Encyclopaedic Desire: A Response to Gates

“We Spend Our Years as a Tale That Is Told”: Oral Historical Narrative in a South African Chiefdom by Isabel Hofmeyr. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann; Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press; London: James Currey, 1994.

Liquor and Labour in Southern Africa, edited by Jonathan Crush and Charles Ambler. Athens: Ohio University Press; and Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 1992.

Politics and performance: Theatre, Poetry, and Song on Southern Africa, edited by Liz Gunner, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1994.

In the Wake of the Affluent Society: An Exploration of Post‐Development by Serge Latouche; translated and introduced by Martin O'Connor &; Rosemary Arnoux; London: Zed, 1993.     

Stepchildren's Views About Former Step‐Relationships Following Stepfamily Dissolution

Remarriages end in divorce more often than first marriages, so many stepchildren experience multiple parental divorces and the potential loss of significant family ties. Although there is substantial research on parent–child relationships after divorce, little is known about stepparent–stepchild relationships after divorce. Therefore, the authors conducted a grounded theory study of 41 adults who had undergone a stepfamily dissolution to explore their experiences with former stepparents. Postdivorce relationships with former stepparents are a function of whether stepchildren thought of their former stepparents as kin. Postdivorce step‐relationships were based on whether the stepchild had claimed the stepparent as kin, had once claimed them as kin but disclaimed them after the divorce, or had never claimed them as family members (unclaimed stepparents). Emotional reactions to parental divorce, patterns of support or resource exchanges, and parental encouragement or discouragement for continuing step‐relationships were identified. Implications for families, practitioners, and researchers are discussed.     

Some characteristics of moral problems in evaluation practice

In order to understand better the nature of moral problems in evaluation, an actual incident from evaluation practice is examined. Based on the incident, six characteristics of moral problems are identified and briefly discussed. The types of research needed on moral aspects of evaluation practice are presented, and ways in which the evaluation profession can aid practitioners in dealing with moral problems are outlined.     

Using Surveys in Public Participation Processes for Risk Decision Making: The Case of the 2003 British GM Nation? Public Debate

This article takes as its case study the “GM Nation?” public debate, a major participation process on the commercialization of agricultural biotechnology, which occurred in Britain during the summer of 2003. We investigate possible self‐selection biases in over 36,000 open questionnaire responses on the risks and benefits of genetically modified crops and food obtained during GM Nation? A comparison sample of equivalent responses from a statistically representative sample (n= 1,363) of the British general public obtained shortly after the conclusion of the debate is reported. This comparison shows that the GM Nation? open responses were indeed not fully representative of British “public opinion” regarding agricultural biotechnology. Rather, such opinion is not a unitary whole, but fragmented, with considerable ambivalence coexisting alongside outright opposition to GM agriculture. The methodological implications for multistage participation processes are discussed: in particular, the need to anticipate outcomes of complex design decisions, and to include representative public surveys as standard where measures of broader public attitudes to risk are an important objective.     

Research Review: Risk and protection in the context of services for children in need

The paper summarizes the evidence and provides definitions of risk, protective factors, resilience, coping strategies and need in the context of children in need. Definitions are offered for children in need and children's services. The way in which individual interpretation can alter objective assessment of risk is explored. A method for recording evidence relevant to clinical practice on behalf of children in need is offered. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Future of European human resource management: A contingent approach

The ability to cope with an increasingly open European Market, enhanced mobility between nation states and the threat of competition from the Far East will be highly prized organisational skills in the third millenium. Many commentators have argued that ‘Europeanisation’ (broadly defined) is an irreversible process and companies will have to cope proactively with this or perish. However, in this article we argue that many of these predictions are based on an uncritical acceptance of the ‘internationalisation’ thesis, and on subjective assessments of possible future trends — rather than on sound empirical research within strong theoretical frameworks. Accordingly, this article takes a critical look at some widely-held assumptions about internationalisation, Europeanisation and the (potential) development of European Human Resource Management (EHRM). It then goes on to suggest a framework of research which will be more able to capture future developments in EHRM and thereby facilitate more robust exchanges on strategic HRM with those companies operating in a European setting.     

High and low levels of adolescent peer status are associated longitudinally with socioevaluative concern

This study examined linear and curvilinear longitudinal associations between peer status (i.e., likeability and popularity) and socioevaluative concern, a socio-cognitive feature characterized by attunement to judgment from peers. A sample of 716 adolescents (M_age = 16.01, SD = 1.25; 54% female; 46.5% White; 69.5% reduced-price lunch) was assessed twice annually. Likeability and popularity were assessed with peer nominations at Time 1. Measures of general (rejection sensitivity, peer importance) and online (digital status seeking, online status importance) socioevaluative concern were obtained at Times 1 and 2. High and low levels of likeability were longitudinally associated with increased peer importance, while high and low levels of popularity were associated with increased digital status seeking, and decreased online status importance for girls.