The Video Game Lightning Rod

New media technologies have long tapped into social hopes and anxieties, and the turmoil that follows their appearance offers a window into the social tensions of the time. Clashing sets of utopian and dystopian visions have typically resulted in an ambivalent portrayal of such technologies. Video games prove to be no exception. Through a content analysis of media frames in the USA's three leading news magazines, the reception and presentation of video-game technology was tracked over a thirty-year period, 1970-2000. The resulting patterns tell a story of vilification and partial redemption, owing to the mainstream acceptance of the medium and the aging user base. Fears of the negative effects from the new technology were hypothesized to come from a routine set of conservative worries. The results support this hypothesis. Moreover, the frames surrounding games, especially in the 1980s, reveal many of the key social tensions of the times, primarily those surrounding gender roles, the separation of age and racial groups, and the role of female parents within an increasingly technological society. The place of video games within the larger context of media history, and the social causes of the frames are discussed.     

A target weight procedure for disordered water balance in long-term care facilities.

1. Water intoxication is a severe complication of disordered water balance. Hyponatremia precedes water intoxication and can be identified through abnormal diurnal weight variation. 2. The St. Louis Target Weight Procedure (STWP) is a nonintrusive method that includes a client's baseline weight, frequent weights throughout the day, a target weight of 5% above the baseline weight, and restricted fluids if the target weight is exceeded. 3. The STWP was positively related to an increase in urine concentration; thus it is successful in restoring normal fluid balance.     

The race gap in support group participation by breast cancer survivors: real or artifact?

Addressing methodological weaknesses of previous research, this study assesses whether African American women are, in fact, less likely to participate in breast cancer support groups than are White women. Of the breast cancer survivors, 958 (26% African Americans, 73% Caucasian) completed interviews concerning demographic characteristics, other support networks, effects of illness on home and spiritual life, and support group participation. Contrary to previous research, no race difference was found in support group participation. This research suggests more effort needs to be paid to sampling techniques and other methodological factors to adequately reflect the experiences and needs of breast cancer survivors, specifically African American women.     

Enhancing communication with older adults: overcoming elderspeak

Because communication behaviors are difficult to change, practicing speech without elderspeak is helpful in preparing for actual clinical situations. The Communication Enhancement Model describes potential benefits of eliminating elderspeak in speech to older adults. Minimizing the use of elderspeak is hypothesized to reduce stereotype-based messages that older adults are incompetent and dependent. An improved communication environment promotes the cognitive and functional abilities of older adults. Achieving optimal communication environments may contribute to higher levels of well-being for older adults and to increased quality of life. Young adult care providers also may benefit from increased job satisfaction if they relate closely with care recipients.     

Has the future of marriage arrived? A contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological well-being

A long tradition of research and theory on gender, marriage, and mental health suggests that marital status is more important to men's psychological well-being than women's while marital quality is more important to women's well-being than men's. These beliefs rest largely on a theoretical and empirical foundation established in the 1970s, but, despite changes in gender and family roles, they have rarely been questioned. The present analysis of three waves of a nationally representative survey indicates that, with few exceptions, the effects of marital status, marital transitions, and marital quality on psychological well-being are similar for men and women. Further, for men and women, occupying an unsatisfying marriage undermines psychological well-being to a similar extent--and, in some cases, to a greater extent--than exiting marriage or being continually unmarried.     

A novel redesign of food scoops in high volume food service organizations

The purpose of this article is to propose design changes to a food scoop commonly used in the food service industry. A review of literature concerning the design of hand tools is used to justify modifications to the existing design. Changes to the handle and shape of the tool are discussed. Implications of the newly designed food scoop, both for future research and the workplace are reviewed. The conclusion of this article is that the proposed food scoop should have a 40-millimeter diameter, foam rubber handle and should have a lift angle of 35 degrees.     

Important Yet Ignored: Problems of 'Expertise' in Emergency Duty Social Work

Summary This paper deals with the important role that emergency dutyworkers play in respect of the variety of situations that arereferred to them outside of the normal working hours of socialservices departments. The first section presents some interimoutcomes of ongoing research suggesting that the variabilityof priorities and assessments made by such workers is even greaterthan might be intuitively expected. The paper questions whetherconventional expectations of social work assessment are applicablein circumstances that are radically different from day-timework. In the second section, the paper explores the evidentmoral dilemmas contained in these circumstances, highlightingthe need for workers to have internalized as ‘expert’as broad a grasp as possible of the diversity of values andmethods of social assessment, decision-making and intervention.The paper continues by considering the nature of expert methodssuitable for the demands of emergency duty work, the need forguidelines for professional judgement, and an appropriate genericframework.     

The Paranoid Wife Syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment*

The authors delineate and examine the psychodynamics of the paranoid wife syndrome and its concomitant characteristic intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamic phenomena. Diagnostic indications and treatment modalities and strategies are nated.     

The roles of inflation and consumer sentiment in explaining Australian consumption and savings patterns

Qualitative and quantitative measures of inflation, unemployment and consumer sentiment are incorporated into traditional models of the allocation of consumers' income. Quarterly survey data collected by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research are used. Both current and expected levels of variables are considered.Equations are estimated for expenditure on motor vehicles, household durabls and non-durable goods as well as for household saving. The non-traditional variables are found to be significant, although the traditional price and income variables still dominate. In several cases qualitative variables prove to be superior to their quantitative counterparts.