Sex(ualities) and Symbolic Interaction

What goes on sexually has to be placed in a context of meaning. This might seem a very simple and obvious idea. And yet this is what makes it so important: most people still cannot see sexuality in this way. We continue to think of our sexualities as remaining firmly locked in the chains of biology. Whereas for humans surely the biological is really the least interesting aspect of our sexuality. So, whilst there remain huge armies of sexologists studying the biological in its various guises, the radical importance of the social still fails to find its proper place in the study of the sexual. —Ken Plummer, “Memoriam for Bill Simon” (2001)     

Special Invited Paper: Dimension Reduction and Visualization in Discriminant Analysis (with discussion)

This paper discusses visualization methods for discriminant analysis. It does not address numerical methods for classification per se, but rather focuses on graphical methods that can be viewed as pre-processors, aiding the analyst's understanding of the data and the choice of a final classifier. The methods are adaptations of recent results in dimension reduction for regression, including sliced inverse regression and sliced average variance estimation. A permutation test is suggested as a means of determining dimension, and examples are given throughout the discussion.     

On the MacMahon cube law for election results

This note was prompted by remarks of Stanton (1980) which suggest a procedure MacMahon may have used in arriving at the cube law for election results. We begin by briefly reviewing the law and the mystery surrounding its original motivation. We end by assessing Stanton's contribution to the solution of the mystery and pointing out alternative laws.     

Role‐Playing and Playing Roles: The Person,Player, and Persona in Fantasy Role‐Playing

In fantasy role‐playing games, participants collectively create and play fantasy personas in an imaginary universe by using a vast system of rules that function as guidelines for make‐believe action and interaction. Consequently, role‐playing games obligate participants to occupy a liminal role located in the boundaries of persona, player, and person. This study, based on approximately ninety hours of participant observation and forty interviews with thirty role‐players, explores how role‐players actively negotiate these symbolic boundaries: how role‐players carve out distinct spheres of meaning between themselves, their fantasy personas, and status as players of these games. It also illustrates how these distinctions fail. Boundaries erupt and role‐players prove unable to compartmentalize themselves so discretely. Through the lens of these games, we can examine simplified and exaggerated dynamics and entertain the possibility that we are all players located at the liminal margins between the people we believe ourselves to be and the personas we perform in situated social encounters.     

THE INTERPERSONAL DYNAMICS AND TREATMENT OF DUAL TRAUMA COUPLES

Many trauma survivor dyads pose intense challenges for couples and marital therapists. Interpersonal reactivity, transference, emotional withdrawal, and associated responses complicate these difficult yet often rewarding cases. Unique aspects and interpersonal dynamics of these couples include specific themes, characteristics, and patterns. Treatment approaches focus on the systemic influences of trauma on interpersonal dynamics and offer interventions to challenge disruptive interactions, attend to the original traumas, and develop healthy relationship patterns.