WHO CAN SPEAK TO RACE AND NATION?

This article examines the production and publication of the Parekh Report (2000) by drawing upon two related current debates – the decline of the public intellectual and the necessity for a public sociology. It argues that both of these debates have failed to engage with concrete examples of public intellectual labour, with the complexities of public communication sociologically and have been reticent as to which particular intellectual voices are able to enter the public sphere. The article argues that the intellectually orientated, multiculturally constituted Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain Commission which authored the report and the report's moment of publication both offer sites in which these critiques can be developed. The article foregrounds the question as to who is entitled to inaugurate, participate in and shape public debates on race, nation, and national identity and evidences the difficulties of attempting to do so in a ‘race volatile’, anti-intellectual and heavily mediated political milieu.     

Confidence intervals and bands for the binormal ROC curve revisited

Two types of confidence intervals (CIs) and confidence bands (CBs) for the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve are studied: pointwise CIs and simultaneous CBs. An optimized version of the pointwise CI with the shortest width is developed. A new ellipse-envelope simultaneous CB for the ROC curve is suggested as an adaptation of the Working-Hotelling-type CB implemented in a paper by Ma and Hall (1993). Statistical simulations show that our ellipse-envelope CB covers the true ROC curve with a probability close to nominal while the coverage probability of the Ma and Hall CB is significantly smaller. Simulations also show that our CI for the area under the ROC curve is close to nominal while the coverage probability of the CI suggested by Hanley and McNail (1982) uniformly overestimates the nominal value. Two examples illustrate our simultaneous ROC bands: radiation dose estimation from time to vomiting and discrimination of breast cancer from benign abnormalities using electrical impedance measurements.     

Qualitative psychological autopsy interviews on suicide in post-conflict Northern Uganda: the participants' perceptions

Participants' perceptions of psychological autopsy interviews were investigated in post-conflict Northern Uganda. Data were derived out of their responses in the debriefing session after the formal interviews. These responses were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The majority of the participants were positive about the interview as reflected in the two broad themes: positivation of the situation through the possibility of helping others and opportunity for personal development through sharing. To some few participants the interview aroused guilt, self-reproach, and anger and reactivated painful memories. As regards suicide postvention, the findings implied that not much has been done to help the bereaved by suicide in this region, and few resources for such efforts are currently available. However, the bereaved are ready to contribute toward the fight against suicide in their communities. Hence, it is argued that a community-based mental health and Primary Health Care approaches should be encouraged in this context.     

Qualitative immediacy and the communicative act

Qualitative immediacy (also termed quality in its philosophical sense and esthetic quality) is of fundamental importance within the pragmatic conception of meaning as interpretive act, and yet it has been virtually ignored by social scientists. The concept is traced through its foundations in Peirce's philosophy, its development in Dewey's theory of esthetic experience, and its relation to the general pragmatic conception of the self. The importance of the I in Mead's view of the self is seen as similar to Firstness in Peirce and esthetic experience in Dewey. Those turning to qualitative approaches ought to consider qualitative immediacy as a genuine addition to our understanding of human communication.I am grateful for helpful comments from Milton Singer, Kevin McMurtrey, Benjamin Lee, and Thomas Buckley, and for an opportunity to discuss this paper in the seminar on dialogue at the Center for Psychosocial Studies, Chicago. A postdoctoral fellowship (T32 MH 14668) at the Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Research and Training, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, and the University of Chicago, provided time for the writing of this paper.     

Where are They from and How Far Must They Go? Examining Location and Travel Distance in U.S. Abortion Fund Patients

The current study examines a secondary data analysis of 3,452 administrative cases from a national abortion fund representing patients who received pledges for financial assistance to pay for an abortion from 2010 to 2015 in the United States, where abortion costs are not covered under federal public health programs. Case data were analyzed to assess patients' geographic origin, and whether or not cases were more likely to originate from states with Medicaid and private insurance restrictions. The anticipated travel distance to the provider and whether or not travel distances had been increasing over time were also examined. Results indicate that the majority of pledges are made to residents of the South, Midwest, states without expanded Medicaid access to abortion, and states that have private insurance restrictions on abortion coverage. Results further indicate that those who receive funding pledges anticipated traveling approximately 225 kilometers (140 miles) on average to access the abortion. This distance increased from 2010 to 2015, with patients seeking second trimester procedures expecting to travel nearly 3 times farther than patients in their first term. Abortion fund patients travel great distances to access an abortion and those distances are increasing over time. It is recommended that policy restricting public funding of abortion be repealed to improve access to abortion not only in the United States, but also in other countries where policy restrictions may impede access to abortion, even when it is legal.     

Stages of change and the group treatment of batterers: a randomized clinical trial

A stages-of-change motivational interviewing (SOCMI) treatment approach was compared with a standard cognitive behavioral therapy gender reeducation (CBTGR) approach in a sample of 528 English-speaking and Spanish-speaking male batterers who were randomly assigned to 49 26-week groups in either condition. Blind ratings of therapist adherence differentiated the two conditions. Language spoken neither predicted outcome nor interacted with treatment. The SOCMI curriculum led to significant reductions in female partners' reports of physical aggression at follow-up, but not to changes in self-reported aggression. Men who were initially less ready to change benefited more from the SOCMI approach while men who were more ready to change benefited more from the CBTGR approach. Results suggest the importance of tailoring abuser intervention programs to individuals' initial readiness to change.     

西方环境伦理学对非西方国家的作用

文章追溯了西方环境伦理学在西方近代自然诗、风景画、景观园林和博物学中的起源,指出西方环境伦理学对于非西方国家的借鉴作用,但非西方国家不必照搬西方环境伦理学中那些有争议的概念,而必须从自己的传统研究环境伦理学。