The Continuity and Discontinuity of the Embodied Self in Infertility*

Se servant de données d'interviews en profondeur auprès de 110 femmes et 68 hommes, les auteurs de cet article examinent la construction et la négotiation du moi intrinsèque dans l'infertilité. lis analysent comment les hommes et les femmes qu'ils ont interviewés construisent une image de leur corps comme une machine, négocient la perte de contrôle et éprouvent les défauts perçus du moi intrinsèque dans le contexte des discours dominants de la féminité et de la masculinitè. Ils soutiennent que les défauts du corps aboutissent à un moi intrinseque discontinu, au fur et à mesure que l'infertilité fait voler en éclats les perceptions antérieures du moi intrinsèque et remet en question les anciennes conceptualisations des individus du lien tenu pour acquis entre le corps et le moi.
Using data from in-depth interviews with 110 women and 68 men, this paper examines the construction and negotiation of the embodied self in infertility. We analyse how the men and women we interviewed construct the body as machine, negotiate loss of control, and experience the perceived failings of the embodied self within the context of dominant discourses of femininity and masculinity. We argue that the failings of the body culminate in a discontinuous embodied self as infertility shatters previously held perceptions of the embodied self and challenges individuals' former conceptualizations of the taken-for-granted link between the body and the self.     

The Limits of Radical Social Work

Summary Doubts raised by research evaluation of traditional caseworkhave been increased by the perception by radical social workersthat some clients' difficulties derive from their involvementwith state machinery rather than personal capacity or circumstances,and that many can be helped by working collectively with othersin their community rather than striving alone in a dependentrelationship with a caseworker. Radical aspirations, however,assume that all clients have the capacity to overcome theirdifficulties and that none are so damaged as to be able realisticallybarely to cope with them. The radicals' doubts about the usefulnessof individual support and emphasis on collective self help raisethe danger of neglecting those who are unable to participateeffectively and gain from such efforts.     

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FOR ADAPTIVE CONFIDENCE INTERVALS AND IDENTIFICATION OF OUTLDSRS USING METHODS OF TRIMMING

In an attempt to apply robust procedures, conventional t-tables are used to approximate critical values of a Studentized t-statistic which is formed from the ratio of a trimmed mean to the square root of a suitably normed Winsorized sum of squared deviations. It is shown here that the approximation is poor if the proportion of trimming is chosen to depend on the data. Instead a data dependent alternative is given which uses adaptive trimming proportions and confidence intervals based on trimmed likelihood statistics. Resulting statistics have high efficiency at the normal model, proper coverage for confidence intervals, yet retain breakdown point one half. Average lengths of confidence intervals are competitive with those of recent Studentized confidence intervals based on the biweight over a range of underlying distributions. In addition, the adaptive trimming is used to identify potential outliers. Evidence in the form of simulations and data analysis support the new adaptive trimming approach.     

ONTARIO STUDENT PARTY ACTIVISTS: A NOTE ON DIFFERENTIAL PARTICIPATION IN A VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION

Bien qu'un bon nombre d'études de participation politique aient été faites auprès de publics de masse, le degré de participation de ceux que Ton désigne habituellement d'activistes politiques a été presque complétement ignoré. Cette note de recherche porte sur le degré de participation à l'intérieur de clubs universitaires rattachés à un parti politique á partir de données obtenues au moyen de questionnaires envoyés à un échantillon d'activistes dans plusieurs universités ontariennes au printemps de 1970. L'analyse par classification multiple est utilisée pour mesurer l'effet de plusieurs variables sur le degré de participation. Un résultat important se trouve dans ce que plusieurs variables qui peuvent servir à expliquer pourquoi on devient membre d'une association volontaire telle qu'un club politique sont inutiles pour expliquer le degré de participation dans les activités du club.
Although there have been a number of studies of political participation among mass publics, there have been virtually no efforts made to study differential participation among those conventionally designated as political activists. This research note focuses on differential participation within university political party clubs, using data derived from questionnaires sent to a sample of political club activists in the several Ontario universities in the spring of 1970. Multiple classification analysis is used to assess the impact of several variables on differential participation. A major finding is that some variables, useful for explaining who joins a voluntary organization such as a political club, are unable to explain level of participation in the club's activities.     

Reasons for Starting and Continuing Gambling in a Mixed Ethnic Community Sample of Pathological and Non-problem Gamblers

Very few studies have investigated motivational differences between pathological gamblers (PG) and non-problem gamblers (NPG), or between men and women. Motives for starting gambling have not been distinguished from motives for continuing gambling. From a community survey questionnaire listing reasons generated from the population studied, the motives of 103 current PG met the DSM-IV-TR criteria of five or more symptoms within the 12 months to October 2004. NPG assented to less than three symptoms. Generally, PG had significantly stronger motives than NPG and preferred continuous forms of gambling. There were no overall gender differences in motives, but electronic gaming machines and bingo were the primary choices for female PG. Gambling to escape from stress and troubles increased for PG but not for NPG, while gambling for social reasons decreased for both groups. Because of disproportionate numbers of PG and NPG in the Caucasian, Maori, Pacific Island and Asian groups, ethnic differences were not examined. The findings supported some aspects of theories of gambling motivation. Lowering stress for PG, raising community awareness of the risk of gambling to socialize and undertaking longitudinal research in community samples were suggested.     

Where is the Community Which Cares?

Summary This paper attempts to answer three questions. O what does acommunity consist in industrialised societies and why does ithave such evaluative appeal? What are the evaluative assumptionsbehind current emphasis on community care, and are attemptsat it inevitably authoritarian? Can communities be redevelopedwhere they have apparently disintegrated? The answer to thefirst question stresses the management of personal networksof supportive and socially integrative friendship relationshipsas the basis of a community in modern urban societies, and theindependence of these from limited neighbourhood locations,because of modern communications systems. In answer to the secondquestion, community care is argued to be impossible if the reconstructionof solidary neighbourhood communities is what is envisaged.On the other hand, the level of competence necessary to developand manage an evolving supportive friendship network may bebeyond the capacities of many of the dependent and inadequatewho are presented as candidates for community care. Nonetheless,in answer to the third question, the mobilisation of a diverserange of organised social resources, voluntary and state financed,offers both the best hope of achieving social competence andautonomy and of avoiding authoritarian dependence upon limitedsources of assistance.     

Is it Cash that the Deprived are Short of?

SUMMARY
In using census data, a range of indicators is commonly used to indicate deprivation. This paper examines the validity of these indicators by exploring how well they predict income in surveys (the Family Expenditure Surveys of 1983 and 1990 and the General Household Survey of 1984) which also collect income data. A reasonably parsimonious set of seven socioeconomic variables (as well as controls for age, sex and region) explains about 40% of the variation in log-income. Our results provide a set of weights for a deprivation index and offer no support for the practice of assigning equal weights to the indicators. A census-based proxy would miss a sizable minority of the actual poor and misclassify some with higher incomes. A majority of the `deprived' are poor by a cash yardstick, but some are not.