‘Some people are not allowed to love’: intimate citizenship in the lives of people labelled with intellectual disabilities

Disability helps us think differently about the ‘ideal’ neoliberal-able citizen who may not equate to ideas of productive, sexual, ‘normal’. Intimate citizenship – our rights and access to intimacy – is often ignored by those working with people labelled with intellectual disabilities and in research. In this article, we discuss the outcome of a dialogue between self-advocates labelled with intellectual disabilities, academics, service providers, Aboriginal leaders, students and artists about intimate citizenship through love, intimate work and consumption.     

Sorcery,Theft and Affinity: The Estrangement of Intimacy in Eastern Java

Research has called attention to the importance placed on incorporating the ‘Other’— turning outsiders into insiders—particularly in local and rural contexts of Southeast Asia. This can be seen in a variety of cultural phenomena such as origin myths, marriage patterns and even home design. Rather than focusing on the way strangers are included, in this article I analyse the converse phenomenon: estrangement among family, neighbours and friends. In Tegalgaring in far east Java, house design and a relaxed trespass etiquette welcome passers-by; nevertheless, while front doors are left open, bedrooms and cupboards remain locked. When something is presumed stolen, it is either said to be ‘missing’ or attributed to ‘outsiders’. Suspicion, however, falls on those who are nearest. Sorcery is thought, in theory, to work over long distances. Yet in ‘actual’ cases, the ‘victim’ is often the alleged sorcerer's neighbour, family member or friend. I contextualise these phenomena in terms of other research from the region and argue that, while the inclusion of the ‘Other’ is crucial, the in-group estrangement is also significant.     

Information and communication technologies and migrant intimacies: the case of Punjabi youth in Manila

This article examines how South–South migrants use information and communication technologies (ICTs) in negotiating their encounters with traditional cultural imaginaries of intimacy. It focuses on second-generation Punjabi Indian youth in the Philippine capital of Manila. Through an ethnographic approach, it unpacks how these migrants harness technologies to steer through two particular ideals about the end-goal of intimate relationships: the Punjabi notion of arranged marriage and the Filipino notion of love marriage. I characterise how the young Punjabis use ICTs to enact what I call a ‘temporarily resolution’ to their migrant double consciousness about intimacy. I also describe how this temporary resolution continues to be entwined with the wider dynamics of multicultural relations in the Philippines. Ultimately, I aim to better understand the role of ICTs in migrant intimacies, especially within the realities of multiculturalism in a postcolonial city in the Global South.     

当代中国青年亲密关系的“超市化”转型——基于婚恋杂志的历时性比较

当代中国青年的亲密关系在20世纪80年代表现为自主的社会主义现实爱,在20世纪90年代表现为世俗化的浪漫爱,在21世纪初表现为流动的"超市"爱,在此演变过程中主要体现出情感化、物质化、流动化、公开化与欲望化等特点。通过"主导叙事——个人叙事"的视角发现,塑造青年亲密关系的主导力量经历了从国家到市场经济再到消费主义及科技的变迁,当代中国青年的亲密关系正在经历一种"超市化"的转型。     

将正确的“师爱”贯穿于学生工作中

师爱是一切成功教育的奠基石。什么是师爱、怎样实施师爱？一些德育工作者对它的认识存在一定误区,尤其在对青年学生教育中,以至于不能正确地对待和科学地实施。本文拟就这个问题作扼要、简明阐述。师爱不等同于母爱,更有别于友爱和情爱,它是教育工作者热爱祖国、热爱民族的真情实感在学生身上的自然流露,它是一种崇高而无私的大爱。青年学生正在思想形成的关键时候,切不可缺失了这一课,因此,师爱应是全面的、深入的、严爱相济的,而不是片面的、肤浅的,更不是宠爱和溺爱。     

关于青少年疏离感研究的理论分梳

青少年期是个体自我同一性形成的重要时期,但由于受种种因素的影响,有些个体在心理发展上表现出较为明显的疏离感。国外的研究发现,青少年的疏离感与问题行为、犯罪行为成正比,强烈的长期的疏离感会严重影响青少年自我同一性的和谐发展。我国研究者也日益关注对青少年疏离感的研究并构建出疏离感的理论模型。当前背景下,关注中国青少年疏离感的发展,对拓展自我同一性的理论研究和青少年自身的健康发展来说,都极具现实意义。     

Changing intimate relationships: An Israel—UK comparison

A first step toward understanding the association between women's attempts to change the domestic division of labour in their households and their attempts to change spousal communication in their relationships, is offered by this comparative study. The conditions under which married women in the UK and in Israel will attempt to initiate change in their intimate relationships and the relative effectiveness of those initiatives are examined within both institutional and cultural contexts. The study examines the possibility that institutional forces such as the availability of state-subsidised day care facilities and ideological forces such as familiarity with therapeutic ideas are important factors in shaping the context in which women initiate processes of change in their intimate relationships. Two compatible samples of employed, married, mostly middle-class women from Israel and the UK are compared regarding their attempts to increase their partners' participation in domestic tasks and their communicative co-operation. The findings indicate that Israeli women, who operate in a context that recognises their status as 'working mothers', tend to perceive their employment as more legitimate than do the UK women and feel more entitled to challenge existing domestic practices. The findings support the possibility that familiarity with therapeutic ideas is related to more effective attempts to change either domestic arrangements or spousal communication patterns. Cette étude comparative est un premier pas vers la compréhension de la relation entre les tentatives des femmes de modifier la répartition des tâches domestiques au foyer et celles de modifier leur communication dans leurs relations avec leur conjoint. On y examinera à la fois dans les contextes institutionnels et culturels, les conditions dans lesquelles les femmes mariées au Royaume-Uni et en Israël tentent d'initier un changement dans ces relations intimes ainsi que la relative efficacité de ces initiatives. Cette étude avance que l'existence de facteurs institutionnels tels que la présence d'institutions subventionnées par l'Etat pour la garde des enfants ainsi que des facteurs idéologiques tels que la connaissance des idées thérapeutiques, pourraient constituer des éléments importants dans la cristallisation du contexte dans lequel les femmes entreprennent de modifier leurs relations. On y compare des femmes de milieu moyen qui travaillent (en Israël et au Royaume-Uni) et qui tentent de faire prendre àleur partenaire une plus grande part dans les tâches domestiques et la coopération en termes de commutativité. Les résultats indiquent que les femmes israéliennes, fonctionnant dans un milieu reconnaissant leur qualiteéde 'mères qui travaillent', tendent à percevoir leur emploi comme plus légitime que les femmes anglaises et considèrent avoir davantage le droit de défier les pratiques domestiques existantes. Les résultats indiquent que la connaissance des idées thérapeutiques serait en relation directe avec l'efficacité des tentatives de modifier soit le 'statu-quo' domestique soit la communication entre époux.     

Distant Friends,Mobility and Sensed Intimacy

Abstract

This article draws on a qualitative, interview-based project to argue that emotionally close friendships at-a-distance can create distinctive spatial sensibilities of friendship. These sensibilities are formed when friends move apart geographically. In part, they are composed of the tangible forms of friendship practices (such as visiting), but their main constituent is the more intangible emotional bond between friends which can extend across considerable distances. The spatial sensibilities of friendship thus form particular geographies of intimacy; they shape how individuals come to understand and ‘feel’ spatial distances, and influence individuals’ own feelings about moving.     

The Alzheimer's Solution: How Today's Care Is Failing Millions and How We Can Do Better,by Kenneth S. Kosick and Ellen Clegg

Abstract

Marital literature has identified partner intimacy and autonomy as important determinants of marital satisfaction. However, little is known about how the balance of intimacy and autonomy affects the success of long term marriages among older couples. The author surveyed 88 men and 92 women in long term stable marriages to examine the effects of partner intimacy and autonomy on marital satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses revealed that intimacy was positively related, and hostile control was negatively related to marital satisfaction. Older respondents rated their partners higher in intimacy than middle aged respondents, and husbands were rated higher in providing autonomy than were wives. Intimacy and avoidance of hostile control were more important than autonomy to long term married couples. Social workers can draw upon a number of approaches to marital therapy that enhance couple intimacy.