Internet Paradox Revisited

Kraut et al. (1998) reported negative effects of using the Internet on social involvement and psychological well-being among new Internet users in 1995–96. We called the effects a "paradox" because participants used the Internet heavily for communication, which generally has positive effects. A 3-year follow-up of 208 of these respondents found that negative effects dissipated. We also report findings from a longitudinal survey in 1998–99 of 406 new computer and television purchasers. This sample generally experienced positive effects of using the Internet on communication, social involvement, and well-being. However, consistent with a "rich get richer" model, using the Internet predicted better outcomes for extraverts and those with more social support but worse outcomes for introverts and those with less support.     

澳大利亚州立法权的限制

澳大利亚各州法院通过对联邦宪法针对各州立法权限规定的不同解释以限制各州的立法权,导致了在案件审理中法律适用的分歧,而且,使州政府和议会难以自信地执行有效的法律,并产生了亟需处理无效法律的后续问题,本文通过四个案例来阐明这一现状。     

The Identification of Behaviour Disorder within the Community

In the absence of a clinical definition of Behaviour Disorder, those termed ‘Behaviourally Disordered’ are often considered unsuitable for psychiatric servicing and many end up inappropriately contained by the correctional system. The working definitions of 213 South Australian health and welfare professionals from six client areas (child/adolescent, psychiatric, intellectually disabled, brain-damaged, correctional and general) were surveyed. Respondents generally saw Behaviour Disorder as a recognisable disorder, involving both aggressive, disruptive behaviour and deficits in social adaptation. Perceptions of its presentation varied across client groups and across professional roles. The results highlighted a need for specialised community servicing for this group.     

Promoting leadership skills in field education:a university-community partnership to bring macro and micro together in gerontological field placements

Social workers are being called upon to utilize a wide range of skills in practice including not only skills of working directly with clients, but also skills related to practice in organizations such as program management, inter-organizational cooperation, research and evaluation. This article describes an innovative geriatric field education program that prepares social workers with leadership skills in both direct service and management, and engages community agencies as both sites for student learning and as beneficiaries of their professional development projects. Case examples are provided and benefits and challenges to the model are discussed.     

Policing Mental Disorder: Controversies, Myths and Realities

In this article the premises on which Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 have been evaluated traditionally will be outlined and assessed using data from a recent empirical study. In examining the nature of police action in implementing this provision it is shown that police discretion and ability to act autonomously is constrained by the social context within which officers become involved in incidents and the external influences impinging on police decision making. It is suggested that legalism is inadequate both in accounting for the social realities of policing and relevant social policy implications. Instead, a social constructivist approach capable of accounting for wider influences on police action and mental health policy more generally is advocated as the basis on which to evaluate the future use of the provision.     

Implementing a Multidimensional Poverty Measure Using Mixed Methods and a Participatory Framework

Recently, there have been advances in the development of multidimensional poverty measures. Work is needed however on how to implement such measures. This paper deals with the process of selecting dimensions and setting weights in multidimensional poverty measurement using qualitative and quantitative methods in a participatory framework. We estimate the multidimensional poverty measures developed by Alkire and Foster for a particular group: persons with psychiatric diagnoses in the United States. To select relevant dimensions and their relative ordering, two discussion groups are convened: one consisting of persons with lived-experience expertise and the other consisting of people with mental health service provision or research expertise. Several methods are used to convert dimension rankings into weights. The selection and ordering of dimensions differed between the two discussion groups, as did the resulting poverty measures. For instance, the poverty headcount using the dimensions and weights of the ‘lived experience’ group ranged from 20.61 to 26.96% as compared to a range of 18.62–33.19% using those of the ‘provider/researcher’ group. One of the main results of this study is that the Alkire Foster method is sensitive to the selection of dimensions and the methods used to derive rankings and weights. It points toward the limitation of relying exclusively on small scale qualitative methods for the selection and ranking of dimensions. In addition, the participatory framework used in this study was found to be essential in interpreting results, in particular with respect to the limitations of the data set in measuring relevant dimensions.     

‘WORK FOR THE DOLE’ – A CHEAP LABOUR MARKET PROGRAM? AN ECONOMIST'S PERSPECTIVE

From an economists perspective, this paper explores some of the issues associated with the design of an effective labour market program, and evaluation processes which are required to determine the merits of a scheme. This analysis comes at the time when pilot projects under the federal Government's ‘Work for the Dole’ scheme are being implemented. The paper concludes that if the ‘Work for the Dole’ scheme is to be viewed as a labour market program, then an evaluation mechanism should have been determined prior to the implementation of such a scheme.     

The household inventory as urban ‘theatre’ in late medieval Burgundy

In 1413 at the death of his wife Guillemot, Jean Aubert, a group of witnesses and a clerk of the local mayoralty met to value the possessions of their residence, resulting in an inventory full of notes and values on rooms and their objects. Within the existing historiography of the Burgundian Netherlands and its northern European neighbours, inventories and their objects tend to be analysed from two perspectives: the Burgundian court and the ‘consumer revolution’. Applying insights from Erving Goffman and Bruno Latour, this article suggests a third perspective should have priority: the urban ‘theatre’ within which objects were documented and placed. Therefore it sets up an alternate methodology which begins with the inventory to build a picture of the theatre (the urban context and residence), the actors (the Aubert family) and the audience (the witnesses of the inventory) to establish new insights into the operation of Burgundian power and the dynamics of the ‘consumer revolution’.     

Deconstructing maternal sensitivity: Predictive relations to mother‐child attachment in home and laboratory settings

Despite the well‐documented importance of parental sensitivity for child development, there is a lack of consensus regarding how best to assess it. We investigated the factor structure of maternal caregiving behavior as assessed at 12 months by the Maternal Behavior Q‐Sort (Pederson & Moran) with 274 mother‐infant dyads. Subsequently, we examined associations between these empirically‐derived dimensions and child attachment, assessed in the home and laboratory (final N = 157). Three dimensions of maternal behavior were identified, corresponding fairly closely to Ainsworth's original scales. They were labeled Cooperation/Attunement, Positivity, and Accessibility/Availability. Only Cooperation/Attunement consistently predicted home‐based attachment at 15 months and 2 years, and at comparable strength to the overall sensitivity score, suggesting that this construct may be central to sensitivity. At 18 months, compared to their primarily secure counterparts, different types of laboratory‐assessed insecure attachment were associated with different patterns of maternal behavior. Mothers in avoidant relationships (n = 18) were low on Cooperation/Attunement and Accessibility/Availability, but fairly high on Positivity. Mothers of disorganized infants (n = 11) were Cooperative/Attuned but somewhat less Positive toward, and less Accessible/Available to, their infants. A multidimensional approach to parental behavior may facilitate the identification of parenting precursors of insecure parent‐child relationships.