bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genetic, Cultural or Socio‐economic Vulnerability? Explaining Ethnic Inequalities in Health
Authors: Nazroo James Y.
Published: March 2003

Most work on ethnic inequalities in health in the UK has focused on genetic and cultural difference, ignoring issues relating to class disadvantage. However, more recent work, and that conducted in the US, suggests that material disadvantage might be crucial. Nevertheless, the wider sociological literature illustrates that ethnicity and ‘race’ cannot simply be reduced to class.

This paper uses data from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities to examine three alternative approaches to ethnic inequalities in health. Epidemiological approaches are driven by empirical findings and make little explicit acknowledgement of theoretical understandings of ethnicity, but they carry the assumption that ethnicity provides a natural and fixed division between population groups. Consequently, explanations for differences tend to be reduced to ahistoric and de‐contextualised genetic and cultural factors. Structural approaches generally focus on material explanations for inequalities, but there are important methodological difficulties in assessing these. We also need to consider other elements of the structural disadvantage faced by ethnic minority groups, such as their experiences of racism or concentration in particular geographical locations. Approaches that focus on ethnic identity emphasise the importance of group affiliation and culture, while acknowledging the contingent and contextual nature of ethnicity. However, despite the promise carried by identity based approaches, there has been little empirical work undertaken.

These varying approaches illustrate how important ethnic inequalities in health might be to a wider understanding of mechanisms producing inequalities in health. However, a concern with mechanisms in health inequalities research can lead to a focus on technical interventions along causal pathways, with the roots of health inequalities, wider social inequalities, being ignored.
Mortgage Debt, Insecure Home Ownership and Health: An Exploratory Analysis
Authors: Nettleton Sarah , Burrows Roger
Published: March 2003

This paper is a direct response to Wilkinson’s (1996) call for more research into housing insecurity and health. It explores the consequences of mortgage arrears for both the health of indebted home owners and their use of primary health care services. It is based on the results of a secondary analysis of the British Household Panel Survey. It demonstrates that the experience of mortgage indebtedness has an independent effect on the subjective well being of men and women, and that it increases the likelihood that men will visit their general practitioners. The paper draws upon the sociological notions of ‘ontological security’ and ‘individualisation’ to make sense of these empirical findings. It suggests that policies which have encouraged the growth of home ownership are premised on the idea of individual responsibility, a notion which underpins other spheres of contemporary welfare policies. Within this context, the consequences of mortgage indebtedness are likely to have profound psychosocial consequences for those who have direct experience of it. The spectre of mortgage debt may also contribute to the insecurity which has come to form a feature of our contemporary social and cultural life.
Between Scrutiny and Treatment: Physical Diagnosis and the Restructuring of 19th Century Medical Practice
Authors: Lachmund Jens
Published: March 2003

This article is a historical‐sociological account of the rise of physical diagnosis (auscultation and percussion) in 19th century medicine. It focuses on the spread of physical diagnosis, from the near exclusive confines of the hospital to the broader realm of medical practice. In particular, it sheds light on the relationship between diagnosis and treatment which turned out to play a most crucial role in the eventual success of physical diagnosis. On the one hand, critics argued that physical diagnosis lacked any practical value and that its introduction into medical practice would not contribute to the treatment of the patient. On the other hand, proponents of physical diagnosis maintained that medical treatment would benefit from better diagnostic knowledge and that the physician’s actions should be based on systematic diagnostic scrutiny. The article also sheds light on the negotiation between physicians and patients which took place during the introduction of physical diagnosis into private practice. In the last part of the article, it will be argued that the success of physical diagnosis was closely related to the co‐production of a new form of professional expertise in 19th century medicine.
Children as informal interpreters in GP consultations: pragmatics and ideology
Authors: Cohen Suzanne , Moran‐Ellis Jo , Smaje Chris
Published: March 2003

This paper explores the views of General Practitioners (GPs) about the appropriateness of children undertaking a task of interpretation between the GP and an adult patient in primary heath care consultations. We argue that the operational constraints that GPs face because of the limited availability of professional interpreters or bi‐lingual Health Advocates create situations where children are accepted in this role by GPs, subject to specific limitations and contingencies. The contingent nature of perceptions of children's acceptability as informal interpreters is shown to be related primarily to the nature of the medical consultation in terms of whether it is likely to be straightforward, complex or sensitive. At the same time GPs express an ideological opposition to the appropriateness of this task for children generally. This ideological opposition is explicitly linked by GPs to broader constructions of a ‘proper’ childhood, characterised as a time of innocence and freedom from worry.
Cervical screening, compliance and moral obligation
Authors: Howson Alexandra
Published: March 2003

Cervical screening has been subject to extensive scrutiny within the social sciences over the last two decades. Moreover, it has been described, in passing, as an example of ‘surveillance medicine’ through which new aspects of people’s lives are brought under medical scrutiny. Cervical screening is an example of secondary prevention with which women, on the whole, are expected and encouraged to comply, in what are deemed to be their best interests. However, the social science literature on cervical screening tends to present compliance as a morally neutral and unproblematic response to information about disease prevention. In contrast, this paper seeks to illustrate how women draw on specific contexts and relationships through which participation in, or compliance with screening, is given meaning. Drawing on women’s accounts of their experience of screening participation, the paper suggests that compliance with cervical screening cannot be viewed exclusively as a morally neutral, if desirable, outcome of disease prevention initiatives, but may also be embedded within a moral framework of self‐responsibility and social obligation.
Experts as ‘storytellers’ in reproductive genetics:exploring key issues
Authors: Ettorre Elizabeth
Published: March 2003

The paper reports findings from a European study on experts’ perceptions of reproductive genetics, and explores the notion of experts as ‘genetic story tellers’ and producers of genetic ideology. The first part provides experts’ accounts of families who are perceived as being in need of prenatal genetic screening. Here, I reflect on the types of claims experts construct as well as on the impact of these claims. The second part is a theoretical elaboration of how, in making their claims, experts employ a series of normative strategies (i.e. claiming ownership of knowledge and practices, separating the social and scientific, deploying genetic foundationalism and advocating the application of bioethics) in their genetics work. The conclusion is that, while these issues are enormously difficult and socially complex, we must be vigilant because the moral and ethical values of our society may be at stake.
‘Losing the plot’? Medical and activist discourses of contemporary genetics and disability
Authors: Shakespeare Tom
Published: March 2003

This paper highlights the absence of disability perspectives from research on the cultural construction of genetics. Specifically, it contrasts the discourse on disability emanating from the medical establishment, with the discourse on genetics emanating from the civil rights movement of disabled people. The rhetorical strategies of both positions are criticised, and greater communication and dialogue between different stakeholders in genetics is advocated.
The aesthetics of illness: narrative, horror and the sublime
Authors: Radley Alan
Published: March 2003

First‐person accounts of life‐threatening or terminal illness appear frequently in the academic literature and in the media. This paper takes up the question of how these accounts might provide, for their authors, a sense of coherence and freedom, and for their readers a grasp of suffering and its potential. By focusing upon the ‘horrors’ integral to such accounts, the argument is made that such horrors are basic to the sufferer’s symbolisation of an illness‐world. This world, rather like the adventure, is torn from life, grounded in the sensuous fragments through which its elusory powers are expressed. Seen as the problematisation of life as a work of freedom, the illness account can then be analysed as an aesthetic project. The paper discusses this proposal, distinguishing between aesthetics and aestheticisation as social phenomena. It uses this distinction to make a critical observation upon attempts to understand suffering in the modern world in terms of power or of myth.
Is anybody there? Critical realism, chronic illness and the disability debate
Authors: Williams Simon J.
Published: March 2003

Taking as its point of departure the contested nature of the body, in mainstream theory and the sociology of health and illness alike, this paper seeks, albeit tentatively, to chart a critical realist alternative to these debates using the controversial terrain of chronic illness and disability as a case study. A critical realist approach, it is suggested, enables us to: (i) bring the biological body, impaired or otherwise, ‘back in’; (ii) relate the individual to society in a challenging, non‐conflationary or non ‘uni‐directional’ way; and (iii) rethink questions of identity, difference and the ethics of care through a commitment to real bodies andreal selves, real lives and real worlds. Within all this, it is argued,modern medicine does indeed, contra disability theory and postmodern calls for the pursuit of so‐called ‘arche‐health’, have a continuing role to play in the mitigation of human pain and suffering, including the realities of chronic disabling illness conditions and the associated ‘greying’ of Western populations.
Crack cocaine and prostitution in London in the 1990s
Authors: Green Anna , Day Sophie , Ward Helen
Published: March 2003

During the past 15 years, the use of crack cocaine has increased in London and our research from 1995–96 shows that its use is widespread throughout the sex industry by prostitutes and their clients. Interviews with women who have used crack and worked in prostitution show that use of the drug presents few difficulties for many in the industry, in contrast to widely held views. However, some women found that crack use undermined their safety at work and in other relationships. They spoke of placing themselves at greater risk of ill health, loss of earnings, and violence through their drug use. Although these problems affect a minority of prostitutes, it is important to disseminate information about these effects because crack is so widely available throughout the industry.
Science friction: cervical cancer and the contesting of medical beliefs
Authors: Hyde Pamela
Published: March 2003

This paper describes the ways in which beliefs about cervical cancer became contested within the medical profession in New Zealand from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. Medical dissenters who contested orthodox beliefs about cervical cancer during this period challenged the medical profession in a number of ways. In particular, professional unity and authority were called into question and threatened to turn professional uncertainties into public anxieties. Professional strategies were employed to cope with knowledge claims that threatened existing medical beliefs. The work of Ludwik Fleck forms the basis of a discussion of the ways in which medical knowledge is located and negotiated within a social context. This case study shows that closure of disputes over knowledge claims about cervical cancer occurred largely as a result of an inquiry into medical practice presided over by the laity and through an appeal to the moral as well as the scientific‐technical.
Beliefs and accounts of illness. Views from two Cantonese‐speaking communities in England
Authors: Prior Lindsay , Chun Pang Lai , Huat See Beng
Published: March 2003

This paper examines lay accounts of illness and health gathered – by means of eight focus groups – from people living in two Cantonese‐speaking communities in England. The authors concentrate on the manner in which Cantonese speakers recruit and mobilise various agents – such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), spirits, demons, food and the weather – to describe and explain aspects of their bodily and mental wellbeing. As well as providing information on what Cantonese speakers say about such matters, the data are also used to indicate how a concentration on ‘accounts’, rather than on ‘beliefs’, enables sociology to side‐step a concern with the subjective and psychological and to focus, instead, on what is publicly available and verifiable.
Norms for priority setting among health professionals: a view from Norway
Authors: Lian Olaug
Published: March 2003

Which patients should be treated, and who should be treated first? In this paper, the attitudes of health professionals towards setting priorities are examined through an analysis of interview and questionnaire data answered by senior physicians and senior nurses in Norwegian hospitals. The data indicate that patients’ needs remain the most important motive behind such decisions, especially among the eldest respondents. Expected medical effects of the intervention are also important, but not the ratio of effects to costs. Some, especially the youngest respondents, say that they give priority to patients’ on sick leave. Differences between age groups may be a sign of a changing normative orientation. The two professions usually agree, except that nurses are more concerned about financial aspects than physicians are. Differences between departments and hospitals suggest that their normative orientation is influenced by the clinical problems with which they are dealing.
The role of the menopause in women’s experiences of the ‘change of life’
Authors: Ballard Karen D. , Kuh Diana J. , Wadsworth Michael E.J.
Published: March 2003

Over the course of the 20th century, the menopause came to be viewed amongst the medical profession as a hormone deficiency state. This formulation of the menopause as a physiological and biochemical change, whilst in some ways appropriate, understates the importance of the social context in which the menopause is experienced. Drawing on women’s accounts of the menopause, as described in the comments section of a longitudinal national survey, this paper describes the experience of the menopause transition as a status passage (Glaser and Strauss 1971), where women move through a series of five stages: (1) expectation of symptoms; (2) experience of symptoms and loss of control; (3) confirmation of the menopause; (4) regaining control and (5) freedom from menstruation. The social changes experienced by women during this time are then considered as parallel status passages, often competing for attention with the menopause transition. These free comments made by women emphasise the importance of changing social relationships with partners, children and parents, and changes at work. We show that, whilst women conceive the menopause to be a medical event, they themselves place importance on the social context in which the menopause is experienced. We argue therefore that the predominantly lay term, the ‘change of life’, is appropriate to capture the multiplicity of biological and social changes that occur during midlife, of which menopause is only one part.
The significance and consequences of having painful and disabled joints in older age: co‐existing accounts of normal and disrupted biographies
Authors: Sanders Caroline , Donovan Jenny , Dieppe Paul
Published: March 2003

Abstract This paper examines the meanings of symptoms for people with osteoarthritis. The study comprised 27 in‐depth interviews with men and women aged between 51 and 91 years (median age = 76) and draws on previous sociological work about experiences of chronic illness, disability and ageing. In particular, the distinction proposed by Bury between ‘meaning as significance’ (the significance and connotations associated with illness) and ‘meaning as consequence’ (problems created for the individual by activity restriction and social disadvantage), provides a useful framework to examine the biographical aspects of symptoms. We found that older respondents portrayed their symptoms as a normal and integral part of their biography, but they also talked about the highly disruptive impact of symptoms on their daily lives. We consider how these co‐existing accounts of meaning make sense in the context of cultural connotations of ageing and the implications for meeting health care needs of older people with osteoarthritis.
Accomplishing ‘the case’ in paediatrics and child health: medicine and morality in inter‐professional talk
Authors: White Susan
Published: March 2003

This paper presents data from a recently completed ESRC funded ethnography of social relations and case formulation in an integrated child health service, comprising paediatric inpatient and outpatient, child and adolescent mental health and child development services. Children present to the services with symptoms or troubles for which there are often competing biological, neurological, genetic and/or psychosocial models of causation. As a consequence, clinicians’ talk is oriented to deciding between three main potential types of case formulation –medical, psychosocial and not just medical. These three formulations are not static ideal‐types. They are highly contestable and require complex practical and rhetorical work, through which facts and evidence are selectively invoked and different parties to the case are granted attributes which construct and reconstruct past events to render ambiguous symptoms or events understandable. In particular, moral judgements and complex characterizations about the child’s parents, or significant others, often form an indispensable warrant for these formulations. By analysing professional narratives about cases, this paper develops previous ethnographic work on the classification in medical work of children and adults as good or bad, appropriate or inappropriate, culpable or blameless, and renders visible a repertoire of moral formulations about childhood and child care. In particular, judgements about the adequacy of parental love are central to clinical reasoning.
Semiparametric econometric estimators for a truncated regression model: a review with an extension
Authors: Lee M.‐J. , Kim H.
Published: March 2003

Econometric estimators for a truncated regression model are reviewed. For each estimator, the motivations, the key assumptions, the asymptotic distribution and estimates for the asymptotic variance matrix are presented; also a new estimator is suggested. We select five practical estimators among those, and compare them through a Monte Carlo study where the response variable is simulated but the covariates are drawn from a real data set. Some practical and computational issues are addressed as well.
Bayesian and Frequentist Inference for Ecological Inference: The R×C Case
Authors: Rosen Ori , Jiang Wenxin , King Gary , Tanner Martin A.
Published: March 2003

In this paper we propose Bayesian and frequentist approaches to ecological inference, based on R×C contingency tables, including a covariate. The proposed Bayesian model extends the binomial‐beta hierarchical model developed by King, Rosen and Tanner (1999) from the 2×2 case to the R×C case. As in the 2×2 case, the inferential procedure employs Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. As such, the resulting MCMC analysis is rich but computationally intensive. The frequentist approach, based on first moments rather than on the entire likelihood, provides quick inference via nonlinear least‐squares, while retaining good frequentist properties. The two approaches are illustrated with simulated data, as well as with real data on voting patterns in Weimar Germany. In the final section of the paper we provide an overview of a range of alternative inferential approaches which trade‐off computational intensity for statistical efficiency.
Quasi‐longitudinal Designs in SEM state Space Modeling
Authors: Oud Johan H. L.
Published: March 2003

The collection of longitudinal data over the full model time scope is often an appropriate way to estimate the dynamic state space model with time‐varying parameters. Nevertheless, in many situations it is possible and preferable to collect and combine data from independent groups of subjects, each covering a shorter interval than the full dynamic model. Several quasi‐longitudinal designs are discussed: overlapping designs (overlapping cohort design OCD and overlapping samples design OSD) as well as nonoverlapping designs up to the exclusively cross‐sectional design. The use of the structural equation modeling (SEM) program Mx and continuous time state space modeling is recommended. Finally, a number of the quasi‐longitudinal designs is empirically evaluated, comparing the results with those of the full‐longitudinal design.
Quantile functions for multivariate analysis: approaches and applications
Authors: Serfling Robert
Published: March 2003

Despite the absence of a natural ordering of Euclidean space for dimensions greater than one, the effort to define vector‐valued quantile functions for multivariate distributions has generated several approaches. To support greater discrimination in comparing, selecting and using such functions, we introduce relevant criteria, including a notion of “medianoriented quantile function”. On this basis we compare recent quantile approaches and several multivariate versions of trimmed mean and interquartile range. We also discuss a univariate “generalized quantile” approach that enables particular features of multivariate distributions, for example scale and kurtosis, to be studied by two‐dimensional plots. Methods based on statistical depth functions are found to be especially attractive for quantile‐based multivariate inference.
Relating gender errors to morphosyntax and lexicon in advanced French interlanguage
Authors: Dewaele Jean‐Marc , Véronique Daniel
Published: March 2003

An correlational analysis between accuracy levels of gender agreement—based on an analysis of 519 gender errors out of 9378 modifiers in the advanced French interlanguage of 27 Flemish L1 speakers‐ and morphosyntactic and lexical variables, revealed a clear negative relationship between the number of gender errors and fluency variables. No relation was found between gender errors and other types of agreement errors. This suggests that more advanced learners, whose interlanguage speech production process is more automatised or proceduralised, do commit fewer gender errors but that good mastery of gender agreement does not imply an equally good mastery of other types of agreement.
Authenticity of pronunciation in naturalistic second language acquisition: The case of very advanced late learners of Dutch as a second language
Authors: Bongaerts Theo , Mennen Susan , Slik Frans van der
Published: March 2003

The article reports on the fourth study in a series of four designed to test the prediction that a nativelike accent is unattainable for those who start to acquire an SL after the close of the critical period. Sentences read out by late learners, who acquired Dutch in an immersion setting, were rated for accent by native speakers of Dutch. The results from this study, in combination with those from three previous studies, suggest that, in spite of the claims of the critical period hypothesis, late learners can achieve a nativelike accent in an SL, and that a combination of input, motivational, and instructional factors may compensate for the neurological disadvantages of a late start.
IP‐internal topic and focus phrases
Authors: Jayaseelan K. A.
Published: March 2003

It is shown that postulating a Focus Phrase above vP enables us to explain such diverse phenomena as the Malayalam question word's position contiguous to V, the ‘remnant’ in English pseudogapping, the clause‐final ‘floated’ focus marker in English, and the position of the ‘cleft focus’ in English and Malayalam clefts. Assuming a Kaynean view of the underlying structure of SOV languages, we argue that the ‘canonical’ positions to which the verb's internal arguments are moved in these languages are above this Focus Phrase. Postulating an iterable Topic Phrase above the Focus Phrase (and above the ‘canonical’ positions in SOV languages) enables us to account for the definiteness/specificity constraints on clause‐internal scrambling in Malayalam, German and Dutch, and on object shift in Scandinavian. Finally, it is shown that all the functions attributed to an ‘outer’ Spec position of vP are better fulfilled by the Topic/Focus positions above vP that we postulated.
Adjective Syntax and Noun Raising: Word Order Asymmetries in the DP as the Result of Adjective Distribution
Authors: Alexiadou Artemis
Published: March 2003

The paper investigates the triggers and the motivation for noun raising in combination with the interpretation and placement of adjectives within the DP across languages. I point out that first the nature of noun movement is empirically and conceptually problematic. Second, the post‐nominal position of adjectives in languages for which it has been argued to result from noun movement is consistent with an analysis of those that capitalizes on their predicative source. Thus the cross‐linguistic asymmetry concerning the relative order of nouns with respect to adjectives has its source in the syntactic configurations available in UG for adjectival modification and is not a result of syntactic head raising within the DP.
Higher‐order Painlevé Equations in the Polynomial Class I. Bureau Symbol P2
Authors: Cosgrove Christopher M.
Published: March 2003

In this article, we construct all fourth‐ and fifth‐order differential equations in the polynomial class having the Painlevé property and having the Bureau symbol P2. The fourth‐order equations (including the Bureau barrier equation, y(iv)=3yy″−4(y′)2, which fails some Painlevé tests) are six in number and are denoted F‐I,…,F‐VI; the fifth‐order equations are four in number and are denoted Fif‐I,…,Fif‐IV. The 12 remaining equations of the fourth order in the polynomial class (where the Bureau symbol is P1) are listed in the Appendix, their proof of uniqueness being postponed to a sequel (paper II). Earlier work on this problem by Bureau, Exton, and Martynov is incomplete, Martynov having found 13 of the 17 distinct reduced equations. Equations F‐VI and Fif‐IV are new equations defining new higher‐order Painlevé transcendents. Other higher‐order transcendents appearing here may be obtained by group‐invariant reduction of the KdV5, Sawada–Kotera, and Kaup–Kupershmidt equations, the latter two being related. Four sections are devoted to solutions, first integrals, and assorted properties of the main equations. Several of the equations are solved in terms of hyperelliptic functions of genus 2 by means of Jacobi's postmultiplier theory. Except for a classic solution of Drach, we believe that all of these hyperelliptic solutions are new. In an accompanying paper, the hyperelliptic solutions of F‐V and F‐VI are applied to the unsolved third‐order Chazy classes IX and X.
On Discrete Painlevé Equations Associated with the Lattice KdV Systems and the Painlevé VI Equation
Authors: Nijhoff F. W. , Ramani A. , Grammaticos B. , Ohta Y.
Published: March 2003

A new integrable nonautonomous nonlinear ordinary difference equation is presented that can be considered to be a discrete analogue of the Painlevé V equation. Its derivation is based on the similarity reduction on the two‐dimensional lattice of integrable partial differential equations of Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) type. The new equation, which is referred to as generalized discrete Painlevé equation (GDP), contains various “discrete Painlevé equations” as subcases for special values/limits of the parameters, some of which have already been given in the literature. The general solution of the GDP can be expressed in terms of Painlevé VI (PVI) transcendents. In fact, continuous PVI emerges as the equation obeyed by the solutions of the discrete equation in terms of the lattice parameters rather than the lattice variables that label the lattice sites. We show that the bilinear form of PVI is embedded naturally in the lattice systems leading to the GDP. Further results include the establishment of Bäcklund and Schlesinger transformations for the GDP, the corresponding isomonodromic deformation problem, and the self‐duality of its bilinear scheme.
Envelope Solitary Waves and Periodic Waves in the AB Equations
Authors: Tan Benkui , Boyd John P.
Published: March 2003

This article deals with the envelope solitary waves and periodic waves in the AB equations that serve as model equations describing marginally unstable baroclinic wave packets in geophysical fluids and also ultra‐short pulses in nonlinear optics.

An envelope solitary wave has a width proportional to its velocity and inversely proportional to its amplitude. The velocity of the envelope solitary wave is partially dependent on its amplitude in the sense that the amplitude determines the upper or lower limit of the velocity. When two envelope solitary waves collide, they survive the collision and retain their identities except for a shift in the positions of both the envelopes and the carrier waves.

The periodic wave solutions in sine wave form may be stable or unstable depending upon the wave parameters. When the sine wave is destabilized by small perturbations, its long‐time evolution shows a Fermi–Pasta–Ulam‐type oscillation.
Class Teachers and the Role of Classroom Assistants in the Delivery of Special Educational Needs
Authors: Margerison Andy
Published: March 2003

In this article Andy Margerison explores the difficulties facing special educational needs coordinators and classroom teachers in designing and delivering effective and accurate individual education plans within existing financial resources through the Code of Practice and suggests that, given appropriate training, classroom assistants could have a greatly enhanced role to play in the process.
A Survey of Training and Professional Development for Learning Support Assistants
Authors: Dew‐Hughes Denise , Brayton Howard , Blandford Sonia
Published: March 2003

During the academic years 1996–98 the authors undertook a series of one‐day training and professional development seminars for learning support assistants working in secondary schools. Delegates attending the seminars represented sixty‐two local education authorities. They were asked to complete a questionnaire recording details of their qualifications and experience in post. During the course of the seminar, their wider comments were collected and examined. Many found their experiences shared or their views challenged by fellow delegates. This article discusses the findings of the survey, juxtaposing questionnaire data with the contextual field data of steered discussions. Its conclusions represent the views of 274 non‐teaching professionals currently supporting learning in secondary schools.
‘Out of School’ Children in South Africa: An Analysis of Causes in a Group of Marginalised, Urban 7‐ to 15‐year‐olds
Authors: Porteus Kimberley , Clacherty Glynis , Mdiya Leon , Pelo Joy , Matsai Kgethi , Qwabe Sibusiso , Donald David
Published: March 2003

In this article, Kimberley Porteus and colleagues analyse the factors underlying school non‐attendance in three poor, marginalised communities in South Africa. The findings reveal that ‘poverty’, including the interaction between physical, social and psychological factors, has by far the greatest influence on children's being out of school. The study concludes that poverty needs to be addressed as a priority if the very notion of ‘inclusion’ is to have meaning in South African society.
Social Exclusion, Absenteeism And Sexual Minority Youth
Authors: Rivers Ian
Published: March 2003

In this article, on a topic not previously explored in this journal, Ian Rivers compares two groups of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults (mean age, 28 years) who reported having been subjected to anti‐lesbian/gay abuse at school. The first group recalled a history of absenteeism at school while the second group, although experiencing similar levels of harassment, reported attending school on a regular basis. The findings suggest an association between the experience of harassment and a history of absenteeism and an ideation of self‐harm and suicide while at school. Rivers proposes that anti‐harassment initiatives be set up to ensure a safe environment in which sexual minority youth can learn.
Opportunities for Authentic Experience and Reflection: A Teaching Programme Designed to Change Attitudes Towards Disability for Pre‐service Teachers
Authors: Brownlee Joanne , Carrington Suzanne
Published: March 2003

Teachers increasingly need to manage and interact effectively with a broad range of students, including those with disabilities. Positive interactions require positive attitudes towards children with disabilities. In this qualitative study from Australia, Joanne Brownlee and Suzanne Carrington investigate the beliefs and attitudes towards people with disabilities of 11 pre‐service teachers. The results of this study have implications for the structure of teacher education programmes in generic teacher education courses.
Paper promises? Making the Code work for you
Authors: Gross Jean
Published: March 2003

As the revised Code of Practice is introduced, Jean Gross reminds us of some of the problems inherent in the model of individual‐child planning which it retains. She suggests ways in which schools might ‐ while still staying within the prescribed framework ‐ reduce the burden of bureaucracy and develop systems which will more effectively target and deliver progress for children with special educational needs.
Accessing, through Research Interviews, the Views of Children with Difficulties in Learning
Authors: Lewis Ann
Published: March 2003

The authors of this and the following two articles consider some of the challenges facing researchers in establishing children’s views about learning. In this article Ann Lewis provides an overview of some of the key issues with regard to the interviewing, for research purposes, of children with difficulties in learning. The issues discussed and the approach adopted will have wide application in a climate which increasingly accepts that accessing the authentic views of children is an important responsibility requiring respectfulness, sensitivity and skill.
A Cautionary Note Concerning the Cox and Stuart Test
Authors: Farnsworth David L.
Published: March 2003

A homework assignment led to the observation that the Cox and Stuart test is not symmetric under the transposition of the two variables. Examples of this feature are presented.
Spreadsheets as a Simulation Tool for Solving Probability Problems
Authors: Ageel M.I.
Published: March 2003

This article illustrates the use of spreadsheets as a simulation tool for solving a collection of probability problems.
Ritualized Play Using Role Play to Teach Pastoral Care and Counseling
Authors: Couture Pamela D.
Published: March 2003

The author's experience of reflection‐on‐action and reflection‐in‐action in clinical supervision for counseling provides the basis for an analogous experience in the classroom that promotes the teaching of the practice of general pastoral care. A classroom ritual of role play within a specific process for reflection provides the basis for integrating theory and practice.
Shaping the Tourist’S Gaze: Representing Ethnic Difference in a Nepali Village
Authors: Guneratne Arjun
Published: March 2003

A certain practice associated with the tourism industry in Nepal’s Chitwan district, the ‘village walk’, has become one way through which ethnic status can be expressed and claims to modernity made by local people. This phenomenon illustrates how globalizing processes reinforce the particulars of locality by providing people with new frameworks through which to interpret their societies. Thus, the ideology of modernity has replaced that of caste as the way in which Tharus and Brahmans in rural Nepal understand inter‐ethnic relationships. Foreign tourists serve as a foil for this reinterpretation through the practice of the village walk, in which high‐caste tourist guides conduct tourists on cultural tours of Tharu villages. The representation of Tharus as ‘primitive’, ‘jungly’, and living in another time meets both the desire of tourists for exotic experiences and that of high‐caste Nepalese who wish to represent themselves as belonging to the modern world from which the tourists presumably come.
Landscape, Violence and Social Bodies: Ritualized Architecture in a Solomon Islands Society
Authors: Thomas Tim , Walter Peter Sheppard , Walter Richard
Published: March 2003

This article considers the interplay between the bodily experience of landscape and the formation of sociality. We investigate the social experiences of landscape in nineteenth‐century Roviana Lagoon in the Solomon Islands, dealing specifically with the ritualized architecture of a fortification on Nusa Roviana Island. Drawing on oral tradition and archaeological and historical data, we argue that the architectural remains reflect a powerful mode of shaping social experience and notions of personhood in the manipulation of ideology. The Roviana landscape creates a world in which genealogical lines are sedimented to place, and practices of ritual violence and head‐hunting are made to appear necessary and natural. Paying attention to both oral and material history allows a greater understanding of the ways in which such social structures are reproduced, and adds to the construction of a rich historical anthropology.
Monuments, power and personhood in the British Neolithic
Authors: Brück Joanna
Published: March 2003

Recent research on British Neolithic monuments describes how the ordering of space within these sites contributed to the production and maintenance of dominant discourses. This article argues that aspects of this work are implicitly built on conceptions of personhood specific to post‐Enlightenment thought, resulting in a somewhat static and one‐dimensional conception of power relations during the period. One way out of this problem is provided by anthropological and feminist literature in which an alternative characterization of the self as inherently fluid and relational has been outlined. This facilitates a shifting and contextual conception of power relations which can be reconciled more easily with the evidence from Neolithic monuments for the continuous creation and reinterpretation of spatial meanings.
Lonely in your firm grip: women in Israeli‐Palestinian families
Authors: Sa’ar Amalia
Published: March 2003

Recent feminist literature on Arab women has emphasized their agency and strategizing capabilities. In particular, researchers have highlighted women’s skilled utilization of their blood rights for protection and lifelong support within the patriarchal group. I take issue with this generalization, using ethnographic material on Palestinians inside Israel. I argue that women’s entitlement to protection is more limited than is usually assumed. An analysis of the code of familial commitment, particularly the interplay between gender and power, reveals that in order to obtain their family’s commitment, Israeli‐Palestinian women need to maintain a delicate balance between power and weakness. For a variety of reasons, women often fail to achieve such balance and hence suffer isolation and loneliness.
The Commodification of International Migration: Findings from Thailand
Authors: Jones Huw , Pardthaisong Tieng
Published: March 2003

The organisation of international contract‐labour migration within Asia has been increasingly dominated by commercial agencies acting as intermediaries between workers and foreign employers. The principles underpinning the gatekeeping role of such agencies in the East Asian migration system are examined. A consideration of the international labour recruitment system in Thailand is based on survey work among agents, community leaders and recently returned migrants.
Right Extremist Votes and the Presence of Foreigners: An Analysis of the 1994 Elections in Amsterdam
Authors: De Vos Sjoerd , Deurloo Rinus
Published: March 2003

Over the past few years, parties on the extreme right of the political spectrum have drawn a surprisingly large number of votes in elections throughout Western Europe, and surprisingly often. What these parties have in common is their aversion to ‘foreigners’, by which they mean anyone who hails from another country. This paper considers whether the presence of foreigners in the immediate surroundings of people's homes is a factor in their decision to cast their vote for any of these parties. It is based on an analysis of data on two elections held in Amsterdam in 1994. The analysis reveals that the presence of Moroccans and Turks, two population groups that are associated with an Islamic lifestyle, in the immediate surroundings of the home actually does increase the support for parties on the extreme right. In contrast, the presence of people from Surinam or the Antilles does not have that effect, while the presence of foreigners from other countries does not have that effect at all.
Cultural Empowerment and Language Shift in Wales
Authors: Aitchison John , Carter Harold
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the complex array of forces that have shaped the human geography of the Welsh language, particularly since the early 1960s. Geolinguistic shifts are related to demographic movements and processes of socio‐economic restructuring. Changes in the status of the language and in forms of institutional support (cultural empowerment) are also assessed. Finally, consideration is given to the future development of Welsh as a minority language.
Convergence or Divergence? Types of Regional Responses to Socio‐Economic Change in Western Europe
Authors: Rodríguez‐Pose Andrés
Published: March 2003

Testing for convergence or divergence has recently become the kernel of the studies dealing with regional growth in Western Europe. The contradictory results of these analyses, however, still do not allow us to determine which is the dominant trend. This paper shows that our understanding of these processes depends on factors such as the way growth is measured and the influence of national growth on regional growth patterns. When these factors are taken into account, the analysis of the evolution of regional disparities in Western Europe in the last two decades uncovers the emergence of growth patterns that are closely related to the capacity of every space to respond to the challenges generated by the process of socio‐economic restructuring.
Payment systems ‐ the geographical dimension
Authors: Laulajainen Risto , Johansson Kristina
Published: March 2003

The principles of large‐scale payment systems for foreign exchange are explained and illustrated with examples from the three main timezones. Operational and legal constraints of continental and worldwide systems are outlined. Timezone‐related theoretical basics are indicated.
The compact city and the environment: a review
Authors: Van Der Waals Jochem
Published: March 2003

In many Western countries the concept of the compact city has been adopted as a guiding principle for urban development. It is commonly held that the compact city is the best policy goal to prevent or reduce the negative effects of urbanisation on the environment. In this paper we investigate whether this assumption can be justified on the basis of empirical research. Four categories of environmental effects are distinguished: emissions of CO2 and NOx caused by mobility; energy use in houses; noise, odour and local air pollution; and fragmentation of natural areas. Using existing research, the paper reviews the state‐of‐the‐art knowledge about the impact of the urban structure on these aspects and deduces some implications for urbanisation policy. The conclusion is that the potential of the compact city policy to contribute significantly to the solution of environmental problems in the short term is limited. However, a policy of concentrating urbanisation may be advocated because of the flexibility it offers for different future policy options, such as providing opportunities for public transport or development of larger natural areas.
Europe 2000 and National Regulation Discourses
Authors: Dijkink Gertjan
Published: March 2003

This paper is the introduction to a TESG ‘dossier’ on regulation and discourse in Europe. Regulation is explained as a set of social adjustments motivated by the economy, or its crises, but not always clearly related to its performance. By way of supplement to the other papers in this issue, special attention is paid to the Netherlands. Regulation in the Netherlands is a product of self‐regulation and balancing induced by the comparative ‘weakness’ of the different social and political actors (interest groups). Finally some conclusions are drawn about the reactions to the neo‐liberal challenge in the countries dealt with in this special issue: the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The author argues that the differences in regulatory discourse reflect differences in political tradition and culture in these countries.
Drivers of innovation: A comparative study on innovation in European cities by means of multi‐criteria analysis
Authors: Nijkamp Peter , Reggiani Aura
Published: March 2003

This paper addresses the issue of innovative behaviour of firms in an urban European context. It aims to identify key factors for innovation at the local level, based on micro survey information from firms. In seeking prominent explanatory variables for entrepreneurial innovation in various classes of European cities, a particular multivariate method, Regime analysis, is employed. This special type of multi‐criteria method appears to be a fruitful tool for comparative analysis and generates a wide range of interesting empirical results on innovation factors in European cities.