Changing the Palace Guard: Analysing the Impact of Women's Entry into Medicine

Women's rapid entry into medicine raises important questions about change in this historically male-dominated profession. In addition to shifting the gender balance, do increasing numbers of women signal a more fundamental change in the way in which medicine is organized and practised? A growing body of research suggests such change. Yet there is continuing controversy about the meaning of observed gender differences in practice, whether they reflect an essentially pragmatic response to women's dual workload of family and career, or whether they are the result of underlying differences in attitudes, values and orientations. This article uses data from a survey of a recent cohort of family physicians in Ontario, Canada, to document the extent of gender differences and similarities in medical practice, and their interrelationships to family situation, political attitudes and patient care attitudes. The results show that seemingly related differences in practice are accounted for in different ways: while some are associated with differences in family situation, others are tied to attitudes, while others are a function of gender alone. The results also reveal gender similarities which do not suggest that women are becoming more like men, but that men, and the profession as a whole are changing. We would emphasize the importance of interpreting gender differences and similarities within a broader conceptual understanding of change in the profession.     

Entwickeln im Team – Effekte für den Einzelnen

This study tested the effects of a 2-day team building intervention on team members’ team identification, social support and collective self-efficacy. Members (n?=?32) of three teams from different sectors completed questionnaires before, directly after and six weeks after the team building intervention. Two teams served as control groups. Results showed lasting positive effects of team building on identification, support and collective self-efficacy in the training groups but no changes in the control groups.     

A still,small voice: Letter‐writing,testimony and the project of address in Etty Hillesum's letters from Westerbork

Abstract

This paper derives from an exploration of the ways in which the letters of Holocaust writer Etty Hillesum, which are seemingly resistant to many of the interests of current trauma theory, can be read in relation to contemporary writing on testimonial. In particular, the three theorists I shall discuss here, Derrida, Caruth and Irigaray, directly address Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle, a central text in the current refiguring of trauma. This paper traces the ways in which Hillesum's letters can be read across the theoretical accounts. An interpretation of Hillesum's writing emerges in which the conventional emphasis on the mystical aspect of her texts is reinterpreted in terms of Caruth's emphasis on the life drive. Viewed as forging a creative language of departure, Hillesum's letters are situated in a central relation to the most recent developments in the theoretical discourse around testimony.     

Internet Poker Websites and Pathological Gambling Prevention Policy

Despite the widespread increase in online poker playing and the risk related to excessive poker playing, research on online poker websites is still lacking with regard to pathological gambling prevention strategies offered by the websites. The aim of the present study was to assess the pathological gambling-related prevention strategies of online poker websites. Two keywords (“poker” and “poker help”) were entered into two popular World Wide Web search engines. The first 20 links related to French and English online poker websites were assessed. Seventy-four websites were assessed with a standardized tool designed to rate sites on the basis of accountability, interactivity, prevention strategies, marketing, and messages related to poker strategies. Prevention strategies appeared to be lacking. Whereas a substantial proportion of the websites offered incitation to gambling such as betting “tips,” few sites offered strategies to prevent or address problem gambling. Furthermore, strategies related to poker, such as probability estimation, were mostly reported without acknowledging their limitations. Results of this study suggest that more adequate prevention strategies for risky gambling should be developed for online poker.     

Public child welfare workers' perception of efficacy relative to multicultural awareness,knowledge and skills

Maintaining a well trained pool of workers in public child welfare agencies continues to be an ongoing problem. Research suggests that it is critical that we continue to explore the factors associated with worker efficacy. Existing research has found that outcomes for families and children are affected by numerous individual and organizational characteristics including worker's perceived efficacy (Advancement of Social Work Research, 2005; Bernotavicz, 2007; Collier, 2007; Ellett, 2007; Government Accountability Office, 2003; Milner, 2003). This study describes public child welfare workers, and their perceptions of efficacy relative to multicultural awareness, knowledge and skills. Study outcomes have implications for worker training, supervision, and curriculum on child welfare.     

Biological Pre‐emption: “Race”, Class,and Genomics

Genomics is a complex field of study involving researchers and practitioners immersed in the social milieu from which their genetic theories and comprehensions in part emerge. Genomic researchers' embeddedness in social formations with distinct ideologies predisposes them to construct hypotheses about genetics with value‐laden assumptions. Given genomics' inseparability from social influences this article explores how its use with marginalized groups has eugenic implications. Several important links between eugenics and genomics are identified suggesting eugenic implications in genomics.     

Effects of Group Norms on Children's Intentions to Bully

A minimal group study examined the effect of peer group norms on children's direct and indirect bullying intentions. Prior to an inter‐group drawing competition, children (N = 85) aged seven and nine years were assigned to a group that had a norm of out‐group dislike or out‐group liking. Results indicated that, regardless of group norms, the children's attitudes were more positive towards the in‐group vs. the out‐group. Children's bullying intentions were greater when the in‐group had a norm of out‐group dislike vs. out‐group liking, the children were younger rather than older, and the bullying was indirect vs. direct. A three‐way interaction showed that the in‐group norms had a larger effect on the younger children's direct rather than indirect bullying intentions, but a larger effect on the older children's indirect rather than direct bullying intentions. Implications for understanding school bullying intentions and behaviour are discussed.