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Requests by patients for providers of specific demographic backgrounds pose an ongoing challenge for hospitals, policymakers, and ethicists. These requests may stem from a wide variety of motivations; some may be consistent with broader societal values, although many others may reflect prejudices inconsistent with justice, equity, and decency. This paper proposes a taxonomy designed to assist healthcare institutions in addressing such cases in a consistent and equitable manner. The paper then reviews a range of ethical and logistical challenges raised by such requests and proposed guidance to consider when reviewing and responding to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies seasonality of conceptions among five distinct population subgroups of mainland Greece for the period 1951-2002. The populations explored include those residing in Metsovo, Dion, Organi, Kehros, as well as a "General" Sample consisting of persons located in various areas of continental Greece. The populations under investigation present diverse characteristics regarding religion, cultural background, socio-economic status etc. Records of births were derived from the Vital Registration System of the respective municipalities and communities of the populations under research were constructed. The date of child conception was estimated as the recorded date of birth minus 260 days.The analysis focuses, among others, on the construction of seasonal indices, applying a variant ratio to moving averages method which reveal, in relative terms, the seasonality of the phenomenon. Subsequently, these ratios are considered as the dependent variable in regression models while months, expressed in terms of dummy variables, are introduced as predictors. Four main sub-periods are considered; 1951-64, 1965-80, 1981-92 and 1992-2002. The findings show that the extent of seasonality differs between periods as well as between the five population subgroups though the phenomenon becomes less prominent over time in all cases. There is a tendency of an increased number of conceptions among mountainous populations during summer, irrespective of religion or socio-economic status, possibly partly due to environmental factors (i.e. seasonal workload, domestic organisation of extended families, etc). Nevertheless, the mountainous populations differ regarding the intensity and duration of this phenomenon. By contrast, in Dion, a lowland Christian Orthodox population, conceptions increase after Easter and remain elevated until June.

Catholic social thought and teaching is sometimes conceptualised using an historical or principles-based approach. This paper proposes an alternative framing, construing Catholic social teaching (CST) as a multi-layered phenomenon that can be grouped into three broad tiers, each with a distinctive role. This framing is not intended to supercede the others, nor is it inconsistent with them. The proposal emerges out of a series of discussions hosted by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, a Catholic UK-based development agency, member of Caritas Internationalis, and an official agency of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. The paper operates on two levels simultaneously: it attempts a distinctive reframing of CST using a distinctive source, and it attempts an enactment of CST methodologically and structurally. Construing CST as a multi-layered phenomenon that can be grouped into three broad tiers provides a clarity that empowers us in two ways. First, it clarifies the distinctive role of CST at each level. Second, it makes clear that CST is a work of the Spirit rather than a human phenomenon. Such an understanding of CST brings out with particular clarity a vision of the role, purpose, and even the agency of Catholic social thought in relation to a troubled world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese culture of filial piety has historically emphasised children's responsibility for their ageing parents. Little is understood regarding the inverse: parents' responsibility and care for their adult children. This paper uses interviews with 50 families living in rural China's Anhui Province to understand intergenerational support in rural China. Findings indicate that parents in rural China take on large financial burdens in order to sustain patrilineal traditions by providing housing and child care for their adult sons. These expectations lead some rural elders to become migrant workers in order to support their adult sons while others provide live-in grandchild-care, moving into their children's urban homes or bringing grandchildren into their own homes. As the oldest rural generations begin to require ageing care of their own, migrant children are unable to provide the sustained care and support expected within the cultural tradition of xiao. This paper adds to the small body of literature that examines the downward transfer of support from parents to their adult children in rural China. The authors argue that there is an emerging cultural rupture in the practice of filial piety – while the older generation is fulfilling their obligations of upbringing and paying for adult children's housing and child care; these adult children are not necessarily available or committed to the return of care for their ageing parents. The authors reveal cultural and structural lags that leave millions of rural ageing adults vulnerable in the process of urbanisation in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the past development of the publicly funded long-term care (LTC) system and aims to advance further discussion of LTC in Taiwan. The Ten-year Long-Term Care Plan 2.0 introduced in 2017 calls for a major reform of a publicly funded LTC system in Taiwan. The reform expands on the previous universal tax-based LTC system, allowing for more comprehensive and accessible subsidies on LTC services. This paper provides a brief overview of the political context of the reform and an introduction to the legal basis, financing and delivery mechanisms of the reform plan. To this end, as a preliminary evaluation, this paper identifies major institutional and socio-cultural tensions that could challenge the implementation of the plan. Institutional tensions include the dominant foreign worker caring model, which relies on approximately 220,000 foreign workers to provide LTC services, and the discontinuity between health and social care governance, which leads to a discontinuity between curative and LTC care. Socio-cultural tensions focus on conflicting values in the allocation of responsibility of care and in the understanding of disability between universal social citizenship in the modern state and traditional Confucian ethics. Policy implications of these tensions for the LTC system are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the association between religion and female labor market outcomes using new micro-level data on two distinct Muslim denominations in Turkey: Sunni and Alevi Muslims. We find a positive and significant association between being an Alevi Muslim and female labor force participation and employment, whereas there are no significant differences in male labor market outcomes between the two denominations. We provide evidence that Alevi Muslims have more gender-equal views regarding the role of women in the labor market and consider themselves as more modern. Both Sunnis and Alevis consider themselves as believers in religion (Islam). However, Sunnis are more likely to abide by the rules of religion. We argue that differences in views on gender roles and self-identity regarding modernity between the two denominations drive the results on female labor market outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple approaches – including observational and experimental – are necessary to articulate powerful theories of learning. Our field's key questions, which rely on these varied methods, are still open. How do children perceive and produce language? What do they encounter in their linguistic input? What does the learner bring to the task of acquisition? Considerable progress has been made for the development of spoken English (especially by North American learners). Yet there is still a great deal to discover about how children in other populations proceed, especially populations in rural settings. To examine language learning in these populations, we need a multi-method approach. However, adapting and integrating methods, particularly experimental ones, to new settings can present immense challenges. In this paper, we discuss the opportunities and challenges facing researchers who aim to use a multimethodological approach in rural samples, and what the field of language acquisition can do to promote such work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I thank the editors for this invitation to discuss this excellent paper by Corinna Riva and Ignasi Grau Mira. 2015.: Les estructures socials en els estats ibèrics de la costa de Catalunya, in M.C. Belarte, D. Garcia and J. Sanmartí (eds), Les estructures socials protohistòriques a la Gàllia i a Ibèria. The case study chosen by Riva and Grau Mira is precisely the Iberian culture that developed in the Mediterranean facade of the Iberian peninsula. Iron Age cultures of the western Mediterranean should be integrated in the study of the classical world, but not only as passive subjects. [Extracted from the article]

The physical, mental and social benefits for older adults who volunteer are well-documented. Absent from this area of research is an understanding of volunteer motivations among ethnoculturally diverse older adults. This paper addresses this research gap by examining motivations to volunteer related to cultural generativity among Jewish older adults, a group that remains underexplored in research. Cultural generativity is defined as an impulse to pass down one's culture to the next generation, and thus to outlive the self. The Jewish community is notable for possessing high levels of social capital, indicated by close community ties and the large number of faith and culturally based organisations, and therefore makes them an important ethnocultural group to study. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 adult volunteers age 65 and over. The guiding research questions for this study are: What are the motivations to volunteer among older Jewish adults? and Do these motivations align with the concept of generativity applied to Jewish culture? Data analysis identified three themes related to cultural generativity: volunteering to preserve and pass down Jewish traditions and teachings; a Jewish ethic of giving back perceived as a duty; and experiences of anti-Semitism and discrimination motivating Jewish participants to volunteer. Findings suggest the ways in which cultural generativity may be expressed through volunteerism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, Norway implemented an 'Introduction Programme' that aimed to increase labour market inclusion among newly arrived immigrants. Its main objectives were to facilitate free courses in Norwegian language training and social studies, and education or on-the-job training. The participants were given an allowance to attend the programme. This paper uses administrative register data to evaluate the effect of the Norwegian introduction programme on female immigrants' employment and earnings prospects. The sample consists of female immigrants from Asia or Africa who immigrated to Norway 18 months before or after the implementation of the introduction programme. The study measures their probability of being employed and their mean earnings 4–6 and 7–9 years after immigration. The results show that the Norwegian introduction programme had a small but significant effect on women's employment, but not on their earnings. This article suggests that the small effect of the programme on employment and non-effect on earnings may imply a displacement effect rather than an improvement in language skills and labour market skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growth of cultural gerontology this century, relatively few gerontologists have interrogated their own experiences of ageing through a critical reflexive lens. This paper seeks to address this lack of attention by discussing some findings of the Ageing of British Gerontology project: a two-year (2015–2017) Leverhulme-funded study focused on identifying key developments and changes in gerontological research, theory, policy and practice in Britain since the founding of the British Society of Social and Behavioural Gerontology (now the British Society of Gerontology) in 1971. As part of our mixed-method study, we undertook 50 in-depth biographical interviews with 'senior' or retired individuals who have played a key role in the creation and development of gerontology in Britain. As well as focusing more widely on gerontological developments, we asked participants about the relationship between their professional insights into ageing and their personal experiences of ageing – both their own and that of loved ones. In this paper, we discuss the findings in relation to five key themes: health, illness and mortality; close personal relationships; work relationships; challenging ageism; and ageing selves. We found evidence that participants often drew upon their personal experiences of ageing in a range of contexts, including teaching and research. There were also numerous examples of professional insights informing personal decision-making, especially in relation to care of loved ones, though the emotionally challenging aspects of this emphasised the limitations of professional insights. Ultimately, we argue that the distinction between the personal and the professional is something of a false dichotomy, and there is often a complex interplay between the two aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States is entering a pivotal period in history, led by extraordinary shifts in the demographic makeup of children who are in need of medical, educational, and developmental services. For the first time in this country's history, the majority of children are being born to non-white populations. Simultaneously, racism (personal, institutional, and systemic) is now being recognized as a powerful social determinant of children's mental and physical health by the time they enter kindergarten. It is crucial to evaluate how early childhood development (ECD) settings are prepared to authentically engage racially diverse children. In this paper, we critically analyze the narratives of the architect of Head Start, Dr. Edward Zigler, and investigate his evolving contributions to early childhood programming. We propose that Zigler's conceptualization of culture and its impact on children's development, although advanced for his time, had historical limitations that have perpetuated the personal, institutional, and systemic racism that children of color experience in early childhood settings. This paper concludes with suggestions to include topics covering implicit bias, white privilege, and the impact of slavery, colonization, and oppression as core principles in professional training. Only then will we be able to eliminate racism across early childhood settings in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a model for developmental psychopathology that is informed by recent research suggestive of a single model of mental health disorder (the p factor) and seeks to integrate the role of the wider social and cultural environment into our model, which has previously been more narrowly focused on the role of the immediate caregiving context. Informed by recently emerging thinking on the social and culturally driven nature of human cognitive development, the ways in which humans are primed to learn and communicate culture, and a mentalizing perspective on the highly intersubjective nature of our capacity for affect regulation and social functioning, we set out a cultural-developmental approach to psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research literature is characterized by a fundamental controversy about what parenting support is and what it aims to be: A health-promotion measure that supports child development or a "totalizing tendency [...] of defining the relation between parents and children in technical terms" (Smeyers, 2010). This paper presents a study from Norway, where parenting support is offered as a "universal", publicly funded service. It presents and discusses findings based on in-depth interviews with 45 parents from different social (educational, economic) and cultural (migration) backgrounds, focusing on how they perceived the purpose and outcomes of parenting support programs in which they participated. A key finding is that parents with majority backgrounds are less enamoured with the quality and usefulness of provision, and tend instead towards other sources for advice on parenting (primarily their social and familial networks). Many also express scepticism of broad approaches to parenting support provision. In contrast, minority parents lacking "Norwegian" social and familial networks genuinely find the courses valuable, both for their own integration and self-confidence and also the development of their children. The findings help address the need for further research into the effectiveness of parenting support and its potential role in reducing social inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent scholarship has challenged the still-powerful claim that long-distance pilgrimage and the journey to Jerusalem dramatically declined in number and significance in the sixteenth century. This article seeks to explore the different ways in which pilgrimage was embedded in the culture of the period. We interpret pilgrimage as a field of shared cross-confessional practices, representational conventions, and contestation. The paper presents a series of interlinked case studies, based on printed sources, correspondence, family archives, and material evidence. Together they demonstrate that early modern pilgrimage perpetuated medieval practices and yet was in constant dialogue with contemporary, post-Reformation religious and intellectual trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The globalisation of international migration has increased the ethnic diversity of most ageing populations across the Western world. This has implications for gerontological research, policy and practice, and puts our understandings of ethnicity to the test. This paper presents the different perspectives that inform ethnicity scholarship (the essentialist/primordial perspective, the structuralist/circumstantialist perspective and social constructionism) and suggests that the way in which we regard ethnicity has implications for how gerontological research is designed, how policies for old age are formulated and how gerontological practice is shaped. Through a review of contemporary gerontological research on ethnicity published in some of gerontology's main journals, the paper discusses some of the trends observed and concludes that most research seems to be informed by essentialism and structuralism. This suggests that the gerontological imagination on ethnicity has yet to be informed by the latest developments in ethnicity scholarship. The paper therefore urges gerontologists to broaden their understanding of ethnicity and suggests that much could be gained if we were to let the social constructionist perspective on ethnicity and the notion of intersectionality be sources of inspiration for the gerontological imagination on ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the recently published volumes, Knowing Creation and Christ and the Created Order , several authors argue that the theological category of creation can help contemporary society overcome the modern, and ecologically harmful, bifurcation between nature and culture. This paper supplements this important argument by showing how theological panpsychism, an ontology inspired by current debates within analytic philosophy of mind, can help theologians articulate a metaphysically robust and trinitarian doctrine of creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 1 May 1950, a communist army invaded the small town of Mosinee in central Wisconsin. Occupying communist soldiers dragged Mayor Ralph E. Kronenwetter from his home at six that morning, interrogated and executed Police Chief Carl Gewess, and exiled other religious, civic, and political leaders to the stockade. They ransacked citizens' homes and raided the public library in search of capitalist propaganda. Cars parked across the local train tracks isolated the town. Roadblocks disrupted travel, and armed soldiers demanded identification cards from anyone hoping to enter or leave Mosinee. Within hours, the paper mill, the newspaper, and other local businesses had fallen to the invading communist army. Food prices tripled and ration cards were required to purchase potato soup, borscht, and black bread. Nearly half the town—more than a thousand of the twenty-two hundred total Mosinee residents—marched in a parade that led to the town square, renamed "Red Square" by the invaders. The townspeople carried red flags and banners espousing famous communist ideology (Fig. 1). The Red Star , a special edition of the Mosinee Times, issued the official "United Soviet States of America" manifesto and abolished the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teamwork is a central framework in healthcare delivery. Team dynamics can impact the team as a whole and has been identified within the literature as a contributory factor to quality and safety, patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction and overall performance. Within radiation therapy (RT), teamwork is essential in the delivery of high-quality care, yet team building and team development is under-reported. Aim: The focus of this research is to form a better understanding of what plays an impact on teams in a large urban RT cancer centre and how to better engage staff to work together, improve team dynamics and promote team building. Materials and Methods: An electronic search of the literature was conducted to better inform debate and aid in the development of team-building sessions in a busy radiotherapy department. Abstracts were screened and relevant articles selected if they met the search criteria that included relevancy related to team building, contributory factors on team dynamics, team-based learning, team performance and implication of civility. Results: A total of 45 articles were included in the final analysis. The majority were from the disciplines of medicine (45%), business (22%) and nursing (18%). Only 3 of the 45 articles (7%) focused on the profession of RT. Most articles discussed more than 1 theme with team dynamics and team building being the most common themes discussed in 16 articles each (36%). Other common themes included teamwork (31%), respect and civility (20%), leadership and hierarchy (11%), medical errors (11%) and team training (11%). Only 3 of the 45 articles (7%) focused on RT. Conclusion: There is a lack of longitudinal evidence to support the impact of team building sessions to improve team dynamics and promote a positive, cohesive team environment. Specifically within RT, the impact team building has on team dynamics has been under investigation. Highlights: High-quality patient care can be linked to team collaboration and cohesiveness. Changing the culture within a team and engaging in civility and respect in everyday practice has the potential to improve team dynamics, patient safety, staff and patient satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need of further research on the interlink between culture and institutions has been strongly advocated by economists and institutionalists alike. However, bringing together culture and institutions within an organic framework, though, is a non-trivial operation. This is due to the complexity of the synergies between cultural aspects and institutional devices. This special issue attempts to start filling this gap and to build an ad-hoc systemic platform for disseminating such a debate. To this purpose, it brings together an organic collection of contributions in well-established conceptualisations of both culture and institutions, supported by robust and consistent methodological applications. The essays presented in this work provide consistent evidence and conceptual perspectives supporting the idea that the synergies between cultural and institutional aspects are of paramount importance to understand human behaviour, individuals' choices and societies' patterns. They also improve the theoretical, empirical and methodological understanding of the role of institutions and culture in different geopolitical and socio-economic realms. By doing so, these contributions place this special issue as prelude to further research on the co-evolution of culture and institutions and on its possible implications on different societal aspects, human development and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the early 1950s the Federative Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia underwent a series of radical politico-economic reforms that created the system of socialist self-management. Although scholars have long acknowledged that these reforms liberalized the field of cultural production, the precise ways in which self-management shaped Yugoslav culture during this period remains under-examined. Drawing from Daniel Immerwahr's concept of "thinking small," this paper contends that self-management be thought of as an effort to rescale the horizons of socialist modernity. As Yugoslav reformers diverged from the Soviet model of Stalinist high modernism, they descaled state power to local sites of administration. This turn towards "small socialism" was recorded in certain conceptual and methodological trends in the cultural production of this period. This paper explores this recalibration of the scales of socialist culture in three examples from the 1950s: the urban theory of Bogdan Bogdanović, the revival of dialect poetry in Croatia, and the proliferation of domestic travelogues that emphasized the diversity of local cultures. As these examples demonstrate, the ambivalence that many Yugoslav intellectuals felt with regards to the high modernist scales of Stalinism prompted them to redirect the focus of socialist culture towards the marginal, the minor, or the minute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late 1980s and early 1990s were characterized by the sudden rise of nationalist movements in almost all Soviet ethnic regions. It is argued that the rise ofpoliticalnationalism since the late 1980s can be explained by the development ofculturalnationalism in the previous decades, as an unintended outcome of Communist nationalities policy. All ethnic regions are examined throughout the entire history of the USSR (49 regions, 1917–1991), using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. This paper aims to make at least three contributions to the field. First, it is a methodological contribution for studying nationalism: a “quantification of history” approach. Having constructed variables from historical data, I use conventional statistical methods such as SEM. Second, this paper contributes to the theoretical debate about the role of cultural autonomy in multiethnic states. Finally, the paper statistically proves that the break between early Soviet and Stalinist nationalities policy explains the entire Soviet nationalities policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reworks the notion of active ageing through analysis of a case which reverses the retirement-migration nexus – people in the post-socialist realm who approach retirement age and then migrate to begin a new working life. They are thereby introducing a new and complex arrangement to the general concept of 'international retirement migration'. In the post-socialist world, new retirement migration frontiers emerge in the context of a severe weakening of welfare systems. I illustrate this case with data from long-term research with ageing Latvian migrant women to the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries. Even those whose old-age pensions are more or less adequate nevertheless seek temporary employment and new cultural experiences abroad. However, the dominant trend has been towards the pauperisation of older parents and those approaching retirement age due to the significant decline in state welfare. This case of many older-age Latvians who de facto cannot retire due to low disposable income reveals 'reverse frontiers of retirement': working as long as they can, pushing their personal geographical frontiers outward by emigrating for work and making national frontiers more porous through transnational practices. Conceptually and geographically, the research holds relevance for a wider discussion of trends and contextual factors in other post-Soviet and post-socialist countries with increasing diversities among retirees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While social connectedness is heralded as a key enabler of positive health and social outcomes for older people, rarely have they themselves had the opportunity to express their views about the concept. Working with a diverse group of Pacific, Māori, Asian and New Zealand European older adults, this paper explores what matters to older people when discussing social connectedness? We draw from individual, in-depth interviews with 44 older adults, and three group interviews comprising 32 older adults. Data were analysed using thematic and narrative analyses. The three themes identified were: getting out of the house, ability to connect and feelings of burden. Fundamental to social connectedness was participants' desire to be recognised as resourceful agents able to foster relationships on the basis of mutual respect. Social connectedness was conceptualised as multi-levelled: relating to interpersonal relationships as much as neighbourhoods and wider society. Alongside these similarities we also discuss important differences. Participants preferred to socialise with people from similar cultural backgrounds where they shared taken-for-granted social customs and knowledges. This is in the context where racism, poverty and inequalities clearly impeded already minoritised participants' sense of social connection. Key structural ways to improve social connectedness should focus on factors that enable cohesion between levels of connection, including stable neighbourhoods serviced with accessible public transport, liveable pensions and inclusivity of cultural diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An estimated 12 million girls aged 15–19 years, and 777,000 girls younger than 15 give birth globally each year. Contexts of war and displacement increase the likelihood of early marriage and childbearing. Given the developmentally sensitive periods of early childhood and adolescence, adolescent motherhood in conflict-affected contexts may put a family at risk intergenerationally. We propose that the specifics of normative neuroendocrine development during adolescence, including increased sensitivity to stress, pose additional risks to adolescent girls and their young children in the face of war and displacement, with potential lifelong consequences for health and development. This paper proposes a developmental, dual-generational framework for research and policies to better understand and address the needs of adolescent mothers and their small children. We draw from the literature on developmental stress physiology, adolescent parenthood in contexts of war and displacement internationally, and developmental cultural neurobiology. We also identify culturally meaningful sources of resilience and provide a review of the existing literature on interventions supporting adolescent mothers and their offspring. We aim to honor Edward Zigler's groundbreaking life and career by integrating basic developmental science with applied intervention and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents a positive correlation between the genetic distance to the world technological frontier (United Kingdom, United States) and the year of the onset of the fertility transition across countries. This result is robust to controlling for a large set of geographical, climatic, historical, and institutional variables. Two main mechanisms could explain this reduced-form relationship. First, genetic distance to the world technological frontier can affect the onset of the fertility transition through its impact on the timing and intensity of technology adoption. Second, genetic distance to the technological frontier can capture other cultural differences and the process of diffusion of cultural norms that are related to fertility but not through technology adoption. We find suggestive evidence supporting both mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The U.S. Supreme Court has for decades served as an unlikely venue for the performance of music. Between 1988 and 2020, more than 125 musicians, including some of the country's most prominent performers, appeared for intimate audiences in the Supreme Court's East Conference Room. The concerts were officially "off the record," but details survive in records kept by the U.S. Supreme Court, papers of former justices and friends of the court involved in the creation of the programs, and in interviews with individuals who supported and participated in the events. This article reconstructs the history of this long running but little-known music series and contextualizes it within the court's culture and broader themes of access and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the support networks of older people in populations with a preponderance of multigenerational households and examines the most vulnerable network types in terms of loneliness and isolation. Current common typologies of support networks may not be sensitive to differences within and between different cultures. This paper uses cross-sectional data drawn from 590 elders (Gujaratis, Punjabis and Sylhetis) living in the United Kingdom and South Asia. Six variables were used in K-means cluster analysis to establish a new network typology. Two logistic regression models using loneliness and isolation as dependent variables assessed the contribution of the new network type to wellbeing. Four support networks were identified: ‘Multigenerational Households: Older Integrated Networks’, ‘Multigenerational Households: Younger Family Networks’, ‘Family and Friends Integrated Networks’ and ‘Non-kin Restricted Networks’. Older South Asians with ‘Non-kin Restricted Networks’ were more likely to be lonely and isolated compared to others. Using network typologies developed with individualistically oriented cultures, distributions are skewed towards more robust network types and could underestimate the support needs of older people from familistic cultures, who may be isolated and lonely and with limited informal sources of help. The new typology identifies different network types within multigenerational households, identifies a greater proportion of older people with vulnerable networks and could positively contribute to service planning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In early Christian culture, prophets went into ecstasies while having visions and speaking by means of a spirit (enthusiasm). With the waning of prophetic activity in the second century, enthusiasm was not seen in many communal gatherings. When enthusiasm reemerged in Montanism during the late second century, church leaders claimed that speaking in ecstasy never existed as true prophecy in early Christian culture. They argued that true prophets always prophesied with a sound mind. The ecstasy of Montanism exhibited an unsound mind and looked like demonic possession; thus, Montanist prophecy was rejected as false. This paper theorizes that enthusiasm's absence contributed to the critics of Montanist ecstasy who were not used to enthusiasm and therefore did not recognize it as an early Christian practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to demystify the concept of bookland, and to suggest that it matters less for understanding what was distinctive about early England than historians have often supposed. The first part emphasises diplomas as beneficiary-led symbols of culture and status rather than instruments of royal policy. As the primary monastic context faded during the ninth century, so did the distinctive aspects of bookland. By c. 950, bōcland could translate fundus or simply terra , and thereafter diplomas had little effective function beyond signalling the status of landowner and thegn: bookland was absorbed into straightforward allodial possession. In the second part, it is argued that large areas of eastern England never had lay bookland tenure at all, though there was a limited extension of diploma use into parts of the east midlands after c. 940. Rather than a homogeneous Anglo-Saxon charter tradition, we should envisage distinct traditions in the south and west reflecting Italian, Frankish and Brittonic influences. Eastern England, by contrast, faced the North Sea, Scandinavia and the Low Countries: like other English regions it had a high monastic culture during c. 670–800, and that could have included diplomas, but its main documentary tradition is likely to have been more vernacular and decentralized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the sociocultural integration of newcomers, paying special attention to language proficiency while taking into account the importance of the assimilation, cultural fit, and social network perspectives. Analyses are based on administrative data collected by the YMCA of South Western Ontario regarding 2,493 of their clients. Results reveal that newcomers' length of residency, ethnic origin, and social networks play a significant role in the sociocultural integration of newcomers. The longer the newcomers have resided in Canada, the higher their level of sociocultural integration. Non-Europeans displayed a lower level of sociocultural integration than Europeans. However, the most important predictor of sociocultural integration was language proficiency. Not only did language proficiency have a strong and independent effect, but it also tended to level out differences in sociocultural integration of those who had resided in Canada for a short period compared to those living in Canada for a longer period. Similarly, language proficiency decreased sociocultural integration differences between Europeans and ethnic minority newcomers. The policy implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing Australian farmers face many uncertainties associated with wider social, economic and climate change. Significantly for many farmers, ageing means the end not only of a life-long occupation but the end of the farm that has often been in the family for many generations. In turn, the prospect of this discontinuity breaches long-held cultural images of Australian farming and farmers. For individual male farmers approaching retirement age, the lack of succession and discontinuation of the family's ownership of, and attachment to the land, poses threats for social and personal identity. This paper examines the narratives of three male, baby-boom Australian farmers to tease out the impact of ageing and the possible loss of the family farm on the ways that they construct their situations and their self-identity. It illustrates the narrative practices that these men employ as they work to validate their self-identities within particular narrative environments, and through a range of outmoded and contemporary material conditions that mediate their selves and lives. The approach exemplified in this paper focuses on the processes and phases of analysis to show how the farmers craft their narrative as well as the individuality, complexity and coherence of their accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to fill in some of the lacunae that still exist regarding the Cohuixca ethnicity of the northeastern part of the State of Guerrero. To do so, it introduces a qualitative methodological approach into ethnohistory, which discerns pervasive patterns of special understanding that guided indigenous testimony in the colonial Spanish courtroom. It emphasizes that early colonial Cohuixca testimonies were deeply influenced by what are called, in Western terms, cadastral maps or cartographic histories or, in Nahuatl, amoxtli tlalamatl altepeamatl (“land papers,” titles of each town and district) in the former Cohuixca province of Tepecoacuilco (Cohuixcatlacapan), these geographical elements being heavily reinforced by oral retelling. Therefore, in order to establish a seemingly coherent plot of the past that would overcome fragmentation and chaos, the indigenous witnesses appearing in our sources relied heavily on unique visual schemata that assisted them in assembling the mental shreds and remnants of past experiences to restore them within the traditional framework and formulae of information transmission only modestly affected by the Spanish conquest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body image concerns related to weight or other dimensions of appearance are now prevalent on a global scale. This paper reviews the theoretical frameworks that account for the global similarities and regional differences in rates and presentation of body image concerns, as well as reviewing the extant data. Given the harmful consequences of body image concerns in terms of mental and physical health, their global burden is high. Interventions to mitigate these concerns at the individual and systemic level are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this short essay is to further reflect on sociology in Japan by supplementing discussions on the three sociological papers compiled in this volume and adding critical perspectives. Discussions, and arguments, will be provided on the three thematic categories, namely, ‘international sociology’, sociology of culture as well as language use, and the global academic market, the latter addressing not merely sociology but also other social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to advance the scientific understanding of the role of culture, particularly cultural orientation, in development and psychopathology. We advance a theoretical framework that conceptualizes cultural orientation as a developmental construct represented by multiple psychological dimensions and social identities, and influenced by the contexts in which individuals are embedded. This perspective suggests that cultural orientation changes within individuals over time as a function of their experiences with and memberships in multiple groups, including the mainstream and ethnic culture groups, as well as a function of their normative developmental changes (i.e., the development of cognitive, social, and emotional capabilities). In addition, this framework places the development of an ethnic culture social identity (e.g., an ethnic identity) and a mainstream culture social identity in broader developmental perspectives that recognize these as two of the many social identities that are simultaneously embedded within the individual's self-concept and that simultaneously influence one's cultural orientation. To support the successful integration of culture into the study of development and psychopathology, we describe how highly reliable and valid measures of cultural orientation, indexed by individuals' social identities, are essential for generating a scientifically credible understanding of the role of cultural orientation in development and psychopathology. Further, we detail some best research practices associated with our developmental and contextual framework, and note some important considerations for researchers interested in studying cultural orientation, development, and psychopathology.

The literature on developmental psychopathology has been criticized for its limited integration of culture and, particularly, the lack of research addressing cultural development in relation to psychopathology. In this paper, I present how the study of ethnic-racial identity provides a heuristic model for how culture can be examined developmentally and in relation to psychopathology. In addition, I introduce the Identity Project intervention program and discuss how its findings provide empirical support for the notions that cultural development can be modified with intervention, and that such modifications can lead to psychosocial benefits for adolescents. Finally, I discuss existing challenges to advancing this work and important future directions for both basic and translational research in this area.

Increased life expectancy has strengthened the association between old age and death, with significant implications for gerontology and for the generation of knowledge through research. The global rise in chronic disease has had a significant impact on the duration and shape of dying trajectories in old age and their variations. This development poses ethical and methodological challenges for researchers, not least because it is often difficult to establish whether an older person is ‘dying from’ as opposed to ‘living with’ one or more diseases. This paper reports a comprehensive literature review of empirical research on the end-of-life in old age, and has two inter-related themes. It explores the social and cultural contexts of death and critically analyses the methods and ethical approaches adopted by researchers. Cross-cultural studies and studies in which cultural factors were of prime interest were selected with a view to examining the concept of a ‘good death’ in old age. The paper discusses the evidence of cultural similarities and differences and the impact of social and cultural change on ideas concerning a good death. It identifies contemporary influences and pressures on end-of-life care for older people and discusses the significance of communication and the roles of families and service providers. The paper concludes by identifying substantive and methodological lessons for researchers in gerontology and suggests ways in which the impact of research might be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Attempts to import existing measures developed in other countries when constructing research instruments for use with older people can result in several problems including inappropriate wording, unsuitable response sets, and insufficient attention to cultural nuances. This paper addresses such problems by discussing a mixed-methods approach (i.e. both qualitative and quantitative) to measurement development that incorporates input from the older adults for whom the measure is intended. To test this approach, a step-by-step process to the development of a culturally-grounded measure for older Thai people is described. Using focus groups and in-depth interviews, the process begins with an identification of the culturally-meaningful domains of the construct under study. Next, input is gathered from other studies; a preliminary quantitative measure is developed; and the measure is reviewed by a panel of experts. Based on further pre-testing and cognitive interviews with older people, the measure is again modified. Subsequently, the measure is incorporated into a large-scale survey and tested for its psychometric qualities. In addition to providing a template for culturally-sensitive measurement development in gerontology, this paper also highlights issues (e.g. time constraints and trade-offs between cultural specificity as against cultural comparability) that researchers should consider when attempting to develop measures. Suggestions for how to address such issues are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This response to Daniel Leech-Wilkinson's paper questions whether the (explanatory) movement between culture, nature, biology and music is as seamless as his argument suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a view of musical listening as an active, dynamic and interactive process. After briefly considering the historical valorization of listening as critical act within Western musical culture, the paper describes the cognitive processes of schematization that are involved in musical listening. The central role of active engagement with the auditory environment in eliciting emotional responses to music is then sketched out, and the scope and limits of the attentional and motoric processes involved in processes of entrainment - focal in the experience of musical time - are outlined. Neuroscientific evidence that suggests that music is best conceived in terms of a perception-action cycle is reviewed, and the paper concludes by proposing that music is best conceptualized - from a biological perspective - as a communicative medium that is optimal for the management of situations of social uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines social, cultural and religious factors that affect the implementation of international humanitarian law concerning dead and missing persons in non-international armed conflicts. To this end, the behaviour of both armed groups and civil society is studied. The argument made in the paper is that in some cases endogenous and exogenous systems of value (social, religious and cultural understandings), operating within the logic of armed non-State actors and within local communities, should be considered by policies concerning the search for missing persons. The Colombian armed conflict is used as case study; the social, cultural and religious practices of the National Liberation Army and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army are analyzed as examples. Likewise, social and cultural values within affected populations can impact on post-conflict mechanisms agreed upon by the parties concerning the search for missing persons, and vice versa. Consequently, customs and traditions such as the "adoption" of unidentified buried people by local communities (social resignification of the dead) and the practices of indigenous communities are reviewed in order to establish a holistic framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand's ageing population and health inequities for Māori (Indigenous peoples) have prompted calls for innovative, culturally based approaches to improving health and wellbeing, and managing transitions in later life. This is particularly important for kaumātua (Māori elders) who, despite cultural strength and resilience, carry a significant burden in health, economic and social inequities. This paper describes the culture-centred development of a 'tuakana‒teina' (elder sibling‒younger sibling) peer support education programme designed to help kaumātua support other kaumātua experiencing transitions in later life. Taking a strengths-based approach that highlights 'kaumātua mana motuhake' (elder independence and autonomy), the study used kaupapa Māori (Māori approach, knowledge, skills, attitudes and values) and community-based participatory research methodology, to develop and pilot a culture-centred tuakana‒teina/peer education programme. Methods included establishing two advisory groups (one of kaumātua and one of sector experts); holding five focus groups with kaumātua; and running a pilot programme with 21 kaumātua. The findings demonstrate the value in a strengths-based approach that centralises Māori culture and kaumātua potential, capacity and ability, and recognises the continuing value and contribution of kaumātua to society. The study helps shift the focus from dominant stereotypes of ageing populations as a burden on society and shows the value of kaumātua supporting others during transitions in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper claims that palliative care (PC) is a suitable approach for offering comprehensive support to patients with life-threatening illness and unavoidable asthenia, to enhance their quality of life in aging and chronic illness. There are however some conceptual barriers to accessing that care on the Chinese Mainland: (1) Death-denying culture and society; (2) Misguidance and malpractice derived from the biomedical model; (3) Prejudice against PC and certain deviant understandings of filial piety culture. To counter these obstacles, the study introduces the philosophy of Chinese Taoist Chuang-tze to enlighten the public from ignorance and remove some illusions about death and dying; inspire people to face and accept illness and death calmly, and keep harmony and inner peace of mind to alleviate suffering, with the aim of providing wisdom and a shift of attitude toward life and death. Chuang-tze's thoughts are consistent with the provision of palliative care, and to a certain degree, can promote its acceptability and delivery, and the conception of good death in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]