Women in Politics in Norway

This paper attempts to explain how and why women in Norway have achieved unusually high political representation. The study, based on forty-three personal interviews with female politicians and persons familiar with Norwegian political culture, found that certain favorable social and political preconditions existed in Norway that encouraged women's entry into politics. However, it was the strong and effectively organized women's movement which was responsible for the significant increase of women in politics. A number of environmental opportunities and threats facilitated the formation of a successful coalition between establishment and new feminist factions of the women's movement. This coalition then used effective strategies to get more women into politics.     

Consanguineous Marriage in Turkish Families in Turkey and in Western Europe

The paper compares the prevalence and development of consanguineous marriages between Turkish migrants in Western Europe and stayers from the same regions of origin in Turkey. Analyses draw from three‐generational family data of the 2000 Families study. Findings suggest a decline of kin marriage over generations and time in both groups, but a higher prevalence of kin marriage among migrants. Parental impact was influential, but effects of transmission were lower among migrants. Kin marriage was strongly linked with cross‐border partner choice. The results support previous findings and indicate the specific effect of migration on seemingly traditional patterns of marriage.     

Risk behavior in decision-making in a multi-person-setting

When people have to make a choice in an individual setting between a known-risk option and an untested situation of uncertainty, the majority prefers the known risk over the uncertainty of the alternative. The confrontation with an unfamiliar situation in an environment including other participants allows for new mechanisms in risk-perception and risk-evaluation. People tend to become other-directed and use the behavior and consequences of actions of other people in the environment to assess risk. Our investigations show that warning signals observable in the behavior of other participants in the setting reinforce people's preference for known risks over uncertainty.     

Changes in local voluntary associations in Denmark

This article analyses the changes in the voluntary sector in Denmark at the local level, and compares associations in the ‘cultural field’ with those in the ‘social field’. The analyses, which are primarily based on research conducted in 1993, show that the voluntary sector changed significantly during the 1980s and the 1990s. First, over a third of the associations were established after 1979, and this has resulted in changes in the overall composition of the sector. Traditional value-oriented associations and associations that work for others have declined in relative terms, while narrow-interest associations that work for the members themselves are increasing. Second, the number of associations that are based and operate in a clearly-defined local area has declined. Third, despite professionalisation in some types of associations, more people than ever before are engaged in voluntary work in associations. Fourth, while public subsidies to the voluntary associations have increased, this has not changed the fundamental ‘political autonomy’ of the associations. Fifth, even though there are great differences in the political context of which the ‘cultural field’ associations and ‘social field’ associations are part, the associations in the two fields have many common features.     

Growing Up in One-Parent Families in Asia

This article provides the socioeconomic contexts in Asia and summarizes findings of the nine articles in this special issue that examine the trend and patterns of one-parent families in Asia and the consequences of such family structure for children's well-being. In Asia, out-of-wedlock births remain uncommon to date. Divorce and migration are the major causes of one parenthood. The articles present diverse forms of one-parent families in Asia and show how culture and policies shape the experience of growing up with one parent. Although children living with one parent often face challenges, depending on gender and socioeconomic status of the lone parent, and the causes living with one parent has varying consequences. Public assistance for lone parents are typically limited in Asia, and extended families may play a bigger role in the lives of lone parents and their children in some countries than in Western societies. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Averting Forced Migration in Countries in Transition

Many countries of emigration are in transition from conflict to peace and from authoritarian to democratic governments. Addressing population movements from these countries requires more than economic opportunities; equally important is the establishment of the rule of law, respect for human rights, and, in countries recovering from conflict, reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and housing. Otherwise, fragile peace and democratization processes can easily break down, creating new waves of forced migrants and hampering efforts towards repatriation and reintegration of already displaced populations. This background paper discusses the nature of forced migration, pointing out that the end of the Cold War has produced new pressures and new opportunities to address these flows. While extremism, particularly rampant nationalism, has provoked massive forced migration in many parts of the world, the changing geopolitical relations has also led to peace settlements in some countries and humanitarian intervention to reduce suffering in others. Addressing forced migration pressures in countries in transition requires comprehensive policy approaches. Four types of best practices are considered in this paper. First, mechanisms to ameliorate the causes of forced movements, including the role that expatriate communities can play in strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights, particularly minority rights. Second, mechanisms that enhance refugee protection while minimizing abuses of asylum systems, including enhanced respect for the refugee convention, adoption of complementary forms of protection when the refugee convention does not apply, strengthened regional protection, and the establishment of in–country processing of refugee claims. Third, mechanisms to resolve the longer–term status of forced migrants, including decisions on when to cease refugee status and temporary protection and encourage/permit return or integration. Fourth, mechanisms for more effective repatriation when return is possible, particularly programs to help returnees reintegrate and communities reconstruct themselves.     

Perspectives of Youth in Care in Serbia

In the context of evaluating child protection reform in Serbia, we explored the concept of positive youth development as well as how they experienced and understood the experience of placement. We sought to understand how youth perceive their strengths, the role of the care system, their views on how life experiences affect their strengths and how they see their future. Our position is that the way in which children see their situation is equally valuable as any other point of view, and that their doubts, questions and views should be learned in the research process. We used the methodology of semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with 16 young people in care aged 13–18 years. Results indicate their limited involvement in the process of making decisions related to their life and future. There is a strong need for meaningful involvement of children and young people in order to ensure their positive development.     

Sex Differences in Political Activity in Britain

Using survey data from 1963 and 1974, the analysis explores the relative rates of political participation of British men and women in a number of conventional political parties. As in the U.S. case, in Britain men and women do participate at about the same rates in a number of activities, including voting, party identification, party membership and activity, and political group membership and activity. On the other hand, more males than females claim interest in politics. Several explanations are discussed for these findings, and comparisons are made with findings from other nations.     

Seasonal patterns in slot-machine gambling in Germany

Although several aspects of gambling have been thoroughly investigated, little is known about the effect of seasonality on gambling. This study investigated the seasonal patterns in slot-machine usage, based on a unique data set of slot-machine usage from a German gambling centre using time series analysis. Knowledge of seasonal slot-machine usage patterns provides useful insights for researchers, gambling centre managers and legal authorities. Slot-machine gambling activity appears to be highest in November, when poor weather is compounded with lack of entertainment activities and lowest in December, when ample entertainment possibilities may distract people from gambling. The estimated daily and weekly seasonal patterns support the self-control literature, which suggests that self-regulatory failures are more likely when people are more tired; after work, or late in the evening. The high variation in gambling during winter implies that the availability of alternative entertainment activities may have an important influence on slot-machine usage.     

Differences in Understanding Generation in the Workforce

From an analysis of two age diverse samples in which we explored the ways “generation” is understood in the workforce, we make several contributions to generational research. First, we propose new conceptualizations on generations in the workforce. They are: contribution (a generation is defined based on the impact its members make on society or organizations) and generation as an ambiguous or irrelevant concept (generational categories are meaningless or inconsequential). Second, we note that individuals draw on a combination of multiple understandings of generations, making each person’s understanding unique and nuanced. Third, though most of our study participants leveraged age in their definition of generation, they did so in different ways. Fourth, we discuss outcomes of different understandings of generation, including conflict and identity work.     

Difficulties in Diagnosing Sexual Abuse in Children with Condyloma Acuminata in Turkey

Human papillomavirus is responsible for anogenital warts and could be regarded as an indicator of possible sexual abuse in children. A genital wart was detected during an investigation of anti–hepatitis C virus positivity in a four-year-old male patient. No pathological findings of another sexually transmitted disease were found except complete cleft palate and circumferential lesions in the perianal region. No family member was anti-hepatitis C virus positive, but the patient's uncle and his wife had genital condylomata. Although detailed physical examination uncovered no other findings indicative of sexual abuse, suspicion of abuse could not be eliminated. Therefore, we wanted to draw the attention of health professionals to the association of anogenital warts and sexual abuse.     

Intergenerational Learning in Stockholm County in Sweden

Abstract

This article investigates a practical implementation of strategies for augmenting social capital, as they are being used within the Granddad Project, an intergenerational learning initiative conducted in schools in the Stockholm county area. Indicators for measuring social capital were constructed on the basis of questionnaire data. Responses from a total of 580 pupils, 19 granddads and 27 teachers in 17 schools were collected. Additionally, for the granddads, a qualitative analysis was also carried out using a set of narrative data, reflecting their perceptions and experiences of their work in the schools. The results indicate that the granddads' work itself is forming part of the social capital between individual granddads and the pupils. The pupil responses indicate that boys and girls feel secure in school and that the granddad supports and assists everyone. The responses from the granddads demonstrate that they find their work demanding, but nonetheless rewarding because of the social network it has established for them with the staff and the positive response from the pupils. These results support the assumption that interaction that occurs in the classrooms in schools where there is granddad intervention provides opportunities for increased social capital to be generated on the part of both the younger and the older generation.     

Social-movement Unionism in Theory and in Sweden

Many union leaders and observers of unionism in industrially advanced countries have recently argued for stronger links between unions and social movements but their arguments leave the nature of social movements underspecified. This article reviews the literature on social movements and argues in favour of a minimalist theory of the social actor rather than choose between American and European approaches to studying social movements. Both Melucci's European approach and McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly's American approach to integrating the European and American schools of thought on social movements are inadequate to the task of specifying social-movement unionism. Hindess's minimalist theory of the social actor and articulated arenas of conflict offers a stronger approach to understanding social-movement unionism and appreciating its strategic pertinence in particular times and places. Two episodes of contention in Sweden illustrate the advantages of a minimalist theory of articulated social-movement unionism.     

Organizational Culture in Civic Associations in Russia

The organizational culture of nonprofit organizations is affected by the context in which they are embedded. Based on a qualitative study of local civic associations in Novosibirsk, Russia, this article illustrates how nonprofit organizational culture has been shaped by historical and contemporary social and cultural conditions. The fluid situation for civil society in Russia has generated varied organizational culture across nonprofits. Interview data reveal different value orientations, distinct group identities, and different images of the ideal civic association: as a social establishment, as an outlet for self-expression, as a network of experts, or as a social startup. This resulting diversity of organizational culture has implications for the potential for partnerships among nonprofits, between nonprofits and government, between nonprofits and businesses, and also for the organizational survival of nonprofits in this setting.     

Educating for difference in a Romany community in Spain: an exercise in integration

The marginalization of the Romany community in Spain, as elsewhere in the world, has its roots in a centuries‐old history of ethnic segregation. In response, the Romany community has come to feel intimidated and rejected. This has led to the establishment of communities on the outskirts of cities, generally with very poor living standards. In this paper I shall describe the social integration process of Romanies in one particular state school, presenting ethnographic information gathered in the course of fieldwork carried out within a project funded by the European Union on disruptive behaviour in contemporary schooling. A key focus in the project was the creation of a safe learning environment in schools, a matter of concern for all involved in education. Using participant observation and in‐depth interviews I was able to gather abundant ethnographic information on the school relating to the perceptions of students, families and teachers. Where informative, I also relate our findings to the existing anthropological literature on cultural differences and schooling.     

Transformations over Time in Generational Relationships in Africa

ABSTRACT

Generational transformations over historical time and space in Africa have featured a mixture of the “good” and the “bad.” The valuable interactions and relationships that endured in our traditional communities typify the good. The bad, on the other hand, is typified by the alterations that our cultures have witnessed as a result of profound and, sometimes, negatively influencing foreign contacts that have put in jeopardy whatever we had cherished in our generational relationships in the past. However, it is obvious that Africa cannot remain in the past in a globalizing and modernizing world. We live in the present, and therefore our peoples must engage in the deconstruction, reconstruction and transformation of whatever could help them maintain some degree of cultural development.     

An Essential Component in Promoting Sexual Health in Europe is Training in Sexology

ABSTRACT

Training programs for sexologists are core activities to promote higher professional standards in sexology and to educate a new generation of sexologists. The summary information from 25 European countries provides evidence that training in sexology consists today of different models. The existing different national training models in sexology in Europe are: (1) a medical model, (2) a clinical model integrating medical and psychological approaches, (3) separated education in clinical sexology and human sexology, (4) sex therapy model, (5) human sexuality model, and (6) the Nordic human sexology model. This information provides basis for future collaboration between training institutes in Europe.     

Visions and Revisions in Family Therapy in Africa

This paper reviews the changes that have taken place in the field of guidance given to the family in Africa in the last one hundred years. It distinguishes several eras in ideas about the family and ways of working with the family in Africa. It traces adaptations in both orientation and technique made by contemporary family therapists in Africa to respond to the changing needs and problems of today's African client family. The essay is restricted to the experience of family therapy in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding South Africa.     

Ethnic differences in neighbourly relations in urban China

Using data collected in Lanzhou, this paper examines the effect of minority ethnicity on neighbourly relations in China. It shows that the Hui as a whole express a higher level of satisfaction at relations with neighbours than the Han do. It also shows that the Hui advantage is removed with key background characteristics controlled. Finally, this paper shows intra-group variation among the Hui. These findings suggest that social status is a better predictor of neighbourly relations than the focus on inter-group contrast in traditionality in the existing scholarship of the Hui. Both inter- and intra-group variation in urban life must be examined to attain a more balanced picture of Hui Muslims in China.     

Ethnic Variation in Family Size in Urban China

Abstract

Using survey data (n = 1,715) collected in 2001, I examine Uygur-Han differences in family size in Urumchi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China. I show that Uygur ethnicity is a key predictor of family size in Urumchi. Employment in the state sector reduces the family size of Han Chinese. But it has no impact on Uygur Muslims. Married status is negatively associated with family size among the Uygurs but is not related to residence in a large household among the Han. I explain these contrasts with reference to the government preferential family planning policies for the Uygurs and the Han. These findings suggest that social status, ethnic culture, and government policy need to be combined to achieve a better understanding of ethnic families in China.