Family Work in Oncology: Trusting the Narrative

The author describes her work with a dying patient, work that extends from the patient to his wife and adult offspring, and has transformative benefits for the family.     

REGULATION AND CONTROL OF SUBJECTIVITY AND PRIVATE LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF ARMED CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA1

A qualitative study was carried out in four municipalities in four different conflict zones in Colombia. Intrafamilial violence and gender violence are studied through the testimonies of the people interviewed. The impact was analysed in terms of the exercise of control over the civilian population by paramilitaries in relation to subjectivity, the family, social networks and the prevailing moral order. In effect, the strengthening of barriers between traditional gender identities has enabled a de-structuring of traditional masculinity through moral co-optation, the reinforcement of traditional feminine identity and the objectification of the sexuality of young women, at the same time as they are manipulated sexually and emotionally. In general, strong legitimation of the model of the armed fighter as a paradigm of masculinity is found in children. In addition, the de-structuring of the family and its manipulation as a means of influence over civil society is one of the strategies employed for the installation of a regime of terror that fractures social networks. It does this through the erosion of confidence and the legitimation and mystification of the power of an actor whose mediation in inter-family and micro-social conflicts has been legitimated, instrumentalizing and scaling up traditional violence, taking advantage of the power vacuum and moral weaknesses in local culture.     

What does a casino mean to a tribe?: Assessing the impact of casino development on Indian reservations in Arizona and New Mexico

Using data from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, we examine five social and economic characteristics of individuals and households living on reservations in Arizona and New Mexico that have a casino to those that do not. This research differs in two ways from previous studies that have attempted to assess the social and economic impacts of Indian gaming. First, the unit of observation and analysis is the reservation, not a tribe. A focus on reservations allows us to assess the role casinos play in “place-based” economic development. Second, since reservations and tribes are not coterminous, we seek to differentiate the effects of casinos on the Indian population living on reservations from the effects for all reservation residents (Indians and others). The results show that casino gambling is associated with improvements in social and economic welfare for both the Indian and non-Indian populations alike. However, Indian gaming did not contribute to positive outcomes in all cases. Indeed, the effects of gaming are filtered through a myriad of structural and cultural contexts that shape who wins and who loses when a casino opens on a reservation. The implications of Indian gaming for economic development are discussed.     

Feminism and the socialist tradition … undone?

This article proposes that Butler's recent writing encourages understanding of an intersection of forces, specifically the undoing of feminism and the socialist tradition. This occurs as the traces or residues left behind by these now outmoded movements are seemingly taken into account, so that they are all the more repudiated and discounted. Re-regulation takes place by these means in the fields of sexuality and kinship. There is also a crisis in the politics of hegemony through processes of disarticulation, as queer politics breaks its earlier ties with socialist feminism through narrowly presenting claims of entitlement in terms of being for (or against) marriage. If radical democracy is itself radically insufficient (so that it remains open and necessarily unrealizable), nonetheless this produces vulnerabilities. Butler leads us in this context towards Levinasian ethics, as both other than and prior to politics. This permits, through the encounter with the face of the other, a steadfastness and defiant presence and proximity in terms of being for the other, while that other – for example, the woman of Afghanistan – is being sought as the subject of liberation by western hegemony. Thus, ethics can be expansive of the ‘sheerly political’.     

Marriage and the Allocation of Assets in Women’s Defined Contribution Plans

The goal of this paper is to understand the effect of family decision-making on the investment decisions of married men and women. Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, we investigate how the spouse’s relative control over financial resources in the household and the life-cycle stage affect the investment choices of married women and men. The results show that married women who have more control over the financial resources are less likely to invest their Defined Contribution Plans (DCPs) in risky assets. Also, women who are married to relatively older men are less likely to take on risk with their DCPs. There is little evidence that the wife’s characteristics affect the investment decisions of married men.     

Cultural Context of Career Choice: Meta‐Analysis of Race/Ethnicity Differences

The authors focus on career counseling from a cultural perspective, using the proxy construct of race/ethnicity. They briefly describe traditional career counseling and critique the degree to which the myriad cultural contexts that shape clients' career development are incorporated into vocational theories and practice. They conducted a meta‐analysis of research that has investigated the relationship between culture and vocational choice variables and concluded (a) that race/ethnicity differences do not greatly affect career aspirations but (b) that there are differences among racial/ethnic groups in perceptions of career‐related opportunities and barriers.     

Relative Spousal Earnings and Marital Happiness Among African American and White Women

The distinctive economic histories of African American and White wives suggest that involvement in household income production holds contextually situated unique meanings for these groups. Yet research has not addressed racial differences in the effects of relative earnings on marital well‐being. Surveying 431 employed wives in 21 U.S. cities, we found that wife‐to‐husband income ratio and marital happiness were negatively associated when women held traditional values, but in racially distinct ways. Among White women only, a negative association between income ratio and marital happiness was reversed when financial need was reported. Findings are discussed in terms of variability in the meaning of wives’ earnings as a function of situational, historical, and sociocultural dynamics.     

Personal Letters, Oral Testimony and Scottish Migration to New Zealand in the 1950s: The Case of Lorna Carter

By blending emigrant letters and oral testimony and illuminating the benefits and drawbacks associated with each source, as revealed in this case study of a Scottish female migrant, this article contributes to the methodology of the use of personal testimony within migration studies. It shows that though there can be some discrepancies between contemporary documentation and later memory, interviews with migrants are particularly useful when they can flesh out areas of interest not contained in contemporary documents. This article therefore argues for greater integration of oral and written testimony in order to capture fully the rich and nuanced personal experience of migration from the perspective of its participants.