Reading Skills in Children with Multichannel Cochlear-lmplant Experience

Forty children with prelingual, profound deafness who received the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implant between the ages of 2 and 13 years participated in this study. The children had an average of 63.3 months (SD=24 months) of experience with their cochlear implants. A majority of the children used simultaneous communication and attended public-school programs at the time of testing. Reading achievement was assessed using the Paragraph Comprehension subtest of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised, Form G (1987). This study compared the reading-achievement levels of this group of cochlear-implant users with the results of previous studies of children with profound hearing losses who did not have the benefit of cochlear implants. Results indicated that nearly one half of the children in this study were reading at or within 8 months of their grade level. The reading-grade quotient of .74 was calculated based upon the slope of the regression line for the plot of years in school and reading grade-level achieved. This finding indicates that using a cochlear implant has a positive effect on reading achievement level.     

Caroline Bartlett Crane and the history of sociology: Salvation, sanitation, and the social gospel

This article investigates the relationship between Progressive era (1890–1920) social reform and the origins of American sociology with a view of the vital contributions of women in these endeavors. I observe the efforts of the first generation of sociologists to legitimate and delineate the field in the “social construction” of the discipline of sociology, as they attempted to combine Christianity, the social gospel, and socialism into a new and unique ideology. In this article I examine the archival material of Progressive era reformer, Caroline Bartlett Crane (1858–1935), a Unitarian minister and student in the sociology department of the University of Chicago in 1896, to address the relationship between theology, sociology, and social reform from a woman’s perspective.     

Project agreements and government procurement

I discuss the recent proliferation of mandatory project labor agreements in government procurement, some of the ensuing litigation, and the effects of such agreements on contractors, workers, and the public.     

CEOs'Career Backgrounds and Corporate Long-Term Strategic Planning*

CEOs affect corporate outcomes along various dimensions, including the emphasis placed on long-term strategic planning. This study assesses the impact of CEOs’functional and industry specializations on R&D and capital spending in four manufacturing industries. We found only limited support for our position that CEOs with more professional-type careers are less willing than other CEOs to have their firms make long-term investments. “A critical theme of… the modem industrial enterprise is that creating and maintaining such capabilities is a continuing, long-term process–a process that requires sound, long-term perspectives from the decision makers responsible for the health and growth of their enterprise.” (Chandler 1991, p. 627)     

A New Paradigm for Understanding Women's Sexuality and Sexual Orientation

Major scientific findings about women's sexuality and sexual orientation are reviewed. Sexual orientation is unrelated to mental health. There is no inherent association between gender conformity and women's sexual orientation; masculinity and femininity are linked to sexual orientation in some social contexts but not in others. Research has so far failed to identify major biological or childhood antecedents of women's sexual orientation. Women's sexuality and sexual orientation are potentially fluid, changeable over time, and variable across social contexts. Regardless of sexual orientation, there are important commonalities in women's sexuality. In particular, women tend to have a relational or partner-centered orientation to sexuality. Together, these findings provide the basis for a paradigm shift in the conceptualization of women's sexual orientation.     

Back to Normal: Gender and Disaster

Our earlier studies of Hurricane Andrew focused on the destruction of everyday life during the crisis itself and the reconstruction of a taken-for-granted world during the recovery period; this paper examines the significance of gender in these processes. The abrupt loss of taken-for-granted reality occasioned by the storm involved only a slight and momentary disruption of gender roles. The resilience of these roles can be understood only if gender is seen as a property of social organization that shapes not only interactional expectations and pressures, but also cultural and institutional processes, as well as bodily experiences.     

Cybersex: The Impact of a Contemporary Problem on the Practices of Marriage and Family Therapists

The number of people accessing the Internet for sexual purposes (cybersex) has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. However, little research has been conducted to determine how frequently clients present for treatment with cybersex‐related issues. One hundred sixty‐four clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy participated in the current study, which was conducted to identify the impacts of cybersex on MFTs’ practices. Most respondents report seeing clients with cybersex‐related issues, with client numbers increasing over the past 2 years. Although most respondents felt prepared to diagnose and treat adults with cybersex problems, half felt unprepared to diagnose and treat children. Lastly, most respondents reported that their required college courses were not helpful in preparing them to diagnose and treat cybersex‐related problems. The implications of study findings are discussed.     

Exploring Relationships between Social Policy and Changing Family Forms within the European Union

This article examines critically the linkages posited between social policy and changing family forms in European Union member states since the 1960s. While lower fertility rates, changing family patterns, population ageing and the rapid growth in women's economic activity can be shown to provoke policy responses, evidence for a causal impact of policy on demographic behaviour and for the diffusion of policies between countries is inconclusive. The article argues that policy environments are shaped by a complex array of factors, which may appear, in certain configurations, to be conducive to family building or to the development of particular family forms.