Reexamining the Dominance of Birth Cohort Effects on Mortality

The association between birth cohort and subsequent mortality has been of interest especially following publication of studies around 1930 of cohorts born up to the latter part of the nineteenth century, particularly for England and Wales. Updated results are presented for this population, together with those for two other cohorts, twentieth‐century Japanese and British populations born about 1930, which have been identified as having particularly clear‐cut birth cohort patterns, and which are used to underpin incorporation of cohort effects in both British official and actuarial mortality forecasts. Graphical methods used to identify cohort patterns are discussed. A number of limitations and difficulties are identified that mean that the conclusions about the predominance of cohort effects are less robust than often assumed. It is argued that alternative explanations should be considered and that the concentration on birth cohorts with particularly advantaged patterns may distort research priorities.     

Drifting into dealing: Becoming a cocaine seller

This paper describes a study of eight ex-cocaine sellers located via chain referral from eight different levels of sales. To be eligible for the study respondents must have sold cocaine steadily for at least a year and have stopped selling for at least six months. The authors describe modes and levels of entree into cocaine sales, and the subtle transformation of identity that occurs when a person moves from a user to a dealer. The interviews suggest that entry into social worlds of cocaine sales is a fluid process akin to Matza's notion of drift (1964). Five basic ways in which people begin to sell cocaine are identified. The first is to become a go-between, a seller who starts out buying only for friends and only later envisions the profit possibilities. The second mode is to become a stash dealer, a person who sells small amounts in order to better afford their own cocaine use. The third style, the connoisseur, is characterized by the user's desire to buy high quality drugs through wholesale purchases. The fourth mode of entree may be called apprenticeship, trainee-style relationships where the novitiate lives with an established seller, learns the ropes, shares the dope, and eventually takes over all or part of the experienced dealer's business. Finally, there is product line expansion, wherein dealers start outselling other drugs, usually marijuana, and move into cocaine sales when it becomes available.The research reported herein was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Justice (#7-0363-9-CA-IJ)), Bernard A. Gropper, Ph.D., Program Manager, Drugs, Alcohol and Crime Programs, Center for Crime Control Research. The views expressed herein are those of the authors alone. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers ofQualitative Sociology for helpful comments.     

Dual-Career Marriages: Implications for the Clinician*

This paper discusses the unique characteristics of dual-career marriages/families. These familial units are identified as a high stress group presenting unusual challenges to the clinician. Specific implications for the clinician include (1) values of therapist and clients; (2) critical issues; and (3) assets and liabilities. It is concluded that while dual-career couples may be demanding clients, the therapist can be sure he/she will have an intriguing, eventful, and meaningful experience along the way.     

A Structured Literature Review for Risk Assessment: EMF and Human Health Risk

The volume of publications on any given topic makes it difficult to select an appropriate subset of publications for review by an expert panel. This paper proposes a method for selecting a subset using a protocol that attempts to order publications based upon good research methods. The protocol was followed by graduate students with no expert knowledge of the area they were reviewing. They reduced 11730 articles on the topic of EMF and Health risk to 68 articles that were reviewed by an expert panel. The interrater reliability was 96% and 94% of the relevant articles were captured by this process.     

Quality/Value Relationship for Imperfect Information in the Umbrella Problem

The so-called umbrella problem (or cost-loss ratio situation), in which an individual must decide whether to take an umbrella in the face of uncertainty concerning whether it will rain today, is sometimes used as a textbook example of decision making under uncertainty. This problem is extended to provide a simple demonstration of the way in which the economic value of imperfect information changes as its quality increases.     

Computerization of social services: a critical appraisal

This article presents an analysis of ethics and computerization of social services. Drawing from the work of Baudrillard, the article suggests that social existence is redefined by the worldview that accompanies computerization. The authors conclude that practitioners have an ethical obligation to protect the human element when social services are computerized. Suggestions are offered for accomplishing this important goal.     

The New Slave Narrative and the Illegibility of Modern Slavery

This paper argues that the first-person narratives of human trafficking that have been published since 1991 should be considered as the reemergence of the slave narrative. The paper outlines the contours of the slave narrative's revival, suggesting that the genre found fertile ground in the 1990s and 2000s through a confluence of diverse cultural forces – reinvigorated abolitionist advocacy, heightened public fluency in the discourses of slavery and rights, an expanded media terrain that encourages first-person testimony and post-9/11 cultural anxieties. This environment promoted the development of survivor testimony that would act as ‘flesh and blood' examples of the largely hidden and illegible human rights violation of modern slavery. Slave narrators face a crisis of legibility resulting from public scepticism regarding modern slavery, but what emerges from the public requirements for evidence is a generic tendency against the voyeuristic demands for the bodily detail and towards narrative strategies of displacement that direct attention towards external authorities and experiences. These strategies allow survivors to maintain control over their exposure in their life narratives, and thereby revise and interrogate the spectacular expectations promoted by many human rights projects.     

Volunteers in Brazilian Hospitals: Good Citizens or Strategic Agents?

Volunteers are recognized as people devoting significant time to provide unpaid services to social organizations. In nonprofit hospitals, volunteers play three essential roles. First, they provide assistance and care to patients. Secondly, they generate strategic value through fundraising, marketing, and community relations’ activities. Third, they generate financial benefits for the institution by reducing hospital costs. This article examines such roles and contributions of volunteers at two Brazilian nonprofit hospitals. Managers at these organizations consider volunteers valuable for the psycho-social service they provide, the strategic actions they develop, the cost savings they generate, the goodwill they create, and the funds they raise. In conclusion, volunteers at both hospitals are key stakeholders whose altruistic motives as good citizens motivate them to join either of the organizations, help humanize their services, and assist with the development of strategies that make significant contributions to the improvement of performance at both locales.