Museums as agencies of neocolonialism in a postmodern world

In this article I describe an attempt by a large state museum to engage a plurality of voices and to adopt a new posture of representation in its programmes and exhibitions. In the process however, encumbered with its very institutional nature, of which it made little acknowledgement, it continued to silence much of the plurality to which it hoped to give voice. In the end the museum's discourse of representation of the ‘other’ fundamentally altered very little from its historical posture. I have identified three themes of the colonial heritage of the museums that I suggest encapsulate essential, but not exclusive, dimensions of their hegemony. These are the themes of containment, objectification, and reduction.

As we produce the official explanations, we reproduce the official ideology . . . We are a part of the records that we keep (Spivak 1987: 108).     

Help-Seeking for Sexual Difficulties and the Potential Role of Interactive Digital Interventions: Findings From the Third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles

Sexual difficulties are common and can negatively impact health and well-being. A wide range of support is available, but there are multiple barriers to accessing help. Interactive digital interventions (IDIs) for sexual difficulties have the potential to provide a convenient, wide-reaching, and cost-effective source of support, but little is known about who might use them. We explored the potential reach of IDIs by assessing the prevalence of help-seeking among people with distressing sexual difficulties, including who seeks which sources of help. Data came from sexually active men and women, ages 16 to 74, participating in Britain’s third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) (N = 11,637). Help/advice was sought by less than half of those with distressing sexual difficulties, and help-seeking was associated with younger age in women but not men. The most popular sources of support were family doctor (47.5% to 54.8%), Internet (22.0% to 25.6%), and family/friend (20.7% to 41.8%), with older participants (≥ 35), particularly men, preferring to seek help from a family doctor, and younger participants (<35) preferring to seek help from the Internet or family/friend. Despite a paucity of good digital support sites for sexual function, the Internet is a common source of help. As Internet access continues to increase, so too does the potential for well-designed IDIs to support those with sexual difficulties.     

The Importance of Social Cues for Discretionary Health Services Utilization: The Case of Infertility

Infertility is a discretionary health condition; although it carries with it important life course implications, treatment is rarely necessary for health reasons. Sociological theories of medical help‐seeking emphasize demographic factors, perceived need, and enabling conditions in health services utilization, but we find that social cues are also strongly associated with health services utilization for infertility. Adjusted for conventional predictors of medical help‐seeking, several social cue indicators have significant associations with utilization, including having friends and family with children, perceiving infertility stigma, and having a partner and/or family member who encourages treatment. Perceived need accounts for the largest portion of the variation in utilization. Enabling conditions explain less of the variance than social cues. Social cues should be especially important for discretionary health services utilization. Studies of service utilization for discretionary health conditions should explicitly incorporate a range of measures of social cues into their models.     

An evaluation of the postqualifying framework

A new strategy for postqualifying training in social work was launched in 1990 by CCETSW with the publication of Paper 31. This paper reviews the subsequent implementation of the policy framework and identifies several core issues: level and parity; access and numbers; funding and resources; consortia formation and cohesion; quality and standards; and the role of CCETSW in relation to a UK wide system.

It is argued that the slow development of the new system stemmed from an excessively decentralised partnership approach in developing consortia and the low priority and funding devoted to postqualifying education and training. The quicker pace of development since 1995 has only been achieved through government pressure and CCETSW taking on a stronger lead role together with the continued ring-fenced funding for consortia and bursaries. Without substantial funding from the Department of Health/National Offices and CCETSW, it is questionable whether the objectives of a national widely accessible system of postqualifying education and training will be achieved. The rapid development since autumn 1995 has led to some compromise in standards and the new systems of quality assurance have yet to be tested. Whatever the general merits of partnership/collaboration, CCETSW needs to maintain its more positive development role and clarify the relationship to consortia and the legal status of consortia.

Published research and data on postqualifying education and training is extremely limited and the authors have drawn on their experiences and impressions of the evolving PQ systems during the 1990s. Now that the framework is operational, accrediting programmes/portfolio routes and recruiting and assessing candidates, it is essential to undertake independent research and evaluation into the system and its effectiveness.     

Relationship between body image and body mass index in college men

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors examined cognitive and affective dimensions of body image of a randomized sample of 188 college men on the basis of body mass index (BMI). METHODS: They conducted chi-square tests and ANOVAs to determine differences between 4 BMI groups (underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese) on demographics and body image measures. RESULTS: The authors found significant differences in regard to total body image (p < .001), weight or shape concern (p < .001), and body dissatisfaction (p < .001). BMI was significantly correlated with negative body image. Overweight and obese participants reported significantly higher levels of negative body image than did normal- and underweight participants. Overweight participants reported significantly higher weight and shape concerns than did underweight, normal-weight, and obese participants. In regard to body dissatisfaction, underweight, overweight, and obese participants reported significantly higher levels of body dissatisfaction than that reported by normal-weight participants. CONCLUSIONS: BMI may be an important factor in identifying potential body image disorders in college-aged men.     

The history of SHSAAMc: Student Health Services at Academic Medical Centers

This article presents an historical review of the organization known as Student Health Services at Academic Medical Centers (SHSAAMc). The authors discuss characteristics of health service directors as well as the history of meetings, discussion, and leadership. The focus of the group is the healthcare needs of health professions students at academic medical centers.     

Long-term effects of forearm support: computer users working at conventional desks

Recent research has demonstrated that forearm support might be preferable to working in the traditional "floating" posture for computer users. A previous field study in a call centre reported a significant decrease in discomfort following 12 weeks of using a conventional desk for forearm support. The aim of this follow up study was to determine the long-term effect (21 months post intervention) of forearm support on reported musculoskeletal discomfort in the previous sample of intensive computer users. METHODS: The follow-up sample consisted of 33 females and 2 males (59% of original group). Data were collected via self-report questionnaires and workstation assessments. RESULTS: Despite a significant reduction in discomfort for most body regions following the initial intervention, the only significant decrease in discomfort over 21 months was for the neck. Reported discomfort for all other body regions had decreased, apart from the shoulder in which there was a reported increase in discomfort. The results of this follow up study indicate that forearm support has a positive effect on the reduction of neck discomfort. The increase in shoulder discomfort indicates that a concave desk may be preferable to the conventional desk if the forearm support posture is to be adopted.     

Testing for Measurement Invariance in the Satisfaction with Life Scale: A Comparison of Russians and North Americans

This study examined the comparability of Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) [Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985, Social Indicators Research, 34: 7–32] scores across U.S. and Russian student and community groups. Criteria for weak measurement invariance were met when comparing U.S. and Russian groups (combining student and community samples). Criteria for weak and strong measurement invariance were met when comparing the U.S. and Russian student samples. However, when comparing the U.S. and Russian community samples, the results showed a significant statistic for a baseline model, indicating a lack of comparability across samples. The costs of failing to meet criteria for weak, strong, and strict measurement invariance are discussed. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Older adults in sub-Saharan Africa living with children and grandchildren

Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys, we examine the composition of households containing older adults in 24 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on those living with children and grandchildren. Overall, 59 per cent live with a child and 46 per cent with a grandchild. Men are more likely to live in nuclear households and women in extended households and alone. Regression analyses show that individual-level determinants of household composition differ by sex. For example, living with children and grandchildren is tied to living with a spouse for men, but for women the effect is either not significant or in the opposite direction. Households with an older adult and a grandchild, but no adult children, are common. Usually the adult child lives elsewhere, though about 8 per cent of older adults live with a grandchild who has at least one deceased parent. Older adults are more likely to be living with double-orphans in countries with high AIDS-related mortality.     

Drone-topia as method

ABSTRACT

The figure of the civilian camera drone remains ambiguous and contested. Its promises and perils shape contemporary imaginaries of future mobilities and visualities. Donny the Drone by Mackenzie Sheppard is one example of a fictional short film that creatively engages with such ambivalent scenarios in the story about a sentient quadcopter. In this article, I explore this techno-futurist narrative in how it serves as a heuristic for a mobile utopia. Themes of mobility and aerial commons, visuality and cosmopolitanism, relationality and affective subjectivity, along with domination and political mobilization emerge from the utopian thought experiment about a camera drone becoming human. Ultimately, I show how the evolving figure of the civilian drone serves as an experimental platform and utopian method towards elevated visions for an imaginative reconstitution of society.