La escala «directiveness» de Ray y el autoritarismo

Resumen

La escala «directiveness» de Ray (1976) es uno de los instrumentos diseñados para la medición del autoritarismo. En este trabajo se estudia la relación de esta medida con el dogmatismo, orientación política, edad y sexo, variables de interés en el campo de las actitudes socio-políticas, los resultados obtenidos nos permiten concluir que la escala «directiveness» no es ütil para el fin pretendido. También se subraya la necesidad de proceder a un debate teórico más riguroso en torno al autoritarismo político.     

Administrators and Quality of Care in Long-Term Care Facilities

This exploratory study investigated administrator and facility-related predictors of quality of care in long-term care facilities. Quality was measured using several unmet standards of care identified in the last inspection report of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (2007). Supplemental data were gathered from surveys mailed to all 602 long-term care administrators in Ontario, Canada, 302 of whom completed the questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test sets of hypotheses linking characteristics of administrators and those of the long-term care facility to quality of care. Education and experience as an administrator in a participant's current position had a moderate positive influence on quality of care; however, negative associations were found between administrator salary and effort devoted to resident care problems and quality of care. In addition, smaller facilities, being located in less populated communities, and administrators with a nursing background significantly affected quality of care in a positive manner.     

The victim-bind dilemma of black female sociologists in academe

In this article, the author argues that black female academicians, in particular sociologists, are in a “victim-bind,” which indicates their paradoxical ambivalence and produces stereotypical perceptions. This article examines the purpose and functions of stereotypic perceptions of black females in various phases of graduate school and early career development. It draws on the limited literature as well as the experiences and observations of the author and points out how the political culture and institutional structures of academic communities and departments shape images and career patterns of black women being professionalized as sociologists and social scientists in general. It concludes that stereotypic perceptions of black females are tied into the institutional systems of gender, race and power relations which represent in microcosm, the society at large. Her research areas are social psychological consequence of underemployment, racial/gender differences in social comparison processes, racial/gender inequality in academe, and racial/gender differences in perceptions of labor unions.     

Cultural Differences: Deaf and Hearing Researchers Working together

This article is based on several years of research done by the two authors, one of whom is Deaf and the other hearing. The paper discusses research done within the Deaf community using sign language. This is an estimated 50,000 people-the same number as those whose first language is Welsh. The Deaf community sees itself as a linguistic and cultural minority and as such is quite distinct from people with an acquired hearing loss, or those who are hard of hearing and who usually rely on written and spoken English through lipreading or writing things down. The paper sets this research in the context of cross-cultural research and looks at its connections with emancipatory research. The central discussion is in the form of a dialogue between the Deaf and hearing researchers and their personal responses to cultural differences. In the past Deaf people have been denied the opportunity of making their opinions known because research has used written or spoken language. Our research, using videocameras to record sign language and Deaf research using sign language to interview, provides a means of interviewing more suited to Deaf people than to hearing researchers. However, as the hearing culture is likely to be perceived as the dominant culture, there are bound to be differences when a hearing and Deaf researcher are working together within the Deaf community. These are the issues which we discuss within Deaf research.     

A National Comparison of Spousal Abuse in Mid- and Old Age

This exploratory study addresses whether there are similar or different risks and protective factors associated with spousal abuse among mid-age adults (persons aged 45–59) and old-age adults (persons aged 60 and over). The risk and protective factors of abuse are compared across these two age groups and situated within a life course framework. Cross-sectional data from the 1999 and 2004 General Social Surveys are merged to address the research questions. Overall, it was found that there are as many differences as there are similarities in risk/protective factors connected to individual, relationship, and community environments. The findings are discussed in terms of program development and future research.     

ON THE DEBATE AROUND IMMANENCE AND TRANSCENDENCE

There has been a profound debate about new ways of looking on emancipatory politics among progressive political theoreticians. One of the most important consequences of this contemporary debate has been the emergence of three related controversies: transcendence versus immanence, the people versus the multitude and negative ontology versus positive ontology. Our argumentative strategy will be to present these controversies first, through Hardt and Negri's point of view, and then through a Lacanian lecture of Laclau's perspective, author who places the psychoanalysis where philosophy traditionally located ontology.     

The last drag: an evaluation of an LGBT-specific smoking intervention

Many studies in the past 20 years have documented that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals smoke at rates that exceed the general population, yet, there have been few reports of smoking cessation interventions targeting this population. This study reports on data from 233 participants in The Last Drag, a seven-session, six-week group education and support intervention tailored for LGBT smokers. Data on smoking rates were collected during the first and last sessions, and at one, three, and six months post-intervention. As with many interventions over time, missing data is a challenge in determining success rates, but even using the most conservative estimates, nearly 60% were smoke-free at the end of the intervention, and 36% remained smoke-free by six months post-intervention. This success rate is comparable to, or better, than many mainstream smoking cessation interventions reported in the literature. The Last Drag is an effective, low-cost, LGBT-specific community intervention that can be replicated in other communities.     

Gonococcal Perihepatitis: Diagnosis and Management in a College Population

Abstract

Although gonococcal perihepatitis is not a common clinical problem, it should be in the differential diagnosis of patients who present with right upper quadrant pain and a subsequent positive gonorrhea culture. With the increasing incidence of venereal disease, more cases of gonococcal perihepatitis are anticipated, and an awareness of its protean manifestations should be known and considered by all health care providers. This is especially true for physicians treating college students, as the sequelae of pelvic infection can be severe tissue injury to the reproductive organs with resultant involuntary infertility.

This paper presents three cases of diagnosed gonococcal perihepatitis in a college population with a complete literature review of this disease entity.     

Evaluating insole design with joint motion, plantar pressure and rating of perceived exertion measures

This study compared a newly-designed insole with two commercially available insoles. The response measures included joint motion, plantar pressure and rating of perceived exertion. Thirty healthy female students were paid to participate in this study. The results showed that significant differences among the three insoles were found in plantar pressure and rating of perceived exertion. There were no significant differences among three different insoles in join motion measures. When wearing the newly-designed insole, the plantar pressure under heel area would transfer to midfoot area, and resulted in lower subjective discomfort ratings in midfoot and heel areas. The barefoot condition showed the worst performances in most of the response measures. The findings of this study provide very useful information for ergonomic insole design.