Bullying and 'Theory of Mind': A Critique of the 'Social Skills Deficit' View of Anti-Social Behaviour

Bullying in schools has been found to be widespread. The popular stereotype of a bully, supported by theories based on the social skills deficit model, is of a powerful but 'oafish' person with little understanding of others. In this article, we trace the origin of this view, and present an alternative view: that some bullies, at least, will need good social cognition and theory of mind skills in order to manipulate and organise others, inflicting suffering in subtle and damaging ways while avoiding detection themselves. Such skills, although likely to be utilised in all bullying, may be particularly useful for ringleader bullies and in the indirect forms of bullying which are more common between girls. Suggestions for further research in this area are made, and implications for anti-bullying work briefly discussed.     

Relationship power,decision making,and sexual relations: An exploratory study with couples of Mexican origin

This study explored how couples of Mexican origin define power in intimate relationships, what makes men and women feel powerful in relationships, and the role of each partner in decision making about sexual and reproductive matters. Interviews were conducted with each partner of 39 sexually active couples and data were analyzed using content analysis. Results indicate that power is perceived as control over one's partner and the ability to make decisions. Women say they feel more powerful in relationships when they make unilateral decisions and have economic independence. Men feel powerful when they have control over their partner and bring home money. Respondents agreed that women make decisions about household matters and children, while men make decisions related to money. Findings indicate that whereas couples share decision making about sexual activities and contraceptive use, men are seen as initiators of sexual activity and women are more likely to suggest condom use.     

[HDDA] sparse subspace constrained partial least squares

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we investigate the objective function and deflation process for sparse Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression with multiple components. While many have considered variations on the objective for sparse PLS, the deflation process for sparse PLS has not received as much attention. Our work highlights a flaw in the Statistically Inspired Modification of Partial Least Squares (SIMPLS) deflation method when applied in sparse PLS regression. We also consider the Nonlinear Iterative Partial Least Squares (NIPALS) deflation in sparse PLS regression. To remedy the flaw in the SIMPLS method, we propose a new sparse PLS method wherein the direction vectors are constrained to be sparse and lie in a chosen subspace. We give insight into this new PLS procedure and show through examples and simulation studies that the proposed technique can outperform alternative sparse PLS techniques in coefficient estimation. Moreover, our analysis reveals a simple renormalization step that can be used to improve the estimation of sparse PLS direction vectors generated using any convex relaxation method.     

Short notices

H. J. Dyos (ed.), Urban History Yearbook 1974, 192; Urban History Yearbook 1975, 188 (Leicester University Press, Leicester, £3.00).

J. R. Raveosdale, Liable to Floods: Village Landscape on the Edge of the Fens, A.D. 450–1850 (1974), xi+206 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £5.50).

Joel Samaha, Law and Order in Historical Perspective. The Case of Elizabethan Essex (1974), xvi+176 (Academic Press, London and New York, £4.70).

Charles Carlton, The Court of Orphans (1974), 145 (Leicester University Press, Leicester, £3.50).

Hans Christian Johansen, Belolkningsudvikling og familiestruktur i det 18. árhuadrede (1975). 211 (Odense University Press, Odense, Denmark, D.kv. 60+VAT). (Population and family structure in eighteenth‐century Denmark)

Paul Butel, Les négotiants bordelais, l'Europe, et les Iles au dix‐huitième siècle (1974), 427 (Aubier‐Montaigne, Paris, 70 fr.). (Bordeaux merchants, Europe, and the French West Indies in the eighteenth century)

Marcus Cunliffe, The Age of Expansion 1848–1917 (1974), 336 (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £4.95).

Pamela and Harold Silver, The Education of the Poor. The History of a National School, 1824–1974 (1974), z+197 (Routledge and Kegan Paul, £3.95).     

Responses to Homelessness in Australian Cities: Social Worker Perspectives

Abstract

Responses to homelessness in Australia are provided by a range of government and nongovernment services. The present study examined the experiences of social workers within these diverse services. The article discusses how social workers make meaning of their professional identity and responses to homelessness in contemporary practice and policy settings. The findings of a qualitative study of 39 social workers employed in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney are analysed from a social constructionist perspective. The practice dilemmas for social workers interviewed related to the dominating influence of the contemporary political and economic climate, the managerial requirement of organisations, and the personal and professional tensions these political and organisational contexts created.     

Book review

Jane Fishburne Collier "From Duty to Desire: Remaking Families in a Spanish Village," Princeton University Press, 1997.     

Book reviews

Fertility has declined to below replacement levels in many of the modern industrialized countries during the last three decades. This decline has been explained by various modern socio-economic characteristics, such as the change in women's status, their increased participation in non-familial activities, modern consumption patterns, and increasing costs of raising ‘quality’ children. The Jewish population of Israel is a modern society with such characteristics. Yet, total fertility in Israel during the 1980s was at least one child higher than in most European countries. It is shown that social heterogeneity makes this an over-simplified comparison. Indeed, it is the high fertility of the orthodox population among the two major ethnic groups, combined with the decline towards below-replacement fertility of the non-orthodox, which produces the high mean fertility of the entire population. While during the 1950s and 1960s the major explanations of fertility variation were concerned with ethnicity and socio-economic status, these were replaced by religiosity in the 1970s and the 1980s.     

The long-run effect of part-time work

Unlike most of the literature concerning the effects of nonstandard work, we examine the long-term impact of part-time work. Our main focus is on earnings and several important benefits. As might be expected, voluntary part-time work while in school increases earnings of both women and men, whereas involuntary part-time work has no significant impact. Surprisingly, however, voluntary part-time work while not in school has a substantial positive effect for women but is not significant for men. Furthermore, we find that the provision of health insurance, profit-sharing, defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans is primarily determined by factors other than work experience.