Re-Visioning Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Constructionist notions have become commonplace in theoretical discussions of the self, but are seldom translated into consideration of specific social work practice concerns such as ADHD. Explorations of ADHD, on the other hand, typically emphasize a narrow, medically-oriented symptom picture that is devoid of the psychosocial context in which the so-called symptoms emerge. A transactional approach to the understanding of ADHD is advanced. This article promotes a link between constructionism and social work's psychosocial or person-in-environment perspective. Such a perspective supports approaches to the assessment of ADHD that illuminate larger cultural messages and their constraining influence on individual meaning-making. Intervention, conducted at multiple levels, must be geared to the establishment of more hopeful and affirming narratives.     

Introducing the expatriate ‘Entry-Mode’: an exploratory qualitative study of a missing link in global mobility and expatriate management research

ABSTRACT

This article introduces the novel concepts of expatriate ‘entry-modes’, ‘comb-patriates’, and ‘Fourth-Country Nationals’ (FCNs), emerging from an exploratory qualitative investigation of 51 Scandinavian expatriates in Hong Kong. Global mobility research has traditionally been overly focused on the characteristics and background variables of expatriates or accumulated experiences after arrival, and has neglected the phase and mode of entering the new host country. Unveiling new global mobility patterns is significant for multinational enterprises’ (MNE) global talent recruitment, and has implications for training and development. This is due to directing the focus towards the increasing numbers of those individuals who are not expatriating in the conventional linear fashion, such as between an MNE’s headquarter (HQ) and its subsidiaries overseas. The critical stance taken in this article is articulated through a theoretical lens comprising a social constructionist epistemology. Theoretical contributions, future research avenues, as well as managerial relevance and policy implications are also discussed.     

A Mother's Value Lies in Her Sexuality: The Simpsons,Family Guy,and South Park and the Preservation of Traditional Sex Roles

This article examines the relationship between being a sexual woman and a good mother in The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park. Considering the sexual criticisms of women in the “Mommy Wars” which continue to be fought across the United States, we find that these three programs reproduce conservative assumptions about women's sexuality and motherhood. Through critical constructionist theories of humor and motherhood, mothers from each program are analyzed and the relationship between their sexuality and motherliness is examined in detail. We conclude with a discussion of the social constrictions of reality that humorous popular culture both exposes and reproduces.     

建构主义理论与高校学生中西文化素质的培养

建构主义提倡在教师指导下以学习者为中心的学习,既强调学习者的认知主体作用,又突出教师的指导作用。中西文化蕴含的个性特征既有表层和深层差异,又有固有的习俗差异。中西文化差异需要依据建构主义理论,通过教育者的积极导入和潜移默化,转化为学习者内在的基本素质,使其知识、素质和能力相互统一、彼此促进。建构主义理论对高校学生中西文化素质培养的启示是:确立新型的师生关系,突出教育者在中西文化因素导入进程中的引导作用,强调教育者在中西文化因素导入实践活动中的可操作性做法。     

浅议常人方法学视角下的社会性别研究

常人方法学重视对日常生活实践活动的研究，其对表层规则规范下和语言逻辑下的互动这种独特研究方式，及其理论的批判性和反思性的架构，对于社会性别研究有着独特的适应性。因此试图在常人方法学的理论视角下来看待社会性别问题，运用加芬克尔的相关研究及常人方法学的相关理论视角来分析和探讨性别研究的发展，并结合建构主义理论，试图解释社会性别研究面临困境的原因，为解决社会性别研究发展所面临的困境提供参考。     

The Making of Multiple Personality Disorder: A Social Constructionist View

This article explores the social construction of multiple personality disorder by analyzing professional agreements about the nature of the diagnosis, while locating these within their historical and cultural context. First, a historical review of the disorder traces various overlapping streams of discourse that have shaped the construction of the diagnosis. This is followed by a cross-cultural comparison of MPD and dissociative phenomena in several non-Western societies. The article concludes with some reflections on the cultural meanings of MPD in contemporary America.     

西方环境社会学的理论发展及其借鉴

西方环境社会学经过近30年的学科发展其理论已渐趋成熟,既受到主流社会学家的理论关注,同时也在积极的汲取和借鉴科学社会学、风险社会以及新社会运动理论等的知识成果。尽管目前还存在着诸如理论边界不明晰、理论表述形式过于抽象等问题,但其理论进步是显而易见的。对此我们应当报以客观的理论态度,吸收其合理的内容,以推动我国环境社会学的理论建设。     

Moral Positioning: Service User Experiences of Challenging Behaviour in Learning Disability Services

Several studies have indicated the importance of challengingbehaviour as a limiting factor on quality of life (Murphy et al., 1996;Brown and Thompson, 1997; Schwartz, 2003). This article presentsthe findings of research that aimed to investigate adults withlearning disabilities’ understanding and experiences ofwhat is perceived by staff and services to be challenging behaviour.This study was the final phase of research reported previouslyin this Journal (Hayden and Stevens, 2004). Interviews, groupdiscussions and observations were carried out with twenty-sixpeople with learning disabilities using social services’residential and day services. Participants were able to articulatecomplex responses about challenging behaviour, which is characterizedas a ‘moral web’: a complex network of antecedents,behaviours and consequences. Social care staff were seen byparticipants to play a key role: protecting people and ensuringthat appropriate (negative) consequences were suffered by instigatorsof challenging behaviour. These findings are interpreted withina positioning theory perspective, suggesting the importanceof understanding the ways that challenging behaviour is constructedthrough social interaction. Implications in the following areasare discussed: developing practice; the role of social carestaff; and the study of challenging behaviour as a social phenomenon.     

Race relations and racism in the LGBTQ community of Toronto: perceptions of gay and queer social service providers of color

This article explores race relations and racism within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community of Toronto, Ontario, from the perspective of seven gay/queer social service providers of color. Social constructions of race, race relations, and racism were placed at the centre of analysis. Employing interpretive phenomenological analysis, findings indicated that intergroup and broader systemic racism infiltrates the LGBTQ community, rendering invisible the lived experiences of many LGBTQ people of color. The study contributes to a growing body of research concerning our understanding of factors underpinning social discrimination in a contemporary Canadian LGBTQ context.