Defining delayed consequences as reinforcers: some do, some don't, and nothing changes

Results of a survey sent to members of the editorial boards of five behavior-analytic journals in 1990 indicated that there was no consensus among respondents with respect to whether delayed events can function as reinforcers (Schlinger, Blakely, Fillhard, & Poling, 1991). Since that time, several studies with nonhuman animals have demonstrated that events delayed by at least several seconds can increase the probability of occurrence of the responses that produce them. To determine the relative number of contemporary behavior analysts who nonetheless believe that reinforcers must immediately follow the responses that produce them, the present study replicated the procedures used by Schlinger et al., with similar results. That is, respondents did not agree with respect to whether delayed events could be reinforcers.     

Compulsory Income Management in the Northern Territory – evaluating its impact

Australia has been experimenting with constraining the ways in which welfare recipients can spend their income support payments, limiting their ability to access cash and purchase some products. The policy objectives include to reduce spending on alcohol, gambling, pornography and tobacco in favour of meeting ‘basic’ family needs, especially for children, to limit the scope for financial harassment, encourage pro‐social behaviours, and build financial capabilities. In the logic of the programs these outcomes are expected to be manifest at the individual, family and community levels. The policy has primarily impacted on Indigenous Australians as a result of its geographic targeting, although a recent report has recommended a more stringent version of the program be introduced universally to all welfare recipients other than the aged. The largest of these experiments is ‘New Income Management’ in the Northern Territory, which has had more than 35,000 participants since its introduction in 2010. This article reports on the key findings of the major independent evaluation of New Income Management commissioned by the Australian Government.     

Does inflation targeting lower inflation and spur growth?

Over the last few decades several countries have turned to inflation targeting as a policy choice for instilling stability into their economies. Prior studies have shown that inflation targeting has reduced inflation in those countries without significantly impacting GDP. This study seeks to improve upon these results by identifying the impact of timing on the policy decision as well as its impact as related to specific regions of the world. The focus is on developing countries across six regions. We find significant regional variation in developing countries in our sample in terms of the direction of changes in inflation following a switch to the inflation targeting policy. Moreover, although the impact of inflation targeting on real GDP is minimal overall, there is a statistically significant increase in real GDP among developing countries in certain regions only, namely, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.     

Interstate Migration Has Fallen Less Than You Think: Consequences of Hot Deck Imputation in the Current Population Survey

We show that much of the recent reported decrease in interstate migration is a statistical artifact. Before 2006, the Census Bureau's imputation procedure for dealing with missing data in the Current Population Survey inflated the estimated interstate migration rate. An undocumented change in the procedure corrected the problem starting in 2006, thus reducing the estimated migration rate. The change in imputation procedures explains 90% of the reported decrease in interstate migration between 2005 and 2006, and 42% of the decrease between 2000 (the recent high-water mark) and 2010. After we remove the effect of the change in procedures, we find that the annual interstate migration rate follows a smooth downward trend from 1996 to 2010. Contrary to popular belief, the 2007-2009 recession is not associated with any additional decrease in interstate migration relative to trend.     

The inverse power Lindley distribution in the presence of left-censored data

In this study, classical and Bayesian inference methods are introduced to analyze lifetime data sets in the presence of left censoring considering two generalizations of the Lindley distribution: a first generalization proposed by Ghitany et al. [Power Lindley distribution and associated inference, Comput. Statist. Data Anal. 64 (2013), pp. 20–33], denoted as a power Lindley distribution and a second generalization proposed by Sharma et al. [The inverse Lindley distribution: A stress–strength reliability model with application to head and neck cancer data, J. Ind. Prod. Eng. 32 (2015), pp. 162–173], denoted as an inverse Lindley distribution. In our approach, we have used a distribution obtained from these two generalizations denoted as an inverse power Lindley distribution. A numerical illustration is presented considering a dataset of thyroglobulin levels present in a group of individuals with differentiated cancer of thyroid.     

The Role of Non‐profit Organizations in the Mixed Economy of Welfare‐to‐Work in the UK and Australia

This article charts the development of welfare‐to‐work policies and compares and contrasts the traditions of delivery in the UK and Australia. We find that in the UK, employment services and social security benefit administration have been dominated by the central state, traditionally affording a key role to civil servants as direct delivery agents. However, in federal Australia, mixed economies of welfare‐to‐work operate in the different states, there is a far greater role for social services and non‐profit organizations are firmly established as key providers of frontline employment services. Since the late 1990s, UK welfare reforms have been gradually following the Australian lead in contracting non‐state actors as delivery agents. As this trend seems set to continue and intensify, we examine the Australian experience in order to reflect on the role of non‐profits in policy reform.     

Exploring Nondeliberative Practice through Recreational,Art, and Music-Based Activities in Social Work with Groups

ABSTRACT

This article reviews the history of recreational, arts, and music-based activities in social work with groups, providing a nondeliberative practice context. The article begins with an overview of nondeliberative practice, then presents various uses of recreational, art, and music-based activities during the Settlement House and Recreational Movements, in mid-20^th-century group work practice and in present practice. The article concludes with a review of current projects in the Chicago land area and highlights their potential to decrease young person on young person violence.     

Improving Permanency: Caseworker Perspectives of Older Youth in Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement

Researchers conducted focus groups with 52 child welfare caseworkers across five county child welfare agencies to understand their approach to working with and views about outcomes for youth in Another Permanent Planned Living Arrangement (APPLA). Analysis of the focus groups yielded five themes, including (a) youth and family factors contributing to APPLA as a case designation, (b) caseload intensity relative to this specific population, (c) perceptions of organizational support, (d) lack of focus on legal permanency, and (e) overemphasis on independent living services. The range of viewpoints from these child welfare professionals spoke to the complexities of addressing the needs for older youth in care and to identifying strategies to improve permanency outcomes for this population. The implications for practices that account for individual, organizational, and systemic factors impacting legal permanency for older youth are discussed.     

Correlates of AUDIT Risk Status for Male and Female College Students

Abstract

Objective: The current study identified gender-specific correlates of hazardous drinker status as defined by the AUDIT. Participants: A total of 462 college student volunteers completed the study in 2006. The sample was predominantly Caucasian (75%) and female (55%). Methods: Participants completed a survey assessing demographics, alcohol use patterns, and health indices. Scores of 8 or more on the AUDIT defined the at-risk subsample. Logistic regression models determined which variables predicted AUDIT risk status for men and women. Results: The at-risk participants reported higher alcohol use and related problems, elevated sleep problems and lower health ratings. High typical blood alcohol concentration (BAC), lifetime drug use, and psychosocial problems predicted risk status for males. Binge frequency and psychosocial problems predicted risk status for females. Conclusions: Different behavioral profiles emerged for men and women identified as hazardous drinkers on the AUDIT. The efficacy of brief alcohol interventions could be enhanced by addressing these behavioral correlates.