COMMUNICATION and FREE-RIDING BEHAVIOR: THE VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION MECHANISM

We examine experimentally the role of active communication as a mechanism for improving economic efficiency in a voluntary contribution public goods environment. With no communication this environment has been shown to induce significant subop-timality, approaching zero contributions with iteration of the decision environment. Communication is shown to improve group optimality significantly. We examine the robustness of our results in increasingly complex environments and in environments in which there has been a history of communication but active communication is no longer available.     

Values and future''s research

The relationship of values to the future is a question that has not been given the attention it deserves. Surprise-free alternatives are the standard kinds of short term forecasts and all too often the basis for long term forecasts. This means nothing important will change enough to affect the present trends and there will be no new revolutionary inventions or attitudinal changes in the public of any significance. Technological forecasting is the half of the equation used for most forecasts of change. Public values and what they will be in the future are seldom forecast, yet they have much to do with how change takes place and is accepted. It is to the problem of value change that this paper will address itself.     

Selecting a physician executive.

Selecting a physician executive can be a complex task. The process is complicated by the explosive demand for qualified physician executives. Although the number of physician managers has grown since 1979, the demand still outstrips the supply of physicians with track records. Also, many organizations have never had a full-time person serving in the capacity of Medical Director or Vice President of Medical Affairs, so the process of recruiting this person is new to them.     

Understanding men's health and illness: a gender-relations approach to policy, research, and practice

Men's health has emerged as an important public concern that may require new kinds of healthcare interventions and increased resources. Considerable uncertainty and confusion surround prevailing understandings of men's health, particularly those generated by media debate and public policy, and health research has often operated on oversimplified assumptions about men and masculinity. A more useful way of understanding men's health is to adopt a gender-relations approach. This means examining health concerns in the context of men's and women's interactions with each other, and their positions in the larger, multidimensional structure of gender relations. Such an approach raises the issue of differences among men, which is a key issue in recent research on masculinity and an important health issue. The gender-relations approach offers new ways of addressing practical issues of healthcare for men in college environments.     

Stalking as a variant of intimate violence: implications from a young adult sample

There is a limited but growing literature which suggests that stalking is a variant of intimate violence. The purpose of this study was to examine physical, psychological, and stalking victimization and perpetration among males and females. Alcohol use was also examined. The sample was 46 male and 84 female undergraduate students who reported stalking victimization and perpetration after a difficult breakup, and psychological and physical victimization and perpetration during that specific relationship. Overall, 27% of the sample study was classified into the stalking victimization group, which is consistent with other stalking prevalence rates among college samples. For females, stalking victimization was significantly associated with physical and psychological abuse victimization. For males, stalking victimization was significantly associated with psychological abuse victimization. However, there was also a strong significant reciprocal relationship of stalking and psychological abuse victimization and perpetration, especially for males. Also, alcohol use was significantly associated with victimization and perpetration of stalking and psychological abuse for males. The data from this study contribute to the hypothesis that stalking is a variant of or extension of intimate violence, especially for females. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Commentary: The Emergence and Application of Active Aging in Europe

Active aging is established as the leading global policy strategy in response to population aging. In practice, however, the term active aging serves as a convenient shelter for a wide range of policy discourses and initiatives concerning demographic change. The twin purposes of this article are, first, to examine its European origins and how it has been applied in the world's oldest region. This policy analysis illustrates the contrast between the primarily European discourse on active aging, which emphasizes health, participation, and well-being, and the U.S. discourse that prioritizes productivity. The application of active aging in Europe has, nonetheless, been predominantly in the productivist mold. The examination of the emergence of this key policy concept in Europe is contextualized by an outline of the changing politics of aging in this region. The second purpose of the article is to set out a new, comprehensive strategy on active aging that is intended to realize the full potential of the concept. Understanding of the need for this broad vision of active aging is facilitated by the historical policy review.     

Structural Characteristics of Electronic Gaming Machines and Satisfaction of Play Among Recreational and Problem Gamblers

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of three specific modifications to the structural design of electronic gaming machines proposed by the New South Wales Liquor Administration Board, on player satisfaction. These modifications: reduction in reel spin speed, maximum bet limited to A$1.00 and removal of high denomination bill acceptors; were recommended as putative harm minimisation strategies within a larger government responsible gaming policy framework. Participants were a total of 363 patrons attending either a club or hotel venue in Sydney. Gambling behaviour and responses to a brief satisfaction questionnaire were obtained under conditions of play on modified and unmodified electronic gaming devices. Responses to satisfaction measures varied between hotel and club patrons and recreational and problem gamblers. Problem gamblers consistently reported less satisfaction and enjoyment playing machines. Overall, little effect on satisfaction or enjoyment was found for either social or problem gamblers in respect to concurrent modifications limiting maximum bet size and reducing high denomination bill acceptors. Slower machines were rated as less satisfying to play, but effects were small and did not appear to influence player’s stated intentions. It is yet to be determined if changes to structural characteristics of electronic gaming machines are associated with harm reduction.     

Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Constructing the Celibate Priest

This paper looks at the way sexual teachings and power transactions are interconnected, so that misogyny, homophobia, and a penitential code regulating sexuality enforced through confession provide the scaffolding for a hierarchical system, run by celibate males. It is a system that feminist theologian Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (1999) has termed “Kyriarchy” or “the rule of the emperor/master/lord/father/husband over his subordinates” (p. 114). The paper reviews the historical evolution of the Church's teachings on sex and gender that have not only created the context for the recent pedophilia scandal, but, have pervaded Western thinking about these matters.