Social Facts, Moral Regulation and Statistical Jurisdiction: A Critical Evaluation of Canadian Census Figures on Education

After a brief general consideration of the census, state-formation and moral regulation, together with the use and abuse of this form of 'numbering the people', two major illustrative examples are provided which expose the problematic nature of seemingly objective censal data: illiteracy and ethnicity in the Canadian Censuses of 1921 and 1981 particularly. The bulk of the paper consists of an examination of the trends in ethnicity and gender in relation to varying measures of educational achievement in the Canadian Census 1921 through 1981. The summarised findings are that two of the three founding peoples' ('British' and 'French') are located in the middle range, whilst the third ('Native peoples') is located at the bottom; all other ethnic groups are more polarised. This is a consistent pattern across the sixty years surveyed, although it is often (in popular and academic writing) treated as a 'new phenomenon'. With regard to gender, the paper qualifies the popular myth that the education system is now less gender ascriptive than it was previously: wherever females have been better than males, the males have tended to close the gap or even reverse the situation; wherever males have been better than females, the gap has closed slowly, if at all. This confirms the recent study by Pineo and Goyder, based on the 1981 census alone, that "the Canadian educational system acts more ascriptively upon women than on men." For all the problems of Census data, the article argues that it can be used to discern aggregate trends over time which qualify many contemporary myths.Un bref examen du recensement en général, de la composition du pays et des règles morales, ainsi qu'une étude de l'usage normal et abusif de cette manière de "compter le peuple" ont permis de mettre en évidence deux principaux problems que cachent des données de recensement apparemment objectives. Il s'agit de l'analphabétisme et de l'appartenance ethnique dans les recensements canadiens de 1921 et 1981 en particulier. Dans l'ensemble, l'article traite des tendances ethniques et par sexe par rapport aux diverses réalisations dans le domaine de l'éducation révélées par Recensement Canada de 1921 à 1981. En résumé, on conclut que deux des trois peuples "fondateurs" (les Anglais et les Français) se situent dans la moyenne alors que le troisième (les Améridiens) est au bas de l'échelle. Ce modèle s'est répété constamment pendant les soixante années étudiées, bien que souvent (dans les publications communes et savantes) on qualifie ce phénomène de "nouveau". En ce qui concerne le sexe des étudiants, l'article !nuance! le mythe populaire qui veut que le système d'éducation favorise moins un certain sexe qu'il ne le faisait auparavant. Lorsque les femmes réussissent mieux que les hommes, les hommes ont tendance à rattraper le retard ou même à renverser la situation ; par contre, lorsque les hommes réussissent mieux que les femmes, l'écart se comble lentement, si jamais il se comble. Cette observation confirme les résultats de l'étude menée par Pineo et Goyder, basée sur le recensement de 1981, qui montre que le "système d'éducation canadien a un effet plus statique sur les femmes que pour les hommes". Devant tous les problèmes que présentent les données de recensement, l'article soutient qu'on peut les utiliser pour discerner les tendances générales dans le temps qui s'appliquent également à bien des mythes contemporains

Education, Inspection and State Formation: A Preliminary Statement

This paper attempts to draw the attention of sociologists and historians of education to the matter of the form of public schooling. A review of competing models of educational development current in the literature shows that neither pays attention to public schooling as a form of state provided and regulated schooling. Current models thus neglect the implication of schooling in the organization of patterns of government. The article argues that public schooling came to be normalized as what education really was (or should be). To pursue this argument it investigates the inspective function as one of the key processes whereby public schooling was administered into dominance. While the discussion centres on North American experience, English material is also discussed in an effort to locate the construction of the educational state in its broader context.Le présent travail tente d'attirer l'attention des sociologues et des historiens de l'édu- cation sur la question de la forme de l'instruction publique. Une revue des autres modèles de développement de Venseignement que l'on retrouve couramment dans les écrits sur ces questions démontre qu'aucun d'entre eux ne s'intéresse à Vinstruction publique comme une forme de scolarisation dispensée et réglementée par l'État. Par conséquent, les modèles courants négligent le rôle de la scolarisation dans l'organi- sation des modes de gouvernement. Ce travail soutient que V instruction publique est devenue la norme de ce qu'est (ou doit être) véritablement l'éducation. À l'appui de cet argument, on y examine comment la "fonction d'inspecteur" a été l'un des moyens fondamentaux par lesquels on a imposé administrativement la domination de l'instruc- tion publique. Si la discussion porte principalement sur V expérience Nord-Américaine, on étudie aussi des documents d'origine anglaise dans le but de situer dans un contexte plus vaste Vétablissement de l'Etat éducateur

The generalised anxiety stigma scale (GASS): psychometric properties in a community sample

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although there is substantial concern about negative attitudes to mental illness, little is known about the stigma associated with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) or its measurement. The aim of this study was to develop a multi-item measure of Generalised Anxiety Disorder stigma (the GASS).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Stigma items were developed from a thematic analysis of web-based text about the stigma associated with GAD. Six hundred and seventeen members of the public completed a survey comprising the resulting 20 stigma items and measures designed to evaluate construct validity. Follow-up data were collected for a subset of the participants (n = 212).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The factor structure comprised two components: Personal Stigma (views about Generalised Anxiety Disorder); and Perceived Stigma (views about the beliefs of most others in the community). There was evidence of good construct validity and reliability for each of the Generalised Anxiety Stigma Scale (GASS) subscales.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The GASS is a promising brief measure of the stigma associated with Generalised Anxiety Disorder.</p

Statistical validation of the criteria for symptom remission in schizophrenia: Preliminary findings

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Published methods for assessing remission in schizophrenia are variable and none have been definitively validated or standardized. Andreasen et al (2005) suggest systematic operational criteria using eight PANSS items for which patients must score ≤ 3 (mild) for at least six months.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using data from a one year, multi-site clinical trial (n = 675) remission criteria were compared to total PANSS scores and other endpoints and demonstrate excellent agreement with overall clinical status.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to total PANSS score of 60 points and other criteria, at time points > 6 months (8 and 12 months) the specificity of the remission criteria was 85%, i.e. of the patients who had a total score >60, 85% were classified as "not in remission." Sensitivity was also very high; 75% of patients with scores of <60 were classified as "in remission."Patients who dropped out of the trial were more likely not to be in remission prior to dropping out.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings indicate that the remission criteria are both sensitive and specific indicators of clinical status. Additional analyses are required to determine if remission status predicts other outcomes, such as employment, independent living, and prognosis.</p

Pleasure and meaningful discourse: an overview of research issues

The concept of pleasure has emerged as a multi-faceted social and cultural phenomenon in studies of media audiences since the 1980s. In these studies different forms of pleasure have been identified as explaining audience activity and commitment. In the diverse studies pleasure has emerged as a multi-faceted social and cultural concept that needs to be contextualized carefully. Genre and genre variations, class, gender, (sub-)cultural identity and generation all seem to be instrumental in determining the kind and variety of pleasures experienced in the act of viewing. This body of research has undoubtedly contributed to a better understanding of the complexity of audience activities, but it is exactly the diversity of the concept that is puzzling and poses a challenge to its further use. If pleasure is maintained as a key concept in audience analysis that holds much explanatory power, it needs a stronger theoretical foundation. The article maps the ways in which the concept of pleasure has been used by cultural theorists, who have paved the way for its application in reception analysis, and it goes on to explore the ways in which the concept has been used in empirical studies. Central to our discussion is the division between the ‘public knowledge’ and the ‘popular culture’ projects in reception analysis which, we argue, have major implications for the way in which pleasure has come to be understood as divorced from politics, power and ideology. Finally, we suggest ways of bridging the gap between these two projects in an effort to link pleasure to the concepts of hegemony and ideology

Efficacy of home-based visuomotor feedback training in stroke patients with chronic hemispatial neglect

Hemispatial neglect is a severe cognitive condition frequently observed after a stroke, associated with unawareness of one side of space, disability and poor long-term outcome. Visuomotor feedback training (VFT) is a neglect rehabilitation technique that involves a simple, inexpensive and feasible training of grasping-to-lift rods at the centre. We compared the immediate and long-term effects of VFT vs. a control training when delivered in a home-based setting. Twenty participants were randomly allocated to an intervention (who received VFT) or a control group (n = 10 each). Training was delivered for two sessions by an experimenter and then patients self-administered it for 10 sessions over two weeks. Outcome measures included the Behavioural Inattention Test (BIT), line bisection, Balloons Test, Landmark task, room description task, subjective straight-ahead pointing task and the Stroke Impact Scale. The measures were obtained before, immediately after the training sessions and after four-months post-training. Significantly greater short and long-term improvements were obtained after VFT when compared to control training in line bisection, BIT and spatial bias in cancellation. VFT also produced improvements on activities of daily living. We conclude that VFT is a feasible, effective, home-based rehabilitation method for neglect patients that warrants further investigation with well-designed randomised controlled trials on a large sample of patients

Three Strategies for Changing Attributions about Severe Mental Illness

The effects of three strategies for changing stigmatizing attitudes—education (which replaces myths about mental illness with accurate conceptions), contact (which challenges public attitudes about mental illness through direct interactions with persons who have these disorders), and protest (which seeks to suppress stigmatizing attitudes about mental illness)—were examined on attributions about schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. One hundred and fifty-two students at a community college were randomly assigned to one of the three strategies or a control condition. They completed a questionnaire about attributions toward six groups—depression, psychosis, cocaine addiction, mental retardation, cancer, and AIDS—prior to and after completing the assigned condition. As expected, results showed that education had no effect on attributions about physical disabilities but led to improved attributions in all four psychiatric groups. Contact produced positive changes that exceeded education effects in attributions about targeted psychiatric disabilities: depression and psychosis. Protest yielded no significant changes in attributions about any group. This study also examined the effects of these strategies on processing information about mental illness

Dexmedetomidine is neuroprotective in an in vitro model for traumatic brain injury

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The α₂-adrenoreceptor agonist dexmedetomidine is known to provide neuroprotection under ischemic conditions. In this study we investigated whether dexmedetomidine has a protective effect in an <it>in vitro </it>model for traumatic brain injury.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures were subjected to a focal mechanical trauma and then exposed to varying concentrations of dexmedetomidine. After 72 h cell injury was assessed using propidium iodide. In addition, the effects of delayed dexmedetomidine application, of hypothermia and canonical signalling pathway inhibitors were examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Dexmedetomidine showed a protective effect on traumatically injured hippocampal cells with a maximum effect at a dosage of 1 μM. This effect was partially reversed by the simultaneous administration of the ERK inhibitor PD98059.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this TBI model dexmedetomidine had a significant neuroprotective effect. Our results indicate that activation of ERK might be involved in mediating this effect.</p