Structure of racial attitudes in white middle adolescents

Middle adolescent White children (N=101, mean age 17.0 years) were subjects in a study assessing the comparability of racial attitudes as measured through the use of various response formats. Attitudes toward White and Black racial stimuli, respectively, were assessed through responses to (1) a traditional, forced-choice format; (2) a dimensionalized, bipolar item format requiring placement of ten Whites and ten Blacks, respectively, along each of ten 7-point dimensions; (3) a format identical to (2) except in the requirement of only one racial stimulus attribution per dimension; and (4) a format requiring the estimation of the percentage of time a White and a Black stimulus, respectively, manifested each item characteristic. Although mean responses derived from the latter three response-latitude methods were directionally consistent with corresponding forced-choice, frequency data, neither the multidimensional locations of these means nor their intradimensional separations were very disparate. Moreover, although correlational analyses indicated relatively low forced-choice /response-latitude method consistency, and even lower, and essentially nonsignificant, intramethod consistency when intra-item Black-White ratings from the response-latitude methods were considered, moderate and significant consistencies existed in the intermethod comparisons among the response-latitude methods. This finding was taken as evidence of convergent and discriminant validation. It was concluded that inferences drawn about the structure of racial attitudes based on data derived from forced-choice formats are not supported by data derived from response-latitude methods and that, alternatively, these latter methods provide evidence for the existence of other attitude structures.Received his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the City University of New York, New York, New York. Current research interests include the relation of organismic variables to personality/social development.Received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado. Current research interests include measurement theory and cognition.     

Time for a change: The French elections of 1981: I. The presidency

The French presidential election of 1981 saw a collapse of the Communist vote to 15 per cent (its 1936 score) on the first ballot and partly thanks to that decline, the election of the Socialist candidate, François Mitterrand, on the second round. President Giscard lost support because of economic difficulties and because he was unable to sustain the cohesion of his own coalition. The Left thus won the presidency for the first time in the Fifth Republic; but in order to rule effectively, the chief of state needs a majority in the National Assembly. Mitterrand thus dissolved the Assembly and called elections, which the Socialists won, again for the first time since 1958.     

Trading culture for development: assessing perceptions among rural agropastoral peoples in Tanzania

Development in rural parts of Africa is strongly desired by local people. Other views expressed by local people towards outside development initiatives vary considerably. Some perceptions are negative, as development recipients view development as a destructive agent of change in the local culture. Despite the negative effects associated with development, this study documented a unanimous desire among a stratified random sample of 418 respondents for more development interventions. Two villages in south-central Tanzania were selected based upon their adjacent proximity to Ruaha National Park. Findings suggest that a capability framework is useful for exploring local perceptions to outside development assistance.     

Economic issues in access to medications: schizophrenia treatment in England

Mental health problems and the services to address them are currently receiving more attention in the UK than ever. Mental health care in England--indeed, across the UK--is experiencing a much needed transformation. It is therefore highly pertinent to examine the patterns of psychotropic medication use, given their intended links to recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration, as well as to explore the economic and other factors that appear to influence those patterns. These are the aims of this paper. Our attention will be primarily focused on England. What this analysis shows is that given a higher profile by government, including additional funding (although not really benefiting differentially compared to other parts of the health service) and the first national service framework, it is possible to see changes in service patterns, access and (to a degree) outcomes. These changes are occurring at a time when new classes of psychotropic medication are being introduced in a range of therapeutic areas, contributing to the relatively rapid growth of take-up but also raising questions about appropriateness, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and equity.