bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Social Construction of International Society
Authors: DUNNE TIMOTHY
Published: March 2007

Metatheoretical debates, once the preserve of political and social theory, have entered the iron cage of International Relations. This article opens with a discussion of these debates, in particular the argument that the social sciences have inherited two radically different understandings of the nature of the social world: `objectivism' and `subjectivism'. The argument made in Section 2 of the article is that contemporary metatheorists like Onuf, Wendt and Hollis and Smith have consistently underestimated the `subjectivism' of theorists such as Charles Manning, Martin Wight, Hedley Bull and Adam Watson who were united in their belief that states, through their interaction, reflexively formed a society. And crucially, the very existence of that society shapes the identity of states. This leads to an examination of the `subjectivist' treatment of the institutions of international society and how this differs from the contemporary `objectivism' of neoliberalism and neorealism. Lastly, the article explores the question how far the classical constructivists such as Hedley Bull are more sceptical than neoconstructivists such as Alexander Wendt about the capacity for the practices of the society of states to be reconstituted.
Democracy and the Future of European Peace
Authors: GLEDITSCH NILS PETTER
Published: March 2007

No region equals Europe in the history of war and genocide. The question of war or peace in Europe is thus not just a regional but also a global concern. Since 1945, however, Europe has been comparatively peaceful. Several factors which have been invoked to explain `the long peace' in Europe are discussed here: bipolarity, nuclear deterrence, displacement of war, interdependence, de-learning of war, a common ideology, uniting in the face of a common enemy, and democracy. While the relevance of nuclear deterrence cannot be dismissed in the case of the East-West conflict, stable democracy would seem to provide the most solid foundation for peace in Europe in the future. The peace-building functions of the European Union are mainly relevant to the extent that they contribute to the consolidation of the democratic system in new and vulnerable democracies. Today, the prospects for a lasting democratic peace in Europe are better than ever, but it will be some time before they extend to the whole continent, and the possibility of major reversals cannot be ruled out completely. A temptation may arise for democratic norms to be enforced by military means. However, the case for spreading democracy by force rests on very uncertain foundations.
The Worlds of Finance:
Authors: GERMAIN RANDALL D.
Published: March 2007

The professed multidisciplinarity of IPE rarely extends to taking history and the historical mode of thought seriously. This article explores the relevance to IPE of the work of one historian, Fernand Braudel, and asks what insights his approach might provide for the study of finance. It argues that a Braudelian perspective on IPE allows us to apprehend the structural organization of the international economy in an innovative and perceptive way. In particular, a consideration of finance from this perspective reveals that the institutional networks which constitute the `worlds' of finance perceive and respond to quite different motivating forces, and that these different impulses provide inherent structural impediments to the spread of globalization beyond what Braudel calls the realm of capitalism, the non-transparent arena in which speculation and large-scale risk-taking predominate. The article closes on a reflective note by considering Braudel's place within the discipline and by noting the challenge posed to IPE by adopting the historical mode of thought.
Catching the EC Train:
Authors: DUPONT CÉDRIC , SCIARINI PASCAL , LUTTERBECK DEREK
Published: March 2007

The adoption of the Single Market programme in the mid-1980s represented a genuine challenge for the small EFTA countries. This common challenge did not lead to similar responses, however. Our contribution aims at highlighting this diversity through a comparative analysis of Austria and Switzerland. We focus on how decision-makers in the two countries amended central policy courses in response to these changes. Based on the analytical concept of coherence that takes into account internal as well as external aspects of foreign policy-making we examine whether these policy amendments were consistent with domestic and international constraints. We show that Austria is a case of good strategic mastery by the government. Coherence with both the domestic and the external context resulted in a determined course of action that pushed Austria smoothly into the Community. In contrast, fellow EFTA member, Switzerland, suffered major policy setbacks with regard to European integration. Most noticeably, the Swiss government showed a very poor strategic understanding of the external context and believed that the European Economic Area would provide Switzerland with both market access and political rights. The end result is that Switzerland finds itself being the former EFTA country with the smallest access to the Single Market.
How Can Discontinuities in Evolution Be Conceptualized?
Authors: Damerow Peter
Published: March 2007

Causal effects are different from evolutionary discontinuities. As far as Lock (2000) and Savage-Rumbaugh and Fields (2000) deal with the relation of animal behavior and human activity, they have in common that they argue against an implicit misinterpretation of evolutionary discontinuities as causal effects. As a consequence, it is argued in both papers that it is not the biologically determined animal nature that prevents primates from using human language. The two papers disagree, however, on Bickerton’s distinction of protolanguage and language proper and, therefore, on the nature of ‘ape language’. It is argued in the present commentary that this different judgment results from the fact that evolutionary progress appears continuous on the level of the individual, but discontinuous on the level of a whole population.
Tasks, Tools and the Boundaries of the Discursive
Authors: HarrÈ Rom
Published: March 2007

Abandoning the container account of memory needs supplementing by the task/tool metaphor. That memories are ‘true’ recollections requires a social constructionist intrepretation, attention to the roles of formal records and the dramaturgy of displays. Technology and tradition are both, in the end, narrative forms.
The Construction of a Personal Position Repertoire: Method and Practice
Authors: Hermans Hubert J.M.
Published: March 2007

In the light of the preceding article (Hermans, 2001), a new method, the Personal Position Repertoire (PPR), is presented that can be used in research and practice. The method is illustrated with several actual case studies showing the different parts and steps of the method to be followed. Special emphasis is given to the organization and reorganization of the position repertoire, to the implied meaning units and their affective connotations. Three key concepts are elaborated in the method: multivoicedness, dialogical interchange and power. The illustrations show how these concepts can be investigated in their combination. Finally, two case studies are presented from a couple, a Dutch woman and an Algerian man, living on the contact zones of two cultures. The place of cultural positions as part of their position repertoire is discussed.
Cognition as a Black Box: The Blind Date of Mind and Culture
Authors: Blanco Florentino
Published: March 2007

Building upon Wassmann's (1995) dialogue, it is claimed that a debate between psychology and anthropology cannot be reduced to narrow issues of methodology. The core of the dialogue is in the conceptual domain-how does knowledge emerge, and what is its nature? Knowledge always appears situated in action, and the type of knowledge involved in the interface between the individual and his or her group necessarily has a communicative, discursive character. The type of knowledge about cultural and mental processes always assumes the social embeddedness of human individuals. Hence both psychological processes and cultural phenomena may be viewed as inherently chaotic. Nevertheless there needs to exist some pre-organized state of the phenomena on which meanings can be built. The problem of the relationship between psychology and anthropology cannot be reduced to the relationship between cognitive psychology and cognitive anthropology, but requires a historical approach to the processes of emergence of cultural meanings.
Masculinity and Cultural Change: Wild Men
Authors: Parker Ian
Published: March 2007

New images of masculinity in Robert Bly's Iron John (1990/1991) are explored using versions of discourse analysis and psychoanalytic theory. Different discursively constructed forms of masculinity also reproduce forms of psychoanalytic knowledge (in this case Reichian and Habermasian forms), and the task of the analysis is to demonstrate how that knowledge is structured. The 'Wild Man' is the eruption into the body politic of a new version of psychoanalytic subjectivity. The analysis focuses on the meeting-point between discourses which supply surfaces of emergence for different models of the individual and experiential dynamics which are organized into different subjective configurations in and against language. This meeting-point is analytically decomposed into a series of 'discursive complexes'. Discursive complexes are both systems of statements (discourses) and psychoanalytic themes. This type of analysis is concerned in general with the workings of ideology, and in this particular case with authoritarianism. The ideological context is explored (through complexes of distortion, separation and castration) in order to understand the ways in which the social shapes and meanings of masculine authority are being transformed and reproduced.
The Multivoicedness of Historical Representations in a Changing Sociocultural Context: Young Polish Adults' Representations of World War II
Authors: &Lstroke;uczyński Jan
Published: March 2007

This article deals with the problem of the formation of historical representation from the perspective of mediational means and mediated action. According to this approach, mental representations emerge as a result of individuals' actions performed with mediational means such as language. These mediational means are provided by the sociocultural setting in which individuals function. The article analyses the impact that recent profound political, economic, social and cultural changes which have taken place in Eastern Europe have had on the formation of historical representation. The sociocultural changes involved are illustrated by changes in the official account of important historical events as presented in high school textbooks. The historical representations of individuals are examined through an analysis of essays about World War II written by 21 undergraduate students in 1992. Several narrative elements were identified and analysed. The results indicate that the subjects' representations of World War II were rather poorly organized and that elements of the official history continue to prevail in them. A few narrative elements from what was unofficial history during the socialist period were incorporated into official history, but they were the exception and were not well integrated into the structure of the texts produced by the subjects. It is concluded that the representations of social phenomena such as historical events are formed with the use of mediational means available in a given sociocultural setting and that it may be quite difficult to restructure these mediational means when the sociocultural setting undergoes rapid change.
Contrastive Semantics and Cultural Psychology: 'Surprise' in Malay and English
Authors: Goddard Cliff
Published: March 2007

This paper argues that psychology has yet to come fully to grips with the extent of semantic variation between languages, and that it can benefit, in this regard, from certain developments in linguistic semantics. It outlines Anna Wierzbicka's 'natural semantic metalanguage' (NSM) approach to cross-cultural semantics, and demonstrates the approach through a contrastive study of 'surprise-like' words from two languages: Malay (terkejut, terperanjat, hairan) and English (surprised, amazed, shocked, startled). It is shown that there is no exact Malay equivalent to English surprise; and also that there is no semantic core shared by the various terms, only a loose set of cross-cutting and overlapping semantic correspondences. These results are at odds with the classic 'basic emotions' position, which would have it that 'surprise' is a universal and discrete biological syndrome. The overriding contention of the paper is that Wierzbicka's approach to linguistic semantics can furnish psychology with valuable new analytical and descriptive tools
Collective Representations As a Metaconstruct: An Analysis Based on Methodological Relationalism
Authors: Ho David Yau-Fai , Chiu Chi-Yue
Published: March 2007

The authors discem an emerging paradigmatic shift in psychology: from methodological individualism to methodological relationalism, which asserts that social behavior invariably takes place in relational contexts, regardless of socioeconomic or cultural variations. Informed by methodological relationalism, we revisit the debate over collective representations, regarded as a metaconstruct designating collective representations as members of a class of constructs. This class may be restricted to constructs designating shared meanings and reality (e.g. knowledge, beliefs and values) among a collectivity of individuals. The article is then devoted to a clarification of what is meant by 'shared meanings and reality' and 'collectivity'. A study of two particular collective representations, individualism and collectivism, follows. We present a method for obtaining variant estimates of three variables: (a) collective sharing, (b) representations of generalized others, and (c) collective nonconformity. Having outlined a procedure for approximating collective representations through a summation of individual representations, we pose a challenge to methodological holists to be more explicit in delineating the emergent properties of collective representations.
Beyond the Dilemma of Cross-Cultural Psychology: Resolving the Tension between Etic and Emic Approaches
Authors: Helfrich Hede
Published: March 2007

The dynamics of cross-cultural psychology derive from the basic dilemma between the etic and the emic approach. Following a critique of the two approaches, I attempt to resolve the tension between the two approaches by presenting a conceptual framework called the triarchic resonance principle. This principle explicitly takes the dynamic relationship between culture, individual and ecological task demands into account. This dynamic relationship is exhibited by three different perspectives of temporal development—ontogenetic development, cultural change and microgenetic development of ecological task demands—which are integrated into a common model. The conceptual framework is illustrated with examples from research on intelligence and perception.
Helfrich’s ‘Principle of Triarchic Resonance’: A Commentary on Yet Another Perspective on the Ongoing and Tenacious Etic–Emic Debate
Authors: Lonner Walter J.
Published: March 2007

The so-called etic–emic ‘dilemma’ has been pervasive, tenacious and constantly debatable in cross-cultural psychology ever since the terms were borrowed from the field of psycholinguistics and introduced to culture-comparative research in the 1960s. However, neither then nor now has there been a clear and completely useful differentiation between ‘etic’ and ‘emic’ perspectives. Furthermore, the etic–emic distinction, seemingly omnipresent in theoretical discussions, often failed to inform methodology and research practices. These difficulties have persisted in current cross-cultural research and theorizing, and the central question of how generalizable psychological findings are continues to challenge scientific psychology. It is argued that similar concepts have appeared in various theoretical guises over the years, and that one must be mindful of the importance of the basic ideas behind these terms. From this historical perspective, Helfrich’s (1999) discussion of the etic– emic dilemma and her ‘principle of triarchic resonance’ are useful, but partially redundant, contributions to the literature.
Party Strength, Party Change and Policy-Making in the American States
Authors: Barrilleaux Charles
Published: March 2007

This research tests the effects of changing party strength on the representativeness of policy-making in American state legislatures. Building upon research initially presented by Robert Erikson, Gerald Wright and John McIver, it shows that Democrat-dominated state legislatures produce public policies that are more liberal and more consistent with the ideological positions of their constituents when they are faced with increased Republican party success in winning elections. Democrats whose majorities are eroding respond by producing policies consistent with the demands of their core constituents, while those who do not face lessened strength are able to drift right in their policy-making. A similar result holds in the few cases in which Republicans dominate state legislatures: increased Democratic strength leads them to respond by enacting more conservative public policies. Where neither party dominates, results indicate that policy outputs are what would be expected by the well-developed median voter model: they approach the middle ground. Data for the analysis represent 46 American states and are centered on 1980, and models are estimated using ordinary least squares regression.
Post-materialism Versus the Welfare State?
Authors: Erickson Lynda , Laycock David
Published: March 2007

Theories of contemporary social democracy suggest parties of the left may have to alter their views on the welfare state and shift their emphases in policy priorities to remain electorally competitive. In this article, we examine the structure of opinion within the New Democratic Party with regard to conventional welfare state policies, ideas on equity and post-materialist issues. We find no evidence of a muted egalitarianism or increasingly selective support for the redistributive agenda of the welfare state, and little evidence of internal party divisions rooted in a middle-class defection from the traditional programs of the welfare state. Nor is there a materialist-post-materialist division within the party. Our data show that post-materialist inclinations increase with support for a class redistributionist, materialist policy agenda. Our findings cast doubt on the `new politics' thesis that post-materialist agendas will crowd out materialist policy issues and add to skepticism concerning an imminent post-materialist redefinition of social democratic strategic and policy choices.
Christian Democracy and the Paradoxes of Europeanization
Authors: Hanley David
Published: March 2007

Europeanization is seen as a two-way interaction between developments at European Union (EU) and national levels. Applied to the European People's Party (EPP), it is discussed with reference to ideological/programmatic and organizational changes. Ideologically, EPP has kept its perennial federalism, but on the left/right axis, has shifted towards liberal economics at the expense of traditional Christian Democrat values. Organizationally, this shift has been complemented by moves to incorporate liberal-conservative parties, especially in areas where Christian democracy has been historically weak, including EU candidate states. This flexible approach has nevertheless encountered limits and also created tension between purists and realists concerned with number rather than quality. Europeanization appears as a dynamic, unruly and sometimes contradictory process.
The Paradox of the Anti-Party Party
Authors: Mudde Cas
Published: March 2007

On the basis of an extensive analysis of the party literature of three extreme-right parties, the paradox of the anti-party party is studied. Two types of anti-party sentiments are distinguished: extremist and populist. The first type holds a rejection of the political party per se and seems to have gone out of vogue. The second type holds a critique of certain parties either on the basis of their policies or their behaviour. It is these sentiments that are (omni)present, in different interlinked themes, in the literature of extreme-right parties. They serve, on the one hand, to help them to profit from the existing anti-party sentiments at the mass level and, on the other hand, to help them present themselves in a positive manner, by self-defining the party as the opposite of the other parties. It is thus that the paradox of the anti-party parties can exist.
From Communitarian Protest towards Institutionalization
Authors: Tossutti Livianna S.
Published: March 2007

Lawson and Merkl have identified four alternative organizations that emerge when major parties fail to provide linkage with electorates. They include communitarian parties, which target their appeals to demographic subgroups, and supplementary parties, which champion general issues that have been ignored by established parties. Italy's Lega Nord and the Canadian Reform Party are two parties that have distanced themselves from their `communitarian' roots in efforts to attract a broader cross-section of voters. Through a combination of strategic positioning and major party failure, they have transformed themselves from parties with a very limited support base into supplementary parties with `catch-all' appeal. Nevertheless, both the Lega and Reform have failed to bridge crucial regional or linguistic cleavages. Their ability to expand is also threatened by internal dissension and revitalized major parties.
Providing Clear Cues
Authors: Reed Steven R.
Published: March 2007

The 1993 election brought to an end the 39-year rule of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The major issue in that election campaign was the `political reform' that the government had twice promised and twice failed to deliver. Using data aggregated at the candidate level, the paper examines the question of whether the electorate were attracted to those candidates who participated in the reform movement. Candidates running for political parties standing for reform and leaders of reform groups were handsomely rewarded. LDP candidates who voted for or abstained from voting against the no-confidence motion that forced the election also gained votes. Candidates tainted with scandal and LDP incumbents lost votes. Yet the rank and file of the reform movement were treated no differently than other candidates. Though Japanese voters could not make fine distinctions among candidates, they proved perfectly capable of rewarding those clearly identified with reform.
Party-Orchestrated Activities for Legislative Party Goals
Authors: Kolodny Robin , Dwyre Diana
Published: March 2007

Recent efforts by the congressional campaign committees (CCCs), the party organizations charged with electing candidates to the US House of Representatives, have been unusually proactive in pursuing House majorities. The CCCs convinced other party-related actors, such as the national committees, political action committees (PACs) and members of Congress, to help achieve majorities in the House. These party-orchestrated activities are notable for their focus on the legislative party's goals, rather than on the party's presidential candidate. The cooperative efforts of the CCCs with their respective national committees, their attempts to induce cooperation from the PAC community, and their outreach for assistance from their own office-holders are explored. These initiatives in the 1990s reflect a significant shift in tactics. They are a reaction to changes in the level of electoral competition, concurrent with the presence of party entrepreneurs who convinced other political actors to view the party's House electoral success as consistent with their own goals.
The Adoption of Membership Votes for Choosing Party Leaders
Authors: Carty R. K. , Blake Donald E.
Published: March 2007

This research note uses the Canadian case to explore the growing phenomenon of universal membership ballots of party members being used to choose party leaders. The special leadership selection conventions long used in Canada are rapidly giving way to processes in which all members are given a vote. After elaborating a typology by which we might conceptualize distinct every-member vote mechanisms, the note examines four cases to illustrate the typology's utility in assessing the comparative impact of different systems on party growth and membership participation.
Latent Variable Modelling of the Relationship Between Flow and Exercise-induced Feelings: An Intuitive Appraisal Perspective
Authors: Karageorghis Costas I. , Vlachopoulos Symeon P. , Terry Peter C.
Published: March 2007

The present study examined the relationship between self-reported levels of flow and the post-exercise feelings of positive engagement, revitalization, tranquillity and physical exhaustion using responses from 1231 aerobic dance exercise participants. <Vallerand’s intuitive-reflective appraisal model of self-related affect and Csikszentmihalyi’s conceptual framework for optimal experience served as the guiding theoretical frameworks. It was hypothesized that self-reported flow would be positively associated with revitalization, tranquillity and positive engagement, while statistical independence was expected for physical exhaustion. First, participants completed the Flow State Scale and, second, the Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory, immediately after an aerobic dance exercise class. Latent variable analyses showed that the higher-order flow factor was positively associated with post-exercise positive engagement, revitalization and tranquillity, but not with physical exhaustion. Flow state explained 35 percent of the variance in positive engagement, 31 percent of the variance in revitalization and 22 percent of the variance in tranquillity. It is concluded that self-reported flow in aerobic dance exercise is moderately associated with the experience of positive post-exercise feelings. Physicaleducators may wish to employ interventions to facilitate the flow experience during lessons that involve structured exercise.
Sportspersonship in Elite Sports: on the Effects of Personal and Environmental Factors on the Display of Sportspersonship Among Elite Male Handball Players
Authors: Stornes Tor
Published: March 2007

The present study investigates the characteristics of sportspersonship inelite handball. Results revealed a negative relationship between observed behaviour and the criteria for sportspersonship as presented by Vallerand and Losier (1994). This was especially evident with regard to players’ respect for officials, rules and opponents.Primarily ego-oriented goal perspectives were identified as making a reduction in sportspersonship evident. Moreover, social expectations significantly influenced players’ attitudes and their social, moral behaviour. In this respect the coach proved to be a major source of influence, especially on the less experienced younger players.Sportspersonship was primarily dependent on the subjective measurements ofutility,which predisposed the players to act out of self-interest (egoistic)and the interests of their team (tribalistic). Consistent with previous research presented by Vallerand, et al. (1997a), the results in general underscore the influence of the social context on moral behaviour in team sports.
Extra-Curricular Physical Activities and Physical Self-Perceptions in British 14ñ15-Year-Old Male and Female Adolescents
Authors: Daley Amanda J.
Published: March 2007

This investigation considers the differences in physical self-perceptions between participants and non-participants in extra-curricular physical activities. Pupils ( N= 1130) from schools in England and Wales were asked to complete the Children and Youth Physical Self-Perception Profile (1995) and a questionnaire containing physical activity items taken from the Young People and Sport Survey (1994). Data analyses indicated that participants involved in extra-curricular physical activities displayed significantly higher attractive body adequacy and physical self-worth scores than non-participants. Boys reported significantly higher sports competence, attractive body adequacy and physical self-worth scores than girls. These findings indicate that pupils who participate in extra-curricular activities may display higher self-perceptions in some perceived domains of their physical self.
Physical Education: Contested Positions, Competing Discourses — The Need for Renaissance?
Authors: Talbot Margaret
Published: March 2007

This paper is a reaction to contemporary concerns surrounding the place of physical education in school curricula. It is intended to be both an ideological outline of the central characteristics of school physical education and an attempt to evaluate the forces shaping the subject. The paper concludes with a summary of the place and position of physical education in professional as well as academic hierarchies.
Sport, Leisure and Perceived Self-Competence among Male and Female Adolescents
Authors: Trew Karen , Scully Deirdre , Kremer John , Ogle Shaun
Published: March 2007

The relationship between gender, perceived self-competence and physical activity has come under increasing scrutiny over recent years. Males are more likely than female >to consider themselves to be competent in the physical domain and to derive height >ened self-worth from physical activities, including sport.The present study considere >patterns of physical activity, with a particular focus on involvement with sport, amon >a sample of 602 young people.The study was based on diary reports and face-to-fac >interviews, along with measures of perceived self-competence and self-worth a >derived from the work of Harter. The results indicated that boys spent more tim >participating in sport than girls and that boys reported higher perceptions of ‘athleti >self-competence’ and ‘global self-worth’ than girls. At the same time, both boys an >girls who were more active in sport were more likely to be characterized by hig >levels of self-worth than their more sedentary counterparts.
Forever Functional: Sexual Fitness and the Ageing Male Body
Authors: MARSHALL BARBARA L. , KATZ STEPHEN
Published: March 2007

Historically, male sexual fitness was framed by a patriarchal politics of life centred on regeneration, population and nation. In the later 20th century, as successful ageing became promoted by the lifestyle practices of an idealized healthy and active senior citizenry, traditional gerontocratic power over the sexual risks of youth gave way to a medical sexology concerned with sexual functionality across the lifecourse; in particular, erectility. Recently, erectile dysfunction has expanded to become a population-wide health problem with increasingly refined diagnoses based on `phases', `early warning signs' and preventative regimes, especially as Viagra has become so widely available. This article explores a new bodily configuration in the making; arising, on the one hand, from the pharmacological and scientific technologization of male sexuality, and, on the other, from a contemporary politics of life that both contests the late-life ageism of the past and fosters a mid-life ageism in the present.
An Audit of 7000 Successive Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Referrals in Scotland
Authors: Hoare Peter , Norton Beverley , Chisholm Douglas , Parry-Jones William
Published: March 2007

Approximately 7000 consecutive new referrals were included in a medical audit project of child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient services throughout Scotland over a one-year period. The non-attendance rate was 28 percent, so that comprehensive data were obtained on approximately 5000 cases. The average age at referral was 10.6 years with boys forming 56 percent of referrals. Conduct and mixed disorders accounted for 37 percent of the diagnostic categories with the small number of patients with hyperkinetic disorder rated as most disturbed. Four treatments (parental counselling, consultation, behavioural, family therapy), often in conjunction, were most commonly used with improvement occurring in 70 percent of children. The project improved the cohesion and professional identity of consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists working in Scotland; standards of data collection and diagnostic practice were raised; and the project generated a database for use in substantive research projects.
Camp Elsewhere: A Summer Program for Adolescents with Eating Disorders
Authors: Tonkin Roger
Published: March 2007

An innovative summer camping program involving 77 eating-disordered adolescents and their families was established in western Canada. It operated for eight years and a retrospective evaluation was undertaken during the eighth year. The program proved safe, had high camper-parent acceptance and was perceived by campers and parents as having contributed to the process of clinical recovery. This paper describes the nature of the program, provides illustrative case information and details the strengths and limitations identified over this eight-year experiment in alternative forms of treatment.
The Textuality of Stress
Authors: Brown Steven D.
Published: March 2007

Stress is a key term in health psychology, marking both conceptual possibilities and legislative failures. Rather than add a further global theory of stress, the term is examined as it operates in numerous kinds of practices. Drawing on qualitative material from varying sources I place emphasis on the role of concern and understanding in the definition of stress as the matter at hand. A discursive approach is used to worry the opposition of scientific and cultural practice in stress research and point instead to the notion of specific problematizations that appear in the rich fabric of the term's definition and description. I propose that attention to the details of a textuality of stress marks a step towards a 'modest' health psychology.
Problems in Treatment and Nursing of Cancer Patients
Authors: Schoberberger Rudolf , Schmeiser-Rieder Anita , Kunze Michael
Published: March 2007

Treatment and nursing of cancer patients place great demands on physicians, nurses and the patients' families. The enormous emotional strain on the patient may lead to frustration and 'burnout' among health-care professionals. This article consists of three steps: (a) a qualitative analysis based on a discussion with experts in oncology; (b) a questionnaire investigation of physicians and nurses; and (c) training courses for interested physicians and nurses. The majority of physicians and nurses pointed out that: the value of psychological support is generally underestimated, therapeutic complaints are often due to the patients' lack of information and administrative problems negatively influenced their relationship with patients.
Labour Market Status, Insecurity and Health
Authors: Ferrie Jane E.
Published: March 2007

Workplace closure results in unselective unemployment. This unique feature has enabled studies of workplace closure to make a significant contribution to knowledge about the effect of unemployment on health. A review of recent longitudinal, controlled studies of workplace closure documents their contribution to this knowledge. It also identifies a number of methodological problems and the scarcity of data on white- collar workers and gender differences. Results are presented from a study of the health effects of job insecurity, change and loss among white- collar men and women which was able to address some of the methodological disadvantages of previous studies.
Words as Things
Authors: Coleman Simon
Published: March 2007

Evangelical Protestant worship is frequently characterized as involving the manipulation of language rather than objects or images. However, this paper argues that a coherent aesthetic sensibility rooted in positive attitudes to the material world exists in evangelical practices. It traces the ways in which sacred language and religious experience are believed to be objectified in the body, the physical environment and the mass media. Such means of objectifi cation, often partially controlled by evangelical elites, are shown to aid the reflexive presentation of a unified, imagined community of believers on both a local and global level.
Formal and Informal Measures on the Effectiveness of the TEACCH Programme
Authors: Mesibov Gary B.
Published: March 2007

Demonstrating the effectiveness of a large and complex programme such as Division TEACCH is difficult. The problem is compounded by the organic basis of autism and the focus of Division TEACCH on lifelong adaptations, which do not lend themselves to superficial cures or clearly defined milestones. Several different measures have been used to address the evaluation questions: research studies on the effectiveness of specific techniques, outcome data, and anecdotal and statistical information about the impact of Division TEACCH. These measures have been collected and described in response to the many people who contact Division TEACCH inquiring how we know we are having a positive impact on people with autism and their families. The combination of empirical data and informal measures is included to provide a comprehensive perspective.
The Use of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy with People with Asperger Syndrome
Authors: Hare Dougal Julian
Published: March 2007

A young man with Asperger syndrome who presented with severe depression and self-injurious behaviour was treated with Ig sessions of cognitive-behavioural therapy. A decrease in the levels of measured depression and self-injury were found following the therapy. It remained unclear exactly which elements of the intervention brought about the improvements. The use of cognitive-behavioural treatments with people with Asperger syndrome is discussed.
Behaviour Profiles within a Population of 145 Children with Autism Using the Behaviour Summarized Evaluation Scale
Authors: Roux Sylvie , Adrien Jean-Louis , Bruneau Nicole , Malvy Joelle , Barthelemy Catherine
Published: March 2007

Clinicians and researchers have observed a degree of heterogeneity within the autistic syndrome which suggests different pathophysiological mechanisms. Greater understanding of this heterogeneity was sought by studying more homogeneous subpopulations according to developmental age (DA) within a large population of children with autism. The sample consisted of 145 children with autism (population P), and two subpopulations were determined according to DA criteria: DA < 2 years, population PDA-; DA? 2 years, population PDA+. An original multivariate descriptive statistical method, correspondence analysis, was applied to 13 behavioural data, followed by a classical hierarchical clustering method. In population P, four behaviour profiles were distinguished on the basis of three main functions: auditory perception, imitation and sensorimotility. The study of more homogeneous subpopulations according to DA revealed differences in the factorial structure of both subpopulations. In population PDA+ the main relevant behaviours defining profiles in autism were first abnormal reactivity to auditory stimuli, followed by imitation deficiences. However in population PDA-the main relevant behaviours were first stereotypies, followed by abnormal reactivity to auditory stimuli. Modification of the organization of behaviours in autism according to developmental age is clarified; unlike the auditory perception dimension, imitation and sensorimotor dimensions may be dependent on development. These results thus support the heterogeneity of the autistic syndrome and clarify some aspects of change and continuity in the expression of the disorders contained in this syndrome.
Facilitated Communication
Authors: Konstantareas M. Mary , Gravelle Gregory
Published: March 2007

This study examined types of support in Facilitated Communication with 12 non-verbal individuals with autism. Literacy tasks of graduated difficulty that included letter identification, word comprehension, labelling and sentence completion were employed to address the possible presence of literacy under three conditions of support: physical, emotional and mental. Although full facilitator support resulted in high performance levels on all tasks, emotional and physical support alone yielded unintelligible or minimal output. Thus, contrary to proponents' claims as to the importance of physical and emotional support, facilitated output hinges crucially on facilitator-provided mental support. In this study this was true regardless of task difficulty and motor requirement complexity, arguing against the technique's relevance to overcoming motor or emotional problems and demonstrating literacy in individuals with autism.
The Cultural Embeddedness of Social Control:
Authors: MELOSSI DARIO
Published: March 2007

In this article I argue that, in order to understand the deep historical and present differences in the quality and quantity of punishment (as measured by imprisonment) between Italy and the United States, it is necessary to situate the specific punitive histories of these two societies within their cultural traditions. Such traditions are deeply marked by different concepts and experiences of religion, i.e. Catholicism and Protestantism. However, the relation between religious ethos and punitive practices is not one of causal determinism. Rather, cultural embeddedness fashions conceptual and rhetorical toolkits that allow for the shaping of specific punitive orientations, which respond also to other fundamental features of society, such as socio-economic conditions and political cultures and regimes.
Market, Crime and Community
Authors: CURRIE ELLIOTT
Published: March 2007

In this paper I argue that `market societies' — those in which the pursuit of private gain becomes the dominant organizing principle of social and economic life — are especially likely to breed high levels of violent crime. At least seven mechanisms contribute to this vulnerability: the progressive destruction of livelihood; the growth of extremes of inequality and material deprivation; the withdrawal of public services and supports; the erosion of informal networks of mutual support; the spread of a materialistic and neglectful culture; the deregulation of the technology of violence; and the weakening of social and political alternatives. The tendency of market society to breed violent crime helps explain high levels of life-threatening violence in the US, as well as in parts of the Third World and the former Soviet bloc. This has obvious, and troubling, implications for the future in a world hurtling toward global deregulation.
Psychopathy and the Evolution of Criminological Knowledge
Authors: RAFTER NICOLE HAHN
Published: March 2007

Despite the recent publication of excellent histories of criminology, our understanding of the origins and evolution of criminological knowledge remains fragmentary. We know little about the development of the concept of psychopathy, for example, even though it is one of the oldest and most enduring of all criminological ideas; nor do we have much sense of how psychopathy theory affected the development of criminology as a field of study. This article analyzes the meanings of `psychopathy' in the first US texts that used the term, works published about 1915 to 1925. Locating the evolution of criminology in the context of the history of the professions, I explain why the concept of psychopathy attracted early 20th-century criminologists, how they used it and how it affected their work.
Ecofeminism Meets Criminology
Authors: LANE PAULINE
Published: March 2007

I suggest that law breaking has traditionally been and continues to be an important part of feminist political protest. Law breaking can also be understood as a symbolic act that seeks to challenge the dominant ideas and values in a society. Additionally, as well as challenging the norms of a society, increasingly, ecofeminists are attempting to reconceptualize our relationship with nature. If this challenge is successful and societies start to develop new ways of valuing the environment this will inevitably reflect on criminology. Currently environmental law is anthropocentric (i.e. human centred), however, if the meanings and values that we attach to nature start to change (i.e. become more ecocentric: nature centred) then essentially what currently counts as a criminal act will have to change.
Towards the Creation of a Culturally Safe Research Environment
Authors: Lynam M. Judith , Young Richard A.
Published: March 2007

Creating a culturally safe research environment is a challenge for all researchers but particularly for researchers engaged in intercultural research. This article sets out to examine whether action theory and the research methods associated with it have the potential for creating a culturally safe environment for the conduct of research. The article will examine issues inherent in intercultural research, provide an overview of cultural safety and then draw upon data gathered from 32 parent–adolescent dyads of Indo-Canadian and Euro-Canadian background to illustrate how the research methods employed created a culturally safe environment.
‘The Battle is Not Over after Weight Loss’: Stories of Successful Weight Loss Maintenance
Authors: Sarlio-Lähteenkorva Sirpa
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study was to analyse accounts of successful weight loss maintenance. The data were gathered through open interviews of nine women who had kept 10–27 kg of weight off for at least seven years. Respondents were encouraged to discuss any topics they regarded as important. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed using qualitative methods influenced by grounded theory and narrative analysis. The core category or ‘main story’ centres around the construct of weight maintenance as an ongoing battle against weight regain. Women had to be reactive and proactive with constant monitoring, flexibility and specific strategies to deal with problematic situations. Despite rewards of weight loss maintenance (including improved self-esteem, better functional capacity and professional gains), these women felt different from other people and a tension between the obese past and the present day was evident.
A Critical Review of the Sociology of Alternative Medicine: Research on Users, Practitioners and the Orthodoxy
Authors: Siahpush Mohammad
Published: March 2007

The popularity of alternative therapies in the past two decades has been accompanied by a proliferation of sociological works investigating different aspects of this phenomenon.1,2 A major strand of the literature in ‘the sociology of alternative medicine’, which concerns three social actors: users of alternative therapies; practitioners of alternative therapies; and physicians (the orthodoxy). Research on users of alternative medicine has mainly investigated the causes of people’s use of these modalities and has focused on three questions: Why do people use alternative medicine? Why has alternative medicine become popular in recent times? and, What is the sequence of events that leads to alternative medicine use? Research on alternative practitioners has mainly investigated the issue of professionalization of these practitioners. Research on physicians has mainly investigated: physicians’ views on and professional relationships with alternative therapists; physicians’ views on the efficacy of alternative therapies; the orthodoxy’s views on the knowledge base of these therapeutic systems; and physicians who use alternative techniques. The article argues that a paucity of empirical research is a major weakness of the present state of the sociology of alternative medicine and thus several research possibilities are delineated. Its aim is to provide a critical review of the literature on each of the above topics and suggest future research possibilities.