Reviews and abstracts

Brecher, Edward M. The Sex Researchers. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1969. xxiv & 354 pp.

Davajan, Val, Robert Nakamura and Khalil Kharma. Spermatozoan Transport in Cervical Mucus. Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey, 25: I, January 1970.

P. H. Gebhard, J. Raboch and H. Giese. Die Sexualität der Frau. (Female Sexuality.) Hamburg. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, No. 8001, 1968. 157 pp.

Frahm, H. Empfängnisverhütung. (Birth Control). Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, No. 8003, 1968, 126 pp.

Giese, Hans (ed.) Die sexuelle Perversion. Frankfurt a.M.: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft. Akademische Reihe. 1967.

Population Council, The Studies in Family Planning. U.S.S.R.: Views on Population/Family Planning. Nr. 49, January 1970.

Masters, William H., M.D. and Johnson, Virginia E. Human Sexual Inadequacy. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1970. 450 pages. $12.50

Neubeck, Gerhard: (Ed.) Extramarital Relations. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1969. 205 pages. Price $2.45.

Pomeroy, Wardell B.: Girls and Sex. Delacorte Press, New York, 1969. 159 pages. Price: $4.50.

Sagarin, Edward. Odd Man In. Societies of Deviants in America. Chicago, Ill.: Quadrangle Books. 1969. 286 pages. Price §6.95.

Siecus (Compiled and edited by). Sexuality and Man. Introduction by Mary S. Calderone, M.D. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970. xii & 239 pp.     

Reviews and abstracts

Felstein, Ivor. Sex and the longer life. London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press. 1970. pp. 143, $4.95.

Gallino, Tilde Giani. Il sesso e l'adolescente (Sex and the adolescent). Torino, Italy: Ediscientifica S.F.A. Settore Editoriale, 1971. Student text 103 pp. 2500 lire. Instructor's manual 60 pp. 2000 lire.

Greenwald, Harold and Ruth Greenwald (Eds.). The Sex‐Life Letters, Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher, Inc. 1972, Distributed by Crown Publishers, Inc., N.Y. XXV & 436 pp.

Kuiper, P. C., M.D. The Neuroses. A Psychoanalytic Survey. New York: International Universities Press, 1972. 261 pages. $9.00.

Lieberman, Bernhardt (Ed.). Human Sexual Behavior—A Book of Readings. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1971. 444 pages.

Martin, Del and Phyllis Lyon. San Francisco, California: Glide Publications, 1972. 283 pp; hardcover $7.95.

Neubardt, Selig, M.D. and Harold Schulman, M.D. Techniques of Abortion. Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Co. 172 pages. $11.50.

Orth, Penelope. An Enviable Position. New York: David McKay Co., 1972. 303 pages. $7.95.

Zatuchini, Gerald I. (Ed). Post‐partum Planning: A Report on the International Program. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1970. XXX and 477 pp.     

Reviews and abstracts

This study examines leading explanations for unsafe sex in light of in‐depth interviews with 102 high‐risk gay and bisexual men in Toronto to see how well they engage with the social circumstances and reasoning processes of men in their sexual relationships. We argue that there is an inadequate fit between some of the leading explanations and the discursive accounts provided by high risk men themselves. Their accounts focus on unsafe sex occurring as a resolution to condom and erectile difficulties, through momentary lapses and trade offs, out of personal turmoil and depression, and as a byproduct of strategies of disclosure and intuiting safety. This study examines, in particular, the circumstances and rationales associated with men who identify their practices as “barebacking.” We conclude with recommendations for communicating prevention messages to those most at risk based on the self‐understandings of gay and bisexual men who most frequently practice unprotected sex.     

Reviews and abstracts

Robert W. Ewer, M.D.; John B. Kelly, M.D., and Margery W. Shaw, M.D.: Surgical and Hormonal Therapy of Adult Female Intersex. Rationale in a Case with Erroneous Sex Assignment. Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 112, Sept. 1963.

Phillys and Eberhard Kronhausen: The Sexually Responsive Woman. Grove Press, New York, 1964. 255 pgs. Price $5.95.

Ira L. Reiss (State University of Iowa): Premarital Permissiveness among Negroes and Whites. Am. Sociol. Review, 29: 5, Oct. 1964.

Jerome M. Schneck, A.B., M.D. (ed.): Hypnosis in Modern Medicine (Third Edition). Charles C Thomas, Springfield, Ill., 1963.     

Faculty abstracts

Background. The Aging Males' Symptoms scale (AMS) is an internationally used scale to analyse health related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this paper is to provide evidence that the Nigerian AMS scale measures HRQoL with similar accuracy as in other language versions. We also intended to show the severity of complaints of aging in males in advanced old age. More generally, we aim to demonstrate that the Nigerian AMS scale is an applicable, validated, sensitive instrument to measure HRQoL in Nigeria.

Material. We performed a representative survey in Nigeria to get data of the AMS scale in a group of males in old age. The survey was a household-based population sample conducted in March 2006. The Nigerian data were compared with existing data from other European countries. Only community-based data were used for this comparison.

Results and discussion. The internal structure of the AMS (factorial analysis) was sufficiently similar with the comparison group of other countries in Europe to conclude that the scale really measures the same phenomenon. The sub-scores and total score correlations were high (0.8–0.9) but lower among the sub-scales (0.4–0.8). This suggests that the domains are not fully independent. The reliability (consistency) was found to be good and almost identical with European countries.

Mean scores of the Nigerian AMS did systematically differ from data of other European studies. There were much higher because of older age. The same applies for the population reference values obtained in Nigeria. It is the first time that population norm values are available for very old age.

Conclusion. The Nigerian AMS scale is a standardized HRQoL scale that showed good psychometric characteristics (reliability, validity) similar to other international versions. We suggest that the results obtained with the Nigerian AMS scale should be used preliminarily as reference for ‘norm values’ for highest age, i.e. in absence of other data. Confirmation in future studies is needed.     

Speaker abstracts

Purpose: There is no consensus on possible benefits and risks of testosterone supplementation. Here we review various controlled studies of testosterone supplementation in aging males.

Methods: We performed a PubMed search using the terms “testosterone/therapeutic use” with the limits “>65 years of age”, “randomized controlled clinical trials”, and “male gender”, starting in 1999.

Results: Forty-three articles have been published since 1999. Some of these studies also included patients in middle-age or younger. Findings reported in these articles were not entirely consistent. After weighting studies by the number of patients, hints are found that testosterone supplementation increases bone mass, lean body mass, muscle mass and hematopoiesis, and improves sexual functioning and perhaps mood, but does not affect serum lipids, cardiovascular parameters, prostate-specific antigen level, or cognition. Considering studies including only men older than 65 years, and in which testosterone supplements were compared with placebo treatment, slightly different results are obtained. In these patient groups, testosterone does not improve sexual function or mood.

Conclusion: The overall benefit of testosterone supplementation for the aging male remains unclear. Any supplementation in men with age-normal testosterone levels only on grounds of subjective symptoms is not advisable.     

Journal abstracts

Abstract

Clinical social work journal, spring 1983, vol.22, no.1

Seari, Carolyn “On the place of reality in social work and psychoanalytic theory” (Abstracted by Frances Chase)

Clinical Social Work Journal Spring 1983, Vol.11, No.1

Weber, Susan B. “On women in therapy and women as therapists” (Abstracted by Frances Chase)

Clinical Social Work Journal, Spring 1983, Vol.11, No.1

Poncelet, Noelle M. “A family systems view of emotional disturbance during pregnancy” (Abstracted by Frances Chase)

Clinical Social Work Journal, Summer 1983, Vol.11, No.2

Smaldino, Angelo From action to reflection: new depths in psychotherapy with drug addicts (Abstracted by Frances Chase)

Changes, 1984, Vol.2, No.3, pp.76–79

Langley, Dorothy Metaphor in the search for self (Abstracted by Jill Hopkins)

Family Process, 1983, Vol.22, No.4

Cooklin, A., Miller, A.C., McHugh, B. “An institution for change: developing of a Family Day Unit.” (Abstracted by Robin Piper)

Family Process, 1983, Vol.22, No.4

Sluzki, C.E. “Process, structure and world views - toward an integrated view of systemic models in family therapy”. (Abstracted by Robin Piper)

International Child Welfare Review, December 1983, No.59

Fuente, Amando Vega “The maladjusted child is powerless in the face of drugs” A survey carried out in a juvenile remand centre and reformatory in Spain, amongst 50 children (Abstracted by Veronica Piercy)

International Child Welfare Review, June 1984, No.61

Traber, J. “A special being, doing a special job in a special place - a fresh look at the institutional talcing into care of children and adolescents” (Abstracted by Veronica Piercy)

Journal of Family Therapy, 1984, Vol.6, No.2

Lau, Annie “Transcultural issues in family therapy” (Abstracted by Leonard Davis)

Journal of Family Therapy, 1984, Vol.6, No.2

O'Hagan, Kieran “Family crisis intervention in social services” (Abstracted by Leonard Davis)

Journal of Family Therapy, 1984, Vol.6, No.1

Campion, Jean Psychological services for children: using family therapy in the setting of the school psychological service (Abstracted by Leonard Davis)

Social Casework, November 1983, 64, pp.561–5

Rosenfeld, J. M. and Krim, A. “Adversity as opportunity: urban families who did well after a fire” (Abstracted by Jona Rosenfeld)

International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, 1983 Vol.4, No.3

Munich, R.L. “Suicide on an inpatient unit: a sociotherapeutic view” (Abstracted by Leonard Davis)

International Journal of Therapeutic Communities 1983, Vol.4, No.4

De Leon, G. “The next therapeutic community: autocracy, and other notes toward integrating old and new therapeutic communities” (Abstracted by Leonard Davis)

International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, 1984, No.l, Vol.4, pp.25–37

Bell, M. D. and Ryan, E. R. “The therapeutic community meeting: theory and technique” (Abstracted by Leonard Davis)

International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, 1984, Vol.4, No.l, pp.6–24

Lees, J. D. and Manning, N. “Problems in the psychology of personality and environment, and some Marxist solutions” (Abstracted by Leonard Davis)