Suicidal Masculinities

Across the West, suicide rates in young men have been rising for some time. This trend has attracted considerable media attention and is often cited within media discourse as evidence of a \'crisis of masculinity\'. The field of suicide research (or suicidology) is dominated by quantitative methodology, and although there has been research attention to the gendered character of suicidal behaviour, studies tend to compare \'men\' as a group with \'women\' as a group. There is also relatively little consideration within this literature of power relations and the social-political dimension of masculinities. This paper argues the case for a qualitative sociological approach to the study of gendered suicide and begins to outline a framework for understanding the diversity of suicidal masculinities. Connell\'s theoretical work on masculinities is used to analyse evidence from the suicidology literature. The framework includes consideration of when hegemonic masculinity fails; the subordinated masculinities of gay sexuality and mental illness; and control in intimate relationships.Suicide, Masculinity, Men, Gender, Crisis, Hegemonic, Subordinated, Mental Health, Autopsy, Qualitative

A plasma vortex revisited: The importance of including ionospheric conductivity measurements

In an earlier paper [Kosch et al., 1998], simultaneous all-sky TV imager and Scandinavian Twin Auroral Radar Experiment (STARE) observations of an ionospheric plasma vortex located poleward of an auroral arc were presented. The vortex is associated with a sudden brightening of the arc and corresponds to an ionospheric region of diverging horizontal electric fields, which is equivalent to a downward field-aligned current (FAC), i.e., the closure current for the upward current above the arc. This event has been revisited because of the subsequent availability of data from the Scandinavian Magnetometer Array. These data, combined with STARE electric fields, have been used to determine the real ionospheric conductance distribution throughout the field of view. As a result, a more realistic, quantitative picture of the current system associated with the arc is obtained than was possible in an earlier model based on an assumed constant conductance. In particular, a complete macroscopic electrodynamic description of a plasma vortex, composed of ionospheric conductances, true horizontal currents, and FACs, is obtained for the first time. It is shown that the plasma vortex corresponds to an area of decreased conductance, thus broadening the FAC distribution and reducing the current density compared to the earlier results. The study illustrates that horizontal conductance gradients should not be neglected when computing FACs

An independent process evaluation of Mellow Dads

No abstract available

Going for brokerage: a task of 'independent support' or social work?

It is argued that for the agenda to ‘personalize’ social care in the UK to be successful, adequate systems of support brokerage need to be in place. Where brokerage is situated organizationally and ideologically is not inconsequential, both in terms of the accountability, profile and quality of the ‘brokers’ and the extent to which service users can feel properly in control of their own care or support. Many involved in support brokerage argue that independence from statutory bodies is a key principle. However, models of support brokerage have been suggested that propose brokerage as a possible function of the statutory social care sector. The paper traces how and why the ‘new’ language of brokerage has emerged in official discourses of adult social care. It also discusses the various ideas about what brokerage is and who is supposed to undertake it. It is considered whether support brokerage should be regarded as a form of social work, which is not currently the case. Were independent support brokerage to expand its role in the adult social care system, the question would arise of where that would leave social work with adults. These developments expose conflicts and tensions in New Labour’s modernization agenda

Predictors of social service contact among teenagers in England

Very few UK studies make use of longitudinal general population data to explore social service contact for children and young people. Those that do only look at specific interventions such as care placements. This paper seeks to address this gap by asking to what extent do structural, neighbourhood, familial and individual characteristics predict social service contact. We provide an empirical answer by analysing the Longitudinal Survey of Young People in England, which includes data on social service contact in connection with young people's behaviour. Our findings indicate that social class, gender, ethnicity, stepfamily status and special education needs are all significant predictors of social service contact. Difficult parent–child relationships, frequent arguments and parents' lack of engagement with school meetings also matter, as does young people's own risk-taking behaviour. We conclude with a discussion of the limitation of the data for social work research and the implications of the findings

Chaereas, Hippolytus, Theseus: Tragic Echoes, Tragic Potential in Chariton

This article argues for the presence of previously unrecognized intertextual connections between Euripides' Hippolytus and two scenes in Chariton's Chacreas and Callirhoe, one of them of central importance to the action of the novel; and then considers the consequences of this identification for our reading of Chariton's work. Cet article démontre la présence de rapports intertextuels qu'on n'avait pas ce jour identifiés entre l'Hippolyte d'Euripide et deux scènes du roman de Chariton, Chéréas et Ca/lirhoé ; l'une de ces scènes est d'importance capitale pour l'action du roman. L'article s'intéresse ensuite aux conséquences de ces liens sur notre lecture de l'oeuvre de Chariton

Notes on the Text of Jerome, Letters 1 and 107

These comments start, as they must, from the text of I. Hilberg in the Vienna corpus.' This was the first properly critical edition of the Letters, and has not been superseded. It is, however, not without its limitations. In establishing his text Hilberg considered only a few MSS for each letter: for epist. 1, seven, and for epist. 107, six, in one of which (B) the letter is represented twice, though in neither case is it complete. Hilberg promised a volume of prolegomena and indices to accompany his text ;2 but it seems that he died before it could appear, and we do not know how he assessed his MSS, or how many he consulted before making his choice. What we do know is that those on which he relied form a very small proportion of those which exist. B. Lambert's catalogue of Jerome MSS3 lists 138 for epist. 1 and 145 for epist. 107, of which ten and thirteen respectively are dated ninth-to-tenth-century or earlier - and Lambert is well aware that his list cannot pretend to be exhaustive.4 Furthermore, there is some reason to doubt the accuracy of the collations which form the basis of Hilberg's edition.5 It is evident that much work remains to be done before a definitive edition can be produced. Meanwhile Hilberg's text is the best we have, and where I cite MSS I follow the readings of his apparatus criticus.6 The phrase 'the MSS' refers, in this article, only to those which Hilberg utilised