C. Eddie Palmer

Premature Death: Dilemmas of Infant Mortality

Infant death has extreme emotional and symbolic effects on parents and health care professionals who face the moral and ethical aspects of life and death decisions, complicated by government ideology. Social workers can help with understanding the resulting dilemmas and suggest possible interventions.

Dog catchers: A descriptive study

This ethnographic study examines the dog catcher in regard to work duties and role performances inherent in the occupation. Meanings associated with the occupation are considered in the light of the Sociology of Occupations. Dogcatchers were found to have devised mechanisms to subtly “get back at” an unappreciative public, behaviors which appear similar to those found in other low status or status inconsistent occupations.

Pornographic comics: A content analysis

Abstract The major purpose of this research is to document, through content analysis, the nature of pornographic themes found in a collection of pornographic comics usually called “eight‐pagers.” Pornographic categories developed by Kronhausen and Kronhausen (1961) were used in the analysis. Females are depicted as similar to males in carnal appetite and sexual aggression. Male chauvinism is apparent in many of the comics, and male fantasies are equally displayed and fulfilled. The comics visually portray numerous behaviors considered legally or morally deviant, but project “normative” sexuality by concentrating upon adult monogamous heterosexual behavior. Finally, a discussion of taxonomical, linguistic, and methodological problems in studying pornographic comics is offered.

Nurse‐neonate relationships: The creation of symbolic interaction within a neonatal intensive care unit

After a brief introduction to the broad field of perinatology, a description of one neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is provided, focusing upon the microecology of the work setting, the language of NICU nursing and the “special nature” of the role of the NICU nurse within a new medical environment. The idea is advanced, based upon preliminary research data, that nurses within the environment so described construct symbolic selves for their tiny, premature, and sometimes critically ill patients and then interact with them on the basis of that construction. Through anthropomorphism and projection, the nurses engage in active attribution of symbolic characteristics to their charges. This unique type of symbolic interaction can impact the well‐being and recovery potential of the patients.

Child Snatching Motivations, Mechanisms, and Melodrama

This article, based primarily upon interview data, explores child snatching and some of the attendant motivations and mechanisms surrounding such events. Findings include the fact that motivations for snatching, while always multifaceted, can be roughly categorized as child-focused (stemming from concern for the child) or as self-focused (originating in the snatchers desire to satisfy personal needs). Suggested also are six dimensions of child snatching that are thought to be common factors associated in some manner with each child snatching event. These dimensions are (1) motivations, ranging from self-centered to child-centered; (2) planning, ranging from professional to amateurish; (3) hostility, from mild to violent; (4) trauma, from serious to devastating; (5) familial involvement, from supportive to antagonistic; and (6) agency involvement, from minimal to extreme, by both public and private groups. These six factors are seen as affecting child snatching at all stages of the process. Suggestions for future research are offered.

The Painful Phenomenon of Child Snatching

Helping professionals will deal increasingly with the theft of children by parents. This article examines the motivations and emotions involved in the issue and explores legislative attempts at control. Attention is given to the difficulties in retrieving lost children.