Beyond family structure: The family in domestic comedy

This inquiry examined the portrayal of family relationships in domestic comedy. Participants were randomly assigned to view and evaluate samples of thirteen programs, selected for the study on the basis of their popularity during the period 1950‐1990. Separate discriminant function analyses of spousal and parent‐child relations showed that spousal relations were defined in terms of receptiveness and expressiveness while parent‐child relations were defined in terms of the effectiveness of child socialization and the affective tone of the relationship. Further examination provided strong evidence that the development of the television family has occurred as a stepwise process in which successive generations have been characterized by changed levels of relational openness and a general trend toward increased expression of affect in spousal relations. The study yielded no support for the claim that family life and family relations have deteriorated across time in the television family although there was evidence that working‐class families are seen to be less functional than higher socio‐economic status families. The limitations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Makeover TV: Selfhood,Citizenship, and Celebrity

A survey conducted in McAllen, Texas, a largely Hispanic area, examined whether exposure to Spanish-language cable news had an agenda-setting effect. Results show that level of exposure was associated with agenda-setting effects for Spanish cable news, but perceived media credibility and media reliance were not related to the strength of agenda-setting effects. Exposure, credibility, and reliance were also not associated with agenda- setting effects for English-language newscasts-perhaps because English speakers had more news options in the survey area.     

A case study of integration and destreaming: Teachers and students in an Ontario secondary school respond

The direction that secondary school reform should take has become a contested question in the province of Ontario, Canada, during the 1990s. This case study of one secondary school examines some of the issues surrounding the transition years. Two policies, destreaming and integration, mandatedbythe OntarioMinistryof Education in 1993, and fully implemented by 1995, are examined by means of interview and survey. Administrators, teachers and students commented on the transition from elementary to secondary school. We discuss questions related to destreaming (especially how teachers contend with mixed-ability classes) and integration (with a particular focus on mathematics, science and technology).     

A Quantitative Procedure for the Identification of Effective Schools

This paper outlines a quantitative procedure for identifying effective schools. Effective schools are defined as those schools that produce student test performance that departs markedly, in an upward direction, from pre-established school and district trends. The methodology for this procedure is described, and correlations of procedure results with important student enrollment and attendance statistics, teacher background variables, and previous and concurrent absolute levels of student achievement are discussed. Finally, the use of this procedure for rewarding outstanding schools is described.     

Executing Democracy: Volume 1: Capital Punishment & The Making of America, 1683–1807

The Nature of Literature: Its Relation to Science, Language and Human Experience. By Thomas Clark Pollock. Princeton: the Princeton University Press, 1942; pp. 218 + xxvi. $3.00.

Roosevelt's Foreign Policy, 1933–1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Unedited Speeches and Messages. Compiled and collated by Douglas Lurton. New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc., 1942; pp. xv + 634. $3.75.

Voices of History: Great Speeches and Papers of the Year 1941. Edited by Franklin Watts with an introduction by Charles Beard. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1942; pp. xix + 669. $3.50.

Playwrights Present. By H. H. Giles and Robert J. Cadigan. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1943; pp. xiii + 290. $1.60.

A Theory of Meaning Analyzed. General Semantics Monographs, Number III. Chicago: Institute of General Semantics, 1942; pp. xvi and 46. $1.50.

Speech Correction on the Contract Plan. By Ruth Manser. Rev. ed. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1942; pp. xix + 381. $3.00.

Speech in a Democracy. By Herold T. Ross and Clarence C. Shoemaker. Boston: Expression Co., 1942; pp. 276. $2.50.     

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala's Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno and the Practice of Rhetorical Theory in Colonial Peru

This essay takes up Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala's Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno as an artifact of early colonial Peruvian rhetoric and an evocative example of American rhetorical theory. Our analysis illuminates how Guaman Poma theorizes transcultural colonial communication from an Andean perspective. We highlight three key elements in his theory: its ethical copia, its concern with the insufficiency of the available genres, and its assumption that communication will fail. In the end, we suggest, Guaman Poma provides a generative, if incomplete, theory that helps account for the complexities of colonial rhetorical practice.     

Evaluation of a core team centred professional development programme for building a whole-school cooperative problem solving approach to conflict

This study evaluated a professional learning approach using a core team (CT) model to assist primary (elementary) schools to develop whole-school collaborative conflict resolution processes. Thirteen schools were matched and randomly assigned to the enhancing relationships in school communities programme (n?=?10) or a non-programme control group (n?=?3). Programme schools provided a core (professional learning) team, who attended professional learning days, and disseminated programme content throughout their schools. Programme schools also received one full school staff workshop. After one year, CT participants were more likely to apply a collaborative conflict resolution model to problem scenarios and report greater knowledge and skills compared to non-programme-school control participants. Compared to the non-programme control group, non-core team programme school staff described using more cooperative approaches to handling conflict, especially when they had received more professional development from their CT. Programme school teachers taught more hours conflict resolution curriculum, and increases in hours taught by programme (but not control) teachers were associated with teacher reported increases in student understanding and use of cooperative methods. Patterns also supported a role of self-efficacy in implementation. The potential usefulness of a CT professional learning model for assisting schools to develop cooperative conflict resolution approaches was supported.     

The Monster Within: How Male Serial Killers Discursively Manage Their Stigmatized Identities

Investigations of identity management regarding serial killers are sparse and rarely account for the communal discourse surrounding serial homicide. Such studies are essential to understanding the intersections of stigma and identity, particularly for the exploration of reframing that is severely limited for deviant populations. This interpretive study examined 13 interviews with serial killers to explore stigmatized identity management. The analysis revealed that male serial killers rejected their stigmatized identity by indicating a lack of control over their non-normal behavior or by justifying their actions. They also indicated that societal influences, such as previous traumatic experiences and communal discourse surrounding serial killing, influenced their identity management.     

Investigating Personality and Viewing-Motivation Correlates of Reality Television Exposure

This study investigated the personality and viewing-motivation correlates of reality television exposure. Results from a survey of 592 undergraduates showed that extroversion negatively predicted reality television exposure, whereas neuroticism was not associated with it. Both instrumental (social interaction, information, and arousal) and ritualized (relaxation, pass time, entertainment, and companionship) viewing motivations positively predicted exposure to reality television. A two-stage model by which personality traits contributed to viewing motivations, which, in turn, contributed to the selection of reality television, was tested and offered an adequate fit to the data. Implications for uses and gratifications research are discussed.