Examining Factors Co-Existing with Interpersonal Violence in Lesbian Relationships

Interpersonal violence within lesbian relationships is a significant yet understudied problem. Women attending a gay pride festival in Atlanta, GA, were asked to complete a survey concerning same-sex interpersonal violence. Women who reported being in a current or previous same-sex partner relationship were included in the analyses (N = 226). Factors that occurred in the context of interpersonal violence were investigated: substance use, HIV/STI risk behaviors, barriers to reporting abuse, and attitudes inhibiting seeking of social support. In addition, the survey assessed relationship-related power dynamics. Results of multivariate analyses support the hypotheses that power imbalance and inequality when making sex-related decisions within women’s same-sex relationships are associated with interpersonal violence. Further findings suggested that a combination of factors must be considered when dealing with and reducing the risk for violence in same-sex relationships.     

Being Canadian: Citizenship in Canada

This article analyses interviews conducted in 1996–97 with 78civic leaders in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. In part, the interviews focused on what it means to respondents to be Canadian. Among the respondents were 36 immigrants and 23 persons not of European ancestry, including four aboriginal people. The article addresses the challenge of creating a sense of citizenship—a moral sense of belonging—among a population of increasingly diverse origin in anglophone Canada. The argument proposed is that despite the diverse ancestral and geographical origins of the inhabitants of the country, Canadianness exists. Canadians, both native‐born and immigrants, recognize themselves as Canadians. They do so because they recognize the opportunities and freedoms available to them in Canada, and the day‐to‐day respect they enjoy. To be Canadian and recognized as such by others is meaningful. Even very recent immigrants do not define themselves primarily as members of their ancestral cultural communities. Spinner's concept of pluralistic integration seems a better way to describe Canadian society than the popular concept of multiculturalism.     

From rags to robes

He is author of many works about social class, including The Protestant Establishment Revisitedand Philadelphia Gentlemen,both published by Transaction Publishers.