HOW AND WHAT DO CHILDREN LEARN FROM TELEVISION?

The paper provides a review and critical synthesis of research and theory dealing with the processes involved in children's learning from television. It asks how and what children learn from television, and at what ages television is a more or less powerful teacher. The focus is on assessing evidence that television can play a positive teaching role. It is suggested that a threshold model may be more appropriate than a linear model for evaluating television's impact on viewers. It is concluded that television can play a positive role in children's learning, but given typical North American media diets and current television content, the opposite has been true for most children.     

IN SEARCH OF THE KINGDOM: THE SOCIAL GOSPEL,SETTLEMENT SOCIOLOGY,AND THE SCIENCE OF REFORM IN AMERICA'S PROGRESSIVE ERA

This critical narrative history examines the development of sociology in the United States during what has come to be labeled as the Progressive Era, roughly the years from the 1890s to World War I. Despite the label, this era was defined as much by social problems associated with industrialization, urbanization, and immigration as by the growth of its cities and the wealth of its capitalists. We explore the roots of American sociology in the transition of protestant theology from Calvinism to its reformation in the social gospel, the simultaneous development of settlement houses, and the “creation” of sociology as the science of reform.     

Geroconsultation: A Proposed Decision-Making Model

Recognizing the rapidly increasing number of aging individuals in the United States and the difficulties encountered by these people (and those who are close to them), the authors propose a consultative model for use by professionals who work with this population. An example of content for possible inclusion in the consultative process is proposed for use in decision making.     

Commonalities in Values Among Mental Health Counselors

Mental health counselors (N = 161) from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who ascribed to distinct theoretical orientations were surveyed with regard to their personal and mental health values. Although on theoretical grounds value differences among counselors professing divergent orientations seem plausible, the empirical literature has failed to support these differences. What has been supported is a sizably shared professional culture characterized by a values profile beyond theoretical orientation. This article provides further empirical input on what the values commonalities are even among counselors who profess distinct theoretical orientations and have a different national origin from prior samples. Implications for clients are discussed.     

The Role of Public Argument in Emerging Democracies: A Case Study of the 12 December 1993 Elections in the Russian Federation

The authors argue that in the 1993 Duma elections it was the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, led by Gennady Zyuganov, that incorporated rhetorical values and audience adaptation into its campaign strategy. Finding its discursive ground limited by history, the CPRF gradually shifted its rhetorical posture and argumentative strategies, redefining itself in the process. This evolution allowed the CPRF to employ the ideographs of democracy, will of the people, citizen, and other key terms of Western-style democracy, while retaining, albeit in transformed meaning, traditional communist ideographs such as justice and spirituality. In addition, the CPRF was able to borrow selectively from the history of the USSR between 1917 and 1989, thereby imbuing their political appeals with historical force and cultural memory.     

Working with Mental Health Service Users to Change Mental Health Services

During the last ten years in the UK, service user consultation and collaboration has gradually entered the vocabulary of people providing and purchasing mental health services. However, we are not convinced that much needed change in mental health services will be achieved as a function of increased commitment to market consumerism. We argue here that service user consultation and collaboration should take account of the effects of social inequalities on mental health and on mental health services. This perspective highlights the need for fundamental change in mental health services, and helps us to appreciate the strength of resistance to change, and to understand some of the dynamics involved. We describe here how this perspective has motivated and shaped our own efforts to collaborate responsibly with service users to change mental health services.