A social semiotic analysis of male heterosexuality in sexual health resources: the case of images

This paper describes the application of the visual social semiotics schema developed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) to sexual health leaflets and posters for young people (age 13 to 19 years) in order to explore how male heterosexuality is managed at a visual level. It illustrates the use of the method, and its advantages and drawbacks in comparison with other methods, and highlights the importance of visual representations as a source of sociological data. This analysis shows how social semiotics can be applied to reveal the discourses in images, and how sexual health materials reinforce dominant ideologies of masculinity. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the potential effectiveness of sexual health materials.     

Habermas,Activism, and Acquiescence: Reactions to ‘Colonization’ in UK Trade Unions

Habermas's idea of a conflict shift from ‘old’ to ‘new’ social movements has been a point of ongoing contention in the field of sociology. The criticisms aimed at his idea of ‘newness’ are numerous and persuasive. Rather than reiterating these debates, this paper argues that the next logical step is to apply Habermas to an analysis of the contemporary labour movement. In order to do this, I develop the notion of the ‘colonization of the lifeworld at work’, and explore the relationship between colonization and union activism in two cases drawn from the current UK context: the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT). In exploring colonization empirically, I suggest that it is met by a range of responses, from activism to acquiescence.     

Dementia Caregiving in the Context of Late‐Life Remarriage: Support Networks,Relationship Quality,and Well‐being

Caregiving research has not accounted for increasingly diverse and complex marital and family histories of older Americans. The authors examined social relations and care‐specific positive and negative support networks among late‐life remarried wife dementia caregivers (N = 61) to determine associations among network structure, relationship quality with and support received from network members, and global assessments of family and stepfamily disagreement on caregiver well‐being. Own family and friends predominated in the social relations and positive networks. Although over half (54%) of respondents included a stepfamily member in their positive networks, stepchildren comprised the largest group (35%) in the negative networks. Larger negative networks and actively negative interactions were related to greater caregiver burden, and more global disagreement with stepfamily was associated with greater depression and burden. The findings illustrate the complex nature of support and the value of targeted examinations of caregiving support dynamics among late‐life remarried older adults and stepfamilies facing health demands.     

The Association Between Sexual Behavior and Affect: Moderating Factors in Young Women

Sexual behavior is associated with increased positive affect and decreased negative affect. However, contextual variables such as partner type, behavior type, and condom use may moderate these associations. The goal of the present research was to examine these contextual moderators using monthly longitudinal data from a sample of young women. Female first-year college students (N = 477) completed monthly assessments of their sexual behaviors and positive and negative affect. Participants reported more negative affect in months in which they engaged in sexual behavior compared to months in which they did not. This association was moderated by partner type, such that only sexual behavior with casual partners was associated with increased negative affect. Participants reported more positive affect during months with kissing/touching only compared to months without sexual behavior; however, this association did not differ significantly from the association between oral/vaginal sex and positive affect. Condom use did not moderate the association between vaginal sex and positive or negative affect. In this sample of young women transitioning to college, engaging in sexual behavior was generally associated with negative affect; however, changes in affect depended on partner type and sexual behaviors. Findings have implications for sexual health education.     

Understanding Fraternity Drinking: Five Recurring Themes in the Literature, 1980–1998

Abstract

In light of widespread concern about alcohol abuse on college campuses, the authors review the empirical literature concerning fraternity drinking published since 1980. The review is structured according to 5 themes that emerge from the literature: (a) the continuity between high school and college drinking, (b) the self-selection of heavy drinkers into environments that support heavy drinking, (c) the central role of alcohol in fraternity socialization, (d) the misperception of drinking norms, and (e) the enabling environment of the fraternity house. The literature is summarized for the benefit of those who wish to better understand the role of alcohol use in the fraternity system.     

Some properties of generalized ridge estimators

Exact expressions, in the form of infinite series expansions, are given for the first and second moments of two well known generalized ridge estimators. These series expansions are then evaluated using recursive formulas and computations are verified using approximations. Results are presented for the relative mean square error and bias of these estimators as well as their relative efficiency with respect to least squares.