An analysis of the discourse on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) indicates the predominance of conservative representations of the family. The appearance of new technologies does not change the image of a "normal" family, because concepts connected with surrogate mothers and egg donors are minimally present in the discourse. In…

This article examines how incarcerated mothers constructed moral identities in the face of stigma. Analyzing data from participant observation and 83 in-depth interviews with incarcerated mothers, we show that mothers claimed moral identities by distancing from the stigma of incarceration and/or embracing the identity of incarcerated mothers.…

Children (n = 133, aged 8-13) were interviewed about helping situations that systematically varied in recipient's need for help and the costs for the helper. In situations where helping a peer involved low costs, children perceived a moral obligation to help that was independent of peer norms, parental authority, and reciprocity…

In Ethiopia, as in many other countries, moral discourses about female sexuality in general, and pre- and extramarital sexual experience in particular, create an environment that discourages women from engaging in open dialogue about their sexuality and their past or future sexual experience. In the study of induced abortion among unmarried women…

In this article, the authors argue that to understand the very low incidence of outside-of-marriage childbearing in contemporary Japan one needs to take into account perceptions of all possible solutions to a premarital pregnancy: marriage, abortion, and childbearing outside wedlock. To demonstrate the particular impact of these perceptions in…

This article explores accounts of bystanders to female-on-female public violence. Group interviews with participants in the night-time economy are carried out. Whereas men tend to respond to the discussion topic of female-on-female violence with laughter, this laughter reveals ambivalence and discomfort as much as amusement. Men seem to negotiate…

There are many assumptions made about the beliefs behind abstinence-only until marriage (AOUM) sex education, yet comparatively little research examining the views of abstinence education providers. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 abstinence grantees throughout New York State, I examine how individuals working in abstinence organizations…

The power of compulsory heterosexuality regulates the sexuality of adolescent lesbians as strongly as it does their heterosexual peers. Marked with a sexual(ized)identity, young Southern lesbians in this life history study made claim to moral high ground by consistently identifying with the hegemonic "good girl" construct and by…

This paper focuses on the contemporary British moral panic about young people and the consumption of alcohol in public space. Most of this public debate has focused on binge drinking in urban areas as a social problem. Here, we consider instead the role of alcohol in rural communities, and in particular alcohol consumption in domestic and informal…

This paper reports on a study which surveyed and interviewed teachers on their perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to the inclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) pupils in school. The outcomes indicated that there was a silencing of diverse sexualities in schools. In theory, teachers had adopted an individual liberal humanitarian…

The purpose of the present study was to identify and investigate critical incidents at school that require ethically sensitive teaching. This kind of knowledge is needed in teacher education to prepare future teachers for their profession. The data included narrative interviews with 12 teachers from four urban schools in Finland. Critical…

Gender-based bullying is the most common form of violence that students encounter in U.S. public schools. Several large-scale surveys reveal its consequences for students. Fewer studies examine how school staff members make sense of and respond to such violence. The authors address this knowledge gap by presenting analyses of interviews conducted…

William McCready of the National Opinion Research Center discusses findings of his survey of American and Canadian Catholic youth (ages 14-30) on their attitudes toward religious vocations, membership in Catholic organizations, and their religious education. (Author/SJL)

The feminist phase theory (Tetreault, 1985) was used to examine the cultural patterns embedded in a department of a large, urban university, to classify how the faculty in the department perceived women, and to examine how our own behavior as two newly hired associate and assistant professors contributed or did not contribute to these patterns of…

This article presents the author's reaction to Catherine Marshall and Michael Ward's article on research on social justice and training for leadership. Marshall and Ward's article provides an informative lens into how influential leaders perceive the role and importance of social justice training in the field of educational leadership. Marshall…