The Influence of Intimate Violence on Transitions out of Cohabitation

Does the experience of violence in a cohabiting union lead participants away from marriage and toward separation, or does violence have only minimal impact once other characteristics of unions and their participants are controlled? This issue is examined using a sample of 411 cohabiting couples followed in both waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. Marriage and separation are treated as competing risks. Results show that violence does have an effect, although dissimilar effects emerge for transitions to separation, as opposed to marriage. Net of other factors, intense male violence—male violence that is more severe than the female partner's—raises the hazard of separation. In contrast, female violence, but not male violence, lowers the rate of marriage. The findings appear robust to a variety of operationalizations of partner violence.     

Sharp tongues and bitter pills

How bad is big pharma? An American medical journal has taken draconian measures to vet analyses of clinical trials sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. Are their statistics so bad? Stephen Senn has a look at the controversy.     

Nationalism and patriotism as determinants of European identity and attitudes towards the euro

The present study investigates national identity and European identity as determinants of attitudes towards the single European currency, the euro. It is assumed that support of the euro depends on a positive European identity which may be affected by patriotism and nationalism as different types of national identity. Sentimental and instrumental attachment to one’s own nation, and optimistic expectations about Austrian future are included as determinants of patriotism and nationalism. A sample of 318 participants completed a questionnaire. Results give evidence for impacts of national and European identity on the attitudes towards the euro.     

CONCEPTUALIZING CONTEMPORARY HEALTH LIFESTYLES:

The intent of this article is to move beyond the work of Weber and construct a concept of health lifestyles applicable to the current phase of modernity. Beginning with the early twentieth-century work of Simmel and Weber on lifestyles generally, we move to mid-century to examine Bourdieu's perspective and turn to Giddens for an analysis of late century conditions. We find that Weber's insight concerning the dialectical interplay of choice and chance remains the central feature of the lifestyle concept. We also suggest that in rapidly changing late or postmodern situations, lifestyles not only provide self-identity but also promote a sense of stability and belonging for an individual by providing an anchor in a particular social constellation of style and activity. Our discussion leads us to define health lifestyles as collective patterns of health-related behavior based on choices from options available to people according to their life chances. Consistent with Bourdieu's notion of habitus, we assign priority to chance (structure) over choice.     

Teacher training and multiculturalism in a transitional society: the case of the Slovak Republic

The authors explore a number of issues surrounding multicultural education in “societies in transition”, emerging from their experiences during a TEMPUS project that took place in the Slovak Republic. The TEMPUS project entailed the development of a multicultural education curriculum for teacher trainers, as a response to the conditions for entry into the European Union. The paper provides background information on the position of ethnic minorities in Slovakia, in particular the Hungarian and Roma population and the development of policies, especially in education, for combating racism. In examining the challenges to educators in developing a more open system than the command education of the recent past, issues such as the predominance of traditional pedagogies, multiculturalism and antiracism, the problems of “other isms” and of giving voice to minorities are considered.     

Do female candidates ‘lose votes’?: the experience of female candidates in the 1979 and 1980 Canadian general elections

Dans quelle mesure la sous-représentation des femmes au Parlement du Canada est-elle attribuable à la “perte de votes”? II est évident que lorsque les femmes se présentent à la députation sur un pied d‘égalité avec les hommes en ce qui concerne un rival titulaire, la compétitivité du siège disputé, et le parti politique, les femmes n'obtiennent pas moins de votes que les hommes. Les femmes sont également plus aptes àêtre choisies pour disputer des sièges à des titulaires ou des sièges que le parti a peu ou pas de chance de gagner. II est done peu probable que l’échec relatif des femmes aux élections fédérates soit directement relié aux sentiments des électeurs. II apparait plutôt que le succès limité des femmes dans la politique fédérale au Canada est dû aux difficultés qu'elles ont à se faire nommer pour disputer des sièges qu'elles auraient une assez bonne chance de gagner. This paper explores the extent to which the under-representation of women in the House of Commons in Canada can be attributed to female candidates “losing votes.” The evidence suggests that, when male and female candidates are equated in terms of running against an incumbent, competitiveness of the contested seat, and political party, the women do not receive fewer votes than the men. At the same time, women were more likely than men to be nominated to contest seats against incumbents or seats which their party had little or no chance of winning. It does not seem, then, that the relative failure of women in federal elections can be traced directly to voters' sentiments. Rather, it appears as if the limited success of women in federal politics in Canada largely originates in their difficulties in securing nominations to contest seats which they have some reasonable prospect of winning.     

Immigrant suicide in Australia,Canada, England and Wales,and the United States

Factors influencing the suicide rates of numerous immigrants in groups in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, and the United States during the period 1959–73 were examined. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for the origin, immigrant and destination native-born populations using the Canadian native-born age-sex-specific suicide rates as the standard. For males, the foreign-born in England and Wales had the lowest suicide rates and the foreign-born in the United States the highest. For females the variation was smaller, with immigrants in the United States having the lowest rates, and those in Australia the highest. Agespecific suicide rates indicated that relative to the native-born, foreign-born elderly had substantially elevated risks of suicide.     

Current work on the social indicators system for the Federal Republic of Germany

The paper in hand deals with the construction of the SPES Indicators Tableau and its extensions and modifications which are carried out by current work. Advantages of time series regression analysis for social reporting as well as classifying social change are discussed. The paper ends with a short prospect on the publication in preparation which shall continue the social reporting of the SPES Indicators Tableau.