The case for government involvement in the management of cutbacks by public service organizations

Abstract: The literature on cutback management does not address the role of government in inducing creative strategies to deal with retrenchment. As this paper argues, government should not limit itself to economizing but should also provide administrative leadership, especially with respect to developing interorganizational cooperation and evaluating effectiveness. Interorganizational theory and research suggest that organizations are reluctant to interact, a tendency which becomes intensified in periods of decline. Such literature also indicates that government is in a position to motivate priority planning at the network level and cooperation between the organizations it funds. An examination of the strategies of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services illustrates that there is little interest in facing this challenge. Although the ideas expressed in this paper contradict the logic of pluralism, and the political safety it provides to government, adopting a stronger managerial position regarding cutback strategies will eventually gain legitimacy. Sommaire: Les textes portant sur la gestion des coupures budgétaires ne se penchent pas sur le rôle du gouvernement dans l'amorce de mesures innovatrices en ce qui a trait à la compression des dépenses. Comme il est dit dans cet article, le gouvernement ne devrait pas se contenter d'économiser, mais devrait aussi faire preuve de leadership en matiere administrative. Il devrait en particulier amplifier la coopération interorganisationnelle et évaluer l'efficacité des programmes. La théorie et les recherches sur l'interorganisation portent à croire que les organismes Bprouvent des réticences à collaborer, tendance qui s'intensifie en périodes de déclin. Ces écrits indiquent aussi que le gouvernement se trouve dans une position où il peut encourager une planification prioritaire au niveau du réeau, et des échanges entre les organismes qu'il subventionne. Si on analyse les mesures prises par le ministère des Services sociaux et communautaires de l'Ontario, on se rend compte que le gouvernement n'a pas très envie de relever le défi. Bien que les idées exprimées dans cet article contredisent la logique du pluralisme et la sécurité politique que ce dernier fournit au government, I'adoption d'une attitude gestionnaire plus forte, en ce qui a trait aux coupures budgétaires et aux mesures à appliquer, sera peut-êre un jour reconnue comme juste.     

Gender-specific pathways to intimacy in early adolescence

As part of a larger longitudinal study of psychosocial development, 148 girls and 130 boys were administered a series of questions regarding a close friend during their eighth-grade school year. Scales corresponding to shared experience, self-disclosure, and intimacy (defined as emotional closeness) were developed from these items. Path-analytic models tested the relative strength of the self-disclosure and shared experience paths to emotional closeness for boys and girls separately. The results indicated that the self-disclosure path to emotional closeness is significant for both boys and girls. No relationship was found between shared experience and emotional closeness in girls when controlling for self-disclosure. The relationship between shared experience and feelings of closeness was, however, significant for boys even while controlling for the effects of self-disclosure. Covariance structure analysis (LISREL) indicated that the covariance matrices for the three scales were significantly different for boys and girls. The results are considered in relation to the gender socialization and friendship literature. The potential importance of defining intimacy as emotional closeness is also discussed.The research reported here was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH30252/38142 to Anne C. Petersen.Research interests include the development of the self-sytem and close relationships during adolescence and young adulthood.Research interests include adolescent mental health and parent and peer relationships.Received Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1973. Research interest is biopsychosocial development in adolescence, with a focus on sex differences in mental health.     

The relationship of observed maternal behavior to questionnaire measures of parenting knowledge,attitudes, and emotional state in adolescent mothers

Although relationships have been found between maternal psychological characteristics and cognitive and emotional outcomes in children, the behaviors which may mediate these relationships are seldom examined. This is especially true for adolescent mothers, whose children are thought to be at high risk for adverse outcomes. In this study, adolescent mothers in two special programs completed questionnaires measuring perception of the newborn (Neonatal Perception Inventory), knowledge of influences on child development (Infant Caregiving Inventory), and emotional state (General Health Questionnaire); they were also systematically observed while interacting with their infants in a naturalistic situation. Specific maternal behaviors were found to vary with the age of the mother and of the baby. Mothers with neutral or negative perceptions of their infants touched them less than did mothers with positive perceptions. Degree of emotional disturbance was inversely related to the amount of time that the mother looked at her infant while in physical contact.This research was supported in part by NIH Biomedical Research Support Grant No. BRS 507 RR 05445-19 to Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.Received her Sc.D. in mental hygiene (comparative behavior) from Johns Hopkins University. Main interests include relationships between observable behavior and reported psychological states, and behavioral and emotional disorders of children.Received her Ph.D. in population dynamics from Johns Hopkins University. Main interests are adolescent health and pregnancy and population changes influencing perinatal health.Received her Ph.D. in psychology from George Peabody College. Main interests include parenting of infants and children's rights.Received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Florida. Main interests include adolescent health and utilization of health services by children and adolescents.Received his Ph.D. in child psychology from the University of Iowa. Main interests are infant and child development, with focus on measurement of developmental status and its determinants.     

Single-issue voting: Elite-mass linkages

In this paper we consider the abortion and E.R.A. issues as examples of single-issue politics, as well as the nature of single-issue politics in general. We argue that many single issues are what others have called easy issues but that hard-issue voting as well as easy-issue voting may be occurring on both issues. We test this hypothesis using both mass and elite data sets. Our findings suggest that political activists may be cuing the masses into a pattern of single-issue voting, and hence keeping the battle over abortion and the E.R.A. intense.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1981 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, New York, September 3–6, 1981.