Time frames

Response to the events of 9/11 evidenced the need for greater local and national capacity to meet the needs of children and families before, during, and after future attacks.     

Structural change in the communication of precedent among state supreme courts, 1870–1970

State supreme courts often cite each other as authorities. These citations constitute a network of the interstate communication of precedent. I develop here a simple procedure for decomposing and standardizing variation in the strength of communication network ties, which yields terms for concentration (comparable to density), prestige variation, dependency variation, and variation due to the interaction of prestige and dependence. Applied to the interstate communication of precedent between 1870 and 1970, the procedure reveals several structural changes. The trend in the network over those hundred years was from a hierarchy dominated by a few Eastern courts, through a period of widespread production of precedent and homogeneous communication, to a decentralized regional structure with diffuse centers of authority.     

The consequences of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa on mothers,children, and orphans

Orphanhood is a sad and unique problem of the HIV pandemic, compared with other epidemics, for generally both parents will be infected and will tend to die during young adulthood, leaving behind young children. The rising morbidity and mortality of HIV-infected mothers and fathers threaten to decrease the care and resources spent on children and to increase the prevalence of orphanhood. However, the extent and impact of orphanhood due to HIV/AIDS are not known. This paper presents two aspects of HIV infection and its impact on women and children in sub-Saharan Africa: the results of two analyses of the HIV-attributable mortality of mothers and the orphanhood of their young children.     

Diagnostic bias in organizational consultation

This article is intended to improve consultation practice by explaining the significance of models, heuristics, and diagnostic aids in organizational diagnosis. The role of diagnostic models in determining the consultant's frame of reference is explained. Evidence that organizational consultants consciously use diagnostic models is provided by citing two independent studies that revealed about 70% of the consultants reported that a diagnostic model was used. The availability, representativeness, and anchoring heuristics used by diagnosticians are summarized and examples of their use are cited. Readers are warned that bias occurs from misapplying the heuristics. However, guidance on correctly applying the heuristics is provided. The development and improvement of diagnostic expertise is explained from the perspective of learning through education as well as feedback received from clients, colleagues (as shadow consultants and as consulting team members), and self. Thus, written from the perspective of a consultant, the article provides a practical presentation on diagnostic bias, supported by theory and empirical research. It should appeal not only to a consulting constituency (i.e. practicing consultants, consultant trainers, and novice consultants), but also to the large number of potential clients (i.e. organizational decision-makers). Future research directions are discussed in terms of (1) the research that has identified relationships between consultant characteristics (e.g. Jungian constructs) and diagnostic information, and (2) the potential of expert systems in organizational diagnosis.     

Interindustry patterns in unfair labor practice cases

This paper studies unfair labor practice charges filed against unions and employers in two-digit manufacturing industries. Such cases were found to follow distinct and consistent patterns across industries, suggesting that litigiousness in labor-management relations is, among other things, part of the relationship’s culture. Cases against employers and unions by individuals appear to be unrelated to many of the factors studied, thus supporting the view that such cases are the product of workers’ unrealistic expectations.     

Diesel Emissions and Lung Cancer1

This paper uses two different methods to assess the potential risk of human lung cancer from exposure to diesel engine emissions. One method analyzes the best available epidemiological evidence on the lung cancer risks of persons exposed in their occupations to diesel engine emissions. The second conducts a comparative analysis of laboratory and epidemiological data on diesel engine emissions and two chemically related environmental exposures–coke oven emissions and roofing tar emissions. The estimates of potential risk derived from these two distinct methods are compared. The sources of uncertainty in each method are explicitly characterized. The value of these estimates for comparing the potential lung cancer risks from exposure to diesel engine emissions with other personal and societal risks are discussed. Also considered are the limitations of these results in predicting the possible excess incidence of lung cancer from ambient exposure to diesel emissions.     

The Impact of Participation in Undergraduate Extracurricular Activities on the Transformation of Habitus among American Medical Students

Building on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, we look at the question of whether extracurricular activities at the undergraduate level have an impact on American medical students' habitus, which we operationalize as a sense of inclusion, belonging. Using a national sample of 375 medical students and controlling for relevant variables, we find that for students from high-prestige backgrounds, being white is the major influence on sense of belonging. For students from low-prestige backgrounds, being white, multiple school acceptances, and participation in cultural activities as undergraduates are directly related to sense of belonging. The effect of participation in undergraduate cultural activities on sense of belonging illustrates the hysteresis effect. We discuss the consequences of cultural omnivorousness with its implications for a broad symbolic touch including the ability to decode a wide range of cultural texts in physician–patient communication in the context of a diverse population.     

Abstracts of the Scientific Programs of the American College Health Association Fifty-Seventh Annual Meeting May 22-25, 1979, Washington,D.C.

Abstract

This article focuses on a therapeutic approach to help women deal with the feelings of grief and guilt they may feel as a result of a voluntary termination of a pregnancy. Available medical and psychological literature indicates that, from a public health perspective, significant psychological problems related to an abortion are “minuscule.” Several women the author saw during the 1992/93 academic year who considered themselves to be extremely religious and prolife had undergone elective abortion. They experienced tremendous guilt and grief 4 to 6 months after the procedure. The author recommends that college health center medical and counseling providers who must deal with this issue help the woman validate her loss by revisiting the site of her abortion to reflect upon the experience and to hold a Gestalt dialogue with the fetus to end the relationship. The provider or someone else should accompany the woman to the site because of the increasing potentiality for violence on the part of prolife protesters.