'Give us Asylum and Help us Leave the Country!' Kurdish Asylum Seekers in Greece and the Politics of Reception

This essay examines the ways in which the social organization of migration interacts with domestic structures in the reception country. Taking the case of Greece, the current reception policy encourages temporary migrant settlement, while the socio-economic structures and cultural familiarity with the host society support individual integration in the society and the informal economy, but discourage migrant community representation. In addition, the political environment has supported Kurdish diaspora politics that, in turn, enhanced existing fragmentation within the ethnic group. The aim of this essay is to highlight the dimensions affecting temporary and permanent migrant settlement in Greece through empirical findings.     

“What Kind of People Do You Think We Are?”: The Scenography of Gypsy Performances of Difference

In Parakalamos (a village in NW Greece) Gypsyness, historically constituted as a “disheveled otherness,” claims a space of encounter with people and actions that are “other,” but also arise from within, ossified, but also ephemeral and fleeting. By exploring the way Gypsies in Parakalamos discussed and experienced processes of identification, I shift the issue of Gypsy otherness away from the well-ordered schema of neatly divided communities usually found within Gypsy ethnography, and I am concerned with the scenography of Gypsy difference: drawing upon a more general discussion on stereotypes, identity, and difference, I explore the situatedness, instability and partial character of Gypsy performances of difference, which nonetheless cannot lie outside the topography of marginality in and through which Parakalamos Gypsies have emerged as particular historical subjects.     

FAMILY ASSESSMENT DEVICE: REPORTS FROM MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND ADOLESCENTS IN COMMUNITY AND CLINIC FAMILIES

This study compared responses on the 60-item version of the Family Assessment Device (FAD) obtained from mothers, fathers, and adolescents in two groups of families. The clinic group consisted of 94 families in which the adolescent had been referred to a mental health service in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. The community group consisted of 94 families, also containing an adolescent, living in the Adelaide community. Members of the clinic families consistently rated their families as less healthy than did families in the community. Importantly however, adolescents in both groups of families rated their families as significantly less healthy than their parents. Thus, while the results of the study provide support for the discriminative validity of the FAD, they also emphasize the need to consider separately self-reports on family functioning obtained from different members of the same family.     

Baptism of Blood: Bodies Performing for the Law

This article undertakes an analysis of Ron Athey’s and Hermann Nitsch’s performance art and blood rituals to show how their radical artistic spectacles are necessary acts of defiance in contemporary art and society. They open up the possibilities for subjects to redefine their relationship to the big Other. The author argues that the use of blood is at the centre of both of these artists’ performances and has the potency to unsettle and attack the patriarchal system of social authorities. At the same time, the popularization of such artistic and bloody practices has led to the appropriation of blood in mainstream popular culture. By referring to popular artist Lady Gaga and her use of blood in recent performances, the article demonstrates that blood is divested of its symbolisms and becomes a mere commodified product. The comparison between performance artists and popular artists like Lady Gaga reveals how blood is used in different ways to facilitate each artist’s project. While Athey’s performances stress blood as the site of the reality of the body in pain, and Nitsch’s as a celebration of both Eros and Thanatos, Lady Gaga’s performances by using fake blood separate blood from the body and meaning.     

Illegal immigration and local labour markets: the case of northern Greece

"The purpose of the present study is to enhance knowledge on the impact of illegal immigrants in Greece from both Eastern European and other developing countries. Our analysis is based on direct survey information from the four regions in Greece which employ considerable numbers of illegal aliens." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Comparative use of complementary medicine, allied health, and manual therapies by middle-aged and older Australian women

We compared use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) and therapies, Allied Health interventions (AH), and Manual Therapies (MT) in middle-aged and older Australian women. Cross-sectional data from the 2007 phase of the Longitudinal study of Aging in Women (LAW study) was analyzed. Self-reported 12-month usage patterns of CAM, AH, and MT were determined by mailed questionnaire. Results revealed that 56.2% of the middle-aged group, and 55.0% of the older group used CAM, AH, and MT services in the previous 12 months (a nonsignificant difference). In contrast, there was a highly significant difference between the overall use of CAM products by middle-aged women (88.2%) and older women (67.7%: p = .002).     

Attitudes,Knowledge, and Behavior before and after an Undergraduate Health and Lifestyle Course

Abstract

“Marital and Family Therapy for Troubled Physicians and Their Families: A Bridge over Troubled Waters,” Ira D. Glick, et al. Because individual therapy for troubled physicians has been notoriously difficult and often ineffective, we report our experience using a treatment—marital therapy—newly applied to such problems in the medical community. The sample involved 13 male physicians and their spouses with emotional difficulties in themselves and/or their relationships. After marital treatment, there was substantial improvement in more than 92% (12/13) of the physicians, their spouses, and/or their marital relationships. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1984;251:1855–1858.)