From Communities to Neighbourhoods-I

Increasing confusion and dissatisfaction with so-called 'care in the community' and 'community care' initiatives has prompted a search for greater clarity and accuracy in human services. An attempt has been made to specify some of the means and ends required to establish local comprehensive services for a range of client groups. The first of two papers describes some of the skills required by workers for successful involvement and examines methods of developing individual neighbourhoods. Tensions between clients, users, residents, planners and workers are examined within the context of integrative neighbourhood services. A subsequent paper describes the means by which this transition to local neighbourhood services is planned, recorded and evaluated.     

Delayed childbearing in the U.S.: facts and fictions

Between 1970-82, the proportion of 1st births in the US to women 25 and older rose from 19-36% and the proportion of women still childless at ages 25-34 increased by 56% at about the same time. Although a sharp contrast with the baby boom era of the 1950s and 1960s, todays's epidemic of delayed childbearing is similar to patterns earlier in the 20th century. As then, much is due to delayed age at marriage, but baby boomers now in the their late 20s and early 30s are also delaying childbirth after marriage. The trend stems in part from their economic difficulties as they compete in a tight job market caused both by their large numbers and a turbulent economy. But it is also related to women's increasing education and, in turn, increasing opportunities in and commitment to the labor force, which can be expected to encourage a delayed childbearing even after prospects brighten for young people. Although a diverse group, most of today's delayed childbearers are white, highly educated, 2-career couples. Adequate daytime care for preschool children is a prime concern. Although more employers now offer childcare assistance and flexible work schedules to working parents, the juggle between jobs and childraising can be a strain. On the plus side are delayed childbearers' greater maturity and generally higher incomes, which can ease potential problems created by parent-child age differences as their children grow up. Businesses have been quick to respond to the new market of older, affluent, 1st-time mothers. New methods of treating of circumventing infertility and prenatal detection of chromosomal birth defects can now help overcome potential biological problems that may concern women who choose to delay childbearing past age 30.     

Information Sources as Explanatory Variables for the Belgian Health‐Related Risk Perception of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

The media play an important role in risk communication, providing information about accidents, both nearby and far away. Each media source has its own presentation style, which could influence how the audience perceives the presented risk. This study investigates the explanatory power of 12 information sources (traditional media, new media, social media, and interpersonal communication) for the perceived risk posed by radiation released from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant on respondents’ own health and that of the population in general. The analysis controlled for attitude toward nuclear energy, gender, education, satisfaction with the media coverage, and duration of attention paid to the coverage. The study uses a large empirical data set from a public opinion survey, which is representative for the Belgian population with respect to six sociodemographic variables. Results show that three information sources are significant regressors of perceived health‐related risk of the nuclear accident: television, interpersonal communication, and the category of miscellaneous online sources. More favorable attitudes toward nuclear power, longer attention to the coverage, and higher satisfaction with the provided information lead to lower risk perception. Taken together, the results suggest that the media can indeed have a modest influence on how the audience perceives a risk.     

Social area analysis and studies of delinquency

The method of delineating urban social areas devised by Shevky and Bell-that of social area analysis-has been seen by several writers as offering a promising framework for the areal analysis of delinquency rates and in consequence it has been adopted in many recent empirical studies. It is contended here that several fundamental conceptual and procedural problems are involved in using the Shevky and Bell framework and these remain as yet unresolved; that those researchers who have used the method have tended to do so uncritically; and finally that very often this approach has served to confuse rather than increase our understanding of the social patterning of delinquency.