Reducing Toxic Chemical Releases and Transfers: Explaining Outcomes for a Voluntary Program

Relatively little is known about the possibilities and limitations of voluntary public programs. The so-called 33/50 Program for reducing releases of certain toxic chemicals into the environment provides a useful instance for examination. In an investigation of toxics-reduction outcomes, with states as units of analysis, economic and policy variables help to explain the results. In particular, channels and approaches used In communicating policy intentions are related to outcomes. Voluntary programs can make a difference, but the details of execution, including the extent and nature of field efforts, influence outcomes.     

Predictors of Out-of-Home Placement in a Family Preservation Program: Are Welfare Recipients Particularly Vulnerable?

Participants in a statewide family preservation program were classified on the basis of income level and enrollment in public assistance. These variables, along with other economic, parent, and child risk factors, were used to predict the probability of out-of-home placements at the close of this intervention program. Results revealed that neither low income nor receiving public assistance was predictive of having a child removed from the home. Higher levels of child-centered risk and parent-centered risk were the only consistent predictors of placement outcomes. Additional analyses revealed that family characteristics (e.g., history of psychiatric care, prior child placements, and involvement with the legal system) also were typical of families experiencing out-of-home placements. This study challenges the stereotype of low-income or welfare families being at greater risk of having a child removed from their home. Findings are discussed in the context of recent welfare reform initiatives and implications for future family policy research.     

Macrophysical climatic modeling of Africa’s late quaternary climate: Site-specific, high-resolution applications for archaeology

Macrophysical climatic modeling (MCM) is based on the relationship between large-scale atmospheric dynamics and synoptic climatology to develop simulations of late Pleistocene and Holocene climate in specific localities. Climatic events are calculated at 200-year intervals for the last 14,000 and 500 years for the period from 14,000 to 40,000 B.P. The model has been applied to more than 200 localities in Africa. We present examples from different parts of the continent at locations of archaeological significance. The results indicate that the transition from glacial maximum to postglacial conditions shows both temporal and inter- and intraregional variability. In addition to long-term differences among early, middle, and late Holocene climatic regimes, the model also shows incidences of sharp, abrupt events at some intervals. The applications of MCM invite comparison with inferences based on proxy data and assist in formulating and cross-examining socioecodynamic models based on climatic change, e.g., the continuity of cultural interactions along the Mediterranean littoral, the emergence and spread of cattle pastoralism, and the depopulation of the Sahara during the glacial maximum.     

Plant Diversity in the Archaeological Record: A Means Toward Defining Hunter–Gatherer Mobility Strategies

The diversity and ubiquity measures of archaeological macrobotanical remains can be utilized to help define mobility strategies of hunter–gatherers. Differences in the diversity and ubiquity of plant remains are predicted to occur between different types of sites utilized by hunter–gatherers. Such sites include base camps of residentially and logistically mobile groups, as well as special-purpose sites usually associated with logistically mobile groups. The focus upon the importance of strategies of mobility and plant use instead of the typological determination of plant taxa allows for the use of specimen types in such analyses when scientific identifications are difficult to make. Data from the archaeological site of San Jacinto 1, located in northern Colombia, are utilized to examine this relationship.