Gangs as Alternative Transitional Structures

SUMMARY

This paper reports the results of a comparative study of youth gangs in minority communities in Los Angeles and London, England. A combined qualitative-quantitative research design was used to obtain information on the experiences, attitudes and behaviors of Black youth who were involved with or influenced by gangs.

Measures included two semi-structured interview schedules for focus groups and individual youth, respectively. Demographic data and statistics on social indicators were obtained for this population in both cities from government and social agency reports on rates of school drop-outs, youth unemployment, involvement in the juvenile/criminal justice system, and health/mental health utilization.

The sample included a total of 144 African-American youth, ages 15-30, in 17 focus groups and 32 for individual interviews in Los Angeles, and a total of 86 Afro-Caribbean youth, ages 15-24, in ten focus groups and 66 for individual interviews in London. Results suggest that gangs provide minority youth with an alternative transitional structure for achieving social and economic mobility.     

Entrance and Exit from the Military

Abstract

The literature that addresses the reasons for entering military service is limited and generally does not report on the experiences of ethnic minority populations. This article reports on findings from a qualitative research study that examined health utilization and health status for a sample of 86 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. The study generated data that provide interesting insights about the reasons for entering military service and experiences post discharge for this population. The data indicate that cultural material plays a significant role in the decision to enter the military and in the reentry experience of the veterans who participated in this research study. The analysis supports the proposition that despite the diversity that characterizes the American Indian and Alaska Native experience, there are overarching values and belief systems that are held in common across tribal communities which influence the social construction of life and the interpretation of life events.     

An Ecological Assessment of Drug-Related Problem Situations for American Indian Adolescents of the Southwest

ABSTRACT

This study examined difficult situations related to drug and alcohol use as identified by American Indian youth in the Southwest. Sixty-two contextually based items were developed from focus group data, and were administered to 71 American Indian youth. The items measured the frequency in which youth experienced specific drug-related situations, as well as the perceived difficulty in resisting drug use offers in those situations. The results indicated that the most frequent and difficult drug and alcohol situations occurred primarily with friends or cousins at their homes or after school. Implications for culturally specific assessment, prevention, and treatment are discussed.     

Completing the Circle

Abstract

The four themes of the Circle of Courage, a Native American medicine wheel that focuses on child socialization, connect with and add to key ideas from Western theories of human development. These themes are belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework developed from the integration of the Circle of Courage with theories of human development. A key feature of the framework is the role of adults in providing guidance, modeling, and affirmation. Assessment guidelines to promote the resilience of children and youth in out-of-home care are developed from the framework. The long term goal of the framework is to “complete the circle”; that is to foster the resilience of young people in care so that they can in turn provide to guidance, modeling, and affirmation.     

Eight Years of Data on Residents in Small Dementia-Care Settings Suggest Functional Performance Is Maintained

Eight years of data analysis on residents’ status from three small Alzheimer care centers suggest notable stability in function. Individuals’ functional ability was best in their first year, but their year-to-year decline was mostly not significant. Cognitive abilities also were best in the resident's first year, but first-, second-, and third-year cognitive scores were not significantly different. We compared the residents’ dementia progression rate to the true rate of natural disease progression. This study, like others on small homelike settings, suggests that appropriate homelike environments maintain persons with dementia at an optimum level longer.     

先秦“名实论”的源流、旨趣、内容及定位--先秦人文主义语言哲学思想发微

先秦“名实论”,主要是基于“人之所以为人者,言也”的初步认识,将“名”作为人的一种创造性活动,通过考察“名实”关系,最终以探讨人的合理的生存实践方式及其认识来源的理论。它重点研究人、语言、世界三者互动的关系;语言能够显示现实的结构是其基本理念,“人”是其研究的最高目标。所以,就其理论重心与基本精神而言,它乃是一种人文主义语言哲学理论。虽然语言哲学是哲学的一个分支,与语言学、逻辑学关系紧密并互相贯通,然而,为了揭示其本质、彰显其特征,使之与古今中外相关的学科理论更好地会通,以便从中阐发出更多具有生命力和启示性的思想要素,最好还是突显先秦“名实论”所具有的人文主义语言哲学的性质。     

“郑和模式”:现代海权构建的思考与启示

19世纪以来,备受西方政治家、军事家所推崇的马汉海权战略思想,是建立在以海外贸易和海上力量相互结合为特征的“地中海模式”基础之上的.这种“剑与火”的海权战略一直影响着欧、美洲近现代历史发展进程.中国明代郑和七下西洋的海权意识或海洋意识,是一种与西方海权思想迥然不同的“郑和模式”.这种模式的“文明海权”是建立在不以侵占他国领土和权益的友好交往,以传播中华文明和追求国际和平秩序为价值目标基础之上的.故郑和七下西洋不仅是中国海权战略思维嬗变的历史回应,也是中国现代海权之嚆矢,而且应成为世界现代海权构建中的一种新思维.     

中医基本名词术语英译技巧及规范性

中医独特的语言文化特征决定了中医基本名词术语英译的重要意义和潜在困难。在实际操作中,人们在中医基本名词术语英译领域往往采取不同的翻译技巧和方法,这突显了其规范性研究的重要性。中医基本名词术语英译的技巧和规范性有着密切的联系。     

Fortress Europe’s far-flung borderlands: ‘Illegality’ and the ‘deportation regime’ in France’s Caribbean and Indian Ocean territories

ABSTRACT

This article argues that the French overseas territories of the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, which are also European ‘outermost regions,’ make up the first borders of ‘Fortress Europe,’ geographically, historically and legislatively. Since the 1980s, a set of laws, described as ‘laws of exception,’ place the majority of the foreign residents in a state of ‘illegality.’ These overseas territories are in the vanguard of a French ‘regime of deportation’ that targets foreign nationals, indigenous populations and former colonial subjects. They are places of experimentation for legal exceptions, which are then implemented in metropolitan France. This paper will analyze how the reinforcement of borders contradicts the popular and scholarly representation of the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean as sites of mobility.