bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gambling and the Contradictions of Consumption
Authors: Reith Gerda
Published: August 2007

This article argues that the emergence of “problem gambling” as a distinct social phenomenon is the result of a particular convergence of discourses and socioeconomic formations that express the underlying contradictions of late-modern consumer societies. Although historically gambling has been criticized for undermining the ethic of production, today the notion of problem gambling is articulated in terms that are oppositional to the ideology of a “consumption ethic” based on the values of self-control, self-actualization, responsibility, and reason. This is related to wider socioeconomic trends whereby the decline of external forms of regulation is matched by rising demands for individual self-control, which is conducted through consumption. In the case of gambling, the liberalization and deregulation of the industry and the simultaneous expectation that individual players govern themselves express the tensions inherent in consumer capitalism and create the conditions for the emergence of the problem gambler as a unique historical type.
Sociological Speculations on Treating Problem Gamblers
Authors: Bernhard Bo J.
Published: August 2007

This article explores the potential of a bio-psycho-social-sociological model as it pertains to C. Wright Mills's articulation of a sociological imagination and, especially, how these formulations may be used to help problem gamblers and their families. This tool might be seen as a “clinical sociological” one that complements, rather than replaces, existing psychologically oriented approaches. A number of speculations about the potential utility of this model are presented, and suggestions are outlined for future clinical sociological study of problematic gambling behaviors.
The Voices of Vices
Authors: Bernhard Bo J.
Published: August 2007

This article summarizes the results of a qualitative content analysis of historical literature on problem gamblers in America and England. Using the pathological gambling entry in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a framework, it is revealed that all of the diagnostic criteria have a long and documented history. The findings here suggest that in a number of important ways, researchers have merely medicalized their previous moral objections to gambling behavior. Clinical implications and future research implications are discussed.
Human resources development practices and their association with employee attitudes: Between traditional and new careers
Authors: Zaleska Krystyna Joanna , de Menezes Lilian M.
Published: August 2007

This is a study of human resource development practices (as perceived by employees) and their association with their attitudes in the context of new career theories. It uses two heterogeneous UK samples of employees from six companies in different industries. Both regression models (from the 1997 and 2000 cohorts) support the mediating role of satisfaction with development on the relationship between perceived significance of development practices and organizational commitment. There are trends in attitudes about the significance of various development factors between cohorts of employees (with respondents in 2000 more inclined to state that self-motivation has been a significant factor in improving their Job performance, and with lateral development also reported as more significant in 2000). A shift in development practices can be observed as a progression from knowledge acquisition via formalized training courses, towards development as a participation model based on challenging work and coaching by an immediate supervisor.
Information Society as a Global Policy Agenda: What Does It Tell Us About the Age of Globalization?
Authors: Drori Gili S.
Published: August 2007

The issue of information society commands worldwide attention: diverse constituencies work at closing the gaps in access to and in use of digital technology. Why are such efforts directed specifically at the issue of the information society? In this article I argue that the redirection of world society's attention towards this issue is related to the correspondence between the dimensions of globalization and those of the field of information and communications technologies. Specifically, I highlight five such shared dimensions: economic transactions, political relations, globality, networks, and world norms. In this way, the theme of information society was quickly defined as a global social problem because it corresponds to the themes of the era of globalization. I also argue that while various realist theories of globalization focus solely on the dimensions of economic and political transactions, world society theory expands on these by highlighting the cultural and institutional dimensions of globalization.
The Interplay between Globalness and Localness: Korea's Globalization Revisited
Authors: Park Gil-Sung , Yong Suk Jang  , Hang Young Lee
Published: August 2007

The global and local are not a dichotomous classification and the interplay between them becomes more and more complex. This article seeks to provide an account that makes sense of the simultaneous coexistence of these two seemingly contradictory trends. In this article, we attempt to compile a theoretical combination of `globalness' and `localness' while presenting the case of Korea's globalization. We explore, as an example of the dynamics between strong globalness and weak localness, how the Korean government has submissively managed the national restructuring under the 1997 financial crisis. We argue that the Korean government was a relative weak local actor to passively accept the strong global requirements when the crisis hit Korea. In contrast, the strong local resistance and acceptance were simultaneously found in the reformation process of Korean national identity when the strong global pressure of changing traditional social values was introduced by the economic crisis. We, therefore, observe the dualistic directions of national identity reformation as a specific outcome of the interplay between the strong globalness and strong localness.
Those Absent From the Stadium are Always Right
Authors: Redhead Steve
Published: August 2007

This essay investigates the speeding up of sport and sports media in contemporary accelerated culture within the sociology of modernity. It reviews some ideas of Paul Virilio, including “theory at the speed of light,” which illuminates the impact of new information and communication technologies. Although Virilio is absent from sociological studies of sport and media, this essay begins to rectify this, looking anew at modernity, media, and sport in Virilio's “city of the instant.” Spectators attending an English Premier League match watch from an inert, sedentary position an accelerated spectacle flash by. This event is beamed around the globe “live” to “other” watching millions. Moreover, the mode in which the spectator watching at the stadium sees the spectacle is conditioned by decades of absorbing matches on television, sofa surfing, a state of “polar inertia” or “pathological fixedness”; or, to quote Virilio, “those absent from the stadium are always right.”
Situating the Sport Documentary
Authors: McDonald Ian
Published: August 2007

Sport documentaries constitute a significant aspect of the documentary tradition. Yet they remain an underresearched area of critique in both documentary studies and sport studies. This article begins by exploring the reasons for the low status of the sport documentary before engaging in an analysis of range of recent and contemporary sport documentaries. The cinematic sport documentary is situated within the resurgence of the documentary form as the context for a critique of the contrasting political ethic and ideological underpinnings of Pumping Iron II: The Women , Hoop Dreams, and When We Were Kings, on one hand, and Dogtown and Z-Boys, Touching the Void, and Murderball on the other. Although the latter group of films have all enjoyed commercial success and have therefore succeeded as forms of entertainment, they reveal less about the relations of power circulating in their social and political environment than the former group of films.
Do negative interactions mediate the effects of Negative Emotionality, Communal Positive Emotionality, and Constraint on relationship satisfaction?
Authors: Donnellan M. Brent , Assad Kimberly K. , Robins Richard W. , Conger Rand D.
Published: August 2007

Previous research has shown that the personalities of both partners are associated with the qualities of their romantic relationship. This study extends this literature by examining whether or not reports of negative relationship interactions mediate the effects of personality traits on judgments of relationship satisfaction and quality. Participants were 337 couples from the Family Transitions Project who completed a comprehensive personality questionnaire and several scales measuring relationship behaviors and satisfaction. Negative Emotionality and Communal Positive Emotionality were related to both self- and partner reports of relationship satisfaction. These associations were substantially mediated by negative relationship interactions. Discussion furthers the ongoing rapprochement between intrapersonal and interpersonal approaches to the study of romantic relationships.
Linking family functioning to dating relationship quality via novelty-seeking and harm-avoidance personality pathways
Authors: Fischer Judith L. , Fitzpatrick Jacki , Cleveland H. Harrington
Published: August 2007

Organized by the systems theory concepts of equifinality and interdependence (Broderick, 1993) and Huston's (2000) social ecology model, this study examined two personality-based pathways to dating relationship quality among college students. The first pathway extends from family dysfunction to dating relationship quality via novelty seeking and excessive drinking. The second pathway extends from family dysfunction to relationship quality via harm avoidance and interpersonal competence. Male (n = 64) and female (n = 105) undergraduates completed questionnaires. The findings strongly supported the first hypothesis that was derived from Huston's social ecology model and the systems principle of equifinality. There were significant associations between adjacent variables in the path model and the presence of both pathways in the tested model provided a good fit to the data. The second hypothesis, based on the systems principle of interdependence, was not supported when cross-pathway links were included in the tested model. Implications for theory and research are discussed.
To think or to do: The impact of assessment and locomotion orientation on the Michelangelo phenomenon
Authors: Kumashiro Madoka , Rusbult Caryl E. , Finkenauer Catrin , Stocker Shevaun L.
Published: August 2007

This work examines how individual differences in assessment and locomotion shape goal pursuits in ongoing relationships. The Michelangelo phenomenon describes the role that close partners play in affirming versus disaffirming one another's pursuit of the ideal self. Using data from a longitudinal study of ideal goal pursuits among newly committed couples, we examined whether the action orientation that characterizes locomotion creates an optimal environment in which to give and receive affirmation, whereas the evaluative orientation that characterizes assessment creates a suboptimal environment for giving and receiving affirmation. Consistent with hypotheses, locomotion is positively associated with partner affirmation, movement toward the ideal self, and couple wellbeing, whereas parallel associations with assessment are negative. We also explore the behavioral mechanisms that may account for such associations.
The Language Barrier as an Aid to Communication
Authors: Ribeiro Rodrigo
Published: August 2007

The communication between distinct social worlds or forms of life is a central topic in the sociology of knowledge. How do different communities interact with each other? Based on a sociological analysis of the work of Japanese—Portuguese interpreters in the Brazilian steel industry, I argue that the `language barrier', which is normally thought as a problem, can aid communication by preventing people who hold potentially clashing concepts, beliefs and customs from directly confronting each other. The importance for such people of not understanding each other is revealed in the work of interpreters, who facilitate the interaction between representatives of different steel companies and support the transfer of technology from Japan to Brazil. They maintain cordial relationships by acting as `buffers' between the Japanese and Brazilian forms of life. Three `models of mediation' are discussed in a comparison of the Japanese—Portuguese interpreters with other cases of interaction.
Surgical Simulators and Simulated Surgeons: Reconstituting Medical Practice and Practitioners in Simulations
Authors: Johnson Ericka
Published: August 2007

Simulators that represent human patients are being integrated into medical education. This study examines the use of a haptic-enabled, virtual reality simulator designed to allow training in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) techniques. The paper shows how medical practices and practitioners are constructed during a simulation. By using the theoretical tools that situated learning and communities of practice provide, combined with the concept of reconstituting, I broaden the discussion of medical simulators from a concern with discrete skills and individual knowledge to an examination of how medical knowledge is created around and with computer simulators. The concept of reconstitution is presented as a theoretical term for understanding the interplay between simulators and people in practice. Rather than merely enacting simulator training, reconstituting creates a different context, different actors and different techniques during the simulation.
The (Amorphous) Anatomy of an Invention
Authors: Prasad Amit
Published: August 2007

The priority dispute between Raymond Damadian and Paul Lauterbur over the `invention' of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has attracted the attention of social and natural scientists for more than 30 years. In this paper, I have used this priority dispute to analyze the complex socio-epistemic processes through which a claim for an invention is made and strengthened. I argue that a tension exists because techno-scientific practices are embedded within a particular disciplinary regime of authorship: even though techno-scientific practices occur through distributed cognition and are contingent upon particular socio-epistemic contexts, a claim for an invention requires assigning authorship to a particular person, company, or institution in order to clearly define the origin and the novelty of that particular techno-scientific event. Nevertheless, the outcomes of socio-epistemic practices for making and strengthening priority claims are shifting, open-ended, and contingent upon particular socio-epistemic contexts.
Colliding Worlds
Authors: Mellor Felicity
Published: August 2007

Over the past 20 years a small group of astronomers and planetary scientists has actively promoted the idea that an asteroid might collide with the Earth and destroy civilization. Despite concerns about placing weapons in space, the asteroid scientists repeatedly met with scientists from the Strategic Defense Initiative to discuss mitigation technologies. This paper examines the narrative context in which asteroids were constructed as a threat and astronomy was reconfigured as an interventionist science. I argue that conceptualizing asteroids through narratives of technological salvation invoked a `narrative imperative' that drew the astronomers towards the militaristic endings that their stories demanded. Impact-threat science thus demonstrates both the ways in which scientific research can be framed by fictional narratives and the ideological ends that such narratives can serve.
Argument and Outline for the Sociology of Scientific (and Other) Careers
Authors: Hermanowicz Joseph C.
Published: August 2007

Divisions between variable-oriented and person-oriented approaches in social and behavioral research are newly drawn. Yet few person-oriented approaches have been fully articulated; those that have are predominantly quantitative. This work presents an argument for a qualitative, person-oriented study of careers; an approach identified as careers in context. Based on a national study of scientists, this contextualist approach is grounded by three interacting, but analytically distinct, emphases to suggest how careers can be studied in and beyond science: (1) an emphasis on time and place as under-utilized dimensions on which to direct further study of careers; (2) an emphasis on the subjective career as a concept that qualitatively encapsulates temporal and spatial dimensions; and (3) an emphasis on career study in life course perspective. Subjectively (and objectively), careers are, of course, not static. By situating subjective careers in the times and places in which they occur, we are drawn to how those careers `play out' over the course of the lives of the people leading them. This paper concludes by stressing ways in which contextual studies of careers in and beyond science will advance our understanding in five larger domains of social process: identity construction; institution building; social—psychological differentiation; job satisfaction; and mystification of work.
The geographies of policing
Authors: Yarwood Richard
Published: August 2007

In 1991 Nicolas Fyfe published a paper in this journal arguing that studies of the police were `conspicuously absent from the landscapes of human geography' (Fyfe, 1991: 249). This article reviews geographical progress in this area and argues that attention should be shifted from the police towards policing. Consideration is given to the increasing numbers of agencies that perform policing, including state, private and voluntary actors, as well as `the police' themselves. Second, critical scrutiny is given to discourses of policing and their potential to exclude particular people from particular spaces. It is argued that the concept of governance provides a suitable framework for theorizing new geographies of policing.
Engaging the global countryside: globalization, hybridity and the reconstitution of rural place
Authors: Woods Michael
Published: August 2007

This article applies Massey's (2005) call for a relational understanding of space that can challenge aspatial readings of globalization to the study of globalization in a rural context. Critiquing existing rural research for tending towards studies of global commodity chains and overarching processes of globalization, it argues for more place-based studies of globalization as experienced in rural localities. The concept of the `global countryside' is introduced as a hypothetical space that represents the ultimate outcome of globalizing processes, yet it is noted that the characteristics of the `global countryside' find only partial articulation in particular rural spaces. Understanding this differentiated geography of rural globalization, it is argued, requires a closer understanding of how globalization remakes rural places, for which Massey's thesis provides a guide. The article thus examines the reconstitution of rural places under globalization, highlighting the interaction of local and global actors, and of human and non-human actants, to produce new hybrid forms and relations. As such, it is argued, the politics of globalization cannot be reduced to domination or subordination, but are instead a politics of negotiation and configuration.
The Dignity of the Human Person: On the Integrity of the Body and the Struggle for Recognition
Authors: Boni Tanella
Published: August 2007

The author states that the very idea of human dignity lies in human relationships in the form of mutual recognition of one another. She emphasizes the ‘daily’ commitment to dignity as an essential feature of intersubjectivity and insists on the bodily dimension as the fundamental mode of relationships to the other. Thus human dignity is first of all the dignity of the body.
From Universal to Particular
Authors: Maffesoli Michel
Published: August 2007

The author provides a rich plethora of examples of a heterology, a knowledge of the multiple, which alone is able to recognize the richness of life. Philosophical, sociological and literary analysis of different authors, mainly from the 20th century, are provided.
The Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici: A Liberal Transversal Institution
Authors: Ricœur Paul
Published: August 2007

One of Paul Ricoeur’s last conferences, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Italian Institute of Philosophical Studies, was pronounced at Unesco in November 2002. He presents the intellectual model represented by the Institute as being both liberal and transversal, and considers these two features as summarizing the task of philosophy.
Aknowledgements
Authors: Albernaz Frances
Published: August 2007

On 14 and 15 December 2005, on the eve of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the adoption of UNESCO's Constitution, a group of scholars from a wide range of cultural and scholarly backgrounds assembled at UNESCO Headquarters.
Radical Finitude Meets Infinity: Levinas's Gestures To Heidegger's Fundamental Ontology
Authors: Mouzakitis Angelos
Published: August 2007

This article explores the consecutive modifications that phenomenology underwent in the works of Heidegger and Levinas. In particular, it discusses their importance for contemporary attempts to expand — and transcend — phenomenology in philosophy and the social sciences. Heidegger and Levinas responded to the problem of subjectivity — and intersubjectivity — in diametrically opposed ways and consequently the exposition of their thoughts involves focusing on conceptual dichotomies like finitude and infinity, time and eternity. Ultimately, it is argued that the very conceptions of the human being that the two thinkers furnish under the guise of Dasein and Autrui reveal the impasses associated with western metaphysics and pave the path for the development of more adequate theorizations of subjectivity, radical otherness and communal being.
Low Velocity Impact Damage Characterization of Woven Jute—Glass Fabric Reinforced Isothalic Polyester Hybrid Composites
Authors: Ahmed K. Sabeel , Vijayarangan S. , Kumar Anish
Published: August 2007

This study explores the effects of hybridization of glass fiber on low velocity impact behavior and damage tolerance capability of woven jute fabric composite. Laminates were fabricated by the hand lay—up technique using a mold and cured under light pressure at room temperature. Low velocity impact tests were conducted on jute and hybrid samples (150 × 150 mm) using an instrumented drop weight impact tower. All the samples were impacted at four different energy levels by changing the drop height, and load—energy—time plots were recorded using data acquisition software. Some of the samples were subjected to the non-destructive test (C-scan) to study the nature and extent of damage and to measure the delamination area. Post-impact tension tests were conducted to assess the damage tolerance capability of the composites. The results of the study indicated that jute laminates have better impact energy absorption capacity than jute—glass hybrid laminates; however their damage tolerance capability is less than jute—glass hybrid laminates.
Tensile Properties of Sun Hemp, Banana and Sisal Fiber Reinforced Polyester Composites
Authors: Udaya Kiran C. , Ramachandra Reddy G. , Dabade B.M. , Rajesham S.
Published: August 2007

Experiments are conducted to find out the tensile properties of short sun hemp, banana, and sisal fiber reinforced composites. Length of these natural fibers and fiber weight are varied and are impregnated in polyester resin to prepare tensile test specimen. Optimum values of fiber length and fiber weight ratios are found through experimental results. Analysis is done on these results.
From Knowledge Production to Implementation: Research Challenges and Imperatives
Authors: Proctor Enola K. , Rosen Aaron
Published: August 2007

As evidence-based practice is increasingly accepted in social work, the challenges associated with its actual implementation become more apparent and pressing. This article identifies implementation as a critical issue for research; implementation itself must be better understood if evidence-based practices are to be used and resultant improvements to practice are to be realized. Social work needs to engage more fully in (a) service system research and (b) implementation research, each of which complements and has potential to extend the benefits of efficacy and effectiveness research. Service system research can enhance the fit of empirically supported treatments to the needs of real-world practice and thus facilitate their implementation. Implementation studies examine the acceptability of evidence-based interventions, the feasibility and likelihood of their sustained use, and the decision-support procedures that can help practitioners apply probabilistically based, empirically supported treatments to the individual case in real-world practice.
Interactive online journals and individualization
Authors: Hodkinson Paul
Published: August 2007

Suggestions that the internet has facilitated existing trends towards the increasing disconnection of individuals from substantive communities have been balanced by a variety of empirical case studies demonstrating significant communal features on some online discussion forums. While recognizing the role of discussion forums in facilitating community, this article seeks to shift the focus of debate towards the rapidly increasing use of online journal style web logs (`blogs') as a form of social interaction. Ostensibly centred upon the individual rather than the group, yet increasingly interactive and socially oriented, interactive online journals appear particularly consistent with the notion of individualistic rather than group-centred patterns of sociability. The article explores this possibility in relation to case study research focused on the recent take-up of online journals by a group of individuals who previously participated in discussion forums associated with a music and fashion subculture known as the `goth' scene.
In the borderland between family orientation and peer culture: the use of communication technologies among Norwegian tweens
Authors: Kaare Birgit Hertzberg , Brandtzæg Petter Bae , Heim Jan , Endestad Tor
Published: August 2007

This article explores the use of mediated communication among Norwegian children aged between 10 and 12 years. The analysis is based on a survey and 88 qualitative interviews with 130 children about their use of different types of communication technologies. This allowed a sketch of connections between the nature of the childrens' social relationships, mediated content and various means of communication employed. Six main content categories of mediated communication were identified. The study points out that new media technologies offer the children new ways of communicating content and meaning which were not easily communicated by children before; both aggressive and emotionally positive content are exchanged more easily through digital technologies than face-to-face. Above all, the children use communication technologies to build and strengthen relationships for the benefit of their schoolmates and friends. Whether the use of new communication technologies, Short Message Service (SMS) in particular, is accelerating the ongoing process of individualization of the family, is discussed.
Gradations in digital inclusion: children, young people and the digital divide
Authors: Livingstone Sonia , Helsper Ellen
Published: August 2007

Little academic and policy attention has addressed the `digital divide' among children and young people. This article analyses findings from a national survey of UK 9—19-year-olds that reveal inequalities by age, gender and socioeconomic status in relation to their quality of access to and use of the internet. Since both the extent of use and the reasons for low- and non-use of the internet vary by age, a different explanation for the digital divide is required for children compared with adults. Looking beyond the idea of a binary divide, we propose instead a continuum of digital inclusion. Gradations in frequency of internet use (from non and low users through to weekly and daily users) are found to map onto a progression in the take-up of online opportunities among young people (from basic through moderate to broad and then all-round users), thus beginning to explain why differences in internet use matter, contributing to inclusion and exclusion. Demographic, use and expertise variables are all shown to play a role in accounting for variations in the breadth and depth of internet use.
Safeguarding Children: Exploring the Interfaces Between Policy, Pedagogy, Psychology and Practice
Authors: Humphrey Caroline
Published: August 2007

• Summary: This article explores the predicaments involved in educating the next generation of social workers in Britain in child protection work. It draws upon research with students taking a Safeguarding Children module.

• Findings: Although the management of risk is central to the role of qualified social workers and the rationale for recruiting more students onto the new degree programmes, only a small minority of students are seriously committed to child protection work, and rather more students are planning to avoid it. Opportunities to test out student's aptitudes in the field are vital, but there is a dearth of statutory placements and some students emerge even more disheartened from their placements. Pedagogic strategies which promote an integration of therapeutic and statutory interventions can enhance student's interest, but lack credibility if these approaches are not integrated in practice.

• Applications: The relevance of these findings to universities, community-based agencies and central government is considered in the final section.
Sad Not Bad
Authors: Henderson Lesley , Franklin Bob
Published: August 2007

• Summary: The social work profession has a negative profile in news media but how is it presented in television drama? We report on a study of social workers and social care professionals in UK television drama between March and May 2003. Using detailed quantitative content analysis and qualitative thematic analysis we examine how characters are positioned within the fictional community (their role in storylines, personal and professional attributes, relationship with other characters).

• Findings: Social care workers and social workers are largely synonymous in television drama and tend to feature in storylines concerning children (access disputes, fostering, adoption). However, our findings reveal an unexpected paradox. Television drama is apparently more likely to portray these characters in positive terms, as friendly, sympathetic and `good listeners'. At the same time, social care characters are represented as highly bureaucratic, isolated, sad individuals rather than an integral part of the — largely working class — community that they serve.

• Applications: Television drama represents an important cultural resourcewhere stereotypes associated with news media may be challenged. If we are to gain a better understanding of why the profession is marginalized in television fiction it is important to explore the process of production with those who make the programmes.
An Enquiry into Students' Motivations to Train as Social Workers in England
Authors: Furness Sheila
Published: August 2007

• Summary: In 2003, the British Government introduced a bursary to support and attract more recruits to social work. This study is based on 497 questionnaires completed by prospective students to one social work undergraduate programme over a four-year period, from 2002 to 2006. The first aim of this study was to find out the extent of participants' knowledge of the social work bursary, in order to determine whether this had been a successful strategy to attract greater numbers of people to train as social workers. The second aim was to identify the factors that attracted them to train as social workers.

• Findings: Only 52% of the respondents had been aware of the bursary and, significantly, only 3% indicated that this had definitely influenced their choice of career. Prospective students' knowledge of the bursary has not increased since its introduction and the findings suggest that other factors act as primary incentives and motivate students to apply for social work.

• Applications : It is important to consider the factors that motivate students to train as social workers in order to better inform recruitment policies and ensure that the profession attracts people who are representative of the diverse population of England.
Identity as an analytic problem: who's who in `pro-ana' websites?
Authors: Hammersley Martyn , Treseder Peggy
Published: August 2007

Identity is not only an important and difficult theoretical issue but also one that arises as a methodological problem. Indeed, which of the available conceptions of identity is adopted has implications for the very form that social inquiry takes. In this article, three quite different notions of identity are explored, as substantive agency, as a matter of discursive attribution, and as an analytic model. The issues involved in the use of each of these versions of identity in research are explored. In the second half of the article, in order to examine these problems in more concrete terms, we look at how they emerge in internet ethnography concerned with `pro-ana' websites.
Expressive, research and reflective poetry as qualitative inquiry: a study of adolescent identity
Authors: Furman Rich , Langer Carol L. , Davis Christine S. , Gallardo Heather P. , Kulkarni Shanti
Published: August 2007

This article explores the uses of poetry in qualitative research. In this study of adolescent identity and development, poetry is used as data, as a means of data representation, and as a process of inquiry. The authors explore the nature of poetry as a tool of qualitative research for investigating human phenomena. Autobiographical poems are used as data which are analysed through thematic analysis. From this analysis, research poems in the form of Japanese tankas are created. Finally, the third and fourth authors respond to the original poems and the `findings' from the grounded theory analysis as responsive poems.
Ethnography and PRA among Gambian traditional birth attendants: a methods discussion
Authors: Nyanzi Stella , Bah Ousman , Joof Sulayman , Walraven Gijs
Published: August 2007

Ethnographers are often sceptical of employing Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools in their research, calling them `a quick and dirty' approach. However, ethnography has limitations as a research method. We therefore combined the two methods to enhance their strengths. Based on fieldwork in rural Gambia, this article discusses the procedure, merits and shortcomings of triangulating PRA and conventional ethnography methods to conduct research among an illiterate study population of traditional birth attendants. When tailored to suit the target study population, some PRA tools do enhance the emic perspective — thus empowering the study participants and making research results more context-relevant.
Synthesizing qualitative research: a review of published reports
Authors: Dixon-Woods Mary , Booth Andrew , Sutton Alex J.
Published: August 2007

ABSTRACT Although there is increasing demand for syntheses of qualitative research, little is known about papers that aim to report such syntheses. We searched for published reports of attempts to conduct syntheses of qualitative research in health and healthcare. Papers were included if they were published between 1988 and 2004, in the English language, and in a peer-reviewed journal. We identified a modest body of literature (42 papers) reporting syntheses of qualitative research in health and healthcare. We extracted data on the topic of the paper and on reported methods for searching, appraisal, and synthesis. Some papers reported purposive attempts to innovate with, and to adapt, methods for synthesis. Many papers lack explicitness about methods for searching, appraisal, and synthesis, and there is little evidence of emerging consensus on many issues. There was also some evidence of possibly inappropriate use of some techniques. We conclude that continued methodological progress and improved reporting are required.
journal of visual culture
Authors: Benson-Allott Caetlin
Published: August 2007

The immanent commercial obsolescence of the VCR affords film studies a new opportunity to examine domestic spectatorship and the challenges it poses to contemporaneous apparatus theory. While scholars like Christian Metz and Jean-Louis Baudry have argued that spectators understand movie projection as a gendered process of motion picture reproduction, the VCR's electronic engineering — its inner basket, heads, and stacks — demonstrate that filmic sexuality does not necessarily conform to heterosexist binaries. The VCR's sexualized inner architecture incarnates neither the alleged masculine gaze of cinema nor its televisual counterpart, the feminine glance, but rather suggests that the domestic viewer approaches film with a hermaphroditic curiosity that emphasizes the physical pleasure of making movies.
journal of visual culture
Authors: Joyrich Lynne
Published: August 2007

This essay reflects upon the magazine TV Guide in relation and in contrast to television itself, suggesting that TV Guide might be seen as both a microcosm of and an antithesis to the televisual experience. Considering the differences between various media forms (print, film, television, digital media), their distinct ways of marking and conceptualizing temporality (as schedule or as `flow'), and their particular relationship and/or resistance to the archive (as `collectibles' or ephemera), it explores the possibilities for viewing, reading, and living within a televisual world.
journal of visual culture
Authors: McCarthy Anna
Published: August 2007

The computer mouse is the latest rodent on municipal vermin lists. The poisonous electronic waste that piles up on our city streets makes digital humanity seem as much an urban infestation as the common rat.
Experts, Practitioners, and Practical Judgement
Authors: O'Neill Onora
Published: August 2007

In Theory and Practice Kant challenges the well-worn view that practitioners do not need to rely on theory. He acknowledges that experts with a deep knowledge of theory may fail as practitioners both in technical matters, and in matters of morality and justice. However, since action-guiding theories are intended to shape rather than to fit the world, practitioners have no point of reference other than the theories or principles that they seek to enact. If theories of duty appear to offer too little guidance for action, they should look for more rather than fewer principles, which will enable them to guide their practical judgement with greater, if still incomplete, specificity.
Time-Relative Interests and Abortion
Authors: Liao S.
Published: August 2007

The concept of a time-relative interest is introduced by Jeff McMahan to solve certain puzzles about the badness of death. Some people (e.g. McMahan and David DeGrazia) believe that this concept can also be used to show that abortion is permissible. In this paper, I first argue that if the Time-Relative Interest Account permits abortion, then it would also permit infanticide. I next reject the suggestion that the Time-Relative Interest Account can at least explain the permissibility of early abortion, even if it cannot explain the permissibility of late abortion. Given this, early and late abortions have to be justified on other grounds.
Background, foreground, foresight: The third dimension of cultural criminology?
Authors: Webber Craig
Published: August 2007

This article evaluates cultural criminology and argues that despite its utility in overcoming narrow technocratic empiricism it needs, first, more ethnographic research to support its theoretical material, and second, a firmer foundation for its definition of culture. These issues will be elucidated with reference to an ethnographic study of young people, where it will be further argued that the tendency to glamourize deviancy requires tempering with a dose of realism at the outcome of transgressive activity. The two-dimensional approach of attempting to overcome and integrate the foreground with the background needs to be joined with that of foresight.
Taryn Simon and The Innocents project
Authors: Courtney David , Lyng Stephen
Published: August 2007

The artist Taryn Simon was hired by The New York Times Magazine to photograph individuals who were wrongfully convicted, imprisoned, and subsequently freed from death row. She made images of both men and women who were exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence. All of them were sent to prison, innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted. Most of her subjects had no criminal record. Simon's initial project eventually blossomed into a larger art exhibition that has toured several US cities in the last two years. Inspired by our viewing of Simon's exhibition and her aesthetic in constructing images of her subjects, we address one of her primary concerns: how is photography used to convict the innocent?
Presidents of the United States on Leadership
Authors: Carpenter Dick M.
Published: August 2007

This study analyzes US presidential statements on leadership since Franklin Roosevelt. Results indicate that presidents define leadership as visionary, goal oriented, moral, principles based, a responsibility, and a search for the common good. Such definitions typically involve the world of ideas and ideals, which seems to lean more toward a more passive leadership role. However, presidents frequently complement these definitions with discussions of what leaders do, clearly establishing leadership as active rather than passive. Such discussions most often focus on decision making in leadership and the necessity of persuasion to facilitate decisions once made. Finally, presidents emphasize the reciprocal nature of leadership and the necessity of collaboration in leading, particularly given the ultimate importance of and focus on people. This idea of leadership typifies a western/Anglo understanding of leadership not always consistent with other cultural definitions.
Learning to Lead: Strengthening the Practice of Community Leadership
Authors: Schweigert Francis J.
Published: August 2007

This article presents a schema for education in community leadership, with an explication of three essential elements for learning to lead in communities. First, community leadership is presented as the authoritative action of citizens on behalf of the public good. Second, the distinctive dynamics of community interaction provide the settings demanding leadership and therefore set the patterns for learning to lead. Third, because leadership is rooted in the authority and power of followers, leadership development must focus less on the qualities of individual leaders and more on the social settings, processes, and needs that require and facilitate authoritative action: access to power, legitimation through support and accountability, effective community practices, and public work in public spaces. The article concludes with a description of practical wisdom as the core quality required of community leaders.
A Note on the Density of a Calcium Silicate Hydrate Board Material
Authors: Hamilton Andrea , Hall Christopher
Published: August 2007

A new analysis of the density of calcium silicate board material is reported. This takes account of revised estimates for the component densities.
Globalization and Pluralism
Authors: La Porte Teresa , Medina Mercedes , Sádaba Teresa
Published: August 2007

/ European audiovisual legislation focuses exclusively on a concept of external pluralism. It therefore seems necessary to adopt other policies and develop new measures to guarantee diversity. In order to implement this reform, a new, richer concept of pluralism must be sought that reflects the reality of the market. This would enable us to devise instruments to measure the real presence of pluralism in the media, and perform effective regulation to defend this right at every level. The aim of this study is to examine the scope of this problem in the content of public and private broadcasting in different European countries, and then suggest a redefinition of pluralism and cultural diversity, together with new forms of evaluation that could guarantee that both values are present in sufficient measure.
Commemorating the past: the discursive construction of official narratives about the `Rebirth of the Second Austrian Republic'
Authors: Wodak Ruth , de Cillia Rudolf
Published: August 2007

This article analyses the discursive construction of collective and individual memories and the functions of commemorative events for the discursive construction of national identities through the example of Austrian post-war commemorative events. Thus, the various attempts to come to terms with the Nazi past in post-war Austria are illustrated in detail. The article will first summarize the socio-political contexts relating to the relevant post-war commemorative years in Austria (1988, 1995, 2005). Then we will consider sequences of a political speech by the then Austrian chancellor, Dr Wolfgang Schüssel, as one of many possible examples in 2005 which establishes a hegemonic stance towards the Nazi past. Finally, we will discuss our results and illustrate that, in addition to hegemonic discourses, competing narratives aim to provide different answers to the basic question `how should one come to terms with traumatic pasts?' Our results are such that in the hegemonic narrative of Austrian history after 1945, the political event of the Declaration of Independence is represented metaphorically as a `rebirth'; a metaphorical scenario which constructs a `creation myth', and by this anthropomorphization suggests that `newborn' Austria is to be perceived as innocent as a newborn child. On the other hand, the historical events before and after are placed in the cognitive frame of natural disasters or fateful events (`horror', `nightmare', `dark age') and a community of victims is discursively constructed comprising the victims of the Nazi terror as well as the soldiers waging the war of aggression. Discursive patterns apparent in this case study can, of course, be generalized to similar communicative events in many nation-states. The specific systematic and explicit linguistic/pragmatic and discourse-analytic methodology presented in this article lends itself to deconstruct official discourses which influence collective beliefs, opinions and ideologies.