Collaboration between Health and Local Authorities: Why is it necessary?

In contrast with current proposals, collaboration with local government was a dominant factor in the 1974 reorganisation of the NHS. Four categories of such collaboration are identified in this paper: the sharing of services; coordination of service delivery; joint planning; and joint prevention. The need for each is discussed in the context of the reorganisation debate and of subsequent events. In essence, the DHSS case for collaboration — and in particular, its emphasis on joint planning — is seen as both a cause of reorganisation and a consequence of the form which that reorganisation eventually took. Emphasis is placed upon the potential role of collaboration as a vehicle for a preventive health strategy and as an important instrument for the development and implementation of major central government policy objectives. Finally prospects for the continuing evolution of joint working are considered in relation to NHS restructuring. It is concluded that the present government's approach to the structure and management of the NHS is likely to undermine its substantive policy objectives especially in the field of community care.     

Land use planning and the community

For more effective land use to become a reality, the authors argue, citizens must become actively involved in the decision-making process. There must be educational programmes to make people more aware of the alternatives and principles of land use planning. There must also be incentives provided to stimulate citizen input into land use decisions.     

Book reviews

Conclusion The Narcissistic and Borderline Disorder is an unusually thought provoking and useful book because it encourages the reader to compare and evaluate the work of several major theorists who have attempted to conceptualize narcissistic and borderline pathology. In spite of my disagreement with some specific formulations, I think that for the most part Masterson's choice of separation-individuation theory as an organizing framework for describing these disorders is quite effective in providing a logically consistent developmental context in which clinical phenomena can be studied and understood. Regardless of one's theoretical orientation, this book, is notable for its large measure of clinical wisdom, especially Masterson's observations about: (1) The Tallionic Impulse, in which he discusses how borderline patients attempt to injure the object by attacking the self; (2) The False Self, in which he outlines how the patient's compliance with the therapist's unspoken expectations may become a major resistance to treatment; (3) the hopelessness helplessness, and despair that narcissistic and borderline patients predictably experience as they begin to separate and thereby confront the existential loneliness of forging an autonomous identity; and (4) the confusion and discouragement that therapists experience when faced with the patient's despair at the very moment when the patient has initiated some constructive change.     

History, accomplishments, issues and prospects of supportive service programs in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities in new York State: lessons learned

Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) provide unique settings for the delivery of a variety of supportive services to the elderly. New York State's experience with the development of supportive service programs within NORCs provides valuable information for community planners and practitioners in terms of factors that contribute to the evolution and shaping of supportive service programs and lessons learned from existing programs.     

Brain hemisphere dominance and vocational preference: a preliminary analysis

Recent developments in split-brain theory add support to the concept of specialization within brain hemispheres. Holland's vocational personality theory may overlap with Human Information Processing (HIP) characteristics. Holland's six RIASEC codes were developed to identify vocational personality characteristics, and HIP scales were designed to measure hemispheric laterality. Relationships between the two scales were evaluated through canonical correlation with some significant results, however not all Holland scale scores correlated with left, right, or integrated hemispheric preference. Additional findings related to participants self-perception of music and math ability were also correlated. Findings on this added analysis revealed a high correlation between perception of musical ability and right brain function but not between mathematical concept and left brain alone. Implications regarding vocational choice and work are discussed.     

"Fag church": men who integrate gay and Christian identities

It is usually assumed that being gay or lesbian and being Christian is contradictory. The eight men who participated in this qualitative inquiry demonstrate otherwise. I investigated the ways in which these men integrated their gay and Christian identities meaningfully into their lives. From the interview data, I discerned and describe in this paper a variety of strategies that these men adopted in order to facilitate identity integration of seemingly mutually exclusive identities. In the bid for social and political equality with heterosexuals, gays and lesbians typically have not received support from Christians, at least not from politically active Christians, many of whom participate in explicitly antigay campaigns. Given such a contentious context, I discuss the personal and political implications of integrating gay and evangelical Christian identities.     

人类学者为何要研究灾难

人类学家对灾难研究的兴趣甚早,但长期以来局限于个案的探索,缺乏理论和方法论的系统思考。安东尼·奥利弗-史密斯和苏珊娜·M·霍夫曼从人类学对灾难的定义以及相关学术动态开始讨论,涉及了与生态、物质和社会-文化联结的人类学灾难研究的理论与方法,并辅以相关的文章,对人类学灾难研究的贡献和对地方场景中救援与重建的潜在价值进行了描述。