Identification of and Responses to Problem Drinking Amongst Social Services Users

Correspondence to Alan Lawson, Research Officer, Department of Social Services, London Borough of Hounslow, Civic Centre, Lampton Road, Hounslow, Middlesex TW 3 4DN. Summary The NHS and Community Care Act (1990) has required local authoritiesto plan for social care aspects of services for alcohol misusers.Research was therefore commissioned by senior managers of theLondon Borough of Hounslow's Social Services Department to investigatethe effect of alcohol misuse amongst Social Services users onthe work of the Department. Research methods are summarizedand the main findings and their implications are discussed.The importance of relevant training was highlighted, in particularin relation to the identification and assessment of alcoholproblems and to child protection issues.     

LOAD CUBING AT R. J. REYNOLDS

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco USA (RJR) is currently implementing a microcomputer-based decision support system to computerize and optimize the selection of patterns for loading cases of finished product into truck trailers at RJR's Central Distribution Center. This system allows for the efficient loading of trucks with less supervision. Total annual savings from reduced personnel and shipping costs is approximately $850,000. In addition to these benefits, the system is a stepping stone for trailer loading automation and the integration of a comprehensive load planning system.     

VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION AFFILIATION AND NATIONAL DIVERSITY*

Par nature, les associations volontaires sont des intermédiaires qui établissent les liens nécessaires entre les institutions de la société. Plus une société est hétérogene, plus elle requiert d'associations qui peuvent représenter les divers intérêts et, à la fois, empêcher ces divers intérêts de mener à une désorganisation individuelle et sociale. L'analyse de données de cinq nations révèle une correspondance entre la diversité nationale et l'affiliation à des associations volontaires. Cette correspondance est vue comme fournissant un support partiel à la thèse avancée. It is argued that voluntary associations are interstitial in character, providing needed linkages between society's institutions. More heterogeneous societies require greater numbers of associations to represent divergent interests and at the same time to prevent these varied interests from leading to personal and social disorganization. Analysis of data from five nations shows a correspondence between national diversity and voluntary organization affiliation. The correspondence is interpreted as partial support for the thesis advanced.     

2006 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS WATER MARKETS IN THE WEST: PRICES, TRADING, AND CONTRACTUAL FORMS

Rising urban and environmental demand for water has created growing pressure to reallocate water from traditional agricultural uses. The evolution of water markets has been more complicated than those for other resources. In this paper, we first explain these differences by examining water rights and regulatory issues. Second, we place our research in the context of the economics literature on water marketing. Third, we present new, comprehensive data on prices and the extent, nature, and timing of water transfers across 12 western states from 1987 to 2005. We find that prices are higher for agriculture-to-urban trades versus within-agriculture trades, in part, reflecting the differences in marginal values between the two uses. Prices for urban use are also growing relative to agricultural use. Markets are responding in that the number of agriculture-to-urban transactions is rising, whereas the number of agriculture-to-agriculture transfers is not. Further, there is a shift from using short-term leases to using multiyear leases of water and permanent sales of water rights. This pattern underscores the need to consider the amounts of water obligated over time rather than examining only annual flows in assessing the quantities of water traded as is the common practice in the literature. Considering water obligated over time, termed committed water, we find significantly more is transferred and the direction of trading is different than if the focus is on annual flows. Finally, the data reveal considerable variation in water trading across the states. ( JEL Q2, N5, L5, K3)     

Transformation and Smoothing in Sample Survey Data

Abstract. We consider model‐based prediction of a finite population total when a monotone transformation of the survey variable makes it appropriate to assume additive, homoscedastic errors. As the transformation to achieve this does not necessarily simultaneously produce an easily parameterized mean function, we assume only that the mean is a smooth function of the auxiliary variable and estimate it non‐parametrically. The back transformation of predictions obtained on the transformed scale introduces bias which we remove using smearing. We obtain an asymptotic expansion for the prediction error which shows that prediction bias is asymptotically negligible and the prediction mean‐squared error (MSE) using a non‐parametric model remains in the same order as when a parametric model is adopted. The expansion also shows the effect of smearing on the prediction MSE and can be used to compute the asymptotic prediction MSE. We propose a model‐based bootstrap estimate of the prediction MSE. The predictor produces competitive results in terms of bias and prediction MSE in a simulation study, and performs well on a population constructed from an Australian farm survey.     

Gender and the Pursuit of Respectability: Dilemmas of Daily Life in a Home for Adolescents

Summary Our attention in this paper centres on aspects of daily lifein a local authority Home for Adolescents. We focus on the contradictionsand dilemmas surrounding the staff's efforts to regulate theexperiences of their charges; especially, on the tensions arisingfrom attempts to channel the residents', the ‘children's’sexuality. In so doing, we seek to relate local, managerialconflicts to broader, to societal issues; in particular, toissues surrounding conceptions of gender, respectability, familylife. Drawing on a participant observation study, we argue thatsexuality pervades the administration of such a home. We describethe socio-spatial features of the institution, the daily routinesof its occupants and the boredom evidenced by residents—theircharacteristic response to the routines imposed on them. Further,we record aspects of the residents' experiences when releasedfrom the Home; their visits to boyfriends, to girlfriends, toclubs and pubs. In short, we contrast the pursuit of respectabilitywithin the Home with the search for pleasure outside its confines.     

Canadian immigration policy: state strategies and the quest for legitimacy

Selon les auteurs de cette communication, les données tirées d'entrevues avec les décideurs et de l'observation participante au processus d'élaboration des politiques militent en faveur d'une interprétation de la politique canadienne de l'immigration qui s'articule autour du rǒle de l'État. Pour eux, l'État est une entitéà double visage, à la fois puissante et vulnérable, et c'est ce caractère double qui conditionne les tendances actuelles en matière de politique de l'immigration. En élaborant sa politique, l'État cherche activement à accroǐtre sa propre légitimité en adoptant des mesures susceptibles de protéger une économie en difficulté, d'éviter les critiques sur la place publique et d'atténuer les conflits sociaux. L'état vise à assurer son hégémonie, en partie grǎce à un dialogue proactif destiné d'une part à recueillir de l'information et à mesurer les appuis et les oppositions, et d'autre part à contrǒler les divers groupes d'intérět. Ainsi, l'État est maǐtre du champ de l'élaboration des politiques, mais c'est un maǐtre qui se méfie des forces politiques qui pourraient miner sa légitimité. D'après les recherches des auteurs, les nouveaux intervenants, dont les groupes ethniques, les organisations humanitaires et les provinces, jouent un rǒle de plus en plus important dans un domaine dominé par 1'État fédéral. Deux intervenants traditionnels, le mouvement ouvrier et le patronat, en sont Venus à des positions considérablement moins polarisées. Le terrain politique est donc mouvant et plutǒt instable en cette époque où les principaux intervenants, y compris l'État, tentent de se réorienter dans un contexte international en pleine mutation. Data from interviews with policy actors and from participant observation of recent policy process support a particular state-centred interpretation of Canadian immigration policy. The state has a Janus-faced character - both powerful and vulnerable - and it is this ‘both-and’ feature which underlies current trends in immigration policy. Findings in this paper indicate that, in developing immigration policy, the state actively seeks to garner support for its own legitimacy by pursuing measures which will shore up the economy, avoid public criticism and mediate social conflict. The state is engaged in a hegemonic project involving a pro-active dialogue to gather information, to monitor support and opposition, and to attempt to control diverse interest groups. In sum, the state is both in control of the policy field and yet wary of political forces which potentially threaten its legitimacy. Our research shows that new social actors -ethnic groups, humanitarian organizations, the provinces - have come to play a more prominent role, within a field dominated by the federal state. Two traditional actors, labour and capital, have moved to less polarized views. The policy arena is shifting and prone to be unstable, as the key actors involved, including the state, struggle to come to terms with a changing global context.