The anatomy of a deception: Fraud and finesse in the Mock Auction sales ‘con’

In this paper we analyze recordings of the Mock Auction sales con and describe the various rhetorical and performative strategies employed by the seller/deceiver to accomplish sales success. Two features that distinguish this con from others are that sales are obtained from a crowd of shoppers and that the victims rarely complain after they have been deceived. We outline the principal skills that are brought into play by these salespeople to obtain sales and to manage the audiences' quietude. We show that the Mock Auction is, fundamentally, a social and interactional accomplishment.     

Ruling Classes and Agents of the State: Formal and Informal Networks of Power

This article examines the power–sharing in England in the later Middle Ages considering definitions of where public authority and private power begin and end. It is argued that the English polity resembled more a multiple corporation than a joint-stock company; private and public interest were as inextricably confused as were public and private authority. The essay answers questions provoked by this observation. Who serve whom? Who managed whom? Was the government of England rendered less effectual by the disputes among kings, nobles and gentlemen as to what share of power each was to have? Was ‘England’ damaged by the strife and the striving of individuals, whether royal, noble, or gentle, which the untidy meshing of private and landed power with public and governmental authority made if not inevitable then certainly commonplace?     

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Teachers' Training Needs in the Area of Child Abuse and Protection

SUMMARY: In issue 5(2), Robert Webster outlined the issues in school-based child sexual abuse prevention. He argued that teachers were not being given the training they needed and wanted. This paper reports on a survey in one county of England, and shows the lack of training in child sexual abuse matters to be consistent with Robert Webster's experience. The authors go on to outline the types of training demanded by the vast majority of teachers.     

Violations of the betweenness axiom and nonlinearity in probability

Betweenness is a weakened form of the independence axiom, stating that a probability mixture of two gambles should lie between them in preference. Betweenness is used in many generalizations of expected utility and in applications to game theory and macroeconomics. Experimental violations of betweenness are widespread. We rule out intransitivity as a source of violations and find that violations are less systematic when mixtures are presented in compound form (because the compound lottery reduction axiom fails empirically). We also fit data from nine studies using Gul's disappointment-aversion theory and two variants of EU, which weight separate or cumulative probabilities nonlinearly. The three theories add only one parameter to EU and fit much better.     

Research as part of everyday practice: A finishing student's experience

Abstract

While social work education has come a long way, some of the most valuable lessons are learnt not in the class but in the field. This article explores the relationship between the practice of research and social work practice through my struggles within my final social work placement. How does one come to terms with the relationship between everyday social work practice and the practice of research? How does one reconcile what many see as a gap between research and the practice of social work? Is it possible to incorporate research into everyday practice? In the end it must be argued that both have comparable underlying goals and follow almost identical processes. In many ways a researcher carries out similar investigations utilising similar skills as those of a social worker. Thus being skilled in research and being able to integrate research into everyday practice will produce a better social worker.     

Trans Men: Embodiments,Identities, and Sexualities

This article examines the experiences of 25 persons who were assigned female status at birth but do not wish to live as women and take on a masculine or queer gender identity. We employ the concept of “gendered embodiment” and introduce the concept of “sexualized embodiment” to highlight what is involved in this process. We ask how experiencing a masculine gender identity is reflexively tied to a trans man's sexuality and the ways in which these two embodiments are tightly, moderately, or loosely coupled. For example, a tight coupling appeared when trans men began to use testosterone and obtained surgery such as breast removal; a moderate coupling was found where gender validation was sought from a sexual partner (with this being related to sexual preference identities as well as the interpretation of vaginal penetration); the loosest coupling of the gender‐sexuality embodiments was linked to the liberality of the locale and whether “queer” identities could be easily adopted. In sum, our research demonstrates the link between gender and sexuality as a result of the body work trans men do and the historical and geographical situations in which they find themselves.     

Jabotinsky and Ukrainian nationalism: A reinterpretation

Israel Kleiner, From Nationalism to Universalism: Vladimir Ze'ev Jabotinsky and the Ukrainian Question (Edmonton and Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 2000). 199pp. Foreword by Wolf Moskovich. Bibliography. Index. ISBN 1–895571–33–2 (paper)