Competence and consent to research: A critique of the recommendations of the national bioethics advisory commission*

Concern about the participation of incompetent subjects in psychiatric research has grown in the last several years. In response, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) recommended in its recent report that all investigations involving persons with mental disorders that may be associated with cognitive impairment that may pose greater than minimal risk to subjects utilize independent assessors to verify the capacities of subjects prior to entry into the study. This recommendation poses several problems for the conduct of research and the protection of research subjects. First, it fails to target that group of subjects most likely to be at risk for incapacity. Second, it focuses on too broad a range of research projects, many of which pose little risk to participants. The substantial costs of this approach are therefore not likely to be outweighed by concomitant benefits. In place of the NBAC recommendation, the author proposes a more flexible system of capacity assessment, designed to balance the costs with a greater likelihood of achieving meaningful protection for research subjects with mental disorders.     

论社会公民权的保障——以国家义务的适当承担为出发点

社会福利制度与公民权的结合便形成社会公民权。社会公民权之目的是确保一定的福利水平，使公民过上一种“文明化的生活”。而国家一般通过宪法等形式来确认社会公民权。公民与国家在社会公民权方面的争议可通过社会公民权的适当限制、理性的公众参与以及相应的司法救济予以解决。     

The Micro-Formation Mechanism of Trade Conflicts between Large Developing Countries: India’s Anti-dumping Action against China

Abstract

Employing Grossman and Helpman’s “protection for sale” model, this article uses data on anti-dumping actions from 1999 to 2009 to perform a quantitative analysis of factors influencing India’s determinations of anti-dumping duties against China, and reveals the micro-formation mechanism of economic conflicts between China and India. We find that the political power of India’s anti-dumping plaintiffs markedly increases the tariff level of its final determinations and that the relationship between the import penetration ratio and duty rates depends upon whether the plaintiffs are politically organized. Further, there is a significant positive correlation between India’s anti-dumping duty rates and its unfavorable trade balance with China. This indicates that in determining anti-dumping duties, Indian authorities are clearly influenced by the political clout of their domestic interest groups. They are also motivated by the desire to keep down China and gain the upper hand in the face-off between the “dragon and the elephant.”     

基于科学发展观的人类发展指标体系研究——以苏州市为例

科学发展观是统领我国社会经济发展的重要指导思想。而要将此重要理念付诸实施,贯彻落实到政府部门具体的行政工作中,建立科学的人类发展评价体系和正确的政府工作引导机制至关重要。本课题试图以苏州为例,以科学发展观为指导,通过对现有的人类发展指数及其相关指标的应用评估,提出新的基于科学发展的人类发展指标体系,并运用实际资料通过横向和纵向比较来评估新世纪以来苏州在人类发展中所取得的进展以及新的人类发展指标体系的应用状况。     

Turning Over Turnover

Abstract

Human service programs often have major problems ensuring that all direct-care staff positions are filled and keeping staff members after they are hired. Work schedules may have an effect on maintaining the longevity of staff. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a revised direct-care staff-scheduling system in community homes serving adults with developmental disabilities. The revised direct-care staffing system, which used shift-style schedules, was compared on a variety of measures to existing staffing systems and to a staffing model using married couples and adaptations of the Teaching-Family Model (called Family-Teaching homes). The revised staff-scheduling system was evaluated before and after its implementation and then compared to the Family-Teaching homes using direct-care employee measures of: (1) turnover; (2) position vacancies; (3) number of different employees paid within a pay period; (4) average hourly wages; (5) number of hours worked; (6) average cost for employees per person served; and (7) employee satisfaction. The various staffing approaches were also compared on measures of parent/legal guardian satisfaction and overall program quality. The revised staff-scheduling system was superior when compared to the previous staff-scheduling system on measures of turnover (43% less), vacancies (57% fewer), number of direct-care employees involved in the care of the persons served (13% fewer), and hourly wages (8% more). All of this was achieved without affecting staff-to-client ratios. While these changes were positive, the Family-Teaching homes were associated with significantly better direct-care staff stability and lower costs.     

美日劳动力素质升级与经济发展对中国的启示

面对中国劳动力素质的快速提升,需要研究什么样的经济结构或产业结构才能更好地与之相匹配,或者说政府与社会需要进行什么样的调整才能更好地利用劳动力素质快速提升所带来的人口红利。为此,考查当美国和日本达到与中国劳动力素质提升水平相当的特定阶段时,其社会经济发展的特点和政府所采取的主要政策,发现美国和日本都具备人力资本快速积累、重视工业技术、政府通过建立社会保障体系或制定产业政策等手段促进经济发展、工人的权利得到提升且工资上涨等特点。这些特点,有一些是中国已经具备的,有一些则对中国未来的发展具有借鉴和指引意义。     

Making Human Behavior Theory Real Through the Unreal: Fiction in the HBSE Classroom

This article examines the use of fictional literature as a method for helping students apply human behavior theory in competent practice. When students and educators read a poem, short essay, or novel, it allows them the opportunity to join together as an audience as they tease out teachable lessons from the story. The authors posit that when used in human behavior and the social environment courses, fictional literature allows educators and students to experience abstract content as more concrete. Following a brief literature review, we examine one novel through the lens of three different human behavior theories.     

Is Domestic Violence a Gender Issue,or a Human Issue?

Abstract

Domestic violence, like all violence, is a human issue. It is not merely a gender issue. Classifying spousal and partner violence as a women's issue, rather than a human issue, is erroneous. In domestic relations, women are as inclined as men to engage in physically abusive acts. Yet most reports appearing in the popular press, and in scholarly journals, have framed the issue as essentially a masculine form of assaultive behavior, thereby imbedding into the national consciousness a false and inaccurate view of the problem. This article presents the results of selected empirical studies that contradict the popular view of domestic violence, briefly focuses on the phenomenon as it relates to race, offers several elucidating case accounts, and suggests that the popular view of domestic violence not only contributes to men's increasing legal and social defenselessness, it also leads to social policies that obstruct efforts to address the problem of domestic violence successfully.