Maintaining the self: meanings of material objects after a residential transition later in life

Introduction: Moving house later in life can be a major transition and valued material objects may be important to this process. The present study aimed to develop an explanatory model for the meanings of material objects to older adults in the context of a residential transition.

Method: Using grounded theory methodology, 12 participants were interviewed about the meanings and roles of valued material objects following a residential transition. Older adult participants lived in either their own home or a care home.

Results: The model entails two core categories, “threats to identity” and “objects and identity continuity” along with four explanatory concepts, “moving and identity discontinuity”, “connections across time”, “attachments to others”, and “preserving self and ancestors in the memories of the next generation”.

Discussion: Objects were described to have important personal meanings which helped people maintain a sense of identity continuity following residential transition. They were associated with comfort, security and life review processes, which support identity continuity later in life.

Conclusion: Moving house later in life can threaten a person’s sense of self. However, material objects can help maintain a sense of identity continuity through reminiscence and life review processes. Implications for community and residential care moving house transitions are discussed.     

Oxfam 'Developing Rights': Towards a Maximalist Conception of Citizenship

The concept of citizenship is open to a wide range of interpretations and, although it has a long history at the margins of education in the UK, it has never had an established tradition. Arguably, citizenship should occupy a central position in the curriculum since a broad interpretation of it underpins many of the skills, values and attitudes which we would want to promote. As part of Oxfam's promotion of global citizenship, a pack of teaching materials was commissioned and developed by teachers, with the aim of promoting basic rights from local, national and global perspectives. This paper describes this pack and the rationale for it.     

Physical Activity Correlates for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders in Middle School Physical Education

Bat/ball contact produces visual (the ball leaving the bat), auditory ( the “crack” of the bat), and tactile (bat vibration) feedback about the success of the swing. We used a batting simulation to investigate how college baseball players use visual, tactile, and auditory feedback. In Experiment 1, swing accuracy (i.e., the lateral separation between the point of contact and “sweet spot”) was compared for no feedback (N), visual alone, auditory alone, and tactile alone. Swings were more accurate for all single-modality combinations as compared to no feedback, and visual produced the greatest accuracy. In Experiment 2, the congruency between visual, tactile, and auditory was varied so that in some trials, the different modalities indicated that the simulated ball contacted the bat at different points. Results indicated that batters combined information but gave more weight to visual. Batting training manuals, which typically only discuss visual cues, should emphasize the importance of auditory and tactile feedback in baseball batting.     

The Spectre of Steroids: Nazi Propaganda,Cold War Anxiety and Patriarchal Paternalism

This essay demonstrates that certain fears in North America and Western Europe over steroid and other banned substance use in sport can be tied to three post-WWII events: reports that the Nazis had abused steroids to increase troop aggressiveness during WWII; claims during the cold war that Communist countries' athletes were utilizing steroids for purposes of totalitarian regime building similar to the manner in which the Nazis had allegedly used them; and allegations that east bloc female athletes were being used to further the cause of Communist regimes by being forced to accept the androgenizing effects of anabolic steroids and other hormone treatments. It is only with a full understanding of the repressed anxieties engendered by these events that the status of current banned substance policies can be fully and accurately evaluated.     

Asylums and Sport: Participation,Isolation and the Role of Cricket in the Treatment of the Insane

In the histories of mental institutions, sports and recreations have played a central role. Particular focus has been placed on staff and patients but it is only recently that historians have sought to explain the role of sport in general, and cricket in particular, in therapeutic terms. In addition, other recent work has highlighted the importance of cricket as one of the activities that placed asylums at the centre of a wider network within society. Yet there remains a pervasive sense these institutions were both isolated and distant. The aim of this article is to understand this apparent contradiction by drawing together recent themes relating to therapy and interaction. Using contemporary and secondary sources, it will explore the composition of teams. Focusing primarily on Great Britain, and using a case study from the north of England at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it will seek to explain who played cricket in the asylum and who represented the teams that played in the local community. It will also explore reactions locally to those teams. Ultimately, it will show that although teams were integrated within their local communities, it was their composition that contributed to both physical and social senses of isolation.     

Comparison of Research Speed and Accuracy Using Westlaw Classic and WestlawNext

In 2010, Thomson Reuters released WestlawNext powered by WestSearch, a novel and proprietary algorithm. WestlawNext represents a new approach to legal research platform design. This article empirically examines the differences in search results using Westlaw Classic and WestlawNext by testing law students and librarians in both systems. Results demonstrate that researchers complete everyday searches faster and more accurately using WestlawNext. However, WestSearch's unique features and Thomson Reuters' failure to explain the function behind the WestlawNext main search bar and the WestSearch algorithm has limited researchers' ability to understand and effectively use WestlawNext. This lack of understanding has significant implications for instruction.