Alligators in the sewer,dragons in the well and Freud in the toilet

One of the most popular of all urban legends is the story about alligators in the sewers of New York (abbreviated AIS story). While previous investigations have been concerned with the historical origins of AIS stories, this article is concerned with developing a psychoanalytic explanation which accounts for the continuing popularity of such stories. In developing such an explanation, this article makes use of the association between‘penis’ and ‘feces,’ an association that is very likely among the earliest associations formed in the human mind. Given the penis = feces association, and given Freud's suggestion that the young child will typically take defecation as a model for castration, it is argued that AIS stories are ultimately concerned with castration. The fact that ‘castration’ has different connotations for males and females helps to explain some of the details invariably incorporated into an AIS story. Finally, the argument developed in connection with modern AIS stories is used to provide a new perspective upon traditional English stories about dragons.     

Constructions of Europe in the run-up to the EU referendum in the UK

The paper reports findings from a focus group study on representations of Europe, conducted in England in the run-up to the UK EU referendum. Four themes were identified in the analysis: ‘cultured Europe’; ‘little Europe/global Britain’; ‘Europe as a cultural threat’; and ‘Eastern vs. Western Europe’. Analysis of these themes showed that Europe was an ambivalent identity category that could encapsulate contrary ideas such as cosmopolitanism/isolationism and cultural enrichment/undermining. Europe’s relation to Britain was also ambivalent in the data. Britain could be positioned as superior to Europe, sometimes being seen as closer to the ‘European essence’ in the context of the EU’s eastward expansion, which was seen as diluting European culture. But, Britain could also be seen as backward compared to the idea of cosmopolitan continental Europe. These different lines of argument and their ideological underpinnings are explored in the discussion of the findings.     

Reviewing the Relationship Between the Voluntary Sector and the State in Britain in the 1990s

There have been three major analytical reviews that have examined the voluntary–statutory relationship during the 1990s, one undertaken by government in 1990 and the other two independently in 1993 and 1996. This article suggests that an historical understanding of this relationship (especially in terms of its sociopolitical dimensions) is crucial, but was missing from the 1990 review and misrepresented by the 1993 review. The 1996 document has been subjected to harsh criticism, but it was arguably sounder in its understanding of this fundamental issue. The national compact between representatives of the voluntary sector and the state, launched at the end of 1998, has built upon the arguments put forward in 1996. However, the paper suggests that given the vexed history of partnership between the sectors and the extent to which the statutory sector has become the dominant partner at the end of the 20th century, it would be premature to be overly optimistic. The paper examines three major shifts in the voluntary–statutory relationship during the 20th century, before reviewing the 1990s' documents in more detail.     

Aesthetes in the marketplace: Collectors in the gun business

Marketplaces can provide settings for the appreciation of beauty and the creation of community. The author examines how gun collectors who buy and sell guns continue to see themselves as aesthetes rather than dealers. Gun collector-dealers turn economic encounters at commercial gun shows into occasions for teaching others the symbolic uses of guns — as artifacts, curios, andobjets d'art. Economic relations can produce aesthetic value even when the objects exchanged are conventionally defined as symbols of violence and not beauty.     

Interethnic marriages in the USSR in the mid-1930s

"The present article will attempt to determine the extent of interethnic marriage in the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s, utilizing materials from the Central Statistical Administration of the USSR." Interethnic marriage is analyzed according to Union Republic, rural or urban area, and socioeconomic and cultural development.     

Settlement evolution in the Arena society in the urban field

Post-modern spatial relationships at the outer edge of Toronto's urban field are interpreted within the context of the Arena Society and urban field concepts. Custom census tabulations of commuting and migration show that although there are strong migration ties between Toronto and communities in the south Georgian Bay study area, most work trips are short and link settlements to the next place up the local settlement hierarchy. Migration from rural townships to urban areas, and between communities in the study area is also significant. A case study of Thornbury demonstrates that it is an ‘Amenity/Affinity/Niche’ community as suggested by the two concepts. It has developed a strong retail/service sector in response to the post-modern conditions facilitating economic links to Toronto and the ‘Golden Horseshoe’, but has also attracted tourists and residents because of its accessible location and appealing amenity characteristics. Local diversification as suggested by the Arena Society concept has combined with the economic interaction proposed by the urban field literature to stimulate settlements in the study area. The Arena Society and urban field concepts are mirror images and should be employed together when interpreting post-industrial settlement evolution.     

Resiliency in the Aftermath of Repetitious Violence in the Workplace

Summary

The definition and occurrence of traumatic events is expanding and impacts everyone's lives in some way. The degree to which a violent event impacts an individual, a group, a workplace or the community varies. Unfortunately violent events are all too common. Businesses are realizing the significance of violence as a workplace problem and the varying degrees of trauma that has a devastating impact on employee retention, workplace functionality and personal well-being. The events can include industrial or natural disasters; worksite accidents; organizational changes; suicide; homicides; robbery; assault; threats of violence and even terrorism. How prepared an organization is varies and may be correlated with how resilient individuals and the entire workplace are after workplace violence/trauma. This article focuses on what workplace violence and trauma includes, the effects of repeat events, how resilient people are while trying to prevent additional events if possible in the workplace.     

Economic socialization in the kibbutz and the town in Israel

This study compared the economic understanding and attitudes of children living in the city with those living in a kibbutz, collective villages where an extreme socialist lifestyle is practised and preached. The differences in the answer patterns of the urban and kibbutz children were not very large, but the pattern was clear, and in keeping with the dominant ideology in both places: socialist in the kibbutz, middle-class capitalist in the city.     

Through the lens of the camera in remote mining sites in the Peruvian highlands

A freelance photography assignment took me to the remote mountain highlands of Peru in 1999, where, in addition to covering the brutal working conditions to which children and their parents are exposed in the mines, I learned about the myths and legends that permeate the lives of the miners. In sharing the myths and the lives of the inhabitants of the place, however, I must account for my role as an observer with a camera. In this paper I aim to provide a brief introduction to the culture, the myths and legends of the mining populations of the highlands as they were conveyed to me. I discuss some of the ethical concerns of using a camera to capture and convey child labour in the highlands and the ethics of photographic and humanitarian interventions.     

Variation in Dual Citizenship Policies in the Countries of the EU

While the concept of citizenship has received considerable scholarly attention in recent years, few studies focus on the increasingly prevalent reality of dual citizenship, or full membership – with its respective rights, privileges, and obligations – in two different countries. The main objective of this article is to conceptualize, measure, and classify variation in dual citizenship in the countries of the European Union. I start by recounting the historical opposition to dual citizenship and by describing its emergence in recent decades. I then develop a “Citizenshi Policy Index” that accounts for some of the intricacies associated with citizenship policies in general and dual citizenship policies in particular. I go on to apply these measures to the fifteen “older” EU countries in both the 1980s and the contemporary period – thus allowing for an analsis of the changes that have taken place over the past two decades members. Overall, the findings point to surprisingly resilient national differences that stand out in contrast to the EU's institutional “harmonization” in so many other areas.     

Cross-National Differences in Charitable Giving in the West and the World

Most theories of cross-national variation in charitable giving have been tested only on samples of countries of Western European culture; this paper applies these theories to 114 countries, including 93 non-Western countries, using data from the Gallup World Poll. It finds strong support for economic and political theories of cross-national variation in charitable giving and partial support for religious and cultural theories. Theories effectively predict variation in giving in middle income non-Western countries but poorly predict variation in low-income non-Western countries. This suggests that economic development, not cultural or religious differences, separate non-Western countries from Western ones in patterns of giving behavior.     

Factors in the transition to homelessness in the chronically mentally Ill

Although there is a great deal of literature on homelessness and mental illness, few studies have examined the factors which may lead to homelessness in the mentally ill. The objective of this research was to examine the factors in the length of time between when a client of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health entered the system and when he or she was first homeless on admission to a service (time before homelessness, TBH). Past psychiatric records of 142 currently homeless clients were examined through the Automated Information System of LACDMH. Results showed that total admissions to any service and total admissions to prison services were predictors of shorter TBH; being younger and being both African-American and female were predictors of longer TBH. TBH shortened dramatically from 1973 to 1993; mental health funding levels for theprevious year were significantly correlated with TBH. Results show that demographic, clinical, and system variables all impact on homelessness in the chronically mentally ill.     

Anti-Jewish disturbances in the North-Western provinces in the early 1880s

This article is devoted to a single wave of anti-Jewish violence in Lithuania which spread through northern Lithuania during the first half of the summer of 1900. It claims that specific incidents that took place during the first half of 1900 at Konstantinovo (news of an allegedly kidnapped girl, the so-called Jewish “procession” and a domestic dispute between Jews and the priest's workmen) were among the most important reasons for the pogroms. At the same time, it is clear that there were some more general (structural) changes in this society which facilitated the occurrence of violence (changes in the economy, growing Lithuanian nationalism, antisemitic tendencies, and pogroms in the south of the Romanov empire in the early 1880s, because they established the idea that violence against Jews was somehow legitimate). Peasants in the Panev??ys and ?iauliai districts took up violence against Jews because, as they understood it, an offence had been committed which no one else (especially the authorities) would put right and so Jews would go unpunished. Uncontrolled rumours ruled the mobs. Since Catholic peasant religious sentiments had been affected the most, it was common religious identity that drew people into a temporary community of action. When Jews were beaten in public spaces, the doors and windows of their houses smashed, the Jews were not only being punished for their alleged offences, but being shown the clearly delineated boundaries within the local social hierarchy. In public life, Jews were supposed to submit to the monopoly of power enjoyed by the Catholic community. Thus, this wave of anti-Jewish violence essentially differs from the deadly pogroms that took place in the early twentieth century in other gubernias of the Jewish Pale of Settlement.     

Factors in the Transition to Homelessness in the Chronically Mentally III

Although there is a great deal of literature on homelessness and mental illness, few studies have examined the factors which may lead to homelessness in the mentally ill. The objective of this research was to examine the factors in the length of time between when a client of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health entered the system and when he or she was first homeless on admission to a service (time before homelessness, TBH). Past psychiatric records of 142 currently homeless clients were examined through the Automated Information System of LACDMH. Results showed that total admissions to any service and total admissions to prison services were predictors of shorter TBH; being younger and being both African-American and female were predictors of longer TBH. TBH shortened dramatically from 1973 to 1993; mental health funding levels for the previous year were significantly correlated with TBH Results show that demographic, clinical, and system variables all impact on homelessness in the chronically mentally ill.     

Politics in the Consulting Room: Hate in the Countertransference Revisited

This paper focuses on the way political ideas infused the psychoanalytic treatment of Mr. N., a man who struggled with low self-esteem, paranoia, and rage. Mr. N. became increasingly identified with Republican political goals and attacked what he considered my Democratic political views and legislative advocacy. The way that his anger became focused on my political activity had a profound impact on me, leading to strong countertransference feelings of depression and hate. The ways that I tried to accept and use this countertransference in the treatment are summarized, in the context of D.W. Winnicott’s paper on “Hate in the Countertransference” and others. During the course of the treatment Mr. N. became less judgmental of others and himself, learned to give and accept love, and developed the capacity for self-reflection through use of the therapeutic relationship.