Networks and geography: Modelling community network structures as the outcome of both spatial and network processes

This paper focuses on how to extend the exponential random graph models to take into account the geographical embeddedness of individuals in modelling social networks. We develop a hierarchical set of nested models for spatially embedded social networks, in which, following Butts (2002), an interaction function between tie probability and Euclidean distance between nodes is introduced. The models are illustrated by an empirical example from a study of the role of social networks in understanding spatial clustering in unemployment in Australia. The analysis suggests that a spatial effect cannot solely explain the emergence of organised network structure and it is necessary to include both spatial and endogenous network effects in the model.     

Household size and the poisson distribution

Household size distributions for 104 countries are examined. It is shown that a Poisson distribution truncated at zero can be used to derive models of household size distribution. An improved fit is obtained by adding a linear term to the truncated Poisson model. This distribution depends only on average household size which in turn is shown to be related to modified dependency ratios. This method can be used for comparisons of household size distributions across nations and for long-term forecasting.     

Disability Studies and Phenomenology: the carnal politics of everyday life

This paper is an attempt to develop a sociology of impairment and to theorise embodiment in the lebenswelt. Disability studies has failed to address adequately the fundamental issue of bodily agency. The impaired body is represented as a passive recipient of social forces. Such a conception of the body is losing ground within social theory. This paper attempts to overcome disability studies' disembodied view of disability by utilising a phenomenological concept of embodiment. Phenomenology offers the opportunity to transcend the traditional Cartesian dualisms which posit the body as a passive precultural object. However, such a view, when extended to impairment is empty of political content since phenomenological analyses have relied upon medicalised and individualised understandings of disability. In order to counter the disablism evident in phenomenology on the one side and disability studies' disembodied view of disability on the other, we argue for a radical phenomenological approach to the (impaired) body. To demonstrate the vitality of such an approach, we also attempt to deploy Leders' (1990) concept of dys-appearance as a means of analysing the carnal politics of everyday life.     

Social capital and child welfare

Social and economic inequalities have risen steeply in the UK over the past 20 years. Children and their families have been particularly disadvantaged by this creeping impoverishment, which is associated with negative effects on parenting capacity and developmental outcomes for children. The social capital of communities, which consists of the cultural resources and inter‐personal relationships between members, is also eroded by inequality and social exclusion. Evidence is presented that demonstrates the way in which children's welfare and family functioning are crucially dependent upon the social support available within local communities. It is argued that building social capital in poor communities is a more effective way of promoting children's welfare than the present emphasis on formal child protection and family support services and efforts to increase parenting skills and responsibilities. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Australia as the Supermarket to Asia? Governments,Territory, and Political Economy in the Australian Agri-food System

Abstract The changing role of the nation state in agri-food systems is illustrated through a case study of the Supermarket to Asia, a recent policy initiative of the Australian government. The Supermarket to Asia provides a policy discourse that fills gaps created through policies of deregulation and self-reliance. It involves the creation of bureaucratic mechanics that straddle the public-private interface and gives explicit attention to small and medium-sized enterprises. In these ways, the state constructs a new set of relations, alliances, and allegiances with agri-food capital. The durability of these arrangements depends on the extent to which these policy arrangements are perceived to be consistent with the new realities of global agri-food trade.     

Psychiatric nursing emergency: a simulated experience of a wrist-cutting suicide attempt

A simulated wrist-cutting suicide attempt scenario was developed and implemented, with the goal of integrating the concepts of psychiatric emergency care, contraband, environmental assessment, and personal safety. Faculty also wanted to convey and provide care and support for participants through-out the visually and emotionally stimulating activity. The under-lying premise was that providing readings and lecture material on these topics was insufficient to the level of learning and performance needed by nursing students and novice nurses. How-ever, actual student clinical episodes integrating these concepts were also infrequent, unpredictable, and often not conducive to student learning. Therefore, faculty implemented a simulation teaching modality to deliver the concepts in a vivid and memorable format. A standardized rating scale on perceived learning and care from faculty during the course of the simulation was administered immediately following participation in the activity. Participants were overwhelmingly positive in their assessment of the activity, reporting an enhanced appreciation for safety in the conduct of inpatient psychiatric nursing care.Further, the faculty member's observation and post-simulation processing of the activity noted cognitive, behavioral, and emotional responses at the individual and group levels related to communication, observation and assessment, decision making,and interpersonal support