The Persistence of Outmoded Contraceptive Regimes: The Cases of Mexico and Brazil

Two of the most striking characteristics of contraceptive practice in the world today are the wide variation in patterns of use across countries and the tendency of the distribution of use by method to persist or narrow, even as new methods become available. The argument advanced in this article is that the disposition to commit to a reduced range of methods results from positive feedback in the process of contraceptive choice, and follows the logic of path dependence. The positive feedback derives, in large part, from social interaction among both the providers and the users of contraceptive methods. The persistence of outmoded contraceptive regimes is illustrated with the experience of Mexico and Brazil. In each case, it is argued that the conditions, events, and policies in the early stage of the adoption process have had a determinant bearing on the contraceptive practice prevailing in the late 1990s.     

Strategic planning and inflation

The author of this article argues that inflation is a neglected area in corporate planning despite the events of 1974/1975. The planning problem which companies face because of inflation is defined, while acknowledging that it is difficult to solve. Recent experience has shown that inflation has a direct impact on every major area of business. Thus it is essential that there is a meaningful attempt to handle these problems in planning. The author discusses his approach to grasping this nettle.     

Psychological implications of childhood meatotomies

This paper informs clinicians about the nature of childhood meatotomies, and presents two cases which suggest that the presence of a meatotomy in the developmental history of male clients should alert clinicians to the potential significance of particular body damage fears and body integrity issues in the client.     

Efficacy and Outcome Expectations Influence Career Exploration and Decidedness

In this multiple regression model, self-efficacy beliefs are the best predictor of career indecision, and outcome expectations are the best predictor of exploration intentions. When indecision was entered as a predictor, it also was a significant predictor of exploration intentions—students who were less decided were also more likely to plan career exploration. Career efficacy and outcome expectations relate significantly more strongly within the group of college men than within the group of college women. Implications for social cognitive career theory and practice are discussed.     

THE SOCIAL MANAGEMENT OF AMBITION

This study of "the social management of ambition' (Hopper 1968) analyzes the changes in occupational expectations that occur among a group of ambitious high school seniors during the seven years after graduation. The predictions of a socialization and of a social reproduction model of the process of expectations change are compared using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Loglinear analysis is used to estimate a model, with a focus on the roles played by race, gender, social origins, and marriage. Less than one-fifth of the original sample remained "on track' toward achieving their original goals, most often members of already advantaged groups (whites and those from upper-middle-class homes). Married women were among the "cumulatively disadvantaged,' unlike their single peers. Marriage in particular had very different consequences for members of different social groups.