A cross‐cultural study of the phasic progression of self‐esteem in teen challenge

An attempt is made to analyze the effects of the Teen Challenge program in the self‐esteem of rehabilitants, and to determine if, indeed, any relationship exists. The importance of self‐esteem as a psycho‐social concept has emerged in recognition of man's needs for feelings of self‐worth. Central to this concept are the seminal formulations of White, Cooley, Coopersmith, Goffmann, and Harris. Additionally, Maslow's “hierarchy of needs” brings this concept into focus. Cooley notes that self‐concept emerges as a result of a series of interactions and appraisals of other people. The self‐concept, as it relates to self‐esteem, is also of major concern to the Teen Challenge program, the subject of this research. Teen Challenge is a therapeutic community seeking the resocialization of drug addicts, criminals, juvenile delinquents, prostitutes, alcoholics and other deviant types. This program is a three‐phase (orientation; training; re‐entry), one‐year residential program which uses the soteriological approach (conversation‐catharsis) as the starter‐mechanism to resocialization. According to a recent, federally funded, follow‐up study, 86 per cent of those who graduated from this program seven years previously had not recidivated. If indeed these statistics are valid, this would merit further research to determine variables significant to the resocialization process. This research assumes that self‐esteem is one such variable, though perhaps only one of many. It is further assumed that this would be low upon entry, and would progress consistently in a positive direction throughout one's stay in the program. Data was collected from centers in six different countries for a cross‐cultural comparison. To avoid contamination, all residents immediately upon entry into the Teen Challenge program in 1975 were tested using the Rosenberg “Self‐Esteem Scale.” Residents were tested again at the mid‐point of their stay using the S.E.S., and retested again when eligible for graduation one year later. Although an analysis of variance did not indicate a consistant increase in self‐esteem as hypothesized, low scores upon induction zoomed up in phase one, dipped slightly during the second phase, then resumed their climb in phase three, reaching an apex at the time of graduation. The over‐all trend for all centers, however, from low to high was highly significant. These results have heuristic potential.     

Telephone communication with children as part of the self‐care arrangement: A research note

Children in self‐care (latchkey) arrangements have been portrayed as a population at risk, and this has recently led to research investigations, social policy discussions, and legislative proposals. This study examines selected characteristics of mother, child, and family, and the amount of time children spend in self‐care, for their influences on the use of the telephone to communicate with children in self‐care. The analysis builds on earlier studies that indicate the importance of time, child's age, and mother's employment for understanding the growing phenomenon of self‐care. The results of multiple regression analyses are presented and discussed. As expected, the age of the child is the most important variable in predicting the length of time spent in self‐care. The age of the child and the length of time spent in self‐care are the strongest predictors of telephone communication with children in self‐care arrangements.     

Tattoo Narratives: The intersection of the body,self‐identity and society

Drawing upon Frank's (1995) discussion of the personal and social aspects of embodied storytelling, this paper considers the tattoo as a form of visual communication created within a multiplicity of contexts. Based on in‐depth interviews with eight tattooed men and women, the focus of this article is the stories that these individuals tell about their tattoos. I argue that the tattooed body is a distinctively communicative body. It has a great deal to say, not only about the identity of the wearer, but also about the culture in which she lives. I conclude with some reflections on examining the tattoo as a conceptual latchkey—a tool that may enable researchers to begin to unlock the complicated relationship between the body, self‐identity and society.     

Contraceptive self‐efficacy: A perspective on teenage girls' contraceptive behavior

This research investigated the relationship between the social‐psychological theory of self‐efficacy and teenage girls' contraceptive behavior. Data were obtained from 258 female clients, aged 20 or younger, of a family planning clinic. Four factors were extracted from the contraceptive self‐efficacy (CSE) scale developed for this investigation. Regression analyses were used to determine whether CSE scores distinguished patterns of contraceptive use when the effects of the influential demographic, sexual experience, and psychosocial variables were controlled. Two of the four CSE factors contributed significantly new information in accounting for the variance in the contraceptive use measure, semipartial R = .26, semipartial R² (4, 163) = .07, p < .01. The relationship between study variables and the four CSE factor scores were examined in a canonical correlation analysis to understand better the characteristics of the contraceptively self‐efficacious teenager. The results support the proposition that girls with a high CSE orientation think that they should and can be responsible for their sexual activity and act accordingly to achieve contraceptive protection. Girls with a low CSE orientation may be ineffective contraceptors, because they experience conflict regarding their strong sexual feelings and activities. Implications for interventions are discussed.     

A review of enabling factors in support intervention programmes for early school leavers: What are the implications for Sub-Saharan Africa?

One of the major problems facing education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa is the phenomenon of young people who leave school before completion. Research has shown that this phenomenon disadvantages young people and exposes them to various forms of social exclusion. Accordingly, there have been increasing calls for the scaling up of support intervention programmes for young people who leave school early. This paper analyses literature on support intervention programmes for early school leavers (ESLs) to identify enabling factors that can be promoted in future or in current less effective interventions. The review revealed that programmes that address the multiple disadvantages and needs of young people through flexible, holistic and intensive support approaches tend to be more attractive and beneficial to the participants. The findings from this review are crucial to policy makers and teachers working in support intervention programmes for ESLs.     

Historical writing on migration into the commonwealth Caribbean: A bibliographical review of the period c.1838‐c.1938

For almost a century after slave emancipation in the Commonwealth Caribbean a steady stream of immigrants entered the colonies, from such diverse places as India, Africa, Europe, China, North America, Syria and Lebanon. Historical scholarship on these migrants has concentrated heavily on the Indians, while almost completely neglecting the Syrian/Lebanese. Moreover, the main emphasis has been on the economic roles of the migrants within the dominant plantation sector. Recently, however, increasing attention has been focused on the non‐plantation sectors, while interesting and scholarly work is also emerging on the socio‐cultural aspects of immigrant society. Much research still needs to be done on migrants into the smaller Caribbean islands. Although small in number by comparison with those migrating to Guyana and Trinidad, a knowledge of their roles in and adaptation to their host societies will help us to understand more fully the impact of post‐emancipation migration on the Commonwealth Caribbean.     

The domination of the national category: A review of some recent studies on (im)migration and nation‐building

Rogers Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1992). Pp.270. ISBN 0 674 13177 0

Gérard Noiriel, Le creuset français. Histoire de l'immigration XIXe‐XXe siècles (Paris: Seuil, 1988). Pp.437. ISBN 2 02 010104 7

Gérard Noiriel, La tyrannie du national. Le droit d'asile en Europe 1793–1993 (Paris: Calmann‐Levy, 1991). Pp.355. ISBN 2 7021 1980 8

Leslie Page Moch, Moving Europeans: Migration in Western Europe since 1650 (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1992). Pp.257. ISBN 0253 33859 X     

Determinants of sexual arousal and the accuracy of its self‐estimation in sexually functional males

Men with and without sexual dysfunction present with varying patterns of agreement between subjective estimates of sexual arousal and more objective psychophysiological measures of the same construct. This relative accuracy seems to be associated with sexual function, with men who have sexual dysfunction presenting less accurate estimations (mostly reporting below measured arousal levels). The purpose of this study is to clarify the processes underlying sexual arousal and the accuracy of its self‐estimation. We looked at potential predictors of sexual arousal (subjective and physiological) and accuracy in estimating objective sexual arousal in a sample of 60 sexually functional males. Predictors included pre‐existing sexual attitudes (erotophobia), both trait and state positive and negative affect, self‐focused attention, and interoceptive awareness. Results indicate that this sexually functional sample generally reported below their own erection level. Interestingly, trait negative affect was associated with somewhat lower levels of subjective arousal and higher levels of physiological arousal. On the other hand, state positive affect facilitated both subjective and objective arousal and increased somewhat the accuracy of estimates of erectile responding. Pre‐existing sexual attitudes as well as variations in self‐focused attention and interoceptive awareness evidenced little effect on sexual arousal or the accuracy of its estimation.     

A trembling voice in the desert: Jean‐Luc Nancy's rethinking of the space of the political

Abstract

This essay explores Jean‐Luc Nancy's rethinking of political space in terms of an ontological ‘being‐with’. It elucidates how Nancy's thinking of community emerges out of the French philosopher's reworking of Heidegger's crucial notion of Mitsein. For Nancy, although Heidegger argues that Dasein is always already also Mitsein, Mitsein is nonetheless also occluded by the priority accorded to Dasein. The consequences for the way in which community or the space of the political is configured are profound since traditional conceptions of the subject of community thus remain unreconstructed. Nancy however does reconstruct community by emphasising that the primal ontological conditions of community are not conceived as the One, the Other or the We, but as the ‘with’, ‘relationality’, and the ‘between’. The question of being (Seinsfrage) thereby becomes the question of being‐with (Mitseinsfrage).     

Urban development programming: The problem of federal involvement and self‐evaluation

One government social service program that has been affected by the recent shift in political philosophy is the Urban Development Action Grant program (UDAG). Operated since 1977 by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), UDAG is intended to facilitate the creation of new employment opportunities in economically distressed areas. Awarded by the federal government to local public officials, UDAG funds are allocated to encourage private investment for industrial growth and expansion. These financial incentives, it is argued, serve as a catalyst for new employment opportunities created to assist the poor and the unemployed.

In the context of a cost‐benefit analysis, however, the UDAG program may be an example of fiscal extravagance and administrative malfeasance. Three UDAG case studies reported offer a sample of federally subsidized UDAG industrial projects. Discussion of these projects is intended as a partial analysis of the UDAG program. Other issues addressed include the role of federal officials in the UDAG monitoring process, the effectiveness of UDAG in creating new jobs, and the criteria employed by government officials to evaluate the UDAG program.     

‘Quality’ contact post-separation/divorce: A review of the literature

Concern with the impact on children of discontinued parent-child relationships following parental separation or divorce has resulted in a depth of empirical knowledge in the maintenance of those relationships through the medium of ‘contact’. While research consistently demonstrates that post-separation/divorce parenting arrangements work best when they are informally arranged between two parents who are committed to making those plans work in the interests of their children, the emotive nature of the separation/divorce experience for many families may demand formal and legal regulation. Research with families involved in post-separation/divorce contact fails to identify a solitary magic ingredient that makes contact work or not work; rather a wide range of factors which operate interactively, interdependently and dynamically, with the attitudes, actions and interactions of the key family players shaping contact and determining its quality. This paper provides a critical review of the international literature on post-separation/divorce contact, identifying and reflecting on the key ingredients or factors central to the successful occurrence of ‘quality contact’. Drawing on the literature reviewed, a framework consisting of four separate yet interrelated layers is presented in order to both identify and explore these dynamic factors that quality contact is dependent upon.     

Joint Assessment in Inter‐professional Education: A Consideration of Some of the Difficulties

This paper examines one effort to jointly assess nurses and social workers where professional as well as academic qualifications were at stake. It chronicles an attempt in a Scottish university to integrate assessment of a multi‐disciplinary academic course with assessment within the existing post qualifying framework for social work. In setting up a new course the assessment strategy was designed to meet both the course learning outcomes and the requirements of the Post Qualifying Award for social work. In looking at the tensions between different academic disciplines it is, perhaps, not surprising that this attempt at assessment across professional boundaries ran into difficulties. The context of the assessment issue and the different mechanisms used in repeated attempts to resolve the problems are examined. The tentative conclusion is that, while the inter‐professional education process is highly valued by students, there are tensions between the academic and practice assessment requirements, between different academic traditions and between understandings of reflection and how it is assessed. Mutual trust and understanding are essential to the development of inter‐professional education, including an accreditation system which is flexible enough to meet a range of needs.     

Mediating self‐hood: exploring the construction and maintenance of identity by mothers of children labeled with autism spectrum disorder

Based on the findings of a qualitative study, this article describes how mothers of children labeled with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) mediate for their children in interactions with those who are unfamiliar with ASD. Data were collected through in‐depth interviews and participant observations. Findings indicate that mothers mediate for their children because they perceive hostility and lack of accommodation for their children on the part of unfamiliars. As they mediate, mothers attempt to construct and maintain positive identities for their children by explaining and reframing their children’s behaviors to influence the interpretations and responses of unfamiliars. I argue that in these interactions mothers function as proxy selves for their children because they are attempting to influence the perceptions others develop of their children, thus shaping their children’s social identity in the process. The findings of this study demonstrate the active, interpretive role that many mothers of children with autism play as they continually sort and assess information in order to determine what is in the best interests of their children. Further, the findings presented here demonstrate the social nature of self‐hood and identity, that all people involve others in the performance of their self‐hood. In this way and others, people labeled with ASD have much in common with those considered normal.     

‘A frog in a well’: the exclusion of disabled people from work in Cambodia

Based on ethnographic research conducted in north‐west Cambodia in 2000–2001, this paper examines why disabled people experience systematic marginalisation in the labour market. Although there are no official data on the relationship between disability and employment status in Cambodia, this research suggests that disabled people are more likely than their able‐bodied counterparts to be unemployed, in low status occupations, earn less or be out of the labour market altogether. Consequently, disabled people are more likely to live in poverty, experience social isolation and poor mental health. I argue that disabled people’s social status effectively shapes their work patterns through (mis)conceptions that associate ‘disability’ with ‘inability’ to work and to be employable. This paper illustrates how geographical processes fix disabled people in their socio‐spatial place, which together with ideological and structural inequalities distinguish and entrench their poverty from that of other social groups.     

Socio‐cultural correlates of incidence of impotence: A cross‐cultural study

Data on the social structural characteristics, sexual attitudes and sexual practices of thirty preindustrial and industrializing societies are examined in an attempt to identify some of the major sociological (as opposed to purely psychological) correlates of impotence. Results suggest two major conclusions: First, socio‐cultural characteristics are clearly related to the incidence of impotence reported across societies; second, among the variables investigated those reflecting the degree of a society's sexual restrictiveness were most predictive of incidence of impotence.     

The social science of biographical life‐writing: some methodological and ethical issues

The enterprise of biography inhabits a liminal world at the intersections of fact and fiction, (social) science and art, objective narrative and personal life story. While social scientists write, use and are the subjects of, biographies, there is relatively little discussion in the methodological literature as to the nature of biography as a form of life‐writing. This paper discusses some of the issues of method and of ethics and reflexivity encountered during the research and writing of a biography of the prominent social scientist Barbara Wootton (1897–1988). It considers questions of consent and responsibility, the ‘triangulation’ of data derived from different sources (e.g. interviews, archives, autobiographical accounts; letters, published work and references to, and about, it), the relationship between biographer and biographee, the legitimacy of links between the private and the public, and issues of ‘bias’ and interpretation in the production of biographical narrative.