\u27Til Death Do Them Part? : Assessing the Permanence of Goodridge

In America’s Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage, Daniel Pinello explores the social and political underpinnings of the controversy surrounding so-called “gay” marriage. Pinello’s analysis is directed toward using the struggle for marriage equality as an empirical basis for achieving a better understanding of how public policy derives from the interactions of citizens, interest groups, and government entities. This Book Review argues the importance to policy formation of a force Pinello tends to underemphasize: the counter-majoritarian influence of constitutional law and judicial review. The significance of this factor is considered primarily in relation to state constitutional amendments that purport to “define” marriage as being strictly between one man and one woman. This Book Review concludes that such amendments, by their nature, violate the Federal Equal Protection Clause. Separate consideration is given to the particular illegitimacy and vulnerability of such an amendment in Massachusetts, where state constitutional jurisprudence requires equal marriage rights for same-sex couples

Perception of stress in Laotian migrant workers in Thailand

Globalization and the movement of workers across borders in search of a better life or employment are presenting healthcare systems and researchers with problems of increasing complexity. This study focused on how migrant workers in Thailand from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic conceptualized their stress and stressing factors. Participant observation, in-depth interviews, and field notes were employed in the study, which analyzed data from seventy subjects through qualitative content analysis. The migrant workers in this sample perceived stress as a state of being unable to fulfill their preferences or expectations revolving around issues of: living with poverty, employment, loneliness, poor relationships, competition in the workplace combined with job uncertainty, and invisibility. To provide care for the minority migrant workers, nurses need to focus on identifying how these users perceive stress, and urgent action and further research are needed