Some Australian Children's Perceptions of Physical Punishment in Childhood

Despite ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children remain the only people in Australia against whom violence may be justified as discipline. This article presents findings from qualitative research conducted in the State of Victoria, in which children were invited to contextualise incidents of physical punishment by describing the experience from different standpoints and reflecting on the feelings and motivations of victims and perpetrators. The research provides new insights into children's experiences of childhood ‘discipline’, as children reveal the physical and emotional impact of being hit by a parent, the futility of ‘physical punishment’, parents’ confusing reactions and children's awareness of double standards. Children suggest more positive ways to communicate and to resolve conflict, and provide insightful comments that have the potential to enlighten adults’ thinking about the issue.     

The Perceived Payoff of Education: Do Generational Status and Racial Discrimination Matter?

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among racial discrimination, generational status, and perceptions of the economic value of education among Latina/o youth. Participants were 400 urban, low‐income, Latina/o students from a large Midwestern U.S. city who completed surveys in both 9th and 10th grades. Results revealed that more perceived racial discrimination was associated with more perceived economic limitations of education. When analyzed by generational status, more racial discrimination in 9th grade was significantly related to lower perceived economic value of education in 10th grade for third‐generation and later participants, but not for first‐ or second‐generation participants. The results provide evidence for the diverse experiences of racial discrimination and perceived economic value of education across generational groups.     

"The young ones are the condom generation": condom use amongst out-of-school adolescents in rural southwest Uganda

This article reports on factors influencing condom use among out-of-school adolescents in rural southwest Uganda. Despite an abundance of negative discourses and myths about condoms in the community, these adolescents believe condoms protect them from sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and premarital pregnancies. Girls want partners to use condoms, but most lack the confidence to insist. Girls aged 13 to 14 reported the least difficulty asking for condoms; older girls attributed this to coming-of-age in the era of AIDS when condom use is the norm. Boys under 16 years want to use condoms, but lack confidence in application skills. Boys over 17 years always use condoms with casual partners, but only occasionally for pregnancy prevention with steady partners. Girls need skills training to improve confidence in negotiating condom use. Younger boys require training to improve confidence in skills with condom application. These findings are compared with studies conducted with in-school adolescents in the same study area. Health promotions that provide this skills training and focus on the need to think of the health of future family would be most effective for out-of-school adolescents. This study shows that it is self-confidence, rather than years of schooling, that has the greatest impact on condom use in this cohort.     

Health insurance for all long-term care workers: estimated costs and coverage impacts in Minnesota and recommendations for States

A major barrier to building a strong workforce to meet the growing need for long-care is lack of affordable health benefits. This study projects impacts of funding health coverage for all long-term care workers in Minnesota. Under the most cost effective model plan design, enrollment in employer-sponsored coverage would increase 73% to 100% for individual coverage and 26% to 42% for family coverage. Total monthly costs would be $698/worker in the commercial market or $634/worker through a new dedicated risk pool. Based on our findings and past research, the authors present recommendations for structuring and implementing a long-term care worker health insurance initiative.     

The Roles of Racial Discrimination,Cultural Mistrust,and Gender in Latina/o Youth's School Attitudes and Academic Achievement

Gender gaps in achievement are particularly pronounced among Latina/os, who are among the population most affected by the academic achievement gap. This study examined the roles of racial discrimination, cultural mistrust, and economic value of education in the academic achievement of urban, low‐income Latina/o adolescents. Participants were 346 high school students. Structural equation modeling revealed that the model of associations was a better fit for male students than for female students. Cultural mistrust mediated the relationship between racial discrimination and values of education, and perceived limitations of education predicted lower attendance rates for male students but not for female students. Implications for future research and interventions are discussed.     

Efficacy of a Facial Emotion Training Program for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Twenty-five high-functioning, verbal children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; age range 8–15 years) who demonstrated a facial emotion recognition deficit were block randomized to an active intervention (n = 12) or waitlist control (n = 13) group. The intervention was a modification of a commercially-available, computerized, dynamic facial emotion training tool, the MiX by Humintell©. Modifications were introduced to address the special learning needs of individuals with ASD and to address limitations in current emotion recognition programs. Modifications included: coach-assistance, a combination of didactic instruction for seven basic emotions, scaffold instruction which included repeated practice with increased presentation speeds, guided attention to relevant facial cues, and imitation of expressions. Training occurred twice each week for 45–60 min across an average of six sessions. Outcome measures were administered prior to and immediately after treatment, as well as after a delay period of 4–6 weeks. Outcome measures included (a) direct assessment of facial emotion recognition, (b) emotion self-expression, and (c) generalization through emotion awareness in videos and stories, use of emotion words, and self-, parent-, and teacher-report on social functioning questionnaires. The facial emotion training program enabled children and adolescents with ASD to more accurately and quickly identify feelings in facial expressions with stimuli from both the training tool and generalization measures and demonstrate improved self-expression of facial emotion.     

Structured risk assessment procedures: instruments of abuse?

Child protection services in Australia and elsewhere face increasing internal and external demands. As a response to these pressures, in part at least, services are increasingly implementing some form of risk assessment procedures. This article examines the practice implications of the increasing use of risk assessment instruments in child protection services. It highlights the complexity of the concept of risk as the basis for a future‐oriented assessment activity. The authors suggest that this change of time frame (from what has happened to what might happen) may be detrimental to children. Through a critical review of the literature, the authors question whether risk prediction is possible and discuss the limitations of risk assessment instruments which omit some risk factors and may ignore the perspective of the child. The authors challenge the validity of risk assessment instruments in statutory settings and suggest that the protection of the organization may be a major objective in their implementation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“See You in Court”: How CEO narcissism increases firms' vulnerability to lawsuits

Although some researchers have suggested that narcissistic CEOs may have a positive influence on organizational performance (e.g., Maccoby, 2007; Patel & Cooper, 2014), a growing body of evidence suggests that organizations led by narcissistic CEOs experience considerable downsides, including evidence of increased risk taking, overpaying for acquisitions, manipulating accounting data, and even fraud. In the current study we show that narcissistic CEO's subject their organizations to undue legal risk because they are overconfident about their ability to win and less sensitive to the costs to their organizations of such litigation. Using a sample of 32 firms, we find that those led by narcissistic CEOs are more likely to be involved in litigation and that these lawsuits are more protracted. In two follow-up experimental studies, we examine the mechanism underlying the relationship between narcissism and lawsuits and find that narcissists are less sensitive to objective assessments of risk when making decisions about whether to settle a lawsuit and less willing to take advice from experts. We discuss the implications of our research for advancing theories of narcissism and CEO influence on organizational performance.     

Programme form and service user well-being: Linking theory and evidence

Since the early 1990s, the “activation turn” has become a standard welfare orthodoxy at the heart of international welfare systems. Although policymakers talk confidently about the well-being gains of activation interventions and their employment outcomes, a growing body of research has focused instead on questions around “activation process well-being”—the potential well-being effects of participation in activation programmes themselves. The present article makes three main contributions to the theory, knowledge, and policy practice of this activation well-being literature. First, the paper develops an original conceptual framework that newly connects well-being theory, qualitative variation in programmatic form, and empirically testable well-being expectations for participating service users. Second, the paper uses multivariate statistical analyses to examine six conceptually derived hypotheses around variation in programme forms and implications for participating service users' well-being, drawing on the case study of U.K. activation policy. Noteworthy is the paper's unique distributional insights into well-being effects across different types of service users. Third, the paper offers new policy contributions around the relevance of policy form to service user well-being as well as important pointers to key programme features in this regard.