A Qualitative Study of Undergraduates’ Conceptualizations of Mental Illness

This qualitative study examined three stigma reduction interventions against mental illness stigma: education, video, and contact. Undergraduates (N = 69) in three introductory psychology classes from a small, Catholic, liberal arts university in the northeast United States participated. Responses to two open-ended questions revealed common negative and stereotypical themes associated with mental illness. The benefits of supplementing traditional social distance measures with a qualitative approach, as well as the importance of considering a social developmental approach to stigma education are discussed.     

Susan Sontag,battle language and the Hong Kong SARS outbreak of 2003

Abstract

The widespread use of military language to describe modern epidemics is often attributed to the popularization of the germ theory of disease. Whatever its origins, critics regularly deplore martial imagery in the medical context finding it by turns dangerous, humiliating, and offensive. This article examines the most famous of these critiques, Susan Sontag's rebuttal of disease-as-war language, and finds it problematic in a number of respects. Mass emergency response to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003 offers a cross-cultural case study in the use of representations of war. Key to the argument is the proposition that disease-as-war language expresses something ‘real’ not illusory, vital not frivolous, about the community which employs it. The language is a vehicle for articulating social emotions of collective fear, patriotism, homage, and exculpation in conditions that presage collective death     

Indigenous Peoples in Southern Africa

Abstract

This article considers the complex cases of indigenous peoples in three Commonwealth countries in southern Africa: Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. In terms of national-level policy, the governments of these countries do not differentiate indigenous peoples from the rest of their populations. They do, however, have programmes aimed at assisting ‘marginalised’ or ‘disadvantaged’ communities. In this article, three main dimensions related to indigenous peoples’ rights in southern Africa are discussed: national policies, indigenous peoples’ rights, and rights to representation; land and resource rights, including rights to water; and language and gender rights. The paper concludes with an assessment of where indigenous peoples stand today in southern Africa.     

Mental Health Intervention with Hispanic Immigrants

Abstract

The underutilization of mental health services by Hispanic immigrants has been well documented in the literature. Hispanic immigrants encounter numerous obstacles which prevent them from successfully navigating through the mental health system. This reality is further compounded by the fact that research appears to suggest an increased rate of mental health disorders among Hispanics. This article underscores the importance of understanding the influence of a Hispanic client's worldview, language, and religion on the provision of mental health services. A case vignette is presented as a means of illustrating key conceptual points. Practice principles or conclusions drawn from this article should be used as a general guide by mental health practitioners.     

In the name of king,country, and people on the Westminster model and Bhutan's constitutional transition

In 2008 Bhutan inaugurated a written constitution thereby instituting the state as a constitutional monarchy. The constitution is almost unanimously described as democratic by international media and academics. The ease with which this apparent consensus on its democratic character has been achieved, however, raises the important question of how best to approach the theory of constitutional democratization. In approaching the issue of democratization as a move towards popular control, this article discusses the ambivalence of the Bhutanese constitution towards this principle in a cultural context where social order is seen as constituted within the unity of king, country, and people. Curiously, this language is not as unique to Bhutan as one might expect, but influenced by the Westminster legacy in its emphasis on the principle of “Crown in Parliament”, its ritualization, and ideas of political inequality. It raises the question whether this model is suitable as a blueprint model for countries with different historic and cultural trajectories from the European ones? The article advocates a novel approach to the analysis of constitutional transition that transgresses the dichotomy between an institutional and linguistic approach, thus opening up interesting new insights on the waxing and waning of processes of expanding popular control.     

Ideology after the end of ideology. China and the quest for autocratic legitimation

In political science literature on contemporary China, ideology is mostly regarded as a dogmatic straitjacket to market reforms that has been worn out over the years of economic success, an obsolete legacy of the past waiting to be cast off in the course of the country's transition toward capitalism. This article posits, however, that ideology still plays an indispensable role in the quest to legitimize authoritarian rule in contemporary China, and that it does so precisely due to its high degree of adaptability. Based on David Beetham's theoretical model of political legitimacy, three legitimating functions of ideology that demand the constant adaptation of party theory and official language are introduced. Presenting various examples of reformulations of party theory and official language from the beginning of the reform period up to the present, the article demonstrates how the party regime relies on ideology to constantly reproduce its legitimacy, as well as the pitfalls of this reliance. It argues that ideology in contemporary China should be analysed not as a matter of belief but of playing by the rules of the official language game, and it shows how ideology is deployed as a set of practices and incentives for the proper performance of the political elite.     

农村基层组织人员贪污贿赂犯罪立法解释适用问题研究

村民委员会、村党组织、村经济组织的成员和村小组长、村民委员会下设各委员会委员等在农村基层组织中担任一定的职务、履行一定的职责的人都是"村民委员会等农村基层组织人员",其构成贪污贿赂犯罪必然发生在协助人民政府从事行政管理工作的过程中,具有时间性。而对如何认定协助行政管理行为的完成,论文提供了一种路径,即假设不存在村基层组织的协助管理行为,由人民政府直接完成现实中由村基层组织协助完成的行政管理工作,那么在假设条件下,认定人民政府某些具体行政管理工作完成所采用的标准,应适用于村基层组织人员协助管理工作完成的认定。     

泰国华文教育的现状与前瞻

本文论述泰国华文教育发展的历史和社会背景,分析了泰国华文教育的现状以及各种类型的华文教育,指出当前泰国华文教育所存在的问题,并提出解决这些问题的方法。     

公安院校微型警务英语口语语料库的构建与应用

微型警务英语口语语料库的构建对公安院校警务英语教学研究、我国行业英语语料库的建设以及培养懂外语的复合型人才,服务于涉外警务工作具有重要的现实意义。从整体设计、语料搜集、分类标注三个步骤加强微型警务英语口语语料库的构建,并根据微型警务英语口语语料库的特点和外语教学中的现实情况,尝试将其应用于公安院校的警务英语教学是一条可行的途径。     

试论我国反垄断法的域外适用——以"两拓"合并案为视角

反垄断法的城外适用是有其理论基础的,"两拓"并购案促使我们有必要分析我国反垄断法域外适用的依据及可行性,从而对我国适用反垄断法以规制跨国公司并购对我国产生的负面影响进行探讨,进而督促我们更好地反思和完善我国反垄断法的域外适用机制.