Showing papers by "University of Massachusetts Boston published in 1974"

role adaptation: traditional curers under the impact of Western medicine1

Abstract: To examine effects on the curers role of the contest between indigenous and Western medical systems the concept of role adaptation is proposed and considered as a conceptual tool and as it may relate to such associated concepts as cultural broker role analogue and role ambiguity. Data were taken from a variety of studies by anthropologists and others in an effort to place the changing role of the curer into substantive and theoretical perspective and to contribute to a model for the study of role adaptation under conditions of culture change. The instance of the traditional curers role under potential stress from the demands and temptations of the compeing mdical system represents andextension of Goodes theory of role strain. The following assumptions are made: the curers place in his society originally was relatively secure until threatened by the pressure of culture change and his status was traditional and prescribed though not invariably ascribed regardless of whether his pesonality was in phase with the behavioral norms of his own sociocultural system; prior to contact in addition to ameliorating the effects of illness and disease the curers activities were oriented toward enhancing and/or reinforcing his social position; a measure of security was present in that role performance expectations were shared with other members of the society and competition originated primarily from within the group and presented a relatively known range of possibilities; and the curing role could be a full or part time one but prestige in 1 role tended to be linked to prestige in others so that status in any tended to reinforce the power of all. Analysis of role adaptation of curers in selected societies undergoing acculturation suggests a model of adaptation possibilities in which the data may be grouped into 3 categories--adaptive attenuated and emergent curing roles--and the data are examined in these terms. Primarily it is the local curere who borrows elements from Western medicine rather than vice versa although many "primitive" botanicals have been incorporated or synthesized. In his role adaptations to culture change the traditional healer not only incorporates but elaborates Western elements. Resysthesis flows in the other direction when customary ceremonies and fetishes become used for new functions especially to relieve some of the tensions and anxieties of acculturative pressures as in West Africa for example the Fanti Anang Ibibio and Ashanti. The curers status becomes attenuated when the expectations of his community are such tath the technology if not the values of scientific medicine is perceived by them as so clearly superior that they distinctly prefer to their own. As for the new emergent curing or quasi-medical roles it may be predicted that they are likely to be thrust into competitive stress and strain with their analogues within the Western medical system especially such paramedical roles as those of nurse attendant and medical technician.

Nitrogen fixation in the bayberry (myrica pensylvanica and its role in coastal succession

Abstract: A B S T RA CT The nodules on roots of Myrica pe7tsylvanica (bayberry) contain a bacterial endophyte. By using the acetylene reduction technique these plant endophyte associations were shown to be capable of fixing nitrogen. As nodulation was plentiful and fixation vigorous, it is proposed that the success of M. pensylvanica as an early successional plant of dunes and impoverished coastal soils is due in part to the nitrogen-fixing capacity of its nodular association. PREVIOUS STUDIES on symbiotic nitrogen fixation have emphasized the role of leguminous plants, particularly in agricultural practice. Such symbioses have been described in some 13,000 species of the family Leguminosae. In contrast, nitrogen fixation by symbiotic bacteria in nonleguminous plants has been reported in only 13 genera representing 118 species (Rodriguez-Barrueco, 1968). Such studies have indicated the important role of nonleguminous symbiosis in the world's nitrogen cycle (Bond, 1967; Silver, 1971), and several reports have emphasized its significance for plants of pioneer successional communities. For example, Alnus glutinosa* (L.) Gaertn. and Myrica asplenifolia* L. (Gleason and Cronquist, 1963) [Syn. Comptonia peregrina* (L.) Coult. (Femald, 1950)] have been reported as successful colonizers of anthracite waste dumps (Schramm, 1966), while Alnus crispa (Ait.) Pursh and Dryas drummondii* Richards are early colonizers of fresh glacial till (Crocker and Major, 1955; Lawrence, et al., 1967). Other plants have been shown to be associated with the accumulation of fixed nitrogen in the soil and to play a part in the stabilization of sand dunes. Such species include Hippophae rhamnoides* L. (Stewart and Pearson, 1967), Casuarina equisetifolia* L. (Bond, 1957; Dommergues, 1963), Myrica

The effect of problem size on representation in deductive problem solving.

Abstract: Adult Ss attempted to solve logical deductive reasoning problems that varied systematically in amount of information presented. Methods Ss employed in representing the problem were classified into five main types or modes. The proportion of Ss using a matrix mode of problem representation increased moderately with problems containing large amounts of information. The performance of Ss using a matrix mode of representation suggested that this advantage is related to ease of applying and/or storing the results of logical operations in such a problem space rather than to any facilitative effects of encoding processes. Specific limits to normal processing are hypothesized.

Wine in the Treatment of Long‐Term Geriatric Patients in Mental Institutions

Abstract: The therapeutic effects of wine were studied in 80 long-term psychogeriatric patients in two hospital wards each containing 20 men and 20 women. One ward was run on a Token Economy Program (TEP) and the other on a Free Enrichment Program (FEP). Under TEP, wine (limit, two servings of 1 1/2 ounces each) was purchasable with tokens earned by good behavior; under FEP, the wine was free regardless of behavior. The study lasted ten weeks, with a six-month follow-up. After the introduction of wine, there was a dramatic reduction in the use of chloral hydrate to induce sleep. There also was an increase in congenial interpersonal communication. The earning of wine tokens was a positive element in improving the behavior of some patients on the TEP ward, although it was a less effective behavioral reinforcement than cigarettes. Thus wine may play a significant role in treatment programs for the elderly. The subject needs further investigation.

Fertility and the Fear of Death

Abstract: The birth-death theme has fascinated humankind for centuries. It can be discovered in many cultural practices, ranging from childnaming and memorialization rituals to the transmission of political power, and birth-death dynamics have been probed by Hegel, Jung, Freud, and other influential thinkers. Surprisingly little has been done, however, to formulate and test specific hypotheses. This article begins with the simplistic proposition: “We fear death—and that is why we reproduce after our kind.” Exploratory data and some methodological and theoretical considerations are presented, including the concept of a spectrum of death-transcending strategies, fertility being but one. An understanding of our complex orientations toward both propagation and mortality appears necessary in view of emerging pressures to manipulate population structure and divide one generation from another.

Disaster, Death, and Human Ecology:

Abstract: The “bolt-from-the-blue” hypothesis oversimplifies the complex and intimate relationship between disaster, death, and human ecology. The definition of “disaster” and our response to the event may b...

Gravitational field of a freely moving mass

Abstract: A definition of a freely moving mass in general relativity is proposed based upon properties of the analogous motion in special relativity Co-ordinate ambiguities can, to a large extent, be removed with the use of «invariant» quantities which play the role of «gauge invariants» in general relativity under co-ordinate transformations which do not change the frame of reference The gravitational «force» which a freely moving source, taken to be a Schwarzschild mass, exerts on a test mass momentarily at rest, or on another mass momentarily at rest asymptotically far away is calculated, showing that two-body effects can be important even in the case of a «test» mass The definition of a freely moving mass is shown to be physically meaningful to terms of second order The calculation has close similarities to that for the analogous motion of a freely moving charge in electrodynamics, renforcing the idea that a restricted set of co-ordinate transformations in general relativity corresponds to the gauge transformations of electrodynamics in special relativity

Systems of notations and the ramified analytical hierarchy

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to show that arithmetically minimal systems of notations can be constructed which provide notations for all ramified analytical ordinals (all the ordinals in the minimum β -model for analysis). This is a much larger section of the second number class than the Church-Kleene constructive ordinals (although still only an initial segment of the ordinals). Arithmetic minimality means that if H is an “ H -set” associated with an ordinal α in our system and H′ is an H -set associated with the same ordinal α in an arbitrary system of notations S , then H is arithmetical in H′ . Thus the arithmetical degrees associated with ordinals in our system are as low as possible. In order to clarify the structure of degrees of unsolvability and, more generally, to gain a deeper insight into the power set of the integers, coarser but neater classifications than the structure of Turing degrees have been sought. Several hierarchies of sets of integers have been studied, each of which organizes a certain class of sets (or their degrees of unsolvability) into a well-ordering of levels with increasing complexity of nonrecursiveness appearing at each new level. The best known of these hierarchies is the Kleene hierarchy of arithmetical sets.