Contents of Volume 19, 2003

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 19, 2003     

A "good death" for whom? Quality of spouse's death and psychological distress among older widowed persons

Ethicists, policy makers, and care providers are increasingly concerned with helping the dying elderly to experience a "good death." A "good death" is characterized by physical comfort, social support, acceptance, and appropriate medical care, and it should minimize psychological distress for the dying and their families. I identify the predictors of death quality and evaluate how the quality of an older adult's death affects the surviving spouse's psychological adjustment six months after the loss. Analyses use Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) data, a prospective study of married persons ages 65 and older. Positive spousal relationships during the final days increase survivors' yearning yet reduce their anger. Having a spouse die a painful death is associated with elevated anxiety, yearning, and intrusive thoughts. The perception of physician negligence is associated with elevated anger. These findings suggest that improved end-of-life care and pain management will benefit both the dying and their bereaved spouses.     

Civil Society and the Northern Irish Peace Process

Alternative accounts of the Northern Irish peace process are analyzed. It is noted that neither Unionist nor Republican accounts accord a significant or positive role to civil society in the reaching of a political settlement. It is only in what might be called the metropolitan liberal perspective that influence is attributed to the role of civil society in achieving a settlement. Two junctures at which civil society, centered on the third sector, played a prominent role in the peace process are analyzed: the Opsahl Commission before the launch of the peace process in 1993 and the nonparty Yes campaign during the referendum on the Belfast Agreement in May 1998. The paper then goes on to discuss why the influence of civil society has declined since the referendum, and draws attention to the conflict between the top-down implications of the consociational nature of the Belfast Agreement and the bottom-up promotion of political accommodation through civil society.     

Congruence in Job-Performance Ratings: A Study of 360 Feedback Examining Self, Manager, Peers, and Consultant Ratings

Seven task-oriented teams worked together forbetween 4 and 6 months on a project. At the end of thetask, members were each subject to four task-performanceratings: from self, superior, team-peers, and a consultant who was part of the team. Therewere fewer than chance differences between the differentteams on the congruence measures so the data wascombined. While the congruence between self and manager, self and peer, and self and consultant ratingswere very low, the manager peer, manager consultant, andpeer consultant congruence was overall high. Observablebehaviors like forward planning and communication showed overall highest congruence while lessobservable cognitive variables showed much lowercongruence. These results are similar to previousstudies in the area. Implications of the use of theseratings in management development areconsidered.     

The saving and spending habits of young people

Over 250 British children and adolescents completed a questionnaire on their sources of personal income (pocket money/allowance, part-time job, gifts), as well as how much they had saved, where it was stored, and for what purpose it was intended. Particular attention was paid to bank accounts. The participants also responded to various attitude statements about money and the economic situation in general. Results showed numerous sex and age, but few class differences. Males received more pocket money and presents than females, and older children more than younger children. Over 80% of the children claimed their parents would not give them extra money if they had spent it all. Regressional analyses showed that the best predictors of regularity of saving, as well as the proportion of money saved, were the more money received; the less money spent in the previous week and total amount of money saved in the previous week. The results are discussed in terms of the limited empirical literature on children's pocket money allowances, particularly with respect to demographic differences. Limitations of the methodology are also reported.     

Property Loss Estimation for Wind and Earthquake Perils

This article describes the development of a generic loss assessment methodology, which is applicable to earthquake and windstorm perils worldwide. The latest information regarding hazard estimation is first integrated with the parameters that best describe the intensity of the action of both windstorms and earthquakes on building structures, for events with defined average return periods or recurrence intervals. The subsequent evaluation of building vulnerability (damageability) under the action of both earthquake and windstorm loadings utilizes information on damage and loss from past events, along with an assessment of the key building properties (including age and quality of design and construction), to assess information about the ability of buildings to withstand such loadings and hence to assign a building type to the particular risk or portfolio of risks. This predicted damage information is then translated into risk-specific mathematical vulnerability functions, which enable numerical evaluation of the probability of building damage arising at various defined levels. By assigning cost factors to the defined damage levels, the associated computation of total loss at a given level of hazard may be achieved. This developed methodology is universal in the sense that it may be applied successfully to buildings situated in a variety of earthquake and windstorm environments, ranging from very low to extreme levels of hazard. As a loss prediction tool, it enables accurate estimation of losses from potential scenario events linked to defined return periods and, hence, can greatly assist risk assessment and planning.     

Articulations of Same-sex Desire: Lesbian and Gay Male Dating Advertisements

A survey of self and other categorisation in 200 lesbian and gay male dating advertisement texts, taken from current magazines and newspapers, reveals the discursive means by which homosexual advertisers in our corpus commodify and market sexual/self-gendered identities. Detailed analysis of a sub-sample of the advertisements allows us to trace the discourse processes and conventions used in formulating identity in such texts. We interpret these discourse practices in relation to a social critique of gay attitudes, beliefs and lifestyles. The different conventions for self-commodification followed by lesbians and gay men in this survey suggest generalisable differences in sexual stance and cultural identification     

Disability, Religion and Health: a literature review in search of the spiritual dimensions of disability

Religious belief and practice plays an important role in the lives of millions of people worldwide, and yet little is known of the spiritual lives of people with a disability. This review explores the realm of disability, religion and health, and draws together literature from a variety of sources to illustrate the diversity of the sparse research in the field. An historical, cross-cultural and religious textual overview of attitudes toward disability throughout the centuries is presented. Studies in religious orientation, health and well-being are reviewed, highlighting the potential of religion to effect the lives of people with a disability, their families and caregivers. Finally, the spiritual dimensions of disability are explored to gain some understanding of the spiritual lives and existential challenges of people with a disability, and a discussion ensues on the importance of further research into this new field of endeavour.