Representative Bureaucracy, Organizational Strategy, and Public Service Performance: An Empirical Analysis of English Local Government

The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that organizationsperform better if their workforces reflect the characteristicsof their constituent populations. The management literatureimplies that the impact of representative bureaucracy is contingenton organizational strategy. Our empirical evidence on Englishlocal government is inconsistent with the basic theory of representativebureaucracy but supports a moderating effect of organizationalstrategy. Representative bureaucracy is negatively associatedwith citizens' perceptions of local authority performance. However,organizations pursuing a prospector strategy are able to mitigatethis negative relationship.     

Containing and the patient's observation of the therapist's countertransference

Projective identification has received much attention for its ability to elucidate certain types of countertransference reactions. However, many severely disturbed patients are unable to benefit from the insight derived from interpretations based on projective identification. For many of these patients, the initial benefit of therapy is based on the containing provided by the therapist tolerating the countertransference rather than insight based on interpretation. Denis Carpy (1989) has written that the patient's observation of the therapist's tolerance of the countertransference helps to build psychic structure in the patient. In this article, the author reviews Carpy's position and then illustrates the value of the patient witnessing the therapist manage his countertransference using the case example of an adolescent in residential treatment.     

A Comparison of the Effects of Material and Environmental Values on Vehicle Ownership

The results of a 1988 survey of Brisbane residents demonstrate a consistent linkage between the respondent's values and their preferences for vehicle ownership and use. Through the use of the ‘Dominant Social Paradigm’ - ‘New Environmental Paradigm’ theoretical framework (e.g. Cotgrove 1982) and the testing of ‘known groups’ (business people and members of the Rainbow Alliance) the following pattern emerged. The businesspeople were less willing to conserve fuel, and were more concerned with ‘comfort’ considerations when purchasing a motor vehicle than the Rainbow Alliance respondents who were more interested in utilitarian aspects. When subsamples with similar demographic/socioeconomic characteristics (males, respondents aged 35–49 years, respondents with household incomes between $20 000 and $49 999) were compared, the Rainbow Alliance respondents were more likely to own older, less valuable vehicles with small engines and manual transmissions. The businesspeople were more likely to own air-conditioned vehicles with poor fuel economy. This finding is an example of how people's values influence their vehicle purchasing decisions and is useful to policy-makers seeking to improve the efficiency of Australia's vehicle fleet.     

Gaze Cueing Effect in a Face-to-Face Situation

People are faster to detect a target looked at, rather than ignored or not cued, by another person. This gaze cueing effect (GCE) reflects joint attention processes which play a crucial role in social interactions. To date, GCE has only been measured with on-screen experiments. This only approximates the real situation of joint attention which involves a triadic interaction between oneself, another person, and an external object. Here, we present an innovative experimental setup to investigate GCE in a face-to-face situation. We show a robust GCE, which is of the same size range as in on-screen experiments. This study fosters an ecological approach of joint attention.     

Cybernetics and the management science process

This paper addresses methodological issues currently confronting the management science community. The urgency of these issues is evidenced by [1] the growing debate over the implementability of MS/OR (Management Science/Operational Research) models, [2] the absence of professional agreement on a ‘generalized’ theory of organizational structure and control and [3] the dearth of substantive contributions in the area of ‘policy’ analysis and modeling. It is argued that any resolution of these issues must address the management science process and that developments in cybernetics provide an integrating framework for this purpose. Aspects of this framework are presented by pointing out distinctions between the more traditional MS/OR approaches and the proposed cybernetic approach. Some of the concepts involved are not always associated with cybernetics, but the implications for the practice of management science are significant.     

Differences and similarities between gay and straight individuals involved in the sadomasochistic subculture

Results from some new analyses as well as a selective review of the results of six empirical studies on a self-identified sample of sadomasochistically-oriented individuals (22 women and 162 men) with an emphasis on differences between gay and straight participants are presented. The gay male respondents seemed to be better educated, to hold white-collar occupations and to be more sadistically oriented. The gay male respondents became aware of their sadomasochistic preferences and had their first experiences at an older age. They showed a preference for leather outfits, anal intercourse, rimming, dildos, wrestling, special equipment and uniform scenes, and the straight male respondents for verbal humiliation, mask and blindfold, gags, rubber outfits, cane whipping, vaginal intercourse, cross dressing, and straitjackets, and different role plays except for uniform scenes. Four separate sexual themes were identified: hypermasculinity; administration and receiving of pain; physical restriction and psychological humiliation. Gay male participants showed a preference for hypermasculinity and straight men respondents for humiliation. The number of lesbian respondents was too low to draw any definite conclusions. Differences between gay and straight male sadomasochists in the present sample were found. Clearly, sadomasochism cannot be thought of as a unitary phenomenon: People who identify themselves as sadomasochists mean different things by these identifications.