On the Effect of Risk Aversion in Bimatrix Games

Nash equilibria with identical supports are compared for bimatrix games that are different with respect to the risk aversion of player 2. For equilibria in 2× 2-bimatrix games and for equilibria with efficient supports in coordination games it is established for which cases increased risk aversion of player 2 benefits or hurts player 2.     

Did tax incentives play any part in increased giving?

Since 2000, increased taxation incentives along with other measures have been used by the government to encourage philanthropy in Australia. Since the new incentives were introduced, claimed gift tax deductions have increased. However, generally, donors are not aware of the new tax incentives for giving and in any case they report that their motivation for giving is not primarily, if at all, to obtain tax incentives. This article examines this paradox and seeks some possible explanations.     

System abuse: towards a greater understanding from the perspectives of children and parents

The present article explores the concept of system abuse from the perspectives of children and parents. Four main ways in which the term has been used are highlighted and, with reference to the literature, the commonalities underlying the various uses of the term are explored. Reviewing the available evidence suggests that many families may become unnecessarily involved in the child protection system; this finding is discussed within the parameters of the current Section 17/Section 47 debate. Features of the investigation identified as particularly salient for children and parents include the initial phase of the investigation; investigative interviews and medical examinations; case conferences; social-worker/family interaction and the lack of follow-through services. Gaps in service provision when workers do not consider that abuse has occurred are also considered. Finally, pointers for practice during investigations are discussed in the light of this review     

Strategic Planning for Support Services for Children with a Parent or Close Relative in Prison

It has long been recognized that children with a parent or close relative in prison are more likely to experience educational difficulties, emotional distress, family breakdown and a substantial reduction in family income (Boswell 2002; Smith et al. 2007; Morgan et al. 2013b; Morgan and Gill 2013). Consequently, children with a parent in prison are more likely to require support from statutory services, especially education and social care. However, statutory support for this group of children is sparse, and children of prisoners tend not to be identified as a priority group. The demand on local authorities to spend their limited budgets wisely means tough decisions have to be made. These decisions are not taken in a vacuum: they are taken in a context of local need, consumer representation, central and local politics; underpinned by the values and attitudes of individual members as well as by the ethos or culture of the local authority itself. In this article we apply Axford's typology (2009) of the different cultures which underpin local authority service provision to data from a research study carried out in 2011 in one local authority which explored support provision in schools for children of prisoners. We examine the contradictions and gaps within the local authority's attempts to synergize the different modules of service delivery into a coherent pattern of provision, and we explore how changes in strategic culture might lead to improvements being made in terms of service delivery to this group of ‘vulnerable’ children.     

Validation of the WeDQoL-Goals-Thailand Measure: Culture-Specific Individualised Quality of Life

The aim of this study was to validate an individualised measure of quality of life (WeDQoL-Goals-Thailand). Three hundred and sixty-nine Thai people completed the WeDQoL by interview. Respondents rated (0–2) the perceived necessity for wellbeing of 51 goals (goal necessity), then rated (0–3) their satisfaction with the same goals (goal satisfaction). Weighted goal attainment (possible range 0–6) was computed (necessity x satisfaction). Psychometric validation used frequency distributions, Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and Cronbach’s alpha. Analysis of variance, t-tests, Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney U, Spearman’s correlation and multiple regression explored socio-demographic, geographic and economic differences. Respondents were aged 15–89 (mean 45.7, SD 18.0); 169 men, 200 women. For weighted goal attainment scores, PCA found a 44-item scale (α = 0.91) and three subscales (community/social/health, α = 0.90; house and home, α = 0.80; nuclear family, α = 0.81). Thai Individualised Goal Attainment (TIGA) scale and the three subscales were computed as the mean of contributing weighted goal attainment scores, after excluding goals considered ‘not necessary’ to each individual. Unweighted and individualised scores differed significantly with socio-demographic, geographic and economic indicators. In multiple regression, both Thai Unweighted Goal Satisfaction (TUGS) and TIGA scale scores were predicted by being married, living in the South and in a non-urban location. TIGA scores were also predicted by being over 25 years old. WeDQoL-Goals-Thailand has excellent psychometric properties. Individualised scores reflect each person’s perspective on wellbeing and are sensitive to subgroup differences. However, unweighted satisfaction scores give a broadly similar picture and involve less complex computation.     

"Bridging the Gap": New Relationships between Primary Care Groups and Local Authorities

Current policy places great emphasis on the development of "partnerships", particularly between NHS and local authority services, with the aims of increasing service coordination and delivery and improving health. To this end, primary care groups (PCGs), at the forefront of NHS organizational developments, are required to include a social services representative on their governing boards; similarly, primary care trusts (PCTs) have a social services representative on their executive committees. Drawing on a representative longitudinal national survey of English PCGs, the paper evaluates the contribution of these new governance arrangements to the development of inter-agency partnerships. Despite poor histories of collaboration and some major organizational barriers, there are some signs of progress, with social services representatives playing an active part in PCG affairs and having clear lines of communication about PCG matters with their employing authorities. Equally significantly, PCGs have also quickly established a wide range of contacts directly with other local authority services and departments. However, these early gains risk being limited by traditional professional inequalities between social work and medicine and, in particular, by the prospect of further organizational upheaval as PCGs merge with each other and/or acquire trust status.     

The Relationship Between Family Mealtime Interactions and Eating Disorder in Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review

During childhood and adolescence, family meal frequency has been found to have an inverse relationship with disordered eating behaviour. Also, family interactional patterns differ in families where there is a child with and without an eating disorder. This paper examines the relationship between family mealtime interactions during childhood and adolescence and eating disorder behaviour through a systematic review of the literature. The method was an asystematic electronic search of PsycInfo, Medline and Web of Knowledge undertaken in April 2012. Ten studies demonstrated a significant relationship between family mealtime interactions and disordered eating behaviour. Families where there is a child with an eating disorder display less positive interactions during mealtimes. While the findings can be linked to family based treatment for anorexia nervosa there is a need for prospective research in this area.     

Music Education and minority groups cultural and musical identities in the ‘newer’ South Africa: white Afrikaners and Indians

Music Education, as well as cultural and musical identities are all being renegotiated, post‐Apartheid, within the so‐called ‘newer’ rather than the commonly known ‘new’ South Africa. The developing situation with certain minority groups is particularly interesting. Education in general has undergone much change since the first democratic elections in 1994: music education specifically has been affected by such change in terms of content, delivery and assessment. Within the South African context, cultural and musical identities are often intertwined with language, racial and even tribal identities, and discussing one implies the others. We are particularly interested here in the role of formal Music Education in relation to white Afrikaners and Indians as they renegotiate their cultural development, including musical aspects.     

Increasing Choice and Control for Older and Disabled People: A Critical Review of New Developments in England

This paper critically examines new policies currently being implemented in England aimed at increasing the choice and control that disabled and older people can exercise over the social care support and services they receive. The development of these policies, and their elaboration in three policy documents published during 2005, are summarized. The paper then discusses two issues underpinning these proposals: the role of quasi‐markets within publicly funded social care services; and the political and policy discourses of consumerism and choice within the welfare state. Despite powerful critiques of welfare consumerism, the paper argues that there are nevertheless very important reasons for taking choice seriously when considering how best to organize and deliver support and other services for disabled and older people. A policy discourse on consumerism, however, combined with the use of market mechanisms for implementing this, may be highly problematic as the means of creating opportunities for increased choice and, on its own, risks introducing new forms of disadvantage and social exclusion.