Constructive and Destructive Marital Conflict,Parenting, and Children's School and Social Adjustment

This study addresses the links between destructive and constructive marital conflict and mothers' and fathers' parenting to understand associations with children's social and school adjustment. Multi‐method, longitudinal assessments of 235 mothers, fathers, and children (129 girls) were collected across kindergarten, first, and second grades (ages 5–7 at time 1; ages 7–9 at time 3). Whereas constructive marital conflict was related to both mothers' and fathers' warm parenting, destructive marital conflict was only linked to fathers' use of inconsistent discipline. In turn, both mothers' and fathers' use of psychological control was related to children's school adjustment, and mothers' warmth was related to children's social adjustment. Reciprocal links between constructs were also explored, supporting associations between destructive marital conflict and mothers' and fathers' inconsistent discipline. The merit of examining marital conflict and parenting as multidimensional constructs is discussed in relation to understanding the processes and pathways within families that affect children's functioning.     

Ethnic jokes and social change: The case of the Welsh

Ethnic minorities and immigrants in most societies tend to become the subject of jokes told by the dominant majority. The Welsh, England's nearest neighbouring people, an aboriginal remnant of the autochthonous inhabitants of Britain have been the subject of English jokes for well over 400 years. When under the Tudors, a dynasty with a Welsh name and a tinge of Welsh descent, Wales was merged with England both legally and politically by the Act of Union of 1536, the Welsh became England's oldest and most prominent ethnic minority and significant numbers of them migrated from their peripheral homeland to the more central areas of England.’ At this point jokes about the Welsh began to proliferate¹ based on a well‐defined comic stereotype, though one that was to change significantly over time. This article traces the history and assesses the character of these jokes     

Short notices

Howard M. Gitelman, Workingmen of Waltham: Mobility in American Urban Industrial Development, 1850–1890 (1975), xvi+192 (Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore and London, £5.50).

Michael J. Cullen, The Statistical Movement in Early Victorian Britain. The Foundations of Empirical Social Research (1975), xii+205 (Harvester Press, Hassocks, £7.50).

Raymond Wolters, The New negro on Campus: Black College Rebellions of the 1920s (1975), viii+370 (Princeton University Press, £7.90).

Marie B. Rowlands, Masters and Men in the West Midland Metalware Trades before the Industrial Revolution (1975) x+198 (Manchester University Press, Manchester, £8.00).

Dwight L. Smith (ed.), Afro‐American History: A Bibliography (1974), xvi+856 (ABC Clio Inc., Santa Barbara and Oxford, £22.50).

Hugh Cunningham, The Volunteer Force: a Social and Political History 1859–1908 (1975) 168 (Croom Helm, £6.50).

Leslie Clarkson, Death, Disease and Famine in Pre‐Industrial England (Dublin, 1975), iii+188 (Gill and Macmillan, £8.75).

Arnold J. Bauer, Chilean Rural Society front the Spanish Conquest to 1930 (1975), xviii+265 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £7.90).

R. Kieckhefer, European Witch Trials: Their Foundation in Popular and Learned Culture, 1300–1500 (1976), x+181 (Routledge and Kegan Paul, £5.25).

David Elliston Allen, The Naturalist in Britain: a Social History (1976), xii+292 (Allen Lane, £9.00).

Paul Smith (ed.), The Historian and Film (1976), viii+208 (Cambridge University Press, £4.95).

Katherine S. Naughton, The Geentry of Bedfordshire in the 13th and 14th ceaturies (1976), 90 (Leicester University Press, Leicester, Local History Occ. Papers. 3rd series, No. 2. £3.75).

Thomas J. Archdeacon, New York City, 1664–1710: Conquest and Change (1976), 197 (Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, £6.35).     

Devolution and Patient Choice: Policy Rhetoric versus Experience in Practice

Background: market reforms in England have been identified as making a clear distinction between English health policy and health policy in the devolved systems in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Patient choice is a high profile policy in the English National Health Service that constitutes significant changes to the demand side of health care. It is not clear what national differences this has led to regarding implementation of policy. This article presents the findings from a large UK‐wide study on the development and implementation of policies related to patient choice of provider. The findings reported here relate specifically to the policy development and organizational implementation of choice in order to examine the impact of devolution on health care policy. Aim: this study examines patient choice of provider across all four countries of the UK to understand the effect of differences in national policies on the organization and service how choice of provider presented to patients. Methods: at the macro‐level, we interviewed policymakers and examined policy and guidance documents to analyze the provenance and determinants of national policy in each UK nation. At the Primary Care Trust or Health Board level, we interviewed a range of public and private health service providers to identify the range of referral pathways and where and when choices might be made. Finally, we interviewed ear, nose and throat, and orthopaedics patients to understand how such choices were experienced. Findings: while we found that distinct rhetorical differences were identifiable at a national policy level, these were less visible at the level of service organization and the way choices were provided to patients. Conclusion: historical similarities in both the structure and operation of health care, coupled with common operational objectives around efficient resource use and waiting times, mediate how strategic policy is implemented and experienced in the devolved nations of the UK.     

Paradoxes, locations and the need for social coherence: a qualitative study of living with a learning difficulty

Policy rhetoric over recent decades has promoted social inclusion of the more vulnerable sectors of society, such as people with learning difficulties. This study aimed to describe the experiences of people who live with learning difficulties in order to inform local service development. Thirty-five people with a learning difficulty and/or a family member were interviewed. A model of social coherence was developed that moves beyond the self-limiting debates about social inclusion and exclusion. It is underpinned by a sense of location for the person with a disability in relation to services and carers, family and community, dependency and risk, temporality and space, events, control and society. Key recommendations are for services to know the individual and his/her family; to be responsive to individual needs; to enhance the capacity of families and communities to support people with difficulty in learning; and to help these people to feel more valued.     

Young People’s Perception Of Being Safe – Globally &; Locally

Giddens explores, in Modernity and Self-Identity, our preoccupation with risks in modern social life and the disparity between perceived risks and actual prevalence of life-threatening dangers [Giddens, A.: 1991, Modern and Self-Identity. Self and Society in Late Modern Age (Polity Press, Cambridge), p. 115]. Modern technologies have made global information accessible around the world; real time news communiqués about unfolding situations are displayed directly into the home environment through television and the internet. Global issues and local events intermix, blurring worldwide issues and threats with local realities. This research explored the everyday life of young people in two Australian rural communities, their community affiliation, sense of belonging and feeling safe in the local rural community. The research was exploratory in nature and based on a survey of 751 young people aged between 14 and 21 years, all being students at local secondary high schools. Feeling safe was of concern for both female and male young people: females indicated a higher tolerance towards strangers and cultural diversity, but at the same time, they felt less safe in the local community. These findings are discussed in relation to a 1989–1990 study of 13- to 21-year-old urban Australian and Swedish young people. The study explored young people’s experiences of scary events in mass media, in their home environment and among themselves. The findings signify the need for a holistic approach to identify social indicators to describe the grounds for young people feeling unsafe and the need to take into consideration local community circumstances, the global milieu and conflicts as portrayed in news, documentary and entertainment mass media.     

Supplemental Security Income recipients affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: an analysis of two years of administrative data

Approximately 350,000 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients—elderly and disabled individuals with low incomes and assets—lived in the areas directly affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August 2005. We show that recipients from affected areas were more likely to leave the program, have more volatile participation patterns, and leave the area in the 2 years following the hurricanes than were recipients from unaffected areas. Among recipients from more severely affected areas relative to those from unaffected states, the odds of dying were 40% greater and the odds of leaving SSI for other reasons were 23% greater. Additionally, 31% of recipients from more severely affected areas had experienced a non-payment month, with 46% subsequently returning to the rolls (compared with 23% and 41% of recipients from unaffected states). Nearly 60% of SSI recipients from more severely affected areas lived in a different county or parish 2 years after the hurricanes, compared with about 12% from unaffected areas. In all, our findings demonstrate that natural disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita can have large and persistent impacts on SSI recipients, including effects on program status, mortality, and geographic location.     

"If I'm not allowed to put my family first": challenges experienced by women who are caregiving for family members with dementia

In this study of 26 employed, West Texas women caregivers, we found that women worried that they would not be able to give their family members the care they deserved because of the multiple demands placed on them. Women actively negotiated working conditions to achieve flexibility. Women who did not have access to flexibility often changed jobs until they had working conditions that provided it. Work provided a respite and a chance to feel some measure of control. In spite of the importance of work to them, these women paid costs for balancing both roles.     

Unity and Diversity: Challenges to an Expanding Canadian Autoworkers' Union*

Afin d'enrayer la chute du nombre de leurs adhérents, les syndicats élargissent leur base en procédant à des réorganisations et en fusionnant avec d'autres syndicats. Prenant comme exemple le syndicat des Travailleurs canadiens de l'automobile (TCA), cet article montre que, pour tirer parti de leur base élargie, les syndicats doivent soutenir les demandes diverses et opposées de leurs membres tout en créant une unité interne. Au fur et à mesure que les syndicats recrutent des membres dans de nouveaux groupes de travailleurs, ces défis sont de plus en plus difficiles à relever. L'identité collective et la structure organisationnelle des syndicats sont des facteurs décisifs lorsqu'il s'agit de déterminer les critères d'intégration des nouveaux membres. L'article conclut que le TCA s'est engagé dans une restructuration organisationnelle et culturelle hâtive et hasardeuse, qui, à l'avenir, pourrait l'empêcher de mobiliser le soutien de ses membres en vue d'atteindre ses objectifs. In response to declining memberships, trade unions are expanding their membership base by organizing the unorganized and by merging with existing unions. Through an examination of the Canadian Autoworkers' Union, this paper argues that to reap the benefits of greater size, unions must be able to represent the diverse and competing claims of their expanding membership while at the same time being capable of building internal unity. These tasks become more difficult as unions seek membership among new groups of workers. The paper argues that unions' collective identity and organizational structure are critical factors in determining how new union members are brought into a new union. The paper concludes that the CAW has embarked on a rapid and uneven course of organizational and cultural change, the result of which could be future problems for the CAW in mobilizing collective support for its goals.