The Good Life: Moral and Ethical Sexual Considerations

There are an enormous number of studies surrounding predictors of condom use, and an equally impressive number of prevention programs in place to decrease the rate of HIV transmission. Despite such attention, the incidence of HIV infection remains high. One contributing factor to the continued spread of HIV may be the relative absence of recognition by researchers that condoms are imbued with a social meaning that threatens two salient goals for interactants: the desires to maintain positive identities and close relationships. Recent evidence suggests that requests to use a condom may be interpreted in ways that threaten both goals. This investigation examines the roles of identity and relational maintenance goals as influences on safe‐sex decisions. Results from an experimental design confirm the importance of these goals to safe‐sex behavior. Implications are noted and suggestions for changes in prevention programs offered.     

Magia Sexualis: Sex,Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism. By Hugh B. Urban

Much of what is known about emotions and sexuality explores the relationship enhancing qualities of positive affect. This research extends the current literature by focusing on the association between negative feelings and sexual thoughts and experiences in the context of close relationships, controlling for the effect of positive feelings. Specifically, the unique effects of daily negative feelings toward one's partner in general and specific negative feelings (i.e., anger, anxiety, and sadness) on the sexual experience of heterosexual, gay male, and lesbian relationships were explored. Participants completed an initial questionnaire followed by daily diary measures for 14 consecutive days. Positive feelings were positively associated with sexual variables as expected. Negative feelings were associated with increases in sexual behaviors for heterosexual men and women and gay men, but not lesbian women. Sadness showed a unique positive association with arousal, lust, wanted sexual behavior, and sexual behavior for heterosexual men and women and gay men, but not lesbian women. Neither anger nor anxiety was uniquely associated with the sexual experience for heterosexual or same-sex couples.     

“Sex,Gender, and Love on a Global Scale. A Review of: Love and Globalization: Transformations of Intimacy in the Contemporary World. edited by Mark B. Padilla,Jennifer S. Hirsch,Miguel Muñoz-Laboy,Robert E. Sember, & Richard G. Parker.”

We investigated the sexual relationships of married Chinese men and women living in Beijing and Shanghai. Within the framework of the Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual Satisfaction (IEMSS), we also examined factors related to sexual satisfaction. Completed questionnaires were returned by 193 men and 231 women. In general, respondents reported moderate levels of sexual and relationship satisfaction. Overall, respondents were neither erotophobic nor erotophilic and reported a frequency of affectionate and sexual behavior between “2 or 3 times a month” and “once or twice a week” and at least one sexual concern and for problem. Contrary to predictions based on the cultural message that sexual pleasure is restricted to men, the women reported significantly greater sexual satisfaction than did the men, and men and women did not differ in their reports of sexual rewards or relationship satisfaction. Further, men described their sexual relationship as more costly than did women. However, women reported more sexual concerns than did men and were also more erotophobic. Men reported more sexual concerns for their partner than women did for their partner. Strong support was found for the IEMSS, such that the more that rewards exceeded costs, relative rewards exceeded relative costs, one's levels of rewards and costs were perceived to be equal to one's partner's, and the greater the relationship satisfaction, the greater the level of sexual satisfaction. Greater sexual satisfaction was also associated with a greater frequency of affectionate and sexual behavior, fewer sexual concerns and problems, and greater relationship satisfaction. These results are discussed in the context of the impact of official repression of many forms of sexual expression in China in the past and the need for enhancement of the sexual relationships of Chinese men and women.     

Parental Love and Gender Affirmation Leads a New Transgender Movement

The development of the pill

On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950–1970. By Elizabeth Siegel Watkins. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998, 183 pages. Cloth, $25.95.

Hermaphrodites then and now

Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex. By Alice Domurat Dreger. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998, 266 pages. Cloth, $35.00.

Coming home to our sexual selves

Women's Sexuality Across the Life Span: Challenging Myths, Creating Meanings. By Judith C. Daniluk. New York: The Guilford Press, 1998, 416 pages. Cloth, $36.95.

Behavioral Strategies in the Prevention of HIV Infection, STDs, and Unintended Pregnancy

High‐Risk Sexual Behavior: Interventions With Vulnerable Populations. By Evvie Becker, Elizabeth Rankin, and Annette U. Rickel. New York: Plenum Press, 1998, 168 pages. Cloth, $39.50.

Sexual health expertise and the primary care provider

Sexual Medicine in Primary Care. By William L. Maurice. St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 1999, 366 pages. Paper, $39.95.     

A Review of: “Information and Communication Technologies for Active Ageing: Opportunities and Challenges for the European Union”

This article discusses conceptual, methodological, and ethical challenges of using e-mail to study families and offers strategies to address them. Specifically, the unique nature of issues related to sampling and data collection are addressed. Suggested adjustments and strategies include the use of insiders' consultation, securing opportunities for all family members to voice their views, creating paths for expressing content typically conveyed nonverbally, letting respondents control the pace and shape of the dialogue, creating a virtual shared reality and informing participants about measures to protect their privacy. Directions for future research are offered.     

没有一种新型的经济就没有生态文明

论述了人类追求经济发展对地球生态环境造成破坏的严峻性,强调指出人类必须将现代发展模式转换到可持续发展上来。     

A Review of: “Online Social Support: The Interplay of Social Networks and Computer-mediated Communication By A. Bambina.”

Abstract

ENVISIONING INFORMATION, Edward R. Tufte, Graphics Press. Box 430, Cheshire, CT 06410, 128 pages. Cloth bound. $48.00 postpaid from publisher. Reviewed by Michael G. Petree Topeka.     

Social Work and Power

Abstract

This article argues that youth housing workers in Victoria, Australia, are vulnerable to housing affordability problems and one reason for this is inadequate pay. A survey of 10 youth housing workers explained the ways in which they had struggled to afford housing. Some paid more than 30% of their wage on housing costs. Others relied on income other than their youth housing worker salary to afford rental accommodation, which included pay from a second job, drawing on credit, and financial support from partners, family, and friends. Most reported that they did not have sufficient income to save to purchase a home. These findings resonate with secondary source aggregate data, which identified that for almost a decade the pay of youth homelessness service workers in Victoria has not kept pace with average wage growth and rises in rents and house prices. Improving youth housing workers pay is recommended as a way to address their housing affordability concerns.