From Fat to Thin: Informal Rites Affirming Identity Change

Rituals provide public solutions to some types of life crises, or change. There are crises which beset the individual in modern society which are not easily addressed by public ritual. The present paper observes such a life crisis and identifies conscious rites performed by individuals. These rites are called, “personal definitional rites”, and take place in situations demanding identity changes. Newly acquired identity is performed ritually in an attempt to elicit recognition of a new social state. Thirty-six patients clinically defined as obese underwent gastric reduction surgery. Patients were interviewed after having lost excess weight in order to understand the social results of the dramatic change in appearance. Patients described various “rites” they used to complete their conversion from fat to thin. These rites are compared to rites of transition and definition.     

STRIKE DURATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES:

This study examines the durations of strikes in selected occupations of the public and private sectors of the U. S. economy in the late post-World War II period. It asks whether differences in the legitimacy of unions and the legality of strikes alter the speed with which strikes end. Also, it argues that a curvilinear relationship between the institutionalization of strikes and unions and the termination rates of strikes exists. Data support hypotheses linking both the distribution of power resources and the institutional setting to the termination rates of different types of strikes (e.g., strikes under different contract statuses and over different issues). In general, where strikes are moderately institutionalized and precedents are being set, strikes end more slowly; at very high or very low levels of institutionalization, strikes end more rapidly.     

Hierarchical logistic regression models for imputation of unresolved enumeration status in undercount estimation

"In this article we describe a logistic regression modeling approach for nonresponse in the [U.S.] Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) that has desirable theoretical properties and that has performed well in practice.... In the 1990 PES, interviews were not obtained from approximately 1.2% of households in the sample, and approximately 2.1% of the individuals in interviewed households were considered unresolved after follow-up....The missing binary enumeration statuses for these unresolved cases were replaced with probabilities estimated under a statistical model that incorporated covariate information observed for these cases. This article describes an approach to modeling missing binary outcomes when there are a large number of covariates."     

Tracing developmental trends in Ira Gordon's programs for children and families

Ira Gordon's work in the area of child and family services is traced for six of his programs according to two main trends: (1) perceptions of families through the years and the changing roles of parents in the education of their children; and (2) curriculum changes in activities brought into homes. Gordon's programs, some being initiated as early as 1966, focused upon parents, infants, toddlers, and school-age children and utilized home visitations as a major intervention strategy. Evidence of successes reported for these programs has shown the impact of early intervention upon children as well as their families, school, and community.     

As California burns: the psychology of wildfire- and wildfire smoke-related migration intentions

Population and Environment - Climate change impacts and rapid development in the wildland-urban interface are increasing population exposure and vulnerability to the harmful effects of wildfire and...     

Employment Insecurity and the Frayed American Dream

This paper reviews literature on employment insecurity and situates objective and subjective employment insecurity in the context of the contemporary economy. I draw on the argument about shifting social contracts to explain both real and perceived pervasive employment insecurity and the frayed American Dream. Employment insecurity derives from the macro‐economic changes that produced the social structure of accumulation identified as flexible accumulation that requires employment insecurity as both a form of labor discipline and profit‐enhancing strategy. This paper argues that contemporary employment insecurity is both objective and subjective and affects how individuals understand their world and their selves. To this latter point, I look at research on generational differences in the experience of employment insecurity.     

HIV Seroprevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Severe Inpatient Mentally III Homeless

Two related studies were carried out at a state psychiatric center unit designed for the long-term hospitalization of homeless mentally ill people removed from the streets of New York City and taken to hospitals for psychiatric treatment. The first study, a charl review of 102 patients, documented high rates of severe psychiatric illness, alcohol and other substance use, and untreated medical problems. Patient histories showed significant social disadvantages, including high rates of criminal activity and inability to complete high school or establish long-term relationships. Our second study anonymously tested 87 patients between the ages of 18 and 59 for the presence of HIV antibodies. An overall seroprevalence rate of 5.8% is reported. Men and women in this population are likely to have similar rates of HIV infection. Being young, and Black, or Hispanic appears to be associated with increased risk. This disenfranchised population urgently needs a broad array of social, medical and psychiatric selVices. Assertive community outreach programs are necessary to assure delivery of services to this population.