Contestable adulthood: variability and disparity in markers for negotiating the transition to adulthood

Recent research has identified a discreet set of subjective markers that are seen as characterizing the transition to adulthood. The current study challenges this coherence by examining the disparity and variability in young people’s selection of such criteria. Four sentence-completion cues corresponding to four differentcontexts in which adult status might be contested were given to 156 British 16- to 17-year-olds. Their qualitative responses were analyzed to explore patterns whilst capturing some of their richness and diversity. An astonishing amount of variability emerged, both within and between cued contexts.The implications of this variability for how the transition to adulthood is experienced are explored. The argument is made that markers of the transition to adulthood are not merely reflective of the bio–psycho–social development of young people. Rather, adulthood here is seen as an essentially contested concept,located within the discursive interactional environment in which young people participate

Understanding the dynamics of electoral reform

After a long period of stasis 1993 marked a burst of change in liberal democracies' electoral arrangements. There were major shifts in three established democratic countries (Italy, Japan, and New Zealand), and a new system in Russia. All four changes show some parallels as well as some distinct features, especially in adopting "mixed" electoral systems. The roots of this pattern lie deep in the multiple criteria involved in debates about voting systems. Multi-dimensionality also explains some of the inherent difficulties of implementing reform, which we consider in the context of the revived electoral reform debate in the UK. Lastly, we examine the pressures for "convergence" in electoral systems at work in plurality rule countries, where party systems show tendencies to fragment; and in proportional representation systems, where public demands for greater accountability have emerged

The role of imaging in the pre- and postoperative evaluation of posterior occipito-cervical fusion

Occipitocervical fusion is required when the occipitoatlantal joint is unstable. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of imaging in the pre- and postoperative evaluation of posterior occipitocervical fusion (POCF), focusing on contoured loop fixation by Hartshill and Songer instrumentation

Coping Strategies in a Wealthy City of Northern Italy

The article focuses on the coping strategies of three categories of people usually considered to be at risk of becoming socially excluded - single mothers with minor children, long-term unemployed males and foreign immigrants - in the northern Italian city of Milan. The concept of social exclusion, often used as an alternative to the concept of poverty, occasionally as its synonym, is here intended as multidimensional, dynamic and, most of all, relational. The article shows how this concept can be useful in analysing the condition of the three categories of people and how their condition is strongly related to the constraints and resources offered by the local context. Through the empirical material gathered from in-depth interviews with the three above-mentioned categories of people, the article first shows how these people profit from the labour market and the social services available in the city. It then analyses the role of social networks and the mechanisms behind the mobilization of people in support of the interviewees. Finally, it deals with the subjective dimension, that is, it examines whether, and to what extent, interviewees express feelings of uselessness. A visualization of the strategies will also be proposed. The empirical material will help to understand whether these people are socially excluded or not, and in which sense. Copyright (c) 2006 The Author. Journal Compilation (c) 2006 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.