Transition Shock and the Relocation of People from Mental Handicap Hospitals and Hostels

The process of deinstitutionalisation has been gathering momentum in Britain and the United States since the mid-1970s. A discussion of these trends provides the background to an examination of “transition shock” as it affects people relocated from mental handicap institutions. The paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of transition shock and links them to the findings of a follow-up study of the behavioural consequences of relocation.     

Place-based urban ecology: A century of park planning in Seattle

This research responds to calls from within the field of urban ecology to explicitly incorporate humanities-based research in order to achieve robust interdisciplinarity. Our research provides an example of a place-based urban ecological analysis. We use this framework to analyze over a century of park planning and development within the city of Seattle. We identify four eras of park planning that are linked by a comprehensive 100-year park plan. This case study examines how the political, cultural, and economic aspects of park planning have produced and been influenced by long-term trends and historical contingencies. This research also offers practical insights for effective contemporary urban planning, emphasizing the need for flexible and adaptive long-term plans when confronted with unpredictable events, emerging political arrangements, changing cultural priorities, and shifting fiscal climates.     

ANOMALIES, PROBINGS, INSIGHTS: KEN FOREMAN'S ROLE IN THE SAMPLING INFERENCE CONTROVERSY OF THE LATE 20TH CENTURY

This paper is based on the author's recollections of work done for and with E.K. Foreman, and later developments of that work. It describes most particularly the author's early intimations of the potential for using prediction models in survey sampling, the reasons why the use of such models, especially for inferential purposes, was so strongly resisted in the second half of the 20th century, the manner in which randomization and prediction inferences can be combined, and some advantages flowing from that combination.     

Free agency,owner incentives,and the national football league players association

In an effort to raise salaries in professional football, the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has demanded that NFL owners set aside 55 percent of gross revenues to fund a union wage scale. An alternative means of raising salaries, as evidenced by the relatively higher earnings in major league baseball and professional basketball, is through a free agent system wherein players are free to sell themselves in the open market. This paper examines the NFLPA’s claim that free agency will not work in the NFL because owners lack the financial incentive to win that would induce them to bid on free agents.     

Zusammenfassungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Alcohol Use and Prior Substance Abuse Treatment in Relation to Gambling Problem Severity and Gambling Treatment Outcome

Recent research has made it clear that problematic gambling is often accompanied by problematic alcohol use. Unfortunately, little is known about the nature of this association, especially as it relates to gambling treatment outcome. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of current alcohol use level and previous substance abuse treatment on the symptoms of a large cohort of pathological gamblers as well as on their response to treatment for pathological gambling. The sample included 464 men and 301 women recruited at six gambling treatment programs in Minnesota. Gambling treatment patients were assessed on a number of gambling problem severity and related clinical variables using the Gambling Treatment Outcome Monitoring System (GAMTOMS). Patients with frequent alcohol use had greater gambling involvement at baseline than infrequent alcohol users. Patients with a previous history of substance abuse treatment had more severe psychosocial problems, ostensibly resulting from their gambling behavior, than patients without past substance abuse treatment. A MANOVA with repeated measures showed that neither pretreatment alcohol use, nor past substance abuse treatment exerted significant effects on gambling treatment outcome. While the level of pretreatment alcohol use and a history of substance abuse treatment are markers for greater gambling problem severity, treatment outcome for pathological gambling was not adversely impacted by these variables.     

Establishing the R&D agenda for twenty-first century learning

An infusion of twenty-first century skills into American public education necessitates a plan for research and development to further such reform. While the nation agrees that students must obtain critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills to succeed in the current global marketplace, this chapter puts forth a long-term, proactive agenda to invest in targeted research to propel and sustain this shift in education. The authors examine the impact such an R&D agenda would have on pedagogy and assessment and the implications for institutions of higher education. As the United States struggles to maintain dominance in the international economy, it faces a great challenge in keeping up with European and Asian competitors' strategies for preparing youth for the global marketplace. The authors hope the global reality will help contextualize the debate around American education--the current trend toward basics and accountability needs to be broadened. Building on frameworks created by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, this chapter proposes questions to guide research around teaching, professional development, and assessment significant to twenty-first century skills. Knowing that educational change depends on providing teachers with the tools, support, and training to make fundamental changes in their practice, the authors argue for extensive research around best practices. In addition, if assessments are created to measure the desired outcomes, such measuring tools can drive reform. Furthermore, large-scale changes in teacher preparation programs must take place to allow teachers to adequately employ twenty-first century teaching and assessment strategies.