bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examination Stress and Test Anxiety: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Authors: Sharma Sagar , Sud Anup
Published: March 2007

This is a comparative study of the examination stress assessed either as test anxiety or in terms of its worry and emotionality components in 7,679 high school students (males and females) from four Asian (Indian, Jordanian, Chinese and Korean) and five Euro-American (Hungarian, Turkish, Indian, German and American) cultures. These comparisons have been made on the basis of data reported in the studies which used the English Test Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1980), or its psychometrically equivalent versions in languages of the other eight cultures. The major conclusions are: (a) There are differences with respect to the levels and patterns of test anxiety in terms of its worry and emotionality components not only within Asian or Euro-American but also among Asian and Euro-American cultures. As such, higher test anxiety is a phenomenon not peculiar to the western cultures. Such findings can be explained not only in terms of the differences in the socio-cultural premises, but also in terms of the differences in material conditions; (b) Females, across nine cultures, have higher test anxiety, worry and emotionality than their male counterparts. Greater role expectation conflict in females seems to be the major factor for such a consistent gender difference. Methodological issues relevant to such a research across cultures have also been discussed.
Psychology in Latin America: The Case of Brazil
Authors: Nunes Terezinha
Published: March 2007

Psychology in Brazil is strongly oriented towards applications. University studies comprise training in both research and applications, but most students seek degrees with interests in applied psychology. Research may be basic or applied, but few researchers take advantage of the peculiarities of Brazilian culture to design their investigations. Significant contribu tions have been made in the study of reinforcement principles, animal behaviour, develop mental psychology and cross-cultural comparisons. Educational issues provide the ground for rich interdisciplinary cooperation, with research on reading, mathematics learning, and socialisation receiving inputs from several sciences including psychology.
The Effects of Self Versus Others' Reference on Retention
Authors: Singh Bhupinder
Published: March 2007

This study examines the effect of self versus others' reference on retention ofinformation, i.e., traits and behavioural statements in a series of four experiments under the incidentalretentionparadigm. The effects of arousal, affective state of the subject, and valence of material on the self versus others' reference were investigated. The results suggest the facilitative effect of self-reference on retention across different types of materials, tasks, and affective states. Self emerged to be a strong cognitive schema which mediates and regulates behaviour in many ways. Self-reference may be used as an effective mnemonic device in the teaching-learning processes. Developmental investigations of self-referenced encoding warrant further research.
Culture as the Target and Culture as the Source: A Review of Cross-cultural Psychology in Asia
Authors: Sinha Durganand
Published: March 2007

The paper focuses on ecological and cultural diversities in Asia which have resulted in these countries becoming the main sources of cross-cultural data and studies. Initially, there were one-way research studies where non-Western cultures were the target for obtaining comparative data for testing tentative theories. The outcome was a vast body of replicative studies, dominance of psychologists from the West, indiscriminate use of tests and measures developed in the West and a superficial research ethos, where the needs and problems of the host country were ignored. Exposure to Western psychology resulted in the professional growth of Asian psychologists and with growing cultural sensitivity, culture was treated also as the source providing insights, constructs and methods for conducting research. This has resulted in a deeper understanding and reconceptualisation of the phenomena under investigation (achievement, individualism-collectivism and moral develop ment). In addition, culturally derived psychological concepts and culturally appropriate measures have been used in studies on stress, justice and well-being. General issues and the emergence of indigenous psychologies are also discussed.
Work Cultures in Indian Organisations: A Comparison Between Public and Private Sector*
Authors: Mathur Purnima , Aycan Zeynep , Kanungo Rabindra N.
Published: March 2007

This study examines the differences between the internal work culture of public and private sector organisations in India. 7be model of culture fit was rttilised to explain the ways in which the external sociocultural environment and enterprise variables influence the internal work culture which, in turn, has an impact on human resource management practices. A sample of 493 participants from 3 public and 4 private sector enterprises responded to a questionnaire. Compared to public sector organisations, the internal work culture of private enterprises placed greater emphasis on internal locus of control, future orientation in planning, participation in decision-making, and obligation towards others in the work context. Accord ingly, human resource management practices in the private sector utilised more effective motivational techniques (that is, feedback, autonomy, task significance, empowerment, supervisory control, and performance-reward contingency) com pared to those in the public sector.
The Desiring Subject: Female Pleasures and Feminist Resistance in Deepa Mehta's Fire
Authors: Bose Brinda
Published: March 2007

Analysing Deepa Mehta's recent controversial film Fire, which portrays lesbian love between two sisters-in-law, both of them slighted in marriage by their respective partners, as a recourse against and resistance to patriarchal oppression, we find Mehta's portrayal guilty of watering down the politics of lesbian desire—as sexual preference within a larger sphere of sexual choices. Moreover, Mehta's location as an Indo-Canadian filmmaker must also be taken into account when judging Fire's gender politics. In recent Canadian cinema, a considerable emphasis is placed on the sexual agency of female protagonists, both as bearers of the 'look' (famously ascribed by Laura Mulvey to male viewers alone), as well as free choosers of sexual lifestyles. In Fire, however, by contrast, the protagonists' love and escape are matters of necessity, both seem ingly still driven by the male (non-) desiring gaze.
Gender, Tribe and Community Control of Natural Resources in North-east India
Authors: Krishna Sumi
Published: March 2007

Following public debate on the dissonance between tribal traditions of self-governance and modern formal institutions in December 1996, Parliament extended the Panchayat Act to the areas covered by Schedule V of the Constitution. In many parts of India this has facilitated tribal women's legal right to participate in NRM. This paper describes the particular situation in north-eastern India, which is a region of great biogeographic and strategic significance. In the north-east existing customary practices (backed by special Constitutional arrangements or the provisions of Schedule VI) continue to deny tribal women ownership and significant control over local resources. With particular reference to Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, the paper argues for a reappraisal by tribal women and men of the sharply gender-biased customary practices and constitutional provisions in order to draw out women's power and strengthen their capacity to shape local resource management.
The Expanding Dimensions of Dowry
Authors: Agnihotri Indu
Published: March 2007

Recent years have seen a spread and intensification in the scale of dowry demand and dowry-related violence. Some months ago the AID WA organised a workshop to discuss the issue in view of the women's movements' engagement with it for over two decades. The discussion highlighted the changing form and nature of dowry as well as social practices in different regions, castes and community groups, and the need to understand these in the context of trends emerging in the globalisation era.
His Rights/Her Duties: Citizen and Mother in the Civics Discourse
Authors: Saigol Rubina
Published: March 2007

The boundaries of states and nations do not necessarily coincide. As imagined and unstable constructs, they are contested and have shifting borders. States tend to regulate their citizenry through selective processes of inclusion and exclusion on the lines of gender and ethnicity. These define who is included within the state's self- definition and who is excluded from the collective self-image, enabling the state to exert power and control over those within its boundaries. This article analyses how through civics education in Pakistan the image of the ideal (gendered) citizen is created that deprives some groups and women of access to full citizenship.
The Young P.C. Ray and the Inauguration of the Social History of Science in India (1885-1907)
Authors: Raina Dhruv
Published: March 2007

This paper discusses two projects in the early life of the Indian chemist, P. C. Ray, rightfully considered the founder of the 'school of chemistry' in modern India. Ray scholarship has often considered these years of his life as important from the point of view of an appreciation of the history of alchemy in India, but not in terms of his scientific contributions. It is only after 1907 that the Ray legend became the subject of serious scientific consideration. This paper discusses Ray's evolution till 1907, by examining the relationship between his project on the history of chemistry in India and his scientific researches on mercury. Further, it goes on to suggest that this effort was part of the larger programme of the cultural legitimation of modern science, and the two projects otherwise considered distinct, mutually informed each other during these years. While identifying the context of Ray's project, this exercise in social epistemology locates the factors that have clouded the recognition of the thematic unity of Ray's endeavour.
Networks of Trust: Scholarly Correspondence and Scientific Exchange in Early Modern Europe
Authors: Mauelshagen Franz
Published: March 2007

This essay examines the practices of networking among the erudite in late medieval and carly modern Europe. The building up of trust among individuals was sought through the channel of friendship, the most important form of sociability among the learned. This came to be the basis for an all-encompassing form of scientific exchange that took place through the medium of personal correspondence. How did bonds of friendship come to be created? How were these sustained over long distances within a society of limited mobility? What was the role of the exchange of gifts in these processes which, taking a cue from Pierre Bourdieu, could be designated as an 'economy of faith and trust'?
Rome: The Political Economy of a World-Empire
Authors: Jongman Willem M.
Published: March 2007

The vast Roman Empire. stretching from northern England to the Arabian deserts, the only world empire in pre-industrial European history, had a population of at least 60 million in first century A.D. In many parts, population densities were higher than ever until the modern age. An unprecedented proportion of this population was urban. The cities were well built, and well interconnected. Yet, Rome was also a world of misery, squalor and poverty. Life expectancy was in the 20s, and the majority of the population was poor, even if the rich were stupendously rich. For all its technological genius, Rome was the supreme example in European history of how far traditional econ omies may be pushed. Its achievements were due to empire, rather than growth.
From Medieval to Colonial: Markets, Territoriality and the Transition in Eighteenth Century Bengal
Authors: Datta Rajat
Published: March 2007

While the market as an economic institution in medieval India has received detailed and fruitful attention, the idea of a market as a terri torial site having its own jurisdictional and ownership considerations is yet to be developed in detail. This article analyses the positioning and functioning of this key institution in the transition which occurred in Bengal in the eighteenth century. It argues that medieval markets were highly contested zones where overlapping notions of authority made their structures extremely fluid. While landed proprietors and mer chants jostled with each other for control of this critical territorial space, the state remained an interested but benign onlooker, interfering only in the case of a potential breakdown. In contrast, in the early colo nial regime established by the English East India Company, a combina tion ofpeculiar taxonomic, hegemonic and mercantilist interests trans formed the existing relationships between the state and the market in India. The fluidity of territorial jurisdictions which characterised the anterior formation henceforth faded away.
Contested Memories of Pre-Islamic Iran
Authors: Tavakoli-Targhi Mohamad
Published: March 2007

The conquest of Iran by Islam and the subordination of its history to an Islamicate version did not go uncontested. The intellectual movement of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries inspired by Azar Kayvan, who went into self-exile in Mughal India to escape the persecution of the Safavid regime at home, constructed a powerful Iran-centred universal history begin ning with the pre-Adamite, Mahabad. The Biblical-Qur'anic domination was subverted to encode what later Orientalists, Zoroastrians and Baha'is were inspired to perceive as a proto-scientific text. It incited Iranian national ists in the nineteenth century to reconfigure the pre-Islamic past as a 'golden age', coming to a 'tragic end' with the Muslim conquest.
Enhancing Access to New ARV Therapies in Developing Countries
Authors: Chaudhury Ranjit Roy
Published: March 2007

Recent advances in HIV drug development has opened new opportunities for preventing mother-to-child transmission and for providing treatment to those living with HIV/AIDS. As a result in Western countries antiretroviral therapy is now part of the standard of care. However, in the developing countries these drugs are beyond the reach of the majority of patients because of high costs and other logistical reasons. Therefore, ensuring access to anti-HIV drugs is now a major issue in the developing world. This paper discusses various strategies and options that can be used to enhance accessibility to these drugs. Seven steps have been proposed, including selection of drug combinations, priority groups that should receive these drugs, pooled procurement, rational prescribing and logistics, as well as steps needed to make available drugs within the TRIPS agreement framework.
Patient Satisfaction in Public Outpatient Health Care Services
Authors: Chahal Hardip , Sharma R.D. , Gupta Mahesh
Published: March 2007

This paper is part of earlier research work conducted in the health care services sector. The customer relationship management concept has encouraged the adoption of a marketing culture not only in the private sector, but in public health care sector as well. In this paper the authors have analysed the factors affecting patient satisfaction in public health care outpatient services. Patient satisfaction is measured with respect to technical and non- technical characteristics of health care service encounters, categorised into four basic components: attitude towards doctors, attitude towards medical assistants, quality of administration and quality ofatmospherics. The authors hypothesise that all four factors are closely related to consumer satisfaction. The paper measures the degree of consumer satisfaction experienced by patients through the tested self-developed five-point Likert scale and has highlighted the problem faced by them. The impact of age, education level and gender ofthe decision maker on satisfactionldissatisfaction is analysed using relevant statistical tools. The responses have been integrated into important factors on the basis of factor analysis after verifying the validity and reliability of the schedule. The paper concludes with the strategic actions necessary for meeting the needs of patients of the government health care sector in developing countries.
Improving Quality of Care: AVSC International's Experiences in Africa
Authors: Dohlie Maj-Britt , Mielke Erin , Mumba Feddis , Wambwa Grace , Mongo Wilfred , Rukonge Anatole D. , Mashafi Joseph M.
Published: March 2007

As a result of its close collaboration with reproductive health organisations world wide, A VSC International1 developed a package of quality improvement approaches to encourage better use of human and physical resources. This paper focuses on A VSC's experiences in East Africa where the package of quality improvement approaches was first used. It describes each component of the package providing programme examples to illustrate how site staff and supervisors actually implemented the approaches.
Positive Action: Cultural Insights into Motivation
Authors: Bhatta C. Panduranga
Published: March 2007

The motivational theories are all partially true, and explain the behaviour of certain people at certain times. The search for a generalized theory of motivation at work appears to be a vain quest. There are certain concepts in ancient Indian cultural tradition which guided and motivated people to achieve outstanding results in various fields, including business. One such concept is the welfare of all human beings (lokasamgraha) which insist upon man's positive participation in various activities of the world of actuality. When leaders adopt lokasamgraha as the mission for their enterprises and make it the pillar of their management philosophy then they are able to provide incomparably dynamic and effective leadership besides inspiring their followers for positive action. Re-examining this concept along with other related concepts for our learning is the main objective of this article.
Idiosyncratic Factors in Pricing Sovereign Bonds: An Analysis of the Government of India Bond Market
Authors: Darbha Gangadhar , Dutta Roy Sudipta , Pawaskar Vardhana
Published: March 2007

Research on term structure estimation and bond pricing in developed countries has established that liquidity premium is an important component of bond prices, and is attributable to security-specific features. The import ance of liquidity premia is expected to be higher in emerging debt markets, which are characterised by illiquidity in large segments on account of various factors. Analysing daily information on secondary market trading in Gov ernment of India bonds, we find that residual maturity, time since issuance, current yield and issue size account for most of the variation in pricing errors off an estimated term structure. Our results highlight the need for explicit modelling of security-specific factors determining liquidity premia and bond pricing in emerging markets.
An Analysis of the Development of Wushu
Authors: Theeboom Marc , De Knop Paul
Published: March 2007

Wushu, the collective phrase for the Chinese martial arts, is one of the most prominent traditional sports in China. Many other Asian martial arts (e.g. judo, karate) have originated from it. Apart from its wide variety of fighting techniques, wushu incorporates ancient Chinese philosophical concepts and religious elements. This paper analyses some of the prominent changes that have occurred in the form, content and functions of wushu throughout Chinese history. Wushu's development has been distinctly influenced by changes that took place in Chinese society at large. During several periods in history, China's rulers have used wushu as a political instrument, thereby attributing specific functions to its practice (e.g. safeguarding public order; maintaining and developing physical abilities and fitness; promoting China's unity and prestige; strengthening the dominant ideology).
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AND RECREATIONAL SPORT PARTICIPATION IN GREECE
Authors: Alexandris Konstantions , Carroll Bob
Published: March 2007

This article provides the first substantial empirical evidence that significant differences exist in participation in sport in Greece. The most disadvantaged groups were: (a) individuals with low levels of education, irrespective of their age and gender; (b) middle-aged and elderly females; (c) middle-aged and elderly married individuals; and (d) married females irrespective of their age. The implications of these results for policy and provision of sports services in Greece are discussed.
YOUTH AND ORGANIZED SPORT IN FLANDERS
Authors: De Knop Paul , Wylleman Paul , Theeboom Marc , De Martelaer Kristine , Van Hoecke Jo
Published: March 2007

Schools and clubs in Flanders have tended to have a proactive policy toward organized sport for youth. Nevertheless, a review of organized sport in clubs and schools revealed that the needs of youth participants have not always been catered for. This article offers some suggestions regarding how to enhance the benefits that Flemish youth can derive from participating in organized sport.
Bridging the Gap: Internationalizing University Curricula
Authors: Leask Betty
Published: March 2007

This article is a case study of how one university is internationalizing all its courses so that all graduates will demonstrate an international perspective as professionals and citizens. This focus on courses and their teaching, learning, and assessment promotes international education, multiculturalism, and the recognition of intercultural issues relevant to professional practice. The first section deals with structural options and pathways for course design when internationalizing curricula and the defining characteristics of such options. The second and final section of the article outlines ways in which an internationalized curriculum broadens the scope of the subject to include international content and/or contact and sets up teaching and learning to assist in the development of cross-cultural communication skills. Internationalizing university curricula is a powerful and practical way of bridging the gap between rhetoric and practice to including and valuing the contribution of international students.
Internationalising the Curriculum in Dutch Higher Education: An International Comparative Perspective
Authors: Van Der Wende Marijk
Published: March 2007

The Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERJ) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) oversees the Higher Education in a New International Setting project. As part of this initiative, in 1996 the OECD/CERl publisbed a study entitled Internationalisation of Higher Education. Six OECD countries, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands, participated in the study, which involved an assessment of internationalised curricula and in-depth case studies. This article reports on the findings of the Dutch study in the context of the entire OECD/CERI project. The study found a large increase in the provision of internationalised curricula over the last ten years, largely in economics and business studies, the humanities, and social sciences. They include curricula with international subjects, curricula with international comparative approaches, and interdisciplinary regional and area studies. The study also examined the process of internationalising the curriculum, and concluded that it is lengthy and complex, that individual academics play a vital role, and that it requires support from a combined bottom-up and top-down strategy that is consistent with the institution's policy on internationalisation.
A Decade of Experience: Data from the Council on International Educational Exchange's International Faculty Development Seminars
Authors: Oberst Bethany S.
Published: March 2007

Little is known about international faculty development and what works to bring about the desired globalization of our American college campuses. The files of the Council on International Educational Exchange's International Faculty Development Seminars are the source of valuable information about the effectiveness of the IFDS format. These data, collected over the ten-year history of the FEDS, are uneven: the questions were not written for the purposes of external research, and the responses do not always lend themselves to quantification. However, the files provide us with some rare information about who has been involved in international faculty development, who pays for these programs, and what the results have been in terms of enhancement of curriculum, research, and service.

Since 1990, the IJDS have run 93 programs in 25 countries, enrolling 1,560 people from 613 colleges and universities. Particiants rate the seminars as extremely successful. Data indicate that a large majority of participants return to campus to create new courses, revise existing courses, get involved in new or enhanced research programs, and offer the campus and the community the benefits of their time abroad. It is recommended, however, that the IFDS staff the sending institutions, and the individual participants make more effort to specify the outcomes expected from these seminars. Also, more work must be done to enable more faculty to participate in structured overseas activities, and institutions must examine their own policies to see whether the policies further the goal of increased globalization, a goal that is part of so many campus mission statements and planning documents.
Rational Choice vs. Program-based Behavior
Authors: Vanberg Viktor J.
Published: March 2007

Rational choice theory is contrasted with the paradigm of program-based behavior suggested by biologist Ernst Mayr. This alternative behavioral paradigm, it is argued, captures much of what makes rational choice explanations intuitively appealing; it avoids, however, many of the criticisms that have been persistently raised against rational choice theory, and it has the advantage of being more in accord with theoretical approaches that are well established in other behavioral sciences. The paradigm of program-based behavior is compared, in particular, with Herbert A. Simon's concept of `bounded rationality' and to the research paradigms of evolutionary epistemology and evolutionary psychology.
Taxation and Voting Rights in Medieval England and France
Authors: Barzel Yoram , Kiser Edgar
Published: March 2007

We explore the relationship between voting rights and taxation in medieval England and France. We hypothesize that voting was a wealth-enhancing institution formed by the ruler in order to facilitate profitable joint projects with subjects. We predict when voting rights and tax payments will be linked to each other, as well as to the projects inducing them, and when they will become separated. We classify taxes into three types: customary, consensual and arbitrary. Customary taxes that did not require voting were dominant in both countries in the early medieval period. These payments, fixed for specific purposes, were not well suited for funding new, large-scale projects. Consensual taxation, in which voting rights and tax payments were tightly linked, was used to finance new, large-scale collective projects in both England and France. Strong rule-of-law institutions are necessary to produce such taxes. In England, where security of rule remained high, the relationship between tax payments and voting rights was maintained. In France, an increase in the insecurity of rule, and the accompanying weakening of voting institutions, produced a shift to arbitrary taxation and a disjunction between tax payments and voting rights. These observations, as well as many of the details we consider, are substantially in conformity with the predictions of our model.
What Games? Why Equilibria? Which Equilibria?
Authors: SWISTAK PIOTR
Published: March 2007

This article focuses on selected claims made by three authors about game theory: “What games?” (Aaron Wildavsky), “Why equilibria?” (Gordon Tullock), and “Which equilibria?” (Michael Hechter). The intention is to bring some balance to the debate by pointing to the fact that most of the arguments discussed are conditional; they are true under some assumptions but false under others. The power of game theory stems from the fact that it enables us to seek solutions no matter what assumptions we believe to be true about the modeled phenomenon.
Temptation, Willpower, and the Problem of Rational Self-Control
Authors: DEILY MARY E. , REED W. ROBERT
Published: March 2007

This article develops a model of consumption when individuals maximize utility knowing that they will experience varying levels of temptation and willpower over time. Examination of the optimal consumption path reveals that consumers may resist temptation by altering their consumption path. This can generate consumption patterns that mimic time preference even when no underlying time preferences exist. Self-control strategies to increase consumer welfare, such as precommitment and public side bets, are shown to derive directly from the model.
Twain's Law of Politics
Authors: DOUGAN WILLIAM R. , JANS IVETTE
Published: March 2007

This article models the electoral process as a game of incomplete information in which voters choose between candidates on the basis of the likelihood that each will fulfill the campaign promises made. The electorate's uncertainty about the future behavior of its representatives means that some candidates will win seats even though they are not committed to performing as promised. Moreover, because such candidates have more actions available to them than do their honest counterparts, they enjoy an electoral advantage until voters have acquired full information about them. This advantage makes a political career more attractive to dishonest individuals than to honest members of the same occupational class, so that dishonest people will tend disproportionately to enter politics.
PROVISION OF STEP-LEVEL PUBLIC GOODS UNDER UNCERTAINTY
Authors: Suleiman Ramzi
Published: March 2007

In a typical game examining voluntary contribution to the provision of step-level public goods, each member of a group of size n receives an endowment and then decides privately and anonymously how much of it to contribute for the provision of the good. The good is provided to all group members if and only if their total contribution is equal to, or larger than some threshold. While previous research assumed that group members have complete information about the threshold, the present article relaxes this assumption by treating the threshold as a random variable with a commonly known distribution. Three models, a subjective expected value model, a cooperative model and a strategic model are proposed to account for the individual's contribution decision. General solutions are then derived and their predictions for the case of a uniformly distributed threshold are evaluated.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL CAPITAL
Authors: Hofferth Sandra L. , Boisjoly Johanne , Duncan Greg J.
Published: March 2007

This paper investigates whether a family's access to social capital— defined here as perceived access to time and money help in an emergency from kin and friends—depends upon the family's past time and money investments in those kin and friends. It also examines the potential tradeoffs between money and time help from friends and relatives. Data come from parents of children under age 18 who responded to a supplement on time and money assistance included in the 1980 wave of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The results suggest that while parents who invest primarily in friend-based help networks have greater potential access to assistance from friends, there is no significant link between investment in family and access to family-based assistance. Thus, while exchange describes social-capital linkages to friends, it does not describe family-based behaviors. Other findings are that time and money appear to be complements while investments in friends or family are substitutes.
Afterbirths in the Afterlife: Cultural Meaning of Placental Disposal in a Hmong American Community
Authors: Helsel Deborah G. , Mochel Marilyn
Published: March 2007

Interviews were conducted with 94 Hmong Americans in California’sCentral Valley to explore attitudes regarding placental disposition and the cultural values that affect those attitudes. Research indicated a persistence of the traditional belief that placentas should be buried at home. The placenta is perceived to be essential for travel by the soul of the deceased into the spirit world to rejoin ancestors. Older respondents (older than age 35) and those who self-identified as animists were most likely to believe in the importance of home placental burial. Comments by respondents indicated some reluctance on the part of Hmong patients to ask health care providers for permission to take placentas home. Incorporating non-Western patients’traditional health care practices into Western health care delivery may be facilitated by an awareness of the reluctance of some patients to verbalize their wishes.
Breast-Feeding Experiences of Women of African Heritage in the United Kingdom
Authors: Higginbottom Gina M. Awoko
Published: March 2007

This article explores the breast-feeding experiences of women of African descent in the United Kingdom. Although there is a limited evidence base that describes the breast-feeding experiences of these women, the small number of studies on this topic suggest that a tradition of breast-feeding exists within African communities in the United Kingdom. Cultural materialism is adopted as a theoretical framework to explore the sociocultural influences on breast-feeding in the United Kingdom for this group. The invisibility of this group is examined in relation to the health care research and policy agenda in the United Kingdom, and arguments are made for the urgent need to address this paucity of information to promote evidence-based nursing and midwifery practice.
Challenges and Strategies for Conducting Intervention Research with Culturally Diverse Populations
Authors: Lindenberg Cathy Strachan , Solorzano Rosa Maria , Vilaro Frances Munet , Westbrook Linda O.
Published: March 2007

Conducting intervention research with culturally diverse, underserved, and often hard to reach populations in naturalistic or field settings presents investigators with a number of practical challenges. This article describes four special challenges and strategies for dealing with them that clients, service providers, and researchers experienced in conducting a prevention intervention to reduce substance use and sexual risky behaviors with low-income Latina young women. The challenges are (a) building community partnerships; (b) developing interventions that are acceptable and relevant; (c) promoting successful recruitment, participation, and retention of participants; and (d) developing a diverse, cohesive, and committed research team and effective managerial information support systems.
Weaving a Transcultural Thread
Authors: Reeves Joan S.
Published: March 2007

This article describes the development and implementation of an educational strategy to enhance knowledge about transcultural nursing in a College of Nursing undergraduate program. Concepts of diversity and transcultural nursing were integrated into the entire undergraduate curriculum. This content was presented over six quarters in seminar courses throughout the undergraduate program. A team of faculty members developed this series of courses called “Nurse and Society” that included cultural diversity, ethics, professionalism, and policy as strands or threads woven through the courses. Based on faculty evaluations at the end of each course, most graduating students were aware of the need to provide culturally congruent care. However, there is a need to develop a sound programmatic evaluation that includes empirical outcomes of cultural competence among graduates.
End of Life Customs among Immigrants from Eritrea
Authors: Holt Linda Lystig
Published: March 2007

Eritrean immigrants bring expectations and resources to meet the challenge of illness and death. This study, undertaken in cooperation with the Cross Cultural Health Care Program of Seattle, sought to learn about both the expectations and the resources. A literature search demonstrated that although Eritreans have much in common with Ethiopians, they must be seen as a separate people. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 2 Eritrean immigrants. Resulting tape transcriptions were studied to identify themes and values. Values included the importance of respect, the centrality of faith and of family, the use of herbs and home remedies, and the importance of visiting. Implications for health care within institutional and community settings were derived from these values with the help of Madeleine Leininger’s culture care theory.
Korean American Family Experiences of Caregiving for their Mentally Ill Adult Children: An Interpretive Inquiry
Authors: Donnelly Paja Lee
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this cross-cultural qualitative study is to describe and interpret the Korean American families’ (KAFs’) caregiving experiences for their mentally ill grown children. Seven KAF caregivers were purposefully sampled. In-depth audiotaped interviews were conducted in Korean, and Korean metaphors, images, and dreams were translated into English. This allowed for a rich explication of this study’s complex caregiving phenomena. Five major themes were identified: (a) realization of children’s illness, (b) battling the disease of incompetence, (c) poignant processes of caregiving, (d) suffering as a way of life, and (e) journey toward spirituality. In conclusion, incorporating transcultural nursing into core nursing curricula, recognizing the spiritual dimensions of care in nursing, and establishing culturally congruent community-based day treatment modalities and programs integrating other cultures are recommended.
Experiential Learning: An Approach to Transcultural Education for Nursing
Authors: Carpio Barbara A. , Majumdar Basanti
Published: March 2007

Delivery of culturally appropriate health care in our pluralistic society demands that practitioners develop special attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Experiential learning is a powerful methodology for addressing the affective, as well as the cognitive, domain of learning. The exploration of personal values is an essential first step in developing cultural awareness in order to move learners beyond ethnocentrism through awareness, understanding, acceptance, and appreciation of other cultures if learners are to truly adopt a multicultural approach to their professional practice. The nursing curriculum at McMaster University School of Nursing is based on the principles of adult education and self-directed learning. A series of guided experiences have been undertaken with a variety of health sciences learners, both students and faculty members, to foster an increased appreciation of (their) own values preliminary to embarking on knowledge and skill acquisition for transcultural health care.
Feeding and Weaning Practices of Cuban and Haitian Immigrant Mothers
Authors: Thomas Janice T. , DeSantis Lydia
Published: March 2007

The decline of breast feeding among immigrant mothers is of concern to transcultural nurses and other health care professionals. A descriptive survey of 30 Cuban and 30 Haitian immigrant mothers in South Florida explored their feeding and weaning beliefs and practices. Findings revealed that social, economic, and political factors in their country of origin and in South Florida affected their traditional health-culture beliefs and practices related to breast and bottle feeding and weaning, initial fluid intake, introduction of supplemental foods, and administration of vitamins, minerals, and medications. Implications for transcultural nursing care are presented.
Transcultural Nurses Reflect on Discoveries in China Using Leininger's Sunrise Model
Authors: Finn Julianna , Lee Marilyn
Published: March 2007

This paper is a descriptive report of transcultural nursing discoveries in China. The authors embarked on this study tour led by an experienced transcultural nurse educator which presented a challenging opportunity to discover Chinese culture, lifeways, and health care systems. The authors were challenged to learn about cultural differences and the importance for nurses to use transcultural nursing principles and the Culture Care Theory with research findings about diverse cultures. Leininger's (1991) Theory of Culture Care and Sunrise Model were the conceptual and theoretical guides used to discover the worldview, lifeways, and cultural values of the Chinese people. The Sunrise Model depicts the components of a culture which include worldview, cultural and environmental context, and seven social structure factors. Analysis of these dimensions of the Sunrise Model enabled the authors to discover the important values, beliefs, and lifeways of the Chinese people. Religious and philosophical, kinship and social, political and legal, and economic factors were most important for this culture. In addition culture care expressions, patterns, and practices for health and well being were highly valued by this culture. The Sunrise Model includes diverse health systems which offer generic, folk, and/or professional care. The Chinese culture includes a strong reliance on folk health care systems which persists today. This paper discusses the simultaneous use of folk and professional health care by the Chinese people and implications for transcultural nurses.
Politics and Care: A Study of Czech Americans Within Leininger's Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality
Authors: Miller June
Published: March 2007

The domain of inquiry for this study was the influence of the American political environmental context on professional and generic care patterns, expressions, and meanings of Czech American immigrants. The purpose of the research was to document, describe, interpret, and analyze the diversities and universalities of professional and generic care for this cultural group, to provide culturally congruent care to Czech Americans, and to explicate the role of politics as an influence on care patterns, health, and well being. The researcher's former transcultural ethnonmursing study in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1991 served as a stimulus for this in-depth study on politics and care. Twelve key and twenty general informants were identified. interviewed. Five major themes were identified. The researcher discovered that the capitalist economic market structure of the United States influencedi informant lifeways in all dimensions of Leininger's Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality, as depicted in the Sunrise Model. Specific care patterns discovered included care as choice, care as responsibility, and care as helping each other. Findings related to professional and generic care supported researcher predictions that generic culture care patterns would be important to immigrats. Provisions for culturally congruent nursing care were articulated based on research fidings.
The Experiences of Mexican Americans Receiving Professional Nursing Care: An Ethnonursing Study
Authors: Zoucha Rick D.
Published: March 2007

The focus of this study was to discover the experiences of Mexican Americans receiving professional nursing care. The purpose of this study was to explore the care experiences, views, patterns, and meanings of Mexican Americans who have received professional nursing care. The need for this study arises from nursing's lack of knowledge regarding the experiences and cultural values of Mexican Americans receiving professional nursing care and how these values influence the health and/or well being of Mexican Americans.
Results from the Pilot Study of the Citizens, Victims, and Offenders Restoring Justice Program at the Washington State Reformatory
Authors: HELFGOTT JACQUELINE B. , LOVELL MADELINE L. , LAWRENCE CHARLES F. , PARSONAGE WILLIAM H.
Published: March 2007

Citizens, Victims, and Offenders Restoring Justice Program is a prison-based program conducted as a pilot study at the Washington State Reformatory from 1997 to 1998. The purpose of the study was to explore ways in which the restorative justice model may be practically applied in a correctional setting. The pilot project consisted of development, implementation, and evaluation of three trials of a seminar on restorative justice involving victims, offenders, and citizens as participants. The development of the program is outlined, program goals and evaluation methods are summarized, and the evaluation results are presented. The combined quantitative and participant observational results show that the program was effective in achieving the four program goals. The seminar provided a safe environment for inmates to begin making amends for their crimes and for victims to heal, facilitated constructive communication between polarized groups, and encouraged participants to develop creative ways of thinking about justice and strategies for dealing with crime. Implications of the results for future programs are discussed.
Extralegal Factors and Probation Presentence Reports
Authors: Rosecrance John
Published: March 2007

In this paper, it is demonstrated that extralegal factors have minimal influence upon the sentencing recommendations contained in probation presentence reports. Probation officers who present these reports primarily consider the legally relevant variables of present offense and prior criminal record when deciding upon a recommendation. Drawing upon ethnographic and interview data, stages in a presentence investigation are identified and analyzed. It is shown that early in the investigation probation officers, using a legalistic perspective, place defendants into types that reflect eventual sentencing recommendations. Although extralegal data such as defendant attitudes and social history subsequently are collected and included in the presentence report, this information is often structured by probation officers to legitimate their own initial legalistic typing.
Attitudes of Prosecutors and Probation Departments Toward Diversion in Domestic Violence Cases in California
Authors: Kaci Judy Hails , Tarrant Shira
Published: March 2007

In 1979, California enacted a diversion program for misdemeanor domestic violence cases which permits the charges to be dropped if the batterer successfully completed a counseling program. Initial screening was assigned to the district attorney's offices while supervision of offenders during diversion was to be conducted by the probation department. This article reports the results of surveys sent to the district attorneys and probation departments in 1987. Both samples reported generally positive attitudes toward diversion. Less than one quarter of the agencies were able to provide any statistics to verify the success of defendants placed on diversion. There was no correlation between these statistics and the opinions stated regarding diversion.
Uncovering the Hidden Social World: Insider Research in Prison
Authors: Jones Richard S.
Published: March 2007

The prison setting provides researchers with specific challenges that must be considered prior to conducting a study. This paper addresses some of these challenges and provides an argument for why the use of a qualitative methodological approach may be the best strategy for what Marquardt (1986) refers to as "penetrating the back-stage prison behavior settings." Specifically, this paper provides a brief discussion of the different types of research methods that have been used to study the prison. Secondly, we will address the strengths and weaknesses of a qualitative methodological approach to studying the prison. Third, we will provide as an exemplar an unique approach to the study of prisons, namely an ethnographic study that utilized a complete participant (inmate-sociologist) and an outside observer (sociology professor) as a way of achieving an insider's understanding while maintaining an outsider's objectivity. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternative ways of achieving insider knowledge of the prison social world.