Comparative influence of political, cost/benefit, and statistical information on administrative decision making.

The influence of three types of evaluation information was studied in simulated decisionmaking situations within a community mental health center setting. Twelve administrators reviewed one of two decision problems (direct services or indirect services funding) and were then presented political, cost/benefit and statistical information. After each presentation, the administrators rated the importance of each type of information for decision making. Only the cost/benefit data were rated as significantly influencing their decisions. The influence of each type was not dependent upon the decision problem, nor to length of time in administrative positions. The results were interpreted in terms of “who says what, how, and to whom. ” If evaluators desire a greater impact on the decision making behavior of community health administrators, they should consider employing a pay off-based evaluation strategy and providing cost/benefit information.     

Nonparametric Estimation of Duration Dependence in Militarized Interstate Disputes

A militarized interstate dispute (MID) involves military conflict between states with diplomatic ties and exists because two or more states have failed to resolve their differences through diplomatic channels. Jones et al. (1996) characterize an MID as the threat, display or use of military force short of war. They analyze over 2000 disputes spanning two centuries across the globe and conclude that disputes tend to be persistent once established. In this paper, I find that the passage of time can be a favorable factor in dispute resolution, and thus historical mechanisms for dispute resolution favor ending, not extending, militarized disputes. I emphasize the use of non-parametric procedures first to estimate the hazard function and then to estimate the benefits of negotiated settlements.     

Whose Advice is Credible? Claiming Lay Expertise in a Covid-19 Online Community

Qualitative Sociology - During the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic, credentialed experts—scientists, doctors, public health experts, and policymakers—as well as members of the...     

Father's involvement in the lives of children in foster care

Limited understandings exist about non‐resident fathers' views of their involvement with their children in foster care placements. Guided by the ecological systems framework, the purpose of this exploratory study was to gain insights into fathers' perceptions of their involvement with a child in foster care. Data were collected from demographic questionnaires and two focus groups with 17 men. Fathers expressed how kinship compared with non‐kinship placements affected their involvement. Fathers were also in agreement that their financial hardships were a significant factor affecting their involvement. Several fathers also reported how they experienced discrimination in the child welfare system as men. Surprisingly, uncommon to findings from other studies, few men viewed the child's mother as being a barrier to their involvement. The findings provide insights into factors requiring attention to help non‐residential fathers become involved with their children.     

Family Structure and Educational Attainment: Sex Differences among Urban Blacks

Abstract

This research evaluates the impact of family structure on the educational attainment of northern urban blacks. Separate analyses of male and female adults reveal little support for the traditional view that the “broken home” lowers the achievement of black males. Rather, we find it is black females, especially in segregated contexts, who have been most adversely affected by parental absence. These findings are interpreted as reflecting the different relationship of males and females to the family under conditions of structurally-induced poverty.     

Non‐aversive intervention in public childhood masturbation: A case study

Excess public masturbation by a 4‐year‐old girl was treated by non‐aversive treatment procedures applied in the clinic, home, and school environments. When masturbation occurred, competing non‐masturbatory behaviors were prompted and were discriminative stimuli for primary and social reinforcement. Parents and teachers administered these procedures, and the excessive public masturbatory behavior ceased after 4 months. At the 12‐month and 24‐month follow‐ups, the public masturbation remained absent, while home masturbation occurred infrequently.     

Reader Interaction with the Online Journal

Abstract

This brief overview has suggested several features of the online or electronic journal article. For the person with a microcomputer and good credit, access will be easy, perhaps even automatic. For the person without a terminal or good credit, printed journals will be a fond memory.