The effects of patriarchal systems on beliefs surrounding the Goddess in pre-history and early christianity

This article discusses effects on the Goddess belief by past civilizations through religious and social systems with a focus on shifting images and concepts of the Goddess from pre-history matriarchal social systems, to patriarchal systems in Early Christianity. Additionally, the article addresses how changing interpretations of Goddess images and concepts reflect fundamental changes in religion and social organizations. In adopting a feminist perspective the article ultimately shows the influence and prominence of the Goddess woshipped in Pre-History and Early Christianity. a primary interest in anthropology and religion.     

Myth,allegiances, and the study of social control

That sociology subscribes to certain popular myths and has aligned itself with the welfare of some groups over others complicates research into social control. This is especially so when the research deals with stereotypes and their effects on differential legal treatment. That the discipline has historically taken sides regarding certain commonly held stereotypes and been supportive of certain groups, means that findings that challenge those stereotypes or that are viewed as detrimental to the supported groups are brought into question. Our research on a regulatory mechanism of social control—the Black Book, a list of persons excluded from licensed gaming in Nevada because of their perceived threat to the industry—is illustrative of these complications. Our findings that the Black Book is largely symbolic and is applied discriminatorily challenge not only beliefs in its efficacy but certain myths and allegiances within sociology. That a group sociologically identified with the problem was discriminated against, and that a well-protected group elicited preferential treatment at the hands of regulators who identify with them have been particularly problematic for the acceptance of the findings. We argue here that debunking myth and value neutrality are essential to scientific endeavor and should override such disciplinary tendencies toward the tolerance and protection of some groups over others. Her research has dealt with aspects of culture, organized crime, and social elites. She is currently working on a book on high society and thoroughbred racing. His publications have dealt with issues of labeling and secondary deviation, the role of stereotypes in the legal process, and the legal reaction to corporate crime.     

The Micro System of Deviance in Intimate Relationships*

Deviance in intimate relationships may lie as much within the micro system of such relationships as it does within the personalities of the actors involved. Using a Parsonsian framework, it is argued that the strain of systemically disequilibrated relationships can produce deviant personality adaptations which, in turn, intensify conflict and deviance in those relationships. It is also proposed that a reciprocal quality exists to such maladaptations, with each member of the dyad contributing to the amplification of a stable system of deviant behavior patterns within the relationship. Because the patterns of maladaptive dyads spill over into parent-child relationships, they have implications for understanding intergenerational transmission of deviance between intimates.     

A MODEL OF "FAMILY FAIRNESS" AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR DEBT NEUTRALITY

Evidence suggests that a signcant proportion, though by no means all, of bequests is equally divided among the beneficiaries. This is inconsistent with standard models of bequests, which predict that equal division should occur only by chance. This paper proposes a modified model incorporating "family fairness" as well as utilitarianism as an influence on behavior. Various implications for debt neutrality are analyzed.     

Identity and Boundary Tensions When Educators and Mental Health Professionals Collaborate: Between Wish and Reality

Schools are centers of collaboration in promoting the development and learning of children and adolescents. They seek to develop cultures of collaboration not only within their walls but also among constituencies with similar interests. These efforts, unfortunately, all too often prove frustrating and disappointing to all concerned. Yet, the need for interdisciplinary inquiry is greater today than ever before. This is particularly true considering the complex, diverse, and multifaceted nature of today's schools. No one professional can address all of the problems confronting education, particularly those of urban schools. For decades mental health and education professionals have joined together around their similar interest in promoting children and adolescent development. One such initiative is a program that fosters educators' development. This program, named the Teacher Education Program, began under the auspices of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis and evolved into the Human Development and Learning Program when a partnership was formed with DePaul University's School of Education. From the program's 34-year history, the authors highlight specific tensions they experienced as directors of this collaborative initiative, and how these challenges either were or were not anticipated and/or addressed. The aims are to put a human face on the challenges and struggles encountered in the relationship between education and mental health professionals, and to identify common ground between educational and psychoanalytic theories and practices.     

Let Me Go: The Influences of Crawling Experience and Temperament on the Development of Anger Expression

Infants’ emerging ability to move independently by crawling is associated with changes in multiple domains, including an increase in expressions of anger in situations that block infants’ goals, but it is unknown whether increased anger is specifically because of experience with being able to move autonomously or simply related to age. To examine the influence of locomotion on developmental change in anger, infants’ (N = 20) anger expressions during an arm restraint procedure were observed longitudinally at a precrawling baseline assessment and 2 and 6 weeks after the onset of crawling. Infant age at each crawling stage was unrelated to the frequency of anger expressed in response to arm restraint. At 6 weeks postcrawling onset, infants whose mothers rated them as temperamentally higher in distress to limitations, compared with those rated lower, showed a greater increase in the frequency of anger expressed during the arm restraint relative to earlier assessments and took longer to reduce the frequency of anger expressed when no longer restrained. Findings suggest that experience with autonomous crawling has an effect on anger expression, independent of age, and that a temperamental tendency to become distressed by limitations may exacerbate the effect of crawling on anger expression.     

Crystal Balls and Cooling Ponds: An Insight into Financial Forecasting and Funding Problems of the Nuclear Legacy

Public Organization Review - Globally, ageing civilian nuclear plant and their toxic wastes are in need of decommissioning and disposal as operational lives end. In the UK, a legacy (DTI 2002) of...     

Health professionals' attitudes and practices in relation to Functional Capacity Evaluations

Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE's) are part of practice in work injury prevention and rehabilitation, and are designed to define an individual's functional abilities or limitations in the context of safe, productive work tasks. Qualitative research methodology was used to investigate the attitudes and behaviours of health professionals in relation to FCE use. The study aimed to identify why health professionals chose a particular FCE, and to identify what factors influence health professionals' clinical judgements when providing results and recommendations for the individual being assessed. Five health professionals from the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, participated in semi-structured, individual interviews using a phenomenological approach. Following inductive analysis of the data, four themes reflecting participants' attitudes and behaviours of FCE use emerged: i) referrals and expectations, including why and when the assessment is completed ii) outcomes, -- what the results aim to provide iii) workplace/practice/usage issues and iv) skills of the assessor. The results indicate the need for further research on the clinical utility of FCE's. A large scale quantitative study would allow results to be generalised to a wider community of FCE users.     

Endless Pressure: Life on a Low Income in Austere Times

Much has been written that details the decline in living standards following the ‘credit crunch’ in the UK. It remains that we understand to a lesser degree the lived reality of poverty through the Great Recession and into the era of austerity. This article draws on testimonies of 62 participants from low income households conducted in three different areas of the UK during 2012–13 to document the pressures that this period brought to bear on these households. According to these testimonies, the experience of poverty intensified in key respects: first, participants reported feeling, more than ever before, that they were ‘existing, rather than living’ due to the meagre budgets they were forced to live on; second, the precarious nature of work and social security contributed to a sense of insecurity that was all pervasive in our participants' lives; third, due to the pejorative political rhetoric and media coverage of poverty, our participants felt that their lives were placed under increased scrutiny which deleteriously impacted their wider relationships and sense of belonging. Our analysis demonstrates the profound consequences for those living on low incomes of the continued shift to residual forms of state welfare and the increased reliance on the ‘Big Society’ as a means to deal with the pressures identified in this article.     

The financial practices and perceptions behind separate systems of household financial management

Qualitative research in the UK has revealed a diversity of financial arrangements underlying separate systems of household financial management. One factor, identified in previous work, is perceived ownership of money, with financial practices differing according to whether couples have distinct, blurred or shared ownership perceptions. The present work aims to build on and extend this research, using data from an online survey study with 190 cohabitants in the UK. The findings reveal that ownership perceptions transcend separate money management categories, and can be a significant predictor of the type of contribution cohabitants make towards joint household expenses.