bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Negotiating Present and Future Selves: Managing the Risk of Hereditary Ovarian Cancer by Prophylactic Surgery
Authors: Hallowell Nina , Lawton Julia
Published: March 2007

Women who are at increased risk of developing ovarian cancer because of their family history are encouraged to make decisions about the medical management of their cancer risk. Using data collected during interviews with 49 high-risk premenopausal women, this article looks at some of the influences on women’s risk-management choices. When describing their attitudes about preventative ovarian surgery, high-risk women draw upon discourses of control. Prophylactic surgery is constructed as both providing women with the means to gain control over their bodies, and as leading to a loss of control. More specifically, women perceive the removal of at-risk organs as both securing and undermining their present and future self-identities. Thus, it is argued that women’s willingness to undergo prophylactic ovarian surgery is dependent upon them negotiating various competing risks to self and body that are associated with this risk-management option.
Sexuality in the Primary School
Authors: Wallis Amy , VanEvery Jo
Published: March 2007

This article examines the premise that the primary school is an `asexual' environment and that young children are `innocent' and in need of protection from sex and sexuality. Interviews with children, parents and teachers are used to demonstrate that primary schools are institutions structured by gender and (hetero) sexuality and which, in their practices, construct heterosexualized masculinities and femininities. Particular attention is given to the contingent nature of `public' and `private' in the primary school and its implications for the appropriateness of sexuality. The issues raised have implications for feminist and lesbian/gay/bisexual activism around diversity and education and indicate important areas for future research.
Public and Clandestine: Gay Men's Pseudonyms on the French Minitel
Authors: Livia Anna
Published: March 2007

In this article, I discuss the pseudonyms created by French gay men on the Minitel, investigating both their internal morphology and their social functions. Although pseudonymous messages are common in English language environments such as electronic chatrooms, graffiti and personal advertisements, none are as syntactically complex or as hard to decipher as Minitel `pseudos'. Can the widespread use and opaque structure of the French pseudos be imputed to their function as an `anti-language', i.e. the dialectal style of a community that feels itself to be under threat of exposure? I conclude that the pseudos owe their complex structure more to the resulting eroticization of the encounter than to any fear of outsiders.
Rethinking Circumcision and Sexuality in the United States
Authors: Harrison Daniel M.
Published: March 2007

The sexual dimensions to circumcision are a neglected topic of inquiry for sex and gender researchers. This article argues that sociological discourse on circumcision has ignored a critique of circumcision on the grounds of gender and sexuality. The first section explains the history and preponderance of routinized male circumcision in the USA and it also describes some contours to the circumcision debate. In the second section, gender theory is explored for possible statements on male circumcision and sexuality. The third section maps out some ways through which circumcision impacts a man's sexual feeling, repertoires and forms of pleasure, and the article concludes that circumcised and uncircumcised men are differentially sexed.
Transgenderism in Latin America: Some Critical Introductory Remarks on Identities and Practices
Authors: Lancaster Roger N.
Published: March 2007

This opening essay to a symposium on Transgenderism in Latin America reviews the six articles presented, and highlights the ways in which transgendered acts provide multiple meanings. Drawing heavily from Queer Theory, the article seeks to open a dialogue across these multiple and contested meanings by highlighting mutual themes concerned with heteronomative domination and subversion, the power relations within transsexual practices, and their linkages with identity and its discontents. The paper argues for more subtle and nuanced understandings of varying perspectives and practices, and further challenges any notion of a unitary identity. The author sees this work as part of an ongoing carnival to challenge and redraw fixed notions of identities and relationships.
Rheumatological Disorders and Somatization in U.S. Mien and Lao Refugees with Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Authors: Jomoore Laurie , Sager Dan , Keopraseuth Kham-One , Chao Loo Hang , Riley Chris , Robinson Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

We report a study comparing presenting symptoms and medical diagnoses of Mien and Lao refugees seen at a specialized psychiatric referral programme in Oregon. Rheumatological assessment in Mien and Lao refugees suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder revealed similar prevalence rates of pain, rheumatologic disorders and somatization despite different initial clinical presentations. Of 89 patients seen in out-patient clinics, 95% had chronic pain, 88% had rheumatological diagnoses and 53% had medically unexplained pain. Although this was a selected sample, our results support the notion that physical pain complaints in psychiatric patients contribute to psychopathology and deserve careful evaluation. Culture strongly affected presentation and this study supports the identification of a Mien Somatic Complaint Syndrome.
Practice, Performance, and Experience in Ritual Healing
Authors: Csordas Thomas J. , Lewton Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

The past 20 years have seen a florescence in studies of religious and ritual healing. This article broadly surveys this literature on a global scale, organizing and presenting the studies by geographical region. Summaries of major themes in the regional literatures follow each section, and suggest that differences and similarities may be as much a product of theoretical orientations brought by students of healing to their work, as of empirical features observed ethnographically. A concluding section raises the issue of therapeutic efficacy, summarizing the major contributions during the two decades covered by this article.
Review : Changing practice? A review of the neonatal examination
Authors: Sherliker Anna Rachel
Published: March 2007

■ Thorough examination of the newborn is universally accepted as good practice

■ Modern models of care make traditional practice of examination by the paediatrician at 24-48 hours potentially inappropriate

■ There is currently a lack of consensus on who is best placed professional to examine the neonate

■ Changes in practice require appropriate educational and operational support for referrals
Review : Influences on nurses' perceptions of children's pain
Authors: Twycross Alison
Published: March 2007

■ Individuals have their own perceptions of pain

■ Nurses' do not always perceive their patients' pain

■ There are a number of factors which influence nurses' perceptions of their patients' pain

■ Further research is needed in this area
Nut allergy: symptom and Severity reporting
Authors: Dunbar Helena , Luyt David
Published: March 2007

■ Nut allergy, in particular peanut allergy, is becoming more common in children.

■ Immune sensitisation to nuts appears to be occurring earlier in life.

■ High incidence of other allergic diseases in children with nut allergy.

■ Onset of anaphylactic symptoms is quick but symptoms last for a short time.

■ Necessity for hospital admission due to severity of allergic reaction is low.
Self-Typicality and Group Identification: Evidence for their Separateness
Authors: Kashima Emiko S. , Kashima Yoshihisa , Hardie Elizabeth A.
Published: March 2007

Two studies demonstrated group identification (affective-evaluative response to in-group membership) and self-typicality (perceived typicality of the self as an in-group member) to be empirically separate. Study 1 showed that these two variables correlated distinctively with age of the participants, and that prior self-typicality but not prior identification correlated with similarity in subsequent self-and in-group ratings. Study 2 examined the latter relationships in a context that presented new, fictitious information about in-group members. Similarity in self-and group judgments, made after presentation of the new information, correlated positively with later self-typicality but negatively with later group identification. Advantages in making conceptual and operational distinctions between self-typicality and group identification are discussed.
Perceptions of Expertise and Transactive Memory in Work Relationships
Authors: Hollingshead Andrea B.
Published: March 2007

People involved in close interpersonal relationships often develop a transactive memory system - a division of cognitive labor with respect to the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information from different substantive domains. The present study examined transactive memory systems using a sample of clerical office workers in a laboratory setting. It tested the general hypothesis that individual learning in work relationships is affected by perceptions of the relative expertise of coworkers. Participants were told that they would work on a task with a partner who had either similar or different work-related knowledge and job responsibilities. The findings supported the hypotheses that (a) people learn and recall more information in their own areas of expertise when their partner has different rather than similar work-related expertise; and (b) this effect reverses for recall of information outside work-related expertise. Taken together, the data showed that transactive memory is a property of work relationships, not just romantic relationships, and that role-based expertise can serve as its basis.
Cultural Trauma
Authors: Sztompka Piotr
Published: March 2007

There is a current effort to borrow the concept of trauma from medicine and psychiatry and to introduce it into sociological theory. The author explicates the notion of cultural trauma as applicable to the theory of social change. He defines cultural trauma as the culturally defined and interpreted shock to the cultural tissue of a society, and presents a model of the traumatic sequence, describing typical conditions under which cultural trauma emerges and evolves. Drawing on the work of Robert K. Merton on anomie, and of Anthony Giddens on risk, he suggests a number of typical strategies by which societies cope with cultural traumas. Cultural trauma is treated as a link in the ongoing chain of social changes; depending on the number of concrete circumstances, cultural trauma may be a phase in the constructive morphogenesis of culture or in the destructive cycle of cultural decay.
Cosmopolitanism and Violence
Authors: Delanty Gerard
Published: March 2007

The problem of violence for social theory is not only a normative question which can be answered in political-ethical terms, but it is also a cognitive question relating to the definition of violence. This cognitive question is one of the main problems with the contemporary discourse of violence and it is this that makes the idea of a cosmopolitan public sphere particularly relevant since it is in public discourse that cognitive models are articulated. The real power of cosmopolitanism lies in communicative power, the problematizing, the reflexive transformation of cultural models and the raising of `voice'. Unless global civil society is based on a cosmopolitan political sphere there is the danger that it will be disembodied and helpless in the face of new forms of violence.
The Narcissism of Minor Differences
Authors: Blok Anton
Published: March 2007

This essay explores the theoretical implications of Freud's notion of `the narcissism of minor differences' - the idea that it is precisely the minor differences between people who are otherwise alike that form the basis of feelings of strangeness and hostility between them. A comparative survey shows that minor differences underlie a wide range of conflicts: from relatively benign forms of campanilismo to bloody civil wars. Freud's tentative statements link up with the insights of Simmel, Durkheim, Lévi-Strauss, Dumont, Elias, and Girard. Especially helpful is what Bourdieu writes in Distinction: social identity lies in difference, and difference is asserted against what is closest, which represents the greatest threat. An outline of a general theory of power and violence should include consideration of the narcissism of minor differences, also because its counterpart - hierarchy and great differences - makes for relative stability and peace.
Building a Theory of Multi-Media CMC
Authors: Soukup Charles
Published: March 2007

In order to provide directions for future computer-mediated communication (CMC) scholarship, in this article, I analyze, critique and integrate contemporary CMC theory and research. Particularly, based upon an analysis of recent developments in multi-media software and the world wide web, I explore the theoretical implications of increased audio, video and three-dimensionality in cyberspace. In general, in this article, I argue that CMC theory and research has been limited by the `textual bias' of previous scholars. CMC researchers and theorists must begin to reconstruct the communicative, rhetorical and epistemological features of multi-media CMC in order to describe and explain communication in cyberspace. Through an integrated, inter-disciplinary program of multi-methodological empirical research, scholars can build theory that better accounts for multi-media CMC.
Reported Speech in Chinese Political Discourse
Authors: KUO SAI-HUA
Published: March 2007

Based on video-taped data from five televised 1998 Taipei mayoral debates, this article examines the use of reported speech in Chinese political discourse, with a particular focus on direct quotation. The findings are that direct quotation or constructed dialogue not only creates the rhetorical effect of vividness and immediacy but also establishes interpersonal involvement. More importantly, the three debaters in this study use direct quotation as an indirect strategy for self-promotion (i.e. to present a positive image of the speakers themselves) and for denigration (i.e. to present a negative image of their opponents). Citing someone else's words objectifies debaters' praise of themselves and vilification of their opponents, thereby heightening the reliability of their claims: these claims are presented as shared knowledge and reference is made to an external source. However, direct quotation is also a strategy of evasion: the speakers disclaim responsibility and distance themselves from the source of knowledge. Finally, the different use of citations made by the three debaters also marks their different communicative styles. While the two politicians who speak more formally generally tend to cite figures from newspapers or magazines, the one who speaks most casually frequently employs direct quotations.
Who Killed the Princess? Description and Blame in the British Press
Authors: MACMILLAN KATIE , EDWARDS DEREK
Published: March 2007

We examine the British newspapers' coverage of the death of Princess Diana and its immediate aftermath. Our main focus is on how the press dealt with the issue of their own potential culpability, as a feature of news reporting itself. The press deployed a series of descriptive categories and rhetorical oppositions, including regular press vs paparazzi; tabloid vs broadsheet; British vs (various categories of) foreign; supply vs demand (for its content); and a number of general purpose devices such as a contrast between emotional reactions and considered judgments. The study has two major aims: (1) to analyse the textual workings of the press, as a medium of factual reportage operating within a range of normative requirements for factual objectivity, public concern, responsible journalism, meeting readers' demands, etc.; and (2) to contribute to a generally applicable discourse analytic approach to how factual reports are assembled, used, and undermined, in an interplay of description and accountability.
Discourse, Pragmatics, Conversation, Analysis
Authors: SCHEGLOFF EMANUEL A.
Published: March 2007

In a period given to emphasizing diversity among humans, we would do well to explore diversity among forms of discourse and among forms of talk-in-interaction in particular. Among the speech-exchange systems, ordinary conversation has been claimed to be distinctive and fundamental, but questions have been raised about both claims. The resources for discriminating among speech-exchange systems are located in such generic organizations of practice as turn-taking, sequence organization, the organization of repair and the overall structural organization of episodes of interaction. I try to show that `conversation' as a distinctive speech-exchange system is real and is not only a residual category, and that it is to be understood as the `basic' speech-exchange system, in part by reference to the distinctive turn-taking organization (among others) through which it is implemented. The `motivation' for having developed a formal account of this turn-taking organization is recounted, and that formal account is defended for its usability in the analytic explication of singular, contexted episodes of talk. The remainder of the article is given over to such an exemplary account - an examination of an episode of interaction during a testing session between a man whose brain hemispheres had been surgically separated and a researcher.
Proportionate Sentences for Juveniles
Authors: VON HIRSCH ANDREW
Published: March 2007

Although an extensive theoretical literature has developed on proportionality and desert as it relates to the sentencing of adult offenders, there has been less discussion of desert theory as it concerns the disposition of juvenile offenders. The present article addresses this latter topic. It is suggested that `deserved' punishments for juveniles should be scaled well below those applicable to adults, for three kinds of reasons: (1) juveniles' lesser culpability, (2) punishments' greater `bite' when applied to adolescents, and (3) a principle of greater `tolerance' in the application of penal censure to juveniles. The article argues that these three kinds of reasons must rest not just on factual claims regarding juveniles' lesser self-mastery or greater sensitivity to punishment, but must depend on different, age-related normative expectations for judging the behaviour of young persons. It is suggested that the present topic - of the criteria for proportionate punishment of juveniles - should be treated as analytically distinct from the question of whether a separate juvenile court should be retained or abolished.
Capital Punishment
Authors: HOOD ROGER
Published: March 2007

This article reviews the extent to which the movement to abolish capital punishment has been successful and discusses some of the influences which have produced a remarkable increase in the number of abolitionist countries in the past two decades. It asks whether this trend has now come to an end as many countries which retain the death penalty continue to defy, for a variety of reasons, international pressure to change their laws and practices. Finally, it discusses some actions that might prove effective in overcoming these obstacles.
Institutionalist Research on the European Union
Authors: Dowding Keith
Published: March 2007

This article critically examines the recent wealth of institutionalist rational choice literature on the EU. It appraises the major fault lines and debates. It argues that non-cooperative game theory provides a thorough set of tools to examine the effects of different sorts of institutions upon the powers and limitations of different institutional actors. In certain areas scholars have not fully utilized the models applied to other political systems, but EU scholarship has taken a great leap forward in the past few years. Fully specified models with proper predictions are now being developed, though there is a tendency for modellers to introduce too many new assumptions that make empirical comparison with earlier models problematic, as it is sometimes hard to see which new assumptions are of most import. But we are into a new phase of normal science rational choice institutionalist explanation of the EU.
Undivided Loyalties
Authors: Carey Sean
Published: March 2007

This article posits that national identity is an important element in explaining attitudes towards the European Union. A model of support for European integration is developed that suggests that feelings of national identity are highly important in an individual's choice to support the EU. The impacts of three alternative conceptualizations of national identity are tested. These relate to national identity as an intensity of feelings towards one's country, the level of attachment to the nation and other territorial entities, and the fear of other identities and cultures encroaching on the dominant national culture. The results of ordered logit analyses confirm that stronger feelings of national identity lead to lower levels of support for the EU.
Police Bail and the Use of Conditions
Authors: HUCKLESBY ANTHEA
Published: March 2007

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1994, enabled the police to attach conditions to defendants' bail. This new power was given to the police in order to reduce the numbers of defendants detained in custody overnight to appear at magistrates' courts and to increase control over defendants on police bail in order to prevent them offending or absconding. While the police welcomed this power, there was some concern that it may be open to abuse. This paper discusses the main findings of a small-scale study undertaken for a police force in the North of England into the use of post-charge police bail. The research found that the introduction of police conditional bail had reduced the number of defendants detained in police custody, but also the number granted unconditional bail, so some net widening had occurred. Differences were found between police stations and Criminal Justice Units in the use of conditions and how their use was justified. The study concluded that while the law relating to police bail provides a broad framework which structures police decision making, it also enables informal police practices and policies to shape the operation of the police bail process.
Times Square, Disneyphobia, Hegemickey, the Ricky Principle, and the Downside of the Entertainment Economy
Authors: Holbrook Morris B.
Published: March 2007

This paper reviews some recent contributions to the study of commercialism in popular culture in general and to our understanding of the role played by the Disney Corporation in particular. From the viewpoint of marketing theory, the paper examines the critique based on the hegemonic influence of Disney and the impact of the entertainment economy in dumbing down the cultural artifacts offered for public consumption. Ranging from Times Square in New York through a rapidly accumulating Disneyphobic literature to the epiphenomena of a newly discovered ‘Ricky Principle’ and back again, the paper gives some comfort to those concerned with contemplating the pervasive Hege Mickey that confronts the millennial consumer. In short, ‘It’s Fun-Dumb-Mental’.
A Prototype Skills Audit for Marketing Communications Professionals
Authors: Miller Rohan
Published: March 2007

The skills audit is a process whereby organizations can identify and measure the functional marketing skills they require in marketing communications and match those requirements through job design, recruitment, training and outsourcing. This process can be beneficial to practitioners by providing a framework for which individuals can define and measure their functional skills and plan their careers. A better understanding of the marketing communications expertise required by industry should enable educators to offer courses in applied marketing communications that are relevant to the marketplace. Further, a formal process to define and measure both general and marketing communications skills would provide an objective base for marketing to be recognized as a professional discipline.
Self-ownership, Marxism, and Egalitarianism
Authors: Mack Eric
Published: March 2007

This two-part article offers a defense of a libertarian doctrine that centers on two propositions. The first is the self-ownership thesis according to which each individual possesses original moral rights over her own body, faculties, talents, and energies. The second is the anti-egalitarian conclusion that, through the exercise of these rights of self-ownership, individuals may readily become entitled to substantially unequal extra-personal holdings. The self-ownership thesis remains in the background during Part I of this essay, while the anti-egalitarian conclusion is supported in two ways. First, I offer a reconstruction of Robert Nozick's well-known `How Liberty Upsets Patterns' argument against all end-state and pattern theories of distributive justice; and I defend this reconstructed stance against what might (otherwise) seem to be telling criticisms. Second, I defend the two key principles of Nozickian historical entitlement theory (the principle of just transfer and the principle of just initial acquisition) against criticisms offered by G.A. Cohen.

Part II will center on Cohen's contention that the crucial basis for the anti-egalitarian conclusion is the self-ownership thesis. There I argue that Cohen is correct to hold that he must reject the self-ownership thesis if he is to avoid the anti-egalitarian conclusion; but he is wrong to think that he has an adequate basis for rejecting this thesis. Thus, both elements in the libertarianism under consideration are vindicated. And, the self-ownership thesis plays a surprisingly direct role in vindicating the anti-egalitarian conclusion.
Culture, Governance, and Economic Performance: An Explorative Study with a Special Focus on Africa
Authors: Noorderhaven Niels G. , Tidjani Bassirou
Published: March 2007

Existing studies show that national cultures influence governance and economic performance, but sub-Saharan Africa is sparsely covered in international comparative culture studies, and the existing studies suffer from a western bias. This present study aims to fill this void, by focusing on sub-Saharan Africa and introducing an African bias. A research instrument was developed by means of a Delphi study among African scholars. Analysis of the data from six African countries and eight countries from Europe, Asia and the Americas, reveals eight cultural dimensions, three of which are strongly correlated to Hofstede's power distance and individualism-collectivism. Strong correlations between four of the eight dimensions of culture and indicators of the quality of governance are found. Three of the other dimensions correlate significantly with indicators of economic performance. The findings strongly suggest that a number of the cultural dimensions identified are relevant for governance and economic performance.
Conducting Research Across Cultures: Overcoming Drawbacks and Obstacles
Authors: Tayeb Monir
Published: March 2007

This article discusses some of the methodological and practical difficulties that cross cultural researchers experience in their studies, from the issues concerning understanding and studying other people's culture and separating its influence from that of the workplace culture, to the culture-specific nature of some supposedly universal managerial concepts such as HRM (human resource management) and the choice of appropriate research tools and paradigms. Building on the author's similar commentary on the subject a few years ago, the article draws a rather optimistic picture for the future while pointing out some avoidable methodological inadequacies still observed in many published reports of international comparative studies. The article also cites examples of recent studies which have made an effort to avoid these.
Acceptance of Supervisory Direction in Typical Workplace Situations
Authors: Bu Nailin , Craig Timothy J. , Peng T.K.
Published: March 2007

US, Taiwanese and PRC employees responded to two vignettes in which they decided whether to accept the direction of a supervisor. Multiple versions of the vignettes which varied systematically with respect to the workplace circumstances surrounding the decisions (company policy, peer consensus and independent assessment) were distributed to create a factorial research design. In most circumstances, PRC employees demonstrated the strongest tendency to accept, followed by Taiwanese employees, and finally by US employees. The tendency to accept a supervisor's direction is influenced by peer consensus to a greater extent among US employees than among Taiwanese and PRC employees. Compared with US and Taiwanese employees, PRC employees were more sensitive to a supervisory direction's consistency with company policies and less responsive to their own assessment of the direction's merit. Both cultural traditions and modern developments appear to influence employees' reaction to supervisory authority.
Perceptions of Decision Making and their Effect on Participation in an International Context
Authors: Ascigil Semra F. , Ryan Margaret
Published: March 2007

Taking up the suggestion that participation may exist as rhetoric rather than reality, in spite of structures and procedures in place to facilitate it, we consider how managers' perceptions of the decision-making process, and their own behaviour in pursuing their interests in decision arenas, may affect the likelihood that participation will be endemic in their organizations. Adopting a social process and micro-political perspective of decision making, four characteristics are focused on as having an impact on participation: perceived level of uncertainty and complexity facing decision makers; the role of information in the decision process; the political behaviour of individuals; and policy integration across structures. In an international environment, perceptions and behaviour can be expected to vary with culture, and the article addresses this issue by drawing on findings from a questionnaire study of decision making in which 31 Turkish and 41 UK senior and middle managers from a range of industrial sectors and organizations participated. It is concluded that, while the two groups displayed both similarities and differences, their attitudes and behaviour within their organizational contexts would provide a less than benign environment for participation, but for differing reasons.
Evaluating Plans Pragmatically
Authors: Hoch Charles J.
Published: March 2007

In this article I take up the topic of plan evaluation. I compare two approaches. One approach uses Rational analysis, the other pragmatic reasoning. I argue that planners should place less emphasis on rational analysis and adopt a distinctly pragmatic approach when evaluating plans. Analysis may offer objectivity and precision, but it sacrifices context and continuity. A pragmatic outlook embraces context and seeks continuity among diverse viewpoints. It avoids the separation between analysis and action, providing a useful rationale for what some practitioners might call common sense judgment.
The Book of Judith in the Context of Twentieth-Century Studies of the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books
Authors: Craven Toni
Published: March 2007

Studies of Judith represent three overlapping but distinct periods of critical inquiry. Interests were awakened (1913-49), as three firsts in English wit ness: Charles's comprehensive APOT (1913), Oesterley's two one-volume introdutions to the Apocrypha (1914, 1935) and Pfeiffer's critical introduc tion (1949). In a second period (1950-85), Judith's context undergoes remarkable shifts both within the Bible and the wider community with the inclusion of the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books in translations like the RSV and NRSV, text-critical editions, literary analysis, initial feminist studies, and collaborative alliances of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish scholars. In a third period (1986-2001), critical strategies enlarge to represent increas ingly gender-inclusive, interdisciplinary, international and eclectic concerns.
Human Resource Issues in Russia
Authors: Berger Nancy O.
Published: March 2007

The Problem and the Solution. Russia has experienced a decade of contin uous transition-full of excitement and opportunity, but also a difficult, painful upheaval This study examines some of the key human resource issues and concerns of businesses operating in this transitional environment, and provides suggestions for human resource professionals, particularly those from foreign countries, working in Russia A qualitative study, it focuses on the experiences and observations from a group of seven HR specialists working at various loca tions in Russia
The Challenges of Globalization and the HRD Response
Authors: Hartenstein Annette
Published: March 2007

The Problem and the Solution. Globalization has created a new worldwide corporate culture that is not based on any single national norm HRD needs to humanize the new global culture and enable people to effectively operate in it
Behavioral Perspectives on Child Homicide
Authors: BOUDREAUX MONIQUE C. , LORD WAYNE D. , JARVIS JOHN P.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews existing research on the topics of child abduction and child homicide and attempts to identify and assess potential victim risk factors through a discussion of victim access, vulnerability, and routine activities theory. For example, are children of certain ages or genders more likely to be targeted by offenders? Who are the offenders in child homicides and what are the relationships between the offenders and their victims? Does motive or crime technique differ between offenders who have familiarity with victims versus those who are strangers? Ecological perspectives on child homicide are also discussed, including the concepts of competition, predation, and developmental victimology. Research that addresses these questions directly benefits law enforcement personnel, social workers, and forensic scientists actively working child homicide cases, and social scientists involved in the formulation of child homicide prevention programs and policies. In addition, this information helps improve prevention programs designed to protect children, helps children protect themselves, and provides potential avenues for identifying offenders in such cases.
Empathy and Its Influence on Sexual Misconduct
Authors: REGEHR CHERYL , GLANCY GRAHAM
Published: March 2007

A deficit in empathy is generally regarded as a factor that contributes to the occurrence of sexual offenses and sexual boundary violations. As a result, many experts recommend empathy training as a part of any program that attempts to reduce recidivism among offenders. Considerable controversy exists, however, with regard to the definition of empathy, the actual influence of empathy on sociopathic behavior, and whether empathy can indeed be taught. This article provides a review of the literature concerning some of these controversial issues, concluding with a proposed model for empathy training for professionals who engage in sexual misconduct based on the theoretical and empirical data available. The model incorporates the following four key aspects of empathy training: developing cognitive awareness, enhancing emotional responsiveness, self-awareness, and modeling of empathic responses.
Going to Market: The German Health Care Reform Experience
Authors: Beil-Hildebrand Margitta
Published: March 2007

In this article, the author addresses the complex issue of how the German health care system and its recent reforms are structured. In seeking to explain and interpret the specificity of the German health care system, the author looks at the fundamental principles and policies by which it is organized and discusses some of the impacts of the recent health care reforms on the hospital sector. This is followed by a few points about nursing resource planning and an outline of reform trends in Germany. As a result, this article is limited in its reference to policy areas outside the hospital sector and to health policy developments in countries other than Germany.
Advancing the Practice of Nursing: Challenges and Opportunities for Nurses in the 21st Century
Authors: Donley Rosemary
Published: March 2007

In the midst of chaos and disillusionment in health care, nurse anesthetists, midwives, clinical specialists, and nurse practitioners advance the practice of nursing. They are identified in state practice acts. Many have prescriptive privileges and are recognized as health care providers by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance carriers, and managed care organizations. Whereas their professional and legal relationships with physicians differ from state to state, advanced practice nurses exist as legal, economic, and professional agents of change. In this post-health care reform period many physicians, discouraged by their loss of autonomy and income, are leaving the field. The author urges advanced practice nurses to lay a new agenda on policy tables to balance the focus on cost containment and profit margins. Borrowing the idea of Virginia Henderson that nurses and physicians need good heads, hands, and hearts, she emphasizes evidence-based practice, the value of the laying on of hands, and the importance of respect for the dignity of the person and compassion for his distress.
E-Commerce in Health Care: Can it Improve Access and Lower Cost?
Authors: Corona Marty , Jacobson Nadine M.
Published: March 2007

In this article, the authors explore how e-commerce can lower the cost of health care thereby decreasing financial barriers to accessing health care services. Their approach is to provide a snapshot of health care Internet e-commerce by consideration of the economic principles behind e-commerce and positive applications of e-commerce to financial transaction processing, customer service, and health services delivery.
A Conceptual Model of Nursing and Health Policy
Authors: Fawcett Jacqueline , Russell Gail
Published: March 2007

A new conceptual model of nursing and health policy was designed to extend substantive knowledge of health policy within the discipline of nursing through policy analysis, policy or program evaluation, and disciplinary research that are conducted at five levels. Level 1 focuses on the effectiveness of nursing practice processes on the health outcomes of individuals, families, groups, and communities. Level 2 focuses on the efficiency of nursing practice delivery systems. Level 3 focuses on the effectiveness and efficiency of a specific health care delivery system. Level 4 focuses on equity of access to effective and efficient nursing practice processes and nursing practice delivery systems. Level 5 focuses on social justice. The five levels interact with health policies and both constitute and are constituted by health policies. Of special interest are the health care services, personnel, and expenditures components of health policies formulated by geopolitical and governmental entities and institutions and organizations.
Advances, Advantages, and Techniques of Hot Melt Adhesives
Authors: Hopkins Jeff
Published: March 2007

New developments in equipment and adhesive technology are prov ing hot melt materials the preferred method to laminate and coat textiles. Textile manufacturers are racing increased economic and environmental pressures to im prove recyclability, make processing more environmentally friendly, increase pro cessing speeds, lower costs, add value to finished products, and amortize capital equipment over more than one use.
The Effects on the Physical Property of the Chitin-Added Polyurethane Cast Films and Coated Fabrics
Authors: Yen Meng-Shung , Cheng Kun-Lin
Published: March 2007

Chitin added to three types of polyurethane resins including hydrophilic, water in oil (w/o) emulsified, and wet-coagulated polyurethane resins for cast films and coated fabrics was investigated in this study The results showed that adding chitin to the hydrophilic and wet-coagulated polyurethane resins can effectively increase the water vapor permeability of the cast films or nylon coated fabrics. For the w/o emulsified polyurethane coated fabrics, however, this increase was not detected. These observations can be readily explained by the microstructural variations which create homogeneous or irregular pores, as evidenced by the scan ning electron microscope pictures
Foaming of Silica Suspensions
Authors: Den Engelsen C.W. , Gooijer H. , Warmoeskerken M.M.C.G. , Wassink J. Groot
Published: March 2007

Silica suspensions were foamed in a dynamic rotor-stator mixer in an attempt to model the effects of pigment particles on the foam application pro cess. Results of foamability, bubble size, foam rheology, and foam stability studies are presented. Suspensions have been foamed with various concentrations of silica. Foams have been generated with various blow ratios or with various rotational speeds of the mixer. It has been found that silica particles affect these four foam properties.
Enduring Gender Differences in Political Interest
Authors: Bennett Linda L.M. , Bennett Stephen Earl
Published: March 2007

Although women now vote in national elections at the same rate as men, they are still less politically interested. Using regression analysis and two new scales to tap an orientation toward women's place in the public arena (Traditional Feminine Role Scale) and political interest (Political Apathy Scale), this article seeks to test the utility of the three standard explanations for women's political orientations (situational, structural, and sex-role socialization) in understanding the continuing "gender gap" in political interest. Other than education, situational and structural factors are found to have minimal explanatory capacity. Aside from education, political dispositions far outstrip situational and structural factors as predictors of attentiveness. Strongest support for the impact of socialization is provided by the different predictors of interest among different age groups. Among women under 30 education is less important as a predictor than is partisanship. Among women over 45, the Traditional Feminine Role Scale emerges as an increasingly important predictor as they age. We also report different motivations behind men's and women's decisions to vote or to abstain.
Why Do Some States Play the Federal Aid Game Better Than Others?
Authors: Berch Neil
Published: March 2007

This article is a study of variation in the rate of change in federal aid from 1985 to 1987 (the period influenced by the 99th Congress). The author finds that state-based variables like the governor's experience in Congress, intrastate conflict, and Washington lobbying presence are quite useful in explaining the rate of change in federal aid to the states. The findings suggest that a greater emphasis on these so-called demand-side variables is in order.
Do Women Legislators Matter?
Authors: Berkman Michael B. , O'Connor Robert E.
Published: March 2007

This study evaluates the impact of women state legislators on state abortion policies. Two dimensions of state abortion policy were identified and it was found that women state legislators, once they reach a critical mass within the legislature, can affect state policies on regulations concerning parental notification of abortions, but not public funding. But women legislators, and especially women Democratic legislators, can affect state abortion policies in other ways that are less well understood. Through an analysis of post- Webster abortion bills it was found that women representatives secure committee assignments that allow them to block pro-life legislation. This is especially pronounced in states with few women legislators and states most likely (according to other studies) to support policies restricting choice.
Religion and Roll Call Voting in Idaho
Authors: Witt Stephanie L. , Moncrief Gary
Published: March 2007

This research note examines the Idaho state legislature's roll call vote on the controversial abortion bill known as H625, which would have strictly limited abortion access in Idaho. The analysis exammes the relative impact of personal and constituent characteristics on the vote of individual legislators on a nonroutine and salient issue. The results indicate that personal characteristics are strong predictors of the vote on this highly emotional issue, and point as well to the impact that highly organized and vocal religious groups can have on important legislative decisions.
Abortion Attitudes and Vote Choice in the 1984 and 1988 Presidential Elections
Authors: Smith Kevin B.
Published: March 2007

Existing research has failed to discover a significant impact of abortion attitudes on voting behavior in national elections, despite evidence that abortion is an issue with great potential for political mobilization and partisan realignment. This article reexamines this issue and finds that pro-choice attitudes do influence voting behavior at the individual level in national elections. No evidence is found for a similar effect among those with intense antiabortion attitudes.
Congressional Salaries and the Politics of Unpopular Votes
Authors: Clark John A.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the process of roll call voting when constituency pressures run counter to the desires of legislators. Previous research has emphasized concerns about reelection. Using votes on the congressional pay raise of 1989, I demonstrate that a variety of legislative goals are useful for explaining the roll call decisions made by members of the House of Representatives. Members turned to reelection, policy, power, and economic self-interest in deciding how to vote on the pay raise issue. Importantly, the contexts of the voting decisions help to explain both the behavior of individual legislators and the ultimate outcome of the legislative process.
Public Assessments of Gubernatorial Performance
Authors: MacDONALD JASON A. , SIGELMAN LEE
Published: March 2007

Scholarly attention to public evaluations of governors has focused almost exclusively on individual voting decisions. Such an approach has allowed scholars to identify the factors that lead voters to support and oppose incumbent governors. However, such analyses deal with assessments of governors solely at election time, potentially overlooking some factors that influence assessments of governors and overstating others. The authors develop a model of public approval of gubernatorial performance and test it on a cross-section of governors. Their results suggest that only in an election year does the public hold the governor responsible for having presided over tax increases. Similarly, only in an election period does a strong institutional power base result in higher approval ratings for governors. Outside of the campaign context, neither tax increases nor institutional power makes a dent in governors' job ratings.
Hope: A New Positive Strength for Human Resource Development
Authors: Luthans Fred , Jensen Susan M.
Published: March 2007

Drawing from hope theory as used in the emerging positive psychology and positive organizational behavior movement, this article for the first time examines the role that hope may play in effective human resource development (HRD). Hope is first conceptually defined as being both dispositional or traitlike and—important to HRD—developmental or statelike; next, the validity of its measures is reviewed; and then it is theoretically differenti ated from the closely related positive concepts of optimism and self-efficacy, and its role in goal setting and empowerment is explored. Next, findings from the initial research in the workplace are presented that indicate a positive relationship between hope levels of both managers and associates and performance. The article concludes by first examining the implications that hope has for HRD, including specific guidelines for how hope can be implemented through training programs and organization development, and finally noting needed future directions.