The occupational orientations of jazz musicians: Some recent findings and a reexamination of the evidence

In contrast to earlier studies which stressed the deviant status of jazz players and their hostility toward conventional society, research appearing in the 1960s reported these musicians accepting middle‐class values and aspirations and expressing concern about the public image of their profession. This paper reports the findings of ethnographic research on jazz practitioners undertaken in St. Louis and New Orleans during the 1970s. Two contrasting occupational orientations, or work ideologies, those of the “artist” and the “craftman” (Becker, 1978), are found to coexist among the contemporary generation of jazz modernists. A historical interpretation that links the artist and craftsman orientations to the origin of jazz among blacks and the pattern of its diffusion into the larger society is offered as an explanation for the divergent findings from past studies.     

An Unacceptable Role for Social Work: Implementing Immigration Policy

Correspondence to Dr Beth Humphries, Department of Applied Social Science, Lancaster University, Cartmel College, Lancaster, LA1 4YL. E-mail: b.humphries{at}lancaster.ac.uk Summary Social work has always had a role in policing the boundariesof welfare, and under New Labour there has been a decisive shiftto an increasingly narrow and negative practice. This articletakes social work’s involvement in internal immigrationcontrols as an example of the profession’s complicityin implementing social policies that are degrading and inhuman.It argues that social work has adopted a reactionary and uncriticalview of policy, and asks whether there might be a more progressivefuture for the profession.     

Shameless television: gendering transnational narratives

The UK television drama Shameless (Channel 4, 2004–2011) ran for eleven series, ending with its 138th episode in 2011. The closing episode did not only mark an end, however, but also a beginning – of a US remake on Showtime (2011-). Eight series down the line and carrying the weight of critical acclaim, this article works to consider the textual representations and formal constructions of gender through the process of adaptation. Paying close attention to the structural elements of recaps, voiceovers, and final sequences of Shameless’ first series, while drawing on the work of feminist narratologists and transnational TV theory, we argue that the examination of gender in narrative reveals differing cultural values between the UK and US.     

‘The domino effect’: pathways in and out of homelessness for autistic adults

Autistic adults may be at increased risk of homelessness due to the association between autism spectrum disorders and poor socio-economic outcomes. In particular, social vulnerability, unemployment, and difficulty interacting with services can be catalysts for homelessness, compounded by lack of diagnosis and appropriate support. This article presents the narratives of two autistic adults, known as ‘Max’ and ‘Peter’, who had experienced homelessness. They explain the factors which led them to become homeless and those that aided their rehabilitation. The article argues that whilst Max and Peter were susceptible to the socio-economic disadvantages which affect adults with autism in various ways, the resilience and determination displayed in their narratives countered traditional stereotypes of resistance to change. Furthermore, it is suggested that homelessness is not an outcome of autism, but of the disabling barriers autistic adults face throughout their lives.     

Impact of client suicide on social workers and counselors

Recent studies on the impact of client suicide on mental health professionals focus on psychiatrists and psychologists, while,in the current mental health system in our country, most clients receive services from other clinicians. This research focuses on the impact of client suicide on social workers and counselors as well as organizational responses to client suicide/attempt. Data were collected via interviews and survey of 121 clinicians. Client suicide impacts clinicians adversely in many ways. Many participants felt their agency/practice could have done more to support them during post-suicide management. Data presented in this report have the potential to aid in the creation of needed workforce development initiatives.     

Undercounting Medicaid Enrollment in Maryland: Testing the Accuracy of the Current Population Survey

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey is the most commonly cited source for estimates of the insurance status of Americans, but there are concerns that the data may undercount participation in public programs such as Medicaid. Such a Medicaid undercount may result from survey respondents not acknowledging Medicaid coverage because they are unaware that they are enrolled in Medicaid, because they have not recently received health services, due to the stigma associated with receiving public assistance programs, or due to simple recall bias. This paper estimates the extent to which the Current Population Survey undercounts Medicaid participation in a single mid-Atlantic state, Maryland. We administered the Current Population Survey questionnaire to a random selection of known Medicaid participants. We find evidence that the Current Population Survey significantly undercounts Medicaid participation in Maryland and that much of the undercount could be corrected if the survey better identified the Maryland Medicaid program. We also find that recall bias may contribute to the undercount as well. There was no indication that stigma contributed to any undercount. Though not an aim of this study, we find that the Medicaid undercount may contribute to an over count of the number of uninsured.

Exact and resampling probability values for the Piccarreta nominal–ordinal index of association

Exact, resampling, and Pearson type III permutation methods are provided to compute probability values for Piccarreta's nominal–ordinal index of association. The resampling permutation method provides good approximate probability values based on the proportion of resampled test statistic values equal to or greater than the observed test statistic value.     

Experimental partnering: interpreting improvisatory habits in the research field

This paper proposes that established research techniques can be developed in new directions by becoming attentive to the ways in which novel epistemological and ontological frameworks can shape the production of research knowledges. Drawing upon ideas from performance theory and science studies, and two brief fieldwork examples – archival research on the MRC’s Common Cold Unit and participant observation of the challenge of moving a herd of cattle – we argue that habits are also always to extent improvised; shaped by the capacities of human bodies to sense and respond to the nonhuman agentive world around them, including methodological habits. We propose a new term, ‘experimental partnering’ to define an interpretative approach that is attentive to how practice can illuminate the improvisatory or unstable temporary alignments that underlie some habits. ‘Experimental partnering’ is not offering a new way to access the research field, but a term to express a particular interpretative mode that draws attention to human-nonhuman relations and assemblages, fostering new apprehensions of how these more than social relations modify and interrupt the habitual.