Edwin D. Lawson

THE PRODIGAL SON: A PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION '

There are several traditional interpretations of the parable of the prodigal son. Another approach would be psychological, which is really a story of the ego-involvement of the father. The fathers self-image was threatened when the son left but was restored on the return.

Social stratification and health practices in child-bearing and child-rearing.

ONE WAY of obtaining a picture of community health practices is to solicit information directly from the people who make up the community. These practices may be expected to vary among population subgroups, the variation being associated with cultural differences as well as with income, education, and other indexes of social stratification. Recent approaches of American social science to public health have utilized a concept of social class based upon individual assessment of family characteristics observable at interview. Quantitative scales have been developed which are believed to reflect subcultures within our population. Although there is a high correlation between cultural subgroups and such factors as income and education, these social classes or subculture groupings should more clearly reflect behavior and practices than those of income, education, or residence alone.

Values in Jordanian University students: A test of Osgood's cultural universals

Abstract Osgood, May, and Miron made a major contribution with their work on cross-cultural universals of meaning. Questions arise whether bilinguals communicate with the same meaning in both languages, but studies in this area are limited. To answer some of these and other questions, the semantic differential was administered to bilingual (Arabic-English) students at Yarmouk University in Jordan. One hundred men and 100 women in groups of 25 completed nine subscales on each of 32 concepts under four conditions of test-retest: Arabic-Arabic, Arabic-English, English-Arabic, and English-English. Among the concepts rated were : Masculine, Feminine, Divorce, Cheating, and Pain. Results indicate: (1) high test-retest reliability, (2) that results in one language correlate highly with results in a second language, and (3) that there are sex differences in most concepts, women being more polarized on the assumed axes representing the Osgood factors of evaluation, potency, and activity .

Generation Names in China: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract Traditional Chinese names are composed of three parts: the family name, a generation name, and a given name. The male generation name marks the position of the bearer in the sequence of generations within a clan. Until the middle of the 20th century, most Chinese men used their generation names regularly. Since then the use of generation names has been greatly reduced by social and cultural change in China, especially by urbanization, the breaking of traditional ties to the land, the perceived feudal aspect of generation names, and the influence of the policies of Mao Zedong. We. report on the incidence of generation names in fourtime periods from 1940-1983. The major finding is that generation names decreased significantly until the 1960s; since 1976 their use has increased, but not to pre-1950 levels.

Reward and punishment: Patterns in Arab and Jewish school children

Abstract To test conflicting hypotheses regarding differences between Christian Arabs, Moslem Arabs, and Jews in reported critical incidents of reward and punishment. 1,440 children, grades 2–12 from Israel and the West Bank, were interviewed on critical incidents of reward and punishment. The groups in Israel represented: Christians, Moslems, non-Orthodox Jews, and Orthodox Jews; on the West Bank: Christians and Moslems. Results show support for Dennis in that the Arab groups were homogeneous and reflected traditional Arab values and strong family orientation. The Jewish groups, while also relatively homogeneous, were significantly different from the Arab groups and reflected values more away from the family and toward the pattern shown by American children.

Sex-Related Values and Attitudes of College Students: A Sexism Scale vs the Semantic Differential

To measure sexist attitudes, 50 men and 50 women completed two instruments One was a nondisguised type—the Rombough-Ventimiglia Sexism Scale; the other disguised—the semantic differential with ratings on sex-role concepts. On the basis of scores on the Rombough-Ventimiglia Scale, men were divided into High (traditional) and Low (emancipated) scoring groups. The same procedure was followed for womens scores. As expected the Rombough-Ventimiglia scales showed significant differences between High and Low attitude groups and also between men and women. However, the semantic differential comparisons between High and Low scoring groups for men show significant differences on only three of the 36 concepts rated; womens scores show 10 significant differences. Comparisons between men and women on the semantic differential show significant differences on 20 concepts. The results can be interpreted as indicating that men may introduce a certain element of distortion in responding to conventional sexism scales.

Russian Given Names: Their Pronunciation, Meaning, and Frequency

Abstract Information in English on Russian given names is limited. A single source with Russian names showing their pronunciation, meaning, and frequency is lacking. This report attempts to overcome that deficiency. From data gathered in a previous investigation on 1421 individuals in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the period 1874-1990, we collected approximately 200 different names. Names dictionaries in English do not indicate how Russian names are pronounced with the exception of one by Norman. One Russian, not widely-available, dictionary (Tikhonov et al.) does give some help in pronunciation but in a Russian format not easily understood by English-speaking readers. We decided to show the pronunciation in three ways: (1) using a “simple” pronunciation style similar to that of the New York Times when it introduces a new name, (2) using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and (3) demonstrating with a CD (compact disk how the names are pronounced by a Russian speaker. To do this, a Russian speaker made tape recordings. From these recordings, a CD was produced. In addition to pronunciation, we are also showing the meaning of each name and its frequency.

The Onomastic Treasures of the CIA

AbstractDuring the Cold War, the United States Central Intelligence Agency prepared documents on personal names for more than 30 languages, from the familiar (German, Russian) to the exotic (Gujerati, Telegu) and from those with relative few speakers (Estonian 1.35 million) to those with many millions (Chinese 610 million). The reports range in length from 14 pages (Slovenian) to 433 pages (Russian). The median number of pages is 46. While the documents vary in quality and coverage, they all contain much of onomastic value. Most have sections giving background on naming in the language, style of name use, pronunciation, transliteration, given names, family names (where applicable), and the use of titles. Some give the meanings of names and some list special features such as laws regarding naming, patronymics, and rules for womens names.