Will 1990 mark the end of the will to work—or the right to manage?

The environment of the 1980s is not likely to be as comfortable as the 1970s. The combination of new technology, new economics and new social forces is likely to trigger a drastic drop in the number of jobs as well. At the same time, our education systems, the media and every other element affecting people's expectations seem to be combining to foster something that might be called the ‘more syndrome’—people demand more pay, more secure jobs, more amenities and more control over their working lives—but appear unwilling to commit themselves, to exhibit loyalty to an employer, or even to move in search of work. The challenge is international, the goal must be convergence between social policies, between the expectations and the realities, between the new technology and the new values. The end of the decade is likely to see the end of the work ethic and the beginning of the real post-industrial society.     

Sibling kinnections: a clinical visitation program

The growing literature on sibling relationships throughout their lifespans is of great importance to those working in the child welfare system, and in adoption services in particular. Sibling bonds are important to all of us, but they are particularly vital to children from disorganized or dysfunctional families. These relationships assume even greater importance when children from these families enter the care system. Supporting and sustaining these sibling bonds should be, and most often is, a priority throughout the child welfare system, with practice literature providing guidelines for arranging and sustaining sibling contact. However, children in the care system may also have dysfunctional sibling relationships as a result of their early experiences, and sibling visitation alone may not be enough to ensure a healthy, long-lasting relationship among siblings. Some form of sibling therapy, or 'clinically supervised visitation,' may be required to help children remove the barriers to form mutually satisfying relationships and to reinforce life-long relationships with each other.     

Actual versus perceived risk of cervical cancer among college women smokers

Cervical cancer is a well-established smoking-related illness, but many at-risk women are unaware of this link. OBJECTIVE: The authors designed this study to (1) investigate the relationship of smoking behavior with the history of abnormal Pap test results, sexual history, and perceived risk of cervical cancer and (2) determine whether self-classified smoking status (and hence perceived risk) corresponds with actual smoking behavior in a college student population. PARTICIPANTS AND METHOD SUMMARY: College women students (N = 135) completed a survey assessing smoking history, health history, sexual risk behavior, and risk awareness. RESULTS: Relative to those who had not smoked in the past month, current smokers (n = 36, or 27% of the total sample) perceived themselves to be at higher risk for developing cervical cancer, but did not demonstrate increased awareness of specific cervical cancer risk factors, including smoking. Twenty-eight percent (10 of 36) of past-month smokers did not define themselves as current smokers. CONCLUSION: The authors conclude that anti-smoking and health-related messages targeting smokers may misfire for individuals who do not define themselves as smokers but are nonetheless at risk for smoking-related consequences and escalating use.     

In from the outer generational differences in coming out and gay identity formation

This paper explores generational differences among gay men in their experience of, and narratives relating the process of, coming out. The interview data for 32 gay men living in Melbourne, Australia, is drawn from the Community, Attachment, Structures and the epidemic (CASE) Study. Narratives of coming out for three generational groups: pre-AIDS, peri-AIDS, and post-AIDS, are examined in terms of the experiences of disclosure to family and friends. A shift from narratives organised around crisis and disjunction to those organised around consolidation is matched by differences in the degree to which peer networks are maintained post-coming out.     

The impact of state-level restrictions on abortion

This research examines 23 different laws passed by state governments in an effort to restrict the number of abortions. It assesses both laws passed and laws actually enforced after the Supreme Court permitted states to restrict access to abortion in 1989. None of the policy actions by state governments has had a significant impact on the incidence of abortion from 1982 to 1992. Abortion rates continue to reflect past abortion rates, the number of abortion providers, whether the state funds abortions for Medicaid-eligible women, urbanism, and racial composition of the population. Recent restrictive policies have not affected these trends.     

Sequential Parimutuel Betting in the Laboratory

This paper investigates parimutuel betting in the laboratory. Our experimental design relies on a simple sequential betting game where equilibrium strategies are characterized according to objective probabilities, the number of bettors, and publicly observable odds. The empirically well-documented phenomenon referred to as the favorite-longshot bias is observed in two of our three treatments. We offer a theoretical explanation of the subjects' behavior which relies on rank-dependent expected utility and pessimistic expectations about future bets.     

The Elephant Man (David Lynch, EMI Films, 1980): An Analysis from a Disabled Perspective

A paper that uses Foucault's ideas on normalisation and medicalisation to discuss David Lynch's The Elephant Man as a movie that dehumanises and objectifies its subject rather than one that represents abnormality/disability as human or valid in itself, as it is often claimed for the film. I analyse the methods by which the film inadvertently portrays the historical process of medicalisation and reinforces its ideology of normality as 'common sense' and abnormality as inhuman and 'unbearable' due to its pathological state rather than social construction; with the 'Freak'/abnormality (as carnivalesque) also being examined. I consequently analyse the ambiguities of the film to show its hidden agenda (through unconscious acceptance) of placing abnormality further and further into the realms of the Other, with eugenic overtones.     

Consensual Nonmonogamy: Psychological Well-Being and Relationship Quality Correlates

Consensually nonmonogamous relationships are those in which all partners explicitly agree that each partner may have romantic or sexual relationships with others (Conley, Ziegler, Moors, Matsick, &; Valentine, 2013 Conley, T. D., Ziegler, A., Moors, A. C., Matsick, J. L., &; Valentine, B. (2013). A critical examination of popular assumptions about the benefits and outcomes of monogamous relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 17, 124–141. doi:10.1177/1088868312467087[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In this article, research examining the associations between consensual nonmonogamy, psychological well-being, and relationship quality is reviewed. Specifically, three types of consensual nonmonogamy are examined: swinging, open relationships (including sexually open marriage and gay open relationships), and polyamory. Swinging refers to when a couple practices extradyadic sex with members of another couple; open relationships are relationships in which partners agree that they can have extradyadic sex; and polyamory is the practice of, belief in, or willingness to engage in consensual nonmonogamy, typically in long-term and/or loving relationships. General trends in the research reviewed suggest that consensual nonmonogamists have similar psychological well-being and relationship quality as monogamists. Methodological challenges in research on consensual nonmonogamy and directions for future research are discussed.     

Experimental comparison of functional and multivariate spectral-based supervised classification methods in hyperspectral image

The aim of this article is to assess and compare several statistical methods for hyperspectral image supervised classification only using the spectral dimension. Since hyperspectral profiles may be viewed either as a random vector or a random curve, we propose to confront various multivariate discriminating procedures with functional alternatives. Eight methods representing three important statistical communities (mixture models, machine learning and functional data analysis) have been applied on three hyperspectral datasets following three protocols studying the influence of size and composition of the learning sample, with or without noised labels. Besides this comparative study, this work proposes a functional extension of multinomial logit model as well as a fast computing adaptation of the nonparametric functional discrimination. As a by-product, this work provides a useful comprehensive bibliography and also supplemental material especially oriented towards practitioners.     

Parenting and child experiences in shelter: A qualitative study exploring the effect of homelessness on the parent–child relationship

Depending on the data source, between half a million and 2.48 million children in families experience homelessness each year in the United States. Recent data suggest that approximately half of all homeless children are under the age of 6. A considerable body of quantitative research has documented the occurrence of poor outcomes associated with childhood homelessness in the domains of social–emotional development, physical and behavioral health, academic achievement, and family stability. This qualitative study presents results from 19 interviewers with formerly homeless parents reflecting upon how the experience of being homeless affected their young children and their ability to parent. Findings are contextualized within an attachment perspective. Parental reported effects included confusion, sadness, anxiety or depression, withdrawal, lack of appetite, aggression, and disregard for authority. Parents also talked about the disempowering experience of parenting while in shelter. Unexpectedly, parents of infants said their children were not affected by homelessness, and few parents identified the need for mental health services for their children. The experiences of parents with whom we spoke provide invaluable insight into what shelter staff, social service agencies, philanthropy, policymakers, and researchers can do to support and respect the parent–child relationship in families who are experiencing homelessness.