Reassessing Differences in Work and Income in Cohabitation and Marriage

Are cohabiters different than married couples who cohabited before marriage? This study used the 2002 wave of the National Survey of Families and Households to determine how work behavior might differ for 4 relationship types: (a) cohabiters with uncertain marriage plans, (b) cohabiters with definite marriage plans, (c) premarital cohabiters who recently married, and (d) premarital cohabiters married 5 or more years (n = 638). The results are compared with differences found in overall comparisons of all cohabiters and married couples (N = 916) and were markedly different, indicating that overall comparisons do not adequately capture the range of behavior across cohabitation and marriage. Evidence of increased specialization was found in marriage, yet steep behavioral differences were not found between cohabiters with definite marriage plans and recently married couples but instead were associated with longevity in marriage. This implies that any possible causal effect of marriage on behavior may accrue with time spent married.     

Sex and family planning in Denmark and in Danish communes

Sexual activity and family planning practice in the general Danish society and in Danish communes were examined. Denmark has a sexually active population which practices effective and consistent family planning and which has an impressively low abortion level. Effective methods of contraception - especially IUDs and the pill - are known and practiced by all socioeconomic classes in Danish society. Denmark's steadily falling birthrate is due to: 1) a liberal attitude toward sex and procreation, 2) an effective and early system of sex education in the schools, and 3) available and reasonably priced contraceptive methods. Sexual and family planning practices in Danish communes are similar to those in the general society. Most pregnancies in the communes are not accidental and most would not end in abortion. The sexual attitudes and practices in the communes are influenced by the general society.     

Research needs and priorities in housing and construction in Ethiopia

This paper attempts to present the main elements that are of central importance to housing problems and, in addition, gives an overview of the existing situations of housing research and construction activities in Ethiopia. It is hoped that such information may help the participants of the Seminar to suggest solutions in order to enhance the research and development for housing and construction activities and secure decent shelter for unfortunate urban groups in the developing countries.     

Advances in monitoring and evaluation in low- and middle-income countries

Data to inform and improve health care systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been facilitated by the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. The drivers of change in M&E systems over the last 50 years have included a series of health concerns that have animated global donors (e.g., family planning, vaccination campaigns, and HIV/AIDS); the data requirements of donors; improved national economies enabling LMICs to invest more in M&E systems; and rapid advances in digital technologies. Progress has included the training and expansion of an M&E workforce, the creation of systems for data collection and use, and processes for assessing and ensuring data quality. Controversies have included the development of disease-specific systems that do not coordinate with each other, and a growing burden on health care deliverers to collect data for a proliferating number of health and process indicators. Digital technologies offer the promise of real time data and quick adaptation but also raise ethical and privacy concerns. The desire for speed can cast large-scale evaluations, considered by some to be the gold standard, in an unfavorable light as slow and expensive. Accordingly, there is a growing demand for speedy evaluations that rely on routine health information systems and privately collected “big data” from electronic health records and social media.     

Muslims in Prison: Challenge and Change in Britain and France

Hans Entzinger and Jack Carter (eds.), International Review of Comparative Public Policy, Volume 1, Immigration in Western Democracies: The United States and Western Europe (Greenwich, CT and London: JAI Press, 1989). Pp.ix + 258. £43 (hardback). ISBN 1 55 938 109 4

Josef Hayim Yerushalmi, Freud's Moses: Judaism Terminable and Interminable (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 1991). Pp.159. £16.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 300 04 92 18

Ronald Dotterer, Deborah Dash Moore and Steven M. Cohen (eds.), Jewish Settlement and Community in the Modern Western World (Cranbury, NJ and London: Associated University Presses, 1991). Pp.218. £22.95. ISBN 0 945636 3 X

Minority Rights Group, Minorities and Autonomy in Western Europe. Minority Rights Group, 379 Brixton Road, London. Pp.32. £3.75 (including postage). ISBN 0 946690 93

L. Eve Armentrout Ma, Revolutionaries, Monarchists, and Chinatowns: Chinese Politics in the Americas and the 1911 Revolution (Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 1990). Pp.xii + 227. $28. ISBN 0 8248 1239 5

David Leviatin, Followers of the Trail: Jewish Working‐Class Radicals in America (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 1989). Pp.ix + 298. £25. ISBN 0 300 04354 6

Richard Williams, Hierarchical Structures and Social Value: The Creation of Black and Irish Identities in the United States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Pp.190. £27.95 ISBN 0 521 35147 2

Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves: Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990). Pp.xviii + 317. $27.9. ISBN 0299 11850 9

Michael Burleigh and Wolfgang Wippermann, The Racial State: Germany 1933–1945 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). Pp.xiv + 386. ISBN 0521 39114 8     

Communities in Question: Sociality and Solidarity in Nancy and Blanchot

In his early essays “Violence and Metaphysics” and “The Ends of Man”, Jacques Derrida evoked a “community of the question” when he called for a fundamental questioning of the being of the “we” in the West. This demand was later formulated by Jean‐Luc Nancy and Philippe Lacoue‐Labarthe as the philosophical interrogation of the political (le politique), in distinction from the question of politics (la politique). This essay begins by arguing that what is at stake in this distinction is the very possibility of politics that is otherwise foreclosed. It then explores Nancy’s interrogation of le politique in The Inoperative Community, and compares his response to Maurice Blanchot’s response in The Unavowable Community. It is argued that both deconstructions of “community” depict a certain sociality that corresponds to Derrida’s call—a “communality” beyond or radically other than the traditional model of community as formed by sovereign individuals and as forming the sovereign state. Where they differ is that Blanchot founds the ethical relation of the “unavowable” community on the radical interruption of ontology signaled by death, whereas Nancy casts ontology itself in an ethical register, and thereby allows a certain solidarity to emerge as well.

At the very moment when there is no longer a “command post” from which a “socialist vision” could put forward a subject of history or politics, or, in an even broader sense, when there is no longer a “city” or “society” out of which a regulative figure could be modeled, at this moment being‐many, shielded from all intuition, from all representation or imagination, presents itself with all the acuity of its question, with all the sovereignty of its demand (Jean‐Luc Nancy 2000 Nancy, Jean‐Luc. 2000. Being Singular Plural, Edited by: Robert, Richardson and Anne, O’Byrne. Stanford [1996]: Stanford University Press.  [Google Scholar], p. 43).     

Developmental Changes and Individual Differences in Trust and Reciprocity in Adolescence

A Trust Game was used to examine trust and reciprocity development in 12–18‐year‐old‐adolescents (N = 496), as findings have been conflicting and transitions in adolescence remain elusive. Furthermore, this study tested the roles of gender, risk, and individual differences in empathy, impulsivity, and antisocial tendencies in trust and reciprocity. Results indicate stability in trust and a decrease in reciprocity across adolescence, but also show that trust and reciprocity choices were influenced by risk, and that empathy mediated the age‐related decrease in reciprocity. Males trusted more than females, but there were no gender differences in reciprocity. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences and adolescents’ sensitivities to varying contexts in explaining trust and reciprocity development in adolescence.     

Trends and issues in language policy and language education in Crimea

This work identifies and discusses developments in language policy and language education in Crimea since the peninsula’s incorporation into the Russian Federation in March 2014. Working on the assumption that post-Soviet reforms and changes in language and education policies cannot be understood outside their historical context, the article starts by briefly outlining some of the defining features of the historical and sociolinguistic situation of Crimea until March 2014. It then presents the changing linguistic situation of the peninsula since its accession into Russia and discusses present developments in light of the broader context of post-Soviet language ideologies, policies and practices. It suggests that the new Crimean authorities are following a double strategy: the imposition of monolingual educational and linguistic policies, accompanied by largely symbolic concessions to the demands of local ethnic communities.     

Organizational and health performance in small enterprises in Norway and Sweden

This article focuses on relationships between organizational factors such as leadership, learning, psychosocial work environment and quality aspects as they relate to organizational and health performance outcomes in 42 small enterprises in Norway and Sweden. A rather explorative analysis model was created using indicators that were based on theoretical concepts from a literature review and questionnaire data, concerning 988 employees and leaders. These indicators were then used for correlation analysis. The enterprise is the unit of analysis. Some strong links between organizational factors and organizational and health performance were found. There was also a strong relation between health performance and sickness absence. Using structural analyses, a structure containing six general components, and strong interrelationships between some indicators of organizational performance and health performance were found. It was also possible to position the enterprises according to two general dimensions. As a general guideline for action, the results tend to support the perspective that positive organizational development is related to health performance and a lowering of absence due to sickness. The findings support the strategies of practitioners who use a concept-driven or holistic approach that integrates several facets of workplace development.     

Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Singapore: Issues and Challenges in Control and Treatment Strategies

SUMMARY

The problem of drug addiction in Singapore has been relatively under control over the past few years. This is a result of the strategy of controlling supply to reduce demand for drugs. Alcohol consumption in Singapore is relatively low compared to Western countries. This paper provides an overview of the drug and alcohol control and treatment strategies adopted in Singapore. While new strategies have been formulated, some issues and challenges still remain. These issues and challenges are discussed and findings of a recent study conducted by the author are described. They include the need to focus on gateway drugs like alcohol, intervention involving family members, opportunities for regular employment for drug addicts, and the role of religion in aftercare treatment.     

Meaning and attachment in mothers and toddlers

This research explored if a mother's view of her attachment experience with her own mother was associated with sensitivity to her toddler's attachment related signals. Thirty mother-child dyads were videotaped and maternal sensitivity to toddler signals was coded. Mothers were interviwed and completed questionnaires regarding their experiences with their own mothers. Based on the subjects' responses to the questionnaires and the content and organization of their interview narrations, subjects were divided into two groups based on the security of their internal working model of attachment with their own mothers. Mothers with a secure working model of attachment were significantly more sensitive to toddler signals than those mothers with an insecure working model of attachment (p=.028) and differed in their style of narrating their lifespan attachment experiences.This study was completed as partial requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Institute for Clinical Social Work, Chicago, Illinois.     

Social-movement Unionism in Theory and in Sweden

Many union leaders and observers of unionism in industrially advanced countries have recently argued for stronger links between unions and social movements but their arguments leave the nature of social movements underspecified. This article reviews the literature on social movements and argues in favour of a minimalist theory of the social actor rather than choose between American and European approaches to studying social movements. Both Melucci's European approach and McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly's American approach to integrating the European and American schools of thought on social movements are inadequate to the task of specifying social-movement unionism. Hindess's minimalist theory of the social actor and articulated arenas of conflict offers a stronger approach to understanding social-movement unionism and appreciating its strategic pertinence in particular times and places. Two episodes of contention in Sweden illustrate the advantages of a minimalist theory of articulated social-movement unionism.     

Individuals in Context and Contexts in Individuals

This presentation will explore some ideas about the impact of both external and internal contexts on what we, whether as clients or therapists, do. It will offer a way of thinking about the internal and external as sides of the same coin, and a justification for working directly with one or the other whilst holding both in mind. In reflecting on how the internal and external affect therapists, attention will be given to both the hidden influence of personal experience in our ideas and the influence of radical doubt.