Extensions of the Duncan's Multiple Range Test for unbalanced data

Extensions of the Duncan's Multiple Range Test to group means with unequal numbers of replications are proposed. These extensions and the extensions due to Kramer (1956) and Bancroft (1968) are evaluated with the Least Significant Difference and the Scheffe (1959) test for observed Type 1 error and correct decision rates by computer simulation techniques. The performance of these procedures to varying degrees of sample-size imbalance and variance heterogeneity under normal and skewed distributions is also examined.     

Training issues in churches

The national and local frameworks of the Christian churches in the UK provide important resources to families and to young people and children. To promote awareness and effective responses to child abuse, training needs to address organizational issues and individual learning, and should do so at community, regional and national level. In training within churches, the part played by beliefs and values cannot be overlooked. Key concerns are identified and discussed.     

Registration completeness and international comparisons of infant mortality

The physical development of the live born infant is the single most important variable governing its survival: infant mortality among those weighing 2,500 grams (5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth is 17 times the mortality among those weighing more than 2,500 grams at birth. The variation in mortality according to birth weight (or gestation) is greater than for subclasses of color, sex, maternal age, or birth order. Infant mortality in the United States is significantly higher than in a number of other countries e.g., Sweden, Netherlands, Norway. The difference is thought, by some, to be due to underregistration of low birth weight infants in other countries. In this paper, distributions of live births by birth weight for Denmark, England and Wales, New Zealand, and the United States, and infant mortality data for Denmark and the United States are examined. The data do not support a hypothesis of gross underregistration of live born infants in other countries. The results indicate that some index of physical development (birth weight, gestation, or a combination of both) should be included in any appraisal of infant mortality.     

A profile of gaming machine players in clubs in Sydney,Australia

New South Wales, Australia, is one of the major markets in the world for machine gaming, with its 1,441 registered clubs holding the dominant share of the state's machines. This study examined machine gambling behavior amongst a random sample of 3,000 club members from six of the largest clubs in Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales. The findings identify their machine gambling preferences and participation levels, isolate significant sociodemographic and other differences between gaming machine and non-gaming machine players, measure the prevalence of probable pathological gambling associated with machine gambling, and identify certain characteristics which differ significantly between probable pathological and non-pathological machine gamblers amongst the respondents.     

The Experience of Pervasive Loss: Children and Young People Living in a Family Where Parental Gambling Is a Problem

Gambling research has contributed much to our understanding of the effects of gambling on families, yet we have only the most cursory understanding of the child's perspective on what it is like to grow up in such a family. The aim of this qualitative study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of Australian children who live in families where a parent or caregiver has a serious gambling problem by exploring the perspectives and understandings of the children and young people themselves. This paper reports a central finding, the experience of Pervasive Loss, from our interviews with 15 young people, 11 males and 4 females, aged between 7 and 18 years. Their sense of loss encompassed both physical and existential aspects of the child's life, including their parent(s), relationships, trust, security, sense of home, and material goods. The dimensions of this experience of pervasive loss are explored from the child's perspective. Children living in families where gambling is a problem experience threats to their overall well-being to the extent that parental problem gambling must now considered to be a significant child health as well as social problem.     

Welfare Reform

The passage of the Welfare Reform Act, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, legislated the most sweeping changes to public assistance to poor people. The major focus of the act was to reduce caseloads and spending on public assistance. The most controversial component of the act, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), replaced the older Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). TANF embodied the welfare to work principle with provisions that needy families could only receive assistance for 2 years at a time and a total of 5 years in a lifetime, and that the poor must take personal responsibility to become self-supporting through employment. Welfare reform included changes to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) which make it more difficult for disabled children to qualify for benefits. Reductions in the Food Stamp program were also included in welfare reform. This paper discusses the details of the Welfare Reform Act and calls attention to concerns that reforms may have negative effects on poor people.     

Whose ‘Ordinary Life’ Is It Anyway?

This paper offers a feminist critique of current community care policy and of the normalisation ideology which underpins it. Drawing on experience in services for people with learning difficulties and people who use mental health services, the authors draw a series of parallels between 'clients' and women in our society. They discuss the mechanisms whereby groups of people are accorded second class status and the ways in which such oppression is experienced. Strategies for change are discussed with reference to feminist scholarship and the development of the women's movement. The prevailing philosophy of normalisation, which is both apolitical and highly individualistic, is challenged to take more account of collective and communal ways forward and to acknowledge the interdependence of people who need care and their carers. Despite the rhetoric of community care, the work of carers (most of whom are women) is undervalued and unsupported. Mainstream values such as competitiveness and self-reliance are incompatible with the integration of people with disabilities and a theoretical framework which confronts such conflicts of interest is required.     

Pediatrics: The emerging psychosocial challenges of the AIDS epidemic

HIV has a pervasive and profound effect on the psychological, social and neuropsychological functioning of infected infants, children and their families. This article discusses direct and indirect psychological manifestations of HIV in children. Direct effects are the outcome of the virus acting on the central nervous system and can result in compromised cognitive, language, motor, socio-emotional and motivational functioning. Indirect effects involve psychological responses to the stress of living with a life threatening illness, the social ostracism, disruption in life goals and undergoing frequent invasive and protracted medical procedures. A major focus of this article is to outline and describe a model comprehensive psychosocial support system developed within the Pediatric Branch of the National Cancer Institute. This includes early intervention issues and strategies for working with families during the introductory phase of the treatment program that also provides the framework for a care management approach, salient mental health problems that frequently occur in this group, and appropriate interventions for individuals and families. Attention is also given to dealing with anticipatory loss and bereavement, implementing traditional innovative intervention techniques, and for providing advocacy services concerning possible legal, financial, housing, and educational issues.