic theories used to provide an intellectual foundation for the KBE. The KBE is the dominant post-industrial economic development paradigm that emerged in the 1980s, with an emphasis on the role of knowledge creation and distribution as the primary driver in the process of economic growth, the distribution of income, the growing importance of knowledge-based networks among firms, and the interface between government business and citizens in the advanced economies. Recent empirical evidence on rates of return, geographic spillovers, and the internationalization of knowledge flows are discussed in relation to the theoretical foundations of the KBE.