The Attitude of Husbands to Working Wives

This study examines the attitude of 256 men whose wives had been surveyed in relation to their workforce experience. Husbands with working wives and non-working wives were surveyed, and their different responses analysed. Variables which could affect responses, such as ages of children, full-time or part-time work, and impact on husbands' own jobs were all considered. In this survey, it was found that neither the level of education of the husband, nor his age were statistically significant indicators of his attitude towards working women.     

MAINSTREAMING AND INTEGRATING PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES: THE VICTORIAN EXPERIENCE

Over the last few years, the psychiatric service system in Victoria has undergone extensive reorganisation. The goals of mainstreaming and integration, endorsed by the National Mental Health Policy, have been fundamental in these changes. However, the implementation of these policies has aroused much criticism. This article discusses the concepts of mainstreaming and integration and summarises a research project into their impact on service delivery. We conclude that the initial implementation strategies in Victoria represented a limited understanding of the complexity of the key policy concepts; in particular, the overly literal model of mainstreaming has put at risk the gains of recent years in developing community-based programs.     

The Role of Ideology in Community Work: Contributions from Feminism and the Left

Mainstream Australian community work has consistently attempted to present itself as an ideologically neutral professional discipline. In this paper we point to the inherent conservative nature of non-ideological practice and suggest that through adopting leftist and feminist ideologies the people we service are advantaged.     

Rethinking comparative studies: an agent–centred perspective

Broadly speaking, three rival approaches to comparative research can be identified. One suggests that the study of different countries and their regions is unproblematic, and is best exemplified by scholarship in mainstream (particularly neoclassical) economics. Stress is placed on an integrated theoretical perspective emphasizing apparent similarities while explaining differences by reference to the heritage of nations and places. By way of contrast a second approach, which owes much to anthropology, relies on case studies and presumes the existence of profound differences between countries and regions. Stress is placed upon the local cultural, social and political factors that sustain persistent difference. A third approach is rooted in new institutional economics and argues for the significance of national institutional frameworks, supposing that those frameworks shape and structure the actions of agents. Whatever their differences and origins, idealism drives each method of comparative study. In this article, we consider these rival theories of comparative study, and suggest an alternative model based upon a set of fundamental assumptions about the nature of human cognition. These assumptions are the building blocks for our analysis, which has global applicability. We focus in particular upon consciousness and reflexivity, the interplay between agency and structure, and the connection between intention and rationality. Implications are then drawn for the practice of comparative studies. In the penultimate section of the article we comment on the limits of comparative studies emphasizing the problems that lie behind the translation of complex concepts within and between languages.     

It shouldn't happen to a statistician

Helen Clough and Patrick Brown are statisticians working in a cross-disciplinary veterinary epidemiology collaboration, uniting statisticians, mathematical modellers, veterinarians, molecular biologists and microbiologists. They describe the strengths that statisticians bring to the collaboration and the creative tensions that arise when both statistical and mathematical modelling techniques are used.     

Testing for randomness in stream ciphers using the binary derivative

The binary derivative has been used to measure the randomness of a binary string formed by a pseudorandom number generator for use in cipher systems. In this paper we develop statistical properties of the binary derivative and show that certain types of randomness testing in binary derivatives are equivalent to well-established tests for randomness in the original string. A uniform method of testing randomness in binary strings is described based on using the binary derivative. We show that the new tests are faster and more powerful than several of the well-established tests for randomness.     

The evolution of the self through optimal gratification

In an attempt to more accurately grasp how the psychotherapeutic process heals self pathology, this paper explores the Self Psychological construct of transmuting internalization which has always assumed a climate of attunement, but has emphasized the frustration inherent in the therapeutic process. An alternative way of conceptualizing the process is offered in an attempt to refine theory to better reflect current research, clinical observations, and therapeutic experience. Specifically, the primacy of optimal frustration as the curative factor is challenged. Gratification of basic needs through an attuned environment is proposed as the fundamental foundation for the process of self structuralization. It is argued that first one must be able to express, identify and interpret affect, and that these abilities are acquired through the activation and gratification of the fundamental needs as delineated by Kohut's concepts of mirroring, idealizing, and twinship. One must have sufficient experiences in feeling valued, confirmed, comforted, affiliated, etc. by a selfobject milieu before she or he can develop self-regulating behaviors.     

Meeting communication needs: topics of talk in the nursing home

Nursing home residents primarily rely on staff for communication and interpersonal relationships. Challenged by staffing shortages and increasingly complex care, staff who provide the most communication with residents lack awareness and skills to effectively communicate with older adults. This study, a secondary analysis of staff-resident interactions from one nursing home, explores communication topics and the effects of an intervention. Staff from one unit were recorded during 2 hours of caregiving to provide a representative sample of their communication with residents. Staff then attended an educational program targeting improved awareness of communication needs and reducing "elderspeak". Recording was repeated post-intervention. Baseline conversations focused on activities of daily living (ADLs), personal-social, technical care, and health assessment. Post-intervention ADL talk decreased in staff-resident interactions, while personal-social topics increased. These findings suggest that residents' limited opportunities for communication with staff are primarily focused on care tasks. With increased communication awareness, staff can learn to modify conversational topics to better meet older adults' psychosocial needs.     

An analysis of safety culture attitudes in a highly regulated environment

Culture is a complex construct in organizations, consisting of attitudes, perceptions, values and beliefs, which must necessarily be set in context. Many authors imply that culture is organization-wide and common to all employees. In terms of safety culture, the organizational context may determine its salience and likelihood of affecting behaviour, especially in a highly regulated environment such as the nuclear industry. This study investigates the components of safety culture and how it varies in a highly-regulated nuclear power plant. A 60-item questionnaire measuring safety attitudes and values was administered anonymously to 1550 employees at two plants in the UK nuclear industry, with a 64.7% mean response rate. Principal components analyses revealed six factors conceptually common to shop floor and management (supervisor/manager/professional) groups for both plants, relating to: management style and communication; responsibility and commitment; risk-taking; job satisfaction; complacency; and risk awareness. A canonical discriminant analysis of the items suggested that the data could distinguish three employee groups. The implications of these findings and the proposal that there are two or more safety cultures in the organization is discussed.     

The social costs and benefits of gambling: an introduction to the economic issues

This paper surveys the range of economic issues that need to be addressed in attempting to evaluate the social costs and benefits of gambling. It considers, inter alia, the nature of private and social costs and benefits and their policy significance, the important distinction between real and pecuniary costs, the incidence of gambling costs and benefits and the sources of gambling costs and benefits. Similarities and differences between the analysis of gambling and alcohol are considered. The paper concludes with a consideration of why various estimates of the social costs of gambling have produced such divergent results.