Cleansing violence in the Tajik Civil War: framing from the dark side of democracy

This paper examines the violence in the Tajik Civil War (1992–1997). The actions of both sides mimicked ethnic cleansing as civilian settlements were targeted. The fragmented ethno-regional identities of the republic had historically lived together peacefully, so this style of violence was unanticipated. However, its patterns resemble similar events in the past 40 years that have been examined by other scholars. By conceptualizing it as a modern phenomenon that can be compared to, I develop a better understanding of this form of violence in the Tajik Civil War and place it within scholarly work on ethnic cleansing.     

Do Children With Gender Dysphoria Have Intense/Obsessional Interests?

This study examined whether children clinically referred for gender dysphoria (GD) show increased symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Circumscribed preoccupations or intense interests were considered as overlapping symptoms expressed in GD and ASD. In gender-referred children (n = 534; 82.2% male) and their siblings (n = 419; 57.5% male), we examined Items 9 and 66 on the Child Behavior Checklist, which measure obsessions and compulsions, respectively. Non-GD clinic-referred (n = 1,201; 48.5% male) and nonreferred (n = 1,201; 48.5% male) children were also examined. Gender-referred children were elevated compared to all other groups for Item 9, and compared to siblings and nonreferred children for Item 66. A gender-related theme was significantly more common for gender-referred boys than male siblings on Item 9 only. A gender-related theme was not significantly more common for gender-referred girls compared to their female siblings on either item. The findings for Item 9 support the idea that children with GD show an elevation in obsessional interests. For gender-referred boys in particular, gender-related themes constituted more than half of the examples provided by their mothers. Intense/obsessional interests in children with GD may be one of the factors underlying the purported link between GD and ASD.     

(Trans)Gender Role Expectations and Child Care in Samoa

Samoan transgendered males are known as fa'afafine. Although Samoan women are characterized as the primary child care providers, fa'afafine report elevated willingness to invest in nieces and nephews compared to men and women. We hypothesized that Samoans hold unique transgender role expectations such that fa'afafine are expected to invest more toward nieces and nephews compared to others. Participants (N = 214) included Samoan men (30.23 years ±8.19), women (30.00 years ±10.93), and fa'afafine (30.25 years ±7.45). For a variety of child care activities, participants nominated men, women, fa'afafine, or all three of these categories of individuals as responsible for investing toward nieces and nephews. Participants also reported how frequently their family members asked them to perform these activities for nieces and nephews. Responsibility for performing these activities was typically designated for women; men and women viewed fa'afafine as least responsible. Men's, but not fa'afafine's, family members asked them to allocate investment toward nieces and nephews more frequently. These findings are not consistent with the transgender role expectation hypothesis. Discussion details how the findings contribute to the literature on child care in Samoa. Alternate hypotheses for explaining why fa'afafine report elevated willingness to invest in nieces and nephews are considered.     

寻找共同点

那几年除了写小说而彷徨外,史蒂夫·卡里在他的大部分职业生涯里就一直在同伐木战斗着。在阿拉斯加州,一个他赢得环保战役的地方,他发动了这个州最强大的社团来保卫通格斯国家森林。在其位于西雅图办公室的墙上有一张阿拉斯加纸浆厂被拆除的照片,这是他所有战斗中最酣畅淋漓的一次胜利。     

Understanding China's Transition to Capitalism: The Contributions of Victor Nee and Andrew Walder

Sociological Forum -     

Children and Society Policy Review: Health Policy Affecting Children and Young People

The Health and Social Care Act comes into force in April 2013. It changes the organisation of the health service and accelerates the integration of health and social care. New relationships between primary and secondary healthcare will develop and the culture of clinical and cost effectiveness will expand into social care; work on children in public care is in the vanguard of this change. However, this is not an organisational change designed for children and there are considerable anxieties about how it will impact on the delivery of health care. The issues for children in public care need to stay high on the national agenda and in local fora.     

Forecasting in conditions of uncertainty

Has the business environment grown in uncertainty? In this paper the authors suggest that the root problem is not uncertainty but the malevolence of events these past few years. In turn, this has made uncertainty and the techniques developed to cope with its consequences all the more important to the firm. But while improved forecasting may take the difference between a potentially profitable project and corporate disaster, good forecasting by itself is not enough. Most firms would benefit from examining their forecasting performance in relation to strategic decisionmaking and the various options available. The authors conclude that only in an organization where integration between expert forecaster and forecast user has been achieved can the full benefits of improved forecasting be realized.     

Data and Model Management in a Generalized MCDM-DSS*

Drawing upon the choice models developed in the multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) area, this paper proposes an architecture for designing an intelligent decision support system (DSS) that is intended to aid in making choices among multiple alternatives along multiple dimensions. It argues that effective support can be provided to the decision maker when the knowledge-based DSS is capable of dynamically selecting choice models appropriate to the domain and context of a particular problem being specified by the decision maker, and of properly applying them to the problem solution. Development of a prototype intended to partially represent application of the architecture is described. The paper concludes with suggestions for research extensions.     

Pathways to pleasure: Older adult women’s reflections on being sexual beings

Older adult women make up a growing part of the population, and yet literature on the sexual activity over their life spans is lacking. This qualitative interview study explored the experience of 16 women aged 57–91 to better understand sexual pleasure over a lifetime. The participants described having to challenge cultural rules to create a supportive environment for sexual expression. Having access to Novel contexts in which to learn, cultivating Intimacy with partners and with oneself, being Creative with sexual activities, and Extending one’s sense of sexual possibility into advanced age (NICE) supported sexual pleasure as women aged.