Social policy options and fuel poverty

The concept of ‘fuel poverty’, the inability to afford adequate warmth at home has become a focus for social policies in recent years. Increasing numbers of households dependent on social security and the likelihood that fuel will become more expensive mean that the existing problem of fuel poverty may become even greater. The data on fuel expenditure and related variables from three national surveys are used to evaluate various policy options for relieving fuel poverty. Three policies for increasing incomes to pay for fuel costs are considered, increasing benefits, introducing a fuel allowance or extending the existing scheme of additional heating requirements. The policies for reducing fuel expenditure are also considered, restructuring tariffs, changing payment methods and conservation measures. The case is made for priority to be given to an advice and information campaign and a conservation programme aimed at poor households who are unable to respond to existing price signals and grants.     

Bayesian binary segmentation procedure for detecting streakiness in sports

Summary.  When an individual player or team enjoys periods of good form, and when these occur, is a widely observed phenomenon typically called 'streakiness'. It is interesting to assess which team is a streaky team, or who is a streaky player in sports. Such competitors might have a large number of successes during some periods and few or no successes during other periods. Thus, their success rate is not constant over time. We provide a Bayesian binary segmentation procedure for locating changepoints and the associated success rates simultaneously for these competitors. The procedure is based on a series of nested hypothesis tests each using the Bayes factor or the Bayesian information criterion. At each stage, we only need to compare a model with one changepoint with a model based on a constant success rate. Thus, the method circumvents the computational complexity that we would normally face in problems with an unknown number of changepoints. We apply the procedure to data corresponding to sports teams and players from basketball, golf and baseball.     

FAMILY INTERVENTION IN A CASE OF MULTIPLE PERSONALITY

The authors report a case of multiple personality in which therapy was directed at the marital couple, rather than focusing on the multiple personality per se. The symptoms of the individual are seen as a disturbance in the family homeostasis and were treated from that standpoint. The functions of the symptom in the areas of impulse discharge, superego operation, boundaries of closeness-distance, and self-object representations for the couple and family are discussed.     

Family policy in Korea

In Korea, family policy as a public policy gained interest in the 1980s, when the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (since January 1995 the Ministry of Health and Welfare) renamed the Maternal and Child Bureau the Family Welfare Bureau. This paper first presents a brief overview of the traditional family system and values in Korea and examines changes in economic and social indicators, changes in family functions and roles, and changes in attitudes toward family that have occurred following industrialization and urbanization. The paper then briefly explains some of the problems Korean families face today. It next examines the Family Planning Program and its results. Finally, it turns to an examination and critique of the policies and programs administered by the Family Welfare Bureau.Yeonoak Baik is a Family Advocacy Therapist for the 8th U.S. Army c/o Commander, 43rd Surgical Hospital (MA), ATTN: EAMC-SH-FAP, Room D-108, Unit #15190, APO AP, 96271-0126. She works in Korea with U.S. military soldiers and their dependents. Her research interests include child welfare, single-parent families, and domestic violence. Her MSW was received from the School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Her research interests include children of divorced families, social welfare policy, and social work administration in Korea. She received her Ph.D. in Social Welfare at Seoul National University in Korea.     

Long-term economic consequences for women of delayed childbearing and reduced family size

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study explored the association among delayed childbearing, completed family size and several measures of the economic well-being of women age 60 and older in 1976. By retirement age women who bore their first child at age 30 or older are significantly better off economically than either average-age childbearers or the childless. Economic well-being also appears to be related to family size among late childbearers. At retirement age the delayed childbearer with only one or two children appears better off than all other women. Thus, late childbearing and small family size appear associated with the highest standard of living for these women. This study also relates the experience of this early cohort of women to that of more recent birth cohorts.     

INTERVENTION PLANNING FOR THE FAMILY OF THE AUTISTIC CHILD: A MULTILEVEL ASSESSMENT OF THE FAMILY SYSTEM*

The clinician working with the family of an autistic child may need to assess the family at several levels. The first level requires an assessment of the behavioral deficits and excesses of the child. The next level examines the family in terms of their behavioral skills and the impediments that occur when they implement behavior change programs. The third level involves assessing the family unit to identify obstacles to change. While many well-functioning families may be stressed by the crises that arise in raising an autistic child, other families are predisposed to dysfunction regardless of the presence of the child.     

Job creation: New work for women?

The movement of some women into self employment is considered in this paper. It is argued that if this movement is to be successful, and thus have any influence on the equality of employment opportunities, then it is necessary for the business ventures involved to be run strategically rather than operationally. It is also argued that there must be greater scope and encouragement for innovation in this area, otherwise there is a danger of mirroring, in new business formation, the structure of inequality that applies to the formal, and declining, structure of current employment. Finally, the paper examines the need for women's entrepreneurial ventures to be better accepted by and integrated into the wider social fabric. The potential sources of stress and of satisfaction in women's self employment are noted.     

Relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction: a longitudinal study of individuals in long-term relationships

This study examined the association between relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction over time to provide evidence about possible causal explanations for the association between two variables. Eighty-seven individuals in long-term relationships completed measures of sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction at 2 times 18 months apart. There was only limited evidence, based on exploratory analysis, to support either the hypothesis that changes in a relationship satisfaction lead to changes in sexual satisfaction or the hypothesis that changes in sexual satisfaction lead to changes in relationship satisfaction. However, sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction wer found to change concurrently. The quality of intimate communication accounted for part of the concurrent changes in relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction. I discuss the results in terms of the need to develop more complex models depicting the longitudinal associations between relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction.