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Despite estimates that chemical dependency in the workplace is a $100 billion per year problem, many managers are unable or unwilling to recognise it. There are, though, a number of specific job performance related signs that an employee is addicted to drugs or alcohol. Additionally, the informed manager can watch for certain personality and behavioural changes that indicate chemical dependency. Drug testing is sometimes effective, but it has many drawbacks.

The paper proposes a model aiming at the explanation of the formation of coordinative knowledge practices in distributed work. Findings from a pilot study aiming at the preliminary testing of the model are presented and discussed.

The explanatory model was developed by combining concepts and findings developed in studies of social capital, knowledge sharing and computer supported cooperative work. The empirical data were gathered in 2007‐2008 in a multi‐unit Finnish chemical company production site. The methods used were structured observation of work processes, semi‐structured interviews and a web‐based questionnaire.

The model suggested that coordinative knowledge practices are shaped by four major factors: work coupling, social capital, spatio‐temporality and affordances of collaboration technologies. The empirical study showed that these concepts can be successfully applied in empirical research to better understand and support the development of coordinative knowledge practices.

The findings can be utilized in the analysis and assessment of coordinative knowledge practices between distributed work groups in multi‐unit organizations. The findings can also be used in the development of solutions for knowledge sharing and communication in distributed work organizations and communities.

The model developed provides a novel perspective for the study of knowledge practices in the context of distributed group work. The model proposes that varying degrees in work coupling intensity, social capital, spatio‐temporality and affordances of collaborative technologies explain the emergence of coordinative knowledge practices. The study shows how coordinative knowledge practices can be studied empirically. The empirical study resulted in a typology of coordinative knowledge practices.

This paper reports on an evaluation of the ‘Hy Vong Moi’ (New Hope) program aimed at providing emotional, physical and cultural support to new parents of Vietnamese origin living in the Greater Dandenong area, Melbourne, Australia, and who are experiencing problems relating to drug use within their families. Six young Australian Vietnamese women participated in the program. Data were collected via questionnaires, focus groups, diaries and the case worker’s journal. Analysis was ongoing in keeping with a participatory research approach. All the women who participated in the program, involving the setting up of a parents/mothers playgroup as well as provision of education and support, reported very positively on the program. All agreed that the formal help they received had made an enormous difference in their lives and was assisting them to integrate into Australian culture with potentially positive benefits for their children. The additional support through the parents/mothers playgroup allowed formation of new friendships, the sharing of experiences and the acquisition of new skills, including parenting skills. All wanted the program and the parents/mothers playgroup to continue as a means of providing further assistance to them and others.

“Feminisation of poverty” is a phrase heard frequently today, not only in the popular press, but also in professional groups concerned with women. It suggests that women living alone with their children bear a disproportionate share of the poverty burden. The following questions are discussed: Is this a crisis for American society? Is the standard of living getting worse for women and children, even as it improves for the general population? If it is, why is it happening? And finally, what could be done about it? Data are examined that show that “feminisation of poverty” is a significant problem in the United States. The reasons women are more likely to be poor include inadequate paying jobs, an expanding labourforce, and unique problems associated with female head‐of‐households. Solutions to feminisation of poverty include raising low income jobs via minimum wage and comparable worth legislation, establishing and enforcing realistic child support and spousal maintenance levels, significantly raising the level of public support programmes for children, making available reasonable education‐training‐retraining programmes for women, emphasising the prevention of poverty, and providing better health education and chemical dependency intervention.

Reports the findings of an earlier study which was conducted to determine the comprehensiveness of wellness programs provided by the 50 state police agencies/departments of public safety for their commissioned law enforcement officers. The study also focused on the attitude of the personnel directors about the effectiveness of their wellness programs. A national survey was sent to each personnel director of the 50 state police agencies/departments of public safety. The survey, with an overall return rate of 98 per cent, addressed five components of wellness: physical fitness, stress management, psychological and mental health, nutrition and dietary related issues, and alcohol and chemical dependency. Although 29 agencies stated they had a wellness program, none offered all five of the wellness components identified above. Of the 20 agencies which stated they did not have a wellness program, all provided at least some aspect of one of the five wellness components. Also identifies areas in which more emphasis should be placed in order to establish a comprehensive wellness program. It can also serve as a basis for an expanded study in the area of wellness.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of a programme aimed at raising standards of care and levels of professionalism in private, drug-free therapeutic communities (TCs) in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

The paper describes the Reviver intervention in detail and draws on subjective insights collected during its implementation.

Over 100 TCs applied to the Reviver project, of which 83 qualified to participate. The large majority of TCs were found to combine community-as-method, religious worship and abstinence in their treatment model.

The paper highlights the significant role religious organisations have in the treating substance dependency in Brazil and raises ethical and practical questions regarding the incorporation of religious TCs into mainstream public mental health provision.

The paper outlines the qualification process, control systems and monitoring procedures employed by the Reviver project.

The paper attends to the gap in English language publications regarding TCs in Brazil and raises important questions regarding the role of religion, faith and spirituality in the treatment of substance dependency.

This paper aims to explore the feasibility of using web‐mining technology on learning object (LO) usage information to discover the LO relation pattern and provide valuable recommendations on related learning resources. Design/methodology/approach – This paper proposes three kinds of learning object relation patterns and gives a specific definition of each pattern based on analysing the learners' usage data stored in the learning object repository. These relation patterns can be used to make effective recommendations to learners.

LO usage data indicate the potential relation patterns between LOs. By using web‐mining technology on the usage data, it is possible to discover valuable relation patterns.

The authors propose a set of LO relation patterns and indicate how they are closely related to users' learning behaviour.

Substance abuse continues to increase and permeate all sectors of US society including the medical profession. This article details the importance of testing everyone associated with health care organizations, including physicians, as a means of protecting patient welfare, increasing quality of care, and reducing negligence lawsuits, as well as providing treatment and recovery opportunities for those with addictions.

Ibogaine therapy offers a viable alternative to mainstream treatment for opiate addiction. The combination of the addiction‐arresting and fast‐acting properties of ibogaine, with the slow and thoughtful conversation of psychoanalytical psychotherapy is a novel approach to what still remains a difficult condition to overcome.Safer than methadone, ibogaine use is steadily increasing world‐wide, and is becoming a more accepted treatment for opiate addiction. This year it has become a prescription medication in New Zealand. Howard Lotsof, who discovered the anti‐addictive properties of ibogaine 47 years ago, and who died in January 2010, devoted his life to improving access to ibogaine treatment, and instigated the first ibogaine providers' conference in Mexico in 2009.This paper explores the use of ibogaine and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the clinic for the treatment of opiate dependency, the relationships between the two approaches, and how they differ from other treatment modalities.

“Being poor is a cardinal sin in our society,” one attorney notes in connection with an observation that women face an uphill battle in terms of the effects of poverty on child custody outcomes. Evidence from the same document quotes a Minnesota referee who is renowned for his usual statement to female AFDC recipients:’ How much of the taxpayers money are you currently receiving? (17,p.25)”.