Hercules Subdued: The Visual Rhetoric of the Kneeling Slave

The image of the kneeling slave, designed for the seal of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, then widely distributed as a cameo manufactured and distributed by Josiah Wedgwood became a powerful abolitionist icon. The image has been seen as both one of victimization and one that acknowledges the agency of the slave. While the former interpretation is understandable given the re-configurations of the image within the polemics of the Abolitionist campaign of the nineteenth century, the original image needs to be examined within the context of its construction. For this, it is necessary to explore the classical nature of the figure, particularly the representations and mythic significance of Hercules. These associations are combined with references to supplication as depicted in earlier token books, religious iconography, contemporary treatises on acting, eighteenth century treatises on gesture and rhetoric, and eighteenth century treatises on phrenology, physiognomy and ethnology. It is the complexity derived from such blending that became simplified and limited in later re-presentations where the image is used in conjunction with sentimental appeals to the benevolence of the viewer. As the classical resonances gave way to sentimental imperatives, the changing array of discourses changed not only the context which gave the image meaning, but reshaped the very image of the kneeling slave in subtle, but significant ways. The result provides us with a complex study of the dynamics of visual rhetoric.     

Work-based learning in social work education: the challenges and opportunities for the identities of work-based learners on university-based programs

This article explores the experiences of work-based learners undertaking social work degrees in the UK. The article is based on research of work-based learners on undergraduate social work degrees based in two universities, a local face-to-face university and a national distance learning university. Based on narrative inquiry methods for data collection, the article presents two case studies from the wider study which provide narratives of ‘becoming’ and ‘being’ a student. Drawing on identity theory, the article analyses how identity is an important concept in understanding the challenges and opportunities for this group of students on their journeys into and through higher education. The paper concludes by considering the implications for current provision of social work education.     

Gender Differences Among Older Heroin Users

A group of 110 midlife lesbians filled out several open-ended essay questions on adolescence and midlife. Half the sample described themselves as non-traditional adolescents, e.g., bookish, rebellious or athletic. Approximately half the midlife lesbians had non-traditional dreams in adolescence, that is dreams of careers, adventure and having an impact on the world. Women who labeled themselves as "lesbians" in their teens and twenties were more likely to have been non-traditional adolescents. Women who labeled themselves as "lesbians" in midlife were more traditional as adolescents. The majority of lesbians in this sample were highly educated professional women. The data suggested that adolescent dreams and interests sewed as a source of vitality and creativity for midlife lesbians.     

Climigration? Population and climate change in Arctic Alaska

Residents of towns and villages in Arctic Alaska live on “the front line of climate change.” Some communities face immediate threats from erosion and flooding associated with thawing permafrost, increasing river flows, and reduced sea ice protection of shorelines. The term climigration, referring to migration caused by climate change, originally was coined for these places. Although initial applications emphasized the need for government relocation policies, it has elsewhere been applied more broadly to encompass unplanned migration as well. Some historical movements have been attributed to climate change, but closer study tends to find multiple causes, making it difficult to quantify the climate contribution. Clearer attribution might come from comparisons of migration rates among places that are similar in most respects, apart from known climatic impacts. We apply this approach using annual 1990–2014 time series on 43 Arctic Alaska towns and villages. Within-community time plots show no indication of enhanced out-migration from the most at-risk communities. More formally, there is no significant difference between net migration rates of at-risk and other places, testing several alternative classifications. Although climigration is not detectable to date, growing risks make either planned or unplanned movements unavoidable in the near future.     

A Note on Confidence Intervals for a Linear Function of Poisson Rates

We consider three interval estimators for linear functions of Poisson rates: a Wald interval, a t interval with Satterthwaite's degrees of freedom, and a Bayes interval using noninformative priors. The differences in these intervals are illustrated using data from the Crash Records Bureau of the Texas Department of Public Safety. We then investigate the relative performance of these intervals via a simulation study. This study demonstrates that the Wald interval performs poorly when expected counts are less than 5, while the interval based on the noninformative prior performs best. It also shows that the Bayes interval and the interval based on the t distribution perform comparably well for more moderate expected counts.     

Endogenizing the order of moves in matrix games

Players often have flexibility in when they move and thus whether a game is played simultaneously or sequentially may be endogenously determined. For 2 × 2 games, we analyze this using an extended game. In a stage prior to actual play, players choose in which of two periods to move. A player moving at the first opportunity knows when his opponent will move. A player moving at the second turn learns the first mover's action. If both select the same turn, they play a simultaneous move subgame.If both players have dominant strategies in the basic game, equilibrium payoffs in the basic and extended games are identical. If only one player has a dominant strategy or if the unique equilibrium in the basic game is in mixed strategies, then the extended game equilibrium payoffs differ if and only if some pair of pure strategies Pareto dominates the basic game simultaneous play payoffs. If so, sequential play attains the Pareto dominating payoffs. The mixed strategy equilibrium occurs only when it is not Pareto dominated by some pair of pure strategies.In an alternative extended game, players cannot observe delay by opponents at the first turn. Results for 2×2 games are essentially the same as with observable delay, differing only when only one player has a dominant strategy.     

The use of the psychosocial maturity inventory in evaluations of youth conservation corps programs

Although work experience has been widely recommended as beneficial to adolescent development, there is little empirical support for this recommendation. The Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), combining as it does some of the best features of both paid work and unpaid community service, offers an opportunity to explore the developmental impact of work experience. However, the need to pay as much attention to the problems of measurement as to the programs themselves dictates simultaneous evaluation of both programs and measures.