COMMUNITY FRAME ANALYSIS IN LOVE CANAL: UNDERSTANDING MESSAGES IN A CONTAMINATED COMMUNITY

This article addresses the development of frame analysis in understanding the environmental problems in a contaminated community. The problems at Love Canal, New York are examined through the use of local newspaper sources, government archives, and historical documents, such as activist and industry publications. Four distinct frame sources are examined at Love Canal: local newspaper coverage, community activists, government, and industry. These frames represent major differences in how the specific environmental and social problems at Love Canal were represented to the public. Specifically, contrasting opinions focus on four planks: the existence of a problem, victims of a problem, liability, and resettlement. Conclusions address the social construction of environmental problems and the dependence on direct experience when adopting frames. Understanding the messages that individuals receive in the time of environmental crisis is a critical step in understanding community response and reaction to the problem.     

Demographic Correlates and Judicial Determinations of Child Sexual Abuse Offenses

This study involved an in-depth evaluation of court records and various investigation reports of 532 alleged child sex offenders as well as their interactions with the typical societal intervention mechanism. The major results indicated that offenders significantly differed from the general population in various background characteristics. Generally, alleged offenders were more likely to be from certain demographic groups such as male, minorities, the poorly educated, labor workers, and the unemployed. Comparisons between subgroups defined by prior mental health, substance abuse, and childhood experiences indicated that negative background characteristics were further associated with the severity and judicial outcome of the charges. These results suggest the complexity of determining the etiology, correlates, and criminal and judicial dispositions of child sexual victimization. Finally, this study questions the sufficiency of the current “quarantine” approach, which “segregates” perpetrators through the mandatory registration and general distribution of the identities of convicted offenders. Implications were made regarding the need for integrating various academic disciplines and for coordinating the services of societal intervention units.     

It makes you keep trying: Life review writing for older adults

Life review writing produces numerous psychosocial benefits for older adults, who are at risk for isolation and depression. This article shares findings from a study that examined the experiences of older adults participating in a life review writing group. The impact of gender composition on the group dynamic was also explored. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, this study explored the experiences of six women and one man who participated in a life review writing group. Six unifying themes emerged from the research findings: (1) legacy, (2) connecting with others, (3) reflection, (4) vitality, (5) structure of the group, and (6) gender dynamics. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed.     

Male sex workers in three Australian cities: socio-demographic and sex work characteristics

This article describes the socio-demographic and sex work characteristics of sex workers in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. A total of 185 male sex workers completed the questionnaire component of the study. The results of this study serve to debunk many of the myths surrounding the popular view of the male sex worker (MSW). The respondents in this study were on average 27 years old, and the majority had completed secondary education, with 30% having gained some form of tertiary qualification. Interestingly, those MSWs who had not completed secondary education were mostly street workers and were generally aged under 25 years. The majority of sex workers lived in rented accommodation, with only 6% reporting to be homeless. Half of all respondents identified as being "gay," 31% as "bisexual" and 5.5% as "straight." More than half of the respondents were in a permanent relationship. Only 7.3% of this group reported using heroin daily, although the majority consumed alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and ecstasy. The majority of sex workers had been in the profession for less than six months, although some had been working in the industry for more than ten years. Most of the sex workers reported having taken an HIV test and a preference to offer safer sex. The article highlights ways in which the work context of MSW can be better understood and supported by education and public policy programs.     

OPTIMAL TESTS OF SIGNIFICANCE

To perform a test of significance of a null hypothesis, a test statistic is chosen which is expected to be small if the hypothesis is false. Then the significance level of the test for an observed sample is the probability that the test statistic, under the assumptions of the hypothesis, is as small, or smaller than, its observed value. A "good" test statistic is taken to be one which is stochastically small when the null hypothesis is false. Optimal test statistics are defined using this criterion and the relationship of these methods to the Neyman-Pearson theory of hypothesis testing is considered.     

Digitization,the Internet,and the Arts: eBay,Napster, SAG,and e-Books

Via four case studies we explore the extent to which digitization is transforming how people access and engage with the arts. The first case study is the online auction house eBay. We focus on a unique system whereby millions of users rate each other's integrity and reputations in a digital venue via a transparent system open to all users and visitors alike. The second case study examines the Screen Actors Guild strike against the advertising industry, which drew attention to the potential for and limitation of the replacement of human actors by digitized replicas. Third, we focus on e-books in the context of the prediction that most books, music and film entertainment will eventually be distributed electronically to the average household. The fourth case study analyzes the Napster debate over file sharing and duplication of online music. We focus on the ability of Napster to create a huge community of users sharing their own copies of digital music. From this point of view Napster represented a uniquely efficient and large-scale dream, a modern form of the cooperation and sharing of property envisaged by classical anarchist philosophers of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, and as always in anarchistic uprisings, another class claimed proprietary ownership in the material being shared and saw in Napster mostly collective theft on the part of ordinary citizens. Three of these four case studies centrally involve ordinary people using the digital media in creative and innovative ways. We conclude by arguing, against those who are skeptical about the transforming power of digitization, that even in the short time that it has been widely available digitization has so increased people's ability to interact creatively with products that this amounts to a qualitative change which, over the next few decades, is likely to develop so far as to justify the label revolution.