Elective single mothers and their children: The missing fathers

Elective single mothers are adult, unmarried women who intentionally become mothers. This study utilized longitudinal data about 17 Caucasian, elective single mothers and their children to identify fathers' roles in these families, and to understand children's views of their fathers. These single mothers and their children resided for the first six years of the children's lives in father-absent households. By age six, most of the children had ghost fathers, whom they had never met or knew little about. The data suggest that the father often becomes a family secret, and that children may blame themselves for their fathers' absence.     

Sucker bet or sure thing: A critical analysis of sports lotteries

A paradox currently exists regarding legal sports gambling in North America: various forms are flourishing in Nevada, Oregon, and several Canadian provinces, while at the same time the United States Congress is conducting hearings on two bills that would prohibit any new state-sponsored sports gambling initiatives. This study examines the issue of why some jurisdictions are enthusiastic about legal sports gambling while others strongly resist the concept. In reviewing these divergent viewpoints, a case study of the newfledged Canadian Sport Select gambling format is presented. This example is used to highly the perils and payoffs of a typical state-sponsored sports gambling scheme, with a view toward broadening our understanding of how they work and how they might be fairer to the public.     

"The responsibility to inform, the power to act": a conference for New England college newspaper editors on the role of the campus press in addressing substance use issues.

College newspapers are a powerful but underutilized medium for educating students on health issues, including those related to drug and alcohol use on campus. Editors of these publications are in a position to wield significant influence among their readers. In addition to communicating factual information about the prevalence and impact of substance use among college students, editors can use the press to advocate changes in students' attitudes and behaviors and in college or community policies that affect substance use. A pilot conference was held to help New England college newspaper editors perceive the importance of their role in educating their peers about substance use and other health-related issues, and to offer concrete suggestions as to how they can incorporate these topics into an "activist" campus press.     

Socialization to dying: social determinants of death acknowledgement and treatment among terminally ill geriatric patients.

Although the vast majority of deaths occur among terminally ill geriatric patients, little is known about the etiology of these patients' death acknowledgement and ultimate type of treatment. Based on interviews with 76 triads composed of physicians, terminally ill patients, and primary caregivers, this study uses the socialization perspective to identify the actors and actions that most strongly affect the patient's death acknowledgment and receipt of exclusively palliative care (i.e., socialization to the dying role). Whereas patient preferences and sociodemographic characteristics do not influence significantly the patient's odds of death acknowledgment, these odds are increased if their primary caregivers accept death, their physicians are not affiliated with a teaching hospital, and the terminal prognosis is disclosed to them and disclosed "matter-of-factly." Patients who acknowledge death, whose agents value pain alleviation over life-prolongation, and whose physicians are not affiliated with a teaching hospital, are substantially more likely to receive exclusively palliative rather than curative terminal treatment.     

Temporary versus permanent population mobility in Melanesia: a case study from Vanuatu

A case study of temporary and circular Melanesian population mobility and labor migration focuses on the island of Paama in the Republic of Vanuatu (an archipelago of 80 islands) in Melanesia and on urbanization, which is a relatively recent phenomena. A critical analysis is provided of temporary and permanent migration and methodological inadequacies in explanations of mobility. Mobility is neither a cause nor a result of economic, social, and political change; it is the interrelationship among the general structural setting, people's personal and social environment, and their perceptions and actions. In the case of Paamese mobility, changes appeared in the source of migration and destination areas. There was a period of original land acquisition, when migrants returning from Queensland with tools were the only ones who could actually acquire land. Inequalities of land access date from this period. The population is dependent on external income sources as well as the need for plantation migration and a huge increase in bridewealth. Concurrently, "kampani" or community work, which ensures the continuous authority of local chiefs and village elders, creates problems for those seeking work for their own families. These conditions encourage out-migration. Rapid urban growth began in the 1960s with a diversified economy. Employment opportunities were available for women; single employee residence spaces declined. This meant families could permanently settle in urban areas. Retirement benefits were also available and contributed to securing permanent migration. There were growing needs for a stable, skilled labor force. Another change was the abolishment of the tripartite colonial administration. Rural disasters and price declines also triggered urban migration. Migration to the town of Port Vila by Paamese men and women between 1953 and 1982 is analyzed, based on 258 employment related mobility histories collected in 1982-83. Two processes are evident: continued periodic, short-term, rural-based circulation and permanent urban migration among Paamese to Port Vila. A major reversal of mobility is unlikely in the future. The reasons why are indicated.     

Wrong lovers in the 19th century Netherlands

Various styles of "male love" occurring in the 19th century are introduced. Locations and public ordinances relating to these styles of love are discussed. The development of the homosexual role is broached along with the question of whether attitudes and laws of the 19th century were responsible in part for the development of normative expectations for homosexuality which might in turn have repressed its growth.     

Current status of and prospects for China Population Information Centre

The China Population information Centre (CPIC), set up in May 1980, is a national institution for population information research under the State Family Planning Commission. Its main functions are to 1) collect, process, and distribute and foreign materials on population and family planning; 2) collect, tabulate, and analyze population and family planning data; 3) keep abreast of new population and family planning developments within and outside the country; 4) edit and publish information materials; and 5) provide information users with diversified services. The CPIC has 8 operational units: 1) the Library, 2) the Statistics Division, 3) the 1st Information Research Division, 4) the 2nd Information Research Division, 5) the Editorial Division, 6) the Translation Division, 7) the Computer Division, and 8) the Technical Support Division.     

Measures to facilitate the return and reintegration of highly skilled migrants into African countries

A very large number of skilled Africans are found to be operating in the developed industrialized countries of the West at a time when their national economies are crying out for their services. Ways must be found to return as many of these skilled Africans as possible to the African economy. This out-migration or brain drain has a number of causes, including: 1) real incomes in Africa have been on the decline in the past several years while prices were constantly rising. Professional and salaried workers seek employment in other countries that pay much higher salaries. 2) Promotion on criteria other than merit is common in Africa and diligence and high productivity are not often rewarded. 3) Political interference frustrates public services professionals; they are rendered unable to use their professional judgement in making decisions that affect the economic and social fabric. 4) The inadequacy of higher education facilities and opportunities in African countries encourages the brightest and best qualified Africans to go to Western Europe and North America for school; they tend not to return after graduation. 5) Political upheavals and general instability contribute to feelings of individual insecurity, sending Africans to seek sanctuary in more politically stable and less repressive environments. Actions needed to control this out-migration include: 1) incentive systems should be reviewed with a view to providing realistic levels of renumeration and working conditions should be made to promote job satisfaction and self-actualization. 2) Capacities and capabilities should be strengthened so as to ensure that production of goods and services becomes indigenized and that the development and operation of institutions emanates from within the continent. 3) Educational services should be expanded and improved to obviate the need for large numbers of Africans to seek educational opportunities abroad.     

The use of metaphor in therapeutic communication with young adolescents

The ability to utilize metaphor is presented as the normal stage in the development of the capacity to symbolize that is characteristic of the young adolescent. Symbolization is considered to be the basic structure through which the individual constructs a knowledge of the reality and of the self. Therefore, staying within the framework of the metaphor in treatment with the young adolescent is beginning where the client is but equally as importantly it is assisting the youngster to further develop both his symbolic capacities and himself. A case illustration is utilized to demonstrate both healthy and pathological usage of metaphorical language.