Value of a Life: What Difference Does It Make?1

A comparison of the costs and benefits of 57 lifesaving programs reveals striking disparities across agencies and programs in cost/life saved and even greater disparities in cost/life-year saved. Within a broad range the monetary value assigned to the benefits of averting a death usually does not alter the policy implications of the analyses. The findings suggest that despite the substantial disagreements and uncertainties in the theory and practice of valuing lives, careful quantitative analysis can be helpful in setting health, safety, and environmental priorities.     

News Media and International Negotiation

It is widely recognized that leaks can hamper internationalnegotiations, but the ability of publicity to promote agreementamong nations has received less attention. This article arguesthat the press contributes to international agreement insofaras it illuminates the issues under negotiation, helps to ensureintra-governmental coordination, links governments with interestedpublics, and provides supplementary communication channels fordiplomacy.     

Does a Reactor Need a Safety Backfit? Case Study on Communicating Decision and Risk Analysis Information to Managers

An approach to communicating decision and risk analysis findings to managers is illustrated in a real case context. This article consists essentially of a report prepared for senior managers of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to help them make a reactor safety decision. It illustrates the communication of decision analysis findings relating to technical risks, costs, and benefits in support of a major risk management decision: whether or not to require a safety backfit. Its focus is on the needs of decision makers, and it introduces some novel communication devices.     

Clinical practice and the social issues of foster care

Issues of values and commitment to children affect social provisions. A brief review of the historical background of the placement of children suggests that many of the current problems of staffing, funding and legal provisions are perpetuation of neglect of the basic needs of children. this neglect often results in a need for placement that might have been prevented by appropriate preventive supports. Lack of money is not considered the problem. Rather, political issues, values, and little commitment to children determine how the nation allocates its money.Editor of the Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal.     

Pre-War and Post-War Lebanese Immigrants in Melbourne

The following paper forms part of a thesis on the Lebanese community in Melbourne. The Lebanese community in Australia has not been the subject of any systematic study and thus the author attempted to investigate as many facets as possible of the life style of Melbourne's Lebanese immigrants. The purpose of this paper is to examine the causes and characteristics of immigration from Lebanon to Melbourne before and after the Second World War.