Step Up Love Story: Futari Etchi. By Katsu Aki

REPRODUCTIVE ETHICS. Michael D. Bayles. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice‐Hall, 1984; 141 pages; $10.95.

EXPLORING GENDER RELATIONS: A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE. Marlene Mackie. Toronto: Butterworths, 1983; 358 pages; $17.95 (pa.).

SARAH: A SEXUAL BIOGRAPHY. Paul R. Abramson. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1984; 142 pages; $9.95 (pa.); $29.50 (cl.).

SENSUOUS SPACES: DESIGNING YOUR EROTIC INTERIORS. Sivon Reznikoff. New York: Whitney Library of Design, Watson‐Guptill Publications, 1983; 204 pages; $32.50.

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES: AN ANNOTATED, SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY. Stephen Margolis. New York: Garland, 1985; 176 pages; $23.00.

WOMEN AND DEVIANCE: ISSUES IN SOCIAL CONFLICT AND CHANGE; AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. Nanette J. Davis and Jone M. Keith. New York: Garland, 1984; 236 pages; $35.00     

Disability stigmatization as a barrier to employment equity for legally-blind Canadians

Canada has expressed a strong commitment to the rights of its citizens against discrimination, including those with disabilities. A question remains whether Canadians with disabilities are able to practice these rights. Our mixed-methods study sheds light on the situation of one important sub-group of people with disabilities – those who are legally blind. Our survey results show that the labour-force participation rate for this population is very low compared with those without disabilities, and also lower than the rate for persons with other disabilities. Legally-blind working-age Canadians have significantly higher rates of unemployment and underemployment, and perceive major barriers to employment. In-person interviews reveal the negative impact of one major barrier – disability stigmatization – on accessing meaningful employment and other societal assets. We discuss the implications of these findings and suggest policy directions.     

Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation Among Women Abused in Intimate Partner Relationships

This study examines factors associated with suicidal ideation among women abused in intimate partner relationships. Data were collected from the case records of 95 women screened upon in‐person contact with admissions workers in a domestic violence shelter in one Midwestern state. Forty‐three percent of the women reported suicidal ideation as significantly associated with childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, and adulthood intimate partner abuse lasting fewer than 12 months in duration. The results have policy and practice implications for those interested in the mental health needs of women abused in childhood and adulthood. Implications for research are presented that more precisely identify how the effects of past and current traumatic experiences intersect and contribute to suicidal ideation among women abused in intimate relationships.     

Abstracts of theses: July, 1952 Smith college School for social work

Abstract

This article examines models of addiction and heroin treatment outcomes as well as the history of xenophobia, racial scapegoating, and misinformation in the promotion of narcotics prohibition in the United States. The moral model of addiction holds that punishment of the addict will be effective deterrence, yet punishment has not prevented heroin use, and narcotics control costs continue to spiral. The medical model of addiction, the dominant philosophical underpinning for current treatment methods, is shown to lack scientific corrobora‐tion and therefore to be inappropriate as a basis for policy on heroin use and inadequate to govern options in heroin addiction treatment. The discouraging outcomes of all modes of heroin addiction treatment indicate that treatment will not end the demand for the drug. Gradual legalization of heroin, while instituting formal and informal social structures geared to controlled use, is recommended.     

The Funny Business of Being Tina Fey: Constructing a (feminist) comedy icon

Since her appointment as head writer on Saturday Night Live in the fall of 1999, Tina Fey has enjoyed unprecedented success as a writer, creator, and performer, in a genre notorious for favoring male-oriented fare and its attendant male writers and performers. The press surrounding her various film, television, and literary projects provides a unique opportunity to consider how Fey has worked with reporters to construct her public reputation as a successful woman working in comedy. Based on a Lexis-Nexis search of major English-language newspapers worldwide dating from Fey's appointment as head writer on Saturday Night Live in September 1999 through to the release of her best-selling book Bossypants in April 2011, this analysis finds that Fey employs a complex mix of self-deprecating and somewhat aggressive humor to answer reporter questions about topics ranging from her personal grooming habits and myriad talents to the treatment of women in the male-dominated business of comedy.