bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Creating `The Perfect Body': A Variable Project
Authors: MONAGHAN LEE
Published: March 2007

Using qualitative data, this article makes a substantive and formal contribution to the growing academic literature on bodybuilding and the sociology of the body. Placing a question mark against existing knowledge claims, it argues theories ascribing bodybuilding to antecedent predispositions are not sufficient when accounting for the ongoing variable project of creating `the perfect body'. It is asserted that physique bodybuilding (as opposed to weight-training) in the late 1990s could be independent of the `masculinist imagery' of `the muscular body' alongside feelings of gender and personal insecurity, but is increasingly dependent upon an acquired `ethnophysiological' appreciation of `excessive' muscularity. This phenomenological argument, which asserts the agency of bodies in social processes, focuses upon male participants' spatially and temporally contingent heterogeneous body-projects.
In Defence of Eclecticism
Authors: Wren Bernadette
Published: March 2007

In attempting to understand the aetiology and progress of childhood illness, where the presentation is a mixture of physical and emotional distress, an overarching systemic approach is required, combining a broad range of psychological and somatic factors in a comprehensive formulation. The clinician needs to shuttle between the comprehensive picture and the partial or linear views which constitute it. Treatment has to start with work on several different arcs of the circular chain of causality. Once some change is triggered, the task is to make sense of what is happening in the wider system if that change is to be accommodated and maintained. Any linear interventions may be built into the therapeutic conversation in which new meanings and behaviours are established. The eclectic clinician will introduce interventions from various schools of thought. The possible effectiveness of these manoeuvres, in different combinations, their timing and their acceptability, all need careful consideration.
Psychiatric Treatment of Factitious Illness in an Infant (Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome)
Authors: Black Dora , Hollis Peter
Published: March 2007

Child psychiatric evaluation and treatment is described for a single case of Munchausen by proxy syndrome with a good outcome. The literature is reviewed, and the medical management of the case summarized. With careful case selection and preparation and with modifications to existing treatment approaches, we conclude that the generally poor prognosis for this condition may be improved. Safe rehabilitation of the child to the family can be a reasonable treatment goal in selected cases.
Coping Strategies in Parents of Children Receiving Liver Transplants
Authors: Noble-Jamieson Gabriele , Cook Penny , Parkinson Glenys , Barnes Nicholas
Published: March 2007

Liver transplantation is an extremely stressful experience for the child and the family. Each phase of the child's illness is characterized by specific stresses. The most frequently used coping strategies in each phase are being realistic, accepting and trusting. There are also techniques specific to each phase. With help and support from medical, nursing and auxiliary staff most parents develop a trusting, realistic and accepting attitude and cope remarkably. More intense support is needed during the waiting time before transplantation and after discharge. Our analysis of parental responses to the most stressful events has indicated some specific measures which are likely to help parents cope in this and similar situations.
Nocturnal Headbanging as a Settling Habit: The Behavioural Treatment of a 4-Year-Old Boy
Authors: Golding Kim
Published: March 2007

A healthy 4-year-old boy of normal intelligence demonstrating nocturnal head-banging was treated successfully using behavioural methods. The behaviour was conceptualized as an atypical settling habit which was maintaining a disturbed sleep pattern. The intervention consisted of mild aversion therapy combined with a reward programme. The importance of stress as a factor in maintaining this problem is highlighted. Parental confidence was essential to the outcome of this intervention.
Oedipus Reviewed: A Classic Case of Child Abuse
Authors: Loader Peter
Published: March 2007

The story of Oedipus has proved of enduring fascination and has been the subject of many interpretations. It is reviewed here as a graphic and helpful illustration of the dilemma and accommodation of the abused child, together with the unhappy consequences we see all too often in our clinical practice. Freud's `Oedipus complex' can be seen as describing the child's difficulty in coming to terms with triangular relationships. This paper aims to provide a family perspective on the Oedipal situation, and show that the move from exclusive dyadic relationships to triangular family systems is a challenge to parents as well as children. Their failure to negotiate this transition represents a profound family dysfunction that can lead to mistreatment of the child, including frank child abuse. A case example is presented to illustrate this problem in contemporary clinical practice, and to consider the challenges we face in our attempts to intervene.
Socio-economic Differences in Risk Factors for Morbidity and Mortality in the European Community
Authors: Cavelaars Adriënne E.J.M. , Kunst Anton E. , Mackenbach Johan P.
Published: March 2007

Variations in the size of socio economic differences in smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, infrequent vegetable consumption and overweight in 11 EU countries were studied using survey data for 1987-1991. International variations were found for most risk factors. Most remarkable was the North-South pattern found for smoking among women, and for smoking and vegetable consumption among men, with small or even positive associations in France and the Mediterranean countries. These results provide indications about circumstances that influence socio-economic differences in risk factor prevalence and suggest that these differences are relevant for understanding the size of socio-economic health differences in different European countries.
Socio-economic Health Differentials
Authors: Chamberlain Kerry
Published: March 2007

A large and expanding literature demonstrates the existence and persistence of socio-economic differences in health. This literature is extensive, but very little of it examines the individual's experience of health. This article argues the need for research into socio-economic differentials in health from a qualitative perspective, and draws on research from this perspective to present and discuss several issues of relevance to health differentials. These include talking about health, contact with health professionals, views on modem medicine, the meaning of health, control and fatalism, smoking and health, diet and food, exercise and fitness and the healthy body. Findings illustrate considerable differences in the ways people from upper and lower socio-economic positions understand and experience health and illness, and also demonstrate how their health-related concerns are embedded in the fabric of everyday lives. Further research from this perspective has potential for improving our understanding of socio-economic differentials in health. In closing, the article offers some directions for future research, and identifies three issues: the type of qualitative approach adopted; the nature of linguistic accounts; and the need for a theoretical framework, to which future research should attend.
Health Psychology and Discourse
Authors: Schou Kirsten Costain , Hewison Jenny
Published: March 2007

Traditional social psychology has largely located the origins of the social in the mental and emotional processes of individuals. Interview and questionnaire approaches have focused on the personal account as a route to cognitive processes and personality structures. In contrast, qualitative approaches like grounded theory have highlighted the importance of discourse in the constitution of the social world, and the function of talk and text in the construction of meaning. It is argued here that the use of such approaches, informed by insights from discourse analysis and current thinking on textuality, can enable analysts to read the personal account as a socially constructed, and constructing, text. This article uses examples from psychosocial oncology and from original research on the treatment experiences of a group of cancer patients to discuss new ways of reading personal accounts as social texts.
Selling Mother's Love?
Authors: Knight John
Published: March 2007

This article examines rural-based mail order food businesses in Japan known as furusatokai. The sale of furusatokai produce takes place by means of a gift- like idiom in which the relationship between producer and consumer is likened to that between village parents and migrant children. The furusatokai is a Japanese example of the symbolic personalization of commodities.

A particular enterprise is analysed in relation to the ostensive entre preneurial vision of its founder for whom the maternal furusatokai products would appeal first and foremost to migrant sons in the city. However, this filiocentric vision of market demand has proved to be at odds with the actual profile of consumers. Instead, it is suggested that the maternal appeal of the furusatokai is better understood as providing consumer reassurance in a market situation of quality uncertainty.
From Theory To Practice
Authors: Palmer Catherine
Published: March 2007

This article discusses how the concept of banal nationalism can enable theories of national identity to be related to the lives of ordinary people. It links this concept to three key areas, the body, food and the landscape arguing that these are as much 'flags of identity' as are the more obvious symbols of national belonging: coins, costumes, anthems and ceremonies. It further states that these flags provide a system of reference within which aspects of the material world are used, consumed and experienced. It is, therefore, important to consider how this system operates so that a better understanding can be gained into how a sense of belonging and identity is communicated and maintained.
Discourse, Governmentality and Translation:
Authors: CARRABINE EAMONN
Published: March 2007

The central claim of this article is that microsociological accounts of prison life should not be divorced from questions that relate to the macrosociological roles that the institution performs in society. The argument developed in the article provides a way of thinking that brings the sociology of the prison into a more theoretically comprehensive account of strategies of domination and transformation, without falling victim to limited understandings of how imprisonment is experienced in time and place. To this end, the literature associated with `translation' and `governmentality' is described to indicate the key elements that enable an analysis of how power operates. The diverse forces, techniques and rationalities that comprise penal systems are deployed through the various discourses identified in the article. These discourses are discussed in relation to the dominant alignments present in an English prison from 1965 to 1990, the construction of gendered conduct and contemporary strategies of exclusion in the West to illustrate some elements in a move towards a social theory of imprisonment.
Masculinities, Violence and Defended Psychosocial Subjects
Authors: GADD DAVID
Published: March 2007

Against `structured action theory' and the `discourses of violence' approach this article argues for a psychoanalytic interpretive approach to reading violent men's accounts of their lives. Using material from a single case study the author challenges the idea that violence towards women is necessarily `masculinity accomplishing' and suggests how an approach which theorizes both the social and psychic can be deployed to address the issue of `change'. The strengths and limitations of positing a defended psychosocial subject in the research process are also discussed.
Institutional and Attitudinal Factors Involved in Higher Mortality of Israeli Women after Coronary Bypass Surgery: Another Case of Gender Bias
Authors: Remennick Larissa I. , Raanan Ofra
Published: March 2007

Despite their lower cardiovascular risks, women have higher case-fatality ratios after myocardial infarction (MI) and cardiac surgery. Along with women’s older age and co-morbidity, this reflects gender bias in the timely diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in many western countries. Drawing on the theoretical framework offered by McKinlay (1996), current study examined attitudes and practices contributing to late diagnosis and substandard treatment of cardiac symptoms in women. Personal interviews were conducted with 30 women and 25 men sampled via the data set of the national survey of coronary bypass operations in Israel in 1994. In this survey, women’s post-operative mortality has been found to be double that of men, also after adjustment for age and socio-economic factors. Interviews with the survivors helped elucidate some non-biological causes for female mortality disadvantage. Women’s accounts confirmed that primary practitioners often denied cardiac nature of symptoms presented by women and delayed their referral for in-depth testing and intensive treatment, while no such delays occurred with men presenting with similar complaints. Gender bias was stronger during the initial diagnostic process and gradually abated after women were labeled as ‘cardiac cases’ and referred for intensive treatment. At all stages of their ‘cardiac career,’ women received less support from their family members than did men. However, women’s own beliefs about their low cardiac risks and the primacy of family roles over health concerns may have also contributed to later diagnosis and poorer prognosis in women.
Reading Breast Cancer: Reflections on a Dangerous Intersection
Authors: Broom Dorothy
Published: March 2007

Because breast is the most common female cancer, it is no surprise that it has prompted lobbying and extensive clinical research. Many women have written autobiographical accounts of their diagnosis and treatment, but there has been little effort to apply the perspectives of feminist or other social theory to our understandings of breast cancer. I propose that breast cancer is located at a meeting point between (at least) four sets of discourses and practices: those relevant to all life-threatening illness, those surrounding most or all cancers, those informing female-specific conditions and conditions of the breast specifically. This article considers how each of those domains defines and informs experiences of breast cancer and its treatment. I offer a reflection on that four-way intersection, and a move towards specifying how sociocultural fears about death, disease, sexuality and femininity converge to isolate and silence women who are diagnosed, to frame their choices and experiences, and to shape their stories.
Perceptions of Legitimacy: The Influence on Medicine Taking and Prescribing
Authors: Stevenson Fiona A. , Britten Nicky , Barry Christine A. , Bradley Colin P. , Barber Nick
Published: March 2007

The terms non-compliance or non-adherence, in relation to medicine taking, contain the assumption that prescribers’ actions are legitimate and should be perceived as such by patients, and that non-adherence is deviant. Yet the high level of non-adherence suggests that patients do not necessarily perceive prescriptions in this way. We consider the relevance today of viewing non-adherence in terms of Weber’s concept of legitimacy. We also consider the more recent concept of concordance. Drawing on an analysis of interviews and consultations from a study of doctor–patient communication about drugs, we argue that decisions about prescribing and medicine taking are complex and take account of social as well as medical criteria. Moreover, any attempt to understand adherence needs to be flexible enough to encompass both a Weberian as well as a concordance approach to prescribing and medicine taking.
Medicine as Grooming Behavior: Potlatch of Care and Distributive Justice
Authors: Barilan Y. Michael
Published: March 2007

This article offers a conceptualization of medicine as based on the ethological term ‘grooming behavior’. This is a paradigm that frees medicine from strict dependence on definitions of health and disease. The paradigm is descriptive and it aims at a better understanding of our health – related habits and institutions. The article particularly tries to illuminate the beneficial aspects of ‘over-medicalization’ and wastefulness that allegedly characterize contemporary biomedicine, mainly the mitigation of social tensions and the provision of luring ethoses of human action as alternatives to individualism, militarism, and the like. ‘Medicine as grooming behavior’ balances the hegemonic vectors rampant in biomedicine. Moreover, contrary to the equilibrium concept of health, the article claims that each choice of grooming entails its own accord and discord with the human body. Therefore, desert for healthcare is not a unique right, nor can it be delineated naturally. The one desert people do have is the right to equal consideration of one’s subjective worldview. Medicine as grooming behavior enhances such consideration while it cultivates diversity and creativity, which are pivotal to human happiness and well being.
Bound and Gagged: Sexual Silences, Gender Conformity and the Gay Male Teacher
Authors: Rofes Eric
Published: March 2007

This article is a call for dialogue about the relationship between gay male sex cultures, gender performances and life in classrooms. It begins by examining representations of gay male school teachers in discourses produced by gay men, exploring what gay male culture may offer the field of education, how performativity as gay male college teachers may rupture traditional forces that keep in place an oppressive status quo, and the interconnections between sexual politics and education. After using a series of classroom events to illustrate dilemmas faced by one gay male teacher, this article explores the work of scholars of masculinities, and argues that gay male teachers, whose bodies, desires and practices transgress heteronormative constructs and patriarchal paradigms, have much to contribute to promoting democratic education and social change.
Glossy Subjects: G&L Magazine and `Tonghzi' Cultural Visibility in Taiwan
Authors: Erni John Nguyet , Spires Anthony J.
Published: March 2007

The burgeoning cultural practices among gays and lesbians in Taiwan in the 1990s provide an important context for considering broader questions about what has been called `weak group' ( ruoshi tuanti) identity politics, family life and modernity in Taiwan. This article examines the construction of gay and lesbian identities in Taiwan as expressed in their cultural consumption of an enormously popular magazine G&L (1996 - present). Through a qualitative, critical reading of the magazine, we explore the questions of consumption, family life and relationships, in the context of the practice of filial piety central to the Taiwanese sociocultural formation and individual subjectivity. We argue that `commodification' is an insufficient framework for understanding queer identity constructions in G&L, unless it recognizes the contradictory dynamics of new liberal democratic ideals and family politics negotiated in Taiwan's queer popular culture.
The Fuzzy Matrix of `My Type' in Intrapsychic Sexual Scripting
Authors: Whittier David Knapp , Simon William
Published: March 2007

More than 20 years ago, Plummer noted that:

...there are few studies that have enquired into the content of sexual meanings; and knowledge of their forms, nature and range is virtually non-existent. Similarly, little is known about the sources used for building up sexual meanings, and only fractionally more about the learning processes involved in the transmission of them. (Plummer, 1975: 30)

And to a large extent this is still true. An individual's personal sexual culture can tell us at least as much about the who, what, when, how and where he or she will engage in sexual behaviour as would the results of psychological measures (like `locus of control', `self esteem', etc.) that we might have administered.1 In this article, we describe in detail what is meant by intrapsychic scripting in sexual scripting theory and examine some of the most general aspects of the problematics of intrapsychic scripting of sexual desire, particularly as they find expression in specific interpersonal and masturbatory behaviours. That is, the exhibition of several major domains of meaning as they are contained in the subject's reports of their sexuality can illustrate this conceptualization of sexuality at the level of the intrapsychic script. The illustrations in this article are drawn from the tape-recorded interviews with four men who participated in a study of the sexual thoughts and behaviours of a larger number of gay-identified men living in the Houston area.
Whose `Special Treatment'? Heterosexism and the Problems with Liberalism
Authors: Brickell Chris
Published: March 2007

This article examines the circulation of heterosexist positions within several recent New Zealand media texts. It argues that a recent form of discourse engages liberal language and assumptions in ways that support the privileged position of heterosexuality and the marginalization of homosexuality. The examples given highlight not only the tenor of some recent representations of homosexuality, but also some problems within liberalism. Most notable of these are liberalism's individualism and its failure to recognize the systemic nature of hierarchical power relationships and the constituting of lesbian and gay subjectivities within these relationships. These problems allow liberalism to play an active part in processes of domination and subordination.
Culture Shock among Young British Volunteers Working Abroad: Predictors, Risk Factors and Outcome
Authors: Mumford David Bardwell
Published: March 2007

This study investigates the factors and circumstances that predict culture shock in young British volunteers working abroad, to identify those at risk to their mental health and of early return home. A new questionnaire to measure culture shock was developed for the study, derived from the literature on culture shock and first-hand reports by volunteers. Three hundred and eighty young British volunteers working in 27 countries completed the questionnaire 3 weeks after arrival. Cultural distance was the strongest predictor of culture shock, accounting for 36% of variance in questionnaire scores, followed by problems at work (14%). Higher culture shock scores at 3 weeks predicted a greater risk of early return home and lower satisfaction with their time abroad.
Kyol Goeu(‘Wind Overload’) Part I: A Cultural Syndrome of Orthostatic Panic among Khmer Refugees
Authors: Hinton Devon , Um Khin , Ba Phalnarith
Published: March 2007

Certain cultural syndromes seem to increase the risk of panic attacks by generating catastrophic cognitions about symptoms of autonomic arousal. These schemas create a constant anxious scanning of the body, hence facilitating, maintaining, and producing panic. As a case in point, a Khmer fainting syndrome,‘wind overload’ ( kyol goeu), results in dire expectations concerning the autonomic symptoms experienced upon standing, thus contributing to the high rate of orthostatically induced panic observed in this population.
Kurdish Refugees’ View of Politically Motivated Self-Immolation
Authors: Husni Mariwan , Koye Narmen , Cernovsky Zack Z. , Haggarty John
Published: March 2007

Self-immolation has been used as a political tool by various oppressed groups, including Kurdish refugees. To examine sociodemographic correlates of the views on self-immolation, we carried out semi-structured interviews with 54 Kurdish refugees (18 women, 36 men). The majority of these refugees (74.1%) indicated that they did not expect self-immolations to help in obtaining freedom for Kurdistan. Their opinions on this issue were uniform across educational and occupational levels, gender, number of years since escape, and other socio-demographic variables, except age. Younger refugees were less likely to see self-immolation as politically effective. The belief in self-immolation was uncorrelated with the frequency of post-traumatic nightmares dealing with the escape from or persecution in Kurdistan.
A Cultural Critique of the DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders Section
Authors: Lewis-Fernandez Roberto
Published: March 2007

The Dissociative Disorders subcommittee of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-sponsored Committee on Culture and Diagnosis proposed 36 specific textual recommendations for inclusion in DSM-IV, covering five themes: (i) most forms of dissociation around the world are normal, and must be distinguished from cross-cultural forms of pathological dissociation with the help of specific criteria; (ii) cultural factors influence the attribution of pathology to particular dissociative experiences; (iii) several dissociative illness syndromes were left out of DSM-III-R due to their cultural patterning (e.g. 'possession trance syndromes', ataques de nervios) and should be included; (iv) the inclusion of these syndromes should not be at the expense of subsuming parallel cultural nosologies under psychiatric nosology; and (v) the phenomenology of pathological dissociation across cultures displays considerable diversity. A review of the final text of DSM-IV reveals that 42% of these 36 items were included, 50% were rejected and 8% were incorporated in a simplified form. In general, data in favor of cross-cultural phenomenology were well received, but critique of the universality of DSM-IV diagnoses was not tolerated. Textual proposals presenting psychiatric anthropological issues were not included, whether on the need for cultural experts, the cultural roots of illness forms, or the social function of symptoms. While the inclusion of some cultural items signals a step forward in the cross-cultural validity of the DSM, work still has to be done to ensure the global applicability of the current dissociative disorder diagnoses as well as their social and clinical usefulness.
Pantomimes of pain, distress, repose and lability: the world of the preterm baby
Authors: Carter Bernadette
Published: March 2007

■ Little research exists in relation to the world of the preterm baby nursed in moderate- to high-dependency neonatal units

■ A constructivist approach allowed study of the responses of preterm babies to painful stimuli in relation to other patterns of behaviour

■ Heuristic analysis demonstrated four pantomimes: repose, lability, distress and pain

■ Babies used active self-coping strategies to contain pain, distress and lability

■ Babies signalled the need for support with both characteristic hand positions and grosser movements

■ The need for supportive, skilled nursing care and close assessment of behavioural state is indicated
Review : Assessing clinical competence of practitioners in children's nursing diploma programmes
Authors: Parker Pamela M. , Sheldon Lesley M.
Published: March 2007

■ Children's nursing is a speciality that is particularly complex and challenging, and to be skilled and competent, nurses need to have the practical/technical dexterity, knowledge base and experience to care for the child as a whole

■ To assess practice-based experience, students are exposed to children in a variety of settings, the aim being to enable them to practice as safe and competent practitioners, meeting child and family needs for nursing intervention in both hospital and community settings

■ It is vital that the assessment of practice in all these settings encompasses the skills that are essential to a practitioner who is a 'competent performer'

■ Clinical learning outcomes are used for practice-based assessment, and the tool used is a written action plan which also identifies the actions, resources, time frame for achievement and how this achievement will be validated
Review : Health visiting with Roy's Model: a case study
Authors: Lankester Keith , Sheldon Lesley M.
Published: March 2007

■ Tracheomalacia is a congenital disorder characterised by respiratory distress.
The Fokker story
Authors: Tyson Neil
Published: March 2007

The 'Fokker crisis' was the major national media event in the Netherlands as the Netherlands-based aircraft builder Fokker faulted when exposed to global competition. A qualitative reading of media coverage reveals that Fokker's future pivoted on global capitalism's impact on the relationship between the public sphere, the nation-state and industry, as various action groups reworked Fokker as an icon of Netherlands nationality. These were direct pleas within the public sphere for citizens to influence the political decision-making process. Ethnographic reception studies reveal that citizens felt powerless to act on what they perceived as an important national event. Thus a major news story contributes to a sense of powerlessness, the media not locating citizens as political subjects operating in a democratic public sphere, but rather that news is consumed as a cultural ritual enhancing social relations of domination.
The Contribution of the Potential for Evaluation to Coaction Effects
Authors: Szymanski Kate , Garczynski Judith , Harkins Stephen
Published: March 2007

Previous research on social facilitation (e.g. Harkins, 1987) has made it clear that the potential for evaluation plays a role in producing coaction effects, but has left unclear the source of these effects. Subsequent research (e.g. Szymanski & Harkins, 1987, 1993) has shown that the potential for self-evaluation and experimenter evaluation each produce performance greater than that found in a `no evaluation' control group. However, the combination of these sources produces performance no better than either taken alone. In Experiment 1, we show that the potential for evaluation by a coactor also produces performance better than that found in a `no evaluation' control group, and that the combination of these sources (coactor plus self) also produces performance no better than either taken alone. Experiment 2 shows that the combination of the potential for evaluation by the experimenter and a coactor does produce better performance than either source taken alone. These findings suggest that, although adding external sources of evaluation contributes to the potency of the coaction effect, adding the potential for self-evaluation to the potential for evaluation by external sources does not.
Collective Efficacy and Aspects of Shared Mental Models as Predictors of Performance Over Time in Work Groups
Authors: Peterson Erika , Mitchell Terence R. , Thompson Leigh , Burr Renu
Published: March 2007

We assessed collective efficacy (a group's judgment of their ability to perform a particular task) and some dimensions of shared mental models (models of the group structure, process and the task, that members hold in common) in student groups working on semester-long research projects. In particular, we assessed the extent to which group members had agreement and accuracy about members' past and future contributions to the group project, and agreement about the importance of various task aspects. Groups with higher efficacy early in the semester had more agreement and accuracy later in the semester. However, the reverse was not true; the extent to which agreement and accuracy developed early in the semester was not correlated with collective efficacy later in the semester. Also, groups with higher collective efficacy (as measured early and late in the semester) and more shared mental models (as measured late in the semester) received higher grades on their projects. A number of task process and social process variables were tested as possible mediators of these relationships; however, no significant mediators were found.
Assessing Identity Change: A Longitudinal Study of the Transition from School to College
Authors: Cassidy Clare , Trew Karen
Published: March 2007

The impact of a major life transition on identity change is examined in this longitudinal study. Drawing on a framework provided by symbolic interactionism and identity theory (Stryker, 1968, 1987), we examined global self-esteem, interactional commitment and the identity hierarchies of a group of students while they were in secondary school and, again one year later, when they had made the transition to further or higher education. Overall, the data suggested considerable stability across all identities. Analysis examining the relationships among interactional commitment, self-esteem and psychological centrality provided some support for the theoretical framework but also highlighted differences across identities. The implications for future models of long-term identity change are discussed.
The Relative Impact of Socio-Structural Characteristics on Behavioral Reactions Against Membership in a Low-Status Group
Authors: Boen Filip , Vanbeselaere Norbert
Published: March 2007

This experiment examined how structural characteristics of an intergroup relationship influence the behavioral reactions by members of a low-status group. Participants were 542 pupils (aged 11-12 years) who were led to believe that their school class had a low intergroup status. A 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design was created by manipulating the legitimacy of the low group status, the stability of that status, the permeability of the group boundaries, and the perceived of the individual ability of the group members. Contrary to predictions derived from existing intergroup theories, these factors did not interact in determining participants’ strategy choice. The three feasibility factors (i.e. stability, permeability, and individual ability) produced substantial main effects on the choice between individual and collective strategies. The impact of legitimacy on strategy choice was rather modest and limited to collective nonnormative action and acceptance. On the other hand, legitimacy was an important determinant of ingroup bias as measured by a monetary division task. The implications for existing intergroup theories are discussed.
Toward a Discourse Approach to Polling
Authors: LIPARI LISBETH
Published: March 2007

This article presents a discourse model of polling that investigates what poll discourse is, how it is structured and how it functions. In contrast to most polling research, which presupposes polling to be primarily a psychological measurement tool, this article explores how it is primarily a discursive form of social interaction. Using the tools of discourse analysis, the model reveals that far from reflecting the beliefs and preferences of citizens, poll questions can instead tacitly evoke and sustain conservative and status quo ideologies. Hence polls can play a significant role in constructing what is admissible and legitimate in political discourse.
Good Governance and European Aid
Authors: Zanger Sabine C.
Published: March 2007

This research analyses whether Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the European Community/European Union (EC/EU) between 1980 and 1995 rewarded good governance in developing countries, using OLS regressions for three cross-sections over that time period. The results show that good governance, in the form of respect for basic human rights, democratic structures and low military spending, did not play a consistent or prominent role in European aid. The coordination between the European donors however seems to have increased during the first half of the 1990s. France and the UK give more aid to their former colonies, the EC/EU favours ACP countries. The results also indicate that both strategic and economic factors influence ODA distribution, whereas recipient needs receive only limited attention.
Information, Lobbying and the Legislative Process in the European Union
Authors: Crombez Christophe
Published: March 2007

This article presents spatial models of policy-making in the European Union and focuses on interest group lobbying. It analyzes the two principal legislative procedures: consultation and codecision. Lobbying is modeled as a game of strategic information transmission from an informed lobbyist to uninformed policy makers. The theory characterizes sets of proposals that can be adopted under both procedures and determines the proposers' optimal proposal strategies. It analyzes the lobbyist's lobbying strategies at the proposal and vote stages, and studies policy makers' voting strategies. The article's principal conclusions are that at the proposal stage it is optimal for the lobbyist to lobby a policy maker with preferences close to her own, whereas at the vote stage it is optimal for her to lobby the pivotal policy maker.
Fiscal Policy and the Democratic Process in the European Union
Authors: Clark William Roberts , Golder Matt , Golder Sona Nadenichek
Published: March 2007

The construction of a monetary union with a single currency in Europe raises serious concerns for those who understand the democratic process as one in which social groups compete on different ideological programs. This is because it increasingly constrains national governments of different partisan hues to follow similar fiscal and monetary policies. Recent empirical studies indicate that these concerns might be somewhat misplaced since there is evidence that partisan convergence on macroeconomic policy predates these institutional developments. One problem with these studies, though, is that they fail to include the electoral system as a constraint on partisan behavior. Since electoral systems generate centripetal and centrifugal tendencies, we should expect to find strong evidence for partisan differences only where electoral rules encourage dispersion. We test this argument using data on fiscal policy from European Union countries between 1981 and 1992. We find that there is still no systematic evidence for partisan differences. Given this, it is hard to see how EMU can add to the democratic deficit in the European Union.
An Ethical Advisory Group in a Learning Disability Service
Authors: Malin Nigel A. , Wilmot Stephen
Published: March 2007

This is the second of three papers reporting on a study of the work of an ethical advisory group working within a learning disability service. The part of the study reported in this paper sets out to investigate the ethical content of the group's output by studying the content of its discussions, and its processes of decision-making and conflict management. Three consecutive meetings of the group were recorded and observed. Also, individual members were interviewed. Meeting transcripts were subjected to a qualitative analysis. This revealed that a wide range of ethics-related concepts were articulated in the meetings, and a productive balance seemed to be achieved between conflicting principles. The major tension was between the ethics of care and protection, and the ethics of autonomy. The concept of duty was only expressed in the context of the duty of care, and the ethics of character and virtue were absent, perhaps justifiably. Overt conflict was almost entirely absent, and probably for this reason opinions were sometimes expressed without supporting argument. However the conflict of principles supplied the element of controversy recommended in the literature. The group also showed a willingness to subject its parent organization's actions to ethical analysis.
Review of a Local Secure Service Provision for People with Learning Disabilities and Complex Health Care Needs
Authors: Fernando Harsha , Sockalingum Alain
Published: March 2007

This article examines a National Health Service (NHS) secure service provision for people with learning disabilities and complex health care needs in Cambridgeshire, England. It explains how this service operates, the types of referrals it received during the first 5 years after opening and the problems encountered for the service, for the NHS as provider and for the primary care Trust as purchaser. It concludes on the future direction and need to refocus the service to meet the local health care needs of this population, including greater partnership and joint collaboration with social service departments as key stakeholders, and other agencies to plan and develop services to move individuals from a secure hospital environment into the community.
Measuring Human Capital
Authors: Provo Joanne
Published: March 2007

The Problem and the Solution. For decades, capital has been considered the scarcest resource in an organization, and numerous financial techniques were developed to ensure maximum returns on the organization's capital The problem is that now the scarcest resource is recognized to be human capital, and using the traditional measurement systems for ensuring maximum returns on this form of capital results only in the misallocation of resources This chapter suggests an alternative to the traditional financial techniques that incorporates the strategic positioning of organization's human capital
That Old Fungible Feeling
Authors: Russ-Eft Darlene
Published: March 2007

The Problem and the Solution. Different views of the individual and the organization exist among HRD professionals Articulating and embracing these different views within the context of particular interventions or research efforts will inform these efforts and help to create an evolving definition of H RD
Nursing Human Resource Planning in Alberta: What Went Wrong?
Authors: Scott-Findlay Shannon , Estabrooks Carole A. , Cohn Daniel , Pollock Carolee
Published: March 2007

Health care organizations in most of the Western world are struggling with a shortage of nurses. An aging population with greater health care needs, a graying profession, declining nursing school enrollments, and more career choices for women all contribute to the shortage. The extent of the Canadian registered nursing shortage is predicted to reach between 60,000 and 112,000 by 2011. Through this policy analysis, it is shown how a number of factors conspired to create the current nursing shortage in Alberta. Through the analysis of qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, five themes are identified as factors causing this shortage. These themes are national and provincial political contexts during the 1990s, increased need for nurses, lack of timely information, nurses’ political inexperience, and a loss of institutional nursing leadership. Recommendations to address the crisis are also presented.
Smart Cards: Nurses at the Forefront of Radical Advances in Health Care
Authors: Corcoran Diane K. , Anderson Ruth A.
Published: March 2007

Smart card technology is about to emerge as a major solution to many of the problems currently faced in health care. At a minimum, smart cards will help with efficiency, patient safety, accuracy of documentation, medication ordering and dispensing, and overall quality of care. In this article, the authors describe the technology, its capabilities, and potential uses. They urge nurses to prepare themselves to be at the forefront of the radical changes that will occur with smart card technology.
Medicare at the Crossroads
Authors: Wakefield Mary K.
Published: March 2007

The 107th Congress will be faced with the task of Medicare reform. It may only take the form of a limited prescription drug benefit or it may involve comprehensive structural reform. For nearly 36 years, the Medicare program and its structural components, entitlement status, financing methodology, and basic benefit package have remained fairly stable. The Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, passed in the late 1980s and repealed a year later, would have achieved substantial reform, especially in the area of prescription drug coverage. Concern about the solvency of the Medicare trust fund after the year 2030 provides an even more urgent call for reform.
Title V-CSHCN: A Closer Look at the Shaping of the National Agenda for Children with Special Health Care Needs
Authors: Kruger Barbara J.
Published: March 2007

Nursing practice and policy are inextricably linked. Nurses who provide services within state Title V programs for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) are particularly cognizant of the policy context. The development of “family-centered, community-based, coordinated, and culturally competent systems of care for all children with special health care needs” is a phrase that rolls off our tongues. But how was current policy shaped? This article provides a brief historical background of the broader perspective of Title V-CSHCN programs. Kingdon’s multiple streams approach to policy formation is used as a conceptual framework to explore how policy was transformed in the 1980s to shape the national agenda for CSHCN. The article also discusses the effect of internal and external forces on the refinement of that agenda during the 1990s. Relevance for nursing practice is discussed, with validation that nurses can influence future policy development and implementation—in partnership with families.
The Uninsured, Tax Credits, and Crowd-Out
Authors: Hendrix Thomas J.
Published: March 2007

It is estimated that there will be 54 million citizens without health insurance in 2007. The nursing profession should consider policies that reduce the number of uninsured. This article describes the characteristics of the uninsured and the possible impact of tax credits and addresses some criticisms of tax credits. One of these criticisms is “crowd-out,” whereby those already possessing health insurance take advantage of policies meant to address the uninsured. Therefore, a percentage of the expenditure goes to the already insured. Several studies have estimated crowd-out in the Children’s Health Insurance Program and although each finds crowd-out, the levels appear low (11%-20%). The article concludes with a recommendation that nursing support refundable tax credits because they would reduce the uninsured, remove penalties for those already purchasing private insurance, and potentially create opportunities for nursing as consumers of health care are given additional choices.
High Moisture Permeability Polyurethane for Textile Applications
Authors: Hayashi S. , Ishikawa N. , Giordano C.
Published: March 2007

A polyurethane having both a high permeable property at warm tem peratures and a thermal insulate property at cold temperatures was developed with significantly different levels of permeability within a narrow temperature range. The development was made in order to achieve a breathable, waterproof sportswear material that would react to variations in temperature and ultimately provide a higher level of comfort.
Development of Heat and Cold Insulating Membrane Structures with Phase Change Material
Authors: Pause Barbara
Published: March 2007

Membrane materials used for roof structures of buildings have a relatively low thermal insulation capacity compared to the classic building materials. Phase Change Materials are applied to improve the insulation effect of the membrane materials. Phase Change Materials absorb energy during a heating process if the Phase Change takes place. Otherwise this energy can be transferred to the environ ment in the phase change range during a reverse cooling process. The insulation ef fect reached by the Phase Change Material is dependent on temperature and time, and presents in this way a new kind of insulation very different from the insulation properties of any other material. The development of new testing methods was nec essary to determine the insulation effect of materials which incorporated Phase Change Materials.
Novel Intumescent Applications to Textiles
Authors: Horrocks Richard , Kandola Baljinder K.
Published: March 2007

Recently the use of intumescents that interact with flame retardant fibres during the application of heat to form a novel char structure showing unusually high flame and heat resistance has been reported [1]. The interactive pyrolytic mecha nisms of both components creates a char-bonded structure that is unusually resistant to oxidation. This paper extends the previous work to include flame retardant cotton; it studies the evidence of this interaction by thermo-analytical and scanning electron microscopic studies. The char formation characteristics and oxidative resistance ofthe composites have been studied by mass loss calorimetry at heat flux rates in the range 25-75 kW.m-2.