A Contingent Valuation of Customer Delay in Medical Services

In this study, the contingent valuation method, based on a survey of patients at medical practices, is used to estimate patients' willingness-to-pay to avoid delays in the reception area and the examination room. The maximum likelihood estimates indicate that patients' willingness-to-pay is affected by the actual waiting time rather than perception of the delay. Other factors that influence patients’ willingness-to-pay are rating of their experience at the medical practice, appointment, gender, age, health insurance, and the waiting location. The results also suggest that losses of consumer surplus due to delays at medical practices could be large, which has policy implications with respect to improvements in health care utilization in the U.S.

Racial Threat, Urban Conditions and Police Use of Force: Assessing the Direct and Indirect Linkages Across Multiple Urban Areas

Traditionally explanations of police use of force have relied on a racial threat perspective. Tests of this perspective, however, typically offer a single indicator of threat (the relative size of the black population) and fail to adequately take into account the complex relationship between racial threat and police use of force. Drawing on racial threat, social disorganization, and police use of force literature, this study hypothesizes that macro-level patterns in police use of force are embedded in the racial and structural composition of cities and the organizational climate of local politics and police departments. The present study examines these relationships using official police use of force data collected in 73 large U.S. cities. Structural equation analyses suggest that structural indicators associated with racial threat and social disorganization/disadvantage impact police use of force indirectly through the influence of police organizational factors. On the other hand, the political climate and the level of social disorganization in urban areas have a direct bearing on the rates of police use of force. The implications of these findings for research and theory on police use of force are discussed

Effect of Marital Instability on Children in Abeokuta Metropolis

Marriage instability has hindered the growth and progress of many homes and children in Nigeria. Many factors could be responsible for this disappointing situation. The study therefore focused on identifying effects of marital instability on children in Abeokuta Metropolis. A descriptive research method was adopted for the study. The total numbers of two hundred and fifty one (251) respondents were selected from Abeokuta Metropolis using stratified and systematic sampling technique with the use questionnaires to collect information from respondents who participated in the study. The data collected were carefully analysed using percentages supported by chi-square to represent the raw data in a meaningful manner. it was discovered that children of divorced/separated are prone to drug addiction, armed robbery, commercial sex workers and other forms of criminal activity, not only that they also tend to go wayward, naughty, unruly and rebellious. The study also established that children who grow up in a single parent family are more likely to be used for trafficking, rituals and house helps than the children who grow up in an intact family. It is therefore recommended that family counselling be emphasized by the stakeholders (government, religious leaders, and counsellors to minimise instability in the family and effort should be intensified to discourage marital discord

The Increase in Intergenerational African American Families Headed by Grandmothers

This article analyzes census data on grandparent heads of household. Information on African American grandparents, grandmothers in particular, is the focus of this analysis. The data include a profile of African American grandparent householders, reasons for the increase in households headed by grandparents, challenges and problems, living arrangements/household characteristics, and implications for practice. African American children are more likely to live in the home of their grandparents than are White or Hispanic children. In 1993, 12 percent of African American children lived in the home of their grandparent in comparison to 4 percent for Whites and 6 percent for Hispanics. The increased complexity of intergenerational households, along with a variety of social problems, suggest that new strategies must be developed to help these families cope

Women's Economic Standing, Marriage Timing, and Cross-National Contexts of Gender

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74581/1/j.1741-3737.2003.00275.x.pd

Military retirement satisfaction and adjustment: The effects of planning, having transferable knowledge, skills, and abilities, and having identified with, and been committed to, the Navy on a sample of retired naval officers

We examined military retirement. We sought to determine if preretirement planning, having knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are readily transferable, and being committed to, and/or identifying with, the Navy would affect the retirement satisfaction and adjustment of a retired naval officers sample. Results indicated that both planning and transferability influenced retirement satisfaction and adjustment, while organizational commitment and identification did not. Implications of our findings, as well as a brief overview of some general retirement issues are included

School-based intervention programs for dropouts

The primary purpose of this paper is to provide an extensive review of the literature and research related to the dropout problem in the United States. It discusses some of the intervention programs in school settings that have been evaluated to date. The role of school psychologists in planning and implementing the components that make those intervention programs successful are highlighted. Chapter two describes the nature and extent of the dropout problem, and how the lack of a uniform definition and good data aggravates this problem. Causes of dropping out and its consequences to the individuals and the society at large are presented in chapter three. As the causes are discussed, characteristics of dropo4ts that the schools could note as indicators of who will or will not drop out are also presented. Some of the dropout intervention programs that have been found effective are reviewed in chapter four of this paper. Chapter five concludes this paper with a discussion of the components that would make school-based dropout intervention programs successful and the relevance of that to school psychologists