Through the looking glass: A decade of Red Cross crisis response and situational crisis communication theory

Crisis communication has emerged as a hot topic in public relations literature. However, little attention has been paid to nonprofit organizations (NPOs), one of the largest sectors of public relations practice. In particular, few studies have examined that the crisis response strategy NPOs can employ to repair their reputations. For the Red Cross and other NPOs, when faced with a crisis, communicating with their publics is critical to restore a positive reputation and, ultimately, to the continued success of the organization once the crisis has passed.     

Coming out in camouflage: A queer theory perspective on the strength,resilience, and resistance of lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender service members and veterans

ABSTRACT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) service members have made profound contributions to the U.S. military despite serving under anti-LGBT military policies. Little is known about their everyday acts of strength and resistance, which is vital information for developing strengths-based services. This article utilizes a queer theory framework to (a) discuss LGBT military contributions and anti-LGBT military policies, (b) explore three LGBT-specific military minority stressors, and (c) identify four strategies of strength and resistance used to manage an anti-LGBT military environment. Clinical suggestions are proposed for integrating military and LGBT identities and designing interventions that blend military and LGBT cultures.     

The Foreign in Mandel'shtam's Poetry at the Beginning of the 1930s. A Look Through the Prism of Translation

Abstract

Mandel'shtam's poetry reflects a feeling of alienation from his surroundings both as a poet, whose calling endows him with unique perceptiveness, and as a person crushed by the Soviet regime. This alienation is concretized in different ways: familiar places and scenes are estranged and distanced, foreign names and places are mingled with native loci, and direct references are made to an encounter with foreign elements.

This paper offers readings of two poems through their versions in translation. Since translation attempts to familiarize the foreign, much can be gathered from these versions about the nature of the foreign, or alien, elements in each poem. The first of them, 'He …' ('Don't tempt foreign languages …'), presents ambivalent emotions aroused by foreign speech. In the second poem '' ('I'm still far from patriarch …'), the speaker strolls through Moscow, where he feels a stranger and a native inhabitant at once. The translations indicate to what extent each text is felt to be foreign through the degree by which they mitigate and familiarize it. They also shed light on the poems in specific places. Finally, the popularity of a given poem in translation often indicates its universal appeal. Thus, the present study suggests the comparative examination of translations as a method of reading and interpreting poetry.     

Feminist social theory needs time. Reflections on the relation between feminist thought,social theory and time as an important parameter in social analysis1

This paper explores the relation between feminist concerns, social theory and the multiple time aspects of social life. It is suggested that while feminist approaches have been located in classical political philosophy, the same imposed classification has not occurred with respect to social theory perspectives. Rather than seeing this as an academic gap that needs filling, it was taken as an opportunity to take note of the wide variety of feminist approaches to methodological and theoretical issues and to relate these to concerns arising from a focus on the time, temporality, and timing of social life. It is argued that a feminist social theory, as an understanding of the social world through the eyes of women, is not only complemented by such a focus on time but dependent on it for an opportunity to transcend the pervasive vision of the ‘founding fathers’.     

Minority status and schooling—John U. Ogbu’s theory and the schooling of ethnic minorities in Europe

This paper discusses the relevance of John U. Ogbu’s cultural‐ecological theory regarding the variability in educational performance of different ethnic minority groups against the background of comparative data on the schooling of ethnic minorities in Europe. Aside from cultural differences and institutional barriers, it addresses the impact of minority group status and community forces on educational achievement. The author calls for more comparative ethnographic research in European countries in order to generate a better understanding of the similarities and differences in educational experiences between various ethnic groups.     

Surrendering the environment for capital gain and Olson’s group theory: A case study of the dissolution of housing co-operative societies in Hong Kong

This paper describes the rise of the co-operative housing of civil servants and its fall during the transition of Hong Kong from a British colony to a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. Olson’s group theory was adopted to explain the timing of the dissolution in a context of uncertainty in the property rights of land; the terms of civil service appointments; and the housing market. The size of the ownership body and the value of the land were evaluated as factors affecting dissolution decisions. It was found that in agreement with Olson’s theory, the number of members of the body had a statistically significant positive relationship with the life (between formation and dissolution) of the co-operative body. In addition, it was also found that factors that affected the opportunity cost of maintaining status quo, including the value of the land on which the co-op scheme sits and the real option value of redevelopment, had a significant impact on the timing of the dissolution of the co-op. The implications for using Olson’s theory were also discussed.     

A history of intellectuals and the demise of the new class: Academics and the U.S. government in the 1960s

Theory and Society -     

Health for immigrants and refugees in the 1990s. A comparative study in seven receiving countries

Health policies for immigrants implemented in seven receiving countries (France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, United States, and Canada) have been comparatively reviewed, taking into account the structure of the health system as well as immigration policy. Countries where immigrant communities have access to political representation, and whose health systems are comprehensive in scope and coverage, tend to have adopted specific health policies for immigrants, which, in turn, led to better access to health services and more information for planning and evaluation.     

The periodic table model of the gender transpositions: Part I. A theory based on masculinization and defeminization of the brain

Students of human sexuality have long tried to make sense of atypical masculinity, femininity, sexual object choice, gender identity, or clothing choice. In Part I of this paper, we propose a theory to organize and to make sensible most of the major facts about these gender transpositions—a periodic table model of the gender transpositions. People have neural substrates that have been subjected to particular combinations of two distinct biobehavioral processes: masculinization and defeminization. In our theory, we hypothesize that individuals exhibit behaviors reflecting particular degrees of masculinization and/or defeminization, at least probabilistically. Therefore, each sexological group is characterized by a distinct distribution of its members centered about one particular combination of the two. Many other facts about the gender transpositions, as well as about aspects of gender roles in typical men and women, then flow from the theory. We also consider the possible mechanisms of brain masculinization and defeminization—noting genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences.     

In pursuit of a living wage: The ethical and economic thought of father John A. Ryan from the late 1890s until the new deal

Abstract

Father Ryan frequently cited Pope Leo XIII's major encyclical, Rerum novarum (On the Condition of Labor) to lend the support of traditional Catholic social teaching to social and labor reform. Advocating “sane individualism,” Ryan was the first American to argue convincingly that employers were bound in strict justice to pay employees at least a living wage, and his ethical influence gained wide appeal due to his conservative yet fair‐minded approach to distributive justice. Ryan supported labor unions and economic planning as means to gain fair wages and stock ownership for all workers and emphasized income redistribution to reduce depressionary underconsumption.     

Book Review: A Generation Divided: The New Left,The New Right,and the 1960s. By Rebecca E. Klatch. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. 386 pages,paperback, ISBN: 0-520-21714-4

Qualitative Sociology -