Measuring Community Economic Resilience in Australia: Estimates of Recent Levels and Trends

We measure changes in community economic resilience (CER) across geo-locations in Australia between 2006 and 2011, a time span characterised by major natural and economic shocks. We build an index of potential CER that captures communities’ stocks of human, social, natural, physical and financial capitals, levels of economic diversity and accessibility to service centres. Using Census data and the ARIA index, we resort to principal component analysis to generate CER indexes at statistical area level 1, which is our community proxy. Our analysis of index values provides a number of useful insights. First, there was a statistically significant improvement over time in the overall CER index in all states and regions. Second, our CER measures improved at a different pace across regions and states while their rank remained mostly unchanged. Third, CER improved over time in social and physical capital and accessibility terms, but declined in human, natural, financial capital and diversity terms. Fourth, communities with a high economic diversity level reported higher capital stock except for natural capital, and communities with a low accessibility level had lower capital stock except for social and natural capital. Finally, CER has a long-term positive association with household income.     

Religion,Contraceptive Method Mix,and Son Preference Among Bengali-Speaking Community of Indian Subcontinent

This paper examines the influence of religion on contraceptive method mix in the context of son preference among Bengali-speaking population of eastern India (i.e., West Bengal and Tripura) and Bangladesh. In spite of cultural similarity and parallel programmatic approach to family planning in these two distinct geopolitical spaces, differential use of contraception is evident. Using National Family Health Survey (2005–2006) and Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (2007) and by employing sequential logit model, the paper finds evidence of latent son preference in adoption of modern contraception in Bengali-speaking Hindu and Muslim communities of eastern India. However, such practice is observed only among Hindus in Bangladesh. The paper further argues that although diffusion of the culture of son preference cuts across religious groups among Bengali-speaking community in eastern India, religious identity dominates over region in Bangladesh, encouraging minority Hindus to adopt a distinct pattern of contraceptive behavior with reference to sons. Such finding calls for further research in understanding the pros and cons of behavioral diffusion in majority–minority population mix in similar tradition and culture.     

居住空间、邻里交往与社会距离--基于CSS2011的城镇居民与农民社会距离的影响因素研究

利用CSS2011调查数据，探讨了当前我国城镇居民与农村居民社会距离的影响因素。研究发现：个人经济地位越高，与农民的社会距离越近，家庭经济地位与个人文化地位越高，与农民的社会距离越远；居住空间条件越好，与农民的社会距离越远；与邻居互惠性交往程度越高，与农民的社会距离越近。研究认为，在城镇现实的体制和制度环境下，以下两个方面的努力可以缩减城镇居民与农民的社会距离，提升他们对农民的心理接纳程度：一是通过制定各种政策措施，遏制并缩小目前城镇内部和城乡之间的住房不平等程度；二是创造理想的社会交往环境，促进城镇居民与包括邻居在内的社区其他居民和进城农民之间的互惠性交往。     

The Impact of Macro-Economic Circumstances and Social Protection Expenditure on Economic Deprivation in 25 European Countries, 2007–2011

In this study, we investigate to what extent macro-economic circumstances and social protection expenditure affect economic deprivation. We use three items from round five of the European Social Survey (2010–2011) to construct our latent outcome variable, which we label economic deprivation in the 3 years before 2010–2011. The results of our linear multilevel regression analyses indicate that in countries that perform worse economically, individual experiences of economic deprivation are more prevalent: the stronger the rise in the unemployment rate and the lower a country’s wealth, the more economic deprivation individuals experience. We also find that in countries with high levels of social protection, people experience less economic deprivation as compared to countries with low levels of social protection. In turn, adverse economic conditions in a country temper these positive outcomes of social welfare arrangements. Finally, our study reveals that the strength of the relationship between a low income and economic deprivation strongly varies according to the economic circumstances in a country and the generosity of the welfare state.     

Transgender as Ingroup or Outgroup? Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Viewers Respond to a Transgender Character in Daytime Television

From November 2006 to April 2007, the daytime drama All My Children featured Zoe, the first transitioning transgender character on broadcast television. Acknowledging historical tension within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community over transgender acceptance, this study examines how lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) viewers of All My Children reacted to this character. LGB viewers were more likely to dislike the character than non-LGB viewers, yet were also more trans-supportive than non-LGB viewers. Further evaluation suggests LGB viewers' negative response to Zoe was tied not to the transgender status of the character but specifically to unhappiness with a plot development seen to threaten the identity of the lesbian character, Bianca. Applications of social identity theory and implications for community politics are discussed.     

Oppositional identities and the labor market

We develop a model in which nonwhite individuals are defined with respect to their social environment (family, friends, and neighbors) and their attachments to their culture of origin (religion or language), and in which jobs are mainly found through social networks. We find that depending on how strong peer pressures are, nonwhites choose to adopt “oppositional” identities because some individuals may identify with the dominant culture and others may reject that culture, even if it implies adverse labor market outcomes.      

Birth rates decline as neighbors learn from one another how to control fertility

This article refers to a recent article (by Population Council demographer John Bongaarts and University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Susan Cotts Watkins) on strategies for promoting future global fertility decline. The article emphasizes the importance of the process of social interaction as a powerful force that accelerates the pace of demographic transition. The force of social interaction is frequently overlooked. Social interaction operates through personal networks that connect individuals; national channels of interaction connecting social and territorial communities within a country; and global channels connecting countries. Empirical evidence finds that the most important interaction for fertility change occurs in exchanges between personal networks of small communities. When innovative fertility behavior is adopted by a group within a community, then changes are communicated in an ever widening band. It is expected that countries with multiple channels of linked transportation and communication networks and extensive media facilities would experience more rapid fertility decline. Bongaarts and Watkins argue that the extent of a country's links with a global society help determine the timing of its transition to lower fertility. All countries are connected to some extent by ideas, information, or social influence and are at some level of development. When some countries in a region begin their fertility transition, neighboring countries soon follow. Fertility transition occurs even at low levels of development. Fertility decline can occur rapidly, even if socioeconomic development is modest, once the onset of the transition has occurred.     

The Education Effect: Higher Educational Qualifications are Robustly Associated with Beneficial Personal and Socio-political Outcomes

Level of education is a predictor of a range of important outcomes, such as political interest and cynicism, social trust, health, well-being, and intergroup attitudes. We address a gap in the literature by analyzing the strength and stability of the education effect associated with this diverse range of outcomes across three surveys covering the period 1986–2011, including novel latent growth analyses of the stability of the education effect within the same individuals over time. Our analyses of the British Social Attitudes Survey, British Household Panel Survey, and International Social Survey Programme indicated that the education effect was robust across these outcomes and relatively stable over time, with higher education levels being associated with higher trust and political interest, better health and well-being, and with less political cynicism and less negative intergroup attitudes. The education effect was strongest when associated with political outcomes and attitudes towards immigrants, whereas it was weakest when associated with health and well-being. Most of the education effect appears to be due to the beneficial consequences of having a university education. Our results demonstrate that this beneficial education effect is also manifested in within-individual changes, with the education effect tending to become stronger as individuals age.     

Conducive Characteristics or Anti-Racist Context? Decomposing the Reasons for Veterans’ High Likelihood of Interracial Marriage

Over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, veterans have been more likely to enter into race/ethnic intermarriages than non-veterans. Theories of race/ethnic intermarriage variously point to how minority race/ethnicity, race/ethnically diverse social settings, progressive racial attitudes, and high socioeconomic status increase individuals’ likelihood of intermarrying. Veterans’ unique racial and socioeconomic characteristics may contribute to their greater likelihood of intermarrying relative to non-veterans: larger percentages of veterans than non-veterans are members of racial and ethnic minority groups, while military service increases individual service members’ long-term economic and educational prospects. At the same time, veterans share in common their exposure to the unique military environment, which may increase their likelihood of intermarriage by diversifying their social circles, and subjecting their attitudes and behavior to group norms that are more explicitly egalitarian than those of society at large. The present study considers these two possible explanations for veterans’ greater likelihood of intermarriage. We use data on seven cohorts of men over six decades in the Current Population Survey, representing a total of 1,456,742 observations, to decompose the difference in likelihood of racial intermarriage between veterans and non-veterans among married men aged 18–65. We find that across cohorts and decades, veterans’ greater likelihood of intermarrying is not fully explained by their race/ethnic and socioeconomic composition. We argue that veterans’ greater likelihood of intermarrying may therefore be driven by their exposure to the military environment.     

Sexual Identity in the American Deep South: The Concordance and Discordance of Sexual Activity,Relationships, and Identities

This research explores the association between sexual identity and sexual behavior and how that association varies across gender and race in the American Deep South. Multinomial logistic regression analysis is used to determine the likelihood of each sexual identity given past sexual behavior, sexual relationships, and other social characteristics. The more traditional cultural climate of the South appears to suppress identification as a sexual minority. Sexual identification in the Deep South is primarily a product of sexual activity and sexual relationships, although attitudes toward and contact with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community play a minor role. Although most participants' sexual behaviors and identities were in concordance, sexual discordance was highest for White women and lowest for White men. Discordance was also associated with traditional men's roles attitudes, negative homosexuality attitudes, and contact with the LGBT community. It is hoped that these results encourage scholarship that deconstructs the sexual behavior and identity of all groups, not just oppressed groups.     

The Multi-dimensional Characteristics of Wellbeing: How Different Aspects of Wellbeing Interact and Do Not Interact with Each Other

Because wellbeing is a multi-varied and dynamic phenomenon, social scientists need to better understand how different aspects of people’s wellbeing are tied together and how these ties differ between individuals at one point in time and within individuals over time. The paper outlines a general model that considers the multidimensional structure of wellbeing. We utilize the potential of latent variable modelling on a unique Swedish database: the Panel Survey of Ageing and the Elderly (PSAE). An inclusive and flexible model that considers the interactions between semi-autonomous domains (material resources, health, psychosocial factors, lifestyle, etc.) is developed. Our empirical study is based on cross-sectional PSAE data and focuses on people 55 years or older (N = 5,374). The analysis takes advantage of recent developments in statistical theory in the field of latent variable modelling to bring about a more dynamic and theory confirming analysis of a multifaceted phenomenon such as wellbeing.     

Social status inconsistency and migration

We use NLSY79 panel data to extend the line of sociological research encouraged in the early work of Lenski by analyzing the effects of social status inconsistencies on the likelihood and direction of migration. Given that migration is often viewed as a way for individuals to locate prospective returns fitting for their qualifications, analysis of migration behavior offers an opportunity to examine the impact of status inconsistency. Key findings indicate that under-rewarded individuals, specifically relatively highly educated individuals in low status and low paying occupations, are more likely to migrate than are status consistent individuals. Over-rewarded individuals are less likely to migrate. These findings vary across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan places: individuals in nonmetropolitan areas who are under-rewarded or have mixed statuses have higher odds of migration than status consistent respondents. Individuals in metropolitan areas with inconsistent statuses are not more likely to migrate than status consistent respondents once other determinants of migration are entered in the analysis. Exploratory analysis shows migration increases the likelihood of achieving status consistency. Further examination of the interrelationship between migration and status inconsistency is recommended.     

Disability pathways preceding death in England by socio-economic status

The role of socio-economic status (SES) in the last years of life is an under-researched aspect of health inequalities. This study examines disability patterns preceding death using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. We use repeated measures latent class analysis to identify the most common pathways preceding death in terms of walking ability and limitations in activities of daily living. Three pathways emerge: one characterized by consistently low disability; a second by a constant high level of functional limitations; and a third by medium impairment. We examine how different SES indicators predict belonging to each disability pathway. Conditional on income, higher wealth is associated with a lower likelihood of belonging to the high disability pathway. Contrary to our expectations, we find no educational gradient in the pathways preceding death. Health inequalities in the last years of life seem to exist especially between individuals with different levels of wealth.     

Income Inequality Indices Interpreted as Measures of Relative Deprivation/Satisfaction

This paper considers different ways of making comparisons between individuals in terms of deprivation and/or satisfaction. This allows the Gini index, the Bonferroni index and the De Vergottini index to be interpreted as social deprivation measures as well as social satisfaction measures. The inequality measures that belong to the ?? family, or linear combinations of them, are obtained when using different weighting schemes to average the deprivation and satisfaction associated with each income level. Particularly, the generalised Gini indices (Yitzhaki, Int Econ Rev 24:617?C628 in 1983), the indices proposed by Aaberge (J Econ Inequal 5(3):305?C322, 2007) or those proposed by Imedio-Olmedo et al. (J Public Econ Theory 13(1):97?C124, 2011) can be used to evaluate social deprivation or social satisfaction in an income distribution.     

贫困少数民族山区农村老年人社会支持网与生活满意度关系研究

本文利用笔者在贵州贫困少数民族山区的调查数据,分析了贫困少数民族山区农村老年人社会运行综合网的人数规模及其与生活满意度之间的关系,并初步探讨了不同社会角色提供的支持对老年人生活满意度的影响.     

Asset Impacts on Life Satisfaction in an Asset-Rich Country: Focusing on Older Adults in Singapore

Using a representative sample, this study examined the extent to which assets matter for life satisfaction among older adults in Singapore. Singapore is a particularly useful context to explore the relationship between life satisfaction and assets because almost all Singaporeans own their own house, regardless of income level. First, this study used a latent profile analysis to assess patterns of life satisfaction. Then, asset impacts on this pattern of life satisfaction were examined, while controlling for contextual and health factors. The study found that financial assets matter for life satisfaction of older adults in Singapore. In particular, older adults in both the moderate life satisfaction class (LSC) and the High LSC were likely to have higher financial assets. Comparatively, other economic indicators such as real assets, total debts, and monthly household income were not significantly related to life satisfaction of older adults in the Moderate and High LSC compared to the Low LSC. However, real assets and monthly household income were significant predictors distinguishing the Moderate LSC and the High LSC. Throughout the models, total debts were not considered as a significant predictor of life satisfaction differences. This paper concludes by providing several policy and practice implications.     

Knowledge translation strategies in a community–university partnership: examining local Quality of Life (QoL)

There is a growing interest in quality of life as an integrated approach to addressing key social, environmental and economic determinants of health. The University of Saskatchewan’s Community-University Institute for Social Research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (grant #410-2004-0669) has examined the process and results of a multi-stakeholder approach to the ongoing sustainability of Saskatoon, Canada as a healthy city with an improving and a more equitably distributed quality of life. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis, together with GIS technology, this research has examined the quality of life across three locales in Saskatoon—representing Low, Middle and High socio-economic status in both 2001 and 2004. The participatory action research approach used in this work ensures the value of the outputs to the stakeholders. Given the strong recognition of the importance of interfacing policy, research and community, and the growing impatience with the limited application of research findings to social and health practices and policies, this project has undertaken four major knowledge translation/transfer strategies, above and beyond the traditional academic channels: (1) engagement of local media on a consistent basis, (2) implementing community policy forums to ensure continued community readiness and uptake, (3) facilitation of and successful functioning of a steering committee, and (4) employment of an action researcher to operate as a policy entrepreneur. This paper will review and discuss each of these strategies and outline the evaluative research being done to document the success of these strategies.

Are Informal Connections a Functional Alternative to Associational Life in Enhancing Social Cohesion? Findings from Hong Kong

This article aims to ascertain whether organizational life and informal connections, which made up part of Putnam’s (Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster, New York, 2000) Social Capital Index, have separate effects on social cohesion. Postulating that informal gatherings with family and friends might be a functional alternative to associational life, we employed multiple regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The analysis was based on a 2011 territory-wide door-to-door survey in Hong Kong. Controlling for the effects of demographic variables including gender, age, educational level, and employment status, it was found that formal participation in organizations contributed significantly to the explanation in five of the eight subindexes of social cohesion. In contrast, informal connections contributed significantly only to one subindex. The pattern persisted when attitudinal variables such as life satisfaction, social support, and perceived social class were added to the regression analysis. In short, our analysis demonstrated that participation in formal organizations fosters various aspects of social cohesion, and that this effect cannot be replaced by informal gatherings with family and friends.     

el barrio de La Chueca of Madrid,Spain: An Emerging Epicenter of the Global LGBT Civil Rights Movement

The purpose of this article is to examine and deconstruct the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) barrio (community) of Chueca in Madrid, Spain, from political and sociological perspectives. First, we develop a critical framework for understanding the historical, political, social, cultural, and economic changes that took place in Spain after Franco's death in relation to LGBT issues. Ethnographic research was conducted from May to July 2007 in the Spanish cities of Madrid, Barcelona, and Ibiza, and focused primarily on the community of Chueca. A social constructionist perspective was used to examine sociocultural issues in this ethnosexual community through an in-depth study of the dynamics of this barrio. The theoretical framework of intersectionality and the constitutive relations among social identities is exemplified in Chueca. Hence, individuals in Chueca and their intersectionality perspective reveal that their identities influence and shape their beliefs about gender and symbols. We describe how Chueca reflects recent progressive changes in LGBT-related laws and statutes drafted by the federal government and how these have influenced the high level of societal acceptance toward intimate same-sex relationships in Spain. Additionally, we exemplify and present Chueca as an enclave that has been affected by the globalization of the private market, “gay” identity, and enterprise, having a direct effect on cultural norms and social behaviors. Last, we examine the current state of the Chueca community relative to other developing LGBT Latino/a communities in the United States.     

Analysis of social pathologies in a policy context: A paradigm for action

Prevention continues to gain importance among the strategies open for governmental development of social policy. This paper offers two exploratory conceptual discussions related to prevention in social policy. The first is a representation of the policy making environment with special reference to the informational requirements for the development of policy. The second is a discussion of social pathologies, broadly defined as patterns of behavior with important negative repercussions on individuals whom we refer to as victims, and of possible strategies toward the development of (at least partial) preventive measures. The two discussions are interrelated as the shape of the second is dictated by the desiderata outlined in the first. The paper is divided into five parts:

1. Introduction: the conundrum of prevention.
2. The Development of a paradigm of the policy context.
3. Dependent variables: social pathologies.
4. Independent variables: a focus on structural determinants.
5. Conclusion: information requirements for preventive action.