A dependent Dirichlet process model for survival data with competing risks

In this paper, we first propose a dependent Dirichlet process (DDP) model using a mixture of Weibull models with each mixture component resembling a Cox model for survival data. We then build a Dirichlet process mixture model for competing risks data without regression covariates. Next we extend this model to a DDP model for competing risks regression data by using a multiplicative covariate effect on subdistribution hazards in the mixture components. Though built on proportional hazards (or subdistribution hazards) models, the proposed nonparametric Bayesian regression models do not require the assumption of constant hazard (or subdistribution hazard) ratio. An external time-dependent covariate is also considered in the survival model. After describing the model, we discuss how both cause-specific and subdistribution hazard ratios can be estimated from the same nonparametric Bayesian model for competing risks regression. For use with the regression models proposed, we introduce an omnibus prior that is suitable when little external information is available about covariate effects. Finally we compare the models’ performance with existing methods through simulations. We also illustrate the proposed competing risks regression model with data from a breast cancer study. An R package “DPWeibull” implementing all of the proposed methods is available at CRAN.

     

Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Its Challenges for Nonprofit Managers

In the wake of the recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision, Dale v. Boy Scouts of America and Monmouth Council Boy Scouts (1999), this article examines the issue of sexual orientation discrimination and the challenges it presents nonprofit managers. Because of regional shifts in public opinion, the enactment of nondiscrimination laws at the state and local level, and now a state Supreme Court interpreting state law to include the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) as a “public accommodation,” nonprofit managers may face a more complex legal and moral environment. It is hoped that this article will challenge nonprofit managers to carefully reexamine their membership and personnel policies with respect to lesbians and gay men and begin preparing their organizations for this cultural change.     

The Couple Relationship as the Focus of Sex Therapy: The Integration of Sex Therapy Ideas and Techniques with Marital and Family Therapy

The marriage and family therapist needs basic information about techniques used in sex therapy in order to deal with the sexual issues they may encounter in their practice. This paper outlines a method of incorporating the psychotherapeutic techniques presently used in sex therapy into the marriage and family counselling setting when there is a sexual issue involved. The paper is separated into (1) a discussion of the problem, (2) recovering the relationship as the focus for sex therapy, and (3) the main approaches to treatment. Next, (4) practice issues are considered, with a presentation of couple therapy using concepts and techniques of sex therapy, including discussions on A. Identification of Organic Causes, B. Identification of Psychological Issues, C. Examination of Interpersonal Issues, and D. Assessment of Systemic Issues. (5) Some more common interventions are then presented.     

Individualism—Collectivism and the Vocational Behavior of Majority Culture College Students

This study examined whether variation on the cultural constructs of individualism–collectivism in a sample of predominantly majority culture (i.e., Anglo American) college students accounts for significant amounts of variance in their occupational choices, career plans, and work values. Participants (135 women, 55 men) responded to the “I am” sentence completion method (Kuhn & McPartland, 1954), the Occupational Plans Questionnaire (Hershenson, 1967), and the Work Values Inventory (Super, 1970). Overall, results indicated no significant relationships between level of collectivism and the career-related variables.     

Charging and Quasi-Markets in Community Care: Implications for Elderly People with Dementia

Social services authorities in the UK are increasingly involved in charging and fee collection activities with clients in receipt of community care services. This article explores the implications of these developments for elderly people with dementia. The starting point of the article is a critique of existing legal and administrative options for handling other people's money, including the difficulties and dilemmas raised for both paid and unpaid carers by the existing arrangements. This is then related to the failure of charging and fee collection systems which have developed as a result of the community care reforms to address the particular needs of elderly people with dementia. A case study of policies in one local authority is outlined and this is followed by the presentation of the view of 37 fieldlevel professionals who were interviewed in focus groups. The concerns of these respondents included the complexity of the assessment task, conflicts between care managers and finance/revenue staff, the difficulty of defining and responding to financial abuse, and dilemmas over the extent to which relatives and carers should be trusted. The final section of the article considers the implications of a move to quasi-markets in social care for elderly people with dementia, particularly in terms of their vulnerability to financial exploitation.     

Lenski Effects on Sex Stratification Theory

This paper tries to explain why the Lenski (1970) theory of stratification based on ecology and subsistence technology had relatively little effect on theories of sex inequality. In cultural anthropology, generalization was held to be impossible. Feminist explanation in sociology was social-psychological. Moreover, by the 1980s, the bias against biology in feminist theory came to include all of science. Exceptions to these trends include the work of Blumberg, Chafetz, Collins, Coltrane, and Turner. Whether feminist sociologists will follow their lead remains to be seen.