Consequences Of Inactivity Research Articles

Policy Issues in Gay and Lesbian Adoption

Despite keen public, professional and media interest in the topic, adoption agencies have developed few specific policies on the issue of lesbian and gay adoption, either in Britain or the United States. In the following article, originally published by the Child Welfare League of America, Ann Sullivan provides an overview of key considerations about homosexual adopters. The issues are of universal interest, although the legal, social and policy contexts will vary from country to country. For example, some of the points raised under the section ‘Consequences of Inaction’ may be less relevant in the UK than the US.

What Can We Learn From Reggie Lewis' Death?

When a high-profile athlete like Boston Celtics captain Reggie Lewis dies, finger-pointing and fear often replace reason. But sports physicians need to practice restraint-not only in reviewing Lewis' case without being privy to all the data, but also in counseling active patients. Patients need to know that the potential consequences of inactivity are more to be feared than those of exercise.

Some Correlates of Maturity of Moral Reasoning in Finland

The relationship of Kohlberg's stages of moral reasoning to various forms of social participation, family size, and responsibility-related responses to moral judgmental and projective story completion tasks was studied in two samples of Finnish preadolescents, adolescents, and young adults. Peer-rated leadership, number of leadership roles, and number of siblings were found to be associated with advances in moral stages for all age groups. Persons at each higher stage of moral structure more often attributed responsibility for the consequences of inaction in their moral judgments and in projective guilt responses and saw their consciences as being more active. Projective guilt over inaction was more clearly related to moral stage in females than in males. Females also showed greater guilt over cheating than males at all stage levels. The intensity of guilt over cheating increased up to Stage 3, but not beyond it, for both sexes. The results are interpreted as supporting both Kohlberg's theory and the existence of an orientation to responsibility in women, as suggested by Gilligan (1982).