American unemployment in historical perspective

During the twentieth century, the annual average unemployment rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics data has varied between 1.2 and 24.9 percent. This article, derived from our recent book,Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in 20th Century America, examines and explains variations in unemployment over time. These large fluctuations in unemployment probably account for this century’s obsession with joblessness. Alfred Marshall’sPrinciples of Economics, published in 1890, barely mentions unemployment. Only two short generations later, unemployment was the dominant topic of interest among economists, and the most influential economics book of this century, Keynes’sGeneral Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, was concerned largely with explaining its existence.     

政府终结--基本经验模式与演绎模式

分析了政府终结的方法———基本经验模式和演绎模式方法。基本经验模式发展成主体,将日益复杂微妙的事件应用于数据统计,并受到学界很大程度的认可。演绎方法发展为不合作博弈,以主要政治角色的反应为标准,譬如,如果政府快要垮台,有关可能的选举结果就会被准确地预测。把这两种传统模式融合为一种综合的研究模式目前还没有转化为现实。     

Religion and Abortion Attitudes Among U.S. Hispanics: Findings from the 1990 Latino National Political Survey*

Objective. The goal of this article is to examine the relationship between religious involvement, gauged mainly in terms of affiliation and frequency of attendance at services, and abortion attitudes among three major Hispanic subgroups: Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans. Method. The study analyzes data from the Latino National Political Survey, a sample of over 2,700 U.S. Hispanics completed in 1990. Results. Committed (i.e., regularly attending) Hispanic Protestants, most of whom belong to conservative groups, are more strongly pro‐life than any other segment of the Latino population, and are much more likely than others to support a total abortion ban. Committed Catholics also tend to hold pro‐life views, but they are relatively more likely to endorse an abortion ban that includes exceptions for rape, incest, and threats to the mother's life. Less devoted Catholics and Protestants generally do not differ from religiously unaffiliated Hispanics in their abortion views. There are also modest variations in the links between religious involvement and abortion attitudes across the three Latino subgroups. Conclusion. Religious factors are highly important predictors of Hispanics' preferences regarding abortion policies. Contrary to some previous discussions, it is committed Protestants, more so than Catholics, who are the staunchest opponents of abortion in the Latino population.     

The Influence of Parental Separation and Divorce on Father–Child Relationships

ABSTRACT

Using a risk and resilience theoretical framework, this study examined the influence of parental divorce during childhood on father–child relationship quality in young adulthood. Relationship quality was measured using nurturant fathering and modified father involvement scales, and self-reports of current amount of face-to-face and verbal father–child contacts. Comparisons on these measures were made between 107 young adults from intact and 96 from divorced family backgrounds. The divorce group was also examined in isolation to explore how divorce-related factors—including structural, early contact, and interparental relationship factors—predict young adults' perceptions of their father–child relationship. Results demonstrate young adults from intact family backgrounds report a comparatively stronger father–child relationship. Among divorce group participants, structural factors (higher father socioeconomic status and joint custody) and early contact (greater percentage of time spent with father postdivorce) were predictors of higher scores on combined nurturant fathering and involvement measures. Greater early contact and stronger interparental relationship factors (low conflict and high contact and cooperativeness) similarly predicted current contact.     

Expanding the HRD Role: Improving employee well-being and organizational performance

Abstract

An important opportunity for the HRD profession lies in assessing and reshaping the psychosocial work environment to create a healthy, mentally focused workforce that provides their organization with a competitive advantage. We explain why HRD professionals should be concerned with employee well-being, offer suggestions for assessing the work environment through a stress audit and discuss four key work factors that affect well-being: job control, role overload, social support and supervisor behaviour. By expanding their role to these concerns, HRD professionals can improve quality of life and contribute to organizational effectiveness. If they do, the result should be healthier employees, healthier organizations and a greater recognition of HRD's potential for transforming organizations.     

Help or hindrance? Social policy and the ‘social determinants of health’

In recent years, public health research has become increasingly focused on issues of social inequality and social disadvantage. This is because social issues, such as poor housing and unemployment, have been found to impact health significantly, and are now referred to as ‘the social determinants of health‘. As a result of this shift, public health is now principally concerned with what are historically considered to be social policy issues. This paper discusses the confluence of public health and social policy; it examines the opportunities and risks posed by this convergence for those working in social policy seeking to reduce poverty and inequality. We argue that, while much can be gained in the two fields by working more closely together, there remain fundamental differences in perspectives and approaches. In order to maximise benefits, these points of difference need to be thought through sooner rather than later.     

Work Values Similarities Among Students From Six Countries

This study examined high school students' selected work values in six countries. The data were analyzed for between-country correlation. Also, the data were analyzed with sex as a variable. The findings indicated selected work values were more similar than dissimilar across countries and cultures. Gender specific results suggested a higher degree of transnational agreement among girls than among their male peers.     

Recycling in multi-family dwellings: Increasing participation and decreasing contamination

This study explored the promotion of recycling in multi-family dwellings. An experimental design investigated four behavior change techniques: biweekly postcards giving specific feedback to each dwelling unit as to quantity and contamination of the recyclables, newsletters giving general information on recycling and the amount recycled by the city as a whole, written pledges committing households to recycle for a specified period, and volunteer coordinators who distributed information and answered questions from residents. The effectiveness of these techniques was compared against that of a control group. The findings suggest that volunteer coordinators are not an effective intervention technique in multi-family dwellings, and that feedback and commitment techniques are useful mainly for managing contamination in medium sized complexes. The data also suggest that the size of a multi-family dwelling complex significantly affects the amount of recyclables collected and the level of contamination. Smaller complexes with less than ten units recycled up to three times the amount on a per unit basis as complexes with more units. Smaller units also had fewer problems with contamination in their recyclables. Several explanations are offered for the poor participation and performance in larger complexes.     

Unauthorized workers and immigration reform: what can we ascertain from employers?

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 attempts to curb unauthorized migration by requiring employers to screen the authorizing documents of all workers. Many different documents may be used, with employers required to simply attest to the face validity of workers' documents upon an I-9 form. The authors report findings from their study estimating the unauthorized US labor force and exploring employers' initial reactions to the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. The findings are based upon hiring practices information supplied by a sample of businesses in an evaluation of the IRCA impact. A selectivity correction model is used to impute 2.6 million unauthorized workers in the entire sample. The estimate, which compares favorably with other estimates, is tabulated by questions about IRCA. Findings suggest that a large proportion of the unauthorized labor force uses fraudulent documents, many without the knowledge of their employer. It appears that Immigration and Naturalization Service-targeted establishments hire 20% of unauthorized workers and that the employers of unauthorized workers are no more likely than other employers to believe that they can be sanctioned under IRCA. This may be associated with the apparent lack of marked change in patterns of unauthorized hiring in the period immediately following IRCA passage. There was some change in hiring behaviors in establishments hiring unauthorized workers, affecting wage offers and documentation, but US employers do not seem to perceive changes in the supply or availability of authorized workers. Study findings indicate only marginal IRCA-related changes in the characteristics of unauthorized hires during the very initial phase of IRCA's implementation. The combination of readily available fraudulent documents, the difficulty in detecting such documents, and the steady demand for low-skilled workers creates conditions which are not conducive to markedly changed hiring behavior.