Masculinity and Sexual Violence: Assessing the State of the Field

Despite strong evidence that men perpetrate most acts of sexual violence, little is known about the factors that lead some men to commit such harmful acts. A growing body of feminist scholarship has begun to explore this question, although the disciplinary and geographic breadth of these studies has prevented the development of a cohesive research agenda. This literature review contributes to this task by reviewing the major theoretical contributions to the study of masculinity and sexual violence, detailing some of the ways in which sexual violence aids in the production of masculine individuals, groups, and states. Taken as a whole, we argue that this body of scholarship views sexual violence as a mechanism through which social constructions of masculinity are produced and reproduced, although the forms that this violence takes vary by context. We conclude with a discussion of some of the theoretical and empirical limitations of this research and consider the implications of these findings for public policy.     

The self-interview: a new method in social science research

This article presents the new method of self-interviewing as an empirical tool specifically for use in memory studies research. The article traces some of the empirical limitations specific to the field of memory studies and reviews the existing tools used in this area. It particularly focuses on some of the limitations of qualitative interviewing, the memory work method and diary methods in generating data on the processes of vernacular remembering at the same time as making visible the meaning that remembering has for participants in their everyday lives. We propose the self-interview as a method which addresses some of these limitations. In elaborating the value of the self-interview, we draw extensively on fieldwork that we have conducted using this method. Although the self-interview does not divest memory studies of the need for a range of other methods, the self-interview is an important addition to its currently rather sparse methodological tool kit.     

Dealing with death in an educational context

While empirical investigations and the development of theories for studying intercultural communication are important for developing our understanding of what happens when people of diverse backgrounds come together, equally important are records of specific instances of contact as these provide opportunities to reflect on what we know; to validate or question theories; to critically consider the decisions made by those involved as well as the kinds of decisions we might have taken had we been in that specific situation. This essay represents this latter type of contribution to the field of intercultural communication and intercultural education by presenting a snapshot of some personal experiences I had while living in Japan over a period of 18 years. The focal point of this essay relates to the tragic death of a student – an event that was pivotal in my own acculturation process. It then introduces some other experiences before relating these to some general issues concerning intercultural awareness and intercultural educational practice.     

A preliminary study of some broad disability related themes within the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the inspiration for this article which offers an initial consideration of some broad disability related themes (by disabled performers and by others). Comedy is covered in most detail with some concentration on a particular performer. Reference is made to other performance categories, such as drama, and to some influences from beyond the fringe. Disablism, othering and the freak show genre are amongst the themes which emerge from this exploration which includes consideration of whether disabled comedians can be disablist and whether disability equality legislation is impacting on what happens in performance. From the perspective of a disability aware audience member, unreconstructed disablism in comedy appeared to be fairly widespread within the fringe, mainly manifesting itself via the idle use of othering language such as the word ‘spaz’. This paper represents a snap shot from a huge and varied festival and is presented as a starting point which has inspired future deeper research.     

Journeying and the experiential gaze in research: Theorizing as a form of knowing

In this paper, we consider the implications of the ideas of journeying and the experiential gaze for research practice. We do so by drawing first upon Plato's allegory of the Cave as a representation of the journey of the philosopher to see reality, invisible and unknown, but constituting the underlying truth of what we experience through our senses. We use this as a metaphor for research as a journey of discovery. Recognizing that, for some, ancient philosophy may not provide the most convincing model for a consideration of research practice, we suggest that a parallel process is evident in the approach of the eminent British psychoanalyst, Wilfred Bion. We suggest that this metaphor offers a basis for understanding theorizing as a form of knowing that, while absent from a large proportion of modern scientific discourse, is again emerging in some recent developments in organizational research.     

Teasing Out the Lessons of the 1960s: Family Diversity and Family Privilege

The tumult of the 1960s brought new strains of cultural relativism. I survey the continuing impact of some of these strains on family studies, focusing especially on the study of family diversity as an offshoot of the relativistic project. A dominant discourse still drives much of our work, however, and I illustrate it with some recent examples. The diversity agenda is hampered too often by unintended erasures of large categories of people in nondominant family arrangements. As a corrective to this tendency, I propose an agenda to study family privilege and entitlement, that is, to treat it as a “social problem” much as we treat poverty or juvenile delinquency. I illustrate with my own narrative of how I learned privilege and entitlement growing up male in a White, Jewish, upper‐middle‐class family. I end with some recommendations about how we might bring this agenda into our research and writing.     

“The Role of the PSA in Graduate Student Training and Professional Development”

Attending and presenting at academic conferences can be an unnerving and formidable experience, especially for graduate students. In this essay, I describe some of my experiences as a graduate student, highlighting the benefits of attending and presenting at the Pacific Sociological Association annual conference and how this aided my professional development. I also provide some ideas for the Association to consider in their goal of improving the graduate student experience. Finally, I conclude with some recommendations for current graduate students attending the regional conference.     

Controlled Gambling for Pathological Gamblers

Despite its high prevalence, pathological gambling often remains untreated. It is estimated that only 10% of the pathological gamblers identified in prevalence studies will enter treatment. Within this small proportion, a high percentage will drop out. Despite the facts that some researchers argue against abstinence as the unique treatment goal and that regaining control appears to be possible for some pathological gamblers, abstinence has been the only treatment goal in most problem gambling interventions thus far. This paper examines the avenue of controlled gambling embedded in a harm reduction context as a viable solution for some pathological gamblers.     

Corporate Governance: Impulses from the Middle East

The sheer fact that the concept of Corporate Governance is not yet as widely spread in the countries of the Middle-East as in Western economies, may lead to our labelling, once again, this region as underdeveloped. The purpose of this article, however, is to lead the reader to let go of this Western perspective and to discover the distinctive impulses that the Arab-Muslim region has to offer for the further development of the human-social dimension of corporate governance, if not to ultimately transform it in such a “Middle-Eastern” light. We start then, in this article, by revealing some of the general limitations to corporate governance, before moving onto the specific impulses provided by the Muslim-Arab context. Islamic management is a new domain of knowledge that will be addressed in this paper to shed some light on how Islam can inform reform and transform the notion of corporate governance.      

巴基斯坦塔利班现象解析

巴基斯坦塔利班现象是地缘政治的产物,也是巴国内宗教极端主义和恐怖主义力量发展的一个历史阶段。塔利班在巴基斯坦的活动范围逐渐从部落区扩大到腹地的过程,一般被称为“巴基斯坦的塔利班化”,实际上它也是塔利班运动“巴基斯坦”化的过程。2007年12月组建的“巴基斯坦塔利班运动”（TTP）具有一些不同于阿富汗塔利班的特点,二者之间的关系更为复杂。TTP正在整合巴国内各类激进和极端主义组织,在使巴陷入困境的同时,孕育着新的地区政治变数。     

“Living Together” as a Developmental Phase: A Holistic View*

“Living together” is examined not simply as a new cultural variant or trial marriage but as the effort of some young adults, particularly on campus, to deal with several fundamental aspects of moving from childhood to adulthood, or an additional “rite de passage.” It seems that increasingly many young people are trying to deal with the tasks and marked discontinuity in our culture between childhood and adulthood by this new open arrangement. To evaluate and respond appropriately to this transitional solution, the adult community-college authorities, parents, counselors, and others-might find it helpful to view holistically the many developmental tasks which must be dealt with simultaneously during this process. So viewed, “living together” can be seen as a creative solution for some rather than as “moral disintegration.”     

Ayahuasca healing beyond the Amazon: the globalization of a traditional indigenous entheogenic practice

Ayahuasca commonly refers to a psychoactive Amazonian indigenous brew traditionally used for spiritual and healing purposes (that is as an entheogen). Since the late twentieth century, ayahuasca has undergone a process of globalization through the uptake of different kinds of socio‐cultural practices, including its sacramental use in some new Brazilian religious movements and its commodified use in cross‐cultural vegetalismo practices, or indigenous‐style rituals conducted primarily for non‐indigenous participants. In this article, I explore the rise of such rituals beyond the Amazon region, and consider some philosophical and political concerns arising from this novel trend in ayahuasca use, including the status of traditional indigenous knowledge, cultural appropriation and intellectual property. I discuss a patent dispute in Unites States and allegations of biopiracy related to ayahuasca. I conclude the article with some reflections on the future of ayahuasca drinking as a transnational sociological phenomenon.     

Childless and Bereft?: Stereotypes and Realities in Relation to ‘Voluntary’ and ‘Involuntary’ Childlessness and Womanhood

Drawing on my own personal and research experience and on the research of others I consider issues of definition, identity, support, and kinship in relation to lifecourse issues and the experience of 'voluntarily' and 'involuntarily' childless women. Motherhood is still considered to be a primary role for women and women who do not mother children (either biologically or socially) are often stereotyped as desperate or selfish. However, just as the experience of motherhood is complex and varied, so is the experience of nonmotherhood. Whereas some 'voluntarily' childless women define themselves as childfree and some 'involuntarily' childless women feel desperate some of the time, others are more ambivalent. In this article I draw on empirical work that considers the significance of ages and changes to the experience of nonmotherhood and that considers the particular and potential experience of older childless women. As well as demonstrating concerns and challenges, this work also suggests the need to challenge the caricature of the childless woman (and particularly the older childless woman) as bereft. In relation to this I extend my argument to consider both the myth that women who do not mother children of their 'own' always live a childfree life and critically evaluate the view that parenthood automatically leads to kinship support in old age.     

The adolescent overdose drama

The drama of the adolescent overdose is a daily feature of many hospital casualty or accident and emergency departments. The roles of some of the actors and some of the ploys involved in this drama are discussed. Labelling the adolescent as “overdose” or “drug abuser” does little justice to the complex factors involved in this personal and interpersonal crisis presentation. This is a drama in the growth through adolescence to maturity and separation from the family of origin.     

Managing our urban future: the role of remote sensing and geographic information systems

Urban growth is inevitable over the next two decades. The bulk of this growth will take place in less developed countries. This presents a formidable challenge for urban planners and managers. With this in mind, this paper considers some of the ways urban planners can make use of recent developments in remote sensing and geographic information systems technology to respond to this challenge. The discussion is divided into four sections. The first of these considers the nature of the tasks involved. The second examines the potential of remote sensing and geographic information systems to assist in these tasks in general terms. The third section presents some of the findings of three case studies of contrasting application areas in the urban planning field which give some insights as to how these tools can be used to respond to this challenge. The final section rounds off the discussion with a vision of sustainable urban development and its implementation at the local level.     

外地大学生留沪选择影响因素与思维过程分析

非沪籍大学毕业生留沪的影响因素主要可概括为社会因素、他人因素和自我因素。在社会因素中,发展机遇因素极大地促进了外地大学生作出留下的选择,而由于语言不通导致的交往困难却对留沪产生了较大的抑制作用。他人和自我因素则有比较明显的差异性,通过社会、他人、自我三条路径对非沪籍毕业生留沪选择的思维发展过程进行分析发现,这一过程是单向线型的,并且这种思维带有一定的可预判性。不同因素的合力作用引导了留沪思维的"走向"并最终决定受访者留沪或离沪。     

Latin American Migration to Spain: Main Reasons and Future Perspectives

Over the last two decades, Spain has evolved rapidly from a classic labour exporter to a labour importer. Until the 1930s Spain's migration history was predominantly marked by emigration to the Americas, and from the end of World War II until the early 1970s by emigration to some industrialized countries in Western Europe. For the first time in modern times, Spain is now the second country in the world with large‐scale immigration. Its strategic location, a relatively permissive immigration policy and economic opportunities derived from Spain's entry into the European Community have positioned this country as a major destination for immigrants. Additionally, since the mid‐1990s international migration in Spain has dramatically changed in origin composition. Despite the common perception of Africa as the most important source of immigration, some Latin American countries, in a very short time, have become some of the major sources of immigration to Spain; indeed, the term “Latin‐Americanization” has been coined to describe this process. This being so, the aim of this article is twofold. First, we examine the main reasons behind the extremely rapid increase of Latin American migration to Spain during the last decade. Then we briefly discuss some future perspectives.     

Recent State and Federal Developments in Protective Services and Elder Abuse

The area of adult protective services has changted a great deal over the last three decades. The model for some of the changes has come from child protective services as well as from the reforms in mental health civil commitment and guardianship. Additional attention is focused at the state and national levels to reform both the service system as well as the involuntary or court systems. This paper considers the legislative reforms and some of the policy research being done in this field.     

Living apart together

Traditionally, marriage has been the social institution for couples that have been together for a long period. Some decades ago a new social institution appeared in the Western world: non-marital cohabitation, although this was slower to be accepted in some countries than in others. Living Apart Together (LAT) relationships, are a new phenomenon which seems to have the potential of becoming the third stage in the process of social change. In contrast to couples in commuting marriages which have one household in common, couples living in LAT relationships have one household each. We discuss some data on the frequency of LAT relationships in Sweden and Norway as well as some varieties of the phenomenon. Our analysis suggests that the existence of cohabitation as a social institution, alongside marriage, is a necessary precondition for LATs to be recognised as a social institution. LAT relationships could not exist unless a preceding social institution of cohabitation also exists.