Living a Calling,Life Satisfaction,and Workplace Climate Among a Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Population

Previous research on calling has resulted in a model that relates living a calling to life satisfaction through job satisfaction and life meaning. However, no research has examined this model in a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) population. With a sample of 171 sexual minority adults, the current study aimed to (a) test the fit of an established model of living a calling and life satisfaction and (b) examine how having a supportive LGB workplace climate functioned within this model. Results revealed an excellent fit of the model and that a supportive LGB workplace climate predicted both living a calling and job satisfaction. In addition, the relation of living a calling to life satisfaction was fully mediated by life meaning and job satisfaction, and the relation of climate to life satisfaction was mediated by job satisfaction. These results suggest an expansion of the potential utility of the calling construct to an LGB population.     

Sharing Health Services: Two Universities,a Seminary,and a Community

Abstract

“The Inverse Relation Between Fish Consumption and 20-Year Mortality From Coronary Heart Disease,” DAAN KROMHOUT, et al. The low death rate from coronary heart disease among the Greenland Eskimos has been ascribed to their high fish consumption. We therefore decided to investigate the relation between fish consumption and coronary heart disease in a group of men in the town of Zutphen, the Netherlands. Information about the fish consumption of 852 middle-aged men without coronary heart disease was collected in 1960 by a careful dietary history obtained from the participants and their wives. During 20 years of follow-up 78 men died from coronary heart disease. An inverse dose-response relation was observed between fish consumption in 1960 and death from coronary heart disease during 20 years of follow-up. This relation persisted after multiple logistic-regression analyses. Mortality from coronary heart disease was more than 50 per cent lower among those who consumed at least 30g of fish per day than among those who did not eat fish.

We conclude that the consumption of as little as one or two fish dishes per week may be of preventive value in relation to coronary heart disease. (New England Journal of Medicine 1985;312:1205–9.)

“Teaching Touch at Medical School,” JULES OLDER. The association between touch and healing is ancient and worldwide. Skilled hands are among the physician's most important diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Yet a survey of medical schools in the English-speaking world revealed that most offer no touch training in their curricula. Of 169 medical schools, only 12 give any formal instruction in the uses and meaning of therapeutic touch in medicine. The teaching modes of these 12 schools are discussed, and the program of the most touch-conscious school, the University of Otago, is described. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1984;252:931–3.)

“Tubal Infertility and the Intrauterine Device,” DANIEL W. CRAMER, et al. To study the association between intrauterine devices (IUDs) and pelvic inflammatory disease, we compared contraceptive histories in 4185 white women—283 nulliparous women with primary tubal infertility, 69 women with secondary tubal infertility, and 3833 women admitted for delivery at seven collaborating hospitals from 1981 to 1983. The relative risk of tubal infertility associated with IUD use was calculated by means of multivariate logistic regression to control for confounding factors, including region, year of menarche, religion, education, smoking, and reported number of sexual partners. The adjusted risk of primary tubal infertility associated with any IUD use before a first live birth was 2.0 (95 per cent confidence limits, 1.5 to 2.6) relative to nonuse. Users of the Dalkon Shield had an adjusted risk of 3.3 (1.7 to 6.1), users of the Lippes Loop or Saf-T-Coil had a risk of 2.9 (1.7 to 5.2), and users of copper IUDs had a risk of 1.6 (1.1 to 2.4). Women who reported having only one sexual partner had no increased risk of primary tubal infertility associated with IUD use. The adjusted risk of secondary tubal infertility associated with use of a copper IUD after a first live birth was not statistically significant (1.5; 95 per cent confidence limits, 0.8 to 3.0), whereas the risk from similar use of noncopper devices was significant (2.8; 1.3 to 5.9). We conclude that tubal infertility is associated with IUD use, but less so with copper IUDs. (New England Journal of Medicine 1985;312:941–7.)     

Questions of assertion,diversity, and spirituality: Simultaneously becoming a minority and a sociologist

The article describes the author’s entry into a second career as both a minority and a sociologist. At age 40, after retiring from a career in the military service, due to value and culture conflict experienced over a twenty-five year span, the author decided to return to the Native American values, religion, and, in part, culture, as taught to him by his traditional grandfather. He describes the conversion and draws analogies to three major theoretical dimensions of Native American victimization raised by Dadrian (1976). Culture conflict issues were confounded by personal conflicts concerning the very nature of assertion and competition, cultural diversity, and spirituality. The author describes his difficulty in dealng with such conflicts and, as an initial move to adapt to these stresses, purposes an extension of Merton’s (1938) five adaptations to stress. His research interests include police organizational behavior and Native American suicide patterns. He is on the Minority Committee for Native American Victimization.     

Patients' race, ethnicity, language, and trust in a physician

We examine whether racial/ethnic/language-based variation in measured levels of patients' trust in a physician depends on the survey items used to measure that trust. Survey items include: (1) a direct measure of patients' trust that the doctor will put the patient's medical needs above all other considerations, and (2) three indirect measures of trust asking about expectations for specific physician behaviors, including referring to a specialist, being influenced by insurance rules, and performing unnecessary tests. Using a national survey, we find lower scores on indirect measures of trust in a physician among minority users of health care services than among non-Hispanic white users. In contrast, the direct measure of trust does not differ among non-Hispanic whites and nonwhites once we control for potential confounding factors. The results indicate that racial/ethnic/language-based differences exist primarily in those aspects of patients' trust in a physician that reflect specific physician behaviors.     

Immigration,opportunity, and assimilation in a technology economy

Theory and Society - We examine access to institutions and opportunity for entrepreneurs in a rising tech economy. A significant proportion of entrepreneurs and CEOs of tech firms in the American...     

Leisure, recreation, and play from a developmental context

Participation in activities and experiences defined as play, recreation,and leisure has important developmental implications for youth. Elements and characteristics of leisure experiences contribute directly to the development of identity, autonomy, competence,initiative, civic duty, and social connections. Whether in informal or formal, appropriately structured and organized programs,leisure experiences can help facilitate adolescent development in these areas. For example, one of the defining elements of leisure is that it is characterized by free choice and self-determination. Programs that promote leadership, choice, autonomy, and initiative can help adolescents deal with developmental challenges associated with this age group. Leisure experiences can also promote civic engagement and provide important peer-to-peer, peer to-adult, and peer-to-community connections. The social context of leisure is important to adolescent development in that it provides opportunities to learn empathy, loyalty, and intimacy in their group activities, as well as to negotiate with peers, resolve conflict,and work together for communal goals. In addition, adolescents often report positive emotional experiences in leisure, which can serve as a relief from the stress they feel in other areas of their lives and contribute to positive psychological adjustment and well-being. A case study is used to show how planned, purposive programs can be used as critical components of efforts to contribute to adolescent development.     

Disintegration, recognition, and violence: a theoretical perspective

The literature explaining deviance, criminality, or violence offers a broad spectrum of approaches in criminology and sociology. Mostly the theories focus on specific levels of explanation like the macrolevel (for example, strain theories) or the microlevel (for example, self-control theory).This article presents a relatively new theoretical approach combining different levels and focusing on three dimensions associated with specific kinds of recognition: social-structural, institutional, and socioemotional. The social-structural dimension refers to access to the functional systems of society and the accompanying recognition of position, status, and so on. The institutional dimension concentrates on the opportunity to participate in public affairs with the aim of getting moral recognition. The socioemotional dimension emphasizes the quantity and quality of integration in and social support from families, friends, partners, and so on, which provide emotional recognition.The underlying idea is that lack of access, participation, and belonging causes a lack of recognition. When this happens, social and individual problems increase. Thus, deviant and violent behavior can be seen as one potential reaction to a lack of recognition and as a way to gain status and recognition in a different manner (for example, with a delinquent peer group or other gang).     

Spatial Syntagma and Identity of a Place: Sensing,Relating to,and Knowing a Place

Place is a complex and multi-dimensional system capable of embracing different uses, interpretations, and even various definitions. As a notion, place is composed of a series of narratives, characteristics, relations, and socio-spatial values that altogether can be regarded as the spatial syntagma of a place. The livelihood of a place is much dependent on its interrelated socio-spatiality, whereby people are not only part of a place but are mutually related to it; to shaping its happenings and forming its identities. In this study, the major focus is toward understanding place and people's environmental knowledge of place. Through this theoretical approach, this article aims to explore the concept of spatial syntagma on the basis of three major aspects of “sensing a place,” “relating to place,” and “knowing a place.” Moreover, this study aims to emphasize the notion of a place as a socio-behavioral network (or system) and verify characteristics, qualities, and the spirituality of a place.     

Noah: a story of peacebuilding,nonviolence, reconciliation,and healing

ABSTRACT

For years there has been a failure to show the relevance between the application of religious text within social work and the social sciences. This paper provides a functional framework on the reason for the separation between social sciences and religious studies and then uses the Genesis account of Noah and the flood to show how the two can be integrated for peacebuilding, reconciliation, and healing. The paper applies the Noah story to micro, mezzo, and macro applications of social work practice and concludes with a call for a deeper integration of religious text into social work practice.     

NGOs,gender, culture and multiculturalism: a Zimbabwean view

An African woman working for Oxfam in Zimbabwe considers the role of gender injustice in her own work and life. She has encountered discrimination among her colleagues, and she was introduced to the concept that women are inferior when she was in elementary school. When she worked as a nurse, she learned that oppression takes many forms and is maintained by social systems. Consequently, it is almost impossible to counter single-handed. Therefore, she undertook a program of study in adult education which emphasizes working within democratic frameworks in programs based on the concerns of the learners. This led her to realize that it is accepted that women are globally subordinate and that subordination is rooted in customs. Many women will, therefore, defend the injustice in their own lives by stating that it is "cultural." Whereas Northern activists may condemn a custom as barbaric and requiring immediate change, cultural change must progress gradually in order to give women the impetus to keep what is positive and reject what is negative in their cultures. This process of change can be fostered by popular education and by providing exposure to women who can act as role models. Popular education also takes multiculturalism into account and reveals the necessity to trust development workers. A multi-faceted approach is needed in order to challenge culture and promote social change.     

Temperature, routine activities, and domestic violence: a reanalysis

It was hypothesized that base rate differences in the number of complaints made during daylight and nighttime hours were responsible for a previously reported, nonlinear relationship between temperature and domestic violence. This hypothesis was tested by subjecting calls for service in 1987 and 1988 in Minneapolis, to moderator-variable regression analyses with controls for time of day, day of the week, season, and their interactions as well as linear trend, major holidays, public school closings, the first day of the month, and other weather variables. Temporal variables explained 75% of the variance in calls for service. As hypothesized, the base rate artifact was responsible for an apparent downturn in violence at high temperatures: Fewer complaints were received during afternoon hours, because they happen to be the warmest time of the day. The results were interpreted in terms of routine activity theory.     

Ceramide, stress, and a "LAG" in aging

Recent studies have implicated the longevity assurance gene LAG1 in ceramide synthesis. In light of a role for ceramide in yeast and mammalian stress responses and mammalian cellular senescence, important connections are emerging between ceramide and organismal aging. In this Perspective, we examine the evidence for these connections in yeast, Drosophila, and mammals, and speculate on their implications.     

Toward a Buddhist Sociology: Theories,Methods, and Possibilities

This article explores potential links between Buddhism and sociology, highlighting the many commonalities between sociology and Buddhism, with an emphasis on ways that Buddhist thought and practice may contribute to the field of sociology. What could Buddhism offer to our understanding of social institutions, social problems, and to the dynamics and possibilities for social change? The Four Noble Truths, central to Buddhist teachings, are explored in reference to their sociological theory applications. Finally, mindfulness practices that are endemic to Buddhism are explored as tools for sociologists to consider as they work reflexively, develop sociological insights, and pursue social justice.     

Punishment,inequality, and welfare: a public good experiment

This paper reports the results of an experiment that investigates the two-sided relationship between punishment and welfare. First, it contributes to the literature on the behavioral determinants of punishment by examining the role of relative income and income comparisons as a determinant of punishment in a two-stage public good game when inequality arises endogenously from the subjects’ behavior. Second, this paper investigates the impact of punishment on both absolute and relative incomes. We compare three treatments of our game. The Unequal Cost treatment replicates Fehr and Gächter (2000)’s experiment under a stranger matching protocol. The Equal Cost treatment is identical to the previous one except that the ratio between the cost of one punishment point to the punisher and its cost to the target equals one. The third treatment is similar to the second one except that a partner matching protocol is implemented in order to isolate strategic motives for punishment. Our results indicate that subjects punish even when they cannot alter the current distribution of payoffs. We also find that in all treatments, the intensity of punishment increases in the level of inter-individual inequality. Finally, despite its cost, punishment progressively improves welfare in association with a decrease in the aggregate level of inequality over time.