The Epileptic: A Study in Status-Role Relationships

The status-role of the epileptic in the United States and elsewhere is such that he is handicapped in gaining employment and education. In fact, it is not epilepsy per se which prevents epileptics from adequately participating in our society, but the beliefs about epilepsy. These beliefs have a long history and are derived from ancient and mythical sources. They have no validity in the light of medical advances made in this field over the past thirty years. Hence it is now necessary to give epileptics those educational and vocational opportunities which others have and of which epileptics have been unjustly deprived.     

Disability as Moral Experience: Epilepsy and Self in Routine Relationships

This paper draws on depth interview data from an availability sample of 80 people with epilepsy to examine the moral experience of disability (cf. E. Goffman, 1959, "The Moral Career of the Mental Patient," Psychiatry, 22 , 123–135). This concept directs attention to how those who live in the social world of epilepsy, and of disability more generally, define themselves and others in both positive and negative ways. Most discussions of the moral aspects of disability turn on the concept of stigma, and epilepsy certainly is a prime area for such study. This paper, however, focuses on the consequences of disability for the distribution of work and responsibility in routine, everyday relationships and how, in turn, this affects the way people see, think about, and feel about themselves. Particular attention is given to family, parental, and employment relationships. The paper raises the question, If disability is a social construction and has such costs, how can we best construct it for all concerned?     

The Effects of Animals on Human Health and Well-Being

Substantial sums of money are invested annually in preventative medicine and therapeutic treatment for people with a wide range of physical and psychological health problems, sometimes to no avail. There is now mounting evidence to suggest that companion animals, such as dogs and cats, can enhance the health of their human owners and may thus contribute significantly to the health expenditure of our country. This paper explores the evidence that pets can contribute to human health and well-being. The article initially concentrates on the value of animals for short- and long-term physical health, before exploring the relationship between animals and psychological health, focusing on the ability of dogs, cats, and other species to aid the disabled and serve as a "therapist" to those in institutional settings. The paper also discusses the evidence for the ability of dogs to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of specific chronic diseases, notably cancer, epilepsy, and diabetes. Mechanisms underlying the ability of animals to promote human health are discussed within a theoretical framework. Whereas the evidence for a direct causal association between human well-being and companion animals is not conclusive, the literature reviewed is largely supportive of the widely held, and long-standing, belief that "pets are good for us."     

Mothers' Representations of Relationships with their Children: Relations with Parenting Behavior, Mother Characteristics, and Child Disability Status

Representational models of mother-child relationships were assessed through interview for 112 mothers of children ages 14 to 52 months. Fifty-eight (51.8%) children had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, 19 (17%) were diagnosed with epilepsy, while the remaining 35 (31.3%) had no diagnosis. Relations were examined between dimensions of representations (compliance, achievement, secure base, enmeshment, worry, pain) and maternal age, education and stress; diagnostic group and child developmental status; and mother's behavior with the child in a problem-solving task. Mothers for whom boundary violations were represented were also less focused with child achievement and experienced more worry and pain in the relationship. More severe disability status was associated with less compliance and more pain in representations. Longer time since diagnosis was positively correlated with painful representations. Representations were unrelated to child gender, child age, maternal education or age, or parenting stress. With educational level controlled, mothers' support for the child and positive affect in a problem-solving task were negatively related to representations of worry about the child's future. Boundary concerns were predictive of mothers' pressuring behavior in the problem-solving task. Findings suggest representations are related to caregiving behavior apart from other maternal characteristics, and that mothers' representations reflect variability in their children.     

Moving The Mentally Ill Into The Community: The Problem Of Acceptance And The Effect Of Contact

Community acceptance of the mentally ill is fundamental to a successful change to community-based care, now being implemented in New South Wales. This policy was based on an inquiry that viewed acceptance optimistically and postulated that contact with the mentally ill would be a favourable influence. The applicability of this extension of the ‘contact hypothesis’ from its original racial context is tested in one area of Sydney. The results indicate that the type of contact arising from community mental health facilities is not an effective catalyst of relevant attitude change, and suggest particular difficulties among the lower two socioeconomic classes.     

The Individualism-Holism Problem in Sociological Research

This paper treats the problem of which type of units, individuals or whole societies, should be used when explaining societal phenomena. It is argued that factors operating at the individual level in principle form societies, and that societal phenomena therefore should ideally be explained at this level. However, it is also argued that many societal phenomena cannot in practice be analyzed at the individual level in a clear and strict way, but rather must be analyzed holistically, because it is not known how they are related to individual factors due to the complexity of societies. For societies to be described and analyzed in a clear and strict way, they must as a rule be much simplified, and such simplification is often made easier by abandoning the individualistic perspective. If researchers still wish to describe a connection between individual factors and a societal phenomenon, they often must do so in vague terms. There are also other problems with the individualistic perspective that make it difficult to use. However, using the holistic perspective may be risky, as shown by two hypothetical examples.     

The Client, The Caseworker and The Absent Third Person

Summary Some people seek social work help with problems that have arisenin their relationships with others to whom they are very closeand by whom they feel betrayed, attacked or maltreated. Often,so great are the distress and force with which the problem isbrought, the social worker may find himself drawn to acceptas substantially accurate the client's view of the situationand to act accordingly. This article argues that such a lineof action may be misguided or even harmful, and that help canonly be effective in the situations described if it has as oneof its basic assumptions the notion that the picture conveyedof 'the absent third person' has more connection with the client'sown inner needs than with anyone else     

The Psychologic of Implication

This paper is a preliminary inquiry into the nature of implication; how things are seen as 'going together' or following one from another. The argument presented here is that implication is non-logical and is central to the routine process of reason, induction and generalization. The organizing force underlying implication and practical inference is argued to be Von Domarus' Principle (VDP), by which similarity on some dimension of interest 'carries over' to some other dimension of interest.
One major difficulty with this formulation is that where VDP is the only organizing force, incoherent utterances resembling the word salad of the schizophrenic are likely to result, quite a departure from the routine utterances of normals that a useful model should generate. Two important ways that normal speech and word salad differ are that, in the latter, associations are, first, often implausible or bizarre, and second, they are likely to be so personalistic as to be virtually inaccessible to others.
These considerations led to a search for elements that would provide the corrections necessary to bring the products of a VDP based model of implication close to normal utterances in these two areas. One element that appears central, concerns the role of subjective probability in evaluating plausibility of associations. Also considered are aspects of ambiguities in ordinary language especially concerning number and probability. The problem of making associations accessible to others is mitigated by providing elements in the setting or the communication itself that act to highlight or salience the association intended to be communicated. Finally, suggestions for further research are presented.     

The chain store paradox

The chain store game is a simple game in extensive form which produces an inconsistency between game theoretical reasoning and plausible human behavior. Well-informed players must be expected to disobey game theoretical recommendations.The chain store paradox throws new light on the well-known difficulties arising in connection with finite repetitions of the prisoners dilemma game. Whereas these difficulties can be resolved by the assumption of secondary utilities arising in the course of playing the game, a similar approach to the chain store paradox is less satisfactory.It is argued that the explanation of the paradox requires a limited rationality view of human decision behavior. For this purpose a three-level theory of decision making is developed, where decisions can be made on different levels of rationality. This theory explains why insight into the rational solution of a decision problem does not necessarily mean that the corresponding course of action will be taken.     

The Japanese Touch

ABSTRACT

Touch, as it is conventionally conceived, appears to be lacking in everyday Japanese intimate relationships. Here, the “touching spaces” between Japanese people are explored, challenging assumptions about closeness and intimacy. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Japan, this review suggests that “finite” conceptions of touch, body, and subjectivity limit our understanding of experiences of closeness in a Japanese cultural context. Instead, how the space between people is inhabited, and the feelings in this space, seems much more significant. In sum, Japanese experiences of touch, particularly in a familial context, should best be seen as a tangible and sensuous connection that is not just felt in the body. Focusing on two body practices, this review explores the connection and embodied experience of closeness in the Japanese family vis-à-vis co-bathing and co-sleeping. It ends with a summary of the design of these sites of intimacy and some ways in which communication and bonding can be enhanced.     

The Act of Understanding

Summary Attention is drawn to experience that much social work has beenundertaken on a base of common sense, personal intuition andfeelings that the client's situation has been 'understood'.Medical, sociological and psychological sources for theory whichhave given status to objectivity and implicitly deterministicways of thinking are criticized as sometimes contrary to usefulunderstanding and not supportive to constructive change. Itis claimed that a goal of social work theory should be to disciplinethe 'understanding' which exists in the practice and it is suggestedthat this might be based upon the investigation of the meaningwhich people give to the world in which they live and to theirself within that world. This phenomenologkal approach placessubjectivity and the role of the self-concept at the focus ofattention. As a working philosophy it incorporates the formativeinfluences of past experiences whilst also asserting the primacyof the person who may impose a new significance upon both thosepast events and his immediate situation. It is claimed thatsuch an approach might be the source of a discipline which couldrelate more intimately than hitherto the theory and good practiceof all concerned with social welfare and social change.     

The Real Dependent Variable Problem: The Limitations of Quantitative Analysis in Comparative Policy Studies

Comparative public policy relies heavily on processing quantitative data, typically done by looking for the relationship between variables or by grouping empirical data into categories. In methodological terms, comparative data commonly deal with nations as policy units, and observations are liable to be interconnected, rather than independent. In statistical terms, there are problems in the identification of appropriate data, violations of the assumptions are rife, and there are just not enough nations to be able to make comparisons sensibly in these terms. The ‘dependent variable’ problem relates to the definition, operationalization and measurement of key variables, but the problems of comparison go deeper than that. The real dependent variable problem is whether it makes sense to look for a dependent variable at all. The evidence is always equivocal; a methodology that attempts to bracket off disparate influences cannot be valid; and attempting to apply general principles across different circumstances and conditions is inconsistent with what we know about policy development. Quantitative methods offer ways to sort and systematize information, but they do not provide a basis for generalization.      

The role of forecast in planning

Planned courses of action are illustrated, described, and analysed. The analysis distinguishes the following ten components: background knowledge, general policy, practical problem to be solved by the course of action, overall decision, research planning, day by day decisions, action, end result, and evaluation of the latter. Forecast is included in the very first stage, i.e. the background knowledge concerning the system, as well as in the fifth, i.e. the acquisition of fresh knowledge.The role of forecast in programming is examined with some detail. It is recalled that forecast can be intuitive or rational. If rational, forecast can be scientific (predicting facts) or technological (predicting human actions and their outcome). In either case it rests on theories and data. But technological forecast, which is the one on which planning is based, has peculiarities of its own, such as self fulfilment and self defeat.In addition, the paper examines two popular mistakes. One is the confusion of technological forecast with the prognosis (or rather prophecy) of technological developments. The latter cannot be rigorous since it is based on trends (that can be bent) not on objective laws: it is, at its best, an educated guess. A second mistake is to regard futurology as an independent new science engaged in predicting the future of man with the help of sui generis projection tools at variance with those used in normal science and technology. It is argued that serious futurology is an interdisciplinary effort to make certain large scale and long term forecasts on the basis of either present trends or definite theoretical models of macrosystems.Inaugural lecture of the faculty course on Policy Planning, Cornell University, Spring 1970. For details on scientific prediction, technological forecast, scientific hypothesis, theoretical model, and scientific data, see the author's Scientific Research, 2 volumes, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag, 1967, and Method, Model and Matter, Dordrecht: Reidel, 1973.     

The State of Welfare

Summary The word ‘welfare’ is difficult to define becauseit combines within it a range of ideologies and actions. Twoconclusions are drawn from this: first, that social servicesshould be regarded as contributors to, but not providers ofwelfare; second, that the study of social work and social administrationshould be concerned not only with the relationship of ‘service’to ‘need’ but also with societal movements and pressureswhich determine the emergence of both. The article reviews theprofessed values of the welfare state, particularly ‘socialequality’ and the problems associated with its achievement,namely public attitudes, and the discontinuity between intentionand practice in the welfare services. The implications for socialwork education and practice are considered.     

The Construction of a Simple Book

A book is made for a horse race, and punters place their bets. The problem considered here is how the bookmaker should construct his book. Before this can be solved, it has to be determined how the punters will react to any proposed book. Much of the detailed discussion is confined to a race with two horses, though some results apply in the general case. The punters' problem is solved using a utility function, special attention being paid to the case of constant risk-aversion. Two solutions are provided for the bookmaker's problem, dependent on whether it is desired to maximize expected gain, or achieve the same gain whatever horse wins.     

The Limits of Positivism in Social Work Research

Correspondence to David Smith, Leaturer in Social Work, Department of Social Administration, Fylde College University of Lancaster, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4LX. Summary This paper considers the argument that research on social workshould be more rigorously scientific in its methods, using thework of Brian Sheldon as representative of this position. Itis argued that a wholly positivist approach is inadequate onepistemological grounds, and that the procedures characteristicof this approach, particularly the experimental method, areunlikely to prove generally feasible or useful. Evaluation researchin other fields is used to illustrate this argument, and itis suggested that social work is far from unique in its under-useof research findings. A possible alternative, that social workshould be evaluated by artistic criteria, is briefly examinedand found to be problematic. The paper concludes with an argumentthat research in future should be more concerned with process,and more open, participative and pragmatic in style.     

The marxian theories of value and exploitation axiomatised

The empirical claim made by the marxian theory of value may be made explicit by means of a set-theoretical axiomatisation. The axiomatised theory is seen to be testable, though to have a low degree of testability. The extent to which the theory of exploitation succeeds in revealing an exploitation which would otherwise be concealed is doubtful. The theory of value may be severely tested only by comparing its predictions, if any, with the facts.     

The logic of preference reconsidered

Preferences are an important object of study in economic theory. Their logico-mathematical study has become prominent with the raise of modern decision theory and with the new conceptions of utility-functions and personalistic probabilities. The ‘basic logic’ at the foundation of the more advanced theories of preference, however, has been relatively little investigated. The pioneer work is Hallden's The Logic of ‘Better’ of the year 1957, followed by von Wright's The Logic of Preference in 1963. The topic has turned out unexpectedly problematic and there is as yet little consensus among logicians about the basic laws of preferring. A reason for this is apparently that there exist several concepts of preference which must be disentangled and kept apart in a logical theory. How this is to be done is discussed in the introductory sections (1–5) of the present paper. In Section 8 is sketched a logic for an asymmetric and connected preference-relation which holds between ‘possible worlds’ within a subject's ‘preference-horizon’ (Section 7). Preferences between states of affairs generally are called holistic when they hold ceteris paribus, i.e., when there is a corresponding preference-relation between any pairs of possible worlds which differ only in those two states and in no others. (Section 6.) Holistic preferences between states are asymmetrical and transitive but they do not form a linear preference order. (Section 9.) Failure to notice this, the author maintains, is responsible for much confusion in the traditional treatment of the subject. In the concluding sections (10–12) the author discusses the mutual relations of the value-absolutes, the good and the bad. Can they be defined in the terms of the relative notion of betterness or preference (and logical constants) alone? The definition which says that the goodness of a state is the holistic preference of it over its contradictory, answers the question affirmatively but conflicts with several deep-rooted axiological intuitions of ours. A more satisfying definition of the value-absolutes requires the additional notion of a value-less state (world) with which all the other states may be compared. In this connection some ideas of G. E. Moore about the notion of an ‘empty’ world can be interestingly exploited.     

The Elderly Blind:

This paper discusses some of the problems faced by the elderly blind in society. It is pointed out that the definition of blindness as well as the development of blind services mainly for the young and employable adults have contributed to public misunderstanding of blindness and the magnitude of visual problems among the elderly. It is also noted that with coordinated efforts between blind service agencies and social service agencies future problems among this group could be minimized.     

The problem of inadequately relieved suffering

A request for euthanasia or assistance in suicide usually derives from severe patient distress and indicates significant suffering. Although the Hippocratic purview of medicine requires that suffering be acknowledged, its causes be identified, and that steps be taken to provide adequate relief, an appreciation of the diversity of factors that may contribute to suffering underscores the need for methodical assessment and familiarity with a range of therapeutic strategies. It may be argued that when other options to effectively relieve suffering are available, euthanasia and assisted suicide fall outside of the purview of Hippocratic medicine. Given the existence of other options, the capacity for human maleficence, and the lack of resources currently allocated to the relief of suffering, this paper presents a number of reservations regarding the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide. In addition, it is suggested that the current community focus on the issue of inadequately relieved suffering should be harnessed to work toward the provision of care that would diminish the impression that elective death is necessary to ensure adequate relief.