Is Swedish pension reform the right medicine for aging Europe?

Following the Second World War, the idea of the life course with distinct periods of education, work, and retirement became popular as a result of the alliance of interests of unions and management, with politicians seizing the opportunity to accommodate them. These "social partners" implemented benefit rules and created practices for using old age and disability to ease the exit of older workers. Although justifiable at the time, now those rules and practices hinder individual and employer incentives to invest in human capital and work environments that enable older workers to remain in the workforce. The article argues that the workforce environment of the coming half-century, which is relevant for persons born around 2000, is much different from that a hundred years earlier, which determined the opportunities for people born around 1900. People are healthier and live much longer and work environments are friendlier. The article argues that it is no longer justifiable to subsidize exit from the workforce around the age of 60 for healthy workers, especially in view of the coming labor shortage in Europe. It also argues that the introduction of the principles of the Swedish NDC pension reform in Europe would provide possibilities for flexible exit from the workforce and remove impediments to labor mobility in Europe, which are embedded in many of Europe's present pension arrangements.     

The challenges to intimacy and sexual relationships for gay men in HIV serodiscordant relationships: a pilot study

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and disease progression create imbalance in long-term, HIV-serodiscordant, gay male relationships, particularly in sexual relations and issues of physical and emotional intimacy. Stage of disease progression and worldview of the couple both affect the relationship and its survival. To redress imbalance, partners employ a range of coping strategies and techniques. This article explores these issues in the context of HIV serodiscordant gay couples and how they preserve their relationships in the face of these unique challenges. For workers who provide psychotherapeutic and community support for people with HIV and for their partners, the results of this study may be helpful in recognizing stress factors for couples, and tailoring support services to the needs of both partners. Overall, this study provides a basis for further work examining the dynamics of serodiscordant relationships.     

A room with a view: a metaphor analysis of Vietnamese women’s representations of living with depression using photo elicitation

Depression is complex and it is known that how people name and give meaning to this experience when they are from cross cultural backgrounds differs to that of dominant Anglo cultures. Yet surprisingly very little is known about the naming and meaning-making conventions particularly for Vietnamese communities. In Anglo cultures, people commonly describe their experiences of depression as ‘travelling through dark tunnels toward a light’; ‘climbing out of a hole’; ‘a black dog’, and the ‘descent of a black cloud’. These metaphoric representations provide us with visual messages and new meanings about the experience of depression and how it impacts individuals. In this article, we describe a study that aimed to examine if a photo elicitation method could provide a group of women from Vietnamese backgrounds with another language set by which to represent their experience of depression in the face-to-face interview context. Women were provided with a digital camera and asked to take a minimum of 10 photos about their everyday experiences of living with depression. Recruitment and face-to-face interviews were completed with an interpreter already known to participants employed at the community health centre. Participants were asked to select five key photos for discussion within the interpreted interview. In the following article, a metaphor analysis is presented to reflect on how the photos enabled further insight into Vietnamese women’s representations of living with depression and examine the application of this participatory visual method for cross cultural research settings.     

Twelve reasons why rape is not sexually motivated: A skeptical examination

The most popular current explanation of rape holds that rapists are seeking power, control, violence, and/or domination instead of sex. After reviewing the history of this explanation, this paper examines the evidence that has been used to demonstrate that rapists are not sexually motivated. Twelve specific arguments are examined in light of existing data on rape. All twelve of the arguments are found to be either logically unsound, based on inaccurate definitions, untestable, or inconsistent with the actual behavior of rapists. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Patients' Evaluations of Gynecologic Services Provided by Nurse Practitioners

Abstract

The development, operating principles, and users' evaluations of a broad-based gynecologic program emphasizing effective birth control on a university campus are discussed. A major feature that is explored is the use of nurse practitioners as the primary service providers. The forces that resulted in the formation of the program and the methods used to enhance its effectiveness are described. The evaluations of 3,527 users over a three-year period are indicated by summarizing responses to a questionnaire covering the following topics; whether providing such a service was helpful, likelihood of arranging for the service elsewhere if unavailable at the health center, attitudes of staff, medical procedures used, availability of services, and the opportunity to thoroughly discuss concerns. The evaluations were seen as extremely supportive of both the program and the use of nurse practitioners in this setting.     

Physical Attractiveness,Halo Effects,and Social Joining

Objective: Scholarship in psychology on halo effects demonstrates the powerful effects attractiveness has on social interactions. Here, we consider the influence of physical attractiveness on the development of social capital through social joining. With the unavoidable nature of attractiveness biases, we argue that more physically attractive individuals should be increasingly likely to join social organizations, which have been shown to be important parts of broader social engagement and the growth of social capital. Methods: Utilizing the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and an original survey experiment, we find that individuals who are rated as more attractive are consistently more likely to participate in organizations, particularly early in adult life. These effects persist when controlling for socioeconomic variables like income and education. Results: Our experimental results bolster these findings, showing that more attractive individuals are more likely to be invited to join both organizations and informal gatherings. Conclusions: These findings suggest a further mechanism through which the development of social capital differs between individuals in society.     

Measuring children's needs: how are we doing?

Children's services in England and Wales are legally required to determine the nature and extent of children's needs in their areas as a precursor to providing needs-led services. However, few needs assessments are ever published. This article analyses 83 such reports conducted between 1999 and 2007 in two local authorities in England (one urban, one rural), focusing on their quality and usefulness. It makes recommendations for improving practice in this important area, both in terms of the type of needs assessment required and how best to produce and use them.     

Pop-up messages on electronic gaming machines in New Zealand: experiences and views of gamblers and venue staff

In New Zealand, a pop-up message feature that interrupts gambling is mandatory on all electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in all venues. The present research documented the views and experiences of pop-up messages from a range of gamblers and gambling venue staff. A series of focus groups was held with 40 gamblers (ranging from infrequent gamblers to current/former problem gamblers), and 19 staff from casino and non-casino venues. Most participants thought that pop-up messages were ineffective as a harm-minimization measure. Venue staff participants viewed pop-up messages much more negatively than gamblers, who were generally accepting of their existence and sometimes described them as useful. Venue staff participants were also very negative about the additional hassles and confusion they believed to be caused by pop-up messages, and a range of problems they perceived with their accuracy. Nonetheless, there was a consistent although less prevalent view that pop-up messages were useful in reducing gambling harm and potentially bringing harmful gamblers to the attention of others. Participants raised some possibilities for enhancing their effectiveness; these were generally consistent with the evidence base developed since the introduction of pop-up messages in the New Zealand gambling environment.     

Anticipating relocation: concerns about moving among NORC residents

Most older adults prefer to live at home as long as possible, requiring supports and services to help them age in place. This study examines the relocation concerns of a group of older adults in a suburban naturally-occurring retirement community (NORC). Twenty-six percent of the 324 residents interviewed expressed concern about having to move in the next few years. Residents who were worried differed from those who did not worry on a number of demographic and biopsychosocial characteristics. Overall, residents present a profile of vulnerability that calls for preemptive action to help them stay in their homes. A NORC is an ideal setting in which to provide supportive services.     

Do Open Educational Resources Help Contingent Sociology Faculty Acquire Teaching Resources and Form Collegial Relationships?

Access to resources and social relationships are important for teacher development. Unfortunately, within higher education contingent faculty often are under resourced and poorly integrated into their department’s social network. This shortfall could be addressed by Open Educational Resources (OERs), which are websites that freely distribute pedagogical resources and provide a platform for educators to form collegial relationships. The current research focuses on the OERs that have formed around American sociology to assess the characteristics of the faculty who use them, the pedagogical resources they acquire from them, and how often their users form collegial relationships online. Analysis of an online survey of 275 sociology OER users finds that contingent faculty are acquiring resources from the sites. While only a small percentage of faculty are forming collegial relationships via these sites, they are doing so without occupational status, gender, or racial differences.