bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Health Promotion, Medical Care Use, and Costs in a Sample of Worksite Employees
Authors: Leiyu Shi
Published: March 2007

The relationship between a four-group health promotion intervention program and the subsequent medical costs were analyzed for a group of 1,188 employees in a northern California utility company. Results suggest strong associations between health promotion interventions and the subsequent reduction in medical costs related to hospital days, doctor visits, and sick days, based on different cost estimates. As health promotion intensified, from group I (assessment-only control), group 2 (low-intensity intervention focusing on self-care), group 3 (medium-intensity intervention focusing on group support), to group 4 (high-intensity intervention targeting high-risk individuals), benefits seemed to increase accordingly, from $145 per person for group 1 to $421 per person for group 4, based on the medium cost estimate. Cost-benefit analysis demonstrates that medium-intensity intervention (group 3) appears to have contributed to a greater level of medical cost reduction, per dollar spent, than all other intervention groups.
Assessing Research Impact
Authors: Kostoff Ronald N.
Published: March 2007

This article describes the use of peer review for federal research impact evaluation. For selected agencies, it covers peer review practices for proposed and existing programs. It shows that nearer-term research impacts typically play a more important role in the review outcome than longer-term impacts; however, they do not have quite the importance of team quality, research approach, or the research merit. Although advanced review processes can improve the efficiency of a review, three of the most important intangible factors for a high-quality peer review are motivation of the review leader, and competence and independence of the review team members. Although peer review in its broadest sense is the most widely used method in research selection, review, and expost assessment, it has its deficiencies, and there is no single method that provides a complete impact evaluation. The use of quantitative techniques such as bibliometrics to supplement peer review is an area ripe for exploitation.
Reports of the Death of Regression-Discontinuity Analysis are Greatly Exaggerated
Authors: Reichardt Charles S. , Trochim William M.K. , Cappelleri Joseph C.
Published: March 2007

Stanley (1991) argues that both random measurement error in the pretest and treatment-effect interactions bias the estimate of the treatment effect when multiple regression is used to analyze the data from a regression-discontinuity design (RDD). Stanley also argues that these biases are so severe that they should cause researchers to consider using statistical procedures other than regression analysis. The authors of the present article disagree. Curvilinearity in the regression of the posttest on pretest scores can be difficult to model, can bias the regression analysis of data from the RDD if not modeled correctly, and therefore should cause researchers to consider alternatives to regression analysis. If the regression surfaces are linear, however, unbiased estimates can be obtained easily via regression analysis, whether or not either random measurement error in the pretest or treatment-effect interactions are present. Improving upon regression analysis is a worthy goal but requires understanding just what are and are not the weaknesses of the method. In addressing these issues, this article elucidates some of the general principles that underlie the use of multiple regression to analyze data from the RDD quasi-experiment.
A Formative Model To Evaluate Health Services Research
Authors: Marconi Katherine M. , Rudzinski Karen A.
Published: March 2007

The authors propose a formative evaluation model for use by administrators of large health services research grant programs. The model will assist them in assessing the purpose, methodology, and level of analysis of funded research projects to identify content areas currently being addressed and areas that may require more directed research. This model is applied to one area of health services research, HIV/AIDS care.
An Evaluation of an Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program for Homeless Substance Abusers
Authors: Devine Joel A. , Wright James D. , Brody Charles J.
Published: March 2007

This article evaluates a residential alcohol/drug treatment program for the homeless. The process evaluation documents numerous deviations from the program as designed and other implementation problems. Foremost among these: The project was designed as a randomized experiment, but randomization was sabotaged by the treatment staff. Nonrandom research attrition constituted another potential source of bias. The authors employ econometric modeling techniques to correct for these selection biases. Results indicate that, although treatment effects are in the expected direction, they are rarely significant. However, consistent with the drug treatment literature, evidence suggests that retention in treatment is a critical variable predicting program effects. Clients who remain in treatment for more than a few months exhibit more positive outcomes than those staying for shorter periods.
Analysis Approaches To Community Evaluation
Authors: Gruenewald Paul J.
Published: March 2007

Analysis approaches to the evaluation of community interventions must be sensitive to a wide variety of analytic contaminants that may bias the statistical assessment of changes in outcome measures. These contaminants include model misspecifications related to failures to control for community-specific time trends, temporal autocorrelated errors in equations, spatial autocor related errors among geographic units, and other failures of unit independence otherwise indexed by estimated intraclass correlations. Although an enormous amount of progress has been made toward the solution of many of these analytic problems over the past years, the contemporary evaluator of community interventions is left with a number of unenviable design and analysis choices; choices that inevitably force an assessment of the relative threats of different sources of error to the internal and external validity of the evaluation. This article describes the choices made for the evaluation of the Community Trial Project outcome data.
First Nations Women’s Encounters with Mainstream Health Care Services
Authors: Browne Annette J. , Fiske Jo-Anne
Published: March 2007

Health care encounters are important areas for study because they reflect social, political, economic, and ideological relations between patients and the dominant health care system. This study examines mainstream health care encounters from the viewpoint of First Nations women from a reserve community in northwestern Canada. Perspectives from critical medical anthropology and the concept of cultural safety provided the theoretical orientation for the study. Critical and feminist ethnographic approaches were used to guide in-depth interviews conducted with 10 First Nations women. Findings were organized around two broad themes that characterized women’s descriptions of “invalidating” and “affirming” encounters. These narratives revealed that women’s encounters were shaped by racism, discrimination, and structural inequities that continue to marginalize and disadvantage First Nations women. The women’s health care experiences have historical, political, and economic significance and are reflective of wider postcolonial relations that shape their everyday lives.
Uprooting and Resettlement Experiences of South Asian Immigrant Women
Authors: Choudhry U. K.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to examine and understand the challenges faced by elderly women from India who immigrated to Canada. Ten women were interviewed about their experiences with immigration and resettlement. The analysis of interview data involved iterative process, through which four themes were identified. These themes were isolation and loneliness, family conflict, economic dependence, and settling in and coping. The participants experienced loss because of changes in traditional values and lack of social support. Because the participants could not manage resettlement on their own, personal independence was not very important. Interdependence for the attainment of emotional security and social rewards was more desirable. Health care professionals must take into account the nature of stress and impact of these experiences on health of older immigrant women.
Perceptions of Nursing Education Held by Male Nursing Students
Authors: Okrainec Gary D.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of nursing education held by male nursing students enrolled in 13 basic nursing programs in Alberta, Canada in September 1987. Female nursing students, equal to the males by type and year of nursing program, were included for comparative purposes. Questionnaires containing usable data were returned by 117 males (71.3%) and l21females (73.7%o). The majorfindings were that male students perceived nursing education as challenging and interesting and were satisfied with the education they received, more males than females perceived themselves working permanently full-time 10 years after graduation, and male nursing studentsfelt that male andfemale nurses were similar with respect to various personality characteristics. Differences between male and female nursing students were evident in demographic characteristics, course interests, career aspirations and goals, and the image of male andfemale nurses.
Family Stress, Social Support, Violence, and Sons' Behavior
Authors: Murata Jo Ellen
Published: March 2007

Although the low income, female-headed, inner-city family has been repeatedly linked to child behavior problems, thefamnily processes related to childmisbehavior in this high risk group have not been identified. In a group of predominantly African American inner-city low-income mothers who lived alone with their children, the relationships between family stress, social support, mothers'conflict resolution tactics, and sons'behavior were examined using thefamily stress adaptation model, and potential nursing interventions were identified. The sample of low-income, inner-city mother-alonefamilies reported morefamily stress and less social support than normative White Anglo-Saxon Protestant families. Family violence rates did not differ between the sample and nationally representative normative groups. Thirty-nine percent of sons, referred to the study because of school difficulties, were reported to have behavior problems requiring additional assessment. Analysis confirmed the fit of sample data to the model and identifiedfamily stress as the best site for nursing intervention for these high-risk families.
Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Lower Leg Ulceration in the Elderly
Authors: Flett Ross , Harcourt Brian , Alpass Fiona
Published: March 2007

The perceived health of a group of elderly people with chronic lower leg ulceration was compared with health perceptions of a matched group of controls. The perceived psychological well-being, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and social supports of the two groups were also compared. The people with leg ulceration described significantly more problems with activity and mobility, pain, and health worries and concerns than the control group. The groups did not differ significantly in their general evaluations of their health status, the experience of physical symptoms, or the numbers of diagnosed medical problems present. The leg ulcer group reported significantly lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of negative affect, but the groups did not differ significantly on the other psychological variables. Leg ulcers are a serious problem for those affected by them, and health care providers need to be more informed about the effect of chronic health problems on elderly persons.
Time Series Analysis of Physiological Response During ICU Visitation
Authors: Hepworth Joseph T. , Hendrickson Sherry Garrett , Lopez Jean
Published: March 2007

Time series analysis (TSA) is an important statistical procedure for clinical nursing research. The current paucity of nursing research reports using TSA may be due to unfamiliarity with this technique. In this article, TSA is compared with the ordinary least squares regression model; validity concerns of time series designs are discussed; and concomitant and interrupted TSA of data collected on the effects of family visitation on intracranial pressure (ICP), heart rate, and blood pressure of patients in ICUs are presented. The concomitant TSA of the effect offamily on ICP suggested thatfamily presence tended to be associated with decreased ICR Interrupted TSA indicated the effect offamily on heart rate and blood pressure was not as consistent: The overall effect on blood pressure appeared to be negligible, and heart rate may increase overall. Restrictive visiting policies, once typical of intensive care units, should be reconsidered.
Moral Reasoning among Professional Caregivers in Nursing Homes
Authors: Mattiasson Anne-Cathrine , Andersson Lars
Published: March 2007

This article examines the responses from a sample of Swedish nursing home staff workers to a hypothetical ethical conflict highlighting the issue of restraint. The responses were analyzed in two ways: first, Piaget's theory of moral development was used to differentiate between "autonomous" and "heteronomous" awareness, and second, the responses were analyzedfrom the perspective of ethical principles, that is, autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. The findings indicate that autonomous ethical awareness took precedence over heteronomous ethical awareness. The dominant moral values were the principle of beneficence, followed by the principle of autonomy.
Preretirement Planning of Female Registered Nurses
Authors: Wiggins Stephanie D. , Henderson Carol M.
Published: March 2007

Knowledge of preretirement planning among women has not been a major focal point for researchers. The purpose of this study was to test a model for understanding preretirement planning among working women and to describe and explain preretirement health and financial plans. A multivariate method of analysis was used with a sample of 145 workingfemale registered nurses, 40 years of age or older, from a major health sciences institution. Data were collected with amailed questionnaire that measured knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of women regarding health andfinancial preretirement planning. The results of this study indicated thatformal and informal methods of planning for retirement were limited. Knowledge of health maintenance issues and economic issues were found to be helpful in making plans for the retirement years. This study identifies strengths and weaknesses in the preretirement planning process of working women and contributes to the expansion of knowledge to reduce problems during retirement.
Disordered Eating Behaviors and Bone-Mineral Density in Women Who Misuse Alcohol
Authors: Clark Kathleen , Allan Janet D. , Perry Patricia A. , Ciliska Donna , Hall Joanne M.
Published: March 2007

Because lower bone-mineral density is one potential physiological consequence of eating disorders and chronic alcohol misuse, the risk for osteoporosis may be compounded in women who have both conditions. This study investigated the frequency of eating disorders in 25 women who misuse alcohol and compared bone-mineral density between those with and without multiple disordered eating behaviors. Disordered eating behaviors were assessed through the EAT-26 (Eating Attitudes Test) and a structured interview addressing binge eating, purging, and other weight-control behaviors. Bone-mineral density was measured using dual energy x-ray densitometry. Although only one woman met the DSM-III-R criteriafora current eatingdisorder, 12% had past histories suggestive of anorexia nervosa and 40% had multiple disordered eating behaviors with bulimic features. Bone-mineral density of the femoral neck was 9.3% greater in women with multiple disordered eating behaviors (p < .05).
Three Phases of Research in Validating Nursing Diagnoses
Authors: Whitley Georgia Griffith
Published: March 2007

The purposes of this three-phase project consisting of concept analyses, nurse expert validation. and client validation were: identification of nursing definitions of anxiety and fear, validation of defining characteristics of the diagnoses by nurse experts, differentiation of the diagnoses by nurse experts, and validation of the nursing diagnosis anxiety by clients. The nurse expert sample consisted of 233 professional nurses, and the client sample consisted of 69 adult clients. Results include agreement on two critical defining characteristics ofanxiety by nurse experts and clients, the differentiation of anxiety andfearby nurse experts, the suggestion ofafear-anxiety syndrome in the literature and by nurse experts and clients, and the suggestion by nurse experts that anxiety be defined using levels ofanxiety. Recommendationsfor changes in the nursing diagnosis anxiety are discussed.
An Analysis of Elderly Clients' Views of Mobility
Authors: Rush Kathy L. , Ouellet Louiselle L. , Hautman Mary Ann
Published: March 2007

This article presents findings from part of a larger qualitative study designed to explore the concept of mobility within the context of concept development. Primary nurses and their elderly clients made up the two study samples. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed using thematic content-analysiis techniques. In this article, only datafrom the client sample are reported. Findings suggested that the elderly clients defined mobility in terms of three interrelated dimensions: physical, cognitive, and social. From client descriptions of mobility, six qualities emerged: ease and freedom of movement, independence, automaticity, purposefulness, self-environmental awareness, and continuity.
The Last Gasp: Cigarette Advertising on Billboards in the 1990s
Authors: Marlow James E.
Published: March 2007

Facing further censorship on advertising, cigarette companies exploited the billboard in the 1990s. Billboards pose problems of communication because of the short time for perception. All the companies founded their ads on the myth of freedom. Winston used purely verbal presentations, creating a persona that proclaimed its cigarettes free of additives and that talked back to big government. Merit used visual signifiers of color and clothing and dawn light to connote pleasure and freedom. Joe Camel was the epitome of “attitude,” an urban expression of personal freedom. The cartoon form also served to deny subordination to the iconic form of photography. Marlboro began a decade-long deconstruction of the billboard frame, thus enacting rather than merely professing the idea of freedom.
Challenging Disney Myths
Authors: Wasko Janet
Published: March 2007

The article draws on recent studies of the Walt Disney Company that have used a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to challenge some of the myths that surround the company, its products, and its creator, Walt Disney. The discussion considers five assumptions that are typically made about Disney: (1) Walt Disney was a creative genius who was responsible for the company's success; (2) the Disney company is somehow special and unique, not like other corporations; (3) Disney is only for kids; (4) Disney's products are harmless, safe, and unbiased; and (5) everyone adores Disney. The arguments that challenge these myths are drawn from a wide range of studies from different disciplines but rely heavily on the integration of political economy, critical cultural analysis, and reception research.
Women in Their Own Reflection: Self-Representation of Women Politicians in the Slovenian Press
Authors: Pušnik Maruša , Bulc Gregor
Published: March 2007

The authors have analyzed different discursive strategies through which women politicians express themselves in the Slovenian press. Based on a constructivist paradigm, which defines gender as a discursively constructed category, the authors have applied discourse analysis to discover how women politicians articulate and reproduce certain dominant myths of femininity in accordance with hegemonic discourses, paying special attention to the notion of sexist language. Female politicians in Slovenia spontaneously express their femininity through different myths about women: woman as a body and sex object, woman as a martyr, woman as a loving and caring individual, and woman as an enigma and threat. As women politicians in Slovenia are interpellated in a broader dominant ideological discursive framework, they do not challenge hegemonic beliefs and myths in society.
Gender at the Crossroads: The Internet as Cultural Text
Authors: Gersch Beate
Published: March 2007

This article examines the Internet as a cultural text and studies the relationship between gender and the Internet at the intersection of science, political economy, and culture. The author suggests that to come to a fuller understanding of the relation between gender and the Internet, a feminist cultural studies perspective will provide a useful theoretical and methodological framework, as it allows one to analyze the material conditions as a determinant in women's relationship to the Internet while recognizing women's power to actively engage in the construction of the meaning of these relationships. A feminist cultural studies perspective thus enables us to examine the Internet as a cultural text, oscillating between modernist and postmodernist paradigms.
Notes on the Enduring Popularity of a Signature Doors Song
Authors: Wolfe Arnold S.
Published: March 2007

Recordings by the Doors remain remarkably popular, but the constituents of the lasting popularity of Doors texts for contemporary audiences remain unexamined. This study of the Doors' first single and first track on their first album reviews both scholarly and popular criticism dating from the song recording's 1967 release and argues that it remains popular due to (1) its lyrics, which thematically appeal to today's U.S. adult because of their mythic significance and to today's U.S. adolescent as they appealed to the U.S. adolescent of the 1960s; (2) its nonverbal musical variables, such as vocal performance and contrapuntal instrumental ostinatos; and (3) its links to Jim Morrison's image. This study grasps all of the above as communication phenomena that communication theories can help elucidate. Conversely, the study shows that communication inquiry into popular music can benefit from some musicological terms of analysis rarely encountered in communication literature.
Working in Housing Aid
Authors: McDonnell Kevin
Published: March 2007

'Struggles in the welfare state' will attempt to draw upon the experience of people involved in local as well as national struggles over welfare. While there are activist journals in existence, we think that Critical Social Policy will provide an additional forum, including both reports by activists over social struggles and supplementing the more reflective approaches adopted in other sections of the journal. 'Struggles in the welfare state' will be open to all our readers, with the proviso that all contributors broadly accept the editorial outlook of the journal. But we do not wish to limit the section simply to some criterion of analysis formed within the editorial collective, and we would like to carry varied sets of contributions, however short, dealing with the experience of working within, as well as being a recipient of, the welfare sector. We also welcome photographs and illustrations with articles.

How useful and interesting 'Struggles in the welfare state' will be depends to a great extent on contributions from our readership, and we welcome discussions with people who would like to submit material at any stage of preparation.

In this issue of CSP we continue our analysis of the restructuring of the social services from the point of view of the workers within them. Kevin McDonnell, who works in housing aid, discusses the increasing difficulties faced by 'front line workers' in the social services and the strategies which can be employed by socialists in this field. In this way he is extending the discussion of welfare begun by the London Edinburgh Weekend Return Group in In and Against the State.
The full employment illusion
Authors: Keane John , Owens John
Published: March 2007

This is a summary and continuation of an important debate begun at the last CSP conference in Sheffield. Drawing on their recent book, 'After Full Employment' (reviewed in this issue), John Keane and John Owens argue that a return to the post-war policy of full male employment is neither feasible nor desirable. They propose instead the redistribution of work together with a guaranteed income for all. Michael Rustin disputes all this. Full employment, he argues, can be restored if an appropriate political strategy is pursued; to divorce income from work on the other hand is ethically unattractive and politically and economically unwork able. Keane and Owens will reply in the next issue of CSP,
The politics of the new reproductive technologies
Authors: Feldman Rayah
Published: March 2007

State concern over the implications of the uses of new reproductive technologies has prompted expressions of bourgeois liberal ideas on the management of reproduction, notably in Britain in the Warnock Report. There has been a strong 'naturalist' opposition to the use of the technologies from a wide range of peo ple, but dominated by a version of feminism which sees the technology as part of a continuing male conspiracy against women. A response to both positions is calledfor integrating an understanding of the place of medicine in the social organisation of reproduction to challenge the criteria by which people are con sidered eligible to be parents.
The implications of ecological thought for social welfare
Authors: Fitzpatrick Tony
Published: March 2007

Relatively little attention has been given by the discipline of social policy to ecological critiques. Yet if those critiques are even marginally accu rate, in terms of the explanations which they offer and the assessments which they make, then this is a neglect which cannot continue indefi nitely. The aim of this article is to help rectify such neglect. The article begins by reviewing the principal approaches which ecological thought takes to social welfare, noting various similarities and dissimilarities to other ideologies. It then contrasts a productivist with a non-productivist, or ecological, model which the author believes could assist in the redesign, and Greening, of social welfare.
The citizen's new clothes: care in a Welsh community
Authors: Mackian Sara
Published: March 2007

The government has launched a sustained attack upon the concept of society, championing the individual. However, in certain arenas they are now providing contradictory messages. For example, health service restructuring is calling for greater citizen involvement, appealing to a simplistic mixture of individualistic and communitarian identities. Located within that arena, this article explores the discourses of 'everyday citizens'. It is demonstrated that there is a greater diversity of citizen and community identities than is recognized in government rhetoric, and it is suggested that this diversity needs to be addressed if citizenship and community are to be useful tools upon which to base policy.
Insensitivity and Hypersensitivity: An Imbalance in Pakeha Accounts of Racial Conflict
Authors: Nairn Raymond G. , Mccreanor Timothy N.
Published: March 2007

In a plural society, the manner in which issues of race or ethnic relations are conceptualised is of considerable importance. So too are the processes by which such linguistic constructions are analysed. This article presents a detailed account of the analysis of one pattern observed in our analysis of submissions made to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in 1979. The submission writers were explicitly asked to account for a physical confrontation between a group of Auckland University students performing a caricature of a Maori haka and a group of young Polynesians who objected to their performance. Sensitivity and related terms were used by 36 writers to accomplish various goals, particularly in attributing blame for the incident. The article describes the patterns of use and how they function for the writer.
A Framework for Understanding Equivocation
Authors: Hamilton Mark A. , Mineo Paul James
Published: March 2007

Information processing theory was used to develop a general model of equivocation that takes into account the various forms of linguistic specificity beyond responsiveness to questions, as well as receivers' comprehensive processing of message content. The model posits causal effects of language specificity and message length on receivers' perceptions of linguistic specificity and their assessments of message clarity, position advocated, and personalization. The results of meta-analyses and causal models of conversation ratings show that message length decreased perceived linguistic specificity but increased message clarity and personalization, perceived specificity increased clarity and identification of position advocated, and clarity increased identification of position advocated and personalization. The immediacy ofthe channel ofpresentation enhanced the role of specificity in the model and inhibited the role of clarity in the model. The practical implications of these findings for the use of equivocation are discussed.
The Attitudinal Component of Variation in American English Foreign (a) Nativization
Authors: Boberg Charles
Published: March 2007

When foreign words spelled with  (e. g., llama, Mazda, pasta, spa, tobacco) are phonologically nativized in modern English, the foreign vowel [a] is variably realized as one of two English phonemes: short /æ/ (as in fat) or long/a: /(as in father). This is the linguistic variable “foreign (a) .” British and American English show different nativization patterns. Whereas British nativization operates on phonological principles with /æ/ as a default nativization, American English shows a tendency toward nativization with /a: / that cannot be explained entirely in phonological terms. This article reports the results of a study of 59 American undergraduate students that investigates the role of attitudinal factors in the choice of /æ/ or /a: / in American nativization. The results show that /a: /is evaluated by Americans as more correct, educated, and sophisticated than /æ/ as a nativization of foreign (a) . Both social and phonetic explanations for this evaluation are suggested.
From Subject Based Curriculum Development to Whole School Improvement
Authors: Murray Michael F.
Published: March 2007

ichael Murray delivered an earlier version of this paper to the Society for Management in Education in Ireland held at Trinity College Dublin in April 1992. He argues that in a world in which the only constant is change schools must strive to become learning organisations. He reports on a project which used a curriculum development approach to enable schools to gain a mastery of the disciplines involved in becoming learning organisations and achieving whole school improvement.
Dusting Off the Phoenix
Authors: Hall Valerie
Published: March 2007

This paper focuses on gender and educational management in the context of a critical review of the treatment of this issue in Educational Management & Administration since 1972. Gender emerged as a discrete topic in the journal only after 1980 and the first major call for a serious treatment of this issue did not take place until 1988. The paper argues that making gender figure rather than ground in studies of school leadership contributes to a more comprehensive picture of current practice. It raises questions about the relationship between home and work, family and career, early socialization and later performance. Educational leadership is firmly rooted in professional identity. To understand one, we must understand the other.
Determinants of Quality Perception in Educational Administration
Authors: Galloway R. L. , Wearn Katrina
Published: March 2007

Social, political and financial pressures are increasing the importance of quality in higher education. While quality is an elusive concept in most services, it is particularly so in public service, not least because of the wide variety of stakeholders and customers involved. This paper reports upon an attempt to measure perceived quality with two distinct customer groups within the context of a university faculty office, using a modified form of the SERVQUAL instrument. Some of the possibilities and limitations of the instrument used for such a purpose and within such a context are discussed.
Realizing the Potential of Large-Scale Reorganization for Promoting School Improvement
Authors: Wallace Mike , Pocklington Keith
Published: March 2007

Drawing upon research undertaken in two local education authorities in England, this article assesses the degree to which large-scale initiatives to reorganize schooling may encompass elements of what is widely conceived as a school improvement intervention. While some areas of activity promoted improvement in conditions surrounding teaching and learning, they were subject to a variety of constraints and impacted indirectly on the teaching and learning process which lies at the heart of conventional school improvement efforts. It is suggested that, in planning such initiatives, policymakers and practitioners could valuably seek to maximize the potential of reorganization as a means of contributing towards school improvement.
Control or Empowerment
Authors: Giles Corrie
Published: March 2007

The 1988 Education Reform Act and subsequent legislation has sought to impose on the education service of England and Wales a form of site-based planning, known as school development planning as a tool for managing school improvement. This paper identifies key problems with this approach and proposes in its place strategies for managing change and school improvement based upon North American research. It focuses in particular upon the successful school growth planning approach which has been implemented by the Halton Board of Education, and a number of other school boards in Ontario in Canada.
The Terrorist Threat
Authors: Beck Ulrich
Published: March 2007

This article differentiates between three different axes of conflict in world risk society. The first axis is that of ecological conflicts, which are by their very essence global. The second is global financial crises, which, in a first stage, can be individualized and nationalized. And the third, which suddenly broke upon us on September 11th, is the threat of transnational terror networks, which empowers governments and states. Two sets of implications are drawn: first, there are the political dynamics of world risk society. In an age where trust and faith in God, class and progress have largely disappeared, humanity's common fear has proved the last - ambivalent - resource for making new bonds. Second, the methodological nationalism that preoccupies the sociological imagination has to be overcome and a `methodological cosmopolitism' has to be created.
The Global Complexities of September 11th
Authors: Urry John
Published: March 2007

This article assesses whether some notions from complexity or non-linear theory help to make sense of September 11th. This relates to the author's more general concern, to interrogate `globalization' through the prism of complexity. Some of the topics investigated in this article include the nature of networked relationships between the macro and micro levels, the character of a liquid and mobile power, the differentiation between and juxtapositions of wild and safe zones, the world-wide screening of certain global events, the unpredictability and irreversibility of time, the nature of attractors, and the more general character of systems that are neither ordered nor wholly anarchic remaining `on the edge of chaos'.
The Lost Innocence of Love
Authors: Illouz Eva
Published: March 2007

This article examines the relationship between `mass media' representations of love and a model of love which we commonly view as more `realistic', that is more compatible with sharing everyday life with another. The article offers three arguments: (1) the postmodern claim that everyday life in general and romantic love in particular have been colonized by the empty `simulacrum' of mass media resonates with a long-standing Western discussion of the problematic relation between fiction and reality; (2) the relation between mass media representations of love and realistic models of love is reconceptualized as deriving from two conflicting bodily experiences of love; (3) postmodern love is defined as being characterized by a particular crisis of representation in which signifiers and signifieds of love do not match.
Sex and Sociality
Authors: Rival Laura , Slater Don , Miller Daniel
Published: March 2007

This article is intended as a critique of recent theorizations of sexuality and desire, which have led performative theorists to contend that gender is an effect of discourse, and sex an effect of gender. It results from informal discussions between the three authors on the mechanisms through which sexuality gets objectified in modernity. The ideas of influential Western thinkers (in particular Georges Bataille) are confronted with field data on sexuality - as lived and imagined - that the authors have been gathering in Amazonian societies, Trinidad, and on the Internet. Ethnographic data and Western theories about the nature of eroticism are used to argue that the utopian definition of sexuality as sexual desire and will to identity is too divorced from the mundane - love, domesticity and reproduction in a broad sense - and based on a too limited sphere of social experience. Consequently, to apply this definition to how and why humans engage in sexual activity leads to erroneous generalizations. For when encountered ethnographically, sexuality consists of practices deeply embedded in relational contexts. The article concludes with the proposition that debates about the possibilities of human sexuality and of its political intervention will make no significant progress unless we stop repeating that `sexuality is socially constructed', and start looking at the ways in which it is lived as part of everyday social life.
Figurational Sociology as a Counter-Paradigm
Authors: Arnason Johann
Published: March 2007

Two key themes in contemporary social theory are particularly relevant to the interpretation and critique of figurational sociology. On the one hand, some recent critiques of the sociological tradition — Touraine's attempt to deconstruct the received image of society is the most important example — have called into question a dominant paradigm that underlies both Marxist and structural-functional theories. Norbert Elias has not only anticipated some of the most important criticisms but also suggested correctives to some of the currently fashionable alternatives. More specifically, his relationship to the sociological traditions and to its contemporary offshoots can be described in terms of six antitheses: his approach is anti-economistic, anti-normativistic, anti-reductionistic, anti-functionalist, anti-structuralist and anti-individualistic. On the other hand, the impact of all these critical strategies is somewhat blunted by the one-sided emphasis on power. A more balanced version of figurational sociology would need a concept of culture to match and counter-balance Elias's insights into the problematic of power. Further exploration of this issue could draw both on the classics (especially Weber) and on post-Parsonian debates about cultural power and their interconnections. Cultural interpretations of power are the most important link between those two dimensions of social life; although Elias has never explicitly thematized them, his recent writings touch upon some aspects of their specifically modern variants.
Just Retribution
Authors: Fennell John T.
Published: March 2007

We hope this international contribution may stimulate some of you to write to us. There is no doubt that currently fashion able criminological views work to increase crime by reducing the cost to the criminal. Wall Street Journal Editorial, March 6, 1979
In Search of a New Ethic of Policing
Authors: Alderson John , Dixon John H.B.
Published: March 2007

Strident calls from the'law and order' lobby are threatening to create a climate in which more punitive penal measures and more repressive policing may become acceptable. For several years now, the reasonable voice of John Alderson has persistently offered radical and hopeful alternatives.
A New Probation Service
Authors: Griffiths W.A.
Published: March 2007

The creation of an independent Probation Service in Northern Ireland involves the development of a probation perspective distinct and separate from that of the Social Services. Here, the Chief Probation Officer for the new Service considers the professional implications of the restructured administration.
Criminal Justice and Probation in the 1980's
Authors: Jordan Bill
Published: March 2007

How should we try to understand the changes in the criminal justice system which are taking place in this country in the present decade? How can the Probation Service maintain its professional integrity, influence the outcomes of policy decisions, and serve the best interests of its clients? How do these issues link with wider developments in social policy and social work? A former probation officer, turned social policy analyst, gives an overview of the Criminal Justice Act.
The CHAR Blueprint: Its relevance for the Probation Service
Authors: McGrath Stephen
Published: March 2007

Efforts to meet the needs of the single homeless have been piecemeal and small scale. Only a concerted policy of public sector provision can remedy this substantial injustice. The Probation Service can adopt CHAR's programme and use its specialist knowledge to press for change.
Injustice and Inconsistency in Court Costs
Authors: Scott Martin
Published: March 2007

Practice regarding costs varies considerably between magistrates courts, apparently arbitrarily and unfairly, despite clear guidance from the Magistrates Association. The advent of the Independent Prosecutor provides the chance to achieve consistent standards.
Ruskington: Responding to the Rural Community
Authors: Mitchell Kate , Connell Tony
Published: March 2007

Working with young people in a labelled 'problem' village community to improve resources and their general reputation.
Offending Behaviour or Better Adjusted Criminals?
Authors: Mark Peter
Published: March 2007

Recent research figures show that heavily convicted and institutionalised offenders are staying clear of court in significant numbers, after completing the intensive three month groupwork programme. A 9 month follow-up shows 70% not re-offending. This account describes the programme and its methods, particularly in relation to the debate about how to work effectively on offending behaviour.
Should Pre-Sentence Report Writers Be Interviewing Victims of Domestic Violence?
Authors: Teft Paul
Published: March 2007

Paul Teft analyses the implications of the advice given to Pre-Sentence Report authors in NAPO's recent Domestic Violence Policy and Practice Guidance. He outlines the potential dangers both to victims and to report writers, and makes some further suggestions for good practice.
Handling a Cathedral
Authors: Van Alphen Jan
Published: March 2007

The following is a shortened version of an article published in The International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship, Volume 1, Number 4, December 1982.
Help for disabled people
Authors: Giles Barry
Published: March 2007

The shortage of jobs emphasises the importance of helping disadvantaged groups, including disabled people, to compete fairly and effectively. This article, based on a talk given at the half yearly meeting of the North Regional Association for the Blind, Sunderland, 24 March 1983, outlines briefly the range of help that is available through the Manpower Services Commission, both in terms of guidance and practical assistance, the changes currently being introduced aimed at providing a more flexible response to the individual needs of disabled people, and the new approach being taken to encourage employers to make the best use of disabled people.
The Community - living with visual impairment
Authors: Newton Tony
Published: March 2007

The following article is a compilation of addresses given by Mr Tony Newton to the Southern and Western Regional Association for the Blind on 19 July 1984 and to the North Regional Association for the Blind on 13 September 1984.
Art therapy with the visually impaired
Authors: Levens Mary
Published: March 2007

This article gives a brief description of art therapy, and then goes on to discuss how an understanding of the art therapy process, and of aspects of visual perception, may justify the use of a visually- orientated therapy with clients who have visual impairments. Relevant case material is included.
Mobility training today I : dealing with the real world
Authors: Beggs W.D. Alan
Published: March 2007

By means of qualitative and quantitative surveys, a picture of the working life of a mobility officer (MO) in local authority employment was built up. Two major but related aspects are described. First, the diversity of the visually impaired population seeking mobility training, and second, the way in which MOs have been able to 'tune' the long cane package to suit the many low vision clients they meet. In addition, some of the enduring problems faced by MOs will be discussed.
Enabling the provision of care
Authors: Jones Alan
Published: March 2007

The author is Chairman of the Cambridgeshire Society for the Blind and was formerly Director of Social Services in Cambridgeshire. He works now for a leading firm of management consultants. At a recent meeting, organised by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, be brought the light of his present experaence in advising local authorities on the possible implementation of the government's community care policies and the Griffith's recommendations to bear on the particular problems in provision of services to the visually impaired.
Community Care for deafblind people. What is it? Where is it?
Authors: Clark Rodney
Published: March 2007

The following article is an edited version of the SRAB Annual Lecture given at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London, 16 November 1993. The speaker analyses and illustrates the considerable inadequacies of Community Care for deafblind and multiply disabled young people and adults. This particularly vulnerable minority group seldom receives appropriate support because in practice Community Care provision is often determined by financial constraints - not needs-led. Proposed lines of action to remedy the situation are suggested.
Has Braille had its day?
Authors: Stone Juliet
Published: March 2007

Juliet Stone reviews some of the controversies surrounding braille, literary usage and deployment in the environment and concludes that controversies are likely to continue.
The needs and problems of older people with a visual impairment: historical, current and future perspectives
Authors: Davis Mark
Published: March 2007

Of the approximate one million people who are registrable as blind or partially sighted nine out of ten are over the age of 60. One in seven of all older people over the age of 75 are registrable as blind or partially sighted. The vast majority will not be totally blind but will have some degree of residual vision.

In the first of a series of articles highlighting the needs, difficulties and problems faced by older visually impaired people, Mark Davis, Community Care Officer - Older People, RNIB Social Services Development Unit, reviews the status of older visually impaired people through a series of official reports and outlines the problems they still face.