scholarly journals Effect of Council on Books in Wartime’s Program on Homesickness and Stress in WWII Servicemen

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Mesa ◽  
Jannette Sierra

Bibliotherapy, the therapeutic use of reading, was introduced to the U.S Military in World War II by the Council on Books in Wartime, a non-profit organization who sent millions of books to deployed servicemen. Since its effectiveness was never examined, the military’s use of bibliotherapy ended with the war. Therefore, this study focused on analyzing the effect of the Council on Books in Wartime's book contributions upon homesickness and stress in deployed servicemen in WWII. The findings would evaluate the effectiveness of reading as a tool to mitigate homesickness and stress, two factors which heavily impact the mental wellbeing of deployed servicemen and women. To conduct this study, a retrospective correlational case study was conducted on a sample of eight WWII veterans, two of which reported reading while six reported never reading during their service. Each veteran was interviewed with questions derived from the Utrecht Homesickness Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale to quantify the change between both variables after reading. The data was disaggregated for those who did read and those who did not and further disaggregated into early-deployment and late deployment (or pre-reading and post-reading). After conducting the interviews, it was found that the difference between the change in both groups (those who did read and those who did not) was statistically significant for both homesickness and stress. Although there are a number of limitations to the results of this study, the data does suggest that there is a negative correlation between reading and homesickness and stress. 

Author(s):  
Yuko Matsumoto

The Americanization movement in the early twentieth century tried to redefine the qualifications for full membership within the nation. In the same period, the anti-Asian movement flourished. Responding actively to the discourses of anti-Japanese (and Asian) movements, Japanese immigrants tried to prove their eligibility for full membership in the U.S. nation by following their own interpretation of Americanization, or Beika (米化‎) in Japanese. The ideas of Beika were based on idealized Japanese virtues, as well as on what was required by the Americanization movement. Even though they used the parallel terms in ideas of Beika, however, the gender discourses such as virtues of Yamatonadeshiko and the definition of family highlighted the difference between the views of Americanization and those of Beika despite their similar intention. This gap in perception might have reinforced the racialized and gendered stereotypes on both sides and hindered mutual understanding before World War II.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW GODLEY ◽  
MARRISA JOSEPH ◽  
DAVID LESLIE-HUGHES

This is a case study of the U.S. pharmaceutical producer, Merck & Co. By 1940 this was one of the leading pharmaceutical producers in the United States, and the company went on to become one of the global industry leaders after World War II. It was founded in 1891 as the U.S. subsidiary of a much larger German pharmaceutical company, E. Merck of Darmstadt. The existing understanding of Merck & Co.’s history emphasizes how it was reacquired by the American branch of the Merck family after wartime sequestration, and from then onward it pursued a path of development separate from its former parent. This article revisits that history of the company and shows how the two Mercks began to cooperate and share technology and manufacturing know-how during the 1930s, something that was particularly to the advantage of Merck & Co.


2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 288-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Burt

China played an important part in Franklin Roosevelt’s vision for the post-World War II world. The president, however, lacked a clear and coherent plan of the tactics he should use to help turn his vision into a reality. The relationship between the U.S. ambassador in China, Clarence Gauss, and the U.S. commander of the China-Burma-India Theater, General Joseph Stilwell, provides an instructive case study of FDR’s mismanagement of the relations between the War and State Departments over China. This article argues that the president’s mismanagement resulted from the failure to develop a clear plan to bring about the conditions in China that would see his vision succeed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
Burhanettin Duran

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic and foreign policy agendas of all countries have been turned upside down. The pandemic has brought new problems and competition areas to states and to the international system. While the pandemic politically calls to mind the post-World War II era, it can also be compared with the 2008 crisis due to its economic effects such as unemployment and the disruption of global supply chains. A debate immediately began for a new international system; however, it seems that the current international system will be affected, but will not experience a radical change. That is, a new international order is not expected, while disorder is most likely in the post-pandemic period. In an atmosphere of global instability where debates on the U.S.-led international system have been worn for a while, in the post-pandemic period states will invest in self-sufficiency and redefine their strategic areas, especially in health security. The decline of U.S. leadership, the challenging policies of China, the effects of Chinese policies on the U.S.-China relations and the EU’s deepening crisis are going to be the main discussion topics that will determine the future of the international system.


2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard K. Fleischman ◽  
R. Penny Marquette

The impact of World War II on cost accountancy in the U.S. may be viewed as a double-edged sword. Its most positive effect was engendering greater cost awareness, particularly among companies that served as military contractors and, thus, had to make full representation to contracting agencies for reimbursement. On the negative side, the dislocations of war, especially shortages in the factors of production and capacity constraints, meant that such “scientific management” techniques as existed (standard costing, time-study, specific detailing of task routines) fell by the wayside. This paper utilizes the archive of the Sperry Corporation, a leading governmental contractor, to chart the firm's accounting during World War II. It is concluded that any techniques that had developed from Taylorite principles were suspended, while methods similar to contemporary performance management, such as subcontracting, emphasis on the design phase of products, and substantial expenditure on research and development, flourished.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salene M. Wu ◽  
Dagmar Amtmann

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive disease characterized by neurological symptoms and sometimes heightened levels of distress. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is often used in MS samples to measure stress but has not been validated in this population. Participants (n=446) completed the PSS as well as measure of depression, anxiety, and mental and physical health. Factor analyses indicated that the general factor of a bifactor model accounted for a large amount of the variance in the 14-item and 10-item versions of the PSS. The 4-item PSS had two factors, the Stress subscale and the Coping subscale, but a one-factor model also fits the data well. Total scores and both subscales had sufficient reliability and validity for all versions of the PSS, although a few items of the 14-item PSS had low item-total correlations. This study supports the use of the total score of the PSS in MS but also suggests that the 10-item PSS had better psychometric properties than the 14-item PSS.


1992 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Higgs

Relying on standard measures of macroeconomic performance, historians and economists believe that “war prosperity” prevailed in the United States during World War II. This belief is ill-founded, because it does not recognize that the United States had a command economy during the war. From 1942 to 1946 some macroeconomic performance measures are statistically inaccurate; others are conceptually inappropriate. A better grounded interpretation is that during the war the economy was a huge arsenal in which the well-being of consumers deteriorated. After the war genuine prosperity returned for the first time since 1929.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (02) ◽  
pp. 214-225
Author(s):  
Sergey Kulik ◽  
Аnatoliy Kashevarov ◽  
Zamira Ishankhodjaeva

During World War II, representatives of almost all the Soviet Republics fought in partisan detachments in the occupied territory of the Leningrad Region. Among them were many representatives of the Central Asian republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Many Leningrad citizens, including relatives of partisans, had been evacuated to Central Asia by that time. However, representatives of Asian workers’ collectives came to meet with the partisans. The huge distance, the difference in cultures and even completely different weather conditions did not become an obstacle to those patriots-Turkestanis who joined the resistance forces in the North-West of Russia.


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