Mothers and daughters: Linking women's life histories in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, Canada

Grand Bank is a small fishing town on the southwest coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The oral history project, on which this paper is based, focussed on the “life stories” of women in three, four and sometimes five, different generations of families. My aim was twofold. First, I wanted to build a picture of the way to the economy, and the sexual division of labour has changed in the period 1890–present. Second, I wanted to see how, by focussing several accounts of the same family experience, I could break apart the ideological construction of the past. I could also use contrasting accounts of mothers and daughters to re-examine the role of “work” in the family and the construction of a sexual division of labour.This paper explores how women situate and construct both their past and present experience, and what the different accounts given by mothers and daughters and grandaughters tell us both about female family relationships and about the interaction of gender with economic, social and technological change. The paper also suggests why this particular oral history approach, using different generations of women in the same family, is especially relevant to feminist concerns.     

Polygraph testing for deception in Australia: effective aid to crime investigation and adjudication?

Polygraph testing--or the monitoring and analysing of selected physiological measures of an individual who is being interviewed, for the purpose of detecting deception--is controversial in Australia. Considerable mythology surrounds this method of detecting deception. Embedded in popular perceptions of crime fighting and utilised in high-profile criminal cases in Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland, polygraph testing is also explicitly prohibited from being used in crime investigation in New South Wales. Unlike in the United States, polygraph testing has not hitherto routinely been used by government departments and authorities as a preemployment screening tool, but is increasingly being offered in the private sector in Australia. This article examines the current scope of polygraph testing in Australia, describes different approaches to testing, briefly reviews recent information relating to validity and evaluates State legislation prohibiting the use of polygraph testing for specified purposes in New South Wales. Consequent to the continuing controversy regarding the accuracy of polygraph testing in detecting deception (and, conversely, truth-telling), it is argued that the emerging use of polygraph testing is problematic and common law principles rendering the results of such testing inadmissible in court do not constitute sufficient safeguard against inappropriate and intrusive testing. Future research should identify specific polygraph testing techniques and consider the most socially beneficial way of regulating this emerging area of practice.     

The elderly's access to health care services: The crude and subtle impacts of Medicare changes

Medicare, the federal government's health insurance program for the aged and disabled, has been subjected to a number of legislative and regulatory changes since 1981 aimed at reducing the costs of the program. About a third of the cutbacks have been in activities that directly increase patient cost sharing. Other changes, while aimed at improving efficiency, may also shift costs onto program beneficiaries. This paper estimates the differential impacts of such program changes by age and income of elderly Medicare enrollees and discusses the likely resulting impact on their access to care. Surprisingly, such equity concerns have been largely overlooked in the policy debate concerning cost containment under Medicare.     

Education and identity: Thoughts on the social origins of anorexia

Anorexia nervosa is often said to be a condition which afflicts mainly middle-class girls. This paper suggests that it is not social class but a high level of educational attainment which is associated with the onset of anorexia.The effect of education is analysed in terms of it's influence on the identity -formation of the young woman. Anorexia can be seen as an attempt to rescue a spoilt identity.