Repeat abortion

A reanalysis of the repeat abortion experience of New York City residents during July 1, 1970 to June 30, 1972 is undertaken on the basis of a probability model that generates repeat abortion ratios as a function of assumptions about fecundity, contraceptive efficiency, and exposure lengths. Tested are three hypotheses put forward by Daily et al. in a 1973 analysis: (i) the low repeat abortion ratio of .0245 is attributable in part to underreporting of registered induced abortions as repeat ones; (ii) a major part of the rise in repeat abortion ratios, from virtually zero to six percent over four consecutive six-month intervals, is explainable in terms of the rising volume of exposure time to risk of repeat abortion relative to the stream of initial abortions; and (iii) the higher abortion ratios of women in their twenties compared to those of older or younger women is ascribable to “differences in fecundity and intercourse frequency.” Support is found for the first two hypotheses, and a mixed outcome for the third.     

The acquisition,development, and maintenance of fruit machine gambling in adolescents

In the U.K., the major commercial gambling activity in adolescents is the playing of slot machines (commonly known as “fruit machines”). Over the past few years, the negative effects of “fruit machine addiction” have been reported by various helping organizations (e.g. Gamblers Anonymous) and the national press, including allegations of attempted murder, suicide and prostitution as well as a wider incidence of petty crime. Fifty adolescent fruit machine players from a ‘user population’ participated in a face-to-face interview and questionnaire study examining factors in the acquisition, development and maintenance of gambling behaviour. Nine adolescent males were deemed to be pathological gamblers as measured by the American Psychiatric Association DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria, and a number of serious consequences were reported including gambling debts, truancy and stealing.     

Between the Living and Undead: How Zombie Cinema Reflects the Social Construction of Risk,the Anxious Self,and Disease Pandemic

The zombie film has become an important component of contemporary popular culture. The sociological nature of the themes addressed by these films reflect prominent social concerns, and lend themselves to sociological analysis as texts themselves. This article examines the zombie film genre, its history, predominant themes, and its illustration of sociological dynamics related to identity, collective behavior, disease, contagion, and the privileges that come from social inequality. Particular attention is placed on what the zombie films, themselves, can tell us about society and how they illustrate sociological principles. First, we examine the origins and history of zombie cinema. Next, we move to a discussion of the central narrative devices around which zombie films are organized. In particular, we focus on two narratives in zombie films: those that emphasize zombie possession; and those that focus on the sociological risks of zombie pandemics. The discussion then moves to an analysis of zombies as selves, and how zombie films express cultural anxieties about selfhood, loss of autonomy, and threats of de‐individualization. We then explore the roles of power and privilege in the social epidemiology of zombification, paying particular attention to how those who succumb to zombiedom illustrate the sociological dynamics of health disparities in the real world. Finally, the sociology of infectious disease is used to address how zombiedom correlates with real disease outbreaks, what we know about the social aspects of infectious disease transmission, and the sociology of pandemics.     

Hot times,hot places. Youths’ risk perceptions and risk management in Chicago and Rotterdam

Many young people in low-income neighbourhoods are considered to be at risk of poor social outcomes and of becoming victims of violence and crime. This exploratory study focuses on how young people perceive risk and navigate their environment in two low-income, multi-ethnic neighbourhoods, one in Rotterdam and one in Chicago. We conducted in-depth interviews and mental mapping exercises with young people aged 14–19 in both sites. We found that neighbourhoods matter because they expose young people to certain kinds of risks, but also that their responses were shaped by their perceptions and interpretations of these risks. Moreover, we illustrate the dynamic and interactive nature of these processes of risk perception and management by discussing the ways in which different groups occupy and use, or travel through, public space at different times of the day. We argue that risk in disadvantaged neighbourhoods is not a static dimension in young people’s lives but rather emerges from an ongoing and complex interaction between perception, interpretation and response that can be seen as a kind of boundary work.     

Diagnosis of Pregnancy

Abstract

Contraceptive failure is a growing problem, especially on the college campus. Because of this, college health care providers are treating more and more college women not only for pregnancy-related problems, but women that present to the health center with other health complaints and are pregnant as well.

For these reasons, the diagnosis of pregnancy must always be entertained by all health care providers treating young women. Pregnancy must always be excluded before any tests or procedures are done that may be teratogenic. This is not only important for optimal health care, but also for medical-legal reasons.

This paper presents four unusual presentations of pregnancy and reviews the guidelines for diagnosis of pregnancy.     

AP(E)L as a guidance and support mechanism in the Diploma in Social Work

In order to contextualize the multi-interpretative paradigms that characterize the present HE, we propose a model in which the Assessment of Prior and Experiential Learning, AP(E)L, focuses more on assessment and less on accreditation, with a four phase application of the interrelationship between AP(E)L and Learning Development for pre-entry, entry, on-programme and exit of a student's time within a programme of study. In turn, this brings into focus the way experience has now become a contested space that reflects paradigm shifts in the focus of learning and the way learning is to be acknowledged in the new universities. This account details the application of this model within the social work subject area at the University of East London. In many ways, this reflects not only the pre-supposition, central to the AP(E)L policy, that learning should be recognized wherever it takes place, but also the shift from interior intellectual systems to a more open epistemology that has been shaped by the relationship of knowledge producers and knowledge users in specific markets.