Critical geographies of love and loss: Relational responses to the death of a spouse in Senegal

Marriage practices in the Majority world may differ considerably from dominant cultural ideals in the Minority world of ‘romantic love’ and ‘companionate marriage’ based on monogamous relationships. Similarly, mourning in the ‘Rest’ of the world often diverges from assumptions within Anglophone bereavement studies of a ‘grieving journey’. This paper provides a gendered, spatial, relational analysis of responses to the death of a spouse in Senegal, based on in-depth interviews with Serer women and men in rural and urban communities. A heightened sense of relationality with the deceased surrounded widows' bodies, with permeable boundaries that needed to be contained and “purified” through widowhood-mourning practices in order to restore social cohesion. For men, the space of the home was transformed, sometimes unbearably, by the loss of a wife and mother due to their central role in home-making practices, transforming men's relational being. ‘Embodied relationality’, alongside material constraints, also shaped perspectives on remarriage. The paper reveals the diverse material, embodied, spatial, and often explicitly gendered, ways that the effects of the death of a spouse may be manifested in the experience of the living person and draws attention to the permeable embodied boundaries of ‘relational being’ that encompass the living and the dead.     

Atmospheres of street performance in Taipei: Affect and emotion as dynamic,simultaneous, more-than-representational experiences

Studies of street performance have highlighted its potential for creating vibrant and inclusive urban places, yet have largely neglected its atmospheric, affectual and emotional dimensions. Building on a growing body of work on atmospheres and dynamics of affect and emotion, I examine the formation of atmospheres by street performances in Taipei and its affectual and emotional resonance on space and people. I used an experimental more-than-representational methodology, including implementing a live survey questionnaire through the audience's smartphones during a performance. An atmosphere of street performance is generated through the lively interactions between the street performer, members of the audience, performance objects and the wider urban environment. Performance objects and the urban streetscape are vitalised as part of street performance, and have excessive potential in producing atmospheres. The spatio-temporal dimension of performance atmosphere is significant in generating memories and creating a therapeutic atmospheric space, experienced affectually and emotionally. I suggest that it would be helpful to see atmosphere and its affectual and emotional impact as dynamic, simultaneous experiences that people encounter as they are enmeshed within an atmosphere, such as in more-than-individual experiences or unexpected events. Within a changing atmosphere, there are multiple layers of affective and emotional outcomes, whether felt and emerging individually, and/or felt and emerging collectively.     

Outside‐In: Jung's myth of interiority ambiguated. Or ‐ Knowing me,Knowing Jung – ahah!

Given his lifelong battle against one‐sidedness Jung's persistent prioritising of the ‘inner life’ over the ‘outer’ can seem problematic. The question is raised as to whether an approach that seems to verge uncomfortably close to solipsism can sometimes render Jung blind to the intuition that psychic life is constituted by an on‐going interplay between inner and outer, self and other (an intuition that he himself sometimes articulated so brilliantly). The ‘ambiguation’ of Jung's work offers an opportunity to confront this problem by utilising a critical dynamic that is consistent with Jung's psychological insights.     

The Partners for Change Outcome Management System: A Both/And System for Collaborative Practice

Systematic client feedback (SCF) is increasingly employed in mental health services worldwide. While research supports its efficacy over treatment as usual, clinicians, especially those who highly value relational practices, may be concerned that routine data collection detracts from clinical process. This article describes one SCF system, the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS), along a normative (standardized measurement) to communicative (conversational) continuum, highlighting PCOMS’ origins in everyday clinical practice. The authors contend that PCOMS represents “both/and,” providing a valid signal of client progress while facilitating communicative process particularly prized by family therapists steeped in relational traditions. The article discusses application of PCOMS in systemic practice and describes how it actualizes time‐honored family therapy approaches. The importance of giving voice to individualized client experience is emphasized.     

The estimation of vehicle speed and stopping distance by pedestrians crossing streets in a naturalistic traffic environment

The ability to estimate vehicle speed and stopping distance accurately is important for pedestrians to make safe road crossing decisions. In this study, a field experiment in a naturalistic traffic environment was conducted to measure pedestrians’ estimation of vehicle speed and stopping distance when they are crossing streets. Forty-four participants (18–45 years old) reported their estimation on 1043 vehicles, and the corresponding actual vehicle speed and stopping distance were recorded. In the speed estimation task, pedestrians’ performances change in different actual speed levels and different weather conditions. In sunny conditions, pedestrians tended to underestimate actual vehicle speeds that were higher than 40 km/h but were able to accurately estimate speeds that were lower than 40 km/h. In rainy conditions, pedestrians tended to underestimate actual vehicle speeds that were higher than 45 km/h but were able to accurately estimate speeds ranging from 35 km/h to 45 km/h. In stopping distance estimation task, the accurate estimation interval ranged from 60 km/h to 65 km/h, and pedestrians generally underestimated the stopping distance when vehicles were travelling over 65 km/h. The results show that pedestrians have accurate estimation intervals that vary by weather conditions. When the speed of the oncoming vehicle exceeded the upper bound of the accurate interval, pedestrians were more likely to underestimate the vehicle speed, increasing their risk of incorrectly deciding to cross when it is not safe to do so.     

REFLECTIONS: EDUCATION AND OUR SHARED FUTURE

Based on a comparative study, this paper highlights and analyses commonalities and differences between an Oriental systems approach, WSR, and two Western counterparts, TOP and MMD. It is suggested that cultural differences among systems approaches might probably have been overshadowed by both commonalities between Western and Eastern traditions and differences within the same cultural tradition. It will be further proposed that by being more consciously open to and learning from each other, systems approaches in the East and the West may have more to offer for dealing with the complexity which confronts humankind.     

Travel behavior changes and responses to advanced traveler information in prolonged and large-scale network disruptions: A case study of west LRT line construction in the city of Calgary

The objective of this study was the investigation of travel behavioral effects of the reduction in traffic capacity resulting from the construction of the West LRT (Light Rail Transit) line in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Travelers’ responses to real-time information providing traffic updates and advisory detours due to lane/road closures were also examined. The West LRT alignment extends approximately 8.2 km from downtown into the city’s southwest. Many road closures took place in the vicinity of the LRT line construction zones, inducing significant delays to traffic. Data on travelers’ behavioral responses and responses to real-time information were obtained by conducting a survey on a sample of users of the main road affected by the construction. The survey also investigated the effects of West LRT line construction on drivers’ daily commutes, including increases in travel times, mode choices, alternate route choices, and selection of sources of information on traffic conditions. A significant change in the selection of transportation mode was caused by West LRT construction. Throughout the construction period, there was a decrease in the percentage of respondents who reported private vehicles as their first choice and an increase in the percentage of respondents who preferred public transit as their first and second choices. Radio was found to be the most preferred source for traffic updates and detour advice, followed by variable message signs (VMS). The findings of the en-route information model showed that driving experience, employment status, travel time and purpose, and desire for pre-trip information had significant effects on traveler’s rerouting decisions after getting en-route information through VMS. The results from this study are of interest for understanding behavioral changes for the purposes of traffic management, mitigation schemes and design of advanced traveler information systems in response to network disruptions.     

Motivation to manage among women: Studies of college students

Studies were conducted with samples of students from four different universities to determine if male-female differences in motivation to manage existed. Although differences were not found among students majoring in the field of education, females in business administration and the liberal arts did prove to have lower managerial motivation scores than the comparable male samples. These findings are discussed in terms of their relationships to sex discrimination, prospective managerial talent shortages and the vocational guidance of female college students.