‘Stick that knife in me’: Shane Meadows’ children

This article brings Shane Meadows’ Dead Man's Shoes (2004) into dialogue with the history of the depiction of the child on film. Exploring Meadows’ work for its complex investment in the figure of the child on screen, it traces the limits of the liberal ideology of the child in his cinema and the structures of feeling mobilised by its uses – at once aesthetic and sociological – of technologies of vision

Couples that work full time and are happily married : myth or reality?

Este trabalho apresenta parte de uma pesquisa quantitativa cujo principal objetivo foi avaliar a satisfação no casamento de homens e mulheres que optaram por relacionamentos de duplo trabalho. Participaram do estudo 222 homens e 222 mulheres casados/as, funcionários/as em diversas instituições públicas de Brasília - DF. A maior concentração de respondentes de ambos os sexos está na faixa etária entre 31 a 40 anos. Os participantes responderam a um questionário demográfico e à Escala de Ajustamento Diádico - DAS. Os resultados mostraram que a maioria dos participantes está satisfeita com seus relacionamentos, sendo que as mulheres apresentaram média de satisfação inferior à dos homens. Quanto à percepção do futuro do relacionamento, ficou evidente o comprometimento de homens e mulheres em investirem na manutenção do casamento. Os resultados questionam a idéia vigente de falência do casamento e da família e apontam para uma transformação das relações. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThis paper presents part of a quantitative research regarding marriages in which men and women are engaged in full time work. The main objective was to evaluate marital satisfaction in dual worker couples. Subjects were 222 married men and 222 married women that work in several public institutions in Brasilia - DF. The majority of the participants were between 31 to 40 years old. They answered a demographic questionnaire and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale - DAS. Results showed that the majority of participants were satisfied with their relationships although women presented lower satisfaction scores then men. Regarding the perception of the future of the relationship, the results showed that subjects were committed to preserve their marriage. These data question current ideas that marriages and families are outmoded and point in the direction of a transformation in interpersonal relationships

Redes Sociais e Comportamento Sexual: para uma visão relacional da sexualidade, do risco e da prevenção

Com base num inquérito representativo da população portuguesa entre 18 e 65 anos, realizado em 2007, este estudo investiga o impacto de fatores de rede social sobre os comportamentos sexuais dos indivíduos. Através da percepção normativa dos inquiridos sobre a moral sexual dos seus amigos e familiares e de indicadores relativos à caracterização da rede de confidência sexual, tais como o número, a identidade, o gênero, a idade e o comportamento dos confidentes em matéria de sexualidade e prevenção face ao risco de infecção por DSTs, obtivemos um retrato multidimensional das redes sociais dos indivíduos. A realização de análises de regressão linear e logística permitiu avaliar o impacto preditivo da rede sobre o número de parceiros sexuais, as relações sexuais ocasionais e o uso do preservativo. Os dados mostram que os fatores de rede são importantes para explicar o comportamento sexual dos indivíduos. Redes constituídas por amigos e mais liberais em termos de moral sexual tendem a influenciar o comportamento sexual, levando a um maior experimentalismo, sobretudo no caso das mulheres. Por outro lado, a homologia entre o comportamento sexual dos confidentes e o dos inquiridos é relevante para explicar o recurso ao preservativo nas relações sexuais ocasionais, especialmente no caso dos homens. Tanto numa perspectiva relacional da sexualidade como numa óptica epidemiológica, a análise das redes sociais dos indivíduos constitui um aspecto importante para a compreensão e explicação da variedade de experiências sexuais, mais restritas ou mais plurais, e para os riscos de infecção que daí podem advir

Growing up beside you: a relational sociology of early childhood

This article will begin by outlining influential attempts by historians and sociologists to develop a more adequate theoretical understanding of past and contemporary childhoods, focusing on the major problems that stem from the pivotal role that ‘developmentalism’ plays in their arguments. I will argue that sociologists can overcome some of their deepest fears about the role of developmental psychology by developing a relational approach that integrates the biological and social aspects of children’s development. In the development of a relational sociology of early childhood we need to make important connections with closely related disciplines, but at the same time draw on and integrate research findings from relevant areas within the social and natural sciences. An alternative perspective drawn from the writings of Norbert Elias will be put forward and illustrated by discussing some of the key concepts that Elias and Vygotsky used to explain the language development of young children

‘If parents are punished for asking their children to feed goats’: supervisory neglect in sub-Saharan Africa

Summary: In the United States and the United Kingdom supervisory neglect of children is premised on a construction of childhood which characterises children as essentially vulnerable and in need of constant care and protection by parents. This Western conception has been transmitted to the countries of the sub-Sahara via the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, the socio-economic and cultural context of African countries differs significantly from those of the United Kingdom and the United States. The incorporation of a Western hegemonic idea of childhood into the national laws of African countries creates fundamental contradictions in the application of criteria for adjudging the adequacy of parental supervision in the sub-Sahara. Drawing on secondary data, this article explores these contradictions and proposes alternative considerations in the conceptualisation and assessment of supervisory neglect. Finding: The combined effects on households in the sub-Sahara of economic conditions, ascribed gender roles and the reciprocal duties held by children to assist their families, contest established indicators and thresholds for supervisory neglect. The concept of societal neglect together with the application of the Haddon Matrix provides a more apposite framework for reducing the risk of significant harm to children. Application: All African countries, excepting Somalia, have introduced the Convention on the Rights of the Child through domestic legislation. The findings of this study are pertinent to policy-makers and social workers in the sub-Sahara. They also invite Western scholars to critically engage with dominant notions of supervisory neglect and re-appraise its applicability in cross-national contexts

A infância representada no livro escolar: tipos de textos e estereótipos sociais

Esta investigação inscreve-se dominantemente no âmbito dos estudos da criança e ancora a sua área específica nas questões linguísticas, assumindo os pressupostos teóricos e metodológicos da análise do discurso (de tradição francófona), considerando também contributos de áreas conexas. Analisa textos de manuais/livros escolares usados no sistema de ensino português, pretendendo tornar visíveis as imagens que estes constroem das crianças e da infância, bem como os recursos linguísticos mais relevantes associados a tal construção. Procura desvendar a representatividade das tipologias textuais nos manuais e de que forma estas contribuem para a construção das referidas imagens. Conclui que as crianças dos textos são seres sem voz e sem poder, consumidoras, mas não coprodutoras de cultura, com os textos inculcando valores conformadores da manutenção da ordem social estabelecida, sendo a forma como as tipologias textuais estão organizadas contribuidora para se alcançar esse propósito.This research forms primarily part of the child studies and is based on its specific field of linguistic issues, assuming the theoretical and methodological assumptions of the speech analysis (of French-speaking tradition), having also regard the inputs of related fields. It analyses texts from handbooks/textbooks used on the Portuguese educational system, intending to reveal pictures that these books construct about children and childhood, as well as the most relevant linguistic resources associated with such construction. This paper aims at unravelling the representation of the text typologies in the handbooks and how these can contribute for building of such pictures. From this, one can conclude that children from the texts are voiceless and have no power, they are consumers but not co-producers of culture, with these texts instilling conservative values for maintaining the established social order, but also that the way texts typologies are organized to contribute for reaching that propose.Esta investigación se ensere en el ámbito de los estudios del niño y más precisamente en la área de las cuestiones lingüísticas, asumiendo los presupuestos teóricos e metodológicos de la análisis del discurso (de tradición francófona), considerando también aportes de las áreas conexas. Analiza textos de manuales/libros escolares usados en el sistema de enseñanza portugués, pretendiendo tornar visibles las imágenes que este construyen de los niños y de la infancia, bien como los recursos lingüísticos más relevantes asociados a esa construcción. Busca desvendar la representatividad de las tipologías textuales en los manuales y de qué forma contribuyen para la construcción de las referidas imágenes. Concluye que los niños de los textos son seres sin voz y sin poder, consumidores, pero no coproductores de cultura y que los textos inculcan valores conformadores de manutención del orden social establecido, mas también que la forma como las tipologías textuales están organizadas contribuye para alcanzar ese propósito.CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, IE, UMinho (UI 317 da FCT), Portugal. Fundos Nacionais através da FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) e cofinanciado pelo Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) através do COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) no âmbito do CIEC (Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, da Universidade do Minho) com a referência POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007562info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Theorising age and generation in development: A relational approach

This introduction outlines the analytical approach informing the articles presented in this special issue. The project of ‘generationing’ development involves re-thinking development as distinctly generational in its dynamics. For this, we adopt a relational approach to the study of young people in development, which overcomes the limitations inherent to common categorising approaches. Concepts of age and generation are employed to conceptualise young people as social actors and life phases such as childhood and youth in relational terms. Acknowledging the centrality of young people in social reproduction puts them at the heart of development studies and leads the articles comprising this special issue to explore how young people’s agency shapes and is shaped by the changing terms of social reproduction brought about by development