Applications of the Capability Approach in the Health Field: A Literature Review

The scientific understanding of the causes of global warming is based on a vast body of rigorous, peer-reviewed research, but there is little systematic empirical evidence on consequences for humans. Using direct questions about satisfaction with winter and with summer weather, I show that warming’s effects on subjective well-being can be reliably estimated from cross-sectional survey data across a broad temperature spectrum and, moreover, that these effects are large. Combining a US national survey (N = 2295) and standard National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data on actual month-by-month temperatures at each location over many years, shows that changes to be expected from the widely discussed, allegedly “dangerous”, 2 °C of global warming are both familiar and small, equivalent to moving from Wisconsin to Michigan, or Virginia to North Carolina, or more generally 180 miles south. Such warming will greatly increase Americans’ satisfaction with winter weather, especially in the north, but somewhat decrease satisfaction with summer weather in both north and south. On balance, the nation benefits slightly. Regional differences are large, with northerners’ gains roughly equivalent to a 1–2 % increase in their GDP, while southerners losses are about the same size. These changes are important, about as large as the combined financial implications of all other aspects of global warming. They have important policy implications, suggesting that prompt action to reduce carbon emissions may not be optimal because that would restrict warming both in the summer and in the south (gains) but also in the winter and in the north (losses).     

The Burden of Deportation on Children in Mexican Immigrant Families

In 2011, a record number of foreign‐born individuals were detained and removed from the United States. This article looks at the impact enforcement policies have had on Mexican families more broadly and children specifically. Drawing on interviews with 91 parents and 110 children in 80 households, the author suggests that, similar to the injury pyramid used by public health professionals, a deportation pyramid best depicts the burden of deportation on children. At the top of the pyramid are instances that have had the most severe consequences on children's daily lives: families in which a deportation has led to permanent family dissolution. But enforcement policies have had the greatest impact on children at the bottom of the pyramid. Regardless of legal status or their family members' involvement with immigration authorities, children in Mexican immigrant households describe fear about their family stability and confusion over the impact legality has on their lives.     

Long‐Term Predictions From Early Adolescent Attachment State of Mind to Romantic Relationship Behaviors

Attachment state of mind was investigated as a long‐term predictor of romantic relationship competence. A secure early adolescent attachment state of mind was hypothesized to predict more constructive dyadic behaviors during conflict discussions and support‐seeking interactions in late adolescence and early adulthood. Utilizing multimethod data from a community sample of 184 individuals, followed from ages 14 to 21, adolescents with a secure attachment state of mind at age 14 were found to be in relationships that displayed more constructive dyadic conflict discussion behaviors and dyadic supportive behaviors at both ages 18 and 21. Results suggest substantial links between early adolescent attachment state of mind and the adult romantic relationship atmosphere an individual creates and experiences.     

What Kind of War? “Mommy Wars” Discourse in U.S. and Canadian News, 1989–2013

The “Mommy Wars” is a cultural frame asserting the existence of a battle between employed mothers and homemakers. We perform critical discourse analysis of U.S. and Canadian news articles using this term from 1989 through 2013 (N = 402). Building upon the concept of symbolic annihilation, we highlight how the frame distorts and trivializes mothers' experiences. First, ironically, although some authors describe the Mommy Wars as not real, usage grows rapidly over time. Moreover, the meaning expands to include “alternative wars” on a multitude of childrearing differences and on disputes outside of mothering altogether (e.g., type of water used); this serves to equate trivialities like tap versus filtered water with work‐family conditions, effectively rendering them equally inconsequential battles among “mommies.” Finally, the frame trivializes social problems through a focus on (middle‐class) mothers' individual choices as a solution to Mommy Wars. Privileging maternal “choice” with only passing mentions of fathers and the state absolves these groups of responsibilities for the next generation. The use of Mommy Wars rhetoric acts as a divisive, symbolic wedge, ultimately perpetuating a war against mothers.     

Opportunism in Capital Budget Recommendations: The Effects of Past Performance and Its Attributions*

This study uses an experiment to examine the separate and combined effects of managers' loss aversion and their causal attributions about their divisions' performance on tendencies to make goal‐incongruent capital budget recommendations. We find that managers' recommendations are biased by their loss aversion. In particular, managers of high‐performing divisions are more likely than managers of low‐performing divisions to propose investments that maximize their division's short‐term profits at the expense of the firm's long‐term value. We also find that managers' recommendations are biased by their causal attributions. In particular, managers are more likely to propose investments that maximize their division's short‐term profits at the expense of the firm's long‐term value when they attribute their division's performance to external causes (e.g., task difficulty or luck) rather than to internal causes (e.g., managerial ability or effort). Further, the effects of causal attributions are greater for managers of high‐performing divisions than for managers of low‐performing divisions. The study's findings are important because loss aversion and causal attributions are often manifested in firms. Thus, they may bias managers' decisions, which in turn may be detrimental to the firms' long‐term value.     

Preface to the Special Issue on Child and Adolescent Attachment

The implications of John Bowlby’s attachment theory resound through the mental health community. While we know now that much of what Bowlby posited was true, we are still discovering the value of such findings for our clinical work with children and adolescents. Our special issue in Clinical Social Work Journal explores how attachment theory is being used in clinical settings throughout the country. It presents articles relevant to work with infants and toddlers, children and adolescents and families. How can we translate what we know about attachment theory and research into practice? Our special issue authors have attempted to answer this question.     

The behavioral response of basking Northern water (Nerodia sipedon) and Eastern garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) snakes to pedestrians in a New Jersey park

Considerable attention has been devoted to the effects of people on birds and mammals, usually in wilderness or semiwilderness, but relatively little has been directed at reptiles in heavily populated areas. This paper examines the role of investigators and pedestrians on Northern water (Nerodia sipedon) and Eastern garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) snakes basking along a canal in New Jersey. The protocol involved 1–3 investigators approaching snakes that were basking between a path and the Raritan Canal. Investigators walked along the path until they were perpendicular to the snake, observed them for 60 seconds, and then approached them directly. Nearly 40% of the variability in distance to first respond for water snakes (N = 135) was accounted for by distance the snake was from the path, number of observers, and number of people currently using the trail, while 27% of the variability in time to respond was accounted for by number of observers, distance to path and water, and air temperature. There was no significant model for garter snakes (N = 33). Nearly 30% of water snakes, but only 5% of garter snakes, responded during the approach of an observer, and another 32% of water and 45% of garter snakes responded within the first minute of stopping on the trail nearest to them. Water snakes responded when the observer was farther away from them than did garter snakes. As the number of pedestrians on the path increased, water snakes responded when people were farther from them, but there were no differences for garter snakes in response distance. These data indicate differences in response, with water snakes responding sooner than garter snakes. Few garter snakes responded when they were over 150 cm from the path, while a quarter of the water snakes responded when they were from 200 to 300 cm from the path, suggesting that paths should be at least 400 cm from water, providing safe basking sites for water snakes. Further, the data indicate that walking past snakes without stopping results in less disturbance than stopping to watch them.     

Innovation and Organizational Learning: the Case of Computer-Aided Production Management

Recent experience of unsuccessful implementation of integrated advanced manufacturing technology suggests that much of the problem is due to a lack of innovation in organizational in parallel with the technological dimension. Discussion of this issue argues the need for some kind of ‘organizational learning’ to obtain the full benefits of AMT. This paper reviews the topic of organizational learning in technology and explores its relevance to the problem of AMT implementation through the case example of computer-aided production management systems.