Temporality and Social Change: The Case of 19th Century China and Japan

Manifold factors have been identified as causal mechanisms in social change, but an important one–temporality–has been neglected. Temporality is the social time that characterizes any society, and that social time is consequential for the rate and direction of change. The three dimensions of temporality are temporal pattern, temporal orientation, and temporal perspective. The differences between the Japanese and Chinese along these three dimensions help explain their differential responses to the 19th century Western challenge. Specifically, two propositions are examined in the light of the historical data: a society's temporality limits the range of adaptive responses to new circumstances, and the symbols of social time act as a mechanism of social control.     

Age at immigration and educational attainment

Cette analyse des données d'une étude sur la mobilité canadienne révèle que le niveau d'éducation atteint par les immigrants qui sont arrivés au Canada à temps pour suivre les cours d'école primaire, semble être plus élevé que le niveau atteint par ceux qui sont arrivés avant ou après cet âge. Toutefois, comme la plupart des différences entre les catégories d'âge à L'arrivée ne sont guère significatives, statistiquement parlant, et comme les valeurs des mesures concises de la relation globale sont peu élevées, il y a lieu de douter si L'âge à L'arrivée exerce en soi un effet direct sur le niveau d'éducation atteint. Ces résultats sont en opposition avec ceux publiés par Inbar et donnent très peu d'appui à celui-ci, dont les conclusions font croire que L'âge à L'arrivée entraîne des conséquences différentielles pour L'acculturation. Analysis of Canadian Mobility Study data reveals that educational attainment tends to be higher among those who immigrated to Canada during grade school years than among those who immigrated earlier or later. However, as most differences between age-at-immigration categories are not statistically significant and as values for summary measures of the overall relationship are low, there is reason to doubt that age at immigration, in itself, exercises a direct effect on educational attainment. These findings contrast sharply with those reported by Inbar and provide little support for his conclusion that age at immigration has differential consequences for acculturation.     

Adolescent group therapy membership selection

Conclusions Social agency practitiooners can employ adolescent group therapy as an effective treatment mode, as long as a great deal of attention and planning is put into the details of group membership selection. The authors have presented suggestions and guidelines that can be used in overcoming the logistic problems inherent in forming an adolescent therapy group. We feel that proper pregroup planning is just as important in determining group results as is the ongoing group process. Group treatment does not necessarily incease a therapist's productivity or reduce the amount of time spent in therapy, but it does offer a unique experience which has certain qualitative advantages for teenagers experiencing behavioral and relationship problems within and, particularly, outside of the family system.     

THE FUNDAMENTAL FORMULA OF BLASCHKE IN INTEGRAL GEOMETRY AND GEOMETRICAL PROBABILITY, AND ITS ITERATION, FOR DOMAINS WITH FIXED ORIENTATIONS

The so-called “principal formulae” of planar integral geometry are conventionally couched in terms of the “kinematic density”dxdydθ. Here a corresponding theory with respect to the “Lebesgue density”dxdy, that is with rotations suppressed, is developed. The only real difference is that the new “fundamental formula of Blaschke”contains a term depending upon the relative orientations of the two domains involved. In particular, the remarkable iteration property of these formulae carries over. The usual principal formulae follow as a corollary of the formulae given here, upon, averaging over orientations.     

Food insufficiency and physical and mental health in a longitudinal survey of welfare recipients

Food insufficiency is a significant problem in the United States, and poor African American women with children are at especially high risk. An inadequate household food supply can potentially affect the well-being of household members, but it is difficult to distinguish the effects of food insufficiency from risk factors for poor health that are also common among the food insufficient, such as poverty. We examined food insufficiency and physical and mental health among African American and white women (n = 676) who were welfare recipients in 1997. Controlling for common risk factors, women who reported food insufficiency in both 1997 and 1998 were more likely to report fair or poor health at the later date. Food insufficiency in 1998 was significantly associated with meeting the diagnostic screening criteria for recent major depression. Food insufficiency at both times and in 1998 only was related to women's sense of mastery. These findings add to growing evidence that household food insufficiency is associated with poor physical and mental health.     

Determinants of sexual arousal and accuracy of its self-estimation in sexually functional males

Men with and without sexual dysfunction present with varying patterns of agreement between subjective estimates of sexual arousal and more objective psychophysiological measures of the same construct. This relative accuracy seems to be associated with sexual function, with men who have sexual dysfunction presenting less accurate estimations (mostly reporting below measured arousal levels). The purpose of this study is to clarify the processes underlying sexual arousal and the accuracy of its self-estimation. We looked at potential predictors of sexual arousal (subjective and physiological) and accuracy in estimating objective sexual arousal in a sample of 60 sexually functional males. Predictors included pre-existing sexual attitudes (erotophobia), both trait and state positive and negative affect, self-focused attention, and interoceptive awareness. Results indicate that this sexually functional sample generally reported below their own erection level. Interestingly, trait negative affect was associated with somewhat lower levels of subjective arousal and higher levels of physiological arousal. On the other hand, state positive affect facilitated both subjective and objective arousal and increased somewhat the accuracy of estimates of erectile responding. Pre-existing sexual attitudes as well as variations in self-focused attention and interoceptive awareness evidenced little effect on sexual arousal or the accuracy of its estimation.     

Sociology and political arithmetic: some principles of a new policy science

This paper advances the position that sociology needs to develop an approach to research which focuses on fundamental social problems. In doing so it shares many of the intellectual values and goals of political arithmetic while seeking to move methodologically beyond it. Since such problems are complex they will require, typically, interdisciplinary input and a concomitant approach to the development and appraisal of theories. We are not, therefore, advocating the primacy of sociology but arguing that it has a distinctive part to play in addressing the fundamental problems of the twenty-first century. However, a policy-oriented sociology has also to take up the task, so clearly defined by the tradition of political arithmetic, which is to hold governments to account. Consequently a central principle of a new policy science is that it should contribute to democratic debate about policy.     

Culturally sensitive adaptation of PREPARE with Japanese premarital couples

In this study, we attempted to achieve a culturally sensitive adaptation of the PREmarital Personal And Relationship Evaluation (PREPARE) Inventory with Japanese premarital couples (n = 849). A translation, back-translation, and construct modification process was initiated by a group of U.S. and Japanese researchers to ensure a culturally sensitive and applicable adaptation of PREPARE. Alpha reliability analyses revealed good internal consistency among Japanese PREPARE scales. A Japanese premarital couple typology was developed using cluster analyses. Several unique features of the Japanese premarital types are identified and discussed. Suggestions are provided for continued enhancement in adaptation process of PREPARE with Japanese premarital couples.     

An integrative intervention for promoting recovery from extramarital affairs

The discovery or disclosure of an extramarital affair can have a devastating impact on partners, both individually and on the relationships. Research suggests that affairs occur relatively frequently in relationships and are a common presenting problem in couple therapy. However, despite their prevalence, there is little empirical treatment research in this area, and most therapists describe this problem as one of the more difficult to treat. In this study, we used a replicated case-study design to explore the efficacy of an integrative treatment designed to help couples recover from an affair. Six couples entered and completed treatment. The majority of these couples were less emotionally or maritally distressed at the end of treatment, and the injured partners reported greater forgiveness regarding the affair. Details of the intervention, suggested adaptations of the treatment, and areas for future research are discussed.