At the frontier of imperial history: revisiting Edward Gait’s A History of Assam

Edward Gait’s A History of Assam was first published in 1906, later revised in 1926. The book has remained one of the most popular ‘textbooks’ in Assam, especially as the first modern historiography on the subject. This article looks at two broad issues in this regard. First, it looks at the contradictions that Gait was faced with in terms of his imperial ideology and interpreting the historical sources of an imperial frontier. Second, it tries to situate the relevance of the above point vis-à-vis some of the contemporary attempts at re-framing the region as an international borderland. In conclusion, the article looks at the reception of Gait and his appropriation into different discourses within Assam. A point explored is whether despite its contradictions, was Gait’s A History of Assam part of a wider, dynamic context of early twentieth century Assam, which made the book an important academic and political intervention of its times.     

Earning Their Keep and Keeping What They Earn: A Critique of Organizing Strategies for South Asian Women in the Informal Sector

It is now widely understood that the needs of women workers in the informal sector are not met by the conservative practices of labour organizations and trade unions. While the contribution of women to the economies of developing countries is critical, women rarely find employment in the regulated unionized sectors of these countries, and are found instead in overwhelming numbers in the sector that is variously termed ‘unorganized’, ‘unprotected’, ‘unregistered’ or ‘informal.’ This article addresses the situation of women in the informal economy in South Asia. The author explores the major challenges and opportunities facing women in their efforts to organize and mobilize for change. She also provides a critical analysis of the different types of interventions adopted by the state and civil society organizations in South Asia to empower women in the informal sector. The author concludes with an attempt to identify the mix of interventions and strategies most needed for different social, political and economic circumstances.     

Really troubled girls: Gender differences in risky sexual behavior and its correlates in a sample of juvenile offenders

Despite numerous studies on the myriad of psychosocial factors that affect youthful offenders, research on gender differences with respect to risky sexual behavior are limited. Using data on juvenile offenders in a residential facility, we analyzed impact of gender on sexual behavior (N = 227). Girls reported higher likelihood of diagnosis with sexually transmitted diseases, and injecting drug use including heroin and cocaine than boys. Multivariate analysis indicated that number of sexual partners, childhood trauma, and services received from emergency shelter and psychiatric settings were associated with risky sexual behavior. Discouraging, abusive and dysfunctional home environment with little support from parents/caregivers, or teachers, priests/religious leaders appear to dispose youth to a life of risky sex, drugs and delinquency.     

A modification of the partial sequential probability ratio test

For the problem of discriminating between two simple hypoth¬eses concerning a Koopman - Darmois parameter, a modification of the partial sequential probability ratio test is proposed where instead of drawing only one fixed sample, two fixed samples are drawn and then Wald's SPRT is started. The OC and the ASN func¬tions are derived. Numerical comparisons are made with Wald's and Read's procedures for testing the normal mean with known variance. For some parameter values, the test procedure has a lower ASN than that of Read's procedure.     

Incremental Validity of Stressful Life Experiences in Predicting Psychiatric Comorbidity Among Women in Substance Abuse Treatment

ABSTRACT

The dynamic contribution of stressful life experiences in predicting psychiatric comorbidity continues to challenge clinical practice and research. This study tested incremental validity of stressful life experiences related to psychiatric comorbidity among 128 young women in a Midwestern substance abuse treatment facility. Respondents reported low income, homelessness, and health and mental health issues. Using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition, Text Revision, and Stressful Life Experience (SLE) Screen as correlates, hierarchical linear regression demonstrated support for incremental validity of SLE uniquely accounting for 6.5% of variance in ASI psychiatric scores. Findings support future use of SLE in clinical settings for assessment and intervention purposes.     

Global HIV and AIDS: Calling all Social Work Educators

As the HIV/AIDS global pandemic continues to grow through a third decade, the need for social work educators to prepare social workers in distinct fields of practice with skills to assist those infected with and affected by HIV is of paramount importance. HIV/AIDS holds multi-level and multi-system effects for vulnerable populations. This article features global HIV and AIDS teaching resources beginning with common global practice challenges. Next, five teaching units focus on practice needs and challenges of divergent vulnerable populations including men who have sex with men, women, injecting drug users (IDU), commercial sex workers, and children orphaned by AIDS. Discussion questions, selected readings and electronic resources accompany each unit. The authors close the article with suggested recommendations for content integration into social work courses, and next steps for the profession.     

A MODIFICATION OF THE SEQUENTIAL PROBABILITY RATIO TEST FOR TESTING A NORMAL MEAN

A modification of the sequential probability ratio test is proposed in which Wald's parallel boundaries are broken at some preassigned point of the sample number axis and Anderson's converging boundaries are used prior to that. Read's partial sequential probability ratio test can be considered as a special case of the proposed procedure. As far as 'the maximum average sample number reducing property is concerned, the procedure is as good as Anderson's modified sequential probability ratio test.