Direct and indirect effects on infant mortality in a high-fertility US population

This article examines the direct and indirect effects of social and demographic measures on infant mortality using data from a church directory of the Old Order Amish of the Lancaster, PA, Settlement. The sample includes all infant deaths and a simple random sample of survivors (total n=2013). The results reveal that the death of the immediately prior sibling directly increases the risk of infant death nearly 30%, net of other factors. Also, the risk of mortality in the first year increases as birth order increases, particularly at the highest orders (8–17 prior sibs). Infants of the youngest mothers (age 13) are nearly 10% more likely to die in the first year of life than are infants of mothers age 24, nearly all of which is indirect via parity, prior sib death and birth interval. Further analysis shows that families adapting more rapidly to external community pressures face a higher risk of infant death than families living in more stable areas. These relationships emerge even in this homogeneous population with a relatively high standard of living and a traditional lifestyle, Implications are that indirect effects should be included in research on teen pregnancy and infant survival, and might be especially important for studies in transitional geographic areas.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1993 meetings of Population Association of America, Cincinnati.     

Economics,ecology and entropy: The second law of thermodynamics and the limits to growth

The second law of thermodynamics has played an important role in ecological economics as providing a justification for the view that economies have limits to growth. Yet beyond basic textbooks statements of this law, we seldom find informed philosophical examinations of the meaning and metaphysical justification for the second law. In this paper we shall examine some challenges which have been made to the limits to growth (Limitationist) position by those criticizing the scope and application of the second law of thermodynamics and we shall in turn defend Limitationism against these criticisms.     

Coaching und Wissenschaft – Geschichte einer schwierigen Beziehung

The contribution traces the history of coaching and its relationship to science. First-generation pioneers have based the development of their concepts on then current scientific foundations. Pronounced scientifically oriented approaches, such as the Evidence-Based Coaching, however, emerged only after the pioneering phase. In the second practitioners’ generation, following the pioneers the relationship to science is mostly declining. Here, the top 50 in the internet popular training programs differ between the U.S., UK and Germany. The article closes with a discussion of alternative possible developments of coaching in the future third generation and its relationship to science.     

Empowerment fördern,neue Firmenkultur etablieren,Nachhaltigkeit sichern

In contrast to many other change processes that are often led by a defined process architecture with clear targets and a strategic framework that mainly addresses company leaders, this systemic approach within a medium-sized company fostered high participation and an organically growing change management. Focusing on the empowerment of employees from the start serves two parallel objectives: the development of a new organization and the transfer of the experience from the existing organization. In the following example, this dialectic challenge is targeted by an iterative process. The organic intertwining of operative and change specific tasks enables a participative target frame that step by step includes and fuels a new culture, modern leadership principles, and contribution.     

If Islam is our other,who are ‘we‘?

Since September 11, the Australian media has increasingly represented Muslim Australians as essential outsiders threatening standards and values of the modern liberal democratic polity. This article traces a similar trend in a number of Western European countries, finding a link with backlashes against multiculturalism and a call for a return to putatively universal and absolute values that are being contravened by Muslims. The article also connects both the dehumanising portrayals of Muslims, as enemies of humanity, and the concomitant depiction of Western nations as the embodiment of universal values with Carl Schmitt's theory that, under such circumstances, all constraints on how the enemy is to be treated are rendered nugatory. It argues that US policies regarding torture are consistent with Schmitt's analysis. Drawing on recent literature on the historical and sociological construction of secular forms, the article then asks whether Muslims are regarded as radical enemies because they are a threat to the West's self conception as modern and secular, or whether the conflict is of a religious nature. It concludes by looking at recent political rhetoric and educational policy in Australia to argue that despite the dominant note appearing to be one of secularism, there is a notable presence of references to Christian values, indicating that it is not simply religion per se that is seen as problematic, but Islam in particular.     

Balancing Qualified Staff Requirements with Shortage of Recruits in Child Care – The NSW Experience

In Australia and many other countries, government regulations require that children's services, such as long day care centres and preschools, employ certain numbers of qualified early childhood teachers. This recognises that training and experience of staff are the most significant factors determining the quality of care. At the same time Australia is facing a shortage of qualified early childhood teachers, and governments are grappling with how staff requirements can be met. In this article we examine the New South Wales Government approach, which waives temporarily the requirement to employ qualified teachers if children's services providers can show that they have made all reasonable effort at recruiting the required staff. We consider the impact of the temporary waiver on quality of care, and whether it is necessary to compromise government standards in this way. Our research concludes that most providers committed to good quality care do not resort to using the temporary waiver.