Catch-up growth assessment in long-term physically neglected and emotionally abused preschool age male children

OBJECTIVE: To assess the catch-up growth of long-term physically neglected and emotionally abused preschool male children who have entered foster residential care and remained 1 year after initial placement. METHOD: Longitudinal study over a 7-year period (1994-2001). So that a child was eligible for the study, three selection criteria were included: (1) aged between 24 and 48 months at the time of entry into residential facility, (2) having suffered both long-term (more than 6 months) physically neglected and emotionally abused, and (3) having stayed in foster care for 1 year after initial placement. Weight, height, and head circumference were established upon entry and re-assessed 1 year after initial placement, calculating the annual growth velocity. Results were compared with normal regional longitudinal standards of reference (Z score). Student's t test was used to assess statistically significant differences. RESULTS: During the study period, 87 children aged between 24 and 48 months (54 male/33 female) were admitted to residential facility after having suffered both long-term physical neglect and emotional abuse. Nevertheless, only 20 children (23% of the total admissions) met the third selection criteria (having remained 1 year after initial placement). Of these children, all were males and at placement they were between the ages of 30 and 42 months, with an average age of 36 months (1.9 SD). At placement, the analyzed parameters were below the normal standards, showing a statistically significant difference for height (Z score = -1.29; p = .008) and weight (Z score = -.75; p = .038). The annual growth velocity for all parameters was above the normal standards showing a statistically significant difference for height (Z score = +1.43; p = .009). One year after initial placement, the significant differences for height (Z score = -.68; p = .102) and weight (Z score = -.31; p = .435) with respect to the normal standards disappeared, though still remained below, showing a significant catch-up growth for height (improvement height Z = +.61 SD). CONCLUSIONS: At placement, the both long-term physically neglected and emotionally abused preschool age male children showed a mild form of chronic malnutrition with growth failure. Growth failure was reversible after the first year of stay, which demonstrates that this delay in growth was secondary to nutritional and psychosocial factors. Placement in foster residential care was beneficial for the catch-up growth of these patients.     

作为国际商品的知识和教育:国家共同利益的消解

知识和教育作为商品在国际上买卖容易使国家公共利益的价值观在这种过程中被消解 ,教育毕竟不是简单的商品 ,它承载着一个国家共同的东西 :文化、历史、民主价值观等等。因此有必要以一种平衡的视觉来对全球化进行审视。作者认为 ,知识教育的全球化使得维持一定的学术标准变得更加困难 ,“出售”的教育质量的确保也就成了未知数 ;教育市场的开放加深了高等教育领域的不平等 ,“马太效应”必然会出现于高等教育市场 ,使得发展中国家面临着被清除出局的危险。新的新殖民地主义者———跨国集团、媒介巨头和一些主要的大学销售各种各样的知识产品来垄断商业利益 ,弱势国家在全球范围内失去了知识和文化的自治。面对这种种挑战 ,作者认为在认同知识的国际化和合作以及承认国家之间高等教育不平等的现实的前提下 ,应该反对强迫落后国家受制于巨大的不平等市场 ,反对发达国家掠夺发展中国家的学术机构和学术体系在有关课程、质量标准方面的决策权。而世界贸易组织及其服务贸易总协定的介入必然会加重这种现象 ,很显然他们应有的态度是与此保持一定的距离     

战争用的机器

在这个骚乱的时代,一个由野蛮的外来迁徙者发起混乱的时代,战争不再排外,而成了各民族生存的共同法则。在经历了几个时代的骚乱后,第一个文明开始确立,这时大多数人已将精力用于建设而不再是掠夺。在公元前2000年早期,尽管一些部落已确立了文明的边界,不再好勇斗狠,但是没有人敢于忽略对于战争的研究。今后,研究者将放弃对此的精密性研究,伟大的发现将是新的破坏模式。战争武器的第一次突破是那     

一名啦啦队队员的申诉

多年来,人们一直认为"典型的"啦啦队队员是一个金发、厌食、傻傻的流浪女,她分不清左右。大家总想着,一名啦啦队队员最关心的两件事,就是她自己和她为之助威的男生们。至于我,我是一名热爱运动的初中生,喜欢做啦啦队的工作。我每天不得不面对成见和玩笑,因为人们的看     

Mother-child mutually responsive orientation and conscience development: from toddler to early school age

We examined whether positive implications of mother-child mutually responsive orientation, demonstrated earlier at toddler and preschool age, extend longitudinally into early school age. The focus of the present study was on the long-term consequences of mutually responsive orientation for the development of conscience. Mutually responsive orientation encompassed shared cooperation and shared positive affect between mother and child. It was measured as a composite of those qualities observed in dyadic naturalistic interactions and reported by mothers, at toddler and preschool age. Children's conscience was assessed at early school age (N = 83) using multiple measures, including observations of moral behavior, alone and in the peer context, and moral cognition. Mother-child mutually responsive orientation at toddler and preschool ages predicted children's future conscience, even after controlling for the developmental continuity of conscience. Model-fitting analyses revealed that mutually responsive orientation at toddler age had a direct effect on future conscience, not mediated by such orientation at preschool age. The findings extend those of earlier work that revealed the importance of mother-child mutually responsive orientation for socialization, and they confirm the value of the relationship approach to social development, including long-term outcomes.     

审美认同、种族与美国民间音乐

本文运用审美认同的概念来探究音乐类型、社会运动与种族认同之间的关系。在20世纪的美国,其民间音乐在某个时期会破坏黑人与白人之间的绝对边界,而在另一个时期又强化了这种边界。审美认同是艺术类型与社会群体的文化结盟,借助这种结盟,群体就会感觉到某种艺术类型是代表了＂我们的＂或者＂他们的＂艺术、音乐和文学。这样,艺术类型的边界就成了社会的边界。民间音乐颠覆了艺术类型与社会边界的这种常规关系。民间音乐总是一些＂他者＂的文化,或者是种族的、地区的、阶级的文化,或者是民族的文化。在被叫作民间音乐之前,美国的本土音乐更多地体现了种族的完整性而不是其社会性,它是占支配地位的欧洲音乐和主要受非洲音乐影响的音乐相互混合的产物,但是又很好的表现了这两者。在商业唱片时代之前,黑人和白人音乐家们唱着同样的音乐,相互学习歌唱技巧和歌曲,并且共享一个表演的社会空间。民间音乐的概念是由学术精英创造出来的,但直到20世纪30年代到40年代后期,当有组织的左派把它当作一个文化事业时,它对大多数人来说仍然是陌生的。无论是学术精英还是政治活动家都将艺术类型建构成另一种种族化的艺术类型,而商业唱片工业又以＂种族唱片＂和＂山地音乐＂将之双重化。在那个特定的种族极端化的时代,美国的共产主义者和他们的同盟者非常有意识的使用民间音乐作为一种加强种族团结的工具。由于麦卡锡主义的压制,直到20世纪60年代,民间音乐作为种族统一的类型而得到复兴,但迅速被白人化了。为什么民间音乐的复兴与白人有关,我的解释是有三个因素：连续商业化的种族遗产;新左派不能像老左派那样有效地通过文化设施来控制音乐;在某个时候,当黑人努力要进入白人中产阶级青年所抵制的体制中时,一种把民间音乐理解为＂他者＂音乐的文化动力。     

垃圾猫看书

垃圾猫很想成为一只有品位的猫。"裤G,你是编杂志的人,我想请教你一个问题。"裤G正在低头看书,他头也不抬地说:"垃圾猫,你可千万别问我那些垃圾问题哟!""我今天问的可是非常重要的问题。请问,怎样才能成为一只很有品位的猫?"