Are they Surgeons? or are they Plumbers? Assessing the Role of Private Sector Consultants in Place Branding and Other Place-Based Economic Development Strategies

Public Organization Review - This study takes an in-depth look at the roles and utility of consultants in local economic development, focusing on whether there is ultimately a need for this...     

Follow-up of male pathological gamblers after treatment: The relationship of intellectual variables to relapse

Male pathological gamblers entering a comprehensive treatment program were followed-up for twelve months after treatment completion. Twelve month follow-up was obtained for 45 of the 66 patients entering treatment. Total abstinence was reported by 55% (n=25) of the patients located for twelve month follow-up. A relationship was found between abstinence at six month follow-up and selected subscales of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, performance scale. The implications of these findings for sub-typing gamblers are discussed.     

Placement stability for adolescents in foster care: findings from a program experiment

Increased stability in foster care placements for adolescents who had multiple placement failures and who were alienated from family and other social institutions is reported as the outcome of a demonstration placement-planning and support service in a public agency. Other positive findings are described.     

Pathological gambling: The initial screening interview

This paper reviews basic components of the initial screening interview for applicants to treatment programs for pathological gamblers. The therapeutic potential of the interview is seen as primary and the collection of information follows an initial period of unstructured exploration of feelings. Specific information needed in making an admission decision is reviewed including items related to the gambling addiction, to family, employment, health, co-addiction, attitude, and demographics. Some items of information required by the client are reviewed. Criteria for acceptance or rejection are mentioned throughout. The rationale for various items of policy is reviewed briefly in a number of situations.     

Mindfulness and Subjective Well-being in the Sustainability Movement: A Further Elaboration of Multiple Discrepancies Theory

In a previous interpretation of multiple discrepancies theory (MDT), the authors operationalized mutiple discrepancies as gaps between respondents' values and their performance. Using a sample of back-to-the-landers from the larger sustainability movement, the first-stage of the data analysis (Jacob and Brinkerhoff, 1997) confirmed that multiple discrepancies between values and do have a significant impact on subjective well-being (SWB), but this initial analysis also demonstrated that there are intervening variables that can act as compensating factors to attenuate the influence of multiple discrepancies on SWB. In this, the second-stage of data analysis, the authors identify and further explore the interaction of phenomena that might serve as compensation variables in respondents' calculus of their SWB. The present study identifies two salient compensating factors: mindfulness (a calm, yet focused, engagement with the present, similar to a meditative experience), and a sense of an absence of time constraints. Operationalized as Mindfulness and Time for Self scales, these two interrelated variables explain, in multiple regression equations, the major share of variation in multiple measures of SWB. Nevertheless, the multiple discrepancies between values and performance are still significant, if secondary, factors in explaining variance in SWB for the sample of back-to-the- landers.