Bringing planning systems to the manager

This article reports the results of a corporate planning survey involving 15 U.K. companies and an experimental pilot planning system developed as a research tool to investigate aspects of interactive planning. The preliminary findings indicate that such systems can be of considerable benefit to managers, planners, and the organization, and that the design of the system from the users point of view will determine whether or not it will be accepted as a decision making aid. Some of the essential features are then described.     

A Controlled Evaluation of Psychoeducation Workshops for Relatives of State Hospital Patients

Pre-discharge psychoeducation workshops for relatives of psychiatric inpatients, conducted with and without the patient present, were compared to hospital-tour and no-contact control groups. Despite highly positive evaluations of the workshops, there were no group differences in patient relapse or family involvement in treatment after discharge; nor did the groups differ on questionnaire measures of relatives' illness attributions or criticism/rejection of the patient taken immediately after the workshops. Process analyses indicated that relatives made fewer personal and topic-relevant comments over time in workshops with patients present, compared to those patients absent. Patients, however, maintained high (often disruptive) levels of participation.     

Children in Foster Care: Possible factors affecting permanency planning

This is a study of Children in Foster Care to determine possible factors affecting permanency planning. Several issues were determined to be of importance, cultural diversity, economics, and family support services. Areas needing additional study were determined to be the different treatment given to African-American and poor children, and the influence of economic and social problems on placement needs and planning.     

Demographic implications of aboriginal out-marriage

Unpublished 1991 Census data show that more than half of Aboriginal marriages involve a non-Aboriginal spouse and that 83 per cent of resultant children identify as Aboriginal. Out-marriage is therefore a major but so far overlooked influence on Aboriginal population growth and regional differences in out-marriage rates are a major cause of higher Aboriginal population growth in cities. High and rising rates of out-marriage have overtaken rising levels of Aboriginal self-identification in importance and imply that the Aboriginal population is destined to continue growing rapidly. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Employment, Education and Training.     

Role relationships: lesbian perspectives

This questionnaire study of 140 lesbians, 70 couples who have lived together for one or more years, explores equality and role relationships. We predicted that lesbians would achieve partnerships characterized by equality and freedom from traditional butch-femme role playing. Financial sharing and decision-making were found to be characterized by high degrees of equality. Household responsibilities tended to be performed individually, but no role-playing was evident. Sexual intimacy items indicated less perceived equality than other areas. And overall, some partners were viewed as unequal. The variables of age, income, education, occupation, assets, and years living together did not explain the inequality observed.