Family structure and well-being at older ages in Japan

The family structure of older Japanese is projected to change dramatically as a result of very low fertility, increasing levels of non-marriage, childlessness, and divorce, and declining intergenerational co-residence. To provide an empirical basis for speculation about the implications of projected increases in single-person and couple-only households, we use two sources of data to describe relationships between family structure and the physical and emotional well-being of Japanese men and women aged 60 and above. We find that marriage is positively associated with self-rated health and emotional well-being among older men but not women. In contrast to expectations, however, we find only limited evidence that the presence of children contributes to well-being. Taken as a whole, our results suggest that declines in marriage may have negative implications for the well-being of older Japanese men while the implications of declines in fertility and intergenerational co-residence may be less than popularly believed.     

Subsidiarity and social citizenship: Social assistance schemes in Austria,Belgium, Switzerland and Norway

Previous research has emphasised that conditionality impinges on social citizenship. However, a systematic assessment examining the impact of functional and territorial subsidiarity has been overlooked. Developing seven operational criteria – rights, means testing, conditionality, voice and choice, discretion, benefit's adequacy and supplementary system – we determined levels of subsidiarity and social citizenship in social assistance schemes. Analysing the benefit reform trajectories of Austria, Belgium, Norway and Switzerland, we conclude that social assistance schemes have not improved. Low benefits, means testing and work linkage have strengthened functional subsidiarity, whereas questions of voice and choice are rarely on the agenda. Caseworkers’ discretion and local administration have sustained territorial subsidiarity. Therefore, considering the potential role that benefits could play in the welfare state, low up‐take minimises the redistributive potential and, in general, risk has substantially shifted towards social assistance.     

Coming out of the dark: content analysis of articles pertaining to gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues in couple and family therapy journals

The present study seeks to extend previous research regarding literature related to gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) issues published in couple and family therapy (CFT)-related journals by presenting the results from a content analysis of GLB studies in CFT-related journals from 1996 to 2010. Results of the analysis revealed a 238.8% increase in total GLB content published since the original review. Articles pertaining to therapy with GLB clients continue to represent the largest area of publication. With one exception, all surveyed journals showed an increase in the percentage of GLB content since the first study. Emerging areas of research include studies related to supervision and training, GLB mental health and substance use, and sexual minority adolescents. A movement away from deficit-based perspectives could open a new lens on family life.     

Analysis of the implementation of ergonomic design at the new units of an oil refinery

Ergonomic design is the adaptation of working conditions to human limitations and skills in the physical design phase of a new installation, a new working system, or new products or tools. Based on this concept, the purpose of this work was to analyze the implementation of ergonomic design at the new industrial units of an oil refinery, using the method of Ergonomic Workplace Assessment. This study was conducted by a multidisciplinary team composed of operation, maintenance and industrial safety technicians, ergonomists, designers and engineers. The analysis involved 6 production units, 1 industrial wastewater treatment unit, and 3 utilities units, all in the design detailing phase, for which 455 ergonomic requirements were identified. An analysis and characterization of the requirements identified for 5 of the production units, involving a total of 246 items, indicated that 62% were related to difficult access and blockage operations, while 15% were related to difficulties in the circulation of employees inside the units. Based on these data, it was found that the ergonomic requirements identified in the design detailing phase of an industrial unit involve physical ergonomics, and that it is very difficult to identify requirements related to organizational or cognitive ergonomics.     

‘It’s like having another job’: the invisible work of self-managing attendant services

Abstract

This reflexive ethnographic study examines the work disabled people do to ‘self-manage’ attendant services. The data reveal diverse facets of work reported by ‘self-managers’, their support networks and program administrators. The analysis found that self-managers’ work is often represented as ‘something other than work’, if and when it is represented at all. In this paper, disability studies and feminist perspectives on work inform a discussion of factors that may be seen to render self-managers’ work ‘invisible’, and implications of self-managed models that require contributions of invisible work.     

Trends in old-age functioning and disability in Japan, 1993-2002

Disability is a burden to individuals and society. Population ageing, combined with the fact that disability is most common among the elderly, has focused attention on trends in old-age disability. This study estimates trends in functioning and disability among Japanese elderly from 1993 to 2002 and contrasts the patterns with those found in the USA. Japan is an especially interesting country because its age structure is relatively old, and it currently has the highest life expectancy in the world despite the fact that just 50 years ago its life expectancy was in the bottom half of all countries. As in the USA, disability rates have fallen. If it were not for the gains in disability between 1993 and 2002, there would have been 1.1 million more disabled elderly in 2002. The reductions were experienced broadly across socio-demographic and economic groups. Increases in education across cohorts are associated with the declines in disability.     

Sensibilisierung gegenüber Fremdenfeindlichkeit und Rassismus — Ergebnisse einer wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des XENOS-Projektes „Konzeptwerkstatt gegen Rechts“

The focal point of this study is to investigate, on the basis of social psychological constructs, whether the Deutsche Angestellten-Akademie Südbayern’s (The German Employee Academy of Southern Bavaria) XENOS project “Konzeptwerkstatt gegen Rechts” (Concept Workshop Against Right Extremism), supported within the framework of the XENOS Program (01/01/2003 — 31/12/2005), achieved its goal to reduce the xenophobic attitudes of trainees. Applying a quasi-experimental “one-group pre-test/post-test plane” and various attitude/prejudice assessment methods, four hypotheses were tested. Although it was not possible to empirically confirm all the formulated hypotheses, the measures of the XENOS project “Konzeptwerkstatt gegen Rechts” (Concept Workshop Against Right Extremism), represent a successful approach to reduce students’ xenophobic attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices towards foreigners.     

The Micro Potential for Social Change: Emotion, Consciousness, and Social Movement Formation

Can one explain both the resilience of the status quo and the possibility for resistance from a subordinate position? This paper aims to resolve these seemingly incompatible perspectives. By extending Randall Collins's interaction ritual theory, and synthesizing it with Norbert Wiley's model of the self, this paper suggests how the emotional dynamics between people and within the self can explain social inertia as well as the possibility for resistance and change. Diverging from literature on the sociology of emotions that has been concerned with individual emotional processes, this paper considers the collective level in order to explore how movement action is motivated. The emotional dynamics of subordinate positioning that limit women's options in face-to-face interactions are examined, as are the social processes of developing feminist consciousness and a willingness to participate in resistance work. Pointing toward empirical applications, I conclude by suggesting conditions where resistance is likely.     

The Role of Contact and Information in Racial Attitude Change among White College Students*

While much research has been done on the determinants of change in prejudice among whites, relatively little is known about the process of change in contemporary racial attitudes, variously described as symbolic racism, laissez‐faire racism, or color‐blind racism. This article uses data from a sample of white college students to examine the impact of intergroup contact and exposure to information about racial issues on changes in contemporary racial attitudes and feelings toward blacks (a key component of prejudice), using Pettigrew's (1998) model of the process by which contact produces change in racial attitudes. Results provide support for Pettigrew's model, showing while contact is important in changing whites’ feelings about blacks, both contact and exposure to information about race are important predictors of changes in contemporary racial attitudes. A comparison of longitudinal and cross‐sectional models of contemporary racial attitudes suggests that contact, especially in setting with “friendship potential,” has an impact on attitudes both directly and indirectly, through providing avenues through which racial information can be obtained as well as by providing motivation to pay attention to it.