Early‐Life Origins of Life‐Cycle Well‐Being: Research and Policy Implications

Mounting evidence across different disciplines suggests that early‐life conditions can have consequences on individual outcomes throughout the life cycle. Relative to other developed countries, the United States fares poorly on standard indicators of early‐life health, and this disadvantage may have profound consequences not only for population well‐being, but also for economic growth and competitiveness in a global economy. In this paper, we first discuss the research on the strength of the link between early‐life health and adult outcomes, and then provide an evidence‐based review of the effectiveness of existing U.S. policies targeting the early‐life environment. We conclude that there is a robust and economically meaningful relationship between early‐life conditions and well‐being throughout the life cycle, as measured by adult health, educational attainment, labor market attachment, and other indicators of socioeconomic status. However, there is some variation in the degree to which current policies in the United States are effective in improving early‐life conditions. Among existing programs, some of the most effective are the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), home visiting with nurse practitioners, and high‐quality, center‐based early‐childhood care and education. In contrast, the evidence on other policies such as prenatal care and family leave is more mixed and limited.     

Profiling of the public‐service élite: A demographic and career trajectory survey of deputy and assistant deputy ministers in Canada

Abstract: In the summer of 2006, a survey was sent to the 941 senior public administration executives who held the rank and title of deputy minister or assistant deputy minister in the federal, ten provincial and three territorial jurisdictions in Canada. The survey explored, among other variables, age, education, gender, ethno‐racial status, aboriginal background and career trajectory. The response rate to this survey was 43.61 per cent. Obviously those in the deputy/assistant deputy cadre (referred to in this article as the “public‐service élite,” or pse ) are important actors in the life of the Canadian state, but relatively little is known about them. The authors report on and analyse the meaning and significance of their findings not only for a Canadian perspective but also, on the value of such research in the broader comparative sense. Their data also allow the examination of various dimensions of representative bureaucracy at the most senior levels in Canada. Sommaire: Au cours de l'été 2006, un sondage sous forme de questionnaire a été envoyé aux 941 cadres supérieurs de la fonction publique qui occupaient des postes de sous‐ministres ou de sous‐ministres adjoints au gouvernement fédéral, au gouvernement des dix provinces et des trois territoires du Canada. Le sondage portait, entre autres variables, sur l'âge, l'éducation, le sexe, le statut ethno‐racial, les origines autochtones et la trajectoire de carrière. Le taux de réponse à ce sondage a été de 43,61 pour cent. Évidemment, les personnes qui occupent les postes de sous‐ministres et de sous‐ministres adjoints (désignés dans le présent article sous le nom d' «élite de la fonction publique» ou «éfp ») sont des acteurs importants dans la vie de l'État canadien, mais on les connaît assez peu. Les auteurs donnent un compte rendu et font une analyse de la signification et de 1'importance des résultats, non seulement pour avoir une perspective canadienne, mais aussi pour voir la valeur d'une telle recherche à des fins de comparaison plus vaste. Leurs données permettent également d'examiner diverses dimensions de la bureaucratie représentative aux niveaux les plus élevés du Canada.     

REJOINDER TO GARDNER'S "COMMENTARY ON KELLY AND JOHNSTON'S 'THE ALIENATED CHILD: A REFORMULATION OF PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME'"

In this reply to Richard Gardner, we outline our points of disagreement with his formulation of parental alienation syndrome (PAS), showing that his focus on the alienating parent as the primary cause of children's negative attitudes and rejecting behavior toward the other parent is overly simplistic and not supported by findings from recent empirical research. It follows that we strongly object to Gardner's recommendations for legal and mental health interventions with alienated children as well as the use of the term PAS when referring to this problem.     

Demonstrably Awful: The Right to Life and the Selective Non-Treatment of Disabled Babies and Young Children

Twenty-five years ago it was common practice to bring about the deaths of some children with learning disabilities or physical impairments. This paper considers a small number of landmark cases in the early 1980s that confronted this practice. These cases illustrate a process by which external forces (social, philosophical, political, and professional) moved through the legal system to effect a profound change outside that system – primarily in the (then) largely closed domain of medical conduct/practice. These cases are considered from a socio-legal perspective. In particular, the paper analyses the reasons why they surfaced at that time, the social and political contexts that shaped the judgments, and their legacy.     

Reviving the Kansai cotton industry: engineering expertise and knowledge sharing in the early Meiji period

This article analyses the acquisition and application of new cotton spinning technologies in Japan in the early Meiji period, and the ways in which this knowledge helped to mobilise existing resources of human and financial capital. It focusses on the early development of three pioneering firms, the Hirano, Amagasaki and Settsu companies, all of which after 1918 became part of Dainihon Spinning, one of the ‘Big Three’ textile firms of prewar Japan. By looking at the ways in which these companies diffused technical and other expertise, secured finance, and addressed the problems that had confounded earlier initiatives, it shows how technological knowhow from outside the Osaka region was a key factor that enabled the mobilisation of the capital and expertise of business and personal networks in Kansai, and in the process rebuilt the region's traditional predominance in cotton production, laying the foundations for the industry's global competitiveness.     

Revisiting nations not obsessed with crime

This paper reanalyzes the ten low-crime countries featured in Freda Adler’s 1983 publication, Nations Not Obsesses with Crime. It uses currently available quantitative data to present an updated statistical portrait of these countries. It aims to critically evaluate the criteria that have been and should be used to designate countries as low-crime. It also investigates whether these countries have been able to maintain this status over the past three decades. Finally, it discusses the theoretical implications of this updated statistical portrait for cross-national criminology.