Australian migration propensities by visa class: an analysis of linked administrative data

Journal of Population Research - Following a number of difficulties measuring net overseas migration (NOM), since 2006 the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has defined a usual resident of...     

Patterns of child abuse in early childhood,a cohort study of the ‘children of the nineties’

In order to study patterns of child abuse in a pre‐school population, we have looked at children within a local cohort who have been investigated for abuse or placed on the Child Protection Register. This is part of a larger study examining risk and protective factors for child abuse. Of 14 138 children enrolled in the cohort, 329 were investigated for suspected child abuse and 163 were placed on the Child Protection Register over an 8‐year period, representing rates of 10.6 – 23.3 per 10 000 per year. Physical injury and neglect accounted for 31.7% and 29.0% of registrations in the study group respectively, these proportions being similar to those for children of all ages in Avon. In contrast, sexual abuse accounted for 10.9% compared to 21.1% for all ages. Emotional abuse represented just 2.8% of investigations but 25.1% of all registrations in the study group, compared to 14.4% of registrations for all ages. Two hundred and fifty‐five (1.8%) parents reported physical cruelty to their children by themselves or their partner at some stage in the first 3 years; 772 (5.4%) reported some emotional cruelty. The importance of emotional cruelty to children is increasingly being recognized by professionals, but even more so by parents, whose concerns relating to both physical and emotional cruelty are not being identified by current procedures. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Such a shame—a consideration of shame and shaming mechanisms in families

Shame is a powerful emotion associated with the exposure of any aspect of the self that we wish to keep hidden from others. In its healthy manifestation, shame guards the boundary of the self and promotes a realistic self-appraisal of our capacities and our limitations. However, too much shame results in a sense of the self as fundamentally flawed, and can lead to lifelong problems in living. Shame originates in relationship to others, and most notably by how we are seen as children by our parents. This paper focuses on shame in the family context, the ways shame can be misused in the parent/child relationship and the effects of this on the child. Shame is put forward as an important, but neglected, consideration in child mental health and a core issue in child abuse. The implications for work with children and families are briefly discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social capital and the impact of the recent economic crisis: Comparing the effects of economic and fiscal policy developments

In this contribution, we offer an analysis that evaluates the impact of the recent financial and economic crisis on social capital. An economic crisis offers a unique chance to study people's associational lives, volunteering, network-making, and trust-building under duress. Theoretical perspectives on the relationship between social capital and economic development emphasize a reciprocal relationship between the two. Therefore, we hypothesize that if economic performance is compromised, this might lead to an erosion of social capital. More importantly, however, we also argue that states can actively intervene by means of fiscal policy measures. We will illustrate our approach by comparing 29 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries before and after the crisis. Using qualitative comparative analysis, we demonstrate that imperatives related to fiscal policy stimuli provide leverage on social capital development.     

Case-based methods and agent-based modelling: bridging the divide to leverage their combined strengths

Two leading camps for studying social complexity are case-based methods (CBM) and agent-based modelling (ABM). Despite the potential epistemological links between ‘cases’ and ‘agents,’ neither camp has leveraged their combined strengths. A bridge can be built, however, by drawing on Abbott’s insight that ‘agents are cases doing things’, Byrne’s suggestion that ‘cases are complex systems with agency’, and by viewing CBM and ABM within the broader trend towards computational modelling of cases. To demonstrate the utility of this bridge, we describe how CBM can utilise ABM to identify case-based trends; explore the interactions and collective behaviour of cases; and study different scenarios. We also describe how ABM can utilise CBM to identify agent types; construct agent behaviour rules; and link these to outcomes to calibrate and validate model results. To further demonstrate the bridge, we review a public health study that made initial steps in combining CBM and ABM.     

Can we predict device use? An investigation into mobile device use in surveys

In this study, we investigate whether mobile device use in surveys can be predicted. We aim to identify possible motives for device use and build a model by drawing on theory from technology acceptance research and survey research. We then test this model with a Structural Equation Modeling approach using data of seven waves of the GESIS panel. We test whether our theoretical model fits the data by focusing on measures of fit, and by studying the standardized effects of the model. Results reveal that intention to use a particular device can predict actual use quite well. Ease of smartphone use is the most meaningful variable: if people use a smartphone for specific tasks, their intention to use a smartphone for survey completion is also more likely. In conclusion, investing in ease of use of mobile survey completion could encourage respondents to use mobile devices. This can foremost be established by building well-designed surveys for mobile devices.