bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Shiatsu on Lower Back Pain
Authors: Brady Linda H. , Henry Kathryn , Luth James F. , Casper-Bruett Kimberly K.
Published: March 2007

Shiatsu, a specific type of massage, was used as an intervention in this study of 66 individuals complaining of lower back pain. Each individual was measured on state/trait anxiety and pain level before and after four shiatsu treatments. Each subject was then called 2 days following each treatment and asked to quantify the level of pain. Both pain and anxiety decreased significantly over time. Extraneous variables such as gender, age, gender of therapist, length of history with lower back pain, and medications taken for lower back pain did not alter the significant results. These subjects would recommend shiatsu massage for others suffering from lower back pain and indicated the treatments decreased the major inconveniences they experienced with their lower back pain.
A Theory of Healing in the Aftermath of Youth Suicide
Authors: Kalischuk Ruth Grant , Davies Betty
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this family-focused, grounded-theory study was to develop a substantive theory that explains how individual family members heal in the aftermath of youth suicide. Individual healing following youth suicide is conceptualized as a process of “journeying toward wholeness.” In response to youth suicide, survivors characteristically tap into their innate strengths and coping capabilities. Eventually, most survivors move toward healing. Precipitated by youth suicide, individual healing was found to be a contextually mediated, ongoing, dynamic, and recursive process. Most often initiated by a family survivor who was emotionally and spiritually close to the youth prior to suicide, healing emanated from the survivor’s consciousness as an act of volition. This study brings to light the idea that bereaved family survivors of youth suicide have the potential to heal in response to the decisions they make and the healthy bonds they create and maintain between themselves and the deceased youth.
Voices of Hope
Authors: Colin Jessie M.
Published: March 2007

Although much research has been conducted on the effects of migration on the psychosocial evolution of various ethnic groups, only limited information exists about the meaning of migration for Haitian adolescents. Haitian adolescents, in addition to experiencing the trials of adolescence, often feel a sense of loss and confusion when they are forced to leave their homeland. This phenomenological study focuses on the experience of being a Haitian adolescent living in South Florida. Six Haitian adolescents were both interviewed and asked to produce writing about their experiences and perception of self-identity. Their responses evaluated in light of Piaget, Erickson, and Sullivan illustrated eight themes defining the adolescents’ senses of identity: pride, isolation, prejudice, parental strictness, nostalgia, belonging, familism, and career vision. The insights acquired through this study have practical applications in designing more effective caring strategies, in advocating for clients, and in delivering culturally competent holistic nursing care.
Critical Analysis of Spirituality and its Empirical Indicators
Authors: Meraviglia Martha G.
Published: March 2007

Spirituality for holistic nursing is defined after a critical analysis of the literature. Spirituality is defined as the experiences and expressions of one’s spirit in a unique and dynamic process reflecting faith in God or a supreme being; a connectedness with oneself, others, nature or God; and an integration of all human dimensions. Prayer and meaning in life are described as empirical indicators for appraising spirituality. Prayer is an indicator of the defining attribute of connectedness with God, and meaning in life is an outcome of spirituality.
A Basket Metaphor for Nursing
Authors: Rose B. H. (Cricket)
Published: March 2007

The metaphor of basketry is applied to two frameworks for nursing practice: the totality paradigm and the simultaneity paradigm. With descriptions of two baskets, a contrast is drawn between the philosophies of nursing related to the two paradigms. The practice of nursing with respect to both worldviews is illustrated by the patterns, the colors, and the shapes of the weaving of each basket.
The Relevance of Chronic Illness in the Everyday Lives of Elderly Women
Authors: Belgrave Linda Liska
Published: March 2007

Much past research on the experience of chronic illness and disability is based on the theoretical assumption of illness as a stigmatizing deviance. Among the elderly, however, for whom chronic illness is almost anticipated, there is likely to be less potential for stigma, so that other aspects of physical problems may be more important to an understanding of the illness experience. In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 elderly women suffering from diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, and/or some other chronic health problem. The following research questions were addressed: (a) What is the experience of chronic illness in the everyday lives of noninstitutionalized elderly women? (b) In what ways is stigmatization part of this experience? (c) How is the chronic illness experience related to self-concept? (d) How is this relationship affected by the experience of specific ailments? Inductive data analysis revealed that although the concept of stigma was of limited value in describing the illness experience, more mundane effects of physical problems on daily tasks and lifestyles as a whole were common. For some, specific symptoms led to significant changes, whereas for others illness-related limitations on time and energy were key factors in these effects. Importantly, alterations of self-concept were not experienced universally. For some, illness was not incorporated into self-concept, despite severe physical limitations. Both illness-specific and global aspects of the illness experience emerged during the research.
Adaptive Potential, Stress, and Natural Killer Cell Activity in Older Adults
Authors: I. Mishra Shiraz , Aldwin Carolyn M. , Colby Benjamin N. , Oseas Ronald S.
Published: March 2007

The authors examined the relationship among psychosocial vulnerability (stress) and resilience (adaptive potential) factors and three outcome measures, self-reported physical symptoms, positive and negative affect, and natural killer cell activity in 39 male and female older adults residing in a retirement community (mean age = 73.5). Although life events were directly related to physical health symptoms, both perceived stress and adaptive potential were significantly associated with positive and negative affect. There was a tendency for adaptive potential to buffer the effect of perceived stress on negative affect. However, natural killer cell activity was not significantly related to any psychosocial vulnerability and resilience factors in this small sample. Implications for studying the effects of stress on health in older adults are discussed.
Age Effects on Patient Drug Attribution Judgments
Authors: Bryant Stephen G. , Fisher Seymour , Larson David B. , Olins Nancy J.
Published: March 2007

Data were obtained on patients' attribution of symptoms using two different post-marketing surveillance methods. In the patient-initiated method, outpatients were randomly assigned to have a printed notice conspicuously attached to the outside of their medication bags; the "outsert" requested the patients to monitor themselves during the next 2 weeks and to report via a toll-free telephone number any new or unusual symptoms. In the staff-initiated method, other patients filling the same target drug prescriptions did not receive any outsert but were identified at the pharmacy for a telephone interview 10 to 14 days later. The target drugs were chosen from two classes for which the major adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are well identified: oral antibiotics and tricyclic antidepressants. During the interview, for each reported symptom the patient was asked whether it might have been caused by the target drug. Results indicated that older patients, irrespective of the surveillance method or the drug class, appear to be capable of discriminating probable ADRs at least as well as or possibly better than younger patients.
Perceived Support, Help Seeking, and Adaptation to Stress among Older Black and White Women Living Alone
Authors: Ulbrich Patricia M. , Bradsher Julia E.
Published: March 2007

This research tested two models of stress buffering to examine how older women living alone adapted to the stresses in their daily lives. No support was found for the suppressor model, but some support for the moderator model of stress buffering. Both perceived support and enacted support moderated the effect of stressors for psychological distress. Confidants were an important source of support for these older women. Both the perception that a friend was available with whom they could discuss their problems and the frequency of confiding moderated the negative impact of stress for psychological distress. Although confidants were a significant source of support for both Black and White women, support from relatives and friends moderated the effect of stressors only for Black women. Black women experienced greater economic hardship and more functional limitations than White women, but they draw on multiple sources of support to adapt to those stressors.
Visual Acuity, Visual Disabilities and Falling in the Elderly
Authors: Arfken Cynthia L. , Lach Helen W. , McGee Sarah , Birge Stanley J. , Miller J. Philip
Published: March 2007

Poor vision has been suggested as a risk factor for falling in the elderly. We analyzed the findings from a cohort of community-dwelling elderly (N = 875) to determine the relative risks for impaired visual acuity and various visual disabilities with falling, recurrent falling, and serious injurious falls. The prevalences of impaired visual acuity and four visual disabilities were low. None of the vision variables examined predicted time to first serious injurious fall after controlling for balance, cognition, age, and gender. However, bumping into objects predicted falling and recurrent falling. The lack of associations between visual disabilities and falling suggests that poor vision, as measured here, plays a limited role in predicting falling in relatively well community-dwelling elderly.
Caregiver Role Appraisal and Caregiver Tasks as Factors in Ending Caregiving
Authors: Kasper Judith D. , Steinbach Ulrike , Andrews Jane
Published: March 2007

This study focuses on factors related to why people with primary responsibility for providing care to ADL-impaired elderly persons ended their caregiving roles. Data are from the 1982 National Long-Term Care Survey and the Informal Caregiver Survey. Variables reflecting characteristics of care recipients and caregivers, caregiver role responsibilities, and appraisal of the caregiver role are investigated. Of particular interest is the influence of role responsibilities, such as number of ADL tasks, relative to appraisal of the caregiving role. The results indicate that factors other than role responsibilities are important in understanding who ends caregiving, and that risk factor profiles may prove a useful means of targeting caregivers at greatest risk of ending caregiving.
Predictors of Attitudes toward Three Target Groups of Elderly Persons
Authors: Kahana Eva , Kinney Jennifer M. , Ercher Kyle , Kahana Boaz , Tinsley Vanessa V. , King Catherine , Stuckey Jon C. , Ishler Karen J.
Published: March 2007

This research compared attitudes of 143 nursing home employees toward three hypothetical target groups of older adults: well elderly persons, physically ill elderly persons, and elderly persons with Alzheimer's disease. Staff provided successively less positive evaluations of physically ill elderly persons and elderly persons with Alzheimer's disease compared to well elderly persons. Age, education, and contact with grandparents differentially predicted positive evaluations toward well and physically ill older adults. Self-efficacy was a significant predictor of positive evaluations across all target groups. Findings suggest that interventions designed to increase staff members' feelings of self-efficacy may lead to more positive evaluations of elderly clients and, ultimately, improved quality of care.
Race Differences in the Health of Elders who Live Alone
Authors: Coward Raymond T. , Peek Chuck W. , Henretta John C. , Duncan R. Paul , Dougherty Molly C. , Gilbert Gregg H.
Published: March 2007

This investigation was initiated to determine whether older African Americans who live alone are in poorer health than their White counterparts who live under the same circumstances. Data on 5 measures of health were collected in telephone interviews with a stratified random sample of community-dwelling elders (n = 1,189). Analysis of weighted data indicate that there were fewer differences in health by race among older persons who lived alone compared to elders who lived with others. Where racial differences in health did exist among older adults who lived alone, the differences could only sometimes be accounted for by population composition factors that are known to influence health.
Intervention Effects on Dementia Caregiving Interaction
Authors: Corbeil Robert R. , Quayhagen Mary P. , Quayhagen Margaret
Published: March 2007

Objectives: Our purpose was to evaluate the adequacy of a stress adaptation framework for guiding intervention research on caregivers and patients coping with Alzheimer’s disease, and to test the effect of a cognitive stimulation intervention as an interactive outcome. Methods: Using a repeated measures design, 87 caregiverpatient dyads were randomized to one of three conditions: active cognitive stimulation, passive stimulation, or control. Assessments occurred at preintervention, postintervention (3 months), and 9 months. Results: The LISREL model was entirely satisfactory by the chi-square goodness-of-fit criteria. However, the coefficients associated with the paths between the mediating concepts and the dyadic interaction differed significantly at 3 months and 9 months. The intervention group caregivers were shown to be more satisfied with their interaction with the impaired member. Discussion: The improvement in caregiver satisfactionwas attributed to an attenuation of the behavioral stressor effects through increased use of a problem-focused coping strategy, namely, positive reappraisal of the stressful situation.
Home Medical Equipment Receipt in a Home Care Appropriate Population
Authors: Weaver Frances M. , Giobbie-Hurder Anita G. , Hughes Susan L. , Smith Gina , Kubal Joseph D. , Ulasevich Alec
Published: March 2007

Objectives:This study examines home medical equipment (HME) receipt for 1,040 veterans considered appropriate for home health services. Methods:HME receipt was monitored for 12 months using the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Prosthetics database. Results:Eighty-three percent received at least one item; averaging 7.4 items ( SD= 6.8). The most common items included commodes/bath benches (9%), canes/walkers (7%), safety equipment (7%), liquid oxygen (6%), and wheelchairs (6%). Two functional status variables, home care use and race, correctly classified 69% of HME recipients. Logistic regressions were run for specific equipment; c-indices ranged from .64 to .75. Age, race, income, functional status, risk of hospital readmission, and home care use were significant predictors. Discussion:HME accounted for $4.5 billion in sales (16% of total) for medical products in 1996. As the HME market continues to expand, the characteristics of HME recipients are necessary to project future HME needs in a growing, elderly population.
Women’s Gain: Fund-Raising and Fund Allocation as an Evolving Social Movement Strategy
Authors: Brilliant Eleanor L.
Published: March 2007

Formal social movement organizations became significant phenomena in the late 20th century. This article is part of a large national study that examines the historical evolution of one such organization, the Women’s Funding Network (WFN), which is connected to an “industry” of social change funds. WFN includes over 70 women’s funds across the United States and Canada that define fund-raising and fund allocation as a strategy for empowering women and achieving social change. Using the resource mobilization framework of Zald and McCarthy, the author considers critical issues that women’s funds have faced since their emergence as a network (1985) dedicated to social movement goals. Examples from case studies, surveys, and participant observation are used to compare individual funds and to analyze the impact of increasing institutionalization on mission, structure, resource mobilization, leadership, and programmatic activities of WFN as a social movement organization.
Information Struggles: The Role of Information in the Reproduction of NGO-Funder Relationships
Authors: Ebrahim Alnoor
Published: March 2007

This article examines struggles over information between two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in India and their key international funders. The author outlines both the strategies used by international funders to increase their control over information generation within NGOs and the strategies used by the case NGOs to resist these interventions. Three main arguments are advanced: (a) The information requirements of funders affect NGOs not only by placing demands on their attention but also by promoting positivist and easily quantifiable valuations of success and failure; this is not an intended effect but a systemic one; (b) NGOs resist funder attempts to structure their behavior through a series of strategies that include the symbolic generation of information, selective sharing of information, and the strategic use of professionals to enhance legitimacy; and, (c) this combination of funder demands for information and NGO resistance to external interference serves to entrench existing information systems, thereby reproducing tensions between NGOs and funders.
Multiple Constituencies and the Social Construction of Nonprofit Organization Effectiveness
Authors: Herman Robert D. , Renz David O.
Published: March 2007

Based on the social constructionism perspective and a multiple constituency model, this study investigates stakeholder judgments of nonprofit charitable organization effectiveness. ThestudyalsousesaDelphiprocesstoidentifycriteriathatsomepractitionerw-experts regard as objective indicators of effectiveness. Data on various stakeholder judgments of organizational effectiveness and on the objective indicators were collected for a sample of 64 organizations, allowing for examination of the extent to which stakeholder judgments are consistent and for examination of the extent to which judgments are related to objective indicators. Among the major results of the study are that practitioner-experts define objective effectiveness as employing correct procedures; stakeholders frequently vary substantially in their judgments of the effectiveness of the same organization; stakeholder judgments of effectiveness seldom are related to objective (correct procedures) effectiveness; and differenttypesofstakeholdersusesomeofthesame-mostnotably,boardeffectiveness-as well as different bases for making effectiveness judgments. Conclusions and implications are discussed.
Measuring the Unmeasurable: Empirical Studies of Nonprofit Organization Effectiveness from 1977 to 1997
Authors: Forbes Daniel P.
Published: March 2007

The subject of organizational effectiveness in nonprofit organizations, although controversial, remains important to both practitioners and researchers. In spite of this, the empirical research on the subject has never been comprehensively reviewed. This article reviews empirical studies of nonprofit effectiveness from the past 20 years. The review reveals that researchers have conceptualized effectiveness in a variety of ways and that the research objectives pursued in the study of effectiveness have changed over time. The review also shows that much recent research has employed an emergent or social constructionist approach to effectiveness that emphasizes issues of process over measurement.
Participatory Research is the First Step Towards Political Action
Authors: DIAW BAMBA
Published: March 2007

Research with young domestic workers in Dakar was carried out by ENDA in association with the ILO, UNICEF and the Senegalese government as part of a wider process of research and action undertaken to improve the situation of child and youth workers in a number of African cities. The approach emphasizes the importance of listening to individuals and groups before undertaking action. This article presents the results of data collected as well as the responses to these data in terms of research and action subsequently undertaken or planned.
Competent Girls and Problematic Boys?
Authors: BACKE-HANSEN ELISABETH , OGDEN TERJE
Published: March 2007

In this article, sex differences as they appear from a resource-oriented as opposed to a problem-oriented perspective are discussed. The data derive from two cross-sectional cohort studies and a sample of children referred to the helping services from roughly the same cohorts. The cohort children were 10 and 13 years old, and were in the fourth and seventh grade respectively. The cohorts came from a large eastern Norwegian municipality, consisting of about 500 children each. Data were collected from the children, their parents and teachers in questionnaire form. The referral study included 140 10- and 13-year-olds. The results portray the girls, particularly in the fourth grade, as the `competence winners', while the boys are most visible once the focus switches to problems and problem behaviour. This is in accordance with other, research-based findings. However, the sex differences were smaller from the children's own perspective than the adults', particularly the teachers'. A main concern in the discussion of these results is a `no win, no lose' perspective, pointing to areas of improvement for both sexes.
Children: Rights, Participation and Citizenship
Authors: ROCHE JEREMY
Published: March 2007

This article considers the possibility of rethinking citizenship so as to include children. Much current discussion of children and society is marked by a series of interlocking discourses which serve to problematize and marginalize children. This dominant `negative agenda' thrives untouched by recognition of the many complex and demanding responsibilities accepted by children or of the many degrading social forces that bear down equally on children and adults such as poverty and racism. To think anew about citizenship and children can prompt us to consider the similarity of concerns confronting child and adult, and to recognize the interdependence of our lives and how such interdependency is best fostered. What might such a rethinking of citizenship entail? The article argues that, in addition to reconsidering what we think it is to be a child (for instance ideas about incompetence and irrationality associated with childhood), we need to rethink the value of the language of rights and the social significance of this language. Rights are not just about state-citizen relations but about how civil society should imagine itself; in this context the imagery of social conversation and participation is central to the rethinking of citizenship. The language of citizenship, rights and participation is fragmentary and yet the contestation around these ideas is intensifying and opening up new possibilities of social organization and dialogue. By way of conclusion, the requirements of such a vision of citizenship are considered - what will be needed to make it a social possibility.
The Legislative Design of Judicial Review
Authors: Shipan Charles R.
Published: March 2007

Judicial review of agency decisions clearly affects policy outcomes, both because the courts can overrule an agency's decision and because the threat of judicial review can affect the agency's choice of policy. At the same time, however, judicial review does not simply `exist', but rather is a political variable that a legislature can use to affect policy outcomes. This paper explores how a legislature can use judicial review to influence policy outcomes and examines how review can affect the utility received by each actor. The game-theoretic analysis demonstrates that (1) legislatures can use judicial review strategically in order to obtain more-preferred outcomes, (2) a legislature's ability to improve policy outcomes through the strategic employment of judicial review is not wholly dependent on its ability to respond to the judiciary's actions (i.e. on having the last move in the policy game), and (3) the judiciary's type (i.e. the extent to which it acts restrained) influences outcomes and the actions of the legislature. Finally, I examine the design of judicial review in environmental policy to illustrate and support the theory.
The Effective Length of the Presidential Primary Season
Authors: Cooper Alexandra L.
Published: March 2007

Scholars interested in the speed with which each of the two major US political parties selects its presidential nominee focus on delegate allocation rules and voter preferences as possible sources of variation, but disagree as to the impact of each. I use computer simulations to explore the effects of these two variables. The simulations show that both proportional allocation and more diverse voter preferences increase the number of primaries that must be completed before a single candidate can amass sufficient delegates to guarantee nomination. These findings are consistent with the predictions of existing literature, but previous research generally presents delegate allocation rules and voter preferences as alternative rather than complementary explanations. The results presented here suggest that they have the potential to be complementary.
Escaping from Absolute Dissatisfaction
Authors: Rose Richard
Published: March 2007

The transformation of East European societies involves an escape from two sources of dissatisfaction: a non-market economy and an authoritarian regime. Since dissatisfaction with the past is the fixed and common reference point of post-Communist societies, indifference or confusion in societies in transition can be preferred to a known and rejected past. Four alternative scenarios of the future are outlined. The less probable are an uninterrupted institutionalization of a market democracy or the return of an authoritarian non-market system. The more likely scenarios are of progress by trial and error, misinterpreted by westerners as evidence of instability but in actuality moving toward market democracy, an authoritarian takeover, or a sequence in which democratic failings may lead to a temporary lapse into authoritarianism, followed by a return to democracy.
Transition Periods in Hungary - The Chances for Democracy?
Authors: Szarvas László
Published: March 2007

Hungary and the other Central European countries have double historical legacies. Both the legacy of the prewar period and the consequences of the communist regime have played an important role in the transition toward democracy recently. This article aims to analyse some of the elements of the historical roots, that is (i) the party system, (ii) the social background, and (iii) the value system. The influence of the international environment and the deep internal cleavages is also mentioned. Finally, the author emphasizes the chances of the recent democratic transition, paying special attention to the new political organizations and the pitfalls of the road.
Some Critical Remarks on March and Olsen's Rediscovering Institutions
Authors: Sjöblom Gunnar
Published: March 2007

March and Olsen's Rediscovering Institutions (1989) is considered as an outline of a theoretical approach, or as a research program. The book is criticized on six important grounds: the description of rival approaches is misleading - the language of the book is vague - the core concept of `institution' is not properly defined - no distinction is made between important and trivial decision-making - the claimed relation of interests to institutions has an almost totalitarian ring - the description of `aggregative' versus `integrative' processes is unduly complicated by the language in which they are compared. Although the book contains many brilliant insights, as a research program, the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Social Freedom and its Parameters
Authors: Oppenheim Felix E.
Published: March 2007

I shall first propose definitions of social freedom (to be distinguished from other concepts of freedom) which could be acceptable regardless of one's moral point of view. The second part examines the possibility of measuring various parameters of social unfreedom and freedom. Finally, I shall inquire into the possibility of aggregating these various magnitudes into a measure of an agent's net total freedom.
Opportunity, Willingness and Political Uncertainty
Authors: Cioffi-Revilla Claudio , Starr Harvey
Published: March 2007

Political behavior - social events and processes concerning the governance and life of a collectivity, whether domestic or international - is caused by two fundamental, necessary conditions: the operational opportunity to act and the willingness to do so. We also assume that both conditions always occur with multiple, substitutable, and uncertain modes (probabilistically) not with certainty (deterministically). We develop foundations for a formal theory with unified principles for understanding political behavior. Given the authors' area of expertise, the theory is illustrated primarily with examples from deterrence, coalitions and war. Although strongly nonlinear, the probabilistic causality of political behavior is shown to be scientifically tractable and to contain greater theoretical interest and empirical complexity than previously understood. We also show how real-world political uncertainty differs from that of a counterfactual world with antithetical causal structure. Our theory offers, for example, an explanation for the observed `turbulence' in recent world politics.
Understanding Costa Rica's Political Stability
Authors: López Alexander
Published: March 2007

This essay presents a new analysis of Costa Rica's political stability in the last four decades. It underlines two basic features during this period: first, the efforts to redistribute wealth; second, the abolition of the army as a permanent institution.
The Effect of Policy-Maker Reputation and Credibility on Public Expectations
Authors: Granato Jim
Published: March 2007

We sometimes observe situations in which governments - policy-makers - change policy and agents do not respond. One reason for the lack of response is the policy-maker's reputation and its effect on the credibility of the new policy. If a new policy is enacted in the face of a reputation that is exactly the opposite of the policy's intended effect or consequence, then the policy's low credibility leads to public skepticism about the new objective or threat. Agents will not alter their behavior since they believe the policy is temporary. This theory is tested by examining two recent changes in US macroeconomic policy that had implications for inflation expectations. The more general point, however, is that reputation and credibility hinder or enhance a policy-maker's effectiveness. In this particular example the public's nonresponse has the additional consequence of `prolonging the agony' of austerity policies designed to reduce inflation expectations or it can give policymakers `running room' to stimulate the economy, without a subsequent increase in inflation expectations.
Nomenklatura Rule Under Democracy
Authors: Ferrero Mario , Brosio Giorgio
Published: March 2007

This paper attempts to explain the puzzling features of the Italian political system up to 1992 by means of an economic model of a democratic Nomenklatura, in which the normal operation of a democratic system is distorted by the self-perpetuation of a ruling elite - `Nomenklatura' - which co-opts members of the opposition into its ranks to secure re-election and maximize per capita rent from political office. Competition for the field is thus suppressed and competition within the field enhanced. The Nomenklatura regime arose as a response to a non-democratic opposition and could not survive the downfall of Communism in the early 1990s. Thus the model yields an explanation for the regime's collapse after 1992.
Partisan Voting and Multiparty Spatial Competition
Authors: Adams James
Published: March 2007

The standard Downsian spatial model cannot account for two, related, aspects of party behavior in multiparty systems: (1) despite spatial modelers' disequilibrium results, parties' policy programs are relatively stable; (2) parties behave `responsibly,' consistently locating near their own partisans in the policy space, even when an alternative spatial location appears to offer a larger vote share. This paper modifies the Downsian model to take account of two empirical observations derived from behavioral research: (1) voters typically have partisan attachments, which may motivate them to vote for their party even when they prefer the policies of a competitor; (2) partisanship is correlated with voters' policy beliefs. For this model, I show that equilibria are likely to exist in three-party competition. I also show that at equilibrium parties invariably locate near their own partisans in the policy space. Data on the distribution of voter preferences in the 1987 British general election are used to illustrate the nature of multiparty equilibria. My results suggest that the greater the strength of voters' partisan attachments, the greater the likelihood of equilibrium. Furthermore, the results show how parties whose partisans are centrally located in the policy space suffer a strategic disadvantage.
Dynamic Modeling of Policy Networks in Amsterdam
Authors: Stokman Frans N. , Berveling Jaco
Published: March 2007

This article evaluates two competing dynamic policy-network models and one static network model by applying them to local politics in Amsterdam. In the dynamic models an influence relation results from the acceptance of an influence request. The first model, Control Maximization, represents the view that politics are primarily power driven, and the second, Policy Maximization, policy driven. In the static model (the Two-Stage), network relations are empirically investigated as in other policy-network models and used as a benchmark for evaluating the dynamic models. Policy Maximization is shown to be the most accurate predictor of decision outcomes, better even than the static model, and to generate richer networks. However, both dynamic models generate networks that are too hierarchical.
Desire and the delinquent: juvenile crime and deviance in fin-de-siècle French criminology
Authors: Toth Stephen A.
Published: March 2007

Historical outlines of fin-de-siècle European criminology have typically focused on the debate between supporters of Lombrosian anatomical determinism on the one hand, and the more environmentalist (i.e. French) explanations of crime on the other. What has gone largely unnoticed, however, is how the basic tenets of the 'French school' were shaped by an implicit moral concern with mass consumption and indi vidualism, particularly in regard to juvenile crime. This paper examines the psychosocial conception of the juvenile criminal - within the par ticular context of fin-de-siècle culture, social theory and political ideol ogy - to delineate how French criminologists encountered economic modernity and reconceptualized their understanding of the relationship between the child, the family and the state.
The archive on which the sun never sets: Rudyard Kipling
Authors: Kemp Sandra
Published: March 2007

In 'No Apocalypse. Not Now' Derrida claims that 'literature produces its referent as a fictive or fabulous referent, which is itself dependent on the possibility of archivising...'. Taking the Kipling archive as its point of reference, this article considers the claims involved in the idea of a literary archive (with its appeals to authority, intention, origin, propri ety). In view of the continuing fascination with the details and events of Kipling's life (the interweaving of his public and private self, and especially his connections with India and with Imperialism, and with Indian and English worlds and values), what does the history of Kipling's archive tell us, and how is this related to the location and repression of cultural anxieties (and, in particular, to notions of nation and national character). From the unacknowledged use of a quotation from 'If' in an advertisement for a patent tonic in 1919 to the appear ance of Kipling as hypertext in the 1997 Microsoft Word advertisement in the Sunday Supplements, which or whose 'Kipling' is in question in the iconicity of the continuing and contemporary representations of him. As in Derrida's description of De Man, Kipling is now a ghost of the culture.
The 'tugurios' of San Salvador: a place to live, work and struggle
Authors: Stein Alfredo
Published: March 2007

The 'tugurios' of San Salvador: a place to live, work and struggle outlines the different housing submarkets for the urban poor. The origins. scale and social and econromic characteristics of one submarket, the 'barrios de tugurios' (squatter settlements) are then considered in more detail, including two case studies of particular 'barrios de tugurios' and their inhabitants' struggle for secure land tenure. A final section discusses the political relations between Communities in the 'tugurios' and the government and political parties.
Local Government and Decentralization in Colombia
Authors: Forero Henry , Salazar Manuel
Published: March 2007

Local government and decentralization in Colombia examines why the political establishment in Colombia adopted decentralization measures. The authors describe the policy measures undertaken and assess the success with which they have been implemented.
Implementing a new approach to urban health problems: the case of Addis Ababa
Authors: Dejene Wendmu
Published: March 2007

Implementing a new approach to urban health problems: the case of Addis Ababa describes the scale and nature of health problems and recounts how a new health strategy, based on primaiy health care, was launched.
Urban agriculture for sustainable cities: using wastes and idle land and water bodies as resources
Authors: Smit Jac , Nasr Joe
Published: March 2007

Urban agriculture for sustainable cities: using wastes and idle land and water bodies as resources describes how cities can be transformed from being only consumers of food and other agricultural products into important resource-conserving, health-improving, sustainable generators of these proucts.
The decline of the urban management system in South Africa
Authors: Abbott John
Published: March 2007

The paper considers the reasons for the decline in urban management in South Africa, especially the failure of the self-contained, self-financing black local authorities established in 1980 to manage urban development in the former African townships. It includes a short history of how the white and black local authorities developed under apartheid. It also sagests that some of the weaknesses of the urban managenent structure under apartheid are still evident especially the lack of community involvement and the shortage of resources within urban authorities.
Narration and Legitimation: The Case of in Vitro Fertilization
Authors: SEGUIN EVE
Published: March 2007

This article draws on a conceptualization of the link between science and politics based on discourse analysis. The public objects of science are theorized as discursive creatures. This political concept encapsulates the predetermination of politics by scientific discourse. This framework has been used to study the legitimation of in vitro fertilization in the UK. Through different linguistic and textual mechanisms the discourse of reproductive biology constructed IVF as a technology acceptable to actors of various persuasions. The article focuses on one such mechanism, namely, narration. The first successful fertilization of human eggs in vitro was immediately reported in a popular scientific article. This article is analysed by means of sequential theory and narrative semiotics. The story is then put in relation with parliamentary discourse on IVF.
Investigating Narrative Inequality: African Asylum Seekers' Stories in Belgium
Authors: BLOMMAERT JAN
Published: March 2007

This article addresses narrative inequality in the Belgian asylum procedure by means of a complex of preconditions for communication, noticeable in recorded interviews with African asylum seekers in Belgium. The author first examines the issue of linguistic-communicative resources: the `broken' varieties of European languages in which asylum seekers tell their stories. Next, the structure and functions of a particular type of densely contextualizing sub-narrative, called `home narratives' are explored, with special emphasis on their role as localizing discourse. Finally, the role of narratives in the asylum procedure is discussed, and the contrast in contextualizing directions between asylum seekers' narratives and text trajectories in the procedure is highlighted.
Women's Talk in Public Contexts
Authors: Holmes Janet
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the distribution and function of women's and men's contributions to formal discourse. Evidence is provided that males talk for longer and make more frequent contributions than females in formal contexts such as seminars, TV discussions and full-class exchanges in classrooms. These contexts are ones in which talk is highly valued because contributions generally have status-enhancing potential. Moreover, the predominant function of talk in these contexts tends to be expository. Women tend to contribute more talk in less formal contexts and their contributions often facilitate exploratory talk—talk which assists a more extensive exploration of issues. An analysis of the types of elicitations which occurred in formal public seminars in New Zealand and their distribution between the sexes illustrates these points. The paper ends with some practical suggestions of ways in which the unequal distribution of public discourse between women and men might be reduced.
Frame Negotiation in Doctor-Elderly Patient Consultations
Authors: Coupland Justine , Robinson Jeffrey D. , Coupland Nikolas
Published: March 2007

Institutional discourse typically involves a dialectic between institutional (e.g. medical) frames and socio-relational frames for talk. The paper draws on audio-recorded data from a geriatric outpatients clinic in the UK to show how doctors and elderly patients collaborate in and negotiate the work of entering an apparently medical frame of talk. Particular attention is paid to sequences involving how are you?-type elicitations. Social and medical framings of talk are established and blended in complex discourse patterns. This blending may have a special salience in contexts, such as geriatrics, where holistic care has an explicit priority.
`How does One Become a Good European?': The British Press and European Integration
Authors: Hardt-Mautner Gerlinde
Published: March 2007

European integration is far from being only a political and economic problem but has also led to social and cultural challenges, such as the definition of national identity vs European identity and the relationship between member states. There is also a growing sense that, for the nonexpert citizen, the increasing complexity of the EU's institutions and policies means a de facto denial of access to information and policy-making. This paper investigates how the British daily press has been reflecting and responding to these challenges. National stereotyping, for example, is shown to play a key role in the portrayal of France and Germany. Also, data from the Sun are used to illustrate strategies employed to make elite discourse more accessible to the lay reader.
Cleaning Up its Act: The CIA on the Internet
Authors: Connell Ian , Galasinski Dariusz
Published: March 2007

The study reported here explores, by means of critical linguistic analysis, a selection of the documents in the Factbook on Intelligence section available on the server of the Central Intelligence Agency or CIA (URL http://www.ico.gov). The texts selected describe the genesis, history and activities of the CIA. While offering snippets of information about the CIA, these documents function principally to provide a corporate `image' or a `personality' that attempts to render the CIA and its activities legitimate and acceptable to those who might read these Internet pages. The positioning work the pages undertake involves two main constructive tasks: the creation of (a) a relation of subordination of the CIA in relation to the law and such named bodies as the President of the USA and (b) a positive `corporate' image for the CIA.
A Discursive Perspective on British Local Government's Response to Change: A Tale of Two Cities
Authors: Salskov-Iversen Dorte
Published: March 2007

This article discusses how two different British authorities, both intent on empowering local residents in their capacity as citizens, have gone about defending the political dimension to local government—while at the same time complying with central government's reform agenda. It is my contention that the discourse developed at the local level as part of the response to the centrally conceived reforms gives valuable insight into the nature of the power struggle between central and local government, that it is indeed part and parcel of the power struggle.
The Discursive Reconstruction of Sexual Consent
Authors: Ehrlich Susan
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the discursive means by which a defendant in a sexual assault tribunal attempts to represent or construct himself as innocent. The relative success of discursive strategies in deflecting the defendant's accountability for the sexual assault in question, I argue, is directly related to the ideological perspective that `frames' the proceedings of the tribunal. More specifically, I demonstrate how what Crawford (1995) calls a deficiency model of miscommunication between women and men informs, indeed dominates, this sexual assault tribunal. That is, both the defendant and the tribunal members (representatives of the university who decide on the guilt or innocence of the defendant) communicate that neither the man (the defendant) nor the women (the complainants) have been able to interpret the other's verbal and non-verbal communicative acts accurately, primarily because the complainants have been `deficient' in their attempts to signal non-consent.
Academic Mission Statements: An Exercise in Negotiation
Authors: Connell Ian , Galasiński Dariusz
Published: March 2007

English educational legislation in the 1980s and early 1990s occasioned major reforms in the funding and management of post-compulsory educational institutions. Out went largely autonomous Universities, Polytechnics answerable for their actions to local government, and independent Colleges of Higher Education; in came Higher Education Funding Councils and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). After legislation in 1992, all were able to call themselves universities. Driving this redefinition of educational realities was a view that higher education had been too long `provider centred' rather than `customer centred', that it had to expand and change to take fully into account the new needs of industry, business and the professions. It had to become a more responsible user of public funds, to demonstrate it was capable of managing them effectively and efficiently, and provide value for money. Higher education had to become `business like'. This article examines one facet of the transformation through which English higher education is still passing. It analyses the Mission Statements which all HEIs have had to produce, to determine in what ways they position the HEIs, represent what they do, and relate them to other participants `in the wider community'.