Cities,Neighbourhoods, and the Challenges of Immigration

This article critically examines four specific aspects of Avner de Shalit’s book Cities and Immigration. First, it argues that the influx of cosmopolitan migrants, which de Shalit considers unproblematic for destination cities, may in fact pose a challenge to some cities’ ethos, and to the ethos of specific neighbourhoods within cities. Second, it contends that gentrification, contrary to what de Shalit suggests, may sometimes hinder rather than promote social mixing and migrants' integration. Third, it claims that most of the examples of mutual assimilation (de Shalit’s preferred model of inclusion) provided by de Shalit concern superficial interactions and exchanges between members of different groups. This raises both the empirical question of whether deeper forms of mutual assimilation are possible and the normative question of whether they are desirable. Fourth, it takes issue with two concrete policy recommendations advanced by de Shalit: the first involves assessing potential matchings between source and destination cities in order to advise migrants where to move; the second concerns prioritizing immigrants who might be better capable than others of facilitating the integration of future immigrants, due to their values, religion, or country of origin.     

People,State and Civic Responses to Immigration,Xenophobia and Racism in the New South Africa

As a result of its political transformation, South Africa has become a victim of its own success, in that the shift in political power brought about a range of new discriminatory practices and victims. South Africa became a magnet for nationals from African countries who came to ‘the rainbow nation’ to share in the fruits of more stable governance and enjoy the benefits of a larger more dynamic economy, instead find themselves faced with xenophobia and racism. The aim of this paper is to analyse the development of immigration policy in post-apartheid South Africa in terms of the vulnerabilities and protections it has afforded migrants, as well as ways in which it has informed the behaviour of state officials from 1994 to 2008. It highlights trends and tensions surrounding immigration reform in the new South Africa and argues that legislation has made significant strides in informing the behaviour of high- and low-ranking officials in government and state departments but still has a long way to go.     

Gender-related Needs, Challenges, and Dangers in the Immigration Experience in Israel of Emerging Adults from the Former Soviet Union

In-depth interviews were conducted to examine gender-related patterns of adaptation and maladaptation, and the relationship between adaptation and relationships (parents, friends, and romantic partners) for 34 emerging adult immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel. Qualitative analysis highlighted gender-related needs, difficulties, and challenges following the immigration experience. Women’s adaptation was connected to mutually supportive and empathic relationships with parents, friends, and romantic partners. Maladaption for women was connected to overly close, nonmutual, and enmeshed relationships with parents, which led to feelings of guilt or to distant relationships that lacked support and intimacy. Adaptation for men was connected to inner strengths that enabled achievement and success in acculturative tasks, which led to feelings of mastery, competence, and self-definition combined with respect and valuing the relationship they have with their family. In contrast, maladaption among men was not connected to relationships but to a lack of inner strengths needed to succeed in developmental and immigration-related tasks. Despite the gender-related distinction found among less adaptive individuals, adaptive young immigrants, women and men alike, were more characterized by an ability to balance between needs of self and needs of others in their family relationships. As such, narratives of adaptive emerging adult immigrants emphasized gender similarities, whereas those of less adaptive immigrants emphasized gender differences.     

Sport-Related Concussions: A Review of Epidemiology, Challenges in Diagnosis, and Potential Risk Factors

Sport-related concussion (SRC) is a common mild traumatic brain injury among young, active individuals, affecting approximately 300,000 young American adults annually. In this review of the epidemiology of SRC, we describe the challenges in identifying concussion occurrence and review the studies describing concussion incidence in various sports. In high risk contact sports, American football, soccer (European football), hockey, lacrosse, and basketball athletes experience concussion unintentionally during the course of play. Among these, football concussion incidence is reviewed in greatest detail because it has the highest incidence among the contact sports, and some studies have shown long-term neurophysiologic and neurodegenerative outcomes. Mechanisms of injury differ significantly by sport and can be potential targets for concussion risk mitigation. Despite the apparent high incidence of SRC, risk factors determining initial concussion, recovery periods, recurrence, and long-term outcomes remain poorly understood and warrant further study exploring the influence of age, sex, genetics, and athletic factors.     

Knowledge,Beliefs and Attitudes Regarding Abortion in South Africa Among a Sample of University Students

A survey study design was used to determine the knowledge of a sample of South African university students regarding the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP) Act and their beliefs and attitudes toward abortion. A total of 146 (110 female, 36 male) undergraduate psychology students participated in the study. As part of a larger study participants were given a questionnaire on knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices regarding sexuality among young South Africans. The results showed that most of the students were unaware of key provisions of the Act. The data also indicated opposition to abortion except in the case of rape or when the pregnancy posed a threat to the health of the woman. It is concluded that increasing public awareness of the Act is vital not only in improving access to abortion services but also in terms of reducing the stigma that seems to be associated with abortion in South Africa.     

Family Policy in South Korea: Development, Current Status, and Challenges

We provide a comprehensive review of family policy in South Korea (Korea hereafter) for international readers. Alarmed by recent social and demographic changes, the Korean government has started to establish explicit family policies from the mid 2000s. These policies have signified a symbolic attention shift to family matters in the history of social policy in Korea. In this paper, we focus on three areas of family policy: (a) work-family policies, (b) a healthy family policy, and (c) a policy for multi-cultural families. Work-family policies aim to help working families with young children balance work responsibilities and family caregiving through multiple leave options and child care support. The Framework Act on Healthy Families, the first explicit family policy in Korea, requires local governments to provide family services through Healthy Family Support Centers. The Multi-Cultural Family Support Act also established a formal support system for multi-cultural families with immigrant spouses, a population group that has recently increased in Korea. We further discuss the domestic and comparative contexts of Korean family policy and provide suggestions for the remaining challenges.     

Psychology in sub‐Saharan Africa: Challenges,prospects and promises

The experiences of African communities are significantly underrepresented in the current psychological literature as compared to those of Western European and North American communities. Professional psychology in sub‐Saharan African is either nonexistent or strongly modeled after practices in North America and Western Europe. The modeling of psychology in sub‐Saharan Africa on the North American and Western European experience is a result of the more extensive marketing of the Western cultural heritage around the globe by national governments, education institutions and international aid agencies vis a vis the marketing of alternative cultural heritages. It is also reflective of the historically unequal intercultural exchanges between Western and African cultural heritages and in favour of the former. A greater representation of the African experience in the psychological literature could add to the richness and global relevance of psychology.     

The Changing Values of Children and Preferences Regarding Family Size in South Africa

Cette recherche élargit à un contexte africain avec la problématique suivante les études en cours sur les relations entre les générations et les valeurs attribuées aux enfants: dans quelle mesure la structure des valeurs projetées sur les enfants (VOC) repérée dans des études antérieures peut‐elle être retrouvée en Afrique du Sud et quelles sont les préférences des femmes concernant la taille des familles petite, nombreuse et idéale. L’échantillon était constitué de trois cohortes de femmes noires sud‐africaines originaires de la province de Limpopo. Des analyses factorielles ont montré que les dimensions de la VOC apparue en Afrique du Sud étaient un agrégat de différentes valeurs. Ont été isolées comme dimensions relatives au désir d’enfants Social/Emotionnel et Traditionnel/Utilitaire. Pour ce qui est des motifs expliquant le choix de ne pas avoir d’enfants sont apparus l’enfant comme source de contraintes et les contraintes que constitue le fait d’avoir un enfant. Les comparaisons entre les générations montrent des variations dans l’importance des dimensions des valeurs accordées aux enfants et dans les préférences concernant la taille de la famille. Les valeurs dont les enfants sont porteurs pour les jeunes mères étaient liées au nombre d’enfants que ces femmes avaient et à leurs préférences relatives à la taille de la famille. La discussion sur les résultats tient compte de l’évolution du contexte sociopolitique de l’Afrique du Sud. This study extends the ongoing studies on values of children and intergenerational relations into an African context with the following key questions: To what extent can the structure of values of children (VOC) identified in previous studies be found in South Africa and what are women's preferences regarding the size of small, large, and ideal families? The sample consisted of three cohorts of Black South African women from the Limpopo Province. Factor analyses showed that the dimensions of VOC found in South Africa are a conglomeration of different values. Identified dimensions were Social/Emotional and Traditional/Utilitarian with respect to reasons for wanting children. Regarding reasons for not wanting children, Child as Source of Constraints and Constraints to Have a Child were identified. Intergenerational comparisons showed variations in the importance of value of children dimensions and in preferences regarding family size. Values of children of younger mothers were related to the number of children these women had and to their preferences regarding family size. The findings are discussed within the changing socio‐political context of South Africa.     

Ethical Challenges with Welfare Technology: A Review of the Literature

Demographical changes in high income counties will increase the need of health care services but reduce the number of people to provide them. Welfare technology is launched as an important measure to meet this challenge. As with all types of technologies we must explore its ethical challenges. A literature review reveals that welfare technology is a generic term for a heterogeneous group of technologies and there are few studies documenting their efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency. Many kinds of welfare technology break with the traditional organization of health care. It introduces technology in new areas, such as in private homes, and it provides new functions, e.g. offering social stimuli and entertainment. At the same time welfare technology is developed for groups that traditionally have not been extensive technology users. This raises a series of ethical questions with regard to the development and use of welfare technologies, which are presented in this review. The main challenges identified are: (1) Alienation when advanced technology is used at home, (2) conflicting goals, as welfare technologies have many stakeholders with several ends, (3) respecting confidentiality and privacy when third-party actors are involved, (4) guaranteeing equal access and just distribution, and (5) handling conflicts between instrumental rationality and care in terms of respecting dignity and vulnerability. Addressing these issues is important for developing and implementing welfare technologies in a morally acceptable manner.     

Functional MRI of Language in Aphasia: A Review of the Literature and the Methodological Challenges

Animal analogue studies show that damaged adult brains reorganize to accommodate compromised functions. In the human arena, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other functional neuroimaging techniques have been used to study reorganization of language substrates in aphasia. The resulting controversy regarding whether the right or the left hemisphere supports language recovery and treatment progress must be reframed. A more appropriate question is when left-hemisphere mechanisms and when right-hemisphere mechanisms support recovery of language functions. Small lesions generally lead to good recoveries supported by left-hemisphere mechanisms. However, when too much language eloquent cortex is damaged, right-hemisphere structures may provide the better substrate for recovery of language. Some studies suggest that recovery is particularly supported by homologues of damaged left-hemisphere structures. Evidence also suggests that under some circumstances, activity in both the left and right hemispheres can interfere with recovery of function. Further research will be needed to address these issues. However, daunting methodological problems must be managed to maximize the yield of future fMRI research in aphasia, especially in the area of language production. In this review, we cover six challenges for imaging language functions in aphasia with fMRI, with an emphasis on language production: (1) selection of a baseline task, (2) structure of language production trials, (3) mitigation of motion-related artifacts, (4) the use of stimulus onset versus response onset in fMRI analyses, (5) use of trials with correct responses and errors in analyses, and (6) reliability and stability of fMRI images across sessions. However, this list of methodological challenges is not exhaustive. Once methodology is advanced, knowledge from conceptually driven fMRI studies can be used to develop theoretically driven, mechanism-based treatments that will result in more effective therapy and to identify the best patient candidates for specific treatments. While the promise of fMRI in the study of aphasia is great, there is much work to be done before this technique will be a useful clinical tool.     

Immigration,Naturalization, and the Purpose of Citizenship

It is widely believed that immigrants, after some time, acquire a claim to naturalize and become citizens of their new state. What explains this claim? Although existing answers (may) succeed in justifying some of immigrants' rights claims, they cannot justify the claim that immigrants are owed the opportunity to naturalize because these theories lack a sufficiently rich account of the purpose of citizenship. To fill this gap, I offer a novel egalitarian account of citizenship. Citizenship, on this account, partially protects immigrants against social hierarchy by realizing social equality in a publicly accessible manner. This explains claims to naturalize.     

Minimum Competency Testing of the Handicapped: A Review of Legal Challenges

The article reviews recent litigation involving minimum competency testing of the handicapped with regard to both constitutional and statutory challenges. Court decisions indicate that handicapped students will be required to pass state mandated competency tests as long as adequate notice of the test as a graduation requirement is provided. The importance of the Individualized Education Program, as well as implications for education and counseling of the handicapped, are discussed.     

A Review of Psychosocial Factors in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a disabling pain condition poorly understood by medical professionals. Because CRPS is particularly enigmatic, and has significant impact on patient function, researchers have examined psychological processes present among patients with this diagnosis. This systematic review examines psychosocial factors associated with CRPS, both predictors and sequelae. Our conclusions are that CRPS is associated with negative outcomes, both psychological (e.g., increased depression and anxiety) and psychosocial (e.g., reduced quality of life, impaired occupational function) in nature. However, research does not reveal support for specific personality or psychopathology predictors of the condition.     

Brief Intervention of Alcohol Problems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review

The purpose of this review was to identify and assess studies that have described and quantified brief interventions of alcohol problems in sub-Saharan Africa. PubMed, Google scholar, CAB Abstracts and article references were searched to identify studies published in English between 1980 and 2009. Twenty-one eligible studies were described in detail and information on study characteristics extracted. All of the identified studies were conducted either in east or southern Africa and varied substantially in terms of study design, population and alcohol use definitions. Overall, brief intervention of alcohol problems in health care settings showed positive results but were difficult to integrate into routine practice. Brief interventions (ranging from a few to 12 sessions) in school settings showed mixed results. In individual or group format in community settings, brief interventions combined with HIV risk reduction counselling showed promising short term results. The findings of this review of sub-Saharan African research strongly support the possible impact of brief interventions of alcohol problems in various settings.     

Economic Integration of Pre-WWI Immigrants from the British Isles in the Canadian Labour Market

This article provides new evidence on the economic assimilation of immigrants from the British Isles in Canada during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using data from the 1901 and 1911 censuses and a pseudo-cohort methodology, we estimate both entry and assimilation effects. We find a non-negligible decline in entry earnings among successive cohorts of British and Irish immigrants, previously overlooked in the literature. Our estimates also reveal that the economic performance for Irish and older British arrival cohorts was better than previously reported. Overall, slow economic assimilation and sparse occupational mobility of immigrants have been a long-standing issue in the Canadian labour market.     

From the Work One Knows the Worker: A Systematic Review of the Challenges,Solutions, and Steps to Creating Synthetic Validity

Synthetic validity has been promised as the future for selection, providing an inexpensive, fast, high‐quality, legally defensible, and easily administered process. Despite 50 years of development, this promise has yet to be realized. However, recent advances in areas such as validity generalization indicate that synthetic validity is technically feasible and practically achievable. Consolidating new and previous work carried out on two synthetic validity strategies, the job‐requirement matrix and job component validity, we review the methodological steps required to build them and provide working examples. Although the resources required for full realization of synthetic validity are large, similar, although larger, projects have been undertaken in the past and in the present, and there is increasing infrastructure to facilitate them in the future.