Ties that Bind: Cultural Interpretations of Delayed Adulthood in Western Europe and Japan1

Throughout the developed world, young adults hit hard by declining labor market opportunities and rising housing costs have been staying in the natal home. Particularly hard hit are the weak welfare states of southern Europe and Japan, while the social democracies have continued to support the residential independence of young people at very early ages. This article considers the divergent cultural interpretations of this pattern of “delayed departure” in order to show that the same demographic configurations may be coded quite differently.     

Evaluating Students’ Micro Practice Field Performance

The current study represents an effort to determine whether a universally recognized set of objectives for field-based learning in micro-level practice exists despite apparently widespread belief to the contrary among social work educators. A review of efforts over the past 50 years to conceptualize field learning and an analysis of current data on student performance criteria identified eight learning objectives for field study. These objectives reflect both traditional concepts and contemporary demands on the profession. Based on these learning objectives, the authors have proposed a method for evaluating student performance in the field.     

FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE FAMILY-OF-ORIGIN SCALE: DOES THIS SCALE MEASURE WHAT ITS CREATORS SAY IT DOES?

The factor structure of the Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS) was examined. The FOS is a 40-item instrument devised to measure perceptions of health in the family of origin. Subjects were 162 gay and bisexual males. A confirmatory factor analysis was employed to examine the similarities of the factor structure obtained in the present study with those proposed theoretically by the test authors. The results supported the notion that the FOS is comprised of a single underlying construct that may be represented by bipolar items. It was concluded that the findings do not support the theoretically proposed factor structure of the FOS and that the value of the FOS is suspect.     

A generalization of life expectancy which incorporates the age distribution of the population and its use in the measurement of the impact of mortality reduction

Two new families of indices measuring the gain in life expectancy resulting from reduction in mortality are introduced: the first looks at the impact of cause of death reduction from the perspective of the entire population; the second, at that segment of the population due to die of the cause. Special cases include both well-established measures and extensions that incorporate the age distribution of the population. A further generalization is introduced with the consideration of life expectancies that only give weight to years of life up to age 70. A number of inequalities are derived that relate cause-deleted life expectancies to their cause-reduced counterparts.     

The child survival hypothesis

Summary Because of current interest in the child survival hypothesis, we have reviewed available evidence bearing upon the relationships of infant and child mortality to fertility and contraceptive behaviour. The evidence is drawn from time series data for local and national vital events, from special in-depth studies of the infant mortality-fertility relationships in family formation, and from service statistics from health and family planning programmes. As a result of this review, we suggest five clarifications which should be made in redefining the child survival hypothesis and assessing its potential programme implications. The child survival hypothesis states that improved child survival will contribute to increased family planning motivation and consequent fertility decline. The evidence presented here suggests that the effect is not automatic and probably not a necessary pre-condition for fertility decline. There is certainly not a reflexive one-to-one replacement, but a partial effect may still be important. In the clearly demonstrated reduction in inter-pregnancy intervals after a child death, the major component is undoubtedly the removal of the biological protection of lactational amenorrhoea. A separate but somewhat smaller effect has been demonstrated in situations where lactation did not seem to have been the explanation. It is expected that increased child survival will contribute to fertility decline mainly in countries experiencing rapid mortality decline and population growth. The replacement of children who die is probably not so much 'volitional' as a result of alterations in sub-conscious expectations. It is apparent that in traditional agrarian populations, few direct and manipulable means of influencing motivation for fertility limitation are available, and, therefore, it must be stressed that integrated health and family planning programmes do provide opportunities for immediate programme development. By making parents aware of improved changes of survival through health services in which they develop confidence, the spontaneous linkages between mortality and fertility can presumably be reinforced. Family planning services must be provided as an essential initial step in programme development, but they can be made more effective, as well as politically more acceptable if appropriately integrated with maternal and child health and nutrition services.     

Simple measures of progress and outcome in the evaluation of mental health services.

There is a tautology regarding the use of progress and outcome measures. Such measures are easy to use in a reliable and valid fashion if the language of the measures is used as an integral part of (a) treatment planning and progress review, (b) clinical supervision, and (c) program management. The paper describes example guidelines and uses of measures in each of these functions. Also included are listings of scales with documented reliability and validity (by target population) and some sources for finding computer software for scoring some of the scales.