Sociology

A survey was administered to 241 individuals whose questionnaire responses were analyzed to determine if they told their dreams to others, to whom they told their dreams, for what purpose, and in what social contexts dreams were shared. Respondents were also asked whether there were types of dreams they would not tell and individuals with whom they would not share dreams. This exploratory study suggests that dream sharing is a part of everyday social interaction, with the primary purpose of entertainment. There are gender differences with regard to dream sharing, and this sharing involves the utilization of social practices whereby individuals may protect themselves and others through deciding whether or not to share a dream. The study describes dream sharing as a social act that is negotiated based on the social rules regarding what topics friends and other intimates share in public or private.

... DOI: 10.1080/09687590600785811 Barbara H. Vann a * & Jan Šiška b pages 425-439. ... 2002. Human rights of persons with intellectual disability. Country report: Czech Republic , Edited by: Šiška, J. Brussels: Inclusion Europe. View all references). ...

Cultural variations in the narrative content of dreams have been reported in many studies. This basic cultural difference in dream language and representations has been used to support psychoanalytic theories of dreaming, especially that of the Jungian-based schools. Others have postulated that such variations reflect the cultural differences that each individual experiences during waking life. This "continuity" hypothesis proposes that a high correlation exists between an individual's waking life and his or her dream content. The biologic framework of dreams, sleep/dream-state physiology, is cross-culturally consistent, and the incidence of dream related pathology also is remarkedly similar between differing cultures.

Questionnaires and dream reports of 241 respondents were analyzed for the presence of media figures in their dreams. The findings suggest that we do not enter television scripts in our dreams, but incorporate media figures into our own life scripts. In their dreams respondents indicate the status of the media figure is altered as they appear as friends, collaborators or associates rather than in their role as celebrity. Dreams and mass media are parallel imaginary social worlds that sometimes crisscross, but are not so interrelated or intertwined that media becomes a predominant force within the individual's dream world.

A large collection of autobiographical life story material available in oral history data is used to examine how women and men of different socio-political groups (workers, intelligentsia, dissidents, and communist functionaries) narrate their lives in socialist Czechoslovakia. Of particular interest is what these narratives imply for an understanding of the state socialist gender order. The analysis combines quantitative (frequent word co-occurrence observation) and qualitative (hermeneutic reading of text fragments) approaches. The results provide evidence that empirically supports what was previously suggested in the literature: the interdependence of private and public spheres, with the family sphere differing in importance for women and men. Additionally, the discursive density and arrangement of these spheres in the life stories differs according to socio-political groups, and a third sphere which we have labelled “politics” emerges for some groups. The findings reveal insights into the relationship between the gender order and life course via narrative articulation in life stories of different social groups in Czech state socialist society.

Little research has been conducted on the behaviors of prosecuting attor-neys and their interactions with rape survivors between charging and court events. Yet this period, during which prosecutors prepare rape survivors for their witness roles, may be crucial for obtaining successful convictions. Using intensive interviews with 32 rape survivors and background interviews with prosecutors, victim witness advocates, and rape crisis workers, I evaluated the nature of directives and information given to rape survivors and the frequency with which directives were conveyed before preliminary hearings and court events. I concluded that prosecutors employ 20 modes of preparation to construct rape survivors as credible victims for judges and jurors. They orient the rape survivor to the scope of the witness role and her place in the interaction with legal actors, direct her to enhance the credibility of her story, and enhance the credibility of her self'presentation. Research showed that prosecutors prepared respondents more thoroughly for trials than for preliminary hearings, but little overall. A large minority of respondents, consequently, reported dissatisfaction with the preparation they received. On the basis of the findings, I call for an extension of Martin and Powell's “politics of victim's needs,” attention to the importance of maintaining a perception of procedural justice among rape survivors, and further research into pre-court preparation.