A Collaborative Approach to Infant Research: Promoting Reproducibility,Best Practices,and Theory‐Building

The ideal of scientific progress is that we accumulate measurements and integrate these into theory, but recent discussion of replicability issues has cast doubt on whether psychological research conforms to this model. Developmental research—especially with infant participants—also has discipline‐specific replicability challenges, including small samples and limited measurement methods. Inspired by collaborative replication efforts in cognitive and social psychology, we describe a proposal for assessing and promoting replicability in infancy research: large‐scale, multi‐laboratory replication efforts aiming for a more precise understanding of key developmental phenomena. The ManyBabies project, our instantiation of this proposal, will not only help us estimate how robust and replicable these phenomena are, but also gain new theoretical insights into how they vary across ages, linguistic communities, and measurement methods. This project has the potential for a variety of positive outcomes, including less‐biased estimates of theoretically important effects, estimates of variability that can be used for later study planning, and a series of best‐practices blueprints for future infancy research.     

Balancing Household Needs: The Non-food Needs of Food Pantry Clients and Their Implications for Program Planning

In 2009, over 33 million different people used food pantries to supplement their basic food needs. Food pantries are increasingly called upon to provide non-food items. What is unknown is how going without basic household products affects families. This exploratory study aimed to identify personal household products food pantry clients are most likely to find essential for basic living, the consequences for going without, and strategies to procure basic products. Twenty-five food pantry clients were interviewed. Three classes of products were identified: survival, keep the household together, and “make do” products. Consequences of going without basic products include stress, personal degradation, and engaging in illegal activities. Program recommendations include distribution planning and incorporating an awareness of different family coping strategies.     

FAMILY SYSTEMS THERAPY IN A PRIMARY CARE MEDICAL SETTING: THE ROCHESTER EXPERIENCE

Collaboration between family therapists and physicians has attracted increasing attention in the field of family therapy. Family therapists practicing in medical settings encounter many stimulating oppoutunities and challenges. This paper focuses on the experience of the authors providing family therapy in a primary care medical setting which is also a family medicine residency program. The authors discuss the role of physician and patient expectations in treatment as well as the influence of the medical context on the development of family therpists.     

The shaping of Australia's immigration and refugee policy

Since 1945, the objectives of Australia's immigration policy have been based at one time or another on security, self‐sufficiency, labour market considerations, economic growth, homogeneity, population building and social and humanitarian considerations. The scale of immigration has been influenced by the level of unemployment, general economic conditions prevailing at the time, the political party in government, the lobbying power of prospective interest groups, public perception and receptiveness, and foreign policy considerations. Australia's refugee policy (including intake), which was only formalized in 1977, has been determined by the resettlement needs around the world, foreign policy considerations and domestic politics.     

Identifying Social Indicators for Sustainability Assessment of CCU Technologies: A Modified Multi-criteria Decision Making

Social Indicators Research - This paper analyses the trend and changes in Sri Lanka’s multidimensional poverty before the ethnic war in 2007, the transition through 2009 and after the war in...     

The Economic Adjustment of Recently Arrived Bosnian,Afghan and Iraqi Refugees in Sydney,Australia1

Research on the early settlement experience of refugees from Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan is absent, both in Australia and overseas. The current study, based on questionnaire results and the application of SPSS results, explores the impact that pre‐migration and post‐arrival experiences have on the initial post‐arrival economic adjustment in Sydney, Australia of recently arrived refugees from these three countries. Guided by a summary of previous findings and surveyed results of key service providers in Sydney, two propositions based on pre‐migration and post‐migration background variables have been developed and tested with mixed results. As expected, there was a significant relationship between English language competency and the likelihood of being gainfully employed. However, there was, for example, no significant association between current employment status and the time spent in detention camp or the extent of negative exit conditions experienced, and there were no significant differences in employment outcomes for those with or without qualifications. This study concludes with a number of recommendations, in particular, the need for early intervention with adequate English language tuition, employment skills training and career counseling which could greatly assist humanitarian entrants in finding employment and reducing welfare dependence.