Agitation is a significant problem for elderly persons, their families, and their caregivers. This study describes the agitated behaviors of 408 nursing home residents. Nurses who were familiar with the residents used a 7-point scale to rate how often each resident manifested 29 agitated behaviors. Each resident was rated independently by three nurses, one from each of the three nursing shifts. Results showed that agitated behaviors occurred most often during the day shift (i.e., when residents were most active), and least often during the night shift. The most frequently exhibited agitated behaviors were general restlessness, pacing, repetitious sentences, requests for attention, complaining, negativism, and cursing. Most agitated behaviors correlated significantly across shifts, suggesting that such behaviors occur and reoccur throughout the 24-hour day. Factor analysis yielded three syndromes of agitation: aggressive behavior, physically nonaggressive behavior, and verbally agitated behavior. These results provide a foundation for further studies of agitation in elderly persons.

No abstract

A common explanation for the decrease in the sex differential in arrests during World War II attributes it to a change in female sex‐role behavior. Because of the wartime equalization of sex roles, particularly of expanding occupational roles of women, female arrest rates began to approach male rates. Two alternative explanations appear equally plausible: (1) changes in the sex‐age structure of the population at risk and (2) changes in official reactions to female “sex offenders” over the prewar to wartime period, as reflected in the differentiation in types of crimes for which males and females were arrested during World War II. The analysis examines these two alternative explanations, and finds that: (a) by simply correcting for the sex‐age structure of the population, the narrowing of the sex differential is reduced considerably; and (b) by taking into account type of crime, and specifically by omitting offense categories that reflect the paternalism and double standard of sexual morality in society, the narrowing of the sex differential disappears. Finally, the predicted special effects of World War II on female arrests for property crimes did not materialize.

No abstract

No abstract