The illness narratives of Hispanic American women with coronary heart disease (CHD): An ethnographic approach

Purpose. To provide a descriptive representation of the illness narratives described by Hispanic American women with CHD. ^ Design. Focused ethnographic design. ^ Setting. One outpatient general medicine clinic, one nurse-managed health promotion clinic, and informants' homes in a large metropolitan city located in southeast Texas. ^ Sample. Purposeful sampling from two different sites resulted in 17 interviews being conducted with 14 informants. ^ Method. Focused ethnographic techniques were employed in the designation of participants for the study, data collection, analysis and re-presentation. Audiotaped interviews and fieldwork were transcribed verbatim and analyzed through an iterative process of data reduction, data display, drawing conclusions and verification. ^ Findings. The developing conceptual framework that emerged from the data is labeled after the overarching experience described by informants, the experience of Embodied Exhaustion. Embodied Exhaustion, as described in this study, refers to an ongoing, dynamic, indeterminate experience of mind-body exhaustion resulting from a complex constellation of biologic, psychological and social distresses occurring over the life course. The experience consists of three categories: Taking Care of Others, Wearing Down and Hurting Hearts. Two stabilizing forces were identified: Collective Self and Believing in God. ^ Conclusions. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of framing all research, theory and practice targeting Hispanic women with CHD within a sociocentric paradigm. Nursing is challenged to provide care that extends beyond the physical body of the patient to include the social context of illness, especially the family. ^

Beyond Racial Precedents: Loving v. Virginia as an Appropriate Legal Model and Strategy for Same-Sex Marriage Litigation

This thesis explores how LGBT marriage activists and lawyers have employed a racial interpretation of due process and equal protection in recent same-sex marriage litigation. Special attention is paid to the Supreme Court's opinion in Loving v. Virginia, the landmark case that declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. By exploring the use of racial precedent in same-sex marriage litigation and its treatment in state court cases, this thesis critiques the racial interpretation of due process and equal protection that became the basis for LGBT marriage briefs and litigation, and attempts to answer the question of whether a racial interpretation of due process and equal protection is an appropriate model for same-sex marriage litigation both constitutionally and strategically. The existing scholarly literature fails to explore how this issue has been treated in case briefs, which are very important elements in any legal proceeding. I will argue that through an analysis of recent state court briefs in Massachusetts and Connecticut, Loving acts as logical precedent for the legalization of same-sex marriage. I also find, more significantly, that although this racial interpretation of due process and equal protection represented by Loving can be seen as an appropriate model for same-sex marriage litigation constitutionally, questions remain about its strategic effectiveness, as LGBT lawyers have moved away from race in some arguments in these briefs. Indeed, a racial interpretation of Due Process and Equal Protection doctrine imposes certain limits on same-sex marriage litigation, of which we are warned by some Critical Race theorists, Latino Critical Legal theorists, and other scholars. In order to fully incorporate a discussion of race into the argument for legalizing same-sex marriage, the dangers posed by the black/white binary of race relations must first be overcome.

The Right to Die Debate: The Demonization of Dr. Kevorkian and the Creation of a Moral Panic Surrounding Physician-Assisted Suicide in the United States

The Right to Die Debate is a recent but highly controversial moral matter. In particular, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is an issue that has been evaded by the medical community for years. As of 1990, most states had never encountered the issue before and therefore did not have any laws in place to prohibit PAS (Strate et. al, 2005). Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a retired pathologist from Royal Oak Michigan was the first to publicly address PAS. He brought the issue into the limelight through a bizarre and crude series of assisted deaths that had a lasting impact on not only the Right to Die Debate as whole, but on public policy and both federal and state governmental agendas. This study focuses on the way in which the media, in particular the New York Times (NYT) has portrayed Dr. Jack Kevorkian as incompetent, morally culpable and in an overall negative light in the past twenty years. Applying Stanley Cohen’s 1972 theory of moral panic, a content analysis of NYT media publications between 1990 and 1999 supports Cohen’s theory and reveals that the media has created a moral panic surrounding Kevorkian. This has in turn led to public policy that prevents both terminally ill individuals and their doctors from having a desirable choice; that of voluntary euthanasia and PAS.

Gay Parenthood and the Revolution of the Modern Family: An Examination of the Unique Barriers Confronting Gay Adoptive Parents

Abstract: In recent decades, the structure of the American family has been revolutionized to incorporate families of diverse and unconventional compositions. Gay and lesbian couples have undoubtedly played a crucial role in this revolution by establishing families through the tool of adoption. Eleven adoptive parents from the state of Connecticut were interviewed to better conceptualize the unique barriers gay couples encounter in the process adoption. Both the scholarly research and the interview data illustrate that although gay couples face enormous legal barriers, the majority of their hardship comes through social interactions. As a result, the cultural myths and legal restrictions that create social hardships for gay adoptive parents forge a vicious and discriminatory cycle of marginalization that American legal history illustrates is best remedied through judicial intervention at the Supreme Court level. While judicial intervention, alone, cannot change the reality of gay parenthood, I argue that past judicial precedent illustrates that such change can serve as a tool of individual, political, and legal validation for the gay community for obtaining equal rights.

El enfoque biográfico en el análisis social : Una aproximación a los aspectos teórico-metodológicos de los estudios con trayectorias laborales

La presente tesina es un esfuerzo por buscar nuevas orientaciones teórico-metodológicas para abordar las implicancias que, las trasformaciones iniciadas en el mundo laboral a mediados de los años setenta, y profundizadas a partir de la década del noventa, han tenido sobre la biografía laboral de los sujetos. En el marco del Enfoque Biográfico y el paradigma del Curso de Vida, se toma la perspectiva analítica de las trayectorias, atendiendo a un dominio particular: la esfera laboral. El objetivo del trabajo es estudiar los aportes teóricos y metodológicos que brinda el enfoque de las trayectorias laborales para comprender el conjunto de recorridos heterogéneos, impredecibles y discontinuos que se delinean en la vida laboral de los sujetos. Desde este lugar, realizamos una reflexión crítica junto a una sistematización teórica de aquellas investigaciones que nos aproximen a comprender cómo se construyen las biografías laborales en un contexto de intermitencia e incertidumbre. La perspectiva escogida brinda al análisis social la posibilidad de analizar estos nuevos fenómenos desde su complejidad analítica, al aprehender la dimensión objetiva y subjetiva en su articulación espacio-temporal

Carreras y trayectorias laborales : Una revisión crítica de las principales aproximaciones teórico-metodológicas para su abordaje

En los últimos años las carreras y trayectorias laborales han sido analizadas de manera ampliamente heterogénea, confundiéndolas muchas veces con conceptos metodológicos afines. Dada esta situación, en este artículo perseguimos el objetivo de describir y analizar cómo pueden estudiarse las carreras y trayectorias labores. Las principales preguntas a las que intentaremos dar respuesta refieren a: ¿desde qué enfoques teóricos y perspectivas metodológicas pueden estudiarse las carreras y trayectorias laborales?; ¿cuáles son las potencialidades y límites que estos abordajes poseen?; ¿de qué manera éstos han sido utilizados en América Latina y en Argentina?

El enfoque biográfico en el análisis social : Una aproximación a los aspectos teórico-metodológicos de los estudios con trayectorias laborales

La presente tesina es un esfuerzo por buscar nuevas orientaciones teórico-metodológicas para abordar las implicancias que, las trasformaciones iniciadas en el mundo laboral a mediados de los años setenta, y profundizadas a partir de la década del noventa, han tenido sobre la biografía laboral de los sujetos. En el marco del Enfoque Biográfico y el paradigma del Curso de Vida, se toma la perspectiva analítica de las trayectorias, atendiendo a un dominio particular: la esfera laboral. El objetivo del trabajo es estudiar los aportes teóricos y metodológicos que brinda el enfoque de las trayectorias laborales para comprender el conjunto de recorridos heterogéneos, impredecibles y discontinuos que se delinean en la vida laboral de los sujetos. Desde este lugar, realizamos una reflexión crítica junto a una sistematización teórica de aquellas investigaciones que nos aproximen a comprender cómo se construyen las biografías laborales en un contexto de intermitencia e incertidumbre. La perspectiva escogida brinda al análisis social la posibilidad de analizar estos nuevos fenómenos desde su complejidad analítica, al aprehender la dimensión objetiva y subjetiva en su articulación espacio-temporal

Carreras y trayectorias laborales : Una revisión crítica de las principales aproximaciones teórico-metodológicas para su abordaje

En los últimos años las carreras y trayectorias laborales han sido analizadas de manera ampliamente heterogénea, confundiéndolas muchas veces con conceptos metodológicos afines. Dada esta situación, en este artículo perseguimos el objetivo de describir y analizar cómo pueden estudiarse las carreras y trayectorias labores. Las principales preguntas a las que intentaremos dar respuesta refieren a: ¿desde qué enfoques teóricos y perspectivas metodológicas pueden estudiarse las carreras y trayectorias laborales?; ¿cuáles son las potencialidades y límites que estos abordajes poseen?; ¿de qué manera éstos han sido utilizados en América Latina y en Argentina?

Carreras y trayectorias laborales : Una revisión crítica de las principales aproximaciones teórico-metodológicas para su abordaje

En los últimos años las carreras y trayectorias laborales han sido analizadas de manera ampliamente heterogénea, confundiéndolas muchas veces con conceptos metodológicos afines. Dada esta situación, en este artículo perseguimos el objetivo de describir y analizar cómo pueden estudiarse las carreras y trayectorias labores. Las principales preguntas a las que intentaremos dar respuesta refieren a: ¿desde qué enfoques teóricos y perspectivas metodológicas pueden estudiarse las carreras y trayectorias laborales?; ¿cuáles son las potencialidades y límites que estos abordajes poseen?; ¿de qué manera éstos han sido utilizados en América Latina y en Argentina?

El enfoque biográfico en el análisis social : Una aproximación a los aspectos teórico-metodológicos de los estudios con trayectorias laborales

La presente tesina es un esfuerzo por buscar nuevas orientaciones teórico-metodológicas para abordar las implicancias que, las trasformaciones iniciadas en el mundo laboral a mediados de los años setenta, y profundizadas a partir de la década del noventa, han tenido sobre la biografía laboral de los sujetos. En el marco del Enfoque Biográfico y el paradigma del Curso de Vida, se toma la perspectiva analítica de las trayectorias, atendiendo a un dominio particular: la esfera laboral. El objetivo del trabajo es estudiar los aportes teóricos y metodológicos que brinda el enfoque de las trayectorias laborales para comprender el conjunto de recorridos heterogéneos, impredecibles y discontinuos que se delinean en la vida laboral de los sujetos. Desde este lugar, realizamos una reflexión crítica junto a una sistematización teórica de aquellas investigaciones que nos aproximen a comprender cómo se construyen las biografías laborales en un contexto de intermitencia e incertidumbre. La perspectiva escogida brinda al análisis social la posibilidad de analizar estos nuevos fenómenos desde su complejidad analítica, al aprehender la dimensión objetiva y subjetiva en su articulación espacio-temporal

Relationship between young women and parents in rural Ethiopia

In rural Ethiopia, parents play an important role in the major life events of their daughters such as education and marriage. However, parents’ roles have been evolving, likely due to the rapid expansion of educational opportunities for girls and the growing need of cash income among rural households. Currently, encouraging their daughters to take up further education and jobs in the formal sector contrasts with rural Ethiopian women’s conventional life course events in the past, which are characterized by early marriage and low educational profiles. An interview analysis with parents of young women indicated that under the continuing de-agrarianization among rural households, women are expected to have their own cash income generating activities to qualify as marriage partners.

Sobrevida de mulheres e homens com 60 anos e mais no município de São Paulo - Estudo SABE: as diferenças nas semelhanças em características do curso de vida

Objetivos: Avaliar numa coorte de idosos se há diferenças entre as situações do curso de vida que contribuem para uma maior chance de sobrevida em homens e mulheres com 60 anos e mais. Métodos: 2.143 idosos entrevistados em 2000 foram acompanhados durante quase 15 anos. Utilizou-se na análise estatística o teste de associação para amostras complexas (Rao-Scott), o estimador produto limite de Kaplan-Meier, o teste de log-rank, análise univariada e multivariada do modelo de riscos proporcionais de Cox, sendo construídos, através deste último, dois modelos finais por gênero, ao nível de significância de 5 por cento . Resultados e discussão: Dos 836.204 idosos paulistanos representados pelo estudo 51,6 por cento continuavam vivos (43,0 por cento dos homens e 57,7 por cento das mulheres). Em ambos os gêneros, os/as que tinham boas condições materiais e que realizavam sem dificuldade e sem ajuda mais da metade das atividades básicas e instrumentais de vida diária (ABVD/AIVD) apresentaram maior chance de sobrevivência. O mesmo foi verificado naquelas mulheres com menos de duas limitações de determinadas doenças, nas casadas, nas que ofereciam algum tipo de ajuda e nas que realizaram ações preventivas em relação a sua condição de saúde. Entre os homens o mesmo ocorreu naqueles que se referiram ser chefe de família, nos que tinham participação comunitária, nos que residiam com algum outro morador que foi ou ia à escola, que trabalharam predominantemente como proprietário ou por conta própria e nos que relataram ter tido alguma doença em seus primeiros quinzes anos de vida. Conclusão: As chances de sobrevida são diferentes entre gêneros, e entre si, mesmo em situações aparentemente semelhantes do curso de vida vivenciados e presentes em homens e mulheres idosas.

“Vivre en probation” : l’expérience de la probation et sa place dans la trajectoire de vie des contrevenants

La probation est aujourd’hui profondément ancrée dans notre système de justice pénale. Parmi les programmes de surveillance communautaire (probation, condamnation avec sursis ou libération conditionnelle), elle constitue de loin le programme le plus commun, avec près de 98 000 contrevenants adultes soit 61 % de la population adulte placée sous surveillance correctionnelle au Canada. Pour autant, les chercheurs ne manifestent depuis plusieurs décennies que peu d’intérêt pour la question. La mesure se banalisant, la recherche s’étiole. L’orientation de la recherche a amené le sujet à la marge des études sur la punition. En réponse à une demande existante (Phelps, 2015), ce mémoire est guidé par une approche sociologique centrée sur l’échelle individuelle, au niveau macroscopique. Il vise à la compréhension de l’expérience des contrevenants placés en probation.

Skill formation in Britain and Germany: Recent developments in the context of traditional differences. CES Germany & Europe Working Papers, No.06.1, 2006

This paper proposes a comparison of skill formation in Germany and Britain over the last decades. Taking historical trends into account, the two cases can be regarded as representing different types of skill production regimes. Institu-tional features include a relatively low degree of standardization of training and a larger amount of on-the-job training in Britain. In Germany, post-compulsory training has been conducted predominantly within the dual system of vocational training, underlining the vocational specificity of a large part of the labor market. As a consequence, international differences in individual skill investments, transitions from school to work and other life-course patterns can be observed. At least in Britain, however, the situation seems to have changed considerably during the 1990s. The paper argues that the divergence in more recent developments can still be understood as an expression of historical path-dependency given the traditional connections between the post-compulsory training system and the broader societal context in which it is embedded. These concern, in particular, links with the system of general and academic education as the basis for – and also a possible competitor with – vocational training; links with the labor market as they are indicated by specific skill requirements and returns to qualifications; and, links with the order of social stratification in the form of the selective acquisition and the social consequences of these qualifications. The links manifest themselves as typical individual-level consequences and decisions. Founded on the basis of these distinctions, the aim of this paper is to investigate the preceding conditions for recent developments in the qualification systems of Britain and Germany, which have adapted to specific challenges during the last decades.

Statusreproduktion und Mobilitätseffekte beruflicher Weiterbildung

Es wird für Westdeutschland untersucht, ob sowohl der intergenerationale Abstieg als auch der intergenerationale Statuserhalt Beweggründe für berufliche Weiterbildung sind. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, ob mit beruflicher Weiterbildung ein intergenerationaler Abstieg ausgeglichen oder das Risiko für intergenerationale Abwärtsmobilität minimiert werden kann. Mit Längsschnittdaten der Deutschen Lebensverlaufsstudie finden sich für westdeutsche Frauen und Männer in fünf aufeinander folgenden Geburtskohorten im Zeitraum von 1949 bis 1999 Indizien dafür, dass das Statuserhaltmotiv ein Weiterbildungsmotiv für Personen sein könnte, die einen intergenerationalen Statusverlust erfahren haben. Mit Weiterbildungsanstrengungen können im weiteren Berufsverlauf intergenerationale Abstiege ausgeglichen werden. Ferner haben statuskonsistente Teilnehmer geringere Risiken für einen intergenerationalen Abstieg als Nichtteilnehmer. Berufliche Weiterbildung hat statusreproduzierende Wirkungen im Berufsverlauf.