Producing Postman Pat: The popular cultural construction of idyllic rurality

This paper concerns the popular cultural representation of English rurality. It focuses upon Postman Pat, a popular cultural phenomenon which has come to be routinely cited as exemplary and iconic of contemporary imaginings of the English countryside as idyllic. The idea that Anglocentric popular culture (re)produces this sort of ‘rural idyll’ – and that these idylls are particularly laden with cultural and ideological baggage – has been well rehearsed. However, this paper considers a question which has too often been overlooked or taken for granted: how, exactly – and I mean literally, actually, in detail, in practice – does this sort of idyllic rurality come to be constructed? Through conversations with two key figures in the creation of Postman Pat, the paper begins to develop an understanding of some of the everyday, banal, nitty gritty practices, decisions and encounters which must be understood as fundamentally part of the production of (this) ‘rural idyll’.     

The Effective Grassroots Association II: Organizational Factors That Produce External Impact

Grassroots associations are locally based, significantly autonomous, volunteer-run, formal nonprofit groups that manifest significant voluntary altruism as a group. They use the associational form of organization and thus have an official membership of volunteers who perform all or nearly all of the work done in and by these nonprofits. This report reviews some of what is known about how grassroots associations achieve external impacts (impacts on their environment). The preceding issue of this journal (volume 9, issue 4) contains a similar review article for internal impact (impact on members). The method used is a comprehensive literature review.     

The nowhere (wo)man: An example of the defensive use of emptiness in a patient with a schizoid disorder of the self

Schizoid patients often appear bland or faintly repellant to other people and equally often describe themselves as empty and without a self. One aspect of this emptiness is defensive in nature. It is born of the desire to protect the self. Unfortunately, however, defensive emptying serves to weaken the very thing the individual is trying to protect. This article discusses why a person develops this particular method of self protection; describes the devices that serve to sustain the illusion of emptiness; and what happens when, the emptiness begins to give way. A case discussion is used for illustration.     

Expertise and aging: maintaining skills through the lifespan

As lifespan continues to increase in many developed countries, so too does the age at which we see extraordinary achievements from older adults. Examples from running, golf, and other domains continue to redefine what is possible as we age. Evidence suggests, however, that progression through adulthood is associated with a dramatic decline in all manner of physical and cognitive abilities, from physiological capacities (e.g., VO2 max) to cognitive and perceptual functions (e.g., IQ scores, reaction time). In the face of such precipitous decline in specific abilities, how do we account for maintenance of skilled performance and expertise amongst those supposedly well along the age-decline curve? Expert performers are seemingly able to sustain high levels of achievement in the face of an overall deterioration in general capacities. Moreover, experts maintain this performance in spite of reduced involvement in their field. There are three primary explanations for the ability of experts to maintain superior performance in spite of an overall decline in abilities: (a) preserved differentiation, (b) compensation, and (c) selective maintenance. Overall, research into the high achievements of older adults may reveal a great deal with respect to skill preservation and how to best counter age-related decline.     

The heterogeneity of children and their experiences in kinship care

Increasingly, children in need of out-of-home care are being placed in kinship care, yet few studies have followed their placement histories longitudinally to determine if these children constitute a homogeneous group or heterogeneous subgroups. This study of 484 children in kinship care in San Diego County, California, indicates that children in kinship care have markedly different sociodemographic and maltreatment histories, as well as heterogeneous placement experiences.     

Race, Class, and Family Structure: Differences in Housing Values for Black and White Homeowners

Several scholars have argued that the continuing disadvantage of Blacks vis-à-vis Whites has more to do with social class factors than with race. Other scholars have suggested that differences in family structure account for Black disadvantage. This study addresses these issues in terms of housing values by analyzing (1) the effects of race on housing values net of socioeconomic status and other relevant demographic variables, (2) the interaction of race with socioeconomic status in determining housing values, (3) the interaction of race with household structure in determining housing values and, (4) changes in the relative impact of race on housing values from 1970 to 1990. The findings indicate that Blacks own homes of lower value regardless of their socioeconomic status or household structure. Additionally, the negative effect of race was greater for Blacks of higher status. However, there was a stronger negative association between race and housings values in 1970 than in 1980 or 1990, providing some evidence for a narrowing of the Black-White gap in housing values. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

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.