The Malleability of Environmentalism

In this article, we predict and find that self-perceptions of environmentalism are changed by subtle manipulations of context and, in turn, affect environmental behavior. In Study 1, we found that people exhibit greater positive assessments of their environmental behaviors (1) in the context of denying harm to the environment than in the context of claiming to help the environment, and (2) in situations where behaviors are evaluated subjectively than in situations where behaviors are evaluated more objectively. In Study 2, we explored the relationship between self-perceptions of environmentalism and environmental behaviors. Our data suggest that environmentally friendly behaviors may be promoted by leading people to perceive themselves as good environmentalists.     

The Greater Complexity of Lived Race: An Extension of Harris and Sim*

Objectives. Harris and Sim (2002) recently demonstrated the complexity of lived race by exploring patterns of racial self‐identification. They raised important sociological questions about the role of context in racial self‐identification, but offered an incomplete picture of ethnic fluidity by excluding Hispanics from their analyses. We address this limitation with data on Hispanics from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Methods. Our social‐psychological approach, using compositional analysis, focuses on the lived experience of race and ethnicity as qualitatively similar conceptual categories. Results. Informed by the cognitive process of social categorization, we find that considerably more individuals show fluidity in racial and ethnic self‐identification across contexts than suggested by Harris and Sim. Conclusions. Harris and Sim's thesis is even more strongly supported by these findings than in their original analysis, and our findings reinforce their challenge to the assumed stability of racial and ethnic measurement in sociology. We conclude by proposing a change in the measurement of race/ethnicity in America.     

Confidentiality and Media Attention: A Discussion Concerning Denial and Public Education

The article presents the beginning of a discussion on how the doctrine of confidentiality may have been misapplied in the area of children's protective services. It asks the reader to consider who the client is in these cases and, having answered that question, asks what is the professional responsibility? The whole discussion is linked to the difficulties in dealing with media attention in these cases and offers some experience in the form of case examples. Woven in to the matrix of the above discussion is a clinical and public educational discussion. Preserving confidentiality in its traditional sense can contribute to a preservation of the family secret, namely, child abuse. In that way, a child protection agency can actually be contributing to the maintenance of abuse patterns in a family. Also, with no capacity to speak professionally about specific abuse, the public education impact is diminished.     

LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT,EMPLOYMENT ATTITUDES AND MENTAL HEALTH

The effect of long-term unemployment and employment attitudes on mental health of 99 unemployed people in New Zealand were investigated in 1989 and again one year later. Each participant was interviewed in-depth on employment attitudes, and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale(RSE) together with a demographic questionnaire were administered. The results indicated that the percentage of people who in 1989 wanted employment and of those who were interested in training had decreased within one year, whereas the percentage of people who stated having alternatives to employment increased. The group who felt unable to work stayed the same in size. Good mental health was associated either with re-employment or with those who had alternatives to employment. Poor mental health was evident in those still wanting employment and in those who felt unable to work. The implications of these findings regarding governmental policies are outlined.     

International cooperation in stockpiles and tariffs for coping with oil supply disruptions

This paper provides a unified treatment of oil stockpiling and demand restraint as policy responses for enhancing energy security and examines the implications of recent changes in the structure and performance of the international oil market for the design of policies. These issues are addressed using a dynamic programming framework in which international policy actions of key oil-importing countries are modeled as a Nash dynamic game. Significant policy implications from the analysis include: (1) the result that, with realistic assumptions about disruption risks and inventory capacities, differences between noncooperative and coordinated stockpile policies appear to be minor and (2) significant mutual gains could be reaped from a modest degree of collective restraint on normal market oil demand. The broader role of international cooperation in enhancing energy security is also discussed.     

The psychosocial needs of the Chinese elderly

Changing Chinese family patterns caused by immigration have contributed to the breakdown of traditional community and familial control in Chinese-American families. As a result, the Chinese-American elderly are faced with unique psychosocial problems that workers must consider when providing services to this population.     

Survey of Voluntary Recreation Workers in New South Wales

Two surveys were conducted of volunteers working for recreation organizations in four New South Wales regions. The results highlight the dependence of these organizations on volunteers. Volunteers were found to be heavily engaged in instructing and organizing recreation activities. Few have any specific training for the role although further training is frequently considered desirable by respondents. Many respondents indicated that the government could assist voluntary work by providing— ? training at the local level, ? general financial assistance, and ? subsidies for equipment and facilities. Generally, responses indicate that the government should play a supportive rather than controlling role in recreation.