Immigrant Mother and Her Child

The health risks of 1,164 immigrant Asian mothers and their babies in Bradford were compared with those of an indigenous group from obstetric data collected between 1965 and 1969. The average number of children for families in each group in 1969 were 3·31 and 2·33, respectively; 43·9% of 2,206 Asian mothers delivered in 1968-9 had less than a one-year interval between pregnancies. In 1965 the perinatal mortality rates for the two groups were 48·6 and 26·6, respectively, whereas in 1969 the corresponding figures were 26·8 and 25·5, respectively. Though the risks to maternal and child health of Asians are greater, Asian families are more stable and their children have a more secure upbringing than non-Asian children. However, Asian children need increased environmental stimulus in early childhood to prevent educational disadvantages at a later age.     

My Child Redeems My Broken Dreams: On Parents Transferring Their Unfulfilled Ambitions onto Their Child

From the early days of psychology, theorists have observed that parents sometimes transfer their own unfulfilled ambitions onto their child. We propose that parents are especially inclined to do so when they see their child as part of themselves, more so than as a separate individual. When parents see their child as part of themselves, their child’s achievements may easily come to function as a surrogate for parents’ own unfulfilled ambitions. In the present experiment, 73 parents (89% women, M _age = 43 years) were randomly assigned to reflect on either their own or others’ unfulfilled ambitions. Results showed that, when faced with their own unfulfilled ambitions, parents who see their child as part of themselves want their child to fulfill their unfulfilled ambitions. This study provides the first experimental evidence to suggest that parents may desire their child to redeem their broken dreams.     

I Foresee My Life: The Ritual Performance of Autobiography in an Amazonian Community

I Foresee My Life: The Ritual Performance of Autobiography in an Amazonian Community . Suzanne Oakdale. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. 206 pp.     

Medical Futility and the Death of a Child

Our response to death may differ depending on the patient’s age. We may feel that death is a sad, but acceptable event in an elderly patient, yet feel that death in a very young patient is somehow unfair. This paper explores whether there is any ethical basis for our different responses. It examines in particular whether a patient’s age should be relevant to the determination that an intervention is medically futile. It also considers the responsibilities of health professionals and the rights of family members in situations where an interventions is clearly futile.     

魂失地狱谷

直到回程,我还在庆幸一同到亚丁景区来的张老师和陈老弟因不同程度的健康原因提前返回稻城县,否则从洛绒牛场再往前的路就不会让所有人都能从容地走下来了。     

Grandmother's Grandchild: My Crow Indian Life

Grandmother's Grandchild: My Crow Indian Life. Alma Hogan Snell and Becky Matthews. eds.; foreword by Peter Nabokov. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. 213 pp.