Exploring First Sexual Intercourse,Sexual Orientation,and Sexual Health in Men

In this study the characteristics of the sexual debut of men who have sex with men (MSM) and men who have sex with women (MSW) age 35 or younger (N = 1,201) were compared with one another. We investigated whether these characteristics were associated with sexual health and behavior, and to what extent. Compared to MSW, MSM tended to be older when they had their first sexual intercourse; their first sex partner was older, they felt less ready, and they experienced more pain. We also found that they reported a higher number of lifetime sexual partners and less condom use compared to MSW. Similarities were also ascertained, such as the fact that individuals from both groups do not differ significantly regarding how they experienced their first sexual intercourse emotionally. Many differences between these groups should not always be seen as problematic, whereas others still indicate a need for targeted interventions.     

When Heterosexuality is Questioned: Stifling Suspicion Through Public Displays of Heterosexual Identity

This study examined public heterosexual identity management practices of heterosexual-identified young adults in the United States. Analysis of 415 participants’ written narratives indicated that 41% (n = 169) described consciously engaging in public displays of their heterosexual status in relation to suspicion about their sexual orientation. This article describes our findings regarding five aspects of these narratives of suspicion: types of suspicion, causes of suspicion, reasons for concern about suspicion, the types of public displays of heterosexual status employed to quell suspicion, and intended audiences for these displays. Overall, the results indicated that heterosexual identity suspicion is multifaceted, this suspicion serves as a catalyst for public displays of heterosexual status, and the climate of suspicion described by our participants reflects and reinforces contemporary heterosexism.     

Two Centuries of Mortality Change in Central Japan: The Evidence From a Temple Death Register

Temple registers in a remote area of central Japan are used to produce a portrait of mortality change over a period of nearly two centuries. This portrait is most remarkable in showing a near-stability in life expectancy at birth between 30 and 40 years until the middle of the twentieth century. This stability was to some extent a product of offsetting trends. Infant and child mortality declined sharply after 1885, coinciding with a major national effort to vaccinate against smallpox. At the same time, mortality was rising at ages 15–29 as industrialization brought increased exposure to tuberculosis. Both these trends are likely to have been shared throughout much of rural Japan.     

Misplaced Mistrust: The Collaborative Construction of Doubt In 911 Emergency Calls

In this paper, we analyze how the call-taker in a taped 911 call came to doubt a caller who was reporting a genuine emergency. Using conversation analysis, we show how the caller's actions in the unfolding context of the call did not successfully support his claims to be a caller with legitimate trouble to report. We show how the participants' experience of the call as it unfolded differed from the media's depictions of the call. The call-taker's doubt was not an intrapersonal phenomenon but was constructed by both participants throughout the call. One of the major factors in this construction was the unsuccessful claims-making techniques used by the caller.     

Silence in the Context of 'Child Voice'

Recent decades have seen growing enthusiasm internationally for the concept and practice of 'child voice'. This was encapsulated in, and stimulated, by Article 12 of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article presents the case for incorporating the equally important concept of 'child silence' in both research and applied contexts. 'Child voice' has become a powerful moral crusade and consequently criticism of voice has been muted. This is despite the growing articulation of reservations about 'child voice' in various research and applied contexts. Two particular sets of emerging concerns are discussed: one set is around the purposes behind such engagement with children; and one set relates to the ethical protocols involved. Finally, the article makes a series of recommendations for researchers working in the fields of 'child voice'. These concern five methodological aspects: recognising, noting, responding to, interpreting and reporting silence from children. It is concluded that it is timely to take a step back from assumed support for 'child voice' as necessarily 'a good thing'. Rather, we need to consider more reflexively how, why and when 'child voice' is realised in co-constructed research and professional contexts.     

Death in Public Child Welfare

Child welfare workers are in a unique position to help children and youth in out-of-home care who have experienced the death of a significant person. This article discusses the response of children to death from a developmental perspective and offers suggestions on how child welfare workers can use an ecological perspective to help youngsters cope with their grief.     

Rural Development Policy: Study Case Green Wine Networks

In the international arena, regions are facing several challenges, such as economic disparities compared to other regions, lack of employment opportunities, economic gaps and standards of development. Even if we live in a globalized system, many less-developed regions lack a clear image of the possibility to create a planning draft for a reliable regional development. In this context, it is necessary to address few basic hypotheses that would help us to understand the methodological approach of the given project. The first basic hypothesis deals with: What is the feasibility of the implementation of a strategic planning of development which will be able to promote regional policy agenda in a reliable manner? What would be the validation of theoretical approaches dealing with the creation of a model of cooperation at regional and inter-regional levels? Is it possible to apply this model at different stages of economic development? How can we make the development strategies sustainable and eco-friendly? The project tries to answer in a theoretical but also in a practical manner, the existing challenges at regional levels. Some solutions could even consist in the creation of a model of territorial cooperation that put in accordance, in a cohesive manner, the common interests of such areas. The core study of the present research is a context analysis that helps the targeted less-developed regions to understand, through systematic steps, the geopolitical features and the effective methodology necessary to enhance all their local excellences and to transform them into real opportunities for rural development, not only at local levels but also at the global level. The study deals with the concern increasing competition between regions and the global challenges makes cooperation inevitable in homogeneous areas in territorial and cultural terms. In such a context, coherently with the increasing globalization and its challenges (economic and environmental), the study aims to strengthen the image of the territories of the Adriatic (our specific case study), such as enhancing their specificity in the international markets and driving them towards sustainable development which is considered as the main factor of socio-economic growth.     

Ethical Research Involving Children: Encouraging Reflexive Engagement in Research with Children and Young People

Research involving children raises complex and well‐documented ethical questions and challenges that extend far beyond the reach of formal review and governance systems, where these exist. However, researchers collectively have a wealth of knowledge and experience in applying universal ethical principles in diverse social, cultural and methodological settings, which offers much potential for understanding how ethical concerns are responded to in situ. Through extensive consultation and research, the Ethical Research Involving Children (ERIC) project, discussed in this article, has drawn on this collective knowledge in generating evidence‐based resources that highlight best practice while grounding ethical decision‐making in lived experience.