First‐generation migrants become grandparents: how migration backgrounds affect intergenerational relationships

First‐generation migrants are not only reaching the age of retirement, but they are also becoming grandparents in the host society. Through the specific case of Portuguese migrants in Luxembourg, we look at what point their migration background becomes important to their intergenerational relationships. We have acquired the data for this article from biographical narrative interviews with ten older first‐generation grandparents and ten second‐generation parents. On the basis of these findings, we address three important aspects of intergenerational relations: (i) how first‐generation migrants socialize their grandchildren, (ii) grandparental mobility patterns and their embeddedness in practices of socialization and care, and (iii) the challenges produced by language in intergenerational relationships.     

An Attempt to Assess a New Design in Residential Homes for the Elderly

Summary A comparison of the residents of three county council homesfor the elderly is undertaken. The three homes differ both intheir architectural design, and in the role of the staff. Themeasures used are mainly concerned with the residents' dailyactivities, and information is collected both by questionnaireand by personal observation. The results show significant differencesin the three groups and tend to support the authors' predictionsconcerning the residents' behaviour, based on the differencesin the physical design and staff role in the homes     

Simulation of right and left truncated gamma distributions by mixtures

We study the properties of truncated gamma distributions and we derive simulation algorithms which dominate the standard algorithms for these distributions. For the right truncated gamma distribution, an optimal accept–reject algorithm is based on the fact that its density can be expressed as an infinite mixture of beta distribution. For integer values of the parameters, the density of the left truncated distributions can be rewritten as a mixture which can be easily generated. We give an optimal accept–reject algorithm for the other values of the parameter. We compare the efficiency of our algorithm with the previous method and show the improvement in terms of minimum acceptance probability. The algorithm proposed here has an acceptance probability which is superior to e/4.     

Working with Female Offenders: Beyond 'Alternatives to Custody'?

Correspondence to Anne Worrall, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Applied Social Studies and Social Work, University of Keele, Keele, Staffs. ST5 5BG. Summary Developments in the Probation Service in the 1980s have beendominated by the rhetoric of ‘Alternatives to Custody’.At the same time, there has been an increasing awareness ofgender biases within the criminal justice system. This articlereports on research into the attitudes of probation officersand female offenders and explores the implications of thesefor future work with women by the Service.     

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.     

From Paradigm to Practice in a Special Probation Project

Summary Between January 1980 and December 1982, a team of probationofficers in South Yorkshire attempted a new approach to probationpractice. The project arose initially out of the ideas put forwardin Bottoms and McWilliams (1979) ‘A Non-Treatment Paradigmfor Probation Practice’, but the team members developeda version of the paradigm which in many respects differed markedlyfrom the original. In this paper, their statutory work is describedwith particular reference to their social enquiry practice andto their attempted separation of the care and control aspectsof probation orders.