bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Invisible Flâneuse. Women and the Literature of Modernity
Authors: Wolff Janet
Published: March 2007

The literature of modernity, describing the fleeting, anonymous, ephemeral encounters of life in the metropolis, mainly accounts for the experiences of men. It ignores the concomitant separation of public and private spheres from the mid-nineteenth century, and the increasing segregation of the sexes around that separation. The influential writings of Baudelaire, Simmel, Benjamin and, more recently, Richard Sennett and Marshall Berman, by equating the modern with the public, thus fail to describe women's experience of modernity. The central figure of the flâneur in the literature of modernity can only be male. What is required, therefore, is a feminist sociology of modernity to supplement these texts.
Bauman in Germany
Authors: Joas Hans
Published: March 2007

This text of a lecture describes the importance of Zygmunt Bauman's work for sociological theory and intellectual debate in Germany. The main points are: (1) the tension between the German Sonderweg thesis and Bauman's analysis of the Holocaust; (2) the relationship between Bauman's theory of modernity/postmodernity and the writings of Elias, Horkheimer/Adorno and Beck; (3) a critique of Bauman's neglect of democratic alternatives within modernity, particularly American intellectual and political traditions; and (4) a discussion of Bauman's emphasis on pre-societal sources of morality in his postmodern ethics and the pragmatist understanding of intersubjectivity and morality.
Korea and East Asian Exceptionalism
Authors: Thornton William H.
Published: March 2007

Given its close ties with Confucianism, East Asian exceptionalism could be defined as the inversion of Max Weber's doctrine that Confucian values inhibit rationality and lead to economic stagnation. That revaluation, which has contributed to an inversion of `Orientalism' as it relates to East Asia, becomes a core premise of what may be called the Singapore model of East Asian development theory. Another premise of that model is the primacy given to economic over political development, i.e., over democracy. In opposition to this reactionary turn, and in the light of current revisionism in Japanese studies, this article follows Kim Dae Jung in positing a `Korean model' which challenges prevailing assumptions of East Asian exceptionalism. It is argued that Korea's record of democratic development over the last 15 years deserves a more affirmative response than has been allowed by some of the most vocal American Koreanists. This model, moreover, affirms Kim's belief in an organic rather than exogenous explanation of Korea's political development. It is argued that Korea, rather than Japan, offers the best available prototype for Asian political development in its `post-exceptional' phase, and that Korea's emerging political culture - in striking contrast to Singapore's - bears witness to the fact that economic development can be consistent with liberal-democratic objectives. In Kim Dae Jung's opposition politics, and now in his presidency, one finds a rare balance of political and economic priorities. In the long run the `Korean Model' could prove far more important for East Asia than anything the IMF has to offer.
On the Cunning of Imperialist Reason
Authors: Bourdieu Pierre , Wacquant Loïc
Published: March 2007

This article poses the question of the social and intellectual conditions for genuine social scientific internationalism, through an analysis of the worldwide spread of a new global vulgate resulting from the false and uncontrolled universalization of the folk concepts and preoccupations of American society and academe. The terms, themes and tropes of this new planetary doxa - `multiculturalism', `globalization', `liberals versus communitarians', `underclass', racial `minority' and identity, etc. - tend to project and impose on all societies American concerns and viewpoints, thereby transfigured into tools of analysis and yardsticks of policy fit to naturalize the peculiar historical experience of one peculiar society, tacitly instituted as a model for humanity. The article suggests how the logic of the international circulation of ideas, the transformations of the academic field, the strategies of foundations and publishers, and of local collaborators in global conceptual `import-export' converge to foster a particularly powerful and pernicious form of cultural imperialism of which academics are at once perpetrators and victims.
Gender, Habitus and the Field
Authors: McNay Lois
Published: March 2007

This article argues that the failure of certain theories of reflexive identity transformation to consider more fully issues connected to gender identity leads to an overemphasis on the expressive possibilities thrown up by processes of detraditionalization. By ignoring certain deeply embedded aspects, some theories of reflexive change reproduce the `disembodied and disembedded' subject of masculinist thought. The issues of disembodiment and disembeddedness are explored through a study of the work of Pierre Bourdieu on `habitus' and the `field'. The idea of habitus yields a more dynamic theory of embodiment central to a feminist understanding of gender identity as a durable but not immutable norm. The idea of the `field' provides a more differentiated analysis of the social context in which the reflexive transformation of gender identity unfolds. This in turn offers a way of thinking of possible transformations within gender identity as uneven and non-synchronous phenomena.
A Team Approach to Probation
Authors: Lanigan M.G.
Published: March 2007

A suggested model for Probation Order practice, using a 'two tier' system, enhancing client choice and access to resources.
Reparation and the Probation Service
Authors: Stoneman Digby
Published: March 2007

An argument for the extension of existing Probation law and practice towards effective reparation, particularly as an alternative to unrealistic fines, based on current developments in Devon.
Divorce Court Welfare Work-Present and Future?
Authors: James Adrian , Wilson Kate
Published: March 2007

Should the Probation Service continue or increase it's stake in Civil Work? A recent survey of 10 per cent of all probation officers shows how the present growth in divorce work is being absorbed, and prompts some important questions about our future effectiveness in a stressful era of practice.
"Sentenced To Social Work?': The Revival of Choice
Authors: Coker John
Published: March 2007

Six years after the publication of a controversial proposal for rationalising probation practice, one of the authors reviews its fortunes and finds it alive and well in modified and refined forms throughout the Service.
Improving Staff Supervision
Authors: Davies Mike
Published: March 2007

'Supervision' can be a sterile and unrewarding exercise, confusing different aims of support, consultation and quality control. The author suggests that different objectives require a variety of approaches which can be more stimulating and honest.
Diversion in Practice: Northants Juvenile Liaison Bureaux
Authors: Hinks Nigel , Smith Roger
Published: March 2007

Northamptonshire's progressive work in juvenile justice has attracted national attention, and some misunderstanding. The authors describe their bureau approach to cautioning, seeking to avoid precipitous court appearances without falling into the traps of injustice, net-widening, excessive executive power or collusion with the police.
Detention in Hospital
Authors: Douglas Paul
Published: March 2007

Having spent a period on secondment as a Regional Security Unit social worker, the author reflects on the challenge of working in a multi-disciplinary team, and the problems of resettlement for difficult-to-place, mentally disordered offenders.
Reading Preferences of Pupils with Visual Impairment
Authors: Arter Chris , Layton Lyn
Published: March 2007

Braille readers were invited to submit their views on issues relating to their reading habits. Interpretation of the resulting data provides valuable Insights into the materials and services which blind pupils currently use; and their responses give pointers to the ways in which resources could be developed so that these children and young people have better access to the literature enjoyed by their sighted peers.
Working the blind side, or one visually impaired physiotherapist's evaluation of the patient
Authors: Price Peter
Published: March 2007

An account is given of how a blind physiotherapist has learned to make use of his non-visual senses for picking up information about his patients as he meets them for the first time. It is argued that the experienced practitioner can supplement the purely factual data concerning the patient's physical condition by taking notice of subtle clues conveyed unconsciously about attitudes, feelings and personality characteristics as revealed through touch, smell and hearing.
The 'new' deaf-blind?
Authors: Best Christine
Published: March 2007

A national survey of children described as deaf-blind was carried out in 1982/3 to ascertain numbers, cause of handicaps, communication and services. The results give details of 288 children, some of whom were handicapped by Rubella, although the majority suffered from multiple sensory defects caused by other conditions. It is concluded that there is a clear need for further staff training, an increased input from services for the visually handicapped and development of suitable assessment tools.
Supporting visually handicapped children in ordinary schools
Authors: Benton Sheila A.
Published: March 2007

Issues in the integration of the visually handicapped are raised and the role of the support schools and the specialist teacher are discussed. Detailed checklists are given of factors requiring consideration to ensure the successful placement of visually handicapped children in mainstream schools.
Modern technology and the future training of specialist workers with the visually impaired
Authors: Greenhalgh Robert
Published: March 2007

This article is based on a talk given at the SRAB workshop on 'Technological Advance and Visual Impairment', held at Dartington Hall, Devon in November 1985. The article suggests that to enable visually impaired people to meet the challenges of advancing technology, a new kind of worker will be required. What is equally important is that the present training of specialist workers with the visually impaired should be extended and developed so as to produce a rehabilitation worker who would acquire, in an integrated form, the skills of both the technical and the mobility officer.
Perceiving, learning and remembering braille
Authors: Newman Slater E. , Hall Anthony D.
Published: March 2007

This paper describes a number of experiments done during the past nine years on the perception and the immediate memory of braille symbols and on learning the names for such symbols. Some possible implications of the results for the design of braille instructional programmes and for further research are discussed.
Tape recorded textbooks for the blind: a survey of producers and users
Authors: Aldrich Frances K. , Parkin Alan J.
Published: March 2007

This article explores potential areas for improving the production and use of tape recorded textbooks. The first section reports a survey of volunteer narrators. It shows that they sometimes record books beyond their expertise and would welcome more guidance, feedback and support in their task. Implications for future policy are discussed. The second section examines the dafficultaes encountered by visually handicapped students who study from tape recorded text books. It establishes the students' own priorities for improvement and some possible means of achieving these are considered.
Hands On: Haptic Exploratory Strategies in Children who are Blind with Multiple Disabilities
Authors: McLinden Mike
Published: March 2007

This Paper reviews a selection of literature in relation to an ongoing research study concerned with the identification and analysis of haptic exploratory strategies in children who are blind with multiple disabilities functioning at an early stage of development. The study is concerned with how a sample of children in the population use their hands to assess particular properties of objects and considers possible intervention approaches which may offer more efficient strategies for processing tactile information. The Paper concludes with a summary of anticipated outcomes of the research study.
Conflict and Dialectics: Perceptions of Dialectical Contradictions in Marital Conflict
Authors: Erbert Larry A.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the perceived importance of six basic dialectical contradictions to conflict episodes for 25 marital couples. Using a revised version of the Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT) and questionnaire data, marital couples were asked to recall important conflict episodes, coded for issue type, over a 1-year period. Following in-depth questions about the conflicts, a questionnaire was administered that asked participants to rate 6 basic dialectical contradictions according to their importance for each conflict episode. A second questionnaire was also administered that asked participants to determine whether conflicts were dialectical (antagonistic and non-antagonistic) and/or non-dialectical, relative to each conflict episode. Results reveal that the dialectical contradictions of autonomy-connection and openness-closed-ness were perceived as more important than the other contradictions. Two other contradictions (integration-separation, predictability-novelty) were perceived as important for particular conflict issue types. Results from the second questionnaire revealed that 20% of conflicts were perceived as antagonistic, 16% as non-antagonistic, and 63% as non-dialectical.
Self-Referent Motivation and the Intrinsic Quality of Friendship
Authors: Wright Paul H.
Published: March 2007

Some observations suggest that friendships are developed and maintained because they involve some form of reinforcement or interpersonal reward. Other observations suggest that friendship has an intrinsic, end-in-itself quality making it unnecessary, if not contradictory, to assume that friendships must be rewarding to be formed and sustained. The present paper outlines a model of friendship based on a conception of self and self-referent motivation. The model represents, in part, an effort to reconcile the observed rewardingness of friendship with its intrinsic, end-in-itself character.
Social Sensitivity among Young Children
Authors: Garrard G.G. , Kyriacou C.
Published: March 2007

Forty-six eight-year-old children were given five tests of social sensitivity which were used to derive, for each child, a composite score of social sensitivity. The mother of each child was interviewed, and her responses to 20 questions concerning her child-rearing practices and relationship with her child yielded a measure of the mother's language code (restricted versus elaborated) and mode of control (personal versus positional). The results indicated that the child's degree of social sensitivity was positively and significantly associated with both the mother's use of elaborated language code (r = 0.36, P< 0.05) and a personal mode of control (r = 0.25, P< 0.05). However, partial correlations indicated that the primary association was between social sensitivity and language code (partial r = 0.27, P< 0.05) and that mode of control may be associated by confounding or through some other mechanism of influence (partial r = 0.01, n.s.).
Heated Argument and Adolescent Development
Authors: Peterson Candida , Peterson James , Skevington Sally
Published: March 2007

This study explored some correlates of parent-child conflict in healthy, nonclinical families. The subjects were 100 Australian adolescents, fifty male and fifty female, who were divided into concrete-operational and formal/transitional groups on the basis of their performance on two Piagetian problem-solving tasks. Their habitual modes of dealing with disagreements with their parents were scored on a continuum from conflict evasion through calm and heated discussion to fighting. The extent of opinion divergence between parent and child, and the benefits that adolescents gained from the parent-child relationship were also assessed. Results showed significantly more heated levels of debate by formal than concrete-operational subjects. Opinion divergence was not significantly related to cognitive level but was inversely related to the satisfaction that adolescents derived from involvement with their parents. On the other hand, satisfaction bore no significant relationship to the calmness versus heatedness of a family's habitual conflict-resolution strategies. The implications of these findings for an understanding both of the adolescent transition from concrete to formal operations, and of the functions served by conflict in a healthy family are considered.
Vivid Memories of Vivid Loves Gone by
Authors: Harvey John H. , Flanary Rodney , Morgan Melinda
Published: March 2007

A study was conducted to investigate vivid memories of a target past close relationship and the effects on vivid memories of the subject's sex, single/divorced status and level of mood depression. It was expected that females, divorced persons and persons high in mood depression wotild report relatively more vivid recall. Thirty-nine subjects between twenty-five and forty-five years of age were administered the Beck Depression Inventory and then a questionnaire pertaining to their recall of a target past close relationship and events associated with that relationship. The results supported the predictions that females and persons high in depression would report relatively vivid memories of a target past relationship; divorced persons did not differ from single persons in such reported recall. The contents of reported memories could be categorized into memories associated with beginnings, special occasions and endings; for example, a common beginning memory pertained to the first sexual encounter. Overall, the work is discussed in relation to previous research on `flashbulb' and autobiographical memory. The data generally are interpreted as revealing meaningful reflections on lost loves that may or may not contain a high degree of accuracy but that serve as benchmarks in people's constructions of their lives.
The Social Dimensions of Gift Behaviour
Authors: Cheal David J.
Published: March 2007

This article describes in general terms the social dimensions of valuable interpersonal gifts at Christmas, and draws certain comparisons with giving to community organizations. The data are drawn from a random sample survey of 573 adult respondents in Winnipeg, Canada. Three classes of factors that structure gift behaviour are identified. They are: interaction processes within personal relationships; economic resources; and social statuses. The relational significance of gifts is particularly evident where one gift is matched by a return gift in a process of gift exchange or reciprocity. It is shown that reciprocal giving is a prominent feature of valuable Christmas gift transactions. As expected, personal income, household income, and the proportion of household income spent on housing all have some effect on the level of gift expenditure. However, no evidence is found to support the hypothesis from the functionalist theory of the extended family that valuable Christmas gifts are used for the intergenerational redistribution of wealth. It is also noted that there is little evidence to support Veblen's views of gift behaviour as conspicuous consumption. Social statuses, in the form of kinship and gender positions, affect the directions in which gifts flow. The majority of valuable Christmas gifts are given to primary kin, with transactions between husbands and wives being the most important. It is found that gift transfers between the sexes are asymmetric, with men giving more and women receiving more.
Marital Happiness and Interaction in Everyday Surroundings: A Time-Sample Diary Approach for Couples
Authors: Kirchier Erich
Published: March 2007

This study investigates spouses' everyday life experiences and relates them to marital happiness. Twenty-one couples, either married or living together, filled out a diary six times a day during a period of 4 weeks. It was hypothesized that marital happiness is associated with frequency, positivity and effectiveness of spousal interaction. Moreover, happiness should be inversely related to frequency of conflict and positively to accuracy of perception of the other's motivational state. In general, these assumptions were supported by the data.
Changes in Parental Adjustment and Communication During the Leaving-Home Transition
Authors: Anderson Stephen A.
Published: March 2007

Self-report measures of personal adjustment, parent-adolescent communication and marital communication were administered, before and after college entrance, to a group of parents whose adolescents left home to reside at college and to a group of parents whose adolescents commuted to college from home. The family-stress model's hypothesis of increasing distress and changing communication patterns for parents of departing adolescents relative to parents of commuting adolescents was partially supported. Stress-model hypotheses concerning the birth position of the adolescent and the pile-up of other stressors during the launching/college entrance transition also were partially supported. Significant findings with regard to adolescents' gender suggested the need for refinements in existing family-stress models.
Are Wives' Memories for Events in Relationships more Vivid than their Husbands' Memories?
Authors: Ross Michael , Holmberg Diane
Published: March 2007

Gender differences in socialization and marital roles may lead wives to attend more closely to relationship interactions than their spouses do; wives may also assign greater importance to such interactions and deliberate more about them. As a result, wives would possess more vivid memories than their husbands have for events in their relationship. Spouses tape-recorded descriptions of their first date together, a shared vacation and an argument between the two of them. They subsequently assessed the clarity of their own recall of each event. Women reported more vivid memories than did their husbands. Women also attributed greater personal importance to the events, reported reminiscing about them more often and expressed more affect in their event descriptions than did their husbands. The best predictors of spouses' clarity ratings were frequency of reminiscing about the event and, for the argument, outcome of the dispute. After reading typed transcripts of spouses' descriptions of each event, observers completed the same clarity of recall questions as the couples. Observers judged the women's recall to be more vivid. The best predictor of observers' clarity judgments was the number of affective statements in a description. The results were discussed in terms of their implications for social memory and marital relations.
Commitment Processes in Close Relationships: An Interdependence Analysis
Authors: Rusbult Caryl E. , Buunk Bram P.
Published: March 2007

This article employs interdependence theory as a means of understanding how and why some relationships survive difficult times whereas other promising relationships end. Interdependence theory makes important distinctions between satisfaction and dependence. These distinctions are extended in the investment model, a theory of the process by which individuals become dependent on and committed to their relationships. The investment model suggests that dependence increases not only as a consequence of increasing satisfaction, but also because available alternatives are perceived to be poor and numerous important resources are invested in a relationship. Subjective commitment summarizes the nature of an individual's dependence on a partner, and represents broad, long-term orientation toward a relationship. Strong commitment not only makes individuals more likely to remain with their partners, but also promotes a variety of relationship maintenance behaviors such as adaptive social comparison and perceived relationship superiority, derogation of attractive and threatening alternatives, effective management of jealousy and extrarelationship involvements, willingness to sacrifice for the good of a relationship, and tendencies to accommodate rather than retaliate when a partner behaves poorly.
Levels of Perspectives and the Perception of Intimacy in Cross-Sex Friendships: A Balance Theory Explanation of Shared Perceptual Reality
Authors: Monsour Michael , Betty Sam , Kurzweil Nancy
Published: March 2007

Higher levels of interpersonal perception in personal relationships have been relatively ignored over the last decade, as well as the role played by those perceptions in the creation of a relationship. Through utilization of Balance Theory and a variation of Laing's Interpersonal Perception Method, this study investigated multiple levels of interpersonal perception in cross-sex friendships, and how those perceptions help create a shared perceptual reality among cross-sex friends. One hundred and three pairs of cross-sex friends completed a survey examining direct perspectives (DPs), metaperspectives (MPs), and metametaperspectives (MMPs), on various manifestations of intimacy, the importance of the friendship and the definition of the relationship. As predicted by Balance Theory, there was significant agreement, understanding and realization of understanding between cross-sex friends concerning intimacy in the relationship and the importance of friendship. Results also reveal that perceived agreement and perceived understanding in those friendships was significantly greater than actual agreement and understanding. In addition, there was strong evidence that individuals in cross-sex friendships use their own attitudes as a basis for predicting the attitudes of their partner - that they create their partner's perspectives so that they more closely agree with their own (i.e. they assimilate). These results question the acceptability of higher-order perspectives as fully validated constructs, and suggest that the location of explanatory force in POX systems may reside in individual level variables - as opposed to dyadic level measurements.
The Influence of the Social Network's `Second-Order Zone' on Social Support Mobilization: A Case Example
Authors: Uehara Edwina S.
Published: March 2007

Although social support researchers have long acknowledged the utility of social network analysis, few have shown the scope of analysis that is most useful to understanding how our social ties `buffer' us from adversity and `channel' us to other resources in times of trouble or transition. For the most part, researchers have limited their analyses to what Barnes (1969) and Mitchell (1969) call the `primary zone' (the links among and between the support receiver and those persons directly linked to him or her). In this article, it is suggested that expanding analysis to the network's `second-order zone' (the primary zone plus the ties between persons tied directly to support providers, but not to the receiver) enhances understanding of social support outcomes. To explore this thesis, the article examines social support and social network data from a field study of social support mobilization among low-income African-American women household heads in Chicago. I first attempt to explain observed social support outcomes by reference to primary zone variables (density and percentage of ties of `high' versus `low' intensity). These are found to be only partially successful. Next, second-order zone variables are added to the analysis. This improves our ability to explain outcomes. It is suggested future social support analysis should encompass the second-order zone.
A Longitudinal Examination of Links between Mother-Child Attachment and Children's Friendships in Early Childhood
Authors: Kerns Kathryn A.
Published: March 2007

A longitudinal study examined associations between child-mother attachment security and children's friendships at two points in early childhood. Comparisons of secure-secure and secure-insecure friend pairs revealed that the interactions of secure-secure pairs were more positive at age 4 and more positive and co-ordinated at age 5.
Fatal Attractions: Affection and Disaffection in Intimate Relationships
Authors: Felmlee Diane H.
Published: March 2007

This research investigates the extent to which a quality that initially attracts one person to another in a romantic relationship is a positive dimension of the same overall characteristic that leads to subsequent disaffection - i.e. a `fatal attraction'. Three hundred and one college women and men were asked to think of the most recent romantic relationship they had that ended, and to list qualities that first attracted them to that partner and characteristics they later `least liked' about that partner. Results indicate that there were approximately 88 instances (in 29.2% of the breakups) of what appeared to be `fatal attractions'. Certain types of characteristics, such as exciting and different, were also more likely to be `fatal' than others. Additional findings point to sex differences in attracting qualities, with, for example, males reporting significantly more qualities than females in the Physical category. Implications of the results for dialectical relationship theories are discussed.
Disciplines at Parallel Play
Authors: Acitelli Linda K.
Published: March 2007

Comparing relationship researchers to children engaging in parallel play, the author questions the popular impression that the field of personal relationships is interdisciplinary. The term `interdisciplinary' is contrasted with `multidisciplinary'. Being interdisciplinary requires researchers to integrate different perspectives on the same problem from more than one discipline. Being multidisciplinary requires only that researchers representing different disciplines be brought together and work on separate problems relevant to their own disciplines. Scanning a sample of the relationship literature, the author concludes that the field is more multidisciplinary than interdisciplinary. It is a field that approaches similar problems from different perspectives, but rarely integrates disparate work into a cohesive whole. With concrete suggestions, the author encourages relationship researchers from different disciplines to foster closer working relationships with one another in order to integrate their perspectives.
The Factorial Structure of the Sibling Relationship Inventory (SRI) in American and Dutch Samples
Authors: Boer Frits , Westenberg P. Michiel , McHale Susan M. , Updegraff Kimberly A. , Stocker Clare M.
Published: March 2007

The psychometric properties of the Sibling Relationship Inventory (SRI; Stocker & McHale, 1992) were examined in two independent samples. One consisted of 206 American children aged 6-12 years, the other of 452 Dutch children aged 5-12 years. A factorial structure with three dimensions (affection, hostility, rivalry) was demonstrated. The internal consistency of the SRI scales proved adequate, even for relatively young children, aged 6-9 years. The test-retest reliability was satisfactory. Findings regarding the convergent and discriminant validity of the SRI were promising, although they need to be extended.
A Taxonomy of Relationships
Authors: Weiss Robert S.
Published: March 2007

This paper presents a theory of the determinants of relationships that leads to a taxonomy of relationships. In this taxonomy one class of relationships, attachments,- includes relationships that are maintained by the incorporation of an image of the other into an emotional system associated with feelings of security. A second class of relationships, affiliations, includes relationships that are maintained by a sense of alliance based on common interest. It is proposed that the theory underlying the taxonomy explains several of the ways in which relationships differ.
Context and Sex Effects on Personal Work Networks
Authors: Stackman Richard W. , Pinder Craig C.
Published: March 2007

This study tests hypotheses concerning the similarities and differences between men's and women's instrumental, expressive and overlapping work networks. The study's sample was drawn from three organizations representing distinctly different industries. As expected, women and men differed in several structural characteristics of their expressive networks but, with the exception of homophily (i.e. the number of same-sex ties), their instrumental work networks were essentially similar. In addition, there were systematic differences among the work networks of participants employed by the three organizations. The results support the general proposition that both structural differences and sex influence the patterns of people's networks in the workplace, but that a distinction must be made between individual's instrumental and expressive networks. Implications for future research, through the integration of our findings with other researchers, are addressed in the discussion.
Patterns of Attachment and Responses to Accommodative Dilemmas among Interethnic/Interracial Couples
Authors: Gaines Stanley O. , Granrose Cherlyn S. , Rios Diana I. , Garcia Ben F. , Youn Mary S. Page , Farris Karlyn R. , Bledsoe Katrina L.
Published: March 2007

In the present study, partners from 103 heterosexual inter-ethnic/interracial couples (103 men and 103 women) completed categorical measures of attachment style and continuous measures of responses to accommodative dilemmas. Consistent with hypotheses, there was a significantly higher proportion of secure over insecure individuals among both sexes. Further, the difference between secure and insecure individuals’ accommodative tendencies was greater for destructive responses than for constructive responses (significant among men, marginally significant among women). However, contrary to hypotheses, attachment style per sewas not a significant predictor of accommodation responses among either sex. Implications for the study of interethnic/interracial romantic relationships are discussed.
Personality, Interpersonal Context and Depression in Couples
Authors: Whiffen Valerie E. , Aube Jennifer A.
Published: March 2007

The present study had two goals: first, to determine whether neediness and self-criticism are associated with distinct marital environments and, second, to evaluate two pathways by which marital environments may be related to personality and depressive symptoms. Personality vulnerability may be more strongly associated with depressive symptoms when the spouse’s behavior matches the vulnerability (i.e. a needy person’s spouse is emotionally distant). Alternatively, spousal behavior may elevate levels of neediness or self-criticism, which then increases depressive symptoms. We tested these alternatives in a sample of 64 couples recruited from the community. Among men, neediness was associated with depressive symptoms only if the marriage lacked intimacy. Self-criticism in both sexes and neediness in women were linked to the interpersonal context in a different manner: self-critics tended to have partners who have many complaints about them, and needy women tended to have partners who report low levels of marital intimacy. These results demonstrate that, to some extent, an individual’s self-criticism or neediness may be a realistic response to a distressing inter-personal context.
Loneliness, Social Support, and Perceived Relationships with God
Authors: Kirkpatrick Lee A. , Shillito Daniel J. , Kellas Susan L.
Published: March 2007

In this study we examined the hypothesis that religious beliefs, and particularly beliefs about having a relationship with God, contribute to the prediction of (lower levels of) loneliness above and beyond the prediction afforded by perceived available (interpersonal) social support. Significant religion x sex interactions in the prediction of loneliness were observed for several religion variables. Follow-up analyses suggested that our hypothesis was supported with respect to women, but that, for men, religiousness was either unrelated to or positively related to loneliness.
Adoption of E-Commerce by SMEs in the UK
Authors: Daniel Elizabeth , Wilson Hugh , Myers Andrew
Published: March 2007

Research has shown that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are rapidly adopting the Internet and e-commerce. However, there is little systematic research into how such companies are adopting this new technology. This study addresses the research gap by seeking to understand how SMEs in the UK are adopting e-commerce, through an exploration of their level and sequence of adoption. The research, which was carried out by means of a mailed questionnaire, found four distinct clusters of adoption. These formed a set of sequential stages, through which firms appear to pass during the adoption of e-commerce. The firms in the first cluster are currently developing their first e-commerce services; the second adoption cluster are using e-mail to communicate with customers, suppliers and employees. Those at the third level of adoption have information-based websites operating and are developing on-line ordering facilities. The most advanced adopters have on-line ordering in operation and are developing online payment capabilities. The association of the adoption stage currently reached by a firm with contextual variables both at an industry and an organizational level is investigated and discussed.
Seven Aspects of Strategy Formation
Authors: Fletcher Margaret , Harris Simon
Published: March 2007

It has been widely argued that the planning approach that dominates entrepreneurial training does not represent either actual or good strategic decision-making. Studies examining the impact of planning on performance have had inconclusive results and have been subject to considerable methodological problems. This study defines planning and emergent approaches within seven constituent aspects of strategy formation, and then explores their association with growth. Data was gathered from participants of a Graduate Enterprise business start-up programme, seven to twelve years after completing their training. The data was analysed to assess the association between growth and low growth firms and their use of 'planning' or 'emergent' alternatives within the seven aspects. Some planning approaches were associated with growth. Using a written business plan, however, was not. Future research needs to identify the constituent aspects of planning that are of value, which entrepreneurship education programmes can then reflect.
"What's the market for ball bearings in Nigeria?" A survey of market information supplied by company libraries/information units
Authors: Tickner Catharine , Haythornthwaite Jo
Published: March 2007

Surveys market information supplied by company libraries. Covers the level of demand, sources used to supply information, and gaps in provision.
Media Credibility — Experience or Image?
Authors: Schweiger Wolfgang
Published: March 2007

In Germany the World Wide Web is at an earlier stage of development than in the US. In the spring of 1999 about 17.7 percent of the German population used the web or other online services. The article looks at how the 10 percent of online users and 90 percent of non-users rate the credibility of the new medium, and how their attitudes, stemming from different sources — own experience vs media coverage and personal narrations — differ. A survey of 540 respondents carried out in summer 1998 found that German users and non-users rate the credibility of the web as remarkably similar to television and newspapers. Nevertheless, there are some differences. The article shows that the credibility of the web, as one factor of diffusion, is seen as quite positive, but television and newspapers are still in front in Germany.
Images of Cold War: Effects of Press Opinion on Public Opinion in the Netherlands
Authors: Kleinnijenhuis Jan
Published: March 2007

Research from the Netherlands suggests a relationship between the newspapers one reads and the opinions one holds on international affairs. After several alternative explanations are assessed, two remain as most plausible: that images of the world conveyed by newspapers affect readers' views; or that readers' basic political attitudes account for both their newspaper choices and their images of the world. When translated into models for testing by LISREL, some support is given to the hypothesis of newspaper impact on readers' opinions by a content analysis of cold war images in a number of Dutch newspapers, combined with survey data on their readers' basic political attitudes and cold war opinions.
To Be or Not to Be in the TV World: Ontological and Methodological Aspects of Content Analysis
Authors: von Feilitzen Cecilia , Strand Hans , Nowak Kjell , Andrén Gunnar
Published: March 2007

This article is concerned with certain ambiguities inherent in the way much research on television content conceptualizes the `world' of television. A number of distinctions are suggested, which should be considered in conceptualizing the world of cultural or symbolic systems, and we show the methodological consequences of these distinctions for content analysis. Our arguments and conclusions are supported by data from an ongoing research programme, Ideas and Images on Television, but the conceptual and methodological considerations also apply to inquiries into cultural systems other than television.
West European Perspectives on Political Communication: Structures and Dynamics
Authors: Blumler Jay G. , Dayan Daniel , Wolton Dominique
Published: March 2007

The article is shaped by two objectives. First, it reviews approaches and contributions by European scholars with records of continuous and cumulative research into political communication, identifying eight common features of their work. A core notion is that of a `political communication system', including its structure (focusing especially on relations between politicians and journalists), the role of media power, the external influences to which it responds in different societies and how it changes. Audience studies are pursued and normative assessments developed within this perspective as well. Second, a few priority areas for future attention are proposed that could lead to a philosophically grounded critical (but non-Marxist) theory of political communication.
`Solidarity' and Media Reform in Poland
Authors: Jakubowicz Karol
Published: March 2007

The field of social communication is central to Solidarity's efforts to transform Poland into a self-governing commonwealth. It approaches democratic communication as communicative democracy, i.e. as a means of achieving democracy in a wider sense, and as empowerment, with right to communicate as a way of satisfying both a fundamental human need and a fundamental social need, a prerequisite of democracy. Solidarity has always gone to great lengths to develop and maintain its own above- and underground media and as long as it was beleaguered and suffered from a `bunker mentality', it seemed to favour a form of `representative communicative democracy' for its own press, with elected officers in control or in a position to intervene, if necessary. For its own purposes, therefore, it was content with less than full communicative democracy. This could be taken as an augury for Solidarity's approach to the public media once it came into power.
Contextualization in Newspaper Articles: A Sequential Analysis of Actors' Quotes on the PATCO Affair
Authors: van den Berg Harry , Smit Johannes H. , van der Veer Kees
Published: March 2007

Newspaper articles on social conflict are mainly constructed from direct and indirect quotes from actors involved in the conflict, combined with statements made by the editor. The selection of these statements represents a specific range of different viewpoints concerning some `newsworthy' event. But the preferred meaning of a news article as a whole depends not only on the selection but also on the presentation of these selected statements in the text. The pivot of journalistic montage practice may therefore be defined as the way in which these elements are combined in sequential patterns within a specific news discourse. This article explores the possibilities of analysing this practice of contextualization by means of a sequential analysis of different statements on a particular news topic, within the newspaper articles. The results of the sequential analysis show that the way in which viewpoints are presented strongly depends on the editorial definition of the news event. We conclude with a methodological discussion on the perspectives of this method of sequential analysis for the analysis of news discourse.
The Media and the Transformation of the Public Sphere
Authors: Verstraeten Hans
Published: March 2007

This article brings a synthesis of the recent literature about the role the media have played in the transformation of the public sphere. Departing from this literature, a general research framework for a critical political economy of the public sphere is presented. The central thesis of this approach is that a political economy of the public sphere should not be restricted to an analysis of its institutional configuration and the actual labour process, but must extend its radius of action from the production of media messages to a political economy of reception and its signification.
The French Radio Landscape
Authors: Machill Marcel
Published: March 2007

The aim of this article is to present the characteristics of French radio resulting from the processes in the development of radio policy. These processes are in part diametrically opposed to one another. On the one hand, the radio landscape is currently characterized by strong movements towards concentration and commercialization. They have been caused, interalia, by a relaxation of the concentration limits which were provided for in the 1994 radio law. On the other hand, protectionist radio policy attempts, by means of the introduction of quotas for chansons— established in the same law — to compensate for what France regards as the `harmful' consequences of these developments. In the meantime the media inspectorate Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) has developed its own points of view which do not always tally with those of radio policy.
True Lies
Authors: Allen Jessica , Livingstone Sonia , Reiner Robert
Published: March 2007

Academic and public attention has long focused on media images of crime. Crime media create and reproduce cultural narratives about social and moral order, and the putative links between such images and their effects on society have been much debated. While acknowledging the complexity of the relationship between media representations and social influence, this article argues that the assumptions concerning actual trends in crime media which underlie and inform these debates have received little empirical investigation. Particularly neglected has been research on the cinema, and little research has adopted the historical perspective necessary to make claims regarding long-term trends. As part of a larger project, we report a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of popular crime films in Britain released between 1945 and 1991. Despite common beliefs, we find no overall increase in the number of crime films. However, the nature of representations of crime and social order shows a variety of significant shifts over this time. In brief, the nature of crime changes, the violence and threat of crime increases, as does the portrayed suffering of victims. To combat this, police officers increasingly assume the hero role and they increasingly use vigilante, even corrupt, tactics to achieve their goals, although their chances of bringing criminals to justice actually decrease. Such findings lead us to propose a three-stage periodization for crime films.