bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Qualitative Evaluation and Scientific Citizenship
Authors: Greene Jennifer C.
Published: March 2007

Qualitative approaches to evaluation have recently attained legitimacy. Now it's time to advance their influence. Towards that end, this discussion offers a self-reflective critique of four critical issues in qualitative evaluation: relativism, theory and generalization, warrant and inquiry criteria, and positioning. Refractions from this critique embolden a recentering of qualitative evaluation around its socio-political value dimensions and a concomitant assumption of the rights and responsibilities of scientist citizens. These refractions further challenge the remainder of the evaluation community to do the same.
Accessing Homosexuality: Truth, Evidence and the Legal Practices for Determining Refugee Status - The Case of Ioan Vraciu
Authors: McGHEE DEREK
Published: March 2007

This article focuses on the events surrounding a homosexual Romanian man's attempt to be recognized as a refugee in Britain. Numerous themes emerge such as the nature of authenticity, knowledge, identity, pleasure, evidence and the homosexual refugee as being caught in between two legal apparatuses (that is, fleeing from the hostility of one legal regime and then trying to gain refugee status, and thus legal protection, via a British Immigration Tribunal). In this article, the corporeality and sensuality of legal practices are exposed in the form of `practices of truth'. That is, in this case medico-legal `living individuals' were to perceive, hear, speak, touch and penetrate the `secrets' of Mr Vraciu's body in order to authenticate his sexual identity for the purposes of law. This case also demonstrates the existence of a differend between what I describe as the self-knowledge of homosexuality and the `legal' fact-based, or authorized knowledge of homosexual identity produced through practices of truth.
In-corporations: Food, Bodies and Organizations
Authors: VALENTINE GILL
Published: March 2007

In this article I draw on an approach - Actor Network Theory - which is well developed within the sociology of science and technology. However, rather than focusing on technical objects in the workplace, I examine food and drink as non-human entities which build, maintain and stabilize links between diverse actants. Using five case study examples I consider what happens when people come together at work around food, and the specific sets of relations between people, activity and organizations that result from this engagement. In doing so I focus on some of the processes through which working bodies are in-corporated into organizational life through emerging food practices; and highlight some of the processes through which working bodies are reconstituted as organizational food practices are in-corporated into the bodies of employees.
Women's Bodies, Women's Selves: Illness Narratives and the `Andean' Body
Authors: MILES ANN
Published: March 2007

Using the phenomenological perspective provided by the concept of embodiment, this article shows that in Cuenca, Ecuador, knowledge about the body is fluid and during illness women can seek reassurance and explanations from multiple knowledge systems, including locally understood subordinate ones. Employing the concept of `character', as described by Ricoeur, as an explanation for why some women are more vulnerable to illness than others, the author argues that gender ideologies and notions of self-identity intersect in Ecuadorian conceptions of weakness and illness. Women's narrative descriptions of themselves and their experiences with envy illness ( envidia) indicate that the experience of illness is an extremely powerful one and that women's interpretations of it cross typical social class divisions. Embodied illness creates a place and moment for revealing that which is often hidden.
The Neurobiology of Sorcery: Deleuze and Guattari's Brain
Authors: WATSON SEAN
Published: March 2007

This article is intended to work on a number of different levels. First it is concerned with the brain-become-subject as hypothesized by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari in their book What is Philosophy?. It is concerned with demonstrating the convergence between Deleuze and Guattari's work and the claims of some contemporary neuro-biological theories of consciousness. In particular, I will be comparing Deleuze and Guattari's hypothesis to the work of Gerald Edelman and Daniel Dennett. Second, it is my contention that the shared themes of this convergence amount to the renewal of a paradigm in the understanding of human consciousness and its relationship to the body, which I have elsewhere called `the new Bergsonism'. The emphasis in the text on themes such as duration, material connectedness and immanence, Becoming, multiplicity, selection and so on, is taken to be self-evidently Bergsonian. The primary task of this particular article is, then, to establish a careful technical demonstration of the existence of a shared set of themes and concepts. I have made this demonstration more concrete by placing it within the context of a discussion of the affective dimensions of the experience of social idiosyncrasy (as defined by Adorno and Horkheimer). My wider agenda is that this demonstration of shared themes in poststructuralism and neuro-science should contribute towards a more general attempt to establish a neo-Bergsonian paradigm at the heart of a new sociology of affect.
Monsters in Metal Cocoons: `Road Rage' and Cyborg Bodies
Authors: LUPTON DEBORAH
Published: March 2007

In this article, the sociocultural meanings and social relations and expectations that cohere around `road rage' and serve to invest it with its particular resonance in contemporary Western societies are examined. It is argued that the combination of car and driver in the driving experience produces a cyborg body, which influences the ways in which people experience, perceive and respond to driving and other cars/drivers. But in contemporary societies the expression of such `negative' emotions is problematic and complex. In this context, `road rage' is deemed to evidence loss of appropriate self-control and as `uncivilized'.
A Case of `Soap Therapy': Using Soap Operas to Adapt Cognitive Therapy for an Adolescent with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Creswell Catharine
Published: March 2007

A case study is presented which describes the application of soap opera material to demonstrate and practise the primary tasks of cognitive therapy with an adolescent girl with moderate learning disabilities. It is argued that soap operas provide a valuable learning opportunity as they are watched by a large proportion of the population, focus on the relationships between their characters, create an opportunity for the viewer to get to know the characters and, hence, speculate about their thoughts and feelings and predict their actions. The television medium also appears to aid attention and memory processes and is often inherently motivating for the viewer. It is argued that television is an under-used resource in our work, in particular when it comes to helping people to recognize emotions and understand the rules of interpersonal relationships.
Pattern Perception Among Brazilians as a Function of Pattern Uncertainty and Age
Authors: Clement David E. , Sistrunk Frank , Guenther Zenita C.
Published: March 2007

Ratings of pattern goodness and of pattern preferences were made by 96 Brazilian subjects for each of 50 stimulus patterns of known pattern uncertainty. Equal numbers of male and female subjects were used in each of four age groups (9-10, 13-14, 17-18, 20-21). Ratings of pattern goodness were highly correlated with pattern uncertainty for all groups, with results very similar to those previously obtained with subjects in the United States. The youngest group showed more variability among patterns equivalent by reflection and/or rotation than did the older groups, consonant with the U. S. data. However, the two younger Brazilian groups showed even higher variability than the comparable U.S. subjects. The development of equivalency under such transformations occurred later for Brazilian as compared to U. S. students. Pattern preference was similar for all ages, and like that in the U. S., reflected preference for the least uncertain patterns.
Controversies and Challenges in Clinical Practice
Authors: Lask Bryan
Published: March 2007

In an era characterized by high-tech medicine, high-tech diseases, lack of resources, pervasive audit, and enhanced consumer awareness, there are many challenges and controversies confronting child mental health clinicians. In outlining some of these, I take the opportunity to tilt at a few windmills, question some dogma, and stroke a few sacred cows. The only apology I offer is for my selectivity. If the occasional blood pressure is raised, a soap-box or two is mounted, or some letters of rage (or approval) are penned (or e-mailed) this paper will have served its purpose.
Taking Control: A Single Case Study of Mellow Parenting
Authors: Puckering Christine , Evans Janneke , Maddox Hilary , Mills Maggie , Cox A. D.
Published: March 2007

A single case study is presented illustrating the theoretic approach and practical implementation of Mellow Parenting, a group intervention for families of young children where there are parenting problems. The parents in this case had a long history of marital violence, and, following the breakdown of their relationship, the father continued to terrorize the family, with adverse effects on the mother's and children's mental health. The mother felt unable to relate to her son, aged 2, because of her own profound depression and the similarity between him and her former partner. He had marked eating problems and her daughter had been referred to child psychiatry with severe separation and sleeping problems. In the course of the group, the mother grew in confidence and began to separate her feelings about her partner from the needs of her young son. A one year follow-up showed that she had been able to move away from the area, make a secure and affectionate base for her children and begin a course of adult education to further her career. The combination of support for herself and practical parenting workshops was effective both in her own emotional containment and in mobilizing her ability to contain her children's distress.
Qualitative Research in Health Psychology
Authors: Murray Michael , Chamberlain Kerry
Published: March 2007

There is ongoing debate within psychology about the legitimacy of qualitative methods, although this debate has only recently begun within the subdiscipline of health psychology. In the health arena, psychology has been one of the last disciplines to adopt qualitative methods for research. This issue of the Journal of Health Psychology provides a forum for some health psychologists to present their research using qualitative methods. Their work covers a range of health issues and draws on a variety of qualitative methods, documenting the diversity and utility of these methods for health research. In this article, we consider the background to this qualitative turn, review the content of this special issue and consider the direction for qualitative research in health psychology.
Constructions of Sexual Activity and Their Implications for Sexual Practice
Authors: Willig Carla
Published: March 2007

Most sex education uses language in order to communicate its message. Discourse analytic theory suggests that far from merely transmitting factual information, language always constructs particular versions of reality. This article is concerned with discursive constructions of sexual activity and their implications for sexual practice. Data presented in this article are based on a series of semi- structured interviews with 16 heterosexual adults. The interview agenda included questions about sexual risk- taking within the context of HIV/ AIDS. Parker's version of the discourse analytic method (Discourse Dynamics: Critical Analysis for Social and Individual Psychology. Routledge, 1992) guided the analysis of interview transcripts. This article identifies a range of constructions of 'sexual activity' invoked by respondents. It is suggested that AIDS education, in order to be effective, must address the wider discourses surrounding sexuality and sexual relationships. The article concludes by outlining ways in which sex education materials may challenge constructions that facilitate sexual vulnerability, both physical (e.g. to HIV infection) and emotional (e.g. through unwanted intercourse).
SF-36 Health Profiles of Recently Discharged Hospital Patients in Australia
Authors: Schofield Margot J. , Lattimore-Foot Glenda , Sanson-Fisher Rob
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the characteristics and validity of the SF-36 (Australian version) health profile and summary scores for recently discharged hospital patients and compared this with US and Australian community samples with minor and serious medical conditions. Adult medical, surgical, obstetric and gynaecological patients from a large teaching hospital in NSW, Australia, completed a postal survey 1 week after discharge. The SF- 36 discriminated well among patient groups and performed well on most validity tests. Scale and summary scores varied by age, gender, seriousness of condition on admission, prior health status and hospital group. The findings highlight the potential of the SF-36 in monitoring the health status of Australian hospital patients and assessing the health-related support needed on discharge.
Sacrificial Economy and Its Objects
Authors: Küchler Susanne
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the deposition and destruction of ritual artefacts in Oceania and positions the act of riddance in the ritual economy of sacrifice. A popular alternative to object destruction involves the sale of the object as a way to render it absent, and turning it into intellectual and image-based property, while at the same time eliciting the possibility for unspecified returns within an exchange of which we have become a part quite unknow ingly. Large ethnographic or archaeological collections of single cultural areas may thus not just reflect the degree of western interest in artefacts represented in such collections, but is symptomatic of ritual work which results in the fashioning of alienable objects, inalienable images and a form of property whose intellectual, generative and reproductive nature is known to have formed the basis for independence across the Pacific.
Auditory Integration Training in Children with Autism
Authors: Gillberg Christopher , Johansson Maria , Steffenburg Suzanne , Berlin Orjan
Published: March 2007

Nine children aged 3-I 6 years with an autistic disorder were given auditory integration training for half-hour sessions during 10 days according to guidelines suggested by Guy Berard. No significant change in overall autistic symptom level could be documented 9 months later. However a small but non-significant reduction of 'sensory problems' as rated by the Autism Behaviour Checklist was noted.
The Differentiation between Autism and Asperger Syndrome
Authors: Kugler Barbara
Published: March 2007

In discussing the differentiation between autism and Asperger syndrome, the paper aims to re-examine similarities and differences in symptomatology with reference both to the history of Asperger syndrome and to current research. Symptoms that have been suggested as possibly differential for diagnosis and shared diagnostic features are separately considered. Although the paucity of reliable research findings allows few definitive conclusions to be drawn, it is suggested that attempts to identify subtypes and achieve a greater understanding of the behavioural heterogeneities within autistic spectrum or pervasive developmental disorders is crucial to improving both clinical practice and research.
Visual Impairment and Autism
Authors: Cass Hilary
Published: March 2007

Up to one-third of totally blind children are reported to suffer from a developmental disorder which has many features in common with autism in the sighted. The aetiological basis of this worrying condition is discussed. There are major problems in defining diagnostic criteria for autism in visual impairment, with the discriminant capabilities of empirically derived rating scales being compromised by overlaps between autistic symptoms and normal 'blindisms', and schedules based on existing diagnostic criteria being too visually dependent to allow valid administration. The need for a clearer understanding of normal social development in infants with visual impairment is presented as an important prerequisite for an understanding of this developmental disorder and its early identification and remediation.
Four Blocks Against Insight: Notes on the Oversocialization of Criminologists
Authors: CHRISTIE NILS
Published: March 2007

This paper takes as its point of departure the high level of triviality in much writing on crime and crime control. This is related to what is seen as an oversocialization within criminology, as within so many other fields of social science. Four barriers for understanding are discussed: lack of access to ourselves; oversocialization within the university system; the dangers of the eager state; and the effects of easily available files and archives of material reflecting the state-perspective on deviance.
On the Logical Adequacy of Cultural Deviance Theories
Authors: COSTELLO BARBARA
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the logical adequacy of cultural deviance theories, specifically Sutherland's differential association theory and Akers's social learning theory. There are four crucial questions that cultural deviance theorists have not addressed adequately: (1) What is the content of deviant norms? (2) What is the origin of deviant norms and subcultures? (3) How can we identify deviant subcultures and normative conflict apart from individuals' behavior? and (4) How easily do individuals learn deviant norms? Attempts to answer these questions have resulted in departures from the original theoretical statements. This in turn results in either logical contradictions in the theories or their transformation into control theories.
A Green Field for Criminology?
Authors: SOUTH NIGEL
Published: March 2007

This article outlines the significance of green issues for criminology. It proposes the development of a green `perspective' which could serve as a rallying-point and foundational base for otherwise disparate but relevant and related work. The paper reviews past studies which may be seen as contributing to such a foundational base and provisionally suggests 10 areas where green issues connect with established and/or new criminological concerns.
Crime, Ecophilosophy and Environmental Harm
Authors: HALSEY MARK , WHITE ROB
Published: March 2007

This article sketches out three broad philosophical frameworks relating to the human/environment nexus—the anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric perspectives. It is argued that acknowledgement of these different perspectives is essential in any analysis of environmental harm. To illustrate the importance of an `ecological imagination', each philosophy is considered in relation to the regulation and use of old-growth forest.
Stem Cells, Tissue Cultures and the Production of Biovalue
Authors: Waldby Catherine
Published: March 2007

This article examines some of the social and philosophical implications of stem cell technologies. Stem cell technologies promise to transform the way that healthy tissues for transplant are sourced and circulated; from a social economy in which citizens donate whole organs to others, to one in which embryos are a major source of therapeutic tissues. This article considers the transformations in concepts of health, bodily relationships and social indebtedness that such a shift might entail. Using the concept of biovalue, this article describes the ways embryos are biologically engineered to act as tissue sources, and considers the relationship between biovalue, health and capital value. It discusses the effects stem cell technologies may have on concepts of the healthy body, particularly on the temporality of ageing, and on understandings of the human more generally.
Young Gay Men's Stories in the States: Scripts, Sex, and Safety in the Time of AIDS
Authors: Mutchler Matt G.
Published: March 2007

Surprisingly little is known about how young gay men structure their sexual behavior in the era of AIDS. This research examines the sexual stories told by 30 White and Latino gay men between the ages of 18 and 24 based on data collected from semistructured interviews. Four dominant sexual scripts (romantic love, erotic adventures, safer sex, and sexual coercion) frame their sexual experiences. These stories illustrate how gay male youth use and adapt gendered sexual scripts encountered in particular social, cultural, and situational contexts. The author examines how interpersonal dynamics, social contexts, and masculinities shape and constrain their sexual experiences. The findings suggest new approaches to studying sexualities based on wedding sexual scripts and queer and gender theories, and accounting for agency and constraint. Directions for HIV-prevention policy-making in light of these newly revealed sexualities conclude this article.
The Science/Fiction of Sex: John Gray's Mars and Venus in the Bedroom
Authors: Potts Annie
Published: March 2007

The sexual self-help genre constitutes an ever-expanding market for the modern heterosexual couple, influenced by decades of `personal growth' therapy, literature and television. John Gray's (1992) best-seller Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, for example, claimed to offer some ostensibly ground-breaking insights into differences between men and women, and into the means by which heterosexual communication in relationships covvvvbe imprnved. It also paved the way for a series of popular sequels. This article employs feminist critique, influenced by poststructuralism, in order to examine the kinds of discursive strategies employed in Gray's recent (1995) Mars and Venus in the Bedroom: A Guide to Lasting Romance and Passion. In particular, this analysis seeks to demonstrate how the text attempts to regulate and normalize heterosexual behaviours, and how it functions to construct its predominantly female audience as female.
`A Kiss is Just a Kiss': Date Rape, Gender and Subjectivity
Authors: Hollway Wendy , Jefferson Tony
Published: March 2007

In this paper, we problematize the issues of coercion and consent in legal discourse through analysing a British `date rape' court case involving two students. Drawing on the extensive newspaper coverage of the trial, we deconstruct these media accounts, exploring the dominant explanatory frameworks. We propose a reading which combines discursive and psychodynamic analysis in addressing unanswered questions and contradictory evidence. This moves beyond the either/or-ism of guilty and innocent, towards the complex and contradictory gendered identities involved in heterosexual relating in this case. Concluding comments summarize the implications both for a theory of subjectivity and for a contemporary feminist politics of date rape.
Mourning and Recovery from Trauma: In Rwanda, Tears Flow Within
Authors: Bagilishya D…ogratias
Published: March 2007

This article is a personal testimony of the great suffering experienced by thousands of Rwandan parents on learning of the killing of their children in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In the face of the unprecedented social cataclysm that led my eldest son to his death, my intent is to demonstrate the necessity of resituating ideas about grief and trauma in a framework that is coherent with Rwandan culture. This is essential if one wishes to help Rwandans find words for their fears, hopes and questions about the loss of loved ones in the context of extreme violence. By discussing the intervention offered by my mother, I address the approach used in Rwandan tradition as a response to and therapeutic tool for extreme grief and trauma.
Perceived Barriers to Mental Health Care for American Indian and Hispanic Veterans: Reports by 100 VA Staff
Authors: Westermeyer Joseph , Canive Jose M. , Garrard Judith , Padilla Eligio , Crosby Ross , Thuras Paul
Published: March 2007

This study aimed to identify perceived barriers that might prevent American Indian (AI) and Hispanic American (HA) veterans from seeking mental health services at U.S. Veterans Administration Medical Centers (VAMCs), as reported by 100 VA mental-behavioral health staff members. A total of 100 volunteer mental-behavioral health workers were questioned, 50 from Albuquerque VAMC and 50 from Minneapolis VAMC. Participants responded to public announcements and e-mail invitations; facilitated, open-ended interviewing produced the barrier responses, which were then coded. Mental healthcare workers in both sites reported most perceived barriers as occurring in the VA system, among AI/HA veterans, and within themselves and/or their colleagues. Less commonly, they perceived barriers as occurring in the AI/HA families and communities. Mental healthcare workers at the Minneapolis VAMC reported more barriers than workers at the Albuquerque VAMC. A coding protocol derived from interviews among ethnic AI and HA staff members in the two VAMC’s was applicable to mental health workers. Mental health workers agreed with AI and HA workers in perceiving most barriers as existing in the VA system, with family and community barriers being least often reported. Mental health workers perceived veterans as posing the second most common barrier category, followed by VA staff members.
Traditional Healing in the Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Authors: Jilek Wolfgang G.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews traditional non-Western approaches to the treatment and prevention of substance abuse and dependence. Therapeutic practices reported here are based on Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Islamic and shaman ic traditions as well as on syncretistic Christianized folk beliefs. Traditional practitioners operate outside the official health care system but in some areas in collab oration with it. Analysis of these practices reveals general principles of traditional healing and permits hypotheses on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional approaches.
Traditional Cautery among Psychiatric Patients in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Qureshi Naseem Akhtar , Al-Amri Aladin Hadi , Abdelgadir Muzamil Hasan , El-Haraka Esam Ahmad
Published: March 2007

Cauterization, an indigenous treatment technique, is widely used by psychiatric and non-psychiatric patients in Saudi Arabia. This research aimed at describing the socio-demographic and clinical parameters of psychiatric patients who consult traditional healers practising cauterization. A sample of 198 patients, 121 with and 77 without cautery, were randomly selected from inand out-patient departments of Buraidah Mental Health Hospital, Saudi Arabia. In addition to an extensive review of medical records, each patient and a key relative were interviewed to collect sociodemographic and clinical data and details of cautery treatment. Patients with less education, from a rural background or suffering from chronic psychotic disorders, were significantly more likely to utilize cautery. Parents were the main influence on seeking cautery treatment. Cephalic cautery was not associated with therapeutic improvement among patients with psychoses. Infection at the site of cautery was common and 45.5% of cauterized patients required antibiotic therapy. Given the probable lack of therapeutic benefit and the risk of complication, the use of cautery should be discouraged through health education programmes.
Review : Children's nurse education: dilemmas and future visions
Authors: Rushforth Helen , Powell Catherine
Published: March 2007

■ The use of the term 'general nurse' in a recent national recruitment advertising campaign may reveal a hidden agenda with significant implications for children's nursing

■ This concern presents a catalyst for re-examining the preparation of children's nursing practitioners

■ Children's nurses on part 15 of the register face professional discrimination both nationally and internationally

■ Reform of the preparation of children's nurses is needed to take such discrimination into account in order to optimise their education and to maximise the national and international currency of their qualification

■ The fundamental principle that children must be cared for by children's nurses must remain inviolate
Mapping diarrhoeal disease in Nepal
Authors: Littlewood Jenny , Pokhrel Durga
Published: March 2007

■ Nepal has an isolated population where diarrhoeal disease is one of the main causes of infant death.

■ The distinctions made about causes and consequences of abdominal problems are considered.

■ Cognitive mapping was used to elicit mothers' ideas of diarrhoea, constipation and vomiting.

■ Literacy programmes have been introduced.

■ Diagrammatic research can be useful in a culture which is predominantly oral in tradition.
The trouble with men
Authors: Dudink Stefan
Published: March 2007

This article questions the way in which the recent historiography of masculinity has taken 'masculinity' as its logical focal point of research. Although the focus on masculinity can be justified as part of a necessary attempt to mark a category that is characterized by its ability to go unmarked, the stress on bringing out the masculine in the apparently universal can pose problems for a radical historicization of masculinity. To write a history of masculinity through an attempt to mark masculinity easily results in an obliteration of the changing and contradictory nature of the category masculinity, and of the historical character of the category itself. In order to avoid this, the author argues for an 'indirect' history of masculinity that approaches this history by making an outflanking movement. Rather than trying to deconstruct masculinity head on, masculinity's history should be written by detecting the constitution and subsequent transformations of this category in histories that - paradoxically - are not masculinity.
A Functional Theory of Task Role Distribution in Work Groups
Authors: Stempfle Joachim , Hübner Oliver , Badke-Schaub Petra
Published: March 2007

In social psychology, much research has been conducted with regard to small groups, focusing on a few recurrent themes. Questions of group structure and group composition, however, have been widely neglected in social psychology research, although their importance is being recognized (Barrick, Stewart, Neubert, & Mount, 1998; Moreland, Levine, & Wingert, 1996). The following study focuses on explaining the emergence of a task role distribution in self-organizing work groups. A theory of task role distribution in work groups is being proposed capable of predicting the distribution of task roles in a team based on group members’ skills and preferences. The basic assumption behind the theory is that teams will strive to organize themselves in a functional way, taking into account both external demands (tasks that are assigned to the team) and internal demands (needs and preferences of the team members). A case study has been conducted on a self-organizing team of 15 student software developers working on a project task over a period of three weeks. The theory has been applied to the student project team. For the majority of team members the task role each team member was going to be assigned was predicted correctly by the theory.
Changing Interracial Evaluations and Behavior: The Effects of a Common Group Identity
Authors: Nier Jason A. , Gaertner Samuel L. , Dovidio John F. , Banker Brenda S. , Ward Christine M. , Rust Mary C.
Published: March 2007

Two studies examined whether developing a common ingroup identity among Blacks and Whites can improve Whites’ interracial evaluations. In Study 1, White participants interacted with a Black or White confederate under conditions designed to produce cognitive representations as fellow group members or as separate individuals. Consistent with the Common Ingroup Identity Model, Whites evaluated Blacks more favorably when they interacted with them as members of the same group than as separate individuals. Study 2, conducted as fans entered a football stadium, revealed that Whites complied more frequently with a Black interviewer’s request to interview them when they shared common university affiliation, relative to when the Black interviewer was affiliated with the opposing team.
Socialization and Trust in Work Groups
Authors: Moreland Richard L. , Levine John M.
Published: March 2007

Several theoretical analyses of trust in organizations have been offered, but the social context in which that trust operates is often ignored. Our analysis examines trust in work groups, with a focus on changes in such groups over time. Socialization is an important form of temporal change in work groups (Moreland & Levine, 2000). Workers move into and out of these groups over time, so most groups contain people in different membership phases. We are intrigued by the issues of trust that can arise for full members of groups with new or marginal members. One such issue is how much a group’s full members can trust its new and marginal members, who belong to the group, but are not fully accepted by it. A related issue is how much full members can trust each other around any new or marginal members, whose thoughts, feelings, and behavior must be carefully monitored and shaped before they gain (or regain) the group’s acceptance. After analyzing both of these issues in some detail, we close by identifying several other issues of trust that can arise in work groups as they change over time.
Majority Influence Process in Group Judgment: Test of the Social Judgment Scheme Model in a Group Polarization Context
Authors: Ohtsubo Yohsuke , Masuchi Ayumi , Nakanishi Daisuke
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study is to test Davis’s (1996) Social Judgment Scheme (SJS) model, which was proposed as a predictive model of group decision making with continuous alternatives. The SJS model assumes that individual group members’ influence on the group decision exponentially declines with the distance from other members’ judgments (i.e. majority influence process). Fifty-five 3-person groups engaged in eight group polarization tasks. First, the model fits of the SJS model and the Averaging model were compared in terms of the predictive accuracy. Results indicted that the SJS model yielded accurate predictions more often than the Averaging model. Second, a different analytical approach confirmed the model’s corollary—the skewness of individual judgments distribution was negatively correlated with the direction of group polarization. These findings support the model’s assumption of majority influence process in continuous alternatives tasks.
Stereotyping and Self-Presentation: Effects of Gender Stereotype Activation
Authors: Chiu Chi-yue , Hong Ying-yi , Lam Ivy Ching-man , Fu Jeanne Ho-Ying , Tong Jennifer Yuk-yue , Lee Venus Sau-lai
Published: March 2007

Recent research has shown that the presence of stereotype-relevant environmental cues can inadvertently bias people's judgments of others in the direction of the stereotype. The present research demonstrated analogous activation effects on self-stereotyping. In two experiments, the effects of stereotype activation on the tendencies to stereotype others and to self-stereotype were examined. Experiment 1 tested whether incidental exposure to gender-related materials might activate gender stereotypes and hence affect perception of another person. Experiment 2 investigated gender stereotype activation effects on female and male high school students' self-presentation behaviors. The results showed that incidental exposure to stereotype-relevant environmental cues increased both stereotyping and self-stereotyping tendencies. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the basic principles of knowledge activation and application, and for reducing stereotyping and self-stereotyping.
Intuitive Economists in a Social Environment: A Reexamination of the Effect of Interaction Outcomes on Interdependent Behavior
Authors: Friedland Nehemia , Nadler Arie
Published: March 2007

This study examined the proposition that interdependent behavior is related to two independent utility functions. Nonsocial utility is a measure of the intrinsic worth of rewards, which is unrelated to the circumstances of their attainment. Hence, it primarily affects individualistic choices. Social utility expresses the effect of interaction outcomes on the recipient's self-esteem, and, therefore, it underlies competitiveness. Social comparison models suggest that social utility is sensitive to the proximity between interacting parties. Three Maximizing Difference Game experiments showed that, given low nonsocial utility outcomes, high social proximity increased participants' attention to the outcomes of the other player as well as the frequency of competitive choices. High nonsocial utility outcomes strengthened individualistic behavior, and reversed the effect of proximity on competitiveness. This reversal was attributed to normative concerns that were predicted to become salient when the social and nonsocial utilities of interaction outcomes are both high.
How Variations in Social Structure Affect Different Types of Intergroup Bias and Different Dimensions of Social Identity in a Multi-Intergroup Setting
Authors: Jackson Jay W.
Published: March 2007

An experimental paradigm was used to examine how manipulations of group status (higher, equal, or lower) and group size (smaller, equal, or larger) affect positive allocation bias, negative allocation bias, and evaluative bias expressed by minority-ingroup members toward majority- and minority-outgroup members. As predicted, in most cases, group status was positively related to bias against a higher status majority outgroup, but negatively related to bias against a lower status minority outgroup. Group size was inversely related to expressions of bias in two of the three studies. Four dimensions of social identity (ingroup attraction, self-ingroup interdependency, intergroup differentiation, and perceptions of the intergroup context) were measured and found to be differentially affected by the manipulations. Status was positively related to most of the dimensions of social identity, but the predicted inverse relationship between group size and social identity received mixed support. Of the four dimensions, self-ingroup interdependency and unfavorable perceptions of the intergroup context were most consistently related to intergroup bias. The implications of these findings for theories of intergroup relations and future research efforts are discussed.
Rethinking Social Development: Towards an Equitable Future for Sri Lanka†
Authors: Jayasuriya Laksiri
Published: March 2007

This article reviews the development experience of Sri Lanka as a third world wel fare state. Sri Lanka stands out as a unique example since it put strong emphasis on the social sector even during the early phases of its development path. The social democratic state evolved in such a way that it was committed to the pursuit of greater equity. Although the country ranked low in terms of per capita GNP, it stood out on a range of social indicators such as the Human Development Index (HDI). Thus, Sri Lanka was able to achieve greater equity in the allocation of re sources and an improved living standard, which helped it to enhance the level of human development. However, the post-1977 era saw the new government depart from its earlier social policies by promoting neo-liberal economic policies. But the Centre-Left coalition which came to power in 1994 is committed to structural adjustment with a human face, with its thrust on distributive justice and social equality. This article suggests that the way forward is to integrate minority politics and welfare politics and to do away with the electoral populism of the past.
Conversational Techniques Used in Transferring Knowledge between Medical Experts and Non-experts
Authors: GÜLICH ELISABETH
Published: March 2007

Unlike a great deal of research on expert/non-expert communication, most of which is based on written materials, this article focuses on face-to-face communication. The analysis is based on a large corpus of transcribed recordings of medical seminars in rehabilitation centres and of interviews with chronically ill patients suffering from heart conditions. The focus is on procedures of illustration, which are often combined with reformulation procedures. Four main types are described: metaphors, exemplification, `scenarios', concretization. Whatever the type of illustration used, participants in face-to-face interaction show a marked preference for procedures which relate abstract medical information to everyday life and experience.

After a brief outline of the theoretical approach adopted the analysis proceeds in two steps: first, the emphasis is on techniques employed by the `experts', then on those used by `non-experts', i.e. patients. This is followed by an examination of the question how the roles of expert and non-expert are constituted in and by interaction.
Law and Order as a Leftist Project?
Authors: THAM HENRIK
Published: March 2007

Since the 1970s, crime policy has become politicized. Conservative parties have launched the law and order theme and exploited crime in political campaigns. Social Democratic and other leftist parties have more or less reluctantly followed. Since the 1990s, however, the political left itself seems now to take the lead in the reshaping of crime policy in a less liberal direction. Tendencies towards such a development are clearly discernible in Italy, Germany, the UK and the Scandinavian countries. The article discusses a number of elements of and explanations for the sharpening of Social Democratic crime policy in Sweden: a tendency towards alarmism, the tradition of left realism and the politicization of crime policy, the goal of a drug-free society, the practice of an interventionist policy, the increasing use of symbolic legislation, the demand for zero tolerance and the discipline of the market and the increasing inequality. These elements are finally seen as indicators of problems of integration and consensus characterizing Sweden and the political left at the turn of the century.
Legislative Politics in the European Union
Authors: Tsebelis George , Garrett Geoffrey
Published: March 2007

This paper compares legislative dynamics under all procedures in which the Council of Ministers votes by qualified majority (QMV). We make five major points. First, the EU governments have sought to reduce the democratic deficit by increasing the powers of the European Parliament since 1987, whereas they have lessened the legislative influence of the Commission. Under the Amsterdam treaty's version of the codecision procedure, the Parliament is a coequal legislator with the Council, whereas the Commission's influence is likely to be more informal than formal. Second, as long as the Parliament acts as a pro-integration entrepreneur, policy outcomes under consultation, cooperation and the new codecision will be more integrationist than the QMV-pivot in the Council prefers. Third, the pace of European integration may slow down if MEPs become more responsive to the demands of their constituents. Fourth, the EU is evolving into a bicameral legislature with a heavy status quo bias. Not only does the Council use QMV but absolute majority voting requirements and high levels of absenteeism create a de facto supermajority threshold for Parliamentary decisions. Finally, if the differences between the Council and the Parliament concern regulation issues on a traditional left-right axis, the Commission is more likely to be the ally of the Council than the Parliament.
Why Unanimity in the Council?
Authors: Mattila Mikko , Lane Jan-Erik
Published: March 2007

This article examines whether data on the voting patterns in the Council of Ministers lend support to the hypotheses that can be derived from some recent rational choice models of decision-making in the European Union. The findings show major discrepancies between the predictions of these spatial models and the empirical observations. Unanimous decision-making is much more frequent than one would expect from these influential contributions. Our empirical evaluation of the roll call patterns between 1994 and 1998 reveals furthermore that the probability of voting against the Council majority varies greatly between the Council members. Large countries are significantly more inclined to vote `no' than are their smaller counterparts. The multidimensional scaling analysis of voting coalitions indicates a north-south division in the Council.
Settings, Interactions and Things
Authors: Weber Florence
Published: March 2007

The recent resurgence and prominence of ethnography in France is placed against the backdrop of key phases in its subterranean development during the past half-century, caught in the rift between sociology and anthropology and invoked in different ways by various theoretical schools. The author seeks a way out of the current impasse between the classical position of `integrative ethnography' (which purports to capture sociocultural totalities on the basis of localized observations) and the post-modern position of `narrative ethnography' (which dilutes its object in the chronicling of fieldwork and its aporias) that avoids the deficiencies of `combinatory ethnography' (which dissolves collective membership in favour of a generic actor facing `possible worlds'). Drawing on Norbert Elias and Gregory Bateson, but also on Max Weber and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, she clarifies and illustrates several key concepts - group of affiliation, social setting, person versus individual, object versus thing - needed to develop a `multi-integrative ethnography' that grants primacy to interactions (and the interdependences they materialize) while reactivating sociological tools indispensable for the analysis of interlocking social memberships.
Supporting Siblings
Authors: Evans Jayne , Jones Jessica , Mansell Ian
Published: March 2007

This paper reports on an aspect of the work of `Facing the Challenge' and the development and evaluation of sibling support groups, designed to help brothers and sisters discuss and explore their relationships with their sibling with learning disabilities. The aims of the support groups were to help siblings identify and use positive strategies for living with brothers and sisters who have learning disabilities and associated challenging behaviour. The groups were structured and had a problem solving focus. The majority of activities were presented on an educational and informative basis. Leisure activities were used to give the children time to discuss issues and engage in age appropriate play. Assessments were carried out in the child's home and during the group sessions: these included psychometric tests and a knowledge questionnaire. An increased involvement between siblings was found following participation in the support groups. In addition, there was an improvement in siblings' self-esteem and knowledge of learning disability and associated challenging behaviour. Positive feedback on the groups was received from parents and carers through a post-group questionnaire.