bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of the Ideal Problem-Based Learning Tutor in Clinical Medicine
Authors: Mayo W. Porter , Donnelly Michael B. , Schwartz Richard W.
Published: March 2007

The Department of Surgery at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center recently incorporated the problem-based learning (PBL) method into its third-year clerkship. The role of the tutor in the PBLformat, which emphasizes small-group learning, proved critical. PBL sessions succeed orfail in direct proportion to the tutor's preparedness and training for the task, organizational abilities, interpersonal skills, and sensitivity to students. Ideal PBL tutors must be activators rather than facilitators. Activators cause active student learning by motivating and leading students with appropriate, open-ended questions. This artick focuses on the skills possessed by outstanding tutors, including imagination, creativity, personality, and temperament. These characteristics are listed as goals for tutors and areas that may need development as we attempt to improve our tutorial abilities.
Senior Center Activities and Services
Authors: Krout John A.
Published: March 2007

This article presents data on the number, nature, and availability of activities and services offered by a 31-state sample of 755 senior centers. Centers provide a mean 11.1 activities and 17.6 services-considerably more in number and variety than they made available a decade ago. Health, recreation, nutrition, access to center, and information/assistance are most likely and special/personal counseling, income supplement, and in-home are least likely to be offered.
The Transition from Family In-Home Care to Institutional Care
Authors: Deimling Gary T. , Poulshock S. Walter
Published: March 2007

This research examines the correlates of institutional placement among families living with and caring for an older relative. Data are provided for 589 families who were part of a larger study of the effects of caregiving on spouse and adult-child caregivers concluded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1982. The findings suggest that caregivers' attitudes concerning institutional care are at least as important as elders' physical and emotional health and caregivers' stress in determining which elders are placed in a nursing home subsequent to an elder health crisis.
Interpersonal Understanding in the Elderly
Authors: Cohen Frances , Bearison David J. , Muller Charlotte
Published: March 2007

The present study examined the effects of self-selected age-segregated and age-integrated housing conditions on levels of interpersonal understanding (i.e., social perspectivism) among women 65 to 74 years and 75 and older. A third group of women, 40 to 49 years, was studied in order to establish a middle-aged comparison group. The central findings were that subjects from age-integrated housing had significantly higher levels of interpersonal understanding than subjects from age-segregated housing, and the younger group of elderly subjects had significantly higher levels of interpersonal understanding than the older group.
The Economic Impact of Retirees on Smaller Communities
Authors: Hodge Gerald
Published: March 2007

Little is known about the economic impact of retirees despite the efforts being made to attract retirees in the hope of stimulating sluggish small town economies. A paradigm is required that grasps the various economic inputs and outputs in a community from a retirement population. The conventions of regional economics, especially those from community economic base and social accounts, provide the basis for such a paradigm. Retiree impacts can then be disaggregated into direct expenditures from personal incomes of retirees as well as from income contributed to the community to provide health care and other support services. This direct spending results in indirect impacts through a multiplier effect. The model is demonstrated with data obtained from retirees in three smaller communities. in British Columbia. Results indicate that retirees are an economic blessing for a smaller community.
Tracing Women Over Half a Century
Authors: Root Jan , Smith Ken R. , Whelan Elizabeth A. , Sandler Dale , Voda Ann M.
Published: March 2007

Cohort studies typically require repeated contacts with the same study participants over many years. In large-scale follow-up studies of women, it can be difficult to locate and maintain contact with participants because women are more likely to experience name changes through marriage and divorce and may be less visible in public records, particularly contemporary elderly women. This article reports on the methods used in 1990 and 1991 to trace 998 participants of the Women's Health Study (WHS) who were enrolled during the 1930s in the Menstruation and Reproductive History study, a longitudinal study on menstruation and reproduction. Some of these women had been lost to follow-up for nearly 50 years. This article reviews the strategies used to locate the WHS participants.
Strain in African American and White American Caregivers of Hospitalized Elderly
Authors: Bowman Karen F. , Landefeld C. Seth , Quinn Linda M. , Palmer Robert M. , Kowal Jerome , Fortinsky Richard H.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated the relationship between race and strain in family caregivers of hospitalized older patients. Data came from a sample of 176 African American and 194 White American caregivers who were identified as part of a prospective study of changes in functional status of older hospitalized patients. When interaction terms were added to a multivariate model assessing the relationship between race and strain, race lost its significant influence on strain. Instead, its combination with two other variables-being an adult child caregiver and being married-emerged as important correlates. Being an adult child had deleterious consequences for White caregivers, whereas being married had advantageous consequences for African American caregivers. Findings emphasize the need to reevaluate how the race variable is used in future research and the need for hospital staff to be sensitive to racial diversity when working with families to plan for older patients' discharge.
Contrasting Unitary and Federal Systems
Authors: Elazar Daniel J.
Published: March 2007

The modern age of statism at most divided polities into unitary or federal states. In doing so it obscured the three models of the origin and development of the polity: hierarchic, organic, and covenantal, with the first two leading to unitary states and the third to federal polities. All three models produce institutions, are informed by political cultures, and lead to political behavior characteristic, and at times even singular, to each. This article explores some of the institutional, cultural, and behavioral consequences of each of the three models and compares them.
It Takes an Urban Village
Authors: MARSHALL NANCY L. , NOONAN ANNE E. , McCARTNEY KATHLEEN , MARX FERN , KEEFE NANCY
Published: March 2007

This study examined the extent to which an urban village exists, in a sample of 206 African American, European American, and Hispanic American families with an elementary schoolaged child. The urban village was evident in parental social networks with family, friends, and neighbors, although the nature of these networks varied. Multiple regression analyses indicated that parental social networks have an indirect effect on children's socioemotional development, mediated by parenting. Parents who received more emotional support and had less homogeneous social networks were more warm and responsive, provided a more stimulating home environment, and felt more effective as parents. These parenting characteristics, in turn, were associated with fewer behavior problems and more social competence in the children.
Families, Prisons, and Men with Death Sentences
Authors: RADELET MICHAEL L. , VANDIVER MARGARET , BERARDO FELIX M.
Published: March 2007

This article examines the impact on family members of the uncertainty surrounding the institutionalization of a loved one. Detailed observations and interviews were conducted with several men sentenced to death in Florida and with their families. The stresses of death row confinement for both the family and inmate are outlined. It is found that the stresses of death row have major consequences for family and friends, with some withdrawing and others reacting with renewed support. These reactions can in turn produce additional tension for the inmate. Conditions that inhibit a family's ability to cope with the situation are also discussed, such as restrictions on families talking with one another in the visiting room and the lack of opportunity to phone their incarcerated member.
Correlates of the Economic Status of Widowed and Divorced Elderly Women
Authors: CHOI NAMKEE G.
Published: March 2007

Past studies of the economic status of widowed and divorced elderly women have focused mostly on the timing, incidence, and duration of their poverty but have neglected the analysis of the correlates of their economic status. The ordinary least squares regression analysis in this article shows that their economic status is commonly associated with such factors as the level of education, work history, and the Social Security primary insurance amount. The article also analyzes the differences between widows and divorcees and between those with substantial work histories and those with less substantial work histories.
The Role of Valued Outcomes, Justifications, and Comparison Referents in Perceptions of Fairness Among Dual-Earner Couples
Authors: GAGER CONSTANCE T.
Published: March 2007

This research examines factors that may explain why full-time employed wives, despite performing more housework than their full-time employed husbands, fail to report that an unequal division of household labor is unfair. Using interview data for 25 dual-earner couples, this article explores the relationships of valued outcomes, justifications, and choice of comparison referents to perceptions of fairness in the division of household labor. The data show that both husbands and wives positively value some aspects and outcomes of household tasks. The data also provide a basis for describing how spouses' use of justifications helps to explain the maintenance of inequality in the division of labor. Finally, the data demonstrate that spouses' peer comparisons play an important role in shaping their evaluations of fairness in household labor. The implications of these findings for survey data analysis and future survey data collection efforts are discussed.
The Anticipation of Single Parenthood
Authors: FOX GREER LITTON , BRUCE CAROL
Published: March 2007

Current demographic patterns indicate that a significant number of children are living apart from their biological fathers, suggesting a structural fragility or vulnerability of men's connections with their children. In this article, we first explore whether fathers have concerns about possible disruptions of their relationships with their children and identify the nature of these concerns. Next, we identify those characteristics that distinguish the fathers with high levels of concern from those who are less concerned. The quality of the marital or partner relationship strongly predicts fathers' concerns. Fathers who have a history of living apart from their child, and who maintain a high level of involvement with that child, express the least amount of concern. In addition, we find that the salience of the father role predicts concerns but that this effect varies according to the fathers' current age.
Psychosocial Predictors of Life Quality
Authors: ABBEY ANTONIA , ANDREWS FRANK M. , HALMAN L. JILL
Published: March 2007

A longitudinal study was conducted to examine the effects of infertility on marital and global life quality with wives and husbands from 174 infertile couples and a comparison group of 74 fertile couples. By the third interview, 42% of the infertile couples and 36% of the fertile couples were parents. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses were completed. The psychosocial predictors of life quality were highly similar for members of infertile and fertile couples and for couples with and without children. In multivariate analyses, being a parent was associated with increased global life quality for infertile women and diminished marital life quality for everyone except fertile men. These results replicate and extend past research.
Parental Influence and Socialization Into Sport for Male and Female Intercollegiate Athletes
Authors: Sage George H.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare the childhood socialization influences of male and female intercollegiate athletes in order to ascertain whether there were dif ferences in the sport socialization process between the sexes. The data indicated that parents of both male and female intercollegiate athletes tend to be involved in sports themselves, with parents of male athletes being more involved in a variety of ways than parents of female athletes. While parents of both groups are supportive of their offsprings' sports involvement, fathers tend to be more supportive of their sons than of their daughters. There is little difference in the support accorded sons and daughters by mothers. There is a weak positive relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and parental expectations, encouragement, and time spent participating with their offspring.
SPORTIVE NATIONALISM AND NATIONALIST POLITICS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SCOTLAND, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, AND SWEDEN
Authors: Bairner Alan
Published: March 2007

The close relationship between nationalism and sport is an acknowledged fact. Numerous questions can be asked, however, about the precise nature of links between sportive nationalism and nationalist politics. The examples of Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, and Sweden suggest that these links are by no means straightforward. Indeed, these case studies describe very different types of relationships between sport and nationalism, depending on the role of nationalism itself in each context. In general, however, sportive nationalism, as opposed to political nationalism hiding behind sport, operates most successfully in societies where the issue of nationality is relatively uncontentious.
THE COMPOSITE BODY: HIP-HOP AEROBICS AND THE MULTICULTURAL NATION
Authors: Martin Randy
Published: March 2007

This article is based on the author's experience taking a hip-hop aerobics class at an Irvine, California, fitness center. It explores the engagement of a specific bodily practice across racial lines that is mediated by mass communication and live performance. This combination of a representational domain (the imaginary) and a practical means of enactment (the performative) is what is meant by the concept composite body. Contrary to the notion of stable and separate racial identities attached to discrete national ideals, a notion of multiculturalism is developed based on a field in which identities are in tension yet interdependent. The largely White and Asian American class of aerobicizers' incorporation of movement and bodily ideals drawn from what is taken as an African American cultural practice complicates certain views of race, nation, multiculturalism, and society. In this, the aerobics class is contrasted with the racialized landscape presented on the evening news.
Psychological Assumptions, Experimentation, and Real World Problems
Authors: Mitroff Ian , Bonoma Thomas V.
Published: March 2007

Recent developments in the history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology of science raise serious challenges to our traditional notions about the decisive power of experiments in the development of scientific knowledge. These developments suggest that the power of an experiment is only as strong as the clarity af the basic assumptions which underlie it. Such assumptions not only underlie laboratory experimentation but social evaluation research as well. A dialectical methodology is proposedfor assessing the influence of key assumptions in both settings. Among other conclusions, analysis of the role and influence of key assumptions suggests an additional source of experimental error, termed the error of the third kind, or E III. E III is defined and discussed as the probability af conducting the "wrong" experiment when one should have conducted the "right" experiment.
Budget Allocation Patterns in Educational Evaluations
Authors: Smith Jana Kay , Smith Nick L.
Published: March 2007

How are resources typically allocated across budget categories in evaluation studies? To address this question, data from two studies of evaluation budgeting practices are presented. In the first study, estimated budget figures were provided for formative and summative evaluations by evaluators in 29 state department of education evaluation units. In the second study, initial budget figures, final costs, and study characteristics were abstracted from the records of 85 evaluations conducted by an evaluation contracting firm. A common pattern of budget allocations was identified in which approximately 61% of the total evaluation budget was allocated to personnel, overhead added an additional 13% to 14% to the cost of the evaluation, and all other budget categories consisted of about 15% or less of the total budget. These allocation patterns were found to vary according to certam study characteristics, however, such as size of total budget, purpose of the evaluation (formative or summative), study design, and other client-related factors.
Donor Agency Experience With the Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Projects
Authors: Binnendijk Annette L.
Published: March 2007

This article reviews the expercences of the development assistance donor agencies with the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of their projects in developing countries. First, the concepts and definitions of monitoring and evaluation are discussed. Then the article traces the donors' early efforts to develop appropriate methodologies and procedures for M&E of development projects, and reviews the problems and issues that emerged during the 1970s. The final section discusses how these lessons from experience are leading to new M&E initiatives and reorienta tions among the donor agencies in the 1980s.
Treatment Fidelity Among Evaluated and Nonevaluated Workplace Safety-Belt Programs
Authors: Race Kathryn E.H.
Published: March 2007

To explore the treatment fidelity of employee safety-belt programs, 614 companies and organizations were divided into two groups: those that had conducted an evaluation of their program ( n1 = 183) and those that had not (n2 = 431 ). Scores based on equally weighted program elements were computed and then analyzed by a simple multiple regression model. Present results showed that evaluation-active companies and organizations offer more extensive programs, which tend to include an expanded belt-use policy, more education activities, an incentive component, and active management support. The need for future evaluation research and program theory to identify essential program components is then discussed.
The Intensive Supervision Experiment
Authors: Danek Thomas A. , Barnes Anne , Freeman Franklin E.
Published: March 2007

The Intensive Protective Supervision Project (IPSP) is designed to address the populations of "status offenders," or "undisciplined children." A number of legislative and programmatic influences antedated the current project in North Carolina. This article provides a brief summary of the major events affecting the evolution of the IPSP.
Two-Unit Reliability Analysis of Questionnaires Used in a Regulatory System
Authors: Fleishman Rachel , Walk Dror , Mizrahi Gad , Bar-Giora Miriam
Published: March 2007

An interjudge reliability test was conducted to evaluate the questionnaires used in the surveillance of residential care institutions. Because the reliability test was carried out as part of the routine surveillance program and not as part of a controlled experiment, it was subject to deviations from the optimal reliability test model. However, this nonpure design provided an opportunity to not only examine the reliability of the items in the surveillance tool, but also to gain a better understanding of the use of a reliability test in an "imperfect" field setting. Two different surveyor teams administered the 257 questions on the questionnaires to a representative sample of 32 institutions on two separate occasions. In order to explain the variance in the reliability scores, a multivariate analysis was conducted for two units of analysis: the surveillance questions and the institutions. Based on the results of the reliability test, changes were introduced to improve the questionnaires and their administration.
The Impact of a Counseling Service Program On the Psychosocial Morbidity of Australian Vietnam Veterans
Authors: Dobson Matthew , Grayson David A. , Marshall Richard P. , O'Toole Brian I. , Leeder Stephen R. , Schureck Ralph
Published: March 2007

The Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service (WCS) is a national counseling program for Australian Vietnam Veterans. The effectiveness of this service was evaluated by comparing the symptom levels of 146 VVCS clients with 546 "matched" nonclient controls. Multivariate linear regression techniques were used to control for differences between the two veteran groups prior to estimating the contribution of VVCS exposure to current symptom levels Health outcomes assessed ranged from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to alcohol dependence and problems in dyadic adjustment. The positive influence of service-based counseling was most evident in the areas of alcohol dependence and dyadic adjustment These findings are consistent with the view that the major benefit of treatment programs such as the VVCS is that they facilitate veteran coping responses, thereby enabling them to "live well" with their symptomatology.
Policy Instruments for Reducing Toxic Releases
Authors: Yu Chilik , O'Toole Laurence J. , Cooley James , Cowie Gail , Crow Susan , Herbert Stephanie
Published: March 2007

This article analyzes the extent to which different policy instruments explain toxic reductions among the states. Data from the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and other sources are used to assess the effect of various policy instruments, while holding economic factors constant. State TRI information programs, enforcement action, and direct regulation all matter in reducing toxic releases. Interestingly, the informational tool seems to matter more than both authoritative tools. The findings also support the idea that the interaction of policy instruments as well as the match between policy tools and policy context may account for a portion of the results.
Pain Management Practices of Nurses Caring for Older Patients with Osteoarthritis
Authors: Kee Carolyn C. , Epps Cynthia D.
Published: March 2007

Osteoarthritis is a prevalent chronic illness in older people. Management of the ensuing pain is of critical importance in preventing disability and maintaining independence. This qualitative study explored the pain management techniques used by 10 RNs working in home health nursing. Four categories emerged from the interview data: knowing how to assess, knowing about pain treatments, trying but frustrated, and needing more knowledge. These categories were reduced into two constructs: Understanding Pain and Wanting to Provide Good Nursing Care. Clinical implications included supplementing pain management strategies by adding to the assessment base, expanding pain management techniques, and increasing knowledge about aging processes and pain control.
Acoustic Analysis of Cries from "Normal" and "Irritable" Infants
Authors: Fuller Barbara F. , Keefe Maureen R. , Curtin Mary , Garvin Bonnie J.
Published: March 2007

Infant irritability or colic is characterized by recurrent episodes of persistent, unexplained crying. The lack of a precise definition of the type and amount of cry that distinguishes an infant as colicky has hampered research and intervention efforts. The primary aims of this study are to describe the acoustic characteristics of cries of irritable infants and compare these to those ofnormal infants. Tape recorded cries of 11 irritable and 11 non-irritable infants were compared. The average agefor infants of both groups was 8 weeks. The cries of irritable infants were higher in jitter shimmer, proportion of noise, and tenseness than were the cries of control infants. Findings suggest that colic or infant irritability is more than just excessive crying. Acoustic characteristics of the cries of irritable infants reveal an increase in stress-arousal that supports the thesis of a state regulation disorder Characterizing the nature and origin of the cries of irritable infants is essential to an understanding that will eventually guide appropriate diagnosis and management of these infants.
The Effect of Social Information on the Perception of Sociolinguistic Variables
Authors: Niedzielski Nancy
Published: March 2007

Forty-one Detroit-area residents were given perceptual tests in which they were asked to choose from a set of resynthesized vowels the tokens that they felt best matched the vowels they heard in the speech of a fellow Detroiter. Half of the respondents were told that the speaker was from Detroit, whereas half were told that she was from Canada. Respondents given the Canadian label chose raised-diphthong tokens as those present in the dialect of the speaker, whereas those given the Michigan label did not. Respondents given the Michigan label chose vowels that were quite different from the Northern Cities Chain-Shifted variety present in the speaker’s dialect. Because the “speaker’s” perceived nationality was the only aspect that varied between the two groups of respondents, this label alone must have caused the difference in the selection of tokens. This indicates that listeners use social information in speech perception.
'Who's Steering Spaceship Earth?': Clinging to the Wreckage of Psychotherapy
Authors: McLoone Phil
Published: March 2007

Back from a recent study trip to California, the author reflects on the enduring appeal of pseudo-scientific therapies, from their wilder West Coast manifestations to those which find a home in probation practice.
Low vision in early intervention with multiply disabled, blind and visually impaired children: a European project
Authors: Buultjens Marianna
Published: March 2007

A three-year EU-funded project focused on low vision in early intervention services which are provided across Europe for young children with multiple disabilities and visual impairment. It administered and analysed a Europe-wide questionnaire, developed a core curriculum for staff working in this area, and ran a week-long course in Germany. In addition, a web site was developed at the University of Dortmund and a CD-ROM with materials for the course. Final outcomes are: the Dortmund Declaration; a core curriculum with 16 modules; a final CD-ROM with readings, videos, core curriculum and outcomes of the original questionnaire.
Two techniques for encouraging movement and exploration in the visually impaired child
Authors: Morsley Kim , Spencer Christopher , Baybutt Kate
Published: March 2007

Improving the quality of life of young blind children can, In many cases, be brought about by relatively straightforward changes, these need not depend upon high technology nor upon a high input of time from teachers or parents This article presents an evaluation of two techniques designed to overcome two major obstacles which may be preventing the young child from achieving his or her potential These obstacles are the tendency of the child to veer off the Intended course and, In some children, the lack of confidence which impedes exploration and travel
An optometric approach to low vision services
Authors: Rumney Nick
Published: March 2007

This paper was presented to Welsh social workers from all parts of the principality at the Wales Council for the Blind National Conference, University College, Aberystwyth, 29 July 1992. It was part of a wider training seminar on current clinical low vision and medical practice. The general concept of a multi-disciplinary approach to low vision services is discussed, with particular refer ence to the Kooyong Low Vision Clinic in Melbourne. The deficiencies found in the UK in this regard are highlighted, together with suggestions for improvement. It is claimed that better client- centred liaison is required and that this should be two-way and perhaps formalised. A protocol for the optometric assessment of residual visual function and the assessment for low vision aids is outlined. Statistics of epidemiology, LVA provision and success rates are described.
The role of tactile maps in mobility training
Authors: Ungar Simon , Blades Mark , Spencer Christopher
Published: March 2007

Tactile maps can have both immediate and long term benefits in helping visually impaired children to find their way through their environment and to acquire spatial abilities. In a series of studies (1991-92), reported in this article, the authors established that young visually impaired children can understand and use tactile maps. The children adopted a variety of strategies for acquiring information from a map, some of which were more effective than others. In the final study, it was established that training in a simple strategy can improve children's performance in a map task.
Tactile Audio Tools for Graphicacy and Mobility "A circle is either a circle or it is not a circle."
Authors: Parkes Don
Published: March 2007

Just as literacy is a right for all, so too is graphicacy. Literacy and graphicacy should be linked. Some tools that may improve graphicacy levels are outlined. They are designed to enable visually impaired and sighted people to create, read and exchange graphical Information. The tools are a suite of programmes and integrated hardware called TAGD (DOS) and TAGW (WINDOWS), where TAG stands for Tactile Audio Graphics. A brief description of the main tools is presented.
Dots for Tots: Emergent Literacy and Braille Reading
Authors: Lamb Gayle
Published: March 2007

This Paper examines traditional theory and practice associated with the concept of pre-reading for potential Braille users and explores the relevance of these to current literacy skills teaching in the Australian context.
The Development of Investment and Commitment Scales for Predicting Continuity of Personal Relationships
Authors: Lund Mary
Published: March 2007

A longitudinal study of 129 graduating university students tested whether relationship continuity could best be predicted by a positive pull model, consisting of love and rewards, or a newly proposed barrier model, consisting of investments and commitment. The barrier model proved to be the best discriminator of whether relationships continued past graduation. Validity of the barrier model was further supported by conceptual distinctions found between Love and Commitment scales and by evidence for the importance of investments to the development of commitment. The combination strategy of scale development and examination of relationships over time produced new scales of Investments and Commitment.
Friends Forever: A Longitudinal Exploration of Intimacy in Same-Sex Friends and Platonic Pairs
Authors: Griffin Em , Sparks Glenn G.
Published: March 2007

In this paper, we report on the results of a 4-year longitudinal study that explored predictors of future closeness in nonromantic friendship pairs. Subjects were forty-five pairs representing male-male, female-female, and male-female (platonic) friendships. The first phase of data collection took place in 1983; the follow-up study took place in 1987 and included 93 percent of the original subjects. The results revealed no significant predictors for closeness among female-female or platonic pairs. Several significant predictors emerged for male-male friendships, including status similarity, proficiency at Password, prior room mate status, the number of areas that partners avoided in normal conversation and geographical distance. The results support the notion of overall partner similarity as an important predictor of continued friendship.
The Endorsement of Communication Conflict Rules as a Function of Engagement, Marriage and Marital Ideology
Authors: Honeycutt James M. , Woods Barbara L. , Fontenot Karen
Published: March 2007

The maintenance of relationships is examined using a rules-based perspective in which engaged and married couples rated how often they followed a number of communication rules for conflict management in the marriage. In addition, couples were measured on their ideolgy about marriage using Fitzpatrick's (1988) marital typology descriptions. The results reveal four basic communicative rule dimensions dealing with conflict that include signaling positive understanding to one's partner, being rational, being concise and showing consideration to the partner. Analyses revealed marital status and marital type differences in terms of rule endorsement. Other differences attached to judgments of the applicability of the rules along a number of situational dimensions such as applying more in public/private, applying to men/women, not being important/extremely important, applying only in conflict vs other situations, and applying only to unhappy vs happy marriages. Most importantly, the results indicate that endorsement of rules regarding communication of positive understanding is positively related to relationship quality for all but engaged, independent couples. Results are discussed in terms of rules-based perspectives for expectancies of marriage.
Support by Parents, Classmates, Friends and Siblings in Preadolescence: Covariation and Compensation Across Relationships
Authors: van Aken Marcel A.G. , Asendorpf Jens B.
Published: March 2007

A sample of 139 Grade 6 students (12-year-olds) completed a social network interview and rated their network members on various dimensions of social support. Low support showed some consistency across members of the nuclear family but was fairly specific for particular network members outside of the family. Children with low support from their mother, father or classmates reported a low general self-worth, but those with low support from siblings or nonschool peers did not. Low support by one parent could only be compensated for by a supportive relationship with the other parent. Low support by a classmate was not compensated by supportive siblings or nonschool peers. These findings underscore the relationship specificity of social support and of its relation to self-esteem in preadolescence.
Perceptual Accuracy in the Balance: The Weight of the Evidence and the Evidence of Weight
Authors: Clark Eddie M. , Morrow Gregory D. , Brock Karla F. , McGaha Annette C. , Frauenhoffer Shannon M.
Published: March 2007

In two studies, we investigated whether individuals were accurate in perceiving weight-related attitudes of their romantic partner. We also investigated whether accuracy was moderated by whether the partner was currently attempting to lose weight, relationship commitment level, amount of discussion about weight and importance of weight. Each individual answered questions assessing their own weight concerns and perceptions, and similar questions assessing their partner's weight concerns and perceptions. We found evidence that perceptual inaccuracy of weight-related attitudes was greatest when one's partner was attempting to lose weight in relationships of shorter duration, lower commitment, or in which they rarely discussed weight. Self-ratings and partner's perceptions were positively correlated.
Intimacy and Need Fulfillment in Couple Relationships
Authors: Prager Karen J. , Buhrmester Duane
Published: March 2007

Two studies were conducted to explore the following questions: (i) does intimacy, within the context of a couple relationship, contribute to individual need fulfillment?; (ii) does self-disclosure have beneficial effects on need fulfillment without being accompanied by intimacy's others dimensions: positive affective tone and partner listening and understanding?; and (iii) does intimacy's impact on need fulfillment mediate its relationship with physical and psychological well-being? For the first study, 154 commuter university students completed questionnaire measures of well-being and the Need Fulfillment Inventory (NFI), a new paper-and-pencil test that assesses the agentic and communal dimensions of need fulfillment. Results from study 1 showed positive correlations between both agentic and communal need fulfillment and well-being. For the second study, 133 cohabiting couples were asked to complete the NFI, two measures of relational intimacy, five measures of well-being, and to keep a daily record of their interactions for a week. Factor analyses of the daily record data revealed three dimensions of verbally intimate interaction: positive affective tone, daily self-disclosure, and listening and understanding. Results supported the notion that relational intimacy, assessed globally and as a characteristic of the couples' daily interactions, is positively associated with individual need fulfillment. Self-disclosure's impact on need fulfillment was found to vary as a function of the other dimensions of intimacy present in the interactions. The pattern of moderation between self-disclosure and other dimensions of intimacy was not exactly as predicted, however; sometimes, self-disclosure may soften the detrimental effects of negative interactions on need fulfillment. Finally, the mediational hypothesis was mostly supported, which indicates that intimacy's relationship to psychological well-being is most likely accounted for by its effects on individual need fulfillment. Need fulfillment did not fully mediate the relationship between intimacy and depressive symptoms.
National Elites and Transnational Discourses in the Balkan War
Authors: Grundmann Reiner , Smith Dennis , Wright Sue
Published: March 2007

This article is based upon a survey of the establishment press in France, Germany and the UK during the Balkan war of 1999. The sources are Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Monde and the Financial Times. The objective is to see what their reportage reveals about the political agenda of the various elite readerships and their perceptions of the international order. Our findings indicate that there has been a degree of synchronization in the focus of public attention mediated through the press but that there are also marked differences among these French, German and British papers in their contents and perspectives. Despite the existence of a certain degree of transnational discourse, the European public sphere stills remains fragmented.
Research Note: The News Media and Intervention
Authors: Robinson Piers
Published: March 2007

This article provides a summary of the current findings of an ongoing research project, the central aim of which is to search for evidence of media-driven intervention and to identify the scope of media impact on intervention. US policy responses to the humanitarian crises in Somalia (1992), Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999) have been analysed. In the case of US troop deployment in Somalia it was found that media coverage did not drive policy but actually followed the decision to intervene. In the case of intervention to protect the Gorazde `safe area' in Bosnia, the research indicates media coverage was a factor in causing policy-makers to intervene. Finally, in the case of Kosovo the US headed off media pressure to deploy ground troops. Overall the research indicates that there is substance to claims regarding media-driven intervention. Precisely, the research suggests that media coverage can trigger the deployment of air power intervention during humanitarian crisis but not ground troops.
Beyond Public Service and Private Profit: International Experience with Non-Commercial Local Radio
Authors: Kleinsteuber Hans J. , Sonnenberg Urte
Published: March 2007

During the last few years local commercial radio has been introduced in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). For reasons described below a non-commercial variety has so far had no real chance. However, one of the Länder, Northrhine-Westfalia, financed a comparative study on international experience with non-commercial local radio. By comparing fifteen Western countries some common patterns as well as national differences became apparent. Three types of non-commercial local radio were identified: an Anglo-Saxon type, growing out of a predominantly commercial environment; a Southern European type, born out of protest against a public monopoly; and a Northern European type, that is shaped to coexist with an ongoing monopoly. This article presents some of the results of the study.
Estonian Mass Media: Past, Present and Future
Authors: Lauristin Marju , Vihalemm Peeter
Published: March 2007

This article examines the mass media in Estonia from their origins, with the appearance of the first newspaper to the present day growth and prospects for development. Using surveys conducted by the authors it examines changing attitudes towards press, radio and TV, and looks at the range of media available to the population. It argues that the Estonian press, never as strictly controlled as the Russian media, has played an important role in politicizing the Estonian people. Finally it examines the question of the autonomy of the Estonian media in relation to Moscow and central state controls.
Flanders in the Spell of Commercial Television
Authors: De Bens Elsa
Published: March 2007

This article reports the results of one year of commercial television in Flanders and its consequences for the public broadcasting system. In an initial reaction of panic, the public broadcasting system has imitated the success formulae of the new commercial channel. This has led to a programming policy that began to lay ever-greater emphasis on entertainment. At this early stage commercial television has apparently dragged the public broadcasting system along in its `down-market' strategy.
`How Real Can You Get?': Recent Developments in `Reality' Television
Authors: Kilborn Richard
Published: March 2007

Since the late 1980s programme types loosely grouped in the category `reality programming' (RP) have made considerable inroads into both American and European television schedules. Sometimes, judging by the stir which various forms of RP have created, one might be led to believe that RP constitutes a major televisual innovation. As we shall discover, however, there is nothing intrinsically new about most of these reality strands. What is more striking is the speed with which they have caught on, together with the sheer multiplicity of different reality formats which have been developed. The vast majority of television networks and organizations, both in the US and in Europe, now produce their own reality programmes or screen acquired material, whilst the term `reality television' has achieved general currency, if not some notoriety.

This article examines some of the more significant features of RP and also considers the reasons for its popularity. An attempt is also made to show how the rise in this form of programming is related to more general developments in television over the last decade. Is it more than just coincidence, for instance, that the rise of RP has taken place at a time when television, whether publicly or privately funded, is becoming increasingly dominated by market-place considerations?
OCCIDENTAL REASON, ORIENTALISM, ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM: A CRITIQUE
Authors: Abaza Mona , Stauth Georg
Published: March 2007

Western cultural anthropology, sociological and feminist perspectives on development have been adopting an essentialist standpoint. The question, what do natives really mean?, how do they internally perceive themselves?, has become a major concern in Third World sociological and anthropological studies. On the other hand, social scientists in the Third World, and specifically in Arab countries, have called for the `indigenisation' of the social sciences for the creation of analytical and theoretical concepts which are meant to be applicable to local and `indigenous' cultures. This essay attempts to confront the new Western `essentialism' in the social sciences with the call for `indigenisation' in the East. We wish to suggest that, due to the paradox of Western secularisation, namely, that it has been created by religious fundamentalism - a process discovered by Nietzsche and Weber - religion remains an absent centre of Western anthropological and sociological discourse. Owing to a process of growing cultural globalisation the call for `indigenisation' remains a result of intra-cultural discourse and not of any serious attempt to rationalise the modern heritage of history and culture.
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN SELF-CREATIVE SOCIETY: NEW CIVIL INITIATIVES IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA
Authors: Hegedus Zsuzsa
Published: March 2007

How can one explain the striking discrepancy between the globalisation - during the eighties on a planetary scale - of practices formerly identified with new social movements in the West and the `pessimism' of the theories which usually do not even include in their field these new movements? This discrepancy is due to the application to the movements of the eighties of a conceptual framework worked out for the movements of the seventies. Hence the necessity of a new conceptual framework, which is developed here through the analysis of the contemporary peace movement and applied to the various other movements which have emerged recently around international issues. The paper proposes, first, to analyse the peace movement as a problem-centred, three-dimensional movement which is aimed at the conflictualisation of the security issue and engenders a double process of citizen empowerment and alternative problem-solving. Through this analysis it brings to light, secondly, the new pattern of social movement and the new mechanisms of social change, in order to develop, finally, a new definition of contemporary society as self-creative society, characterised by its auto-creativity: by its new capacity to invent and realise, and therefore to choose, its own futures in an autonomous manner. The central argument concerns this new paradigm and the question `what is at stake' in self-creative society. Through this new definition, the paper seeks to offer a genuinely new manner in which to address the problem concerning the centrality of new social conflicts and the unity of social movements in our self-creative global society.
Critical Thinking in the Secondary School : the Arms Race as a Focus for Study
Authors: Camus Albert
Published: March 2007

"I know of no safe repository of the utlimate power of society but the people. And if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take power from them, but to inform them by education." Thomas Jefferson, 1820
A Review of Substance Abuse Prevention Interventions for Young Adolescent Girls
Authors: Blake Susan M. , Amaro Hortensia , Schwartz Pamela M. , Flinchbaugh Laura J.
Published: March 2007

Consideration of the role of gender in alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, for the most part, has been omitted from studies of intervention effectiveness. Consequently, although scientists now can state with confidence that effective prevention approaches exist, it is not clear whether those programs are effective specifically for girls. Consequently, although great strides have been made in identifying substance use patterns, precursors to use, and effective prevention strategies in general, many questions remain about the ways in which those prevention efforts might address better the needs of differing gender and racial/ethnic groups. The primary goal for this report was first to review evidence of the effectiveness of traditional alcohol, tobacco, and drug use prevention approaches with girls and with boys, as well as available evidence from gender-specific or genderinformed interventions focused specifically on girls, and second, to make recommendations regarding needed research and prevention strategies that take gender into account.