The Gender Structure of the Nursing Hierarchy: The Role of Human Capital

This study investigated the factors contributing to the over‐representation of men in senior positions in nursing. A questionnaire was distributed to a stratified random sample of 1536 registered nurses in New South Wales, Australia. The data were analysed using multiple logistic regression and showed that women's greater likelihood of taking breaks from full‐time employment was the major variable contributing to the gender segmentation of the nursing workforce. This has implications for those working towards ‘family friendly’ workplaces.     

Catholic NGOs following the 1995 referendum on divorce in the Republic of Ireland

This article examines patterns of political, social, and economic change within the Republic of Ireland that led to passage of the 1995 Referendum of Divorce. It also looks at this policy's impact on public and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that provide court‐related services. Because the passing of the referendum is in many ways a reflection of the changing role of the Catholic church in public life, considerable attention is granted to the evolving nature of this institution, from policymaker to service provider. Implications include how Catholic NGOs partner with public institutions in providing services to families experiencing divorce.     

Separate family and community realities? An urban-rural comparison of the association between family life satisfaction and community satisfaction

Classical and contemporary statements about family and community suggest mutually reinforcing connections between these two life domains. However, in their search for greater niche building, scholars have largely overlooked such links because of their adherence to specific traditions. This article considers the public-private sphere debate, a tradition associated primarily with family studies. This tradition holds that individuals experience life as discrete social spheres. Using this tradition as a framework for critique, this study examines individuals' association with family and community via an empirical test of family life satisfaction and community satisfaction. Particular attention is also given to urban and rural differences and similarities in family life and community. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of adults from the USA. The multivariate analysis revealed a reciprocal relationship between family life satisfaction and community satisfaction. Findings are discussed in light of the public-private sphere debate and urban and rural realities. Les énoncés classiques et contemporaines sur la famille et la communauté suggèrent des rapports qui se renforcent mutuellement entre ces deux domaines de la vie. Pourtant, dans leur recherche de se faire une place dans le monde universitaire, les spécialistes ont en grande partie ignoré de telles liaisons à cause de leur adhésion aux traditions spécifiques. Cet article considère le débat entre les sphères publiques et privées, une tradition associée principalement aux études de familles. Cette tradition soutient que les individus font l'expérience de la vie comme sphères sociales discrètes. En employant cette tradition comme structure pour la critique, cette étude examine l'association des individus avec la famille et la communauté par une épreuve empirique de la satisfaction de la vie familiale et de la satisfaction de vie communitaire. Cette recherche tient compte aussi des différences et des ressemblances urbaines et rurales dans la vie familiale et communautaire, et elle se base sur des données d'un échantillon nationalement représentatif d'adultes des Etats-Unis. L'analyse multivariate a révélé un rapport réciproque entre la satisfaction de la vie familiale et la satisfaction de la vie communautaire. Les découvertes se présentent à la lumière du débat des sphères publiques-privées et des réalités urbaines et rurales.     

Social science and the poetics of public truth

I argue that sociological theory can be understood as a kind of poetic discourse and that sociological truth is itself a rhetorical construction. Once we see social scientific objectivity and innovation as linguistically constructed, we can reframe our criteria for judging the adequacy of sociological theories. We then notice that the meanings of such criteria as logical rigor, or correspondence to a factual or hermeneutic foundation, are themselves relative to different paradigms or genres, which in turn are shaped and assessed through prudent poetic judgment. Awareness of the literary, discursive character of social science knowledge should encourage a greater critical appreciation of truth generated through our own and other poetic forms.     

Qualitative differences in men and women police officers' experience of occupational stress

Gender differences in exposure to sources of occupational stress and experience of adverse consequences are explored in a study of 358 male and 139 female police constables engaged in uniformed patrol or detective duties from one large provincial English police force. Stressors were divided into those arising tiom police operational duties and those deriving tioni organizational and management issues. Women uniformed constables are less likely to be exposed to police operational stresson involving the potential for violence, but ifexposed they report more severe adverse reactions than uniformed policemen. Women unifomied officers and women detectives are more likely to be involved with victims ofviolence or sexual offences and the former report higher levels ofassociated self-perceived stress than their male counterparts. There are relatively few differences in exposure to organizational stressors except that women detectives and uniformed officers report higher rates of sex discrimination and prejudice than policemen. Multivariate analyses show gender and occupational role differences in qualitative features that contribute to reported psychologal distress. Results are discussed in terms of possible explanations for gender differences.     

Recentering the world: the quest for ‘elective’centers in a secularized universe

The various ‘quests for meaning’of the ‘decentralized’contemporary Western youths are interpreted as so many attempts to ‘recenter the world’around new ‘elective centers’. Rather than being centers of the contemporary world into which the individual is born, such centers are located outside it, and freely chosen by the seekers. Four such elective centers are discussed: (1) traditional religious conversion, (2) the occult, (3) science fiction, and (4) tourism. Each of these elective centers is first briefly described and then analysed in a comparative framework, focused on six principal questions: (a) the social and cultural conditions which engender the contemporary ‘quest for a center’, (b) the nature of elective centers, (c) mechanisms of election and rejection of alternative elective centers, (d) extent of involvement with elective centers, (e) elective centers and the wider social framework, (f) the institution-building potential of the elective centers.     

珍妮特·希尔的家居日记

<正>"作画是日记的另一种形式。"—巴勃罗·鲁伊斯·毕加索若将珍妮特·希尔的作品集比作一本厚厚的日记,它所描绘的生活应该是这样的:在阳光充沛的时分醒来,以一杯黑咖啡和一份蓝莓松饼作为一天的开始;对着衣橱进行一番挑挑拣拣,最终换上百褶裙,并登上一双线条极为精美的高跟鞋;在出门之前,先为最喜欢的那只花瓶插上新鲜     

Purpose plus: supporting youth purpose, control, and academic achievement

Research in the past decade suggests that a persistent achievement gap between students from low-income minority backgrounds and higher-income white backgrounds may be rooted in theories of student motivation and youth purpose. Yet limited research exists regarding the role of purpose on positive youth development as it pertains to academic achievement. Using a sample of 209 high school students, this study examines the effectiveness of an intervention designed to promote purpose development and internal control over academic success in high school students from a low-socioeconomic-status community. Findings reveal that a short-term intervention was effective in significantly increasing internal control over academic success and purpose in life for students participating in the intervention group. In addition, analysis of academic achievement for students who experienced positive gains in internal control and purpose demonstrates significant gains in academic achievement as measured by grade point average. Implications are made for further study of internal control and life purpose as a means of academic intervention in the effort to address the achievement gap.