Contraceptive Responsibility among Male University Students

Abstract

This paper assesses the male contribution to contraceptive mismanagement and unwanted pregnancy. The subjects were 109 students at the University of Melbourne. A high incidence of risk-taking was reported, and almost one-fifth of the sexually experienced men stated that they had been involved in an unwanted pregnancy. A small group of these reported more than one such incident. The underlying reasons for poor contraceptive technique seemed to be related to two beliefs: that contraception is a female responsibility, and that sexual intercourse should be entirely spontaneous and unplanned.     

Population removal,displacement, and divestment in South Africa∗

In the past twenty years several million Africans have been removed or displaced from the ‘White’ areas to the ‘homelands’. Others have found themselves in the ‘homelands’ by virtue of changed borders between the ‘homelands’ and the rest of South Africa. But all three categories lose on transfer to the ‘homelands’ whatever rights to ‘White’ area residence and employment they might have enjoyed under the pass laws. Transferring people to the ‘homelands’ not only often curtails their access to the labour market; it also adds to the financial burdens of the ‘homeland’ administrations, who find themselves having to provide extra schools, health services, and other facilities. Some of the ‘homelands’ are poorer in terms of public funds than are countries like Lesotho. The financial apartheid that is entailed in the ‘homelands’ policy, which includes classifying public funds supplied to the ‘homeland’ administrations as ‘foreign aid,’ is one of the most insidious forms of racial discrimination in South Africa. Under the stricter enforcement of the pass laws that has come about following the recommendations of the Riekert Commission, people in the ‘homelands’ are having their access to the mainstream economy reduced. Displacing Africans to the ‘homelands’ enables the government to ‘export’ part of South Africa's unemployment problem. One of the chief motives behind the refurbished industrial decentralisation programme announced by the Prime Minister on 31st March 1982 is to promote the policy of influx control. It remains to be seen whether the refurbished programme makes a material contribution to the creation of additional jobs in the ‘homelands’. The action of the authorities in deporting people from Cape Town to the Transkeiin August 1981 under laws governing aliens testifies to continued determination to deflect black urbanisation from the ‘White’ areas to the ‘homelands’. But it is doubtful whether the ‘homelands’ have the space to accommodate people displaced from ‘White’ areas as well as their own natural population increase. Pressures from farmers in the ‘White’ areas for erecting fences between these areas and the ‘homelands’ testifies to growing tensions on the internal borders of South Africa as the ‘homelands’ reach bursting point.     

Inequality decomposition values: the trade-off between marginality and efficiency

This paper presents a general procedure for decomposing income inequality measures by income sources. The methods of decomposition proposed are based on the Shapley value and extensions of the Shapley value of transferable utility cooperative games. In particular, we find that Owen’s value can find an interesting application in this context.We show that the axiomatization by the potential of Hart and Mas-Colell remains valid in the presence of the domain restriction of inequality indices. We also examine the properties of these decomposition rules and perform a comparison with Shorrocks’ decomposition rule properties.     

The Tanda: A Practice at the Intersection of Mathematics,Culture, and Financial Goals

We present an analysis and discussion of the tanda, a multiperson pooled credit and savings scheme (a rotating credit association or RCA), as described by two informants from Mexican immigrant communities in California. In the tanda, participants contribute regularly to a common fund which is distributed to participants on a rotating basis. We analyze the tanda at multiple levels (as a mathematical, cultural, and distributed practice) and identify points of intersection and conflict. Contrary to many formal or school-based conceptions of mathematics, mathematical work in the context of the tanda is in service of, and intimately tied up with, cultural goals and values. Likewise, cultural means and mathematics are employed to personal ends. We argue that the tanda should be of enduring interest, particularly among educators interested in bringing more authentic, culturally-relevant mathematics into classroom settings, because it so clearly illustrates how mathematical and cultural processes can interact in the context of personal goals, and provides a potentially valuable template for engaging, consequential, and successful mathematics.     

Editorial

Drawing on texts written by young people aged 14–17 years in a school context in response to an invitation to write a page describing themselves and their vision of Ireland and to use the reverse side creatively for drawings, poems or songs, this article illustrates the methodological difficulties of exploring globalization and individualization in such texts. The indicators of globalization were global entertainment and consumer culture, global technology, references to international travel, and global concerns. The indicators of individualization were the absence of references to structural location, or the presence of references to choices, hopes or plans and related images. There were insurmountable methodological difficulties in differentiating between individualization in these terms and stereotypical ways of ‘doing boy/girl’. Hence, the typology that was created focussed on the global content of the main texts and back pages and their gendered content.     

Exploring the essence of enabling child participation within child protection services

The chances that children have to participate in child protection services are largely contingent upon the attitudes and skills of case managers. They have a crucial role in ensuring that a child's voice is being listened to and acknowledged in often sensitive dialogues. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate what case managers need to facilitate child participation. By handing case managers a participation toolbox developed by children and through the use of reflexive monitoring in action, we elaborated on the barriers faced in practice. The results show that the intention to facilitate child participation is quickly overruled by often subconscious thoughts and beliefs, stemming from the complex interplay of child image, protection, and participation. Case managers need to be aware of this interplay and how this unknowingly steers their actions. Therefore, iterative reflection should be facilitated within organizations for an actual change in their daily practice and to amplify the role of children in the decision‐making processes within child protection services.     

Human asset accounting

Human Asset Accounting (‘HAA’) is not an accepted tool of long range planning. Indeed many planners probably look sceptically on the possibility that it will ever become a technique which is important to them in their work. Unlike many other methods which have been successfully developed over the last few years HAA involves concepts which are so new that as yet relatively few people have come into contact with them. The object of this article is to give some indication of the conceptual framework on which HAA theories are based and to describe one of the techniques which is being evolved as a possible management and planning tool.     

The hypothesized effects of ability in the turnover process

Findings from studies that have investigated the relationship between task-relevant ability and turnover have been inconsistent. A process model is presented that suggests that ability may be related to turnover through the individual's perception of both the ease and desirability of movement. The potential effect of ability on the turnover process and its practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Study tour examines health care systems in Germany, Holland--Part II: The German system

In October 1992, the American College of Physician Executives sponsored a study tour to Berlin, Germany, and Amsterdam, Holland. Meetings were held with government officials, third-party payers, and providers, and on-site visits were made at hospitals, clinics, and academic centers. The purpose was to study the health care delivery system in those countries and to share some insights with the countries' hosts on the U.S. system. In a series of reports that began in the July issue of the journal, 5 of the 10 study tour participants describe their impressions of the tour and of the health care systems in the countries that were visited. In the first report, the health care delivery systems of the United States, Germany, and Holland were compared. In this report, the German system is analyzed in greater detail.