Jewish epitaphs from Białystok, 1892–1902: embracing the spirit of Dubnow

In the early twentieth century, Polish historian Mejer Ba?aban delivered a most telling condemnation of Jewish epitaphs as “blatantly baroque,” “overloaded with epithets” and difficult to understand. In the late nineteenth century, the maskil Simon Dubnow had delivered a plea to the maskilim (intellectuals) and mithnagdim (traditionalists) of his day to engage in documenting and writing the woefully lacking past history of Yiddish civilisation as a means to unite past history with emerging nationalistic inclinations. Dubnow specified gathering epitaphs as part of this documentation. Despite Dubnow's plea it is Ba?aban's condemnation that has held sway in American and English-speaking European academies and which has not yet been fully reversed in the scholarship of the century since then. In the spirit of Dubnow, the current paper examines the first decade of extant epitaphs from Bagnowka Beth Olam in Bia?ystok, Poland, dating from 1892 to 1902, as an example by which we can move towards establishing the potential that Jewish epitaphs hold as another evidentiary source corroborating or enriching Jewish history. In this first decade of epitaphs from Bagnowka Beth Olam, we will encounter the world of the mithnagdim amidst which the minority of the maskilim are in evidence. Place names bring remembrance of the cities, towns and shtetlekh from which Jews migrated to Bia?ystok. Surnames evoke remembrance of founding families that would continue to build Jewish Bia?ystok in the coming decades. Unexpected historical and biographical details remind the reader of the professions and businesses in which Bia?ystoker Jews engaged and life's circumstances that prompted charitable responses. Subtle words or a unique phrase, intentionally or unintentionally incorporated into the epitaphs, are telling of the realities of the harshness of everyday life at the turn of the twentieth century and telling of what is significant to both individual and collective memory. One singular epitaph serves as a portent of the violence that would soon descend upon Bia?ystok. Through these representative examples we are offered a microcosm of Jewish Bia?ystok from 1892 to 1902, and a glimpse of the changing trends to be revealed in the next five decades as written upon the matzevoth of Bagnowka Beth Olam.     

Male collective identity in the People’s Liberation Army of Nepal

This paper examines how participation in insurgency during conflict impacts notions of collective gender identity among low-level male combatants, using Nepal as a critical case. In addressing the research question, the paper focuses on changes in attitudes toward gender-specific roles and conduct, notions of acceptable behavior within male–female interaction, and perceptions of gender hierarchies. Male low-level combatants are defined in terms of a collective identity and the analysis utilizes the concept of relational comparisons of other identity groups as a tool through which to explore gendered meanings and perceptions of the “masculine self,” “the collective,” and the “gendered other.” Using empirical data from qualitative interviews with former members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), relational comparisons are applied to three out-groups: (1) state forces, (2) female PLA members, and (3) the rural population. Contrary to other studies on men and insurgency, this research strives to move beyond a focus only on masculinity and violence, and places particular emphasis on how men engage with a more gender-equal ideology within the movement than exists in society. By presenting fresh insights into this area of study, the paper also discusses normally disregarded possibilities for former combatants as agents for change in post-conflict transformative agendas.     

Self-rated Health in Relation to Rape and Mental Health Disorders in a National Sample of College Women

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to employ a multivariate approach to examine the correlates of self-rated health in a college sample of women, with particular emphasis on sexual assault history and related mental health outcomes. Participants: A national sample of 2,000 female college students participated in a structured phone interview between January and June 2006. Methods: Interview modules assessed demographics, posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive episode, substance use, rape experiences, and physical health. Results: Logistic regression analyses showed that poor self-rated health was associated with low income (odds ratio [OR] = 2.70), lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (OR = 2.47), lifetime major depressive episode (OR = 2.56), past year illicit drug use (OR = 2.48), and multiple rape history (OR = 2.25). Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for university mental health and medical service providers to assess for rape history, and to diagnose and treat related psychiatric problems in order to reduce physical morbidity.     

„Aber jetzt ist der Zeitpunkt reif für etwas anderes“

Today the concept of education is equated with lifelong learning and training of skills but not with personality development. This article describes the findings of an explorative survey of the motivation of coaching training participants. The results illustrate the participants’ aspire to develop their personality. The participation in coaching training can be rated as an attempt of active identity management, the motive to participate is the effort to realise their possible selves.     

Effectiveness of the International Child Development Programme: Results from a randomized controlled trial

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP), a group-based parenting programme used internationally and implemented nationally in Norway. We used a cluster randomized controlled trial in which 81 groups were randomly assigned to either the intervention or waitlist control condition after the baseline data collection. A total of 590 parents completed at least one of three questionnaires (administrated before and after ICDP and 4 months after completing the intervention). Primary outcomes included parental self-efficacy, parental emotion sensitivity and positive involvement with their child. Secondary outcomes included parents' perceptions of their relationship with the child, child-rearing conflicts and the child's psychosocial health. We found significant effects favouring the intervention arm following the intervention and at follow-up on two primary outcomes (parental self-efficacy and emotion sensitivity). For the secondary outcomes, we found a significant reduction in child-rearing conflict at the 4-month follow-up, increased closeness to the child, reduced child internalizing difficulties and increased prosocial behaviour immediately following the intervention. However, ICDP seems to have limited effects on parent-reported changes in children. We conclude that ICDP as a universal preventive programme offered to parents in groups can be effective in strengthening parental self-efficacy and improving parental emotion sensitivity.     

Sexual minority women's gender identity and expression: challenges and supports

Sexual minority women were divided into four groups to study their gender identities (butch and femme), and gender expression (traditionally gendered and non-traditionally gendered women who do not identify as butch or femme). Experiences of heterosexist events (discrimination, harassment, threats of violence, victimization, negative emotions associated with these events), mental health (self esteem, stress, depression), and supports for a sexual minority identity (social support, outness, internalized homophobia) were examined across these groups. Findings suggested that butch-identified women experienced more heterosexist events than femme women or women with non-traditional gender expressions. There were no differences in mental health variables.     

Experiences of visually impaired students in higher education: bodily perspectives on inclusive education

Although previous literature sheds light on the experiences of visually impaired students on tertiary grounds, these studies failed to provide an embodied understanding of their lives. In-depth interviews with 15 visually impaired students at one university demonstrated the ways in which they experienced their disability and the built environment in their bodies. At the same time, lost, fearful, shameful and aching bodies revealed prevailing gaps in provision for disabled students. Through this research it becomes clear how the environment is acutely felt within fleshly worlds, while bodies do not fail to tell of disabling societal structures. Based on the bodily stories, we thus make recommendations to improve the lives of visually impaired students on tertiary campuses.