bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Operation Major: A Backward Glance
Authors: Sandham James
Published: March 2007

An account of the events in Summer, 1982, in Oxford, 'Operation Major', and their aftermath, the implications for the Probation Service, and the elastic safeguards of the Criminal Justice system.
A Working Sketch of a Community Service Session
Authors: Vass Antony
Published: March 2007

A unique account of the realities of a Community Service work session, based on lengthy participant observation. The author highlights how justice is negotiated between offender and supervisor, deviance is absorbed and pragmatic adjustments made.
Residential Work: The Cinderella of the Probation Service?
Authors: White Ian
Published: March 2007

A former Hotel Warden argues for the integration of residential work into mainstream probation process.
Eight Days In The System
Authors: 'Joan'
Published: March 2007

A consumer's view of the fines enforcement process which took her in a week to Holloway and Drake Hall prisons and left her puzzling the logic of the system.
Ever Decreasing Circles: Practitioners and Probation Bureaucracy
Authors: Hankinson Ian , Stephens David
Published: March 2007

It seems uncontentious to suggest that probation officers should organise, pool their expertise, develop strategies and policies, and take note of research and experience. A real opportunity to so do so came with the expansion of the Service in the 1970's yet the authors maintain that the main outcome of this growth has failed to do this. Instead, what has emerged from organisation is a management that has become estranged from the practice of Probation work. They argue that despite the early belief that an expanding Service bureaucracy would continue to uphold individual officer discretion and keep central decision- making to a minimum, the reverse has happened. They believe that there is now little consensus between the practitioners and the bureaucracy on the role of the Probation Service.
The Rise and Fall of the Kent Control Unit: A Local Perspective
Authors: Spencer Nigel , Edwards Pat
Published: March 2007

Kent's controversial Control Unit has now been absorbed into a new Medway Centre with a revised programme, following a working party review of its function and effect. The authors gauge what impact it has had on county practice and identify concern about aspects of the new regime, but reach an optimistic view of progress achieved.
Civil Work Practice: A Non-Conciliation Approach
Authors: Hurst Phil
Published: March 2007

Confusion over the role of court welfare officer as court reporter still persists. Hurst argues that recent changes in the work have not represented a move to conciliation, but a major re-orientation in method. Through a typology of family problems and a proposed framework for focussing reports, he tries to show how welfare officers can integrate this new approach with traditional welfare considerations.
Probation, Crime and the Media
Authors: Cousins John
Published: March 2007

Probation staff are well aware of limitations in the media's portrayal of crime and offenders, and the effect of this on the image and labelling of clients. The author argues that the Service should encourage the media to broaden its presentation and that public relations should be a vital part of probation work.
Assertiveness Training: Taking Control
Authors: Parr John , Rubie Val
Published: March 2007

How a regular programme of training in assertiveness has become a welcome additional service to clients, irrespective of their statutory or voluntary status, and without requiring a formal condition of attendance.
Detoxification: A Police View
Authors: Johnson Patrick
Published: March 2007

Based on his experience of policing the Leeds City Centre and using the St Ann's De-Tox Centre, the author outlines the limitations of the criminal justice system in tackling public drunkenness and challenges the Probation Service to make a greater commitment to co-ordinating resources.
The Tactile Depiction of Visual Conventions: The Advantage of Explicit Cues
Authors: Ramsay Angus I. G. , Petrie Helen
Published: March 2007

The introduction of representational standards for tactile diagrams might improve their use. Two elements central to the design of visual diagrams are the relative positioning and movement of the objects yet no standard convention for representing either of these in tactile form has been established. Consequently, systems representing the movement and relative positioning of objects were developed with the Intention of producing design conventions for these elements. The method of depicting the element of movement was based on the concept that an object's movement is defined by changes between Its initial and final positions while the method of depicting relative positioning was based on a number of the principals underlying linear perspective, along with an additional texture-based cue. Tactile diagrams making use of these systems of representation were designed and produced for exploration by eight blind participants. They were confident and accurate in their Interpretations of diagrams that depicted relative positioning of objects and, on the basis of their comments on the diagrams depleting movement, a convention for the depletion of movement was proposed.
The future of special schools for the visually impaired
Authors: Talbot Peter
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the role of special schools for visually impaired learners in the light of current thinking on such notions as inclusiveness, parental choice, and Government legislation and Codes of Practice. Particular attention is directed towards uncertainties over the future of non-maintained special schools (NMSS), the numbers of which have been declining in recent years. An account is given of how one NMSS is responding to these changes by developing a partnership with the Local Education Authority in its own geographical area in the South-East of England.
The world of touch: an international survey of tactile maps. Part 1: production
Authors: Rowell Jonathan , Ungar Simon
Published: March 2007

This paper reports the findings of an international survey that collected data on production methods, techniques, outputs and design preferences among tactile map producers, designers and researchers worldwide. A number of consistencies and inconsistencies are identified and we speculate on the extent to which the current state of tactile map production is likely to meet the needs of the client population. In this first part of the report we describe the sample on which the report is based, and describe the output in terms of quantity of maps produced, choice of production method, types of environment mapped and intended uses of maps.
National Rubella Council
Authors: Clark Rodney
Published: March 2007

Towards the close of the International Year of Disabled People, a group of world figures involved in disability was convened at Leeds Castle by the DHSS under the Chairmanship of the former Prime Minister, Lord Home of the Hirsel. It was a unique group of scientists, doctors, health administrators and politicians, who met to consider practical measures to prevent dis ablement, which afflicts one in ten of the human race. Their nine recommendations for immediate aciton to respond to the public concern stimu lated by IYDP were unanimously agreed. *
Early vision assessment in visually impaired children at the TRC, Sweden
Authors: Lindstedt Eva
Published: March 2007

Visual rehabilitation practices at a centre for visually handicapped children in Sweden are described and a new vision test, specifically designed for the young visually and/or multiply impaired child, is presented.
Whither early intervention?
Authors: Aitken Stuart
Published: March 2007

This paper argues for the need to adopt a more impartial stance when assessing the efficiency of early intervention with pre-school children who have a visual impairment. It is hoped that the forthcoming ICEVH Symposium on early intervention will offer a forum for objective appraisal, and that early intervention with children who have a visual impairment will be continued by the most effective means.
Client consultation: the key to designing for people with special needs (RNIB New College Worcester)
Authors: Cave Adrian
Published: March 2007

The merger in 1988 of Chorleywood College for Girls with Little or No Sight and Worcester College for the Blind was one of a series of major projects undertaken by the RNIB to improve the facilities and services which it provides. In this account, the leader o f the architectural team outlines the design considerations and the consultative process involved in providing new and refurbished buildings for the merged college at Worcester. The author's experience o f the consultative process includes projects in the UK, France, West Africa and the Middle East. His current work, for a wide range of people with special needs, covers housing improvement projects, medical facilities and buildings for people with special physical and visual requirements.
The development of a new test of children's braille-reading ability
Authors: Greaney J. , Arter C. , Hill E. , Mason H. , McCall S. , Stone J. , Tobin M. , Greaney J. , Arter C. , Hill E. , Mason H. , McCall S. , Stone J. , Tobin M.
Published: March 2007

This article outlines a project (School of Education, University of Birmingham) which aims to develop a new comprehensive test of children's braille-reading skills. The Project Management Group has decided to adapt the new print Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (1989) for braille users. This diagnostic test of prose-reading ability yields measures of reading speed, accuracy and comprehension. When adapting narratives for use by braillists, several key areas require careful consideration including assessing comparative difficulties, capitalization and the replacement of pictures. These areas are addressed, as well as other matters concerned with the standardization sample and the rationale behind the decision to opt for the Neale test.
Assessing the verbal and nonverbal ability of visually impaired adults
Authors: Reid Juliet M.V.
Published: March 2007

Following earlier work evaluating numeracy and literacy tests (Reid,1994), this study employs the same methodology to evaluate some mainstream tests of verbal and nonverbal ability. The objective of each evaluation is to determine the utility of each test in the vocational evaluation of visually impaired adults. The criteria employed in the evaluation of each test and the rationale behind their selection are delineated. Results, showing the outcome of each evaluation on each criterion, are presented in tabular form. The implications of the results for their potential application to visually impaired populations are discussed. It is argued that the conclusions drawn from these evaluations enable recommendations to be made concerning the inclusion of individual test packages in a vocational assessment service for visually impaired adults.
The methodology of a major survey of visual impairment in East & West Sussex
Authors: MacDonagh Gill
Published: March 2007

Over an 18 month period centred on 1993 a major survey was undertaken to investigate the condition of blind and visually impaired (Vl) children and young adults (0-25 years) in East and West Sussex. Its brief was to ascertain the Educational Needs of the surveyed group with a view to addressing some of these with funding from the Blatchington Court Trust which com missioned the work. Accordingly the brief included recommendations on how funding might be apportioned and utilised in the medium-term. In many ways this was a 'first of its kind' and, as such, is worth recording to aid in the undertaking of future works of similarly ambitious complexity, depth and breadth. The survey's Director Gill MacDonagh reports on its methodology as a preface to two major articles on the contents of the survey.
The training of teachers at a distance
Authors: Arter Christine , Mason Heather Labon
Published: March 2007

This Paper seeks to address some of the points made in an article written by Fetton (BJVI, 1994, 12:2). It describes the model used by the University of Birmingham Distance Education Course for teachers of children and young people with a visual impairment; and discusses some wider issues of training within the field of visual impairment.
Hidden From Sight?: The Access of Multiply Disabled People to services for the Visually Impaired
Authors: Levy Gill
Published: March 2007

Multiply disabled people with a visual impairment (MDVI) are often denied access to specialist services for the visually impaired (VI) both because their sight loss is not identified and because specialist VI workers are resistant about their competence in this field. This article assesses the current situation and discusses a way forward.
Where are we now? A Personal Perspective on Educational Provision in Scotland for Children and Young People with Multiple Disability and Visual Impairment
Authors: Buultjens Marianna
Published: March 2007

This is a personal view of educational provision up to school leaving age for children and young people who are multiply disabled and visually impaired (MDVI) in Scotland. It considers current school placement and curriculum, with an indication of future developments in the 16 plus curriculum. Early intervention and the issues affecting it are mentioned as well as the importance of the dissemination of current research on the causes and effects of cortical/central visual impairment. The wider United Kingdom and European dimension are mentioned, especially the implications for staff development.
Perceived and Received Social Support in Two Cultures: Collectivism and Support among British and Spanish Students
Authors: Goodwin Robin , Hernandez Plaza Sonia
Published: March 2007

Previous cross-cultural research into social support has attributed national variations in observed support to assumed cultural variables, but has rarely measured these variables directly. Furthermore, this cross-cultural work has failed to differentiate between support from friends and from families, and between global perceptions of available support and the support received after an event. In this study, 140 respondents from UK (N = 72) and Spain (N = 68) completed scales assessing cultural collectivism (Bierbrauer, Meyer, & Wolfradt, 1994), measures of perceived global support (Cohen & Hoberman, 1983), and received social support, as well as additional indices of self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965) and life satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). Path analytic analyses found that Spanish respondents were, as expected, more collectivist than their British counterparts, and that collectivism predicted reported family support after an event and global perceptions of available support. Global perceived support and support from friends after an event were significant correlates of self- esteem, which, along with global support and support from family members, was a significant correlate of life satisfaction. These findings underline the importance of analysing cultural values and the multiple components of social support when assessing the impact of culture on support.
'I Like you... as a Friend': The Role of Attraction in Cross-Sex Friendship
Authors: Reeder Heidi M.
Published: March 2007

This study investigated attraction in heterosexual cross-sex friendships. Study I used in-depth interviews with 20 dyads (40 participants) to uncover four types of attraction that occur in cross-sex friendships - subjective physical/sexual attraction, objective physical/sexual attraction, romantic attraction, and friendship attraction. These types of attraction are subject to being symmetrical or asymmetrical, and may incur changes over time. Study 11 (N = 231) used a questionnaire to assess the frequency of each type of attraction and the frequency with which types of attraction are perceived to change. The most prevalent form of attraction was friendship attraction, and the least prevalent form was romantic attraction. The implications of these results for understanding both cross-sex friendships and the process of attraction are discussed.
Lying to the One you Love: The Use of Deception in Romantic Relationships
Authors: Cole Tim
Published: March 2007

The goal of this research was to explore the use of deception in romantic relationships and relate the use of such behavior to relational outcomes. Three possible explanations underlying the use of deception in romantic relationships were tested. It was expected that deception would be related to the reciprocal exchange of information, the desire to avoid punishment, and individuals' attachment beliefs. Two hundred and fifty-six individuals (128 couples) completed questionnaires regarding their own communicative behaviors, as well as their partners' behavior. Support for all three explanations regarding the use of deception was obtained. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.
Violence Against Female Partners: Direct and Interactive Effects of Family History, Communal Orientation, and Peer-Related Variables
Authors: Williamson Gail M. , Silverman Jay G.
Published: March 2007

Data from 172 male university students provide evidence for the role of communal orientation (dispositional beliefs that relationship partners should be mutually responsive to each other's needs) in predicting violence against female partners. Associating with peers who verbally endorse and behaviorally model dating violence predicted participants' violent behavior. In addition, communal orientation, a personality trait not previously investigated in this context, was both directly and interactively related to dating violence. Men low in communal orientation were more likely to physically abuse their dating partners and to associate with peers who endorsed violence against female partners and who were themselves abusive. Moreover, less communal men appeared to be more subject than their highly communal counterparts to the influence of peers.
Interpersonalizing Aids: Attending to the Personal and Social Relationships of Individuals Living with Hiv and/or Aids
Authors: Greene Kathryn , Frey Lawrence R. , Derlega Valerian J.
Published: March 2007

This article introduces the special issue on HIV and AIDS in the context of personal and social relationships. Four major themes are first highlighted: (i) the changing nature of HIV and AIDS to long-term, chronic illnesses; (ii) the importance of personal and social relationships for those living with these illnesses; (iii) the effects of these illnesses on the personal and social relationships of minorities and women, in particular; and (iv) the continuing stigma and coping with stigma that permeate the lives of those living with HIV and/or AIDS. A conceptual approach is introduced to frame research on the personal and social relationships of those with HIV and/or AIDS. The articles and commentaries in the special issue are then introduced and discussed in the light of that conceptual approach. This article concludes with a call to focus additional attention on the personal and social relationships of those living with HIV and/or AIDS.
Children's Understanding of Friendship Issues: Development by Stage or Sequence?
Authors: Schofield Margot J. , Kafer Norman F.
Published: March 2007

The structural-developmental model of interpersonal understanding proposed by Selman was investigated with respect to children's understanding of six issues of friendship: formation, intimacy, trust, jealousy, conflict and termination. Subjects were 81 boys and 85 girls (age range 9-11 years). A slide and tape presentation of a friendship dilemma was presented before a group-administered written assessment of levels of interpersonal understanding. The SOLO taxonomy was used to assess the quality of responses. It was found that girls and popular children had higher levels of interpersonal understanding than boys and unpopular children. There was also an order of difficulty for friendship issues as a function of two dimensions: concrete to abstract and familiar to unfamiliar. Results were interpreted as questioning the strict form of the structural-developmental approach, and as being more consistent with a model of gradual generalization.
Realizing: How Facts are Created in Human Interaction
Authors: Harris Linda M. , Sadeghi Ali R.
Published: March 2007

This paper presents a model of the construction of social reality through human interaction. Human interactants are characterized as creating (realizing) the facts they come to believe about themselves. This creative process occurs during interpersonal interactions in which both desirable and/or undesirable facts emerge. A case study of a couple in therapy demonstrates the process through which a husband and wife have created many undesirable facts between them while denying that several desirable facts happen between them. A discussion of the power and responsibility involved in realizing interpersonal experiences follows the case study analysis.
Linking Maintenance Strategies to Relationship Development and Disengagement: A Reconceptualization
Authors: Guerrero Laura K. , Eloy Sylvie V. , Wabnik Alisa I.
Published: March 2007

Maintenance strategies are conceptualized as vehicles by which romantic partners can change, as well as preserve, their relationships. A longitudinal approach is used to investigate the idea that daters' perceptions of proactive/constructive maintenance will affect four possible relational outcomes - escalation, stability, de-escalation and termination. Results indicate that perceived frequent use of proactive/constructive maintenance strategies is associated with stability or escalation, while perceived infrequent use of these strategies is related to de-escalation or termination. Results also demonstrate that perceptions of openness and assurances increase over time in escalating relationships, while perceptions of positivity, assurances and the sharing of tasks decrease in de-escalating relationships. These findings support the contention that proactive/constructive maintenance strategies operate not only to stabilize relationships, but also to change them.
Correlates of Distress Following Heterosexual Relationship Dissolution
Authors: Frazier Patricia A. , Cook Stephen W.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine correlates of initial distress and current recovery among individuals who have experienced the breakup of a dating relationship, including factors associated with commitment to the relationship (i.e. satisfaction, duration, closeness, perceived alternatives) and factors associated with coping with life stressors (i.e. perceptions of the controllability of the breakup, social support and self-esteem). Participants were 34 males and 51 females who had experienced the breakup of a dating relationship within the past 6 months. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that these variables accounted for between 21 and 47 percent of the variance in the measures of initial distress and current recovery. The coping-related variables added significantly to the prediction of initial distress and current recovery once the commitment-related variables were taken into account, but were more strongly related to recovery than to initial distress. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Interpersonal Relationships in Women's Magazines: Dating and Relating in the 1970s and 1980s
Authors: Prusank Diane T. , Duran Robert L. , DeLillo Dena A.
Published: March 2007

This article follows up Kidd's (1975) analysis of the rhetorical visions in popular magazine articles concerning personal relationships. Data were collected from articles appearing in women's magazines spanning the years 1974-90. We ask which relational visions have dominated the popular magazines through the 1970s and 1980s. The use of content analytic methods focuses on the relational themes found in Kidd's analysis: togetherness vs autonomy, self-vs other-orientation and restricted vs open communication. The findings indicate that, in fact, a new vision has emerged. This vision focuses on the issues of knowledge of self and other, equality, relationship stages and time.
Friends' and Acquaintances' Conversations II: Coded Differences
Authors: Planalp Sally
Published: March 2007

This is the second of a pair of studies investigating differences between friends' and acquaintances' conversations. In Study I (Planalp & Benson, 1992), naive judges were asked to indicate whether they thought conversations were between friends or acquaintances and why. In Study Il (reported here), the same conversations were analyzed to determine if the reasons given by judges in Study I did, in fact, discriminate between friends and acquaintances when coded from the conversations and analyzed statistically. Results indicated that the pattern of differences was consistent with Study I, although only a few differences were significant statistically due to low power. Discriminant analyses indicated that two variables alone, mutual knowledge and continuity, predicted friends/acquaintances' differences as well as the entire set of variables and with the same level of accuracy (about 80 percent) as the judges in Study 1.
The Differential Availability of Relationships and the Provision and Effectiveness of Support to Older Adults
Authors: Dykstra Pearl A.
Published: March 2007

Does information on the types of relationships composing older adults' networks provide an indication of the amount and effectiveness of network support? This question was addressed using data from a representative sample from the Netherlands of 160 non-institutionalized older adults between the ages of 65 and 75. Results showed first that different types of relationships differed in their supportiveness. These differences were linked with the degree of consanguinity of kin and the degree of friendship of non-kin. Second, consistent with a mechanism of compensation, the supportiveness of particular types of relationships depended upon the network in which they were embedded, namely upon the availability of an alternative source of support. For example, adult children were more supportive to parents who no longer had a partner than to parents who were still together. Third, the effectiveness of support in providing protection against loneliness varied according to the availability of a partner. Among the cohabiting, support from friends and adult children was unrelated to loneliness. Furthermore, support from the network, instrumental support in particular was less closely associated with loneliness among the cohabiting than among the never married and the formerly married.
Exchange of Respect-Denying Behaviors among Male-Female Friendships
Authors: Gaines Stanley O.
Published: March 2007

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that between-gender friendships are characterized primarily by behavioral exchanges involving respect but not affection (i.e. correlations between men's and women's behaviors would reach significance only for respect-related behavior). A total of 62 pairs of male-female pairs completed a 12-item version of the Role Behavior Test (Foa & Foa, 1974), designed to measure partners' frequency of affection-giving, affection-denying, respect-giving and respect-denying behaviors; individuals reported the extent to which partners enacted each of the behaviors during the two weeks prior to participation in the study. Canonical correlation analyses of the behavioral data revealed that, as expected, no consistent pattern emerged regarding reciprocity of affection-giving or affection-denying behavior (i.e. males' and females' affection-related behaviors were not correlated significantly). In contrast, as expected, a clear pattern of reciprocity of respect-related exchange did emerge (i.e. males' and females' respect-related behaviors were correlated significantly). However, behavioral exchanges relevant to respect appeared to be limited to respect-denying (and not respect-giving) actions. Comparisons with male-male ( n = 62 pairs) and female-female (n = 65 pairs) friendships indicated that only among the male-female pairs did any consistent pattern of resource exchange occur. Implications for the study of male-female friendships are discussed.
Intergenerational Linkages: How Experiences with Siblings Relate to the Parenting of Siblings
Authors: Kramer Laurie , A. Baron Lisa
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this research was to examine whether, and in which ways, parents' early experiences with siblings relate to the quality of sibling relationships achieved by their offspring. Naturalistic observations of children interacting with their siblings, and interviews with parents provided a data base for estimating the quality of sibling relations in two generations of 56 families. Results indicated that mothers who reported negative sibling histories were most likely to have children who interacted more positively with one another. This pattern was best explained by the maternal selection of child-rearing strategies, such as less differential treatment of siblings, reduced use of authoritarian strategies and greater reliance on redirection techniques. Greater concerns among mothers reporting negative sibling histories about how conflict in the home may adversely affect sibling relationships was also associated with more positive interactions between offspring. Knowledge of parents' particular goals or expectations for the sibling relationship, or characteristics of the children themselves accounted for very little variance in sibling relationship quality among offspring. Results are discussed in reference to current theoretical models of intergenerational linkages.
Social Structural and Psychological Correlates of Interethnic Dating
Authors: Tucker M. Belinda , Mitchell-Kernan Claudia
Published: March 2007

This study is designed to: (a) describe current interethnic dating behavior and related attitudes among southern Californians; and (b) examine social structural and psychological correlates of interethnic dating. Data were derived from a telephone survey conducted with a probability sample of African American, Latino and white residents of southern California. lnterethnic dating was reported by over half of all ethnic groups and both sexes and more frequently among men. Most reported that family members knew of their behavior and few families objected, although white women were most likely to report family criticism. Whites and Latinos who admitted to exclusions for intermarriage were most likely to exclude blacks, and black women and Latinas were most likely to exclude Asians. Logistic regression analyses indicated that interethnic dating was associated with being male, younger, having more education, being less lonely, the perception of having more mating opportunities and being African American or Latino rather than white. Within ethnic group analyses demonstrated that the loneliness finding was specific to African American women and Latino males, suggesting that dating outside of one's ethnic group was perhaps an adaptive behavior for these groups. It appears that one's particular location in the social structure as a function of age, education, sex and ethnic group may facilitate or discourage interethnic dating. Furthermore, mate availability considerations contribute to such decisions.
Men's and Women's Evaluations of Communication Skills in Personal Relationships: When Sex Differences Make a Difference and when they don't
Authors: Burleson Brant R. , Kunkel Adrianne W. , Samter Wendy , Working Kathy J.
Published: March 2007

Much recent research on gender and communication has emphasized differences in men's and women's communicative conduct, with some theorists going so far as to claim that men and women constitute different cultures. However, comparatively little research has assessed both similarities and differences in men and women's communication to determine whether the sexes are more alike or different. The present paper provides such assessments with respect to men's and women's evaluations of the importance of diverse communication skills in two relationships, friendship and romance. Two studies are reported. In Study 1, participants (N = 382) evaluated the importance of eight communication skills in same-sex friendships. Results indicated that although females rated affectively oriented communication skills as somewhat more important than males and males rated instrumentally oriented skills as somewhat more important than females, both males and females overwhelmingly viewed affectively oriented skills as more important than instrumental skills. Study 2 sought to replicate and extend the findings of Study 1 by having participants ( N = 685) evaluate the importance of eight communication skills for either same-sex friendship or opposite-sex romances. Results virtually identical to those of Study 1 were obtained in Study 2 for both friendship and romance. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of communication in personal relation ships and the different cultures perspective.
Everyday Loyalties and Betrayals in Personal Relationships
Authors: Baxter Leslie A. , Mazanec Michael , Nicholson John , Pittman Garth , Smith Kathy , West Lee
Published: March 2007

Scholars typically have conceptualized loyalty (and its opposite, betrayal) as a manifestation of individual dispositions of a state-like or trait-like nature. By contrast, the present study takes a dialectical perspective, arguing that loyalty is a social experience in which relationship parties face a cross-current of competing and oppositional loyalty demands. As a consequence, when parties are loyal to one relational expectation they simultaneously are likely to be disloyal to another expectation. Two-hundred and seventy-three informants provided accounts of everyday competing loyalties of two kinds for a friendship and for a romantic relationship: external competing loyalties in which one faces a dilemma between the relationship and some other demand outside the boundary of the dyad; and internal competing loyalties in which one faces a dilemma between one relational expectation and another within the boundary of the dyad. We analyzed the 1092 accounts using the constant comparative method, resulting in nine kinds of external competing loyalty dilemmas and six kinds of internal competing loyalty dilemmas. In addition, findings address how relationship parties managed the dilemmas.
Revealing Family Secrets: The Influence of Topic, Function, and Relationships
Authors: Vangelisti Anita L. , Caughlin John P.
Published: March 2007

Nearly every family has secrets. Some of these secrets are told; others are carefully hidden. Why is it that some people reveal their family secrets while others choose to conceal them? Two studies were conducted to investigate this issue by examining the association between the likelihood of revealing family secrets and (a) the topic of the secret, (b) the function of the secret, (c) satisfaction with one's family, and (d) the quality of the relationship with the potential target of the revelation. The correspondence between the number and function of family secrets and family satisfaction was also investigated. The data suggested that the function of secrets, family satisfaction, and the relationship people had with the target of their disclosure were related to whether family members were likely to reveal their secrets. The link between secret topic and the tendency to reveal secrets was unreliable, but there was an association between family members' perceptions of topic intimacy and the likelihood of revealing secrets.
The Rates, Patterns and Reasons for Forming Heterosexual Interracial Dating Relationships among Asian Americans
Authors: Fujino Diane C.
Published: March 2007

Interracial relationships are a subject of intense popularity and controversy within the Asian American community. Asian Americans are the group with the highest interracial marriage rate in the nation, yet little is known about their dating practices. As one of the first empirical investigations of interracial dating rates among Asian Americans, this study seeks to examine the rates and patterns of interracial dating and to explain reasons for forming interracial unions. Based on a sample of 559 Asian and white students, the data suggest that studying dating patterns is an important step towards understanding and predicting intermarriage. Many similarities were found between marriage and dating patterns. However, in contrast to the out marriage literature, no sex differences were found in outdating rates and acculturation did not predict interracial dating. Propinquity was found to be the strongest predictor of interracial dating, while ethnic and sex differences in attractiveness were also important predictors.
Conflict in Intimate vs Non-Intimate Relationships: When Gender Role Stereotyping Overrides Biased Self-Other Judgment
Authors: Kluwer Esther S. , de Dreu Carsten K.W. , Buunk Bram P.
Published: March 2007

An experiment was conducted to explore whether bias in self-other judgments pertains to conflict in intimate relationships and is overruled by gender role stereotypes in non-intimate relationships between males and females. It was predicted that when the opponent was one's intimate partner, both male and female participants would rate themselves as intending more cooperative and less competitive behavior than their partner. In non-intimate relationships, females were predicted to rate their male opponent as less cooperative and more competitive, whereas males were predicted to rate their female opponent as more cooperative and less competitive. A sample of 46 male and 46 female participants rated their own intention to cooperative and competitive conflict behaviors, and that of an opposite-sex opponent, in a hypothesized conflict situation. The results supported the hypotheses. Implications for further research, as well as applications in the field of marital counseling, are discussed.
Scottish Entrepreneurial Networks in the International Context
Authors: Dodd Sarah Drakopoulou , Jack Sarah , Anderson Alistair R.
Published: March 2007

The research note reports findings of a study into the personal contact networks of Scottish entrepreneurs, and compares these to results already published for other countries (Canada, Greece, Japan, Italy, Northern Ireland, Sweden and the USA). The findings show that variable network behaviour across borders exists. Entrepreneurs from the North East of Scotland exhibit a tendency towards small, tightly-integrated networks.
Business information from databanks: the potential of online numeric databases
Authors: Foster Allan
Published: March 2007

Online numeric databases for business already earn far more revenue for their producers than better-known reference databases. This paper examines the types of business databank already available, gives advice on choosing which to use and explains their somewhat complex charging structure
Excellence in management: how to find information on management, employment and industrial relations
Authors: Ettinger Andrew
Published: March 2007

Information professionals are increasingly being asked to find information on how companies are managed. The recent interest in this approach to the market place is often difficult for them to handle due to status and attitudinal legacies. The problems involved in locating this type of information are discussed, followed by some potential answers. The emphasis is upon a mixture of professional communications skills coupled with the right mix of information sources. Sources covered include one's own contacts, company generated sources, journals and other traditional sources, and on-line services. The article does not purport to be a comprehensive definitive list but an overview of the issues involved and some of the sources to be considered.
Business histories and biographies: an introduction
Authors: Grant Deborah
Published: March 2007

Biographies are a useful, if frequently overlooked, source of business information. This article evaluates them as source materials and provides a bibliography of up-to-date sources.
Business information from publicly-funded libraries - the "Levels of Service" approach
Authors: Hyde Margery
Published: March 2007

This is a report of a recently-completed project undertaken by Hatfield Polytechnic for the British Library Research and Development Department. The purpose of the investigation was to examine the 'Levels of Service' concept when applied to business information services offered by publicly-funded libraries to business and industry. A survey of users and non-users of these services was undertaken. Consideration was given to the costing and charging mechanisms necessary to a business information service which based its work on a 'Levels of Service' approach.
Campaigns and Information Seeking
Authors: Ohr Dieter , Schrott Peter R.
Published: March 2007

This article explores citizens' political information seeking, which constitutes the `demand side' of political communication during election campaigns. In order to look into what motivates a voter to seek political information, the article formulates a model drawing on ideas from the uses and gratifications tradition, the rational choice framework and the seminal studies of the Columbia and Michigan schools of electoral research. Among the determinants of political information seeking investigated are: social expectations to be politically informed; a personal duty to stay politically informed; a desire to express one's political orientations through voting; and the entertainment aspect of politics. Regarding the dependent variable of campaign information seeking, its overall intensity and the particular sources used (e.g. newspaper, television and radio reports, party political broadcasts, bulletin boards) to gain this information are examined. The article analyses a study of a local German election, which contains a wide variety of measures suitable to test our hypotheses. The empirical analysis shows that campaign information seeking can be explained fairly well ( R2 up to ≈ 22 percent). Among the determinants, social expectations to be politically informed exerted the greatest influence in our model. The influence of the determinants on the specific information sources varies substantially across the different sources. Therefore, explaining the decision to seek particular information sources during an election campaign demands the general model be more specialized.
Theorizing the Influence of Media on World Politics
Authors: Robinson Piers
Published: March 2007

Debate over the extent to which the mass media serves elite interests or, alternatively, plays a powerful role in shaping political outcomes has been dogged by dichotomous and one-sided claims. Some attribute enormous power to the news media (the so-called CNN effect) while others claim the media `manufactures consent' for elite policy preferences. This article reviews existing theories of media-state relations, in particular the work of Daniel Hallin and Lance Bennett, and highlights theoretical and empirical shortcomings in the manufacturing consent thesis. The article then outlines two models, a model of media influence and Gadi Wolfsfeld's `political contest model', that serve to reconcile contrasting claims over the power of the news media. The model of media influence is then applied to the Vietnam War in order to reconcile contrasting claims (Hallin vs David Culbert) regarding the role of the media during this conflict. It is argued that the two models, taken together, provide a starting point for a two-way understanding of the direction of influence between media and the state that builds upon, rather than rejects, existing theoretical accounts.
The Swedish `Mediascape' in the 1980s
Authors: Roe Keith , Johnsson-Smaragdi Ulla
Published: March 2007

This article presents an overview of mass media organization and use in Sweden, and the changes currently taking place in the wake of developments in media technology such as satellites and cable TV. Levels of diffusion of home electronic appliances and patterns of use of newspapers, radio, broadcast television, Teletext, VCRs, cable TV and satellite TV are presented, as well as for personal computers. The chances of survival for some form of `public service' broadcasting are discussed, and it is concluded that its future in Sweden is uncertain.
The Evolution of the Newspaper Industry in Spain, 1939-87
Authors: de Mateo Rosario
Published: March 2007

The treatment of news as an ideological product and/or `merchandise' depends on the political and economic context in which journalism operates. This statement can be more fully elaborated if the role of the newspaper industry in Spain is examined. Taking three periods — the Franco regime (1939-75), the period of transition to democracy (1975-84), and the period between 1984 and the present day — it is apparent that the organization and operation of the newspaper industry, and its ability to control the news product, differs according to the degree of dependence on the state. This article analyses the changing relationship between the state and the newspaper industry in the Francoist and post-Francoist periods.
Videomalaise Revisited: Media Exposure and Political Alienation in West Germany
Authors: Holtz-Bacha Christina
Published: March 2007

The concept of `videomalaise' was first used in America in the 1970s to describe the dual phenomenon of a loss of trust in political institutions and individuals' increasing reliance on television as a means of obtaining political information. Could it be that the particular features of political programming caused political malaise? Using West German survey data, the research presented here tests the validity of the videomalaise thesis. No connection was found between political malaise and the contents of political programming which leads to the conclusion that the videomalaise thesis is unwarranted. Instead, political alienation and low participation are related to the use made of entertainment content in both television and the press.
The Role of News Factors in News Selection: A Theoretical Reconsideration
Authors: Staab Joachim Friedrich
Published: March 2007

An overview of American and European research on the concept of news factors in news selection shows some theoretical and methodological problems, which can be reduced to four dimensions. First, it is discussed whether an apolitical model of news selection should be supplemented by a functional perspective. Second, the epistemological question of defining `an event' and its consequences for the concept of news factors are considered. Third, the validity of the theory is examined by a closer look at the operation of independent and dependent variables in various empirical studies. Fourth, the degree of universality of the concept of news factors is analysed.
The Role of the Alternative Press in the Agenda-Building Process: Spill-over Effects and Media Opinion Leadership
Authors: Mathes Rainer , Pfetsch Barbara
Published: March 2007

This article examines the agenda-building process in relation to three `counter-issues' in West Germany, focusing on often neglected processes within the media system, the role of the alternative press and the role of media opinion leaders. Our results show that the success of counter-issues at gaining coverage in the alternative press leads to a `spill-over effect': the issue spills like a wave from the alternative into the established media. Some liberal papers support this breakthrough. They function as media opinion leaders and initiate chain reactions within the media system. The spill-over effect is not limited to the topic itself. The established liberal media also adopt its frame of reference for presenting the issues from the alternative press. A typical issue `career', consisting of a latent and preparatory phase, an upswing phase, a climax and a downswing phase, will not occur when the issue is displaced by another more important problem. The dynamic agenda-building process is characterized by various interactions between the media, public and policy agenda.