Perceptions of aging among rural, midwestern senior citizens: signs of women's resiliency

This study utilized both quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine perceptions of aging among rural-dwelling senior citizens (203 women and 112 men), ages 65 and older. Quantitative results revealed that, despite no significant gender differences in the total number of medical conditions reported, women were less likely than men to report that health problems interfered with their daily functioning. Qualitative analyses revealed that women were particularly like to identify relationships, frame of mind, participating in activities, and religion/spirituality as important contributors to successful aging.     

On the Joint Lot-Sizing Problem with Zero Setup Costs

In a recent paper, Pinto and Mabert [5] presented a lot-sizing rule and an improvement procedure for the joint lot-sizing problem with zero setup costs. We show that this procedure often yields infeasible schedules. We also present and discuss two interesting properties of the joint lot-sizing problem with zero setup costs. A numerical example to illustrate the second property is provided.     

The meaning of frailty according to Dutch older frail and non-frail persons

Frailty is a term often used by researchers and clinicians to describe a state in which older persons are at risk for adverse outcomes such as falls, disability, institutionalization and mortality. However, no study so far examined what frailty means to older persons. Therefore the aim of this study was to describe the meaning that older community-dwelling persons attach to frailty. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were analyzed using the grounded theory method. Frailty was described as being in poor health, having walking difficulties, feeling down, being anxious, having few social contacts and not being able to do the things one likes to do. Men described in more detail the physical dimension whereas women elaborated in more depth on the psychological and social component. Existing definitions of frailty should be adjusted to better reflect the meaning of frailty for older persons.     

‘Allowed into a Man's World’ Meanings of Work–Life Balance: Perspectives of Women Civil Engineers as ‘Minority’ Workers in Construction

This article discusses how women working as civil engineers within the UK construction industry perceive work–life balance and considers strategies they use to achieve this. The findings are presented of a qualitative research project that explored the experiences of women in this role, focusing on the subcultural context of a profession that is dominated by the values of presenteeism and infinite availability. A feminist post‐structuralist framework is used to analyse how women negotiate their personal and professional time and the extent to which their other roles as carers and nurturers unsettle male work practices in this highly gendered profession. There are gradually increasing numbers of women in professional construction roles and their success appears to depend on being able to fit in to the dominant masculine culture of long working hours and the male pub gathering. Despite an increased presence, women's minority status in construction continues to challenge their professional identity and this is central to the conflict many face between the dual roles of corporate worker and private non‐work person.     

Culture and Masculinity: When Therapist and Patient are Latino Men

Treating clients from diverse cultural backgrounds, and supervising clinicians who are treating clients of the same ethnicity and gender, are now common experiences in our mental health system. As the growth of minorities in the US greatly outpaces the training of minority clinicians, more attention to these situations is needed. Operating from the premise that interpersonal sensitivity is a fundamental aspect of cross-cultural and cross-ethnic sensitivity, we describe the treatment of a Latino male by a Latino male clinician, in this case both of Puerto Rican descent. We outline the contours of the therapy with a man whose life history included numerous incidents of humiliation and thwarted efforts at efficacy, mastery, agency, and competence, resulting in an adult character structure based on shame and self-doubt. We also discuss the challenges to the clinician posed by working with a man whose traditional upbringing mirrored his own, with all the positives and negatives that must be considered in the countertransference. We describe clinical and cultural reasons for various interventions, and their resulting outcome. The framework of a dynamic interpersonal therapy and the challenges of transference, countertransference, therapist disclosure, and working-through are covered.     

Acculturation and Enculturation Trajectories Among Mexican‐American Adolescent Offenders

This study examines changes over time in ethnic affirmation/belonging and ethnic identity achievement, Spanish language use, English language use, Mexican/Mexican‐American affiliation/identification and Anglo affiliation/identification in a sample of Mexican‐American adolescents participating in a longitudinal study of juvenile offenders. The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure and the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans‐II were completed by the Mexican‐American adolescents 7 times over a 3‐year period. The findings from longitudinal growth modeling analyses and growth mixture modeling analyses indicate that there is heterogeneity in the initial scores and changes over time on these variables that are related to markers for the cultural qualities of the home environment (i.e., generational status and mother's most frequent language use). In contrast to expectations, marginalized or assimilated acculturation trajectories/types were not overrepresented in this sample of adolescent offenders. Implications for our understanding of the nature of acculturation and enculturation processes and the way these processes are studied are discussed.     

The Longitudinal Interplay of Maternal Warmth and Adolescents' Self‐Disclosure in Predicting Maternal Knowledge

This study examined the longitudinal associations among maternal warmth, adolescents' self‐disclosure, and maternal knowledge during the transition to adolescence. Three years of self‐report data were collected from 131 married mothers and their adolescents. Results from longitudinal analysis using adolescent reports indicated that greater maternal warmth in sixth grade predicted higher levels of adolescents' self‐disclosure in seventh grade, which in turn led to higher levels of maternal knowledge in eighth grade. Thus, adolescents' self‐disclosure served as an indirect link between higher maternal warmth and greater knowledge over time. An alternative model with prior self‐disclosure predicting subsequent maternal warmth and knowledge was not supported. Overall, this study demonstrated a time‐ordered process by which maternal warmth and adolescents' self‐disclosure predict maternal knowledge. Understanding such processes that affect parental knowledge may be beneficial for future prevention and intervention efforts during the transition to adolescence.     

‘Bringing coals to Newcastle’? Human rights,civil rights and social movements in New York City

In this article we examine the encounter between global human rights ideas and domestic discourses of civil rights and social justice, focusing on processes of translation and adaptation of women's human rights in two ethnographic sites in New York City. The first site is a citywide coalition working for the adoption of a New York City human rights ordinance. The second site is an advocacy organization working on domestic violence issues. We find that the local adoption of human rights in New York City – the ‘domestication’ of human rights – takes place in two central sites: law and social movement. We further find that the process of translation takes place unevenly in the two sites, and it is driven primarily by the actors, mechanisms and technologies in the social movement arena. Overall, we witness the emergence of a domestic human rights movement as a new counter‐hegemonic space, characterized by multiplicity in meanings, ideological heterogeneity and ambivalence from those engaged in its construction.