Family Provisions at the Workplace and Their Relationship to Absenteeism,Retention, and Productivity of Workers: Timely Evidence from Prior Data

Using data from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, this study provides timely evidence on the effects of on‐site child care at the workplace and employer‐provided family leave on worker absenteeism, turnover, and productivity. The study found that workplaces with on‐site child care compared with workplaces with no on‐site child care had lower rates of absenteeism and higher ratings for worker productivity. Workplaces that had a family leave policy also had lower rates of absenteeism than workplaces that had no such policy in place. Analyses also suggest that workplace characteristics, such as presence of a human‐resources manager or union representative, are associated with higher worker productivity. Firm size, mission, and shift work were other predictors of worker performance. The findings argue strongly for an extensive, new workplace survey that can elucidate how parents today manage to abide by new workplace agreements while still handling the demands of family life.     

过程视野中的教育改革

过程思想是一种实质意义上的思想改革,即思维方式的真正变革。在分析并批评了塑造西方高等教育组织的模型——学术性学科模型——的两个前提性假设（即二元论和外部联系论）在自然科学、社会科学诸领域的种种表现及其后果的基础上,文章以生物进化论对基因的正确理解、对环境问题的应对策略的讨论为例,提出一种以事件为核心的、建设性的、整合性的过程教育思想。     

The Still Face: A History of a Shared Experimental Paradigm

When faced by a suddenly unresponsive social partner, young infants typically react by sobering and gazing away. This still‐face reaction has intrigued researchers for several decades. In this article, we present a history of the still‐face paradigm in which we locate early observations of the still‐face effect, describe the formalization of a procedure that reliably produces it, and discuss how this procedure has been used to investigate a broad range of questions about early social and emotional development. In addition, we reflect on the heuristic value of shared experimental paradigms.     

The Millhill

This study reports on discharged patients' experiences of care at a therapeutic community - The Millhill. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and interviews. The focus of the study is on the former patients' own experiences of The Millhill and their present state. The majority report positive changes when they compare how they feel today with how they felt just prior to admission and just after discharge. Eighty-five percent claim that the major problem which led them to seek treatment is less serious today than it was when they were admitted to The Millhill. Compared with other inpatient care, the interviews showed that treatment at The Millhill was based on long-term individual treatment plans and that those undergoing treatment were treated as "individuals", whereas treatment in the psychiatric wards was more like "storage" and medication and those undergoing treatment were treated as "patients".     

Violence in the nursing profession: Occupational and lifestyle risk factors in Swedish nurses

In a national study of the work environment, physical, and mental well-being of more than 2600 Swedish nurses, 30% reported having experienced violence at work. Possible association between violence and a range of occupational, demographic, and lifestyle characteristics were studied. Stepwise multiple linear and logistic regressions were used to further examine risk factors for violence. Occupational factors with significant correlations to workplace violence were nursing discipline (type of ward or facility), years of work experience, supervisory responsibilities, night work, work dissatisfaction, work-related musculoskeletal injury, and frequency of patient handling. Demographic/lifestyle factors related to violence were age, gender, smoking, coffee consumption at work, and use of alcohol to relax after work. The best fit linear regression model explained 17% of the variance in violence, 13%, of the variance in threat of violence. The logistic regression model confirmed an increased risk of violence and threats in psychiatric and geriatric settings. However, much remains unexplained about the aetiology of violencc in health carc settings. This report provides the basis for a pilot intervention study currently in progress.     

DO LABOR MARKETS PROVIDE ENOUGH SHORT-HOUR JOBS? AN ANALYSIS OF WORK HOURS AND WORK INCENTIVES

This paper examines the role that work incentives play in the determination of work hours. We use a conventional efficiency wage model to analyze how firms respond to worker preferences regarding wage-hours packages. In contrast to previous work, we study markets in which workers have heterogeneous preferences. In this context we demonstrate that job offers will specify both wages and work hours and many individuals will not be able to work their preferred number of hours. We show that the labor market equilibrium may be characterized by a less than optimal number of short-hour jobs.