A left realist approach to antifeminist fathers’ rights groups

Despite earlier critiques of left realists’ failure to adequately address feminist concerns, recent left realist theorizing and empirical research have made valuable contributions to the understanding of woman abuse and other forms of gendered violence. Left realism has further potential to contribute to the criminological understanding of woman abuse and its contributing socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This article describes left realists’ early efforts to include gender in analyses of crime. It then summarizes feminist critiques of left realism and reviews the work that has responded to them. Drawing upon two prominent strands of feminist left realist theorizing about violence and gender, the paper proposes a preliminary left realist theory of antifeminist fathers’ rights group activism. It then outlines a provisional research agenda on antifeminist fathers’ rights groups, and proposes short and long term policies and practices to enhance the safety of abused mothers and their children following divorce or separation.     

Physician-management relationships at HCA: a case study

The questions of whether Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), a for-profit hospital company, fostered an environment detrimental to the physician-patient relationship during the period of implementation of the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) was explored. The transition to PPS provided an opportunity to evaluate whether hospital ownership differences affected responses to a payment system which encouraged institutional intervention in the practice of medicine. A case study approach was used to observe the influence of the then largest for-profit hospital corporation upon physicians' medical practice in four owned hospitals. Findings indicated that HCA hospital managers were most directly influenced by the local competitive environment and their own personal agendas in responding to PPS incentives. Corporate influence actually softened payment system incentives to intervene in medical practice by providing a generous supply of capital, and by fostering a corporate culture conducive to cooperative relationships with physicians. Better public understanding of the determinants of hospital behavior is needed to preserve or enhance important social goals such as the physician-patient relationship; easily measurable characteristics such as ownership or bed size explain little about hospital behavior or motivation.     

Policy views,constituency pressure,and congressional action on flag burning

Much of the rational choice literature suggests that constituency considerations will dominate decision-making when constituency concerns are pronounced and the issue is conducive to citizen audit. The 1990 House of Representatives vote on a constitutional amendment banning flag burning provides a good test of this argument. Drawing from a survey of legislators and polling data we argue that even in the face of salient constituency views legislators demonstrated a willingness to vote their policy views and cross their constituents. We explore how concerns about reputation and other considerations contributed to this phenomenon. We also suggest directions for future research.     

Leaving home

His most recent research and writing concern the earth’s population and agricultural carrying capacity and the pressures behind the rising number of refugees in the world. He has published on topics ranging from international trade and debt to fisheries, tobacco, energy, and infant mortality, among many others, and he is a principal author of the annual Vital Signs: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future,author of Time for Change: A New Approach to Environment and Development,and coauthor with Lester Brown of Full House: Reassessing the Earth’s Population Carrying Capacity.