The institution of family has been central to the well-being of African societies over the years. African families have undergone significant transformation caused by the interplay of indigenous, Arabic/Islamic, and European/Christian cultures. The juxtaposition of these three cultures in the lives of African peoples captures the triple-heritage image of the continent. At the same time, modernization, urbanization, and migration have played and continue to play significant roles in the transformation of families across the continent. While it is true that the traditional family has changed in many ways and that African families are continuously confronted with new challenges, the renowned contributors to this volume recognize that the African family continues to adapt to emerging structural changes. In the new millennium, a host of issues and challenges has emerged, each with the potential to weaken or threaten the survival of the traditional African family. These include the HIV/AIDS pandemic; a growing elderly population; declining governmental support; and economic decay. How the post-colonial family reacts to these threats and challenges has the potential to either maintain or undermine the family's role as a major organizing principle in Africa. The institution of family has been central to the well-being of African societies over the years. African families have undergone significant transformations caused by the interplay of indigenous, Arabic/Islamic, and European/Christian cultures. The juxtaposition of these three cultures in the lives of African peoples captures the triple-heritage image of the continent. At the same time, modernization, urbanization, and migration have played and continue to play a role in the transformation of families across the continent. While it is true that the traditional family has changed in many ways and that African families are continuously confronted with new challenges, the contributors to this volume recognize that the African family has adapted to the emerging structural changes. In the new millennium, a host of issues and challenges have the potential to weaken or threaten the survival of the traditional African family. These include the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which seems to afflict the young and able-bodied; a growing elderly population; declining governmental support; and economic decay. How the post-colonial family reacts to these threats and challenges has the potential to either maintain or undermine the family's role as a major organizing principle in Africa. Profound transitions have occurred in family structure and processes since the post-colonial period. This work points to some of the documented transformations in African family life, including the changing modes of decision-making due to the establishment of a cash crop economy, nuptial patterns, changing maternal roles, an increasing age at marriage and declining fertility, a growing number of households headed by women, an increase in the rate of marital instability and dissolution, and changing patterns of mate selection and family relations.

The book examines various scientific, economic, and cultural forces that have affected the mental health field's viewpoint—and that of society in general—regarding the genesis of some behavioral disorders, and how dysfunctional family dynamics play an often overlooked role. Millions of Americans have psychological issues or are affected by those of their family members, ranging from anxiety and bipolar disorder to mood and personality disorders. The growth of Big Pharma, combined with an increasing desire of managed care providers to find simple and "quick fixes," has resulted in an often myopic focus on biological causes of dysfunctional symptoms. There is plenty of evidence to indicate that this propensity to only prescribe pills is often deeply misguided, however. This book examines the role of dysfunctional family interactions in the genesis and maintenance of certain behavioral problems. The author presents a case for regaining a balance in terms of the biological, psychological, and family-system factors in psychiatric disorders and suggests a way to accomplish this.

More than one million people in the United States are fully blind or legally blind, suffering from impairments such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal and macular degeneration, and eye loss. Visual impairment is not simply a practical handicap, however; individuals with vision loss can also suffer from psychological and emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. Dr. Cheri Langdell, a professor of English, and Dr. Tim Langdell, a clinical psychologist and digital media expert, take us through personal, psychological, sociological, and cultural perspectives on blindness, and-perhaps surprisingly-show us some of the benefits nearly blind and blind people have found after vision loss. These benefits include what some describe as heightening of the other senses, deepening spiritual sight, and stronger insights into the human condition. Through literature, media, and cinema across the ages, the authors focus attention on how the masses worldwide who are sighted view, and treat, the blind and legally blind. Coping with Vision Loss: Understanding the Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Effects also includes non-fiction written about and by the blind that gives great insight into their condition. The text explains what the visually impaired and blind can do to stay strong and live their lives to the fullest, as well as what family members and friends can do to help when needed, or to back off when one wants to be as independent as possible. Technological advances to assist the blind and legally blind are reviewed, as are websites for a host of organizations created to assist people with vision loss.

"One tribe's traditional knowledge of plants, presented for the first time"

Residents of the Great Plains since the early 1500s, the Apache people were well acquainted with the native flora of the region. In "Plains Apache Ethnobotany," Julia A. Jordan documents more than 110 plant species valued by the Plains Apache and preserves a wealth of detail concerning traditional Apache collection, preparation, and use of these plant species for food, medicine, ritual, and material culture.

The traditional Apache economy centered on hunting, gathering, and trading with other tribes. Throughout their long history the Apache lived in or traveled to many different parts of the plains, gaining an intimate knowledge of a wide variety of plant resources. Part of this traditional knowledge, especially that pertaining to plants of Oklahoma, has been captured here by Jordan's fieldwork, conducted with elders of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma in the mid-1960s, a time when much traditional knowledge was being lost.

"Plains Apache Ethnobotany" is the most comprehensive ethnobotanical study of a southern plains tribe. Handsomely illustrated, this book is a valuable resource for ethnobotanists, anthropologists, historians, and anyone interested in American Indian use of native plants.

It's hard to imagine a day passing without most Americans enjoying some form of entertainment, whether it's going to a football game, watching television at home, or listening to the radio on the way to work. At the start of the 20th century, however, the only form of entertainment was live theater. With the advent of radio, television, and ultimately the internet, entertainment could be found in our homes, quite literally at our fingertips. As American society changed and the economy grew over the 20th century, the entertainment industry evolved from vaudeville theater to big screen movies to DVDs playing in the living room. This book focuses on popular American entertainment that both appeals to and is accessible to the masses. Six forms of entertainment are covered: vaudeville, recorded sound, radio, movies, television, and spectator sports. Some forms of entertainment have changed considerably throughout the years, while others have disappeared all together as technology allowed new ones to take their place, but the desire of people to be entertained has not waned. Concepts, organizations, and individuals such as the jukebox, the Screen Actors Guild, Ted Turner, satellite television, free agents, Charlie Chaplin, made-for-TV movies, iPod, Superbowl commercials, vaudeville circuits, Columbia, FCC, Hollywood, Title IX, Amos and Andy, MTV, and the Palace Theater, among many others, are discussed. Ideal for students and general readers interested in the development and history of one of the largest and most lucrative industries today. Biographies of notable individuals in the entertainment industry and suggestions for further reading are included.

The key to teaching business ethics successfully, says Sims, is to start with clear goals and a sensible expectation of outcomes, and with a true knowledge and appreciation of how people actually learn. Seems obvious enough, he says, but the surprise is that so few understand this. Thus, the teaching of business ethics is often an unproductive, frustrating exercise in futility. Sims hopes to change that. Proceeding with the conviction that open communications between teacher and student before, during, and after the teaching experience is vital, Sims identifies key teaching processes, gives practical advice on designing and planning the curriculum, and offers guidance on how to develop a climate conducive to effective learning. He highlights the importance of creating a classroom climate that encourages open dialogue, good moral conversation, and conversational learning. And throughout he emphasizes that learning styles and experiential learning theory are cornerstones of teaching business ethics, thus taking an approach unlike any in the literature. An important guide for those who are new to teaching this essential subject, Sims' book will also be helpful for more experienced teachers who are wondering why their own methods do not always work, or do not work as well as they believe they should. Sims identifies important processes that must be managed if business ethics is to be taught and learned successfully--processes such as creating stakeholder commitment to the goals, purposes, and outcomes of the teaching effort, and curriculum design and planning that are attuned to individual differences in learning styles, motivation, and values. Also included in Sims' processes are thedevelopment of individual school outcomes, and expectations, and the assessment procedures that can measure them. He discusses the importance of incorporating debriefing into an experiential learning exercise or discussion, and goes on to give an in-depth discussion of the pedagogical approaches that allow teachers to teach the practical and theoretical components of the subject simultaneously. Well illustrated with examples, such as an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and a way to institutionalize outcomes assessment by means of total quality management, Sims' book returns constantly to his major theme: that to teach business ethics effectively the teacher must first create a climate of trust and sharing within and between students, and between students and teacher, and that the teacher must have a concrete way to measure the impact of the teaching effort's results.

A groundbreaking, empowering collection of advice—richly illustrated with the stories of women at top echelons of their fields—that advances the leadership outlook for Generation X and Y women like no book before it. Over the course of a year, Selena Rezvani interviewed women executives in various industries, roles, and job functions, including Jamie McCourt, president of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Denise Incandela, president of Saks Direct at Saks Fifth Avenue, Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Naomi Earp, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The result is The Next Generation of Women Leaders, a penetrating, eye-opening, and ultimately empowering narrative, filled with stories of remarkable women who navigated the leadership maze and triumphed. While the leadership landscape may be shifting in women's favor, women are nowhere near an equal presence in leadership roles when compared to men. Rezvani's achievement was to engage some extraordinarily accomplished women as mentors, each of whom provided tools and information that young women can use to shape their own careers. The Next Generation of Women Leaders encourages younger women to be their own advocates when it comes to professional growth and advancement, and it provides tangible how-tos on negotiating the workplace as a woman.

An introduction to the scientific study of psychics and mediums—those who are frauds, those who are psychotic, and those whose claims seem to defy easy dismissal. Welcome to the world of Mysterious Minds: The Neurobiology of Psychics, Mediums, and Other Extraordinary People. Here, experts in the emerging field of neurobiological study make the case that while many claims of psychic ability are easily proven false, there may well be claimants who can obtain information in ways not easily explained by mainstream science—and there might be scientific tools and approaches available to confirm those experiences. Written by an expert team of distinguished investigators from a half dozen countries around the world, Mysterious Minds introduces readers to the current state of research into parapsychological experiences, emphasizing the neurobiological data obtained by those who claim to be psychics or mediums. It offers specific examples of paranormal claims of extraordinary people—claims scrutinized through the use of high-tech brain imaging, clinical neurological examinations, and psychotropic drugs. The book concludes by proposing a series of models based on fundamental neurobiology, psychology, and quantum physics that could help us unravel these mental mysteries.

Philip K. Dick was one of the most incisive, subversive, and entertaining authors of the last half of the twentieth century, and the increasing levels of respect and interest that his fiction and films have generated since the 1982 release of Blade Runner have made a comprehensive assessment of these films a virtual necessity. Future Imperfect is the only work to examine the cinematic adaptations of Dick's work in their entirety. Not all cinematic adaptations of Dick's work have been equally successful, but they have all at least made a similar effort to capture his evocative, paranoid, and compassionate view of humanity's precarious place in a fallen world--a world where rapidly proliferating technology, stultifying bureaucracy, and widespread political chicanery threaten both our bodies and our minds. Author Jason Vest seeks here to answer the question of how filmmakers as diverse as Ridley Scott, Paul Verhoeven, Steven Spielberg, and Richard Linklater have each, in their turn, expanded, extrapolated, and diverged from Dick's fiction in order to translate Dick's powerful and challenging insights on to the screen in a visual and yet still literary form. Dick's is a singular voice in American literature, and Future Imperfect aims to gauge exactly how well the cinematic adaptations of Dick's work have captured his unique vision of the human future, and how deeply Dick's storytelling abilities have influenced the development of science-fiction films from Blade Runner on. Students and general readers interested in science-fiction literature and film should find this an incredibly valuable work, as should film enthusiasts concerned with the issue of adaptation itself. BLAuthor Jason Vest isan expert in both American literature and the science-fiction genre BLThis marks the first book-length investigation of Dick's influence on the science-fiction genre, and also includes some of the more extended criticism on several seminal science fiction films

This work is a revealing combination of biographies and topical essays that describe the outstanding and often-overlooked contributions of women to the science, politics, and culture of the Renaissance. Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England is the first first comprehensive reference devoted exclusively to the contributions of women to European culture in the period between 1350 and 1700. Focusing principally on early modern women in England, France, and Italy, it offers over 135 biographies of the extraordinary women of those times. Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance provides vivid portraits of well known women such as Catherine of Siena, Joan of Arc, Mary Queen of Scots, and Christine de Pizan. Also included are less familiar but equally important women like Elena Lucrezia Cornaro, the first woman in Europe to earn a doctorate; the renowned Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi; and the acclaimed author of medical textbooks and midwife to a French queen, Louise Boursier. Based on the latest research and enhanced with thematic essays, this groundbreaking work casts our understanding of women's lives and roles in Renaissance history and culture in a provocative new light.

An oligopoly (from the Greek, few sellers) is a market that is dominated by a few large and powerful players. As Steve Hannaford documents with numerous examples, virtually every industry today—from medical equipment to airlines, toy retailing to oil—is trending in this direction, in the greatest movement toward industry consolidation since the turn of the 20th century. Charting the course of this trend around the world, Hannaford examines the motivations behind consolidation resulting from mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, and alliances; how companies exert political pressure to their advantage; and how the actions of the most dominant players—such as Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Viacom, Dell, ExxonMobil, Citigroup, and others—affect the choices we make at the supermarket, the drugs we are prescribed, and the movies we watch. Everyone who reads the newspapers is aware of the dizzying pace of mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, and alliances, between big companies and small companies in every industry. Such deals, along with the growing social and political clout of the biggest companies, are critical issues for the economy and for our future as consumers. Charting the course of this trend around the world, Hannaford examines the motivations behind consolidation into corporate empires, how companies exert political pressure to their advantage, and how the actions of the most dominant players, such as Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Viacom, Dell, ExxonMobil, Citigroup, and others, affect the choices we have at the supermarket, the drugs we are prescribed, and the movies we watch. Considering the implications of industry concentration on competition, technological innovation, business management, strategy, consumer behavior, and politics, Hannaford paints a provocative, but ultimately balanced, picture of big business and its impact on society.

Education in Non-EU Countries in Western and Southern Europe is a critical reference guide to the development of education in Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland and the Vatican City. The chapters, written by regional experts, provide detailed studies of educational systems, which are considered in the light of the broader international trends and developments. Key themes include educational reform and the quality of education, educational change processes in post-socialist transition, the Europeanization of higher education, and the unique challenges of educational provision faced by microstates. Including guides to available online datasets, this book is an essential reference for researchers, scholars, international agencies and policy-makers.

A thought-provoking series that chronicles the discussions, disputes, and debates that have divided scientists and advanced science through the ages. The origins of humanity? The causes of homosexuality? Experimentation on humans and animals? In both theory and practice, science is riven by controversy. Always has been, always will be. Controversies in Science reveals the history of humanity's disputatious pursuit of truth-the passions, the polemics, and the partisanship. ABC-CLIO's Controversies in Science series examines some of the greatest debates in the history of science's quest for truth. Edited by top scientists, philosophers, and historians, the titles explore fields as diverse as cosmology, genetics, evolution, psychiatry, and the fascinating and speculative study of extraterrestrial biology. Who are we? Where do we come from? And what limits should we place on the pursuit of answers to these questions? The truth is out there. But what routes have we taken? What routes should we take? Controversies in Science offers a road map.

With the Soviet Union extinct, Saddam Hussein defeated and US power at its zenith, the early 1990s promised a ‘kinder, gentler America’. It didn’t work out that way. Instead, it was a period of punishing economic hardship, rising anger and domestic strife, setting the tone for the polarization and resurgent extremism we know today.

In this original and often hilarious book, John Ganz narrates the fall of the Reagan order and the rise of a new kind of paranoid politics – how a group of con men, conspiracists and racists declared a culture war on liberal elites, rejected ‘globalism’ and called for a ‘populist-based presidency’ – that birthed Donald Trump’s America.

A rollicking exposé of the end of the post–World War II order – this book shows the advent of a new, more berserk America.

High school and public libraries will find this volume a welcome addition to reference book shelves. Engagingly written, this comprehensive volume gives students an overview of contemporary life in Panama-what religions are practiced, what the cuisine is consumed on a day-to-day basis, and what people wear in urban and rural settings, among many other topics. Modern literature, media outlets, gender issues, education, visual arts, and performing arts are also covered. While the focus is on current customs and contemporary culture, readers will also gain insight into Panama's unique relationship with the United States, which has been turbulent in the past at best. Students studying international politics, anthropology, world culture, and current events will find this to be a useful resource. This volume explores contemporary culture in Panama, a melting pot deep in the heart of Central America. Thanks to the construction of the Panama Canal and the need for laborers, Panama's culture today is teeming with influences from ethnicities from around the world, including American Indian, Chinese, West Indian, Greek, and French. High school and public libraries will find this volume a welcome addition to reference book shelves. Engagingly written, this comprehensive study gives students an overview of contemporary life in Panama-what religions are practiced, what the cuisine is consumed on a day-to-day basis, and what people wear in urban and rural settings, among many other topics. Modern literature, media outlets, gender issues, education, visual arts, and performing arts are also covered. While the focus is on current customs and contemporary culture, readers will also gain insight into Panama's unique relationship with the United States, which has been turbulent in the past at best. Students studying international politics, anthropology, world culture, and current events will find this to be a useful resource.

Connecting the constructs of meaning and experience in the fields of English education, teacher education, literacy and narrative inquiry, Making Meaning with Readers and Texts materializes new insights for advancing teacher education research, broadening understandings of teachers’ use of literacy practices for making meaning from classroom events. Exploring new possibilities for framing and reframing learning to teach, Edge advances teacher education research through longitudinal inquiry into beginning teachers’ meaning making from classroom events. Novel applications of theory combined with field-based research advances the development of conceptual and practical frameworks for teaching and teacher education. Documenting meaning-making as prospective teachers transition into teaching, extending seminal theories from language arts, reading, and literacy to teacher education, Making Meaning with Readers and Texts advances a new theory for how teachers can fully utilize literacy skills in and for their teaching practices. Reconsidering well-documented problems in preparing teachers and reimagining teaching as reading and composing—curriculum, identity, relationships – Making Meaning with Readers and Texts is crucial reading for teacher educators, English educators, and literacy scholars.

A tremendous amount of media attention has been devoted to revealing sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests. These essays outline a clinical and research agenda for professionals dealing with clergy sexual abuse. They should enable research clinical professionals, and clergy to identify the relevant issues in the identification, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of child and adolescent sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests. Leading experts in the field from the United States and Canada have offered their different perspectives on this compelling problem including victim profiles for determining who is at risk.

Slave narratives were one of the earliest forms of African American writing. These works, autobiographical in nature, later fostered other pieces of African American autobiography. Since the rise of Black Studies in the late 1960s, leading critics have constructed black lives and letters as antitheses of the ways and writings of mainstream American culture. According to such thinking, black writing stems from a set of experiences very different from the world of whites, and black autobiography must therefore differ radically from heroic white American tales. But in pointing to differences between black and white autobiographical works, these critics have overlooked the similarities. This volume argues that the African American autobiography is a continuation of the epic tradition, much as the prose narratives of voyage by white Americans in the nineteenth century likewise represent the evolution of the epic genre. The book makes clear that the writers of black autobiography have shared and shaped American culture, and that their works are very much a part of American literature.

An introductory essay provides a theoretical framework for the chapters that follow. It discusses the origins of African American autobiography and the larger themes of the epic tradition that are common to the works of both black and white authors. The book then pairs representative African American autobiographies with similar works by white writers. Thus the volume matches Olaudah Equiano's slave narrative with "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, " the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave" with Richard Henry Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast, " and Harriet Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" with Fanny Fern's "Ruth Hall." The study indicates that these various works all recognize the importance of learning as a means for attaining freedom. The final chapter provides a broad survey of the African American autobiography.

Motivated by greed and sadism—or perhaps by poverty and boredom—star-crossed lovers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow set out on a series of robberies throughout the American Southwest, many of which ended in murder. Frustrated by the suffocating poverty of the Great Depression, they were especially eager to target their oppressors—banks, store owners, and at times, the police. Their numerous crimes triggered an FBI manhunt, but their Robin-Hood ethos made them heroes in the eyes of many, establishing their place as legends of American folklore. This objective volume paints a realistic picture of often-romanticized subject matter, as it explores the motivation and impact of two of the most notorious criminals in U.S. history. Motivated by greed and sadism—or perhaps by poverty and boredom—star-crossed lovers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow set out on a series of robberies throught the American Southwest, many of which ended in murder. Frustrated by the suffocating poverty of the Great Depression, they were especially eager to target their oppressors—banks, store owners, and at times, the police. Their numerous crimes triggered an FBI manhunt, but their Robin-Hood ethos made them heroes in the eyes of many, establishing their place as legends of American folklore. This objective volume paints a realistic picture of often-romanticized subject matter, as it explores the motivation and impact of two of the most notorious criminals in U.S. history. Colorful narrative chapters explore the lives of Bonnie and Clyde in vivid detail, giving insight into the fear of a country gripped by Depression-era poverty, and the public's endless fascination with those that live on the outside of the law. Ready-reference features such as a timeline and glossary round out the work's accessibility, making this an ideal resource for students of American history and popular culture.

This authoritative work examines 500 years of interaction between the races in a country that during the apartheid era became a byword for racial disharmony. Nelson Mandela's release from prison in February 1990 was the defining moment in South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy. But as this fascinating study shows, the racial history of South Africa is much more complex than a simple struggle between black and white. How did South Africa become a crossroads for peoples as diverse as the Zulu, the Xhosa, the Dutch, and the Chinese? Did the end of apartheid really herald a new dawn in race relations, or have the scars of those years yet to truly heal? To answer these questions, this timely volume examines South Africa's ethnic history over 500 years. From the earliest contacts between Europeans and Africans to the country's changing role in the post-apartheid era, this reference work traces the fascinating racial history of South Africa before, during, and after the apartheid years.