The nuclear family: Correspondence in cognitive and affective reactions to the threat of nuclear war among older adolescents and their parents

In order to assess the relationship between family members' cognitive and affective responses to nuclear war issues, 317 college students and their parents (n=559) independently completed a multifaceted questionnaire that included items concerning personal reactions, predictions, opinions, and attitudes about nuclear war. Results revealed a negligible relationship between the responses of college students and their parents, although the level of concordance between mothers and fathers was somewhat greater. Moreover, parents and students were relatively poor at predicting each others' nuclear threat attitudes, and the strength with which an attitude was endorsed did not enhance its predictability. Results are discussed with regard to heterogeneity in attitudinal and affective reactions within families, and with regard to the idea that infrequent communication concerning nuclear war issues may be occurring.Portions of this article were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, California, August 25, 1985.Interested in clinical and counseling psychology, the psychological effects of the threat of nuclear war, and parent training.Interested in counseling psychology, nuclear war issues, and the concept-specific measurement of emotionality.Interested in counseling psychology, nuclear war issues, and factors influencing custody decisions.     

The stress of secondary school for vulnerable students

An assessment of the stress of junior high/middle school (JH/MS) can be made by comparing overall behavior and academic student patterns in JH/MS with those in elementary school (ES), and by evaluating the differential educational consequences experienced by JH/MS students who had varying degrees of maladjustment in ES. Specific numeric data indicate that the environment is far more open, combative, frightening, impersonal, and academically taxing in JH/MS than in the ES. Partly as a result, suspensions, unexcused absenteeism, and grade failure occur at a much greater overall rate in JH/MS. Also, the immediate aftermath of these school adversities is significantly more deleterious in JH/MS than in ES. An analysis of the differential outcome data reveals that JH/MS students who had prominent ES maladjustments have a 5–13-fold greater rate of grade failure, suspension, and undue absenteeism than do students without such ES difficulties, and that generally students without major ES malajustment patterns continue to perform well after their entry to secondary school. In effect, then, JH/MS is primarily a stressful environment for students who are vulnerable on entry.Reveived M. D. from University of Wisconsin. Research interests include school mental health, hyperactivity, and psychopharmacology.     

The privatisation of British Telecom: a case study of the extended process of legislation

Abstract. One of the main ingredients in discourse about British politics concerns the extent to which, and under what conditions, central government can get its own way. Since 1979, the country has been ruled by a prime minister and a government placing at least rhetorical emphasis on the 'politics of conviction'. At the same time we have a well established academic literature giving emphasis to the various hurdles in the policy-making process which face even a government with a working parliamentary majority. The purpose of this paper is to trace the steps in the process towards the government achieving one of its manifesto commitments; the sale of 51 per cent of British Telecom shares to the private sector. In so doing, it is intended to analyse this example of the policy process in terms of the predominant British policy style.     

PUBLIC BUDGETING: CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS

Robert W. Burchell, James H. Carr, Richard L. Florida and Jarnes Nemeth. The New Reality of Municipal Finance: The Rise and Fall of the Intergovernmental City .
Government Finance Officers Association. Capital Budgeting: Blueprints for Change .
Edward A. Lehan. Budgetmaking: A Workbook of Public Budgeting Theory and Practice .
Thomas D. Lynch. Public Budgeting in America , 2nd Edition.
John L. Mikesell. Fiscal Administration: Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector , 2nd Edition.     

The political process and the use of debt financing by state governments

Empirical evidence offered in this study suggests that decisions by state government officials to effect debt-financed spending depend in part on the state's gubernatorial election cycle. More specifically, the results reveal relative increases in state debt issues in anticipation of elections, and furthermore, they reveal that such increases are more significant for states characterized by high interparty political competition. While theoretical limitations preclude a definitive explanation for these results, the evidence is consistent with a view of state political markets where incumbent parties manipulate public policy so as to enhance the probability of success in pending elections. This insight is significant in that it suggests a relationship between public policy decisions and election cycles in a context heretofore unexplored.