Puberty in the Last 25 Years: A Retrospective Bibliometric Analysis

Puberty research has been highly productive in the past few decades and is gaining momentum. We conducted an analysis of bibliographic data, including titles, abstracts, keywords, indexing terms, and citation data to assess the sheer numbers, audience and reach, publication types, and impact of puberty‐related publications. Findings suggest that puberty‐related publications are increasing in sheer numbers, and have reach in many fields as befits an interdisciplinary science. Puberty‐related publications typically have higher impact in terms of citations than the journal averages, among the journals that published the most studies on puberty. Limitations of the field and recommendations for researchers to improve the impact and reach of puberty‐related publications (e.g., clear conclusions in abstracts, highlighting the importance of puberty) are discussed.     

The social stratification of tongue shape for postvocalic /r/ in Scottish English1

The sociolinguistic modelling of phonological variation and change is almost exclusively based on auditory and acoustic analyses of speech. One phenomenon which has proved elusive when considered in these ways is the variation in postvocalic /r/ in Scottish English. This study therefore shifts to speech production: we present a socioarticulatory study of variation of postvocalic /r/ in CVr (e.g. car) words, using a socially‐stratified ultrasound tongue imaging corpus of speech collected in eastern central Scotland in 2008. Our results show social stratification of /r/ at the articulatory level, with middle‐class speakers using bunched articulations, while working‐class speakers use greater proportions of tongue‐tip and tongue‐front raised variants. Unlike articulatory variation of /r/ in American English, the articulatory variants in our Scottish English corpus are both auditorily distinct from one another, and correlate with strong and weak ends of an auditory rhotic continuum, which also shows clear social stratification.     

Anti-statism and Difference Feminism in International Social Movements

Feminist strategies that neglect or consistently deplore state action cannot accomplish what women need – because individuals need collectives such as states to solve collective action problems and to move toward more just social arrangements. Strategies that rely heavily on women's differences from men also cannot accomplish what women need – because women are like men in many ways relevant to individual and collective action. Despite these truths, social movements also need some strategies of action that work separately from and sometimes against the state. Moreover, strategies that accentuate the differences between oppressed and oppressing bring needed energy to a movement. The best overall strategy is, therefore, to realize that both states and difference theories are dangerous weapons, and proceed with caution.     

Disability and spirituality in social work practice

In working with social work clients, issues of religion and spirituality are sure to arise. Religious views on disability can have both positive and negative effects on the individual. In our increasingly pluralistic society, these issues must be approached with sensitivity and patience since it is common to work with adherents of minority or nontraditional religious groups or groups whose values conflict with the social work profession. The purpose of this article is to enhance and develop sensitivity to diverse religious views in order to respect the values and life beliefs of the client while enhancing the development of adaptive religious and spiritual views.     

State standards for domestic violence perpetrator treatment: current status, trends, and recommendations

We empirically surveyed and analyzed existing standards for the treatment of perpetrators of domestic violence across the United States. Specific areas examined included: presence and scope; administrative entity for certifying; screening and risk assessment protocols; minimum length of treatment; theoretical or conceptual orientation; treatment content; preferred or allowable modalities of treatment; whether research findings are mentioned; methods for revising standards; and minimum education and training required for providers. We examined trends using several methods including comparisons between present and previous survey data (Maiuro et al., 2001). Positive trends were evident including increased use of multivariate models of treatment content, use of an intake assessment prior to treatment, use of a danger/lethality assessment to manage risk, recognition of the need for program evaluation and supportive research, and the requirement of a minimum level of formal education as a prerequisite for providers. We identify specific areas for further research and development and make recommendations for improving existing practice and standards of care.     

Total Performance Inconsistency and Status Generalization: An Expectation States Formulation*

Past research has documented the fact that status characteristics organize group interaction. Freese and Cohen (1973) specified a condition under which a performance characteristic would eliminate the effect of a differentiating diffuse status characteristic. The present research extends the Freese-Cohen theory to specify a condition under which a differentiating diffuse status characteristic will eliminate the effect of a performance characteristic. Predictions derived from the formulation are (a) in situations where actors are differentiated by a diffuse status characteristic and a totally inconsistent performance characteristic, influence rates will be a function only of diffuse status and (b) it is the strength (0) of a totally inconsistent performance characteristic, rather than the number of traits comprising the characteristic, that determines its effect. These predictions are contrasted with those of other expectation states formulations (i.e., Berger et al., 1977). Laboratory experiments generally support our formulation while providing some disconfirming evidence for the other formulations.     

What Not to Wear? Girls,Clothing and ‘Showing’ the Body

Consumption practices of children in contemporary Western societies are implicated in the reconstruction of childhood, according to both popular debate and to those academic perspectives stressing the individualisation of identities within the life course of late modern consumer societies. Yet, little is known about the meanings children themselves give to their own consumption. Drawing from an ethnographic study of children aged 6–11 years and their families, the paper presents girls’ constructions of fashion in relation to their own bodies and to those of others. It is shown that although girls may both desire and actually ‘dress up’ in fashionable clothing, they present a range of contingent and contradictory meanings for doing so. For some girls, ‘dressing up’ in certain clothes may be a way of ‘ageing up’ toward feminine adulthood, albeit in restricted contexts and after negotiations between themselves and their parents as to what can be worn and where. Nonetheless, girls in the study also showed anxieties and disapproval of ‘showing the body’ through ‘revealing’ clothing. The article concludes by considering the implication of these findings for debates about gendered childhoods, and intergenerational relations in late modern consumer society.     

Successful joint ventures in Science Parks

Technology-based firms are looking for ways of minimizing the increasing risks and costs of developing new products and processes. Acquisition of new technology through a collaborative development is one way which is finding favour. Universities, their associated Science Parks and spinout companies offer opportunities for such partnerships which are growing in importance. The services available by this route to large companies are attracting a substantial international clientele.