Depressive Symptoms in Young,Urban Schoolchildren: Environmental,Social, and Cognitive Risk

This study examined relations among stressors, perceived social competence, attributional style, and depressive symptoms in young urban schoolchildren. Data were collected from 85 5- to 11-year-olds, mostly African American, who attended a public elementary school in a low-income urban area. Social competence was examined as a potential mediator, and attributional style was examined as a potential moderator of the relation between stressful life events and depressive symptoms. Separate analyses were conducted by age and gender. For older children and girls, main effects were found for stressful life events as predictors of depressive symptoms. Mediational analyses indicated that perceived peer acceptance served as a mediator of the relation between stressful life events and depressive symptoms for girls. In addition, attributional style moderated the relation between stressors and depressive symptoms in the older children. Together, findings suggest that significant relations exist among stressful life events, social and cognitive processes, and depressive symptoms in young urban children and that these relations are influenced by gender and development.     

Defense Business Operations Fund (DBOF): Problems and Promise

In 1991, the United States Department of Defense established the Defense Business Operations Fund (DBOF). The DBOF includes support activities with a business volume well in excess of $80 billion annually, and it provides activities and services that are essential to the operation of the military forces. The necessity to reduce the defense budget and to find innovative ways of producing more defense than would be possible under prior operating and management arrangements caused the Department of Defense (DoD) to look to alternative economic and business models. The changes made are dramatic. The implementation has not gone as smoothly as some observers expected, and Congress and former Secretary of Defense Aspin each considered reversing the innovation. This article addresses the problems and the promised improvements in the context of the economic and management concepts undergirding the DBOF, concepts that are dramatically different than those previously applied in the DoD     

The Face-to-Face Mediation Program: A Massachusetts success story

Summary An effort that began as an experimental alternative to small claims court for consumer cases has fostered the application of alternative dispute resolution to many other conflicts in Massachusetts. The Attorney General's Face-to-Face Mediation Program, unique in the country, has proven to be an effective local resource to citizens of the state for resolving consumer disputes. The influence of the program has been felt outside the Attorney General's office as well as within.In the two years since this report was written, the Attorney General's Face-to-Face Mediation Program has shown a steady increase both in referrals and in quality of service. Today, all but one of the seven remaining mediation programs is running at or near capacity. In 1988, 84 percent of the approximately 700 cases that were mediated reached agreement, and 96 percent of those agreements were upheld. Suzanne Goulet Orenstein, who is Senior Associate, Program on Environmental Dispute Resolution with The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C., formerly was Chief, Local Consumer Groups and Dispute Resolution Activities with the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General.Kathleen Grant is Coordinator of the Face-to-Face Mediation Program, Public Protection Bureau, The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, 131 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. 02111.     

Church Stewardship Evaluation Information Requirements: A Pilot Study

There is a potential for financial abuse in church organizations. Large amounts of money are collected, performance is difficult to measure, and financial records and controls are often not as strong as in other not-for-profit organizations. Members/ donors of church organizations must be able to judge the financial stewardship of the organizations. Thus, financial statements for churches must include usable information and be in an understandable format. This study examines the appropriateness of two different types of financial statements: the GAAP format and a specialized church format.     

Policy convergence and policy feedback: Agricultural finance policies in a globalizing era

In a comparative study of five countries: Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the UK, and the USA, this article examines the degree of convergence of agricultural credit policy content, policy instruments, and policy outcomes on a market liberal model. It shows that all five countries have moved toward market liberal policy arrangements over the past quarter century of globalizing and domestic fiscal pressures, but important differences in policy remain. The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom move further toward a market liberal model than do Australia, Canada, and the USA. The distinct national paths taken to market liberalism give rise to policy feedback that hastens or retards the adoption of a fully market liberal system. Historical choices of policy instruments and path dependence help account for continuing policy divergence.