Social Science

Bringing Ritual to Mind explores the psychological foundations of religious rituals. Religious rituals exploit either high performance frequency or extraordinary emotional stimulation (but not both) to enhance recollection. McCauley and Lawson use a wide range of evidence to argue that the explanation lies in participants' cognitive representations of ritual form. more...

Price: $20.00

Everyday on the news, we hear tallies of how many Iraqis were killed the previous day in America's current war in Iraq. Most of these victims are not soldiers, and have nothing to do with the war--they are just innocent civilians, caught in the cross-fire. They are the war's ''collateral damage.''. This book is a history of America's attempt to reconcile the atrocity of modern warfare, only realized after WWII and the development of the atomic bomb, with the idea that killing innocent civilians was off-limits and not justified to win a war. Conway-Lanz considers both policy makers' responses to the issues, as well as the on-going debate by the public on their perceptions of war violence against civilians, starting after WWII for the most complete examination of modern American discourse on this topic. more...

Price: $26.95

Originally published in 1911, Kandinsky compares the spiritual life of the humanity to a large triangle similar to a pyramid; the artist has the task and the mission of leading others to the top by the exercise of his talent. The point of the Triangle is constituted only by some individuals who bring the sublime bread to men. It is a spiritual triangle which moves forward and rises slowly, even if it sometimes remains immobile. During decadent periods, souls fall to the bottom of the Triangle and men only search for the external success and ignore purely spiritual forces. When we look at colors on the painter's palette, a double effect happens: a purely physical effect on the eye, charmed by the beauty of colors firstly, which provokes a joyful impression as when we eat a delicacy. But this effect can be much deeper and cause an emotion and a vibration of the soul, or an inner resonance which is a purely spiritual effect, by which the color touches the soul. The inner necessity is for Kandinsky the principle of the art and the foundation of forms and colors' harmony. He defines it as the principle of the efficient contact of the form with the human soul. Every form is the delimitation of a surface by another one; it possesses an inner content which is the effect it produces on the one who looks at it attentively. This inner necessity is the right of the artist to an unlimited freedom, but this freedom becomes a crime if it is not founded on such a necessity. The art work is born from the inner necessity of the artist in a mysterious, enigmatic and mystic way, and then it acquires an autonomous life; it becomes an independent subject animated by a spiritual breath. The first obvious properties we can see when we look at isolated color and let it act alone; it is on one side the warmth or the coldness of the colored tone, and on the other side the clarity or the obscurity of the tone. The warmth is a tendency to yellow, the coldness a tendency to blue. The yellow and more...

Price: $7.99

Constructive Work with Offenders offers a challenge to many of the assumptions of criminal justice policy and the dominant approaches to practice. The contributors advocate an emphasis on constructive work with offenders that harnesses their positive strengths and resources, and offers inclusive approaches to effective offender assessment and intervention. Taking a fresh look at much received knowledge, they proclaim that constructive work with offenders is both possible and increasingly warranted, and encourage practitioners to develop new skills and adapt existing expertise to the rapidly changing requirements of the criminal justice system. This book will be of interest to practitioners, trainers, managers, and researchers in the criminal justice system, as well as academics and students in the field of criminology and related disciplines. more...

Price: $32.95

`Illuminating and topical.. skilfully blends together theoretical and empirical analysis in search of the "citizen-consumer". It should become a key text for all with an interest in public service reform and the "choice" agenda, as well as consumerism and citizenship' - Ruth Lister, Professor of Social Policy, University of Loughborough. Creating Citizen-Consumers explores a range of theoretical, political, policy and practice issues that arise in the shift towards consumerism. It draws on recent controversies about choice to examine the tensions of modernising public services to meet the demands of a consumer society. The book offers a fresh and challenging understanding of the relationships between people and services, and argues for a model based on interdependence, respect and partnership rather than choice. more...

Price: $43.95