Notion Of Threat Research Articles

Blindness in later life: myths, attitudes and reality

Psychoanalytic and symbolist interpretations of blindness are discussed and questioned on the grounds of their relevance to the everyday concerns of elderly blind people; notions of threat and saintliness, light and dark, and other bi-polar metaphors often used for conceptualising blindness are examined; and then the results are reported of an empirical investigation into the competencies of congenitally and adventitiously blind older people as perceived by themselves, by young blind adults, and by a group of sighted adults undertaking training to become specialist teachers of blind children. The close agreement among the groups on the relative difficulty of common daily tasks, on the differences between early and later blinded people, and on the effects of the ageing process itself is taken as representing a good understanding of the personally and socially handicapping effects of blindness. It is inferred that the heterogeneity of needs among elderly blind people may best be addressed in terms of the specific skills training they may require to regain or retain their autonomy.

The impact of Western European border policies on the control of ‘refugees’ in Eastern and Central Europe

Abstract Much of the contemporary debate on Western European exclusionary border policies focuses on the nature of that exclusion, rather than the impact such policies are likely to have on border controls of other migrant receiving or producing states. This article addresses some of the issues of Western European border control harmonisation in the context of Eastern and Central Europe, and Hungary in particular. It suggests that the concept of ‘Fortress Europe’ needs some refinement as harmonisation of controls are progressively on different levels, from the Schengen group of ‘inner‐Europe’ to the EEA ‘greater inner‐Europe’, with perhaps the Visegrad group waiting in the wings. What is clear is that present policies and exclusionary practices, on whatever level, directed against ‘refugees’, are primarily framed within a notion of threat and necessary compensation for potential freedoms. So long as this persists, policies of control per se will outweigh prevention. What we have in Eastern and Central Eur...