Differences In Emphasis Research Articles

Recent Scholarship in Oral Theory and Ethnopoetics

Recent Scholarship in Oral Theory and Ethnopoetics William Bernard McCarthy Writing the Oral Tradition: Oral Poetics and Literate Culture in Medieval England. By Mark C. Amodio. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004. Pp. xvii + 298, acknowledgments, abbreviations, preface, notes, bibliography, index.) New Directions in Oral Theory. Ed. Mark C. Amodio. (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2005. Pp. x + 341, acknowledgments, abbreviations, bibliography, "About the Contributors.") Now I Know Only So Far: Essays in Ethnopoetics. By Dell Hymes. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. Pp. xi + 512, introduction, 3 appendixes, notes, references, source acknowledgments, index.) Dynamics of Tradition: Perspectives on Oral Poetry and Folk Belief. By Lotte Tarkka. (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2003. Pp. 390, "Anna-Leena Siikala: Publications 1970-2002," contributors, acknowledgments, tabula gratulatoria.) For some forty years now, ethnopoetics and oral theory have dominated discussion of oral and oral-derived poetry. Although some researchers initially thought of these approaches as passing fads, each has moved ever further into the academy, regularly and boldly claiming new ground and showing itself in ever more refined dress. This review will survey four relatively recent contributions to these sister fields. Although the volumes differ from one another in many ways, they are united by their common interest in textualization, performance, politics, the use of written texts in the absence of oral/aural resources, and the issue of artistry. Dell Hymes adopts as the title of his book a phrase from the Clackamas storyteller Victoria Howard, who would sometimes end a story, "Now I know only this far." By using the phrase as his title, Hymes seems to be saying, "This is where I am now. This is what I have learned in over a half century of studying Native American storytelling, and how far I have developed the analytic tools that I use. But clearly, there is more to be learned, more room for development." It is a clever, modest title for a landmark book. The work is divided into four parts. Part 1, the prologue, lays out the themes of the book, most significantly the issues of competence, creativity, and artistry on the part of the Native American narrators of myths. Reminding us that myths are good to think with, Hymes also distances himself somewhat from performance-oriented scholars: "To say that stories exist only in performance is to say that between performances narrators do not think" (p. 11). Part 2, entitled "Overview" and comprised of four chapters, is perhaps the richest section of the book. The crucial chapter 3 is Hymes's apologia, a survey of his work framed as a response to what others have said of him. Here he evaluates several ways of putting a story down on the page, outlines his own method, and shows what it can do that others cannot. He calls his method "verse analysis," and its chief advantage, he explains, is that it preserves the sense of story with "its arousal and satisfying of expectations" (p. 37), a phrase that comes from the foreword to Kenneth Burke's The Philosophy of Literary Form (Louisiana State University Press, 1941). Verse analysis unwinds the story according to the rhythms that the storyteller has artfully exploited. Hymes is at pains in this chapter to show his respect for Dennis Tedlock, as well as to indicate the difference in emphasis between Tedlock's work and his own. "It might be a fair summary to say that Dennis is concerned most of all with the moment of performance," [End Page 360] Hymes writes, "and I am much concerned with the competence that informs it" (p. 36). Hymes's interest in competence brings out the aesthetic element of the narrative. The kind of information on which Hymes focuses can sometimes be presented simultaneously with the kind of information on which Tedlock focuses, but not in every case. In chapter 3, Hymes also lays out his own method of analyzing a story into constitutive elements. He allows that, from the rhetorical point of view, narrative elements may figure simultaneously in more than one structure, and consequently even his method requires that the scholar make choices among possible alternatives. He discusses the patterns of two and four...

The Vital Role of an Ethics Committee

The Vital Role of an Ethics Committee

Social Justice in a Multicultural Society: Experience from the UK

Social justice is a contested concept. For example, some on the left argue for equality of outcomes, those on the right for equality of opportunities, and there are differing emphases on the roles of state, market and individual in achieving a socially just society. These differences in emphasis are critical when it comes to examining the impact that public policy has on minority ethnic groups. Social justice should not be culture-blind any more than it can be gender-blind yet the overwhelming burden of evidence from the UK shows that public policy, despite the political rhetoric of fifty years of governments since large-scale immigration started, has failed to deliver social justice to Britain’s minorities. In terms of outcomes, in respect for and recognition of diversity and difference, in their treatment, and in the failure of governments to offer an effective voice to minorities, the latter continue to be marginalised in British social, economic and political life. This is not an argument for abandoning the project of multiculturalism, however, but for ensuring that it is framed within the values of social justice.

Defining medical professionalism: a qualitative study

Elements of professionalism are well-described in the literature and medical schools continue to struggle with how to teach these concepts effectively. The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of medical professionalism to medical students, residents, academic faculty and patients and to determine areas of congruence and difference. In this qualitative study we conducted 8 focus groups to discover subjects' beliefs, perceptions and expectations of medical professionals. Sessions were audiotaped and transcribed, and themes identified through an immersion/crystallisation process. Concept maps were prepared to aid understanding. Recurring primary themes of knowledge/technical skills, patient relationship and character virtues were identified. Secondary themes were medicine as a unique profession, personal congruence and the importance of peer relationships. There was a shift in emphasis reflecting differing stages in the learner continuum. Although patients desired skilled technicians, their themes focused on relationships. Several unique themes were also identified. Some elements of professionalism are embraced by learners at all stages and by patients. Notably, when compared to components of the American Board of Internal Medicine Physician Charter, themes relating to social justice elements were lacking. Differences in emphasis by learner groups reflect the inherent challenges to teaching professionalism successfully. Future studies investigating these differing perceptions are needed to help clarify our teaching mission.

Sharing information about peer relations: Parent and adolescent opinions and behaviors in Hmong and African American families

Despite sharing similar attitudes regarding the information about peers that parents have a right to know, the strategies African American and Hmong families use to seek or censor information about peers diverge because of ethnic differences in emphasis on trust, nurturing autonomy, respect for parental authority, and maintaining cultural traditions.

Cross-cultural differences in children's choices, categorizations, and evaluations of truths and lies.

This study examined cross-cultural differences and similarities in children's moral understanding of individual- or collective-oriented lies and truths. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-old Canadian and Chinese children were read stories about story characters facing moral dilemmas about whether to lie or tell the truth to help a group but harm an individual or vice versa. Participants chose to lie or to tell the truth as if they were the character (Experiments 1 and 2) and categorized and evaluated the story characters' truthful and untruthful statements (Experiments 3 and 4). Most children in both cultures labeled lies as lies and truths as truths. The major cultural differences lay in choices and moral evaluations. Chinese children chose lying to help a collective but harm an individual, and they rated it less negatively than lying with opposite consequences. Chinese children rated truth telling to help an individual but harm a group less positively than the alternative. Canadian children did the opposite. These findings suggest that cross-cultural differences in emphasis on groups versus individuals affect children's choices and moral judgments about truth and deception.

What Can We Learn about Social Work Assessment from the Textbooks?

Summary: Although often criticized for inadequacies, textbooks are both highly influential and a readily available source of information about contemporary thinking in social work theory and practice. As part of a series of studies about facilitating learning and teaching about assessment in social work, the authors have been conducting a review of how this professional task is presented in textbooks which are currently known to be used in programmes of social work education in the UK. Relevant chapters of each of the selected textbooks were subjected to an in-depth analysis in order to determine how assessment was understood, assessment processes, relevance to the UK practice context and evidence bases. Findings: What are considered the key issues in, and skills required for, social work assessment are contested, with considerable variety between textbooks as to the extent of detail and topics covered in relation to assessment. Some issues which are prominent in the policy context, such as the need to ensure the involvement of service user and carer perspectives, and multidisciplinary assessment, were hardly mentioned. Changes in emphasis over time and differences in emphasis between textbooks published in the UK and North America were found. Applications: Given the many differences in emphasis and depth of content between textbooks ostensibly outlining the same aspects of practice, it is essential that educators have a clear rationale for recommending particular textbooks.

Strategy for genotoxicity testing: Hazard identification and risk assessment in relation to in vitro testing

This report summarizes the proceedings of the September 9–10, 2005 meeting of the Expert Working Group on Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment in Relation to In Vitro Testing, part of an initiative on genetic toxicology. The objective of the Working Group was to develop recommendations for interpretation of results from tests commonly included in regulatory genetic toxicology test batteries, and to propose an appropriate strategy for follow-up testing when positive in vitro results were obtained in these assays. The Group noted the high frequency of positive in vitro findings in the genotoxicity test batteries with agents found not to be carcinogenic and thought not to pose a carcinogenic health hazard to humans. The Group agreed that a set of consensus principles for appropriate interpretation and follow-up testing when initial in vitro tests are positive was needed. Current differences in emphasis and policy among different regulatory agencies were recognized as a basis of this need. Using a consensus process among a balanced group of recognized international authorities from industry, government, and academia, it was agreed that a strategy based on these principles should include guidance on: (1) interpretation of initial results in the “core” test battery; (2) criteria for determining when follow-up testing is needed; (3) criteria for selecting appropriate follow-up tests; (4) definition of when the evidence is sufficient to define the mode of action and the relevance to human exposure; and (5) definition of approaches to evaluate the degree of health risk under conditions of exposure of the species of concern (generally the human). A framework for addressing these issues was discussed, and a general “decision tree” was developed that included criteria for assessing the need for further testing, selecting appropriate follow-up tests, and determining a sufficient weight of evidence to attribute a level of risk and stop testing. The discussion included case studies based on actual test results that illustrated common situations encountered, and consensus opinions were developed based on group analysis of these cases. The Working Group defined circumstances in which the pattern and magnitude of positive results was such that there was very low or no concern ( e.g., non-reproducible or marginal responses), and no further testing would be needed. This included a discussion of the importance of the use of historical control data. The criteria for determining when follow-up testing is needed included factors, such as evidence of reproducibility, level of cytotoxicity at which an increased DNA damage or mutation frequency is observed, relationship of results to the historical control range of values, and total weight of evidence across assays. When the initial battery is negative, further testing might be required based on information from the published literature, structure activity considerations, or the potential for significant human metabolites not generated in the test systems. Additional testing might also be needed retrospectively when increase in tumors or evidence of pre-neoplastic change is seen. When follow-up testing is needed, it should be based on knowledge about the mode of action, based on reports in the literature or learned from the nature of the responses observed in the initial tests. The initial findings, and available information about the biochemical and pharmacological nature of the agent, are generally sufficient to conclude that the responses observed are consistent with certain molecular mechanisms and inconsistent with others. Follow-up tests should be sensitive to the types of genetic damage known to be capable of inducing the response observed initially. It was recognized that genotoxic events might arise from processes other than direct reactivity with DNA, that these mechanisms may have a non-linear, or threshold, dose-response relationship, and that in such cases it may be possible to determine an exposure level below which there is negligible concern about an effect due to human exposures. When a test result is clearly positive, consideration of relevance to human health includes whether other assays for the same endpoint support the results observed, whether the mode or mechanism of action is relevant to the human, and – most importantly – whether the effect observed is likely to occur in vivo at concentrations expected as a result of human exposure. Although general principles were agreed upon, time did not permit the development of recommendations for the selection of specific tests beyond those commonly employed in initial test batteries.

THE CONFESSING ANIMAL IN FOUCAULT AND WITTGENSTEIN

ABSTRACTIn The History of Sexuality, Foucault maintains that “Western man has become a confessing animal” (1990, 59), thus implying that “man” was not always such a creature. On a related point, Wittgenstein suggests that “man is a ceremonial animal” (1996, 67); here the suggestion is that human beings are, by their very nature, ritualistically inclined. In this paper I examine this crucial difference in emphasis, first by reconstructing Foucault's “genealogy” of confession, and subsequently by exploring relevant facets of Wittgenstein's later thinking. While there are significant correlations between Foucault and Wittgenstein, an important disparity emerges in relation to the question of the “natural.” By critically analyzing this, I show how Wittgenstein's minimal naturalism provides an important corrective to Foucault's more extravagant claims. By implication, we see why any radical relativist, historicist, and/or constructivist position becomes untenable on Wittgensteinian grounds, even though Wittgenstein himself is often read as promoting such views.

Car manufacturers and global road safety: a word frequency analysis of road safety documents

Objective: The World Bank believes that the car manufacturers can make a valuable contribution to road safety in poor countries and has established the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) for...

Variations in consenting practice for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

To compare the variations in consenting practice amongst trainees and consultant surgeons for laparoscopic cholecystectomy with specific reference to the documentation of significant risks of surgery. A proforma was devised which included significant and/or commonly recognised complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This was then cross-referenced with the consent forms for the 80 patients included in the study and the documented risks explained in each case were noted. The results showed that there is considerable variation between the three grades of clinicians involved in obtaining a patient's consent for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. There was a clear difference in emphasis of the significant complications depending on the seniority of the consenter. Over 80% of the consents in this study were still being obtained by junior staff. More often than not, patients are not provided with consistent information to make an informed choice. We suggest that a preprinted consent form will provide a more uniform approach to consenting practice for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Notes on unintegration and disintegration from historical and developmental perspectives

This paper contextualises Bick's contribution historically, particularly in relation to Winnicott's work which challenged the Kleinian tradition to provide a developmental account of psychotic phenomena that would give a role to environmental factors. A difference in emphasis between Bick's early and later account of the functions of the skin in object relations is identified, which to some has suggested a greater distancing from a Kleinian position. A review of contemporary developmental psychology evidence argues for sophisticated coordinations in many perceptual, motor and communication systems in human neonates that apparently disappear within the course of the first few months, to be gradually re-coordinated later in development. The attempt to explain these phenomena has demonstrated that it is necessary to incorporate both integrative and differentiation processes into developmental accounts. While many of Bick's observations and conceptualisations have found confirmation in empirical research, it is argued that the significance of the integrations demonstrated for human neonates is greatly illuminated by Meltzer's (1988) account of the aesthetic conflict. One of Bick's major contributions remains her identification of a range of existential and catastrophic anxieties as universal aspects of human psychic experience, even if these are not always recognised in consciousness.

Women's Autonomy and the Evaluation of the Information Available on the Internet on Hormone Therapy After Menopause

This study was designed to examine the information in Spanish, provided by different Web sites, related to hormone therapy and climacteric symptoms. Web sites evaluated included those belonging to government and scientific institutions and to a miscellaneous group. In Web sites in Spanish, there was more extensive information on the benefits of hormone therapy than there were on other items. The Web sites of governmental institutions provided significantly more information on the risks (P < .01) and benefits (P = .02) of hormone therapy than did the other sites. Governmental institutions from the United States, unlike those from Spain, did not make recommendations regarding when hormone therapy should be considered and instead emphasized the woman's decision. The variability of information in Spanish on hormone therapy and postmenopausal symptoms presented on the Internet is related to the organization responsible for the Web site. Besides, cultural differences in the concept of patient autonomy could partly explain the differences in emphasis made on women's role in the decision-making process.

Political science in europe: diversity, excellence, relevance

Political science in Europe has been shaped by a great variety of national academic traditions and university systems, its relationship to neighbouring disciplines, and contending meta-theoretical approaches. In addition, since World War II, major external influences have come mainly from the US. Against this background, the special role of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) is briefly discussed and evaluated. The conclusions point to some significant differences in emphasis between European and American political science and highlight the increasing relevance of such differences in the European but potentially also worldwide context.

Patients and health professionals' perspectives on the sociocultural influences on secondary cardiac behaviour: a qualitative study of the implications in policy and practice

To explore the similarities and differences between patients and health professionals' perspectives on the sociocultural influences on secondary cardiac behaviour, and the implications in policy and practice. Qualitative study using grounded theory research. We used a linked, phased study to ascertain the factors which helped shape patients' views about their heart problems and how these influence secondary cardiac behaviour. We also explored health professionals' perspectives on patients' views and interpretations. A total of 70 participants, 56 patients and 14 health professionals, took part in individual and group interviews and focus groups. Patients seemed in control of their heart condition and communicated a sense of satisfaction in how they manage it. To interpret the sociocultural influences on secondary cardiac behaviour, patients used theirs and community knowledge of heart disease, personal constructions of cardiac illness, together with their individual belief systems, particularly relating to lay health beliefs. Individual interpretations were unique and contextual, but there were many common views which did not differ between patients. Patients and health professionals reported similar areas of influence but there were important differences in emphasis. Providers described the ambivalence between being positive about the future health of patients to boost their recovery process, and recognition that this positive outlook could be construed as a 'cure'.

Acceptance, Surrender, and Nonduality

In this article I respond to Weber's commentary by amplifying some of my initial points. While our papers dwell on overlapping themes, I believe there are differences in emphasis. Weber is particularly concerned with the challenge of establishing a balance between arrogance and self-doubt. While I acknowledge the importance of this concern, I place greater emphasis on the transformative nature of a type of radical acceptance. Responding to Weber's paper has given me an opportunity to think in greater depth about the relationship between nonduality, acceptance and surrender, and to elaborate on the relevance for psychoanalysis of the Zen notion of perceiving suchness, that is, a type of surrender or “letting go” that allows one to experience the perfection of things as they are.

SUBVERSIVE REVISIONS IN THE WORK OF CHARLES DE BEYS

Charles de Beys is a comic author whose L'Hospital des fous (1636), about an eloping couple who seek refuge in a lunatic asylum, was reworked and published in 1653 as Les Illustres fous. It has long been accepted that the modifications to this play were essentially minor; however, the character of the hospital's director, or concierge, becomes the play's principal figure in the revised version. As well as having a greatly expanded role, the concierge is depicted in a more sinister, and even tyrannical, light in the 1653 comedy. The difference in emphasis between the two versions may be explained by Beys's own experience during the intervening period: in the mid-1630s he was incarcerated in the Bastille for several months by order of Cardinal Richelieu on suspicion of having authored the Miliade, a satirical poem attacking the prelate. The second drama becomes not so much a comedy depicting the folly of lovers through the escapades of outsiders who are temporarily institutionalized as a subtle commentary on the potential misuse of such places to lock away those deemed unsuitable for political reasons. This reading is supported by examining the ironic subtext that underpins Beys's sonnets dedicated to Richelieu, as well as the second play's dedicace.

The Practice Turn in Nursing Epistemology

This column presents the perspectives of two authors, Pamela Reed and Gary Rolfe, on the topic of knowledge production in nursing practice. The articles were written independent of each other, but readers may note areas of remarkable similarity as well as differences in emphasis between the two authors. The column concludes with a dialogue between Pamela Reed and Gary Rolfe.

Patterns, designs and activities: unifying descriptions of learning structures

In this paper, we examine emerging ways to describe and structure learning material, learning tasks and learning situations. In particular, we consider three different approaches, looking at common issues and differences in emphasis. These approaches are: learning patterns, inspired by the architectural patterns of Alexander; learning design, as described in the IMS Learning Design specification and which itself draws on Educational Modelling Language (EML) developed at The Open University of the Netherlands and learning activities as used in the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS).

Refiguring Identitites: Contemporary Canadian Women's Fiction, and: Where Are the Voices Coming From?: Canadian Culture and the Legacies of History (review)

Reviewed by: Refiguring Identitites: Contemporary Canadian Women’s Fiction, and: Where Are the Voices Coming From?: Canadian Culture and the Legacies of History Christl Verduyn Coral Ann Howells. Refiguring Identitites: Contemporary Canadian Women’s Fiction. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2003. 230 pp. $59.95 cloth. Coral Ann Howells, ed. Where Are the Voices Coming From?: Canadian Culture and the Legacies of History. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2004. 266 pp. $81.00 cloth. Two new books by Coral Ann Howells make welcome additions to the international scholarship on Canadian literature that has grown in leaps and bounds alongside the burgeoning international readership of Canada's writers. A well-known and respected literary critic, Howells has written extensively on Canadian literature, in particular on women writers and most notably on Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro. In Refiguring Identities: Contemporary Canadian Women's Fiction, Howells turns her critical eye to the work of a younger generation of writers, while in Where Are the Voices Coming From?: Canadian Culture and the Legacies of History, she extends her editorial interests to Canadian film as well as Canadian literature. In both books, Howells draws on the theoretical frameworks of feminism, postmodernism, and postcolonialism with the dexterity, insight, and nuance of an experienced and well-read critic. Readers and students of Canadian literature everywhere will find these two publications useful. In her Introduction to Refiguring Identities, Howells recognizes the significant change in Canada's literary profile since the early 1990s, forged by the increased number of Canadian writers of diverse, non-European ethnic and racial backgrounds. Her interest lies in how this has changed the concept of Canadianness and refigures the perennial Canadian question of national identity. Taking up her position as "a reader and critic working outside Canada" (1), Howells sets out to explore the complexities of identity construction in recent Canadian literature through the analysis of "a representative range" (1) of texts by Canadian women. These include a short story collection by Alice Munro—Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage—and nine novels—Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood; The Stone Diaries and Larry's Party by Carol Shields; Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald; The Electrical Field by Kerri Sakamoto; Cereus Blooms at Night by Shani Mootoo; The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz; and Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson. Each of these writers, Howells asserts, raises the question of "how much of anyone's identity is authentic and dependent on inheritance, and how [End Page 232] much is performative, subject to circumstances, and so redefinable in different contexts" (2). Her aim is to investigate continuities and differences of emphasis from one text to another and in this way to chart the changes that have taken place in Canadian literature in recent years. Acknowledging that her study focuses on Anglophone perspectives and writers most widely read outside of Canada, Howells proposes to make the case for the place of Canadian women's writing in the broader picture of contemporary political and cultural realities in Canada. These realities, she argues, together with a host of Canadian critics such as Barbara Godard, Smaro Kamboureli, Arun Mukherjee, and Charles Taylor among others, may best be thumbnailed today by the question of what constitutes Canadianness. Howells wishes to assess and establish the contribution of women's literary texts and cultural criticism to the "process of reimagining Canadianness" (10). Assessment of this contribution involves the key concepts of multiculturalism, feminism, and nationalism, each within the postcolonial context. Though these are given "different inflections" in the different texts Howells has chosen, she finds and demonstrates that each work contributes to re-imagining Canadian identity, often by revisiting Canadian history. Thus for example, historical fictions by Margaret Atwood (Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin) and Ann-Marie MacDonald (Fall on Your Knees) revise the image of earlier-day Canada as being a more homogenous and unified society than today. These writers, Howells writes, open up possibilities for "a revised rhetoric of Canadianness" (52), possibilities taken up in compelling ways by the other authors in her study. That the project to re-imagine Canadian identity is not limited to work by writers from Canada's...