Performing transformation: reflections of a lesbian academic couple

We experience queer literacy as a kind of collision between the traditional and the transformative. Queer literacy is an acquired literacy of transformation, where the established rules of behavior and discourse are both challenged and transcended. As a lesbian academic couple in a privileged intellectual, political, and social location, we can move out of the traditional realm (through the closet) into an otherworldly queer space where knowledge and identity are destabilized. Moving in and out of queer transformative space requires a kind of blind faith-faith that believes in what the mind can neither see nor prove.     

A survey of occupational therapy in Australian work practice

While the prevention and management of work-related injuries are major areas of practice for Australian occupational therapists, there has been little research on occupational therapy's contribution in these areas. This study examined the characteristics of current Australian occupational therapy practice in the work arena. A postal questionnaire was sent to 355 occupational therapists employed in work practice from six of the eight state or territory Occupational Therapy Associations. The questionnaire enquired about demographic details, service provision in the prevention, assessment and rehabilitation areas and further education needs in these areas. The responses of 125 (35%) therapists were analysed and show the services commonly offered in prevention, assessment and rehabilitation. The most commonly offered services included job analyses, workplace assessment and suitable duties programs. The results also indicate high levels of service provision in the workplace. In presenting the findings of the survey, current trends in international and Australian occupational therapy work practice are discussed along with suggestions for directions in future education, practice and research.     

The Driving Vengeance Questionnaire (DVQ): the development of a scale to measure deviant drivers' attitudes

The Driving Vengeance Questionnaire (DVQ) was developed and administered to assess drivers' use of vengeance when faced with common driving situations. Subjects in the development of the scale were 266 male and female university students. The scale was then administered to 271 university students (both male and female) and 74 male inmates who were classified as either violent or nonviolent offenders on the basis of the amount of force used in committing the offence. A Cronbach alpha of .83 (M = 40.76, n = 310) indicated a high level of internal consistency for the DVQ. Younger drivers (18-23 years old) indicated higher levels of vengeance while driving than did older drivers (24-66 years old, M = 44.35 and 37.81, respectively). Those with less driving experience (0-6 years) expressed higher levels of vengeance while driving than more experienced drivers (6+ years, M = 42.95 and 38.81, respectively). Male drivers responded with greater vengeance to the questionnaire items than females (M = 42.07 and 39.62, respectively). The level of force used in commission of crime failed to correlate with the DVQ. A factor analysis was performed with a different sample of subjects using a slightly modified version of the DVQ to deal with the issue of whether horn honking constituted an appropriate measure of aggression. When the two relevant DVQ items were changed to read "leaning on horn" rather than mere honking, a strong, single factor of vengeance was found to characterize the scale. Suggestions were made for the use of DVQ in the screening of driving license applicants and in the study of problem drivers.     

CASAWORKS for Families. A new treatment model for substance-abusing parenting women on welfare

This article provides a brief overview of CASAWORKS for Families (CWF), an innovative intervention designed to help substance-abusing parenting women on welfare. CWF was developed in response to the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996. Factors that provided a background and context for the development of CWF are considered. The rationale, key elements, and the conduct of a pilot demonstration of CWF are described. Evaluation findings that serve to guide the next steps to improve the intervention are reviewed. Finally, new welfare policy priorities emerging around the importance of addressing behavioral health problems among welfare recipients are highlighted.     

Chemical and electromagnetic exposures as disability barriers: environmental sensitivity

This paper proposes that chemical and electromagnetic exposures pose technology‐related disability barriers for people who have acquired sensitivities to them and that these barriers should be integrated into our understanding of disability. I discuss pervasive chemical and electrical exposures as products of industrialism that first engender impairments and then act as disability barriers to those who develop intolerance to them. I also remark on unique aspects of environmental sensitivities in the context of the social model.     

Scheduling a multi-stage production system with startup delays

The problem treated is that of multi-stage scheduling as affected by the interdependence of successive stages. An algorithm is developed which incorporates startup delays as analytical functions of cycle times and production rates at adjacent stages. This is accomplished in part by imposing integer multiple restrictions on the relationship between the cycle times at adjacent stages. Total cost is then minimized for a given set of integer multiples.