Eavesdropping with a Mirror

It was a custom in Yidu that on New Year's Eve, people eavesdropped outside other people's homes with a bronze mirror hidden in the bosom after reciting a rhyme to it. People believed that what they had heard would often fortell good or bad luck. A family named Zheng once lived in Yidu. The two sons of this family were both considered intellectuals, But the older son was eager to learn while the younger was lazy and sluggish. Their parents only liked the older son. Because of this, the old couple's attitudes toward their two daughters-in-law were also     

Growing up with a sibling with dwarfism: perceptions of adult non‐dwarf siblings

Despite the fact that society seems to have become more tolerant towards human diversity, skeletal dysplasia still carries some extent of stigmatization and negative stereotyping. There seems to be a lack of knowledge regarding psychosocial factors associated with skeletal dysplasia, specifically as it relates to interpersonal relationships. Since the negative attention directed at individuals with dwarfism may also have an impact on family members and family relationships, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore adult non‐dwarf siblings' experiences of growing up with siblings with a skeletal dysplasia. Thematic analyses of semi‐structured interviews with four adult non‐dwarf siblings confirmed both negative and positive effects. These effects were evident in childhood and continued into adulthood. For the adults who took part in this study, the positive effects seemed to be more profound.     

Can a blind person play dodge ball? Enacting body and cognition with a group of youths with visual disabilities

This paper presents some results of research carried out with a group of blind and partially sighted youths who are enrolled in a school for people with visual disabilities in Brazil. This research aims to promote different articulations between the body and cognition. Based on actor–network theory, it considers that having a body means learning to be affected by widely differing actors. The field research was carried out through body expression activities, which seek to promote connections between the body and heterogeneous materials, such as a ball, a rattle or a colleague. The paper indicates that cognition is the effect of these collective body experiences. It also underlines that these body experiences have produced new ways of knowing amongst the blind and partially sighted youths. In the conclusion it is stressed that psychology research on disability must be done with (and not about) people with visual disability. ¹ 1. A previous version of this paper was presented as a part of the Symposium ‘Understanding the Psychological in Latin America’ that was held at the Subjectivity: International Conference, Cardiff University, UK, 27–29 June 2008. View all notes     

Contemporary Architecture with a National Flavor

Henan Museum opened in 1999 in Zhengzhou City,amodel locally-styled structure.Picture:The central body of the main hall     

What makes a network go round? Exploring the structure of a strong component with exponential random graph models

A strong component is a subgraph in a directed network where, following the direction of ties, all nodes in the graph are reachable from one another. Mutual reachability implies that every node in the graph is theoretically able to send materials to and/or influence every other node suggesting that strong components are amongst the more egalitarian network structures. Despite this intriguing feature, they remain understudied. Using exponential random graph models (ERGM) for directed networks, we investigate the social and structural processes underlying the generation of strong components. We illustrate our argument using a network of 301 nodes and 703 personal lending ties from Renaissance Florence. ERGM shows that our strong component arises from triadic clustering alongside an absence of higher-order star structures. We contend that these processes produce a strong component with a hierarchical, rather than an egalitarian structure: while some nodes are deeply embedded in a dense network of exchange, the involvement of others is more tenuous. More generally, we argue that such tiered core-periphery strong components will predominate in networks where the social context creates conditions for an absence of preferential attachment alongside the presence of localized closure. Although disparate social processes can give rise to hierarchical strong components linked to these two structural mechanisms, in Florence they are associated with the presence of multiple dimensions of social status and the connectedness of participants across disparate network domains.     

Tracing a cartography of struggle: reflections on twenty years of transnational solidarity with the U’wa people of Colombia

ABSTRACT

The author reflects upon two decades of research and activism by mapping a cartography of struggle that emphasizes the importance of relationality and Indigenous theory and practice.     

Meeting the Needs of the Social Care and Health Care Workforce: Can a Duck Sleep with a Hippopotamus?

In a period when recruitment and retention are crucial issues in health and social care the focus of this paper is:

? Who are the workforce of health and social care?

? What are the needs of that workforce?

? How safe is it for the much smaller partner, social care, to work together with the much larger health care?

The latter point heads us back to the sub‐title of the paper: can a duck sleep with a hippopotamus?

This question comes from an advert used in the UK for a bed manufacturer, where our British sensitivities and fear of sex prevents us from showing a man and a woman in a double bed, what the Spanish charmingly call a ‘cama de matrimonio’, a marriage bed, and instead we show a hippopotamus and a duck sleeping, safely, in the same bed.

To follow this analogy, we have to show:

? that health and social care are in the same bed;

? that one is as large as a hippopotamus, and the other as small as a duck;

? what the dangers are of this;

and ask the question:

? What is there in the place of ‘spring technology’ which would permit both to sleep together, and for the duck not to end up flat?

In doing so, I hope to answer the first three questions I posed.     

Please Play a Game with Chinese Characters

DEAR EDITOR, I have been reading your magazine for many years. I have written some puzzles and part of them will reveal a word in Chinese when finished. DAVID CHAN     

“It's Really a Roller Coaster”: Experience of Parenting Children with Developmental Disabilities

The aim of this research was to explore the experience of parenting a child diagnosed with a developmental disability. The in-depth interviews were semistructured and open-ended, covering topics such as positive and negative experiences and time demand in raising a child with a developmental disability, their effects on family relationship and on physical and mental health of the parents, and the strategies for managing the negative experiences. Overall, the participants indicated that parenting a child with a developmental disability is both challenging and rewarding, depending on the circumstances facing parents in a particular day. The findings are interpreted in five thematic structures: (1) negotiating joys and sorrows, (2) physical and mental exhaustion, (3) negotiating with family matters, (4) social stigma, and (5) hope in the midst of despair, each of which comprised several subthemes/categories. The discussion includes implications of the findings.     

‘People with learning disabilities need a commissioner and a legal charter of rights’ – no they do not!

Since the UK Winterbourne View scandal, there have been a number of reports and responses recommending what should be done to ensure a similar scandal does not happen again. Two ideas have emerged which suggest that people with learning disabilities need a legal charter of rights and a commissioner to make a difference in their lives. This article, however, argues that although it is right that issues affecting people with learning disabilities are at the heart of discussion and debate, this does not take into account the complex, flexible and multiple identities of people with learning disabilities, and their knowledge, experiences and skills. This would be more beneficial in understanding the lives of people with the label of learning disabilities than a commissioner or a charter.     

Patient-perceived effectiveness and impact on quality of life of solifenacin in combination with an α-blocker in men with overactive bladder in Sweden: a non-interventional study

Treating male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) by targeting the prostate would have limited effect on overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms. This study assessed perceived symptoms and quality of life (QoL) of male patients with OAB treated with an α-blocker plus solifenacin in daily clinical practice. Male patients aged ≥40 years were included after the decision was made to initiate treatment with an α-blocker for LUTS plus solifenacin for OAB symptoms. The primary endpoint was change in patient perception of bladder condition (PPBC) questionnaire score over 6?months. Other assessments included the OAB-questionnaire short form (OAB-q SF) and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Interpretation of the study data was hindered by not meeting the enrollment target and a high dropout rate. In 36 evaluable patients, mean (SD) PPBC score improved from 4.3 (0.93) at baseline (“moderate” to “severe” problems) to 3.5 (1.06) at month 6 (“minor” to “moderate” problems). OAB-q SF scores and total IPSS also improved. In this patient population, treatment with solifenacin and an α-blocker resulted in improvements in male patient perception of their LUTS and QoL, although the results should be interpreted with caution due to the low number of patients with complete data.     

On “Romancing with a Wealth of Detail”: Commentary on Paper by Philip Kunn

Phillip Kuhn has unearthed a great deal of new information regarding the trial of Ernest Jones in 1906 for indecent assault and in the process has cast doubt on Jones's innocence. The discussant, while praising Kuhn for this investigative work, argues that his paper is marred by a tendentious and obfuscating interpretive structure, as well as the author's refusal to address the issue of Jones's guilt or innocence.     

A 1,408 km bicycle tour with prostate cancer patients—results of a pilot study

Negative psychological and physical effects of prostate cancer and its medical treatment may persist many years after diagnosis. The influence of a long cycling tour on rehabilitative or health-related effects with prostate cancer patients has not yet been studied. In practice, physicians and therapists rarely recommend cycling to prostate cancer. In May 2010, eight prostate cancer patients rode their bikes for over 1,408 km from Cologne to Marseille within 5 weeks. Endurance test, blood examinations (prostate-specific antigen (PSA), total testosterone, interleukin-6, oxidative stress, and antioxidant capacity) and quality of life questionnaires were completed before and after the tour. All eight subjects reached Marseille. Significant improvements could be observed in physical performance and certain quality of life scores (p?=?0.008), as well as a reduction of total testosterone (p?=?0.19). PSA levels did not change. This pilot study suggests that long bicycle tours with prostate cancer patients are feasible. Due to the missing control group and the small sample size, the results of this pilot study are limited.     

Effectiveness of water-based exercise in people living with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review

This systematic review summarizes the relatively scant literature concerning the effectiveness of water-based exercise (WBE) interventions in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PEDro, Scopus, and SportDiscus were searched from the earliest available date to December 2011. Studies had to meet the following selection criteria: (1) the target population was patients with PD; (2) the effects of a WBE intervention (as the primary intervention) were tested; (3) the abstract of the research was available in English. Selected studies were subject to unmasked quality assessment by applying a methodological scoring with a possible maximum score of 15 points. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria, although only three of them achieved a methodological quality score above 10 points. Collectively, the data showed that WBE has some beneficial short-term effects on the impact that PD has on the patients (mainly on their motor symptoms and on their functional mobility), as well as on their quality of life. This review provides evidence that WBE is safe for patients with PD, but there is a lack of hard evidence regarding its beneficial effects. Further randomized and controlled trials with larger sample sizes are required.     

Disorganizing Paralysis of the Clinician’s Mind as a Property of a System of Treatment

This paper addresses the phenomenon of “psychic numbing” in the clinician, which interfered with the clinician’s capacity to understand and respond to the patient’s highly turbulent reaction to a personal crisis of the clinician. Through gaining an understanding of the meanings of the retraumatizations for both the patient and the clinician, the clinician became able to recapture the functioning of her mind, respond differently to the patient, and thus facilitate the calming of the turbulence of the treatment. The clinician’s understanding included her recognition of her own thwarted twinship longings with the patient.     

Living a Life of Longevity

ON May 8,1998,Wang Aiying ofDexing City,Jiangxi Provincecelebrated her 100th birthday.Atthe party she dressed up in a silvery-white silk outfit and red silk vest with ared flower inserted in her hair.Shelooked healthy and energetic. Chen Bangying of Hongba Village     

The selfobject function of compensatory fantasy: Analytic work with a “New Age” patient

This paper focuses on the analysis of a man whose New Age belief system is viewed for its healthy selfobject function rather than as a symptom of magical thinking. Although the clinical and theoretical focus is primarily self psychological, elements of other schools of thought are also drawn upon. The classical position is shown as a contrasting and, ultimately, less effective way of understanding the case.Take this pill to help you not to shout it takes away the life you're better off without-R.D. Laing     

Towards a ‘Harmonious Society’? a brief case study of the post-Liberation settlement in Beijing of Uyghur intellectuals and their relations with the majority society

Currently, the construction of a ‘Harmonious Society’ is an important yet challenging official project in the People's Republic of China. Under Chinese Communist Party supervision, the government has undertaken some measures to achieve this goal. In the country's capital, Beijing, the majority society (‘social majority’) is composed of peoples considered to be Han Chinese (), but the population there also includes representatives from 55 recognised minority society groups (). Many such latter groups, especially Uyghurs and Tibetans, have long maintained distinctive cultural traditions, practices, languages, and ‘memories’ from those of the majority society – and are ‘different’ in physical appearance, customary dress and other features. Officially, however, all are ‘Chinese citizens’ (). Recently, some negative and disharmonious trends have appeared in majority-minority relations. Based on academic fieldwork research, this essay focuses on ‘Uyghur intellectuals’ in Beijing, analytically discussing their relationships with the majority society there, identifying issues and problems in those relationships, and offering informed, constructive suggestions to achieve a more ‘Harmonious Society’ in China.     

Researchers of a Different Mold

AS an influential femalescholar in the study ofChinese women,WangJinling,from the Institute of SocialScience in Zhejiang Province, wasthe first to put forward a proposal