Focus on Home: What Time-Use Data Can Tell About Caregiving to Adults

Care by adults to other adults is being increasingly transferred from formal public institutions to the private home. To learn more about the nature and situation of Canadian adults providing care at home to other adults, we analyzed data from Statistics Canada's 1998 social survey of 10,749 persons. Data included time-use and respondents' sociodemographic, cultural, work, and leisure characteristics, as well as outcome factors. We found 212 respondents (about 2%) providing personal, medical, or other care to other household adults on the day studied. We compared them to those not found to provide these services. The article explores time-use trade-offs, feelings of stress, and the ramifications of gender, age, and paid work in this newly reemerging use of household space.     

Industry Perceptions of University-Industry Relationships Related to Agricultural Biotechnology Research*

Abstract Following a rise in university-industry relationships (UIRs), scholars began questioning the efficacy of those relationships, as well as whether industry and university research interests and integrity are being compromised. Although many of these studies focus on the university, few examine the perspectives of industry participants. We conducted intensive interviews with 63 managers and scientists at agricultural biotechnology companies involved in UIRs related to agricultural biotechnology. Our analysis of their comments reveals nuanced critical perspectives of UIRs and creative ideas for reforming policies and practices. Industry representatives listed many advantages of UIRs, but some also expressed an interest in reforming policies to preserve a public-interest emphasis for university research. We conclude by considering the structural relationships that may explain the industry representatives' critical evaluations and by identifying policy implications.     

Union Legitimacy and the Team Concept: A Case Study of Workers’ Attitudes*

Unions are facing a crisis of legitimacy resulting in part from employer‐initiated workplace participation programs that seek to undermine labor militancy and attachment to unions. The overall trend among union leaders, however, is support for the team concept when implemented in unionized settings. This study examines the effect of union involvement in the team concept on pragmatic and moral union legitimacy at the first unionized team concept assembly plant in the automobile industry—the General Motors’ truck plant in Shreveport, Louisiana. The unique contribution of the study is that it systematically examines how workers who began their careers in the industry under different production regimes view the team concept and union legitimacy. The analysis is based on a random sample survey of workers and employs an original approach of comparing work attitudes and union legitimacy among different “political cohorts.” The results indicate that the team concept threatens pragmatic union legitimacy for veteran workers because it undermines seniority rights. Significant time working under the team concept may also weaken moral union legitimacy, even among workers socialized initially in nonteam concept environments.     

Economic Dependency,Repression, and Deforestation: A Quantitative,Cross‐National Analysis*

This research builds upon previous cross‐national studies of deforestation. In doing so, I examine how various world‐systems indicators interact with political conditions within a nation. I test the hypothesis that repressive nations create a “good business climate” for multinational capital, which, in turn, affects deforestation. This “good business climate” consists of economic incentives (e.g., tax holidays), regulatory concessions (e.g., environmental law exemptions), and imposed political stability (e.g., outlawing strikes, protests, and unions). The results indicate that export partner concentration, commodity concentration, multinational corporate penetration, and International Monetary Fund conditionality increase deforestation more at higher rather than at lower levels of repression. I also confirm previous findings that gross domestic product per capita decreases deforestation, indicating that richer nations are able to externalize their environmental costs onto poorer nations. I conclude with the theoretical implications of this research, policy implications, and possible directions for future research.     

SEX SEGREGATION IN VOLUNTEER WORK

Sex segregation in the workplace—the tendency for men and women to work in different occupations and jobs—remains widespread. Domestic chores are also sex-typed, but the extent to which sex segregation is found in other forms of nonwaged work, such as volunteering, is unknown. One theory about the work/nonwork interface predicts a positive relation between the two types of activity: sex segregation will be just as common in unpaid labor. Another theory predicts a negative relation: waged work and nonpaid work are dissimilar. Maximum likelihood probit models with selection are used to estimate the incidence of sex segregation among volunteers in a nationally representative sample of adult Americans (N = 91,807). Men are more likely to occupy leadership positions than women. They are more likely to do maintenance work and teach or coach, while women are more likely to prepare and serve food or clothing, raise money, and "help out" at events. Sex segregation is most pronounced among those who volunteer to help young people, but negligible among volunteers advocating a cause.     

Social Behaviorism on Emotions: Mead and Modern Behaviorism Compared*

This paper presents George Herbert Mead's work on emotions from the perspective of social behaviorism and compares it with the modem behavioral analysis of emotions. The two positions are strikingly similar. The main difference between modern behaviorism and Mead's social behaviorism is that contemporary behaviorists have access to a larger empirical data base and more refined theoretical models than Mead had. The modern behavioral analysis of emotions confirms most of Mead's basic observations and expands upon them. Empirically oriented symbolic interactionists who identify with Mead's social behaviorism can benefit by drawing upon the extensive behavioral research and theories developed in the decades since Mead worked. In fact, there is an enormous potential for developing productive research and theory at the interface between Mead's social behaviorism and modem behaviorism in the study of emotions and most other social psychological topics.     

Social Work Practice with Polygamous Families

Data are based on student files of 25 Bedouin-Arab children born to senior mothers of polygamous families, and interviews with the children's teachers and mothers. Mothers complained of somatic symptoms, economic problems, poor relations with the husband, and competition and jealousy between the co-wives and among the co-wives' children. Children had a variety of behavioural problems, and below average academic achievement. Social work practice should recognize the cultural and personal significance of polygamy to family members; appreciate the significance of polygamy to children's functioning; select children as a target system for intervention; and reinforce the Islamic value base for interventions.     

Treatment of Juvenile Sex Offenders: A Review of the Literature

This article reviews the literature concerning the treatment of juvenile sex offenders, an area that has only recently begun to receive attention by researchers. This review considers the types and modalities of treatment methods available as well as the research supporting their efficacy. Special issues for therapists who work with juvenile sex offenders are also discussed. This review found that although there is a wide variety of treatment techniques available to treat juvenile sex offenders, very little research has been done to validate their efficacy. The need for controlled systematic research is noted.     

The money laundering control act and proposed amendments: Its impact on the casino industry

In their efforts to track unreported income, Congress passed the Money Laundering Control Act in 1985. Because they are often involved in large cash transactions, casinos were required to report on cash transactions in amounts of $10,000 or more in much the same manner as banks and other financial institutions. However, because of the unique nature of cash and chip transactions within modern casinos, the Act, or state variants of it, have created significant compliance costs for casinos. This analysis examines the implications of the Act for the casino gaming industry, and evaluates some of the recent suggested Amendments to the Act.     

Managing Potential Health Risks from Electric Powerlines: A Decision Analysis Caught in Controversy

Over the past 20 years, several epidemiological studies have found an association between exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and health effects, including childhood leukemia and adult brain cancer. However, experts strongly disagree about whether this association is causal and, if so, how strong it is. In this article, we examine several alternatives to reduce EMFs from sources of the California power grid, including undergrounding distribution and transmission lines and reconfiguring or rephasing lines. The alternatives were evaluated in terms of the potential health risk reduction, cost, impacts on service reliability, property values, and many other consequences. Because of the uncertainty about an EMF-health link, the main effort was to determine the sensitivity of the decisions to the probability and seriousness of an EMF hazard. User-friendly computer models were developed to allow stakeholders to change the model assumptions and parameters to analyze the impacts of their own assumptions and estimates on the decision. The analysis clearly demonstrated that only four of the many concerns raised by the stakeholders could make a difference in the decision: health risks, costs, service reliability, and property values. Whether undergrounding, moderate alternatives for EMF reduction, or no change was the best decision depended on a few key factors, including the probability that EMF exposure is a hazard, the severity of this hazard, how the EMF reduction measures are financed, and the impacts on property values. While the analysis did not resolve the EMF issues, it showed that even in the most controversial settings, a little analysis goes a long way to clarifying the issues and to focus the debate.