Defining ‘Modern’ Malay womanhood and the coexistent messages of the veil

The gender constructions and performances of Malay women are often perceived by outside researchers as ‘shrouded under a veil’ of increasing Islamic conservatism. Urban Malay women, however, argue that women actively engage in the construction and performance of gender identities. Based on research conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during 2001 and 2003, this article argues that women advantageously alter, transform and utilise the constructs placed upon them by Islam, by ethnic identification and by conceptions of ‘modernity’. Often one image of ‘womanhood’ is presented and in public e an image that is socially accepted, honoured and respected e while less publicly alternative forms of ‘womanhood’ articulate individual goals and aims. Using an agent-oriented perspective, this article further includes an analysis of women's individual renegotiations of larger cultural constructs and the ways in which the tudong, or headscarf, has become a symbol by which individual women express their understanding of social position and personal freedoms in an industrialised Islamic context.     

The Emerging Church as Corporatization’s Line of Flight

ABSTRACT

In the United States and elsewhere, many religious organizations have adopted structures, mechanisms, and ideologies that can be understood through the concept of corporatization. More than a process, corporatization creates a schema through which social relationships are structured and particular values and beliefs are emphasized (particularly, the valorization of the consumer). The authors of the present article draw on Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s conceptualization of ‘lines of flight’ to illustrate how the Emerging Church, a new religious movement, has leveraged the discontinuities within corporatization. The participants of this movement do so in order to resist institutionalizing systems that rigidify and indoctrinate participants. The authors use ethnographic field methods to demonstrate how Emerging Church participants rely on the tropes of ‘messiness’ and ‘conversation’ to embrace a radical contingency, to foster dialogue, and to avoid adopting rigid, rationalized systems of meaning.     

Factors Associated with Perceived Paternal Involvement in Childrearing

Interest in paternal involvement in child care has increased as the demands on the time and resources of maternal caretakers have increased. The purpose of the present study was to examine variables associated with perceived paternal involvement in child care. Participants were 137 (90 European American and 47 African American) fathers of children between the ages of 2 and 6. Hierarchical multiple regression and analyses of variance indicated that ethnicity, gender role orientation, and perceived skill at child care were associated with higher levels of perceived paternal engagement in and responsibility for child care. Partners' work status was associated with perceived paternal responsibility for, but not engagement in child care. Data suggest that fathers' perceptions of their abilities, gender role, and family requirements may combine to influence child care involvement.     

Religiosity and Mental Health: A Meta–Analysis of Recent Studies

A meta–analysis was performed in an attempt to clarify the proposed relationship between religiosity and psychological adjustment. Specific focus was given to the issue of definition, namely, whether differences in researchers' conceptualizations of religiosity and mental health could account for the various contradictory findings by psychologists of religion. Analysis of 34 studies conducted during the past 12 years revealed that the definitions of religiosity and mental health utilized by psychologists in this field were indeed associated with different types and strengths of the correlations between religiosity and mental health. Discussion of results assesses the fit between relevant theory and the pattern of change in effect size across categories of religion and adjustment, and concludes with implications for therapeutic uses of religious involvement.     

The effects of exposure duration and practice on the immediate memory spans of children and adults

Immediate memory spans for alphabetic items were determined for second-grade, fifth-grade, and adult subjects. Subjects were tested on three days, ten trials per day at each of three exposure durations: 15, 50, and 200 msec. One half of the subjects were presented with exposure durations in an ascending order, the other half in a descending order. The results indicated that immediate memory span increases with age and practice. The exposure duration effect depended on the order and day in which durations were presented. There was a suggestion that the exposure duration effect was also dependent upon the age and sex of the subject. The ordering of array positions from most accurately reported to least accurately reported was identical for all three age levels, indicating that scanning strategies are well established at an early age.     

Pain cues and uncertainity as determinants of aggression in a situation involving repeated instigation.

In contrast to the Buss aggression paradigm, a situation was employed in which subjects were given an expanded range of response options and were exposed to instigation throughout their response period. It was found that (a) despite these changes pain cues depressed aggressiveness in the present situation as they generally do in the Buss paradigm, but that this effect only occurred where the subjects' aggression was initially ineffective in changing their target's behavior; (b) situational uncertainity, which is minimal in a Buss-type situation, was related to aggressiveness; (c) subjects tended to match rather than attempt to control the responses of the target; and (d) the present paradigm is capable of isolating a personality variable related to overall aggressiveness. These data are discussed in terms of other recent paid cue studies that deviate from the standard Buss situation. Generally, the findings suggest the potential of increasing the range of situations in which aggression is studied.     

The effect of adults' eating on young children's acceptance of unfamiliar foods

Adults presented unfamiliar foods to 14- to 20- and 42- to 48-month-old children individually in their homes. More children put the food in their mouths when the adults also were eating than when the adults simply were offering the food. More children put food in their mouths when their mothers were the source than when the source was a friendly adult “visitor”. However, even when alone with a child, the visitor's eating elicited reliably more tasting. Analysis of requesting behavior indicated that the adults' eating aroused a desire to eat in the children. There were no consistent sex differences or interactions between sex of visitor and sex of child in children's food acceptance. There was a suggestion that younger children were more affected by repeated offerings than were older children. It is concluded that a relatively “low level” form of observational learning—“social facilitation”—can account for the data.     

Acceptability and Feasibility of Peer Assisted Supervision and Support for Intervention Practitioners: A Q-methodology Evaluation

Evidence-based interventions often include quality improvement methods to support fidelity and improve client outcomes. Clinical supervision is promoted as an effective way of developing practitioner confidence and competence in delivery; however, supervision is often inconsistent and embedded in hierarchical line management structures that may limit the opportunity for reflective learning. The Peer Assisted Supervision and Support (PASS) supervision model uses peer relationships to promote the self-regulatory capacity of practitioners to improve intervention delivery. The aim of the present study was to assess the acceptability and feasibility of PASS amongst parenting intervention practitioners. A Q-methodology approach was used to generate data and 30 practitioners volunteered to participate in the study. Data were analyzed and interpreted using standard Q-methodology procedures and by-person factor analysis yielded three factors. There was consensus that PASS was acceptable. Participants shared the view that PASS facilitated an environment of support where negative aspects of interpersonal relationships that might develop in supervision were not evident. Two factors represented the viewpoint that PASS was also a feasible model of supervision. However, the third factor was comprised of practitioners who reported that PASS could be time consuming and difficult to fit into existing work demands. There were differences across the three factors in the extent to which practitioners considered PASS impacted on their intervention delivery. The findings highlight the importance of organizational mechanisms that support practitioner engagement in supervision.