Boundary Spaces

While shows like The X-Files and 24 have merged conspiracy theories with popular science (fictions), some video games have been pushing the narrative even further. Electronic Art's Majestic game was released in July 2001 and quickly generated media buzz with its unusual multi-modal gameplay. Mixing phone calls, faxes, instant messaging, real and "fake' websites, and email, the game provides a fascinating case of an attempt at new directions for gaming communities. Through story, mode of playing, and use of technology, Majestic highlights the uncertain status of knowledge, community and self in a digital age; at the same time, it allows examination of alternative ways of understanding games' role and purpose in the larger culture. Drawing on intricate storylines involving government conspiracies, techno-bio warfare, murder and global terror, players were asked to solve mysteries in the hopes of preventing a devastating future of domination. Because the game drew in both actual and Majestic-owned/-designed websites, it constantly pushed those playing the game right to borders where simulation collides with " factuality'. Given the wide variety of "legitimate' conspiracy theory, alien encounters and alternative science web pages, users often could not distinguish when they were leaving the game's pages and venturing into " real' World Wide Web sites. Its further use of AOL's instant messenger system, in which gamers spoke not only to bots but to other players, pushed users to evaluate constantly both the status of those they were talking to and the information being provided. Additionally, the game required players to occupy unfamiliar subject positions, ones where agency was attenuated, and which subsequently generated a multi-layered sense of unease among players. This mix of authentic and staged information in conjunction with technologically mediated roles highlights what are often seen as phenomenon endemic to the Internet itself; that is, the destabilization of categories of knowing, relating, and being.     

The Inability of Self-affirmations to Decrease Defensive Bias Toward an Alcohol-Related Risk Message Among High-Risk College Students

Abstract

Objective: To examine the efficacy of a self-affirmation task in deterring college alcohol misuse and the importance of preexisting beliefs in predicting subsequent behavior change. Participants: Heavy-drinking undergraduates (N = 110) participated during the 2011–2012 academic year. Methods: Participants were randomized to complete an affirmation or control task before reading an alcohol risk message. Alcohol-related beliefs and behaviors were assessed. Participants completed a 2-week online follow-up assessing alcohol-related behaviors. Results: Both groups reported increased perceived problem importance, but neither group displayed changes in personal risk. Follow-up assessment revealed similar, significant declines in peak consumption in both groups, with no significant between-group differences. Preexisting beliefs accounted for 5% to 10% of variance in drinking outcomes. Conclusions: An affirmation task does not seem to decrease defensive processing or alter high-risk drinking behaviors among college students and should not be utilized in lieu of more effective strategies.     

When safety culture backfires: Unintended consequences of half-shared governance in a high tech workplace

This paper applies concepts from the sociology and anthropology of organizations to understand limits to the implementation of a more effective safety culture in the workplace. It highlights unintended consequences of combining bureaucratic control and shared governance and identifies sources of inertia within already existing safety cultures. The data come from focus group interviews with workers in a research and development facility of a multinational corporation in the Western U.S. It is found that safety protocols, rules, and rhetoric, combined with efforts to give workers more responsibility for safety in the workplace, create tendencies toward worker alienation, shame with regard to injuries, complacency, and fear of bureaucratic processes. Therefore it appears that some efforts to create safety culture in the workplace may unintentionally undermine the goal of manufacturing safety.     

Point subtraction aggression paradigm: validity of a brief schedule of use

The Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) is a validated behavioral measure of aggression in response to provocation. Canonically, multiple sessions continue until performance asymptotes, requiring significant time. We sought to examine whether use of the PSAP-first-session ("PSAP-FS") had acceptable construct validity for group data, potentially expanding the settings in which the PSAP may be useful. One hundred male and female young adult subjects completed the PSAP-FS and additional behavioral measures of aggression, and provided information related to risk factors. The PSAP-FS correlated significantly with known risk factors of aggression. The PSAP-FS, which measures aggression in the present, correlated well with measures of recent aggression and less strongly with life history of aggression. The PSAP-FS had satisfactory validity properties for use where group-level data are of interest.     

Is Work-Family Policy Use Related to the Gendered Division of Housework?

Researchers have proposed that work-family policy use may either reinforce or challenge the existing gendered division of labor within couples, but results from prior studies have been inconclusive. Using data from a regional survey of work and family life, we extend this research by focusing on how housework is divided within couples and by differentiating between traditionally female- and male- typed housework tasks. Results show that among dual-earning women, policy use is not related to share of female- or male-typed tasks. Among dual-earning men, policy use is positively related to share of female-typed tasks and negatively related to share of male-typed tasks. These findings suggest that work-family policy use does not reinforce the gendered division of housework.

Transparent space: Law,technology and deliberative democracy in the information society

Abstract

The resuscitation of deliberative democracy in the Information Age requires the construction of transparent public spaces ‐ public arenas where power relationships between speakers are discernible and debate ensues according to the rules of civility and reason (conversational transparency). The metaphor of transparency, in the sense of legal accountability, also connects the role of communications regulation to the development of democratic political culture (legal transparency). Finally, transparency suggests the power of technology to obscure and hinder as well as help the progress of deliberative democracy (technological transparency).     

Effectiveness of an educational intervention to increase knowledge and reduce use of risky behaviors associated with cumulative trauma in office workers

OBJECTIVE: This pilot project assessed the effectiveness of an intervention to increase knowledge and reduce risky behaviors related to cumulative trauma disorders (CTD) in office workers. STUDY DESIGN: All 124 employees from the administrative offices of a health maintenance organization were invited to participate. Subjects were followed across time using an identification number. Data were collected via questionnaire in June 1994 (pretest1) (N=84), August 1994 (pretest II) (N= 63) and September 1995 (posttest) (N=40). The yearlong intervention focused on functional activities to prevent CTD. RESULTS: of chi-square analyses for the 40 subjects who completed all surveys indicated this intervention significantly increased overall knowledge of CTD (p =.002). Significant changes in self-reported hand/wrist (p =.016) and neck/shoulder (p =.003) posture were also found. CONCLUSIONS: This study is a first step in identifying effective educational interventions to increase knowledge and reduce risk factors related to CTD in office workers.     

Gift Giving, Identity, and Transformation: The AIDS Memorial Quilt

Those who have originated the AIDS Memorial Quilt have often referred to it as a gift. In this essay, the author discusses theories related to gift giving to discuss the quilt and its constructed effects for those who experience it as a gift. In particular, Weiner's notion of inalienable possessions is highlighted to address how the quilt, as a gift that is kept inalienable from its original creators, maintains historical identity and immortality for its originators, many of whom are gay and bisexual men. Also, Hyde's notion of erotic gifts is presented to consider the quilt's ability to draw people together, create feeling-bonds among them, and affect their transformation.