Education of social workers for intervention with families of children with special needs

With the passage of Public Law 99-457, social workers may be expected to have increased involvement with the special needs of families who have children with handicaps. Specific knowledge, skills, and competency are needed to work with these special needs children and their families. Social work education must be responsive to these needs. The authors suggest competency-based educational responses.     

Evaluation of a research mentorship program in community care

This article describes the results of a qualitative case study evaluating a research mentorship program in community care settings in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the program was to build evaluation and research capacity among staff of community care agencies through a mentorship program. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and written evaluations. Three themes were identified: taking hold, fostering hold, and holding on. Mentees took hold of new evaluation and research skills. Factors fostering hold included positive mentoring relationships and participation in relevant research projects. Mentees struggled to hold on to, and apply their skills within a community care context of challenges such as constrained resources and a mandate to provide client-centered care. The lessons learned include having trainees participate in relevant, time-limited evaluation and research projects, and early implementation of mechanisms to sustain integration of trainees' knowledge and skills within community care agencies.     

A corporate responsibility? The constitution of fly-in,fly-out mining companies as governance partners in remote,mine-affected localities

In some remote parts of Australia, mining companies have positioned themselves as central actors in governing nearby affected communities by espousing notions of ‘voluntary partnerships for sustainability’ between business, government and community. It is argued in this paper that the nature and extent of mining company interventions in nearby communities constitutes a new problematic for these corporate actors. Drawing on research conducted in two remote areas in Australia, this paper undertakes an analytics of government to ask how mining companies have become leading actors in determining the future of local, mine-affected communities. It is suggested that their interventions arise from two processes: industry priorities for securing a ‘social license to operate’ by making a positive contribution to affected communities; and the restructuring of the state which has created an institutional void in these remote localities. As a result, mining companies are ‘filling the gaps’ in local service delivery through a mode of governing that takes the form of patronage rather than partnership. This raises questions about the future viability of these communities once the mines eventually close, and new challenges of governing for corporate actors.     

Semi‐parametric Estimation in a Single‐index Model with Endogenous Variables

We consider a semiparametric single‐index model and suppose that endogeneity is present in the explanatory variables. The presence of an instrument is assumed, that is, non‐correlated with the error term. We propose an estimator of the parametric component of the model, which is the solution of an ill‐posed inverse problem. The estimator is shown to be asymptotically normal under certain regularity conditions. A simulation study is conducted to illustrate the finite sample performance of the proposed estimator.     

Shape constrained kernel density estimation

In this paper, a method for estimating monotone, convex and log-concave densities is proposed. The estimation procedure consists of an unconstrained kernel estimator which is modified in a second step with respect to the desired shape constraint by using monotone rearrangements. It is shown that the resulting estimate is a density itself and shares the asymptotic properties of the unconstrained estimate. A short simulation study shows the finite sample behavior.     

Multiplicative bias correction for discrete kernels

In this paper, we prove that two multiplicative bias correction techniques (MBC) can be applied for discrete kernels in the context of probability mass function estimation. First, some properties of the MBC discrete kernel estimators (bias, variance and mean integrated squared error) are investigated. Second, the popular cross-validation technique is adapted for bandwidth selection. Finally, a simulation study and a real data application for discrete data illustrate the performance of the MBC estimators based on dirac discrete uniform and triangular discrete kernels.     

Incomplete reporting of men’s fertility in the united states and britain: A research note

We evaluate men's retrospective fertility histories from the British Household Panel Survey and the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Further, we analyze the PSID men's panel-updated fertility histories for their possible superiority over retrospective collection. One third to one half of men's nonmarital births and births within previous marriages are missed in estimates from retrospective histories. Differential survey underrepresentation of previously married men compared with previously married women accounts for a substantial proportion of the deficits in previous-marriage fertility. More recent retrospective histories and panel-updated fertility histories improve reporting completeness, primarily by reducing the proportion of marital births from unions that are no longer intact at the survey date.     

Space invaders: the negotiation of teenage boundaries through the mobile phone

Drawing on interview data, this paper explores the area of child/parent negotiation. Specifically, we examine the increasing significance of the mobile phone in the way teenagers negotiate spatial boundaries with their parents. Utilising theories of time and space, especially Giddens’ concept of ‘distanciation’, we show how parents and their children use the mobile phone as a tool for negotiating curfews in public space, thus extending household discussion and negotiation outside of the home. We point out that parents are using the mobile phone to enter their children's time and space as an ‘absent Other’, and see this as a means of extending parental authority and control. Children, conversely, see themselves gaining a degree of empowerment from the mobile phone, as parents are more lenient with curfews if they posses one. The mobile phone, then, has become an important facilitator of negotiations between parents and teenagers regarding boundary setting. We conclude that the mobile phone has enabled teenagers to gain increased leverage in their negotiations with their parents, but underline that parents still hold control and authority by ‘invading’ their children's space.