Underage drinking, alcohol sales and collective efficacy: Informal control and opportunity in the study of alcohol use

Underage drinking among American youth is a growing public concern. However, while extensive research has identified individual level predictors of this phenomenon, few studies have theorized and tested the effect of structural social forces on children’s and youths’ alcohol consumption. In an attempt to address this gap, we study the effects of residential environments on children’s and youths’ underage drinking (while accounting for personality and familial processes). Integrating informal social control and opportunity explanations of deviance, we first suggest that while neighborhood collective efficacy prevents adolescents’ underage drinking, individuals’ access to local alcohol retail shops encourages such behavior. Focusing on the interactive effects of communal opportunities and controls, we then suggest that high presence of alcohol outlets and sales in the neighborhood is likely to increase youths’ probability of alcohol consumption in the absence of communal mechanisms of informal social control. We test our theoretical model using the unprecedented data design available in the PHDCN. Results from a series of multilevel logit models with robust standard errors reveal partial support for our hypotheses; specifically, we find that alcohol sales in a given neighborhood increase adolescents’ alcohol use. In addition, while the direct effect of collective efficacy is insignificantly related to children’s and youths’ alcohol consumption, our models suggest that it significantly attenuates the effect of local alcohol retailers and sales on underage drinking.     

What You Know or Who You Know? Occupation-specific work experience and job matching through social networks

While work experience is generally seen as an indicator of human capital, it may also reflect the accumulation of social capital. This study examines how work experience facilitates informal access to employment—that is, being matched with a new employer through an informal search or informal recruitment through the non-search process (without engaging in a job search). Results from fixed effects regression on panel data from the NLSY show that experience is related to informal entry into new jobs, though in a very specific way. The odds of being informally recruited into a new job improve as work experience in related occupations rises, but this relationship holds only among men. These findings highlight the social benefits of occupation-specific work experience that accrue to men but not to women, suggesting an alternative explanation for the gender disparity in wage returns to experience.     

Men’s mobility into management from blue collar and white collar jobs: Race differences across the early work-career

Within the context of the “particularistic mobility thesis” we examine racial differences in the incidence, and determinants of, as well as timing to, mobility into management across the critical early career years at a refined level, namely, when groups share similar white collar and blue collar jobs. Findings from a Panel Study of Income Dynamics sample of men support theory and indicate that from both job levels a racial hierarchy exists: African Americans have the lowest rate of mobility, reach management through a route that is relatively formal and structured by a traditional range of stratification-based causal factors and take longest to reach management. Whites, in contrast, have the highest mobility rate, reach management through a relatively informal path that is less structured by traditional stratification-based factors, and reach management the quickest, and, across all three issues Latinos occupy an intermediate ground between African Americans and Latinos. Further, as predicted by theory, racial differences, particularly, relative to whites, are greater among those tracked from blue collar jobs than white collar jobs. Discussed are implications of the findings for understanding racial disadvantage in the American labor market across the work-career and on an inter-generational basis.     

“双重意识”问题与美国黑人的身份建构

二十世纪的美国黑人小说反映了作家们的“双重意识”以及他们对美国黑人文化身份的思考。他们对身份的探讨呈现出三种倾向：一是“融入”思想,希望被白人主流社会接纳;二是强调其“黑人性”,激发种族自豪感、增强种族凝聚力,与白人种族主义分庭抗争;三是建构其美国人的身份,同时强调其黑人性。这些倾向也是广大美国黑人寻找文化身份时的心理写照。文化身份具有客观、本质的特性的同时又具有主观、建构的特点。双重意识问题形象生动地再现了美国黑人的文化心理。随着时间的推移、社会的变迁以及个人经历的变化,美国黑人作家对文化身份的思考也会随之出现差异或者由差异走向趋同。     

Child support and mixed-status families an analysis using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study

A large body of literature documents the importance of child support for children’s wellbeing, though little is known about the child support behaviors of mixed-status families, a large and rapidly growing population in the United States. In this paper, we use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to investigate the impact of citizenship status on formal and informal child support transfers among a nationally representative sample of parents who have citizen children. Probit regression models and propensity score matching (PSM) estimators show that mixed-status families are significantly less likely to have child support orders and child support receipt compared to their citizen counterparts. We found that mothers’ knowledge of the child support system increases the probability of establishing paternity. However, cultural differences in knowledge of and perception about the U.S. child support system between mixed-status families and citizen families do not have an impact on the probability of getting a child support order, child support receipt, or in-kind child support. Rather, institutional factors such as collaborations between welfare agencies and child support enforcement agencies as well as state child support enforcement efforts have a significant impact on formal child support outcomes. The results are robust against different model specifications, measure constructions, and use of datasets. These findings have important policy implications for policy makers and researchers interested in reducing child poverty in complex family structures and underscore the need to revisit child support policies for mixed-status families.     

Explaining relationships between ethnic diversity and informal social capital across European countries and regions: Tests of constrict, conflict and contact theory

In this study we focus on the relationship between ethnic diversity and informal social capital. As this refers to rather strong social ties in the intimate domain, it is a strict test of Putnam’s claim that ethnic diversity would decrease social capital. In order to explain these relationships, we derived mediating mechanisms from conflict and contact theory. Using data from the European Social Survey (2002/2003), we applied multilevel analyses considering three levels: individuals, regions and countries. Our results revealed a direct positive effect of ethnic diversity at the country level on informal helping, yet no indirect effect via the mediating variables. At the regional level, we only found an indirect effect of ethnic diversity. Here, ethnic diversity increases the likelihood of intergroup contact that in turn is positively related to both informal social meeting and helping. Perceived ethnic threat turned out to have a negative effect on informal social meeting.     

“第二轨道”外交属性与影响辨析

“第二轨道”外交的概念在外延上存在广义和狭义之分,广义上它包含官方外交之外的一切外交方式和交流形式,狭义上它是指有政府、官方背景的“非正式”外交。狭义上的“第二轨道”外交的属性,不能简单归结为民间外交或官方外交,它是身份上的非正式性与本质上的官方性的有机统一,“第二轨道”外交所能发挥的影响也与此密切相关。一方面,由于其身份上的非正式性,“第二轨道”外交操作灵活,却又无法直接进行决策,所能起到的影响有限;另一方面,由于其本质上的官方性,“第二轨道”外交能迅速影响官方决策,但同时也不可避免地分享了官方外交的局限性。     

文化身份寻踪:美国黑人作家笔下的话语

多元文化共存是美国社会的一大特征,美国黑人因其特殊的历史经历,在与白人主流文化群体的互动关系中,常陷于是同化还是坚持本体文化传统的困惑中。美国黑人作家笔下的话语展现了美国黑人建构自己文化身份的种种经历。     

Occupational conditions,self-care,and obesity among clergy in the United States

Prior research has shown that a variety of occupational conditions such as long work hours are associated with increased likelihood of obesity. In this study, we use the specific case of the clergy to explore how occupational conditions are linked to increased or decreased odds of being obese. We hypothesize that stressful conditions are associated with increased odds of obesity and that self-care practices are associated with decreased odds. Using the 2008/9 U.S. Congregational Life Survey’s national sample of clergy from multiple religious traditions, we find support for our hypotheses. Clergy who experience more stress, work more hours, or are bi-vocational have higher odds of obesity. Those who take a day off each week, have taken a sabbatical, or are involved in a support group experience lower odds. For Protestant clergy, being involved in a support group or taking a day off moderates the association between certain stressful occupational conditions and obesity.     

民权运动初期非裔美国人的身份认同——《阳光下的葡萄干》的主题探析

身份认同在文学作品中经常是学者们关注的要点之一,而在非裔美国文学中,身份认同似乎成了一个永恒的话题,作家们刻意描写的或是评论家们努力挖掘的常常都与自我探寻、身份建构有关。非裔美国女剧作家洛琳·汉丝贝莉的经典剧作《阳光下的葡萄干》反映了民权运动初期非裔美国人的身份认同观念及其行为取向,体现在作为美国人而向主流社会的认同和回归本源的非洲文化认同两个方面。身份认同的关键在于人们对待本族群“根源”的态度取向和由此产生的社会行为。人们根据时代、社会背景和自身的社会定位来做出必要的取舍,实现自我。     

‘What about the couple?’ Interracial marriage and psychological distress

We explore the association between racial composition of couples—that is, whether they are interracial or homogamous—and the psychological distress of their members, as measured in a screening scale for non-specific psychological distress. We use a pooled 1997–2001 National Health Interview Survey sample of the married and cohabiting population of the United States. We compare the odds of distress for interracial vs. same race married/cohabiting adults. There are several key findings. Interracial marriage is associated with increases in severe distress for Native American men, white women, and for Hispanic men and women married to non-white spouses, compared to endogamous members of the same groups. Higher rates of distress are observed for intermarried persons with African American or Native American husbands or wives, and for women with Hispanic husbands. Lower socioeconomic status explains approximately half of the increased distress experienced by white women, while higher socioeconomic status partially suppresses increases in distress for Hispanic men and women.     

Reconsidering residential mobility: Differential effects on child wellbeing by race and ethnicity

Residential mobility is a common experience among Americans, especially children. Most previous research finds residential mobility has negative effects on children's educational attainment, delinquency, substance abuse, and physical and mental health. Previous research, however, does not fully explore whether the effect of mobility differs by child race/ethnicity, in part because many of the samples used for these studies were majority white or exclusively non-white or disadvantaged. In addition, previous research rarely fully accounts for factors that predict selection into mobility and that may also be related to the outcome of interest. This study simultaneously addresses both of these limitations by estimating the effect of moving homes on children's emotional and behavioral wellbeing using first difference models and a diverse longitudinal sample from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. I find that, after controlling for a wide range of individual, caregiver, household and neighborhood characteristics, the effects of moving among African American and Latino children are significantly worse than among white children.     

Maternal migration and child health: An analysis of disruption and adaptation processes in Benin

Children of migrant mothers have lower vaccination rates compared to their peers with non-migrant mothers in low-income countries. Explanations for this finding are typically grounded in the disruption and adaptation perspectives of migration. Researchers argue that migration is a disruptive process that interferes with women’s economic well-being and social networks, and ultimately their health-seeking behaviors. With time, however, migrant women adapt to their new settings, and their health behaviors improve. Despite prominence in the literature, no research tests the salience of these perspectives to the relationship between maternal migration and child vaccination. We innovatively leverage Demographic and Health Survey data to test the extent to which disruption and adaptation processes underlie the relationship between maternal migration and child vaccination in the context of Benin—a West African country where migration is common and child vaccination rates have declined in recent years. By disaggregating children of migrants according to whether they were born before or after their mother’s migration, we confirm that migration does not lower children’s vaccination rates in Benin. In fact, children born after migration enjoy a higher likelihood of vaccination, whereas their peers born in the community from which their mother eventually migrates are less likely to be vaccinated. Although we find no support for the disruption perspective of migration, we do find evidence of adaptation: children born after migration have an increased likelihood of vaccination the longer their mother resides in the destination community prior to their birth.     

Same-sex parenting and children’s outcomes: A closer examination of the American psychological association’s brief on lesbian and gay parenting

In 2005, the American Psychological Association (APA) issued an official brief on lesbian and gay parenting. This brief included the assertion: “Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents” (p. 15). The present article closely examines this assertion and the 59 published studies cited by the APA to support it. Seven central questions address: (1) homogeneous sampling, (2) absence of comparison groups, (3) comparison group characteristics, (4) contradictory data, (5) the limited scope of children’s outcomes studied, (6) paucity of long-term outcome data, and (7) lack of APA-urged statistical power. The conclusion is that strong assertions, including those made by the APA, were not empirically warranted. Recommendations for future research are offered.     

离婚诉讼前处理子女抚养纠纷的一种新机制——澳大利亚“家庭关系中心”评介及其启示

儿童最大利益原则,是联合国1989年《儿童权利公约》所倡导和现代许多国家处理儿童抚养和监护问题所遵循的首要原则。澳大利亚"家庭关系中心"设立的根本目的,就是为了指导和帮助分居后或离婚诉讼前的夫妻妥善处理其子女的照顾、抚养和探视等问题。澳大利亚"家庭关系中心"是处理分居后或离婚诉讼前的夫妻之子女抚养和监护等纠纷的一种新机制。其成功的实践经验对我国具有较大的借鉴意义。     

两汉社会保障制度初探

我国汉代基本上已经形成了大体完整的社会保障体系,包括社会优抚、社会福利和社会救济三个方面的内容,是我国传统社会保障制度的一个典型代表。与现代社会保障制度相比,汉代社会保障制度还相当粗放,具有保障水平低、只起辅助作用以及等级化、人治化等时代特点。     

异质文化背景下美国非裔文学和华裔文学中文化身份建构研究简

以异质文化为研究背景,针对非裔和华裔在美国社会相似的经历和处境,以非裔文学和华裔文学中代表作家的作品为研究对象,分析两类文学集中展现的文化身份建构问题,总结非裔和华裔在异质文化背景下影响其文化身份建构的因素,探讨白人主流文化与非裔和华裔本民族文化各自对建构文化身份的影响,提出在异质文化背景下双重性文化身份建立的必然性和途径。     

Do disabilities in former TANF families hasten their returns to cash assistance?

This research examines the relationship between disabilities in families and returns to welfare. Past studies of welfare recidivism have long theorized that disabilities played a central role in returns to welfare among former recipients, but lacked data to test the hypothesis. Hypothesis tests support the theory that both child and maternal disabilities, which act as barriers to self-sufficiency, increase rates of TANF re-entry and SSI entry. We show that because past studies did not account for disabilities on the odds of returning to welfare, effects of work, number of children, and past receipt of TANF are somewhat overstated. Our findings add to the literature on welfare recidivism and have implications for welfare reforms that emphasize work and lifetime limits on benefits.     

Does race matter in the search for housing? An exploratory study of search strategies, experiences, and locations

In a departure from most studies of the causes of racial residential segregation that focus on the three main factors of economics, preferences, and discrimination, this paper examines one of the mechanisms through which segregation may be perpetuated: the housing search process itself. Data come from a 2004 face-to-face survey of an area probability sample of African American and white householders living in the three counties of the Detroit metropolitan area (n = 734). These data are used to address three research questions: (1) What are the strategies people use to find housing, and are there racial differences in those strategies? (2) Do whites and African Americans report similar or different experiences in the search for housing? (3) Do the locations in which people search for housing vary by race? Results show that once controlling for the type of search and background characteristics, the search strategies are generally similar for whites and blacks, though more so for buyers than renters: for example, black renters use more informal strategies and networks than do white renters. Analyses that look at the features of these strategies, however, reveal some significant racial differences. Search experiences are similar in terms of length and number of homes inspected, but other objective and subjective questions about the search show blacks at a disadvantage compared to whites: African Americans submit more offers/applications for homes, report more difficulties, and are much more likely to feel they were taken advantage of during the search. The racial characteristics of the communities in which blacks and whites search are quite different: whites mainly search in white communities, while African Americans search in communities with a variety of racial compositions. The paper concludes with a call for further research on housing search strategies, with particular attention to the role of social networks.     

论汉代政权对民间信仰的多重政策

民间信仰是中国传统文化的重要组成部分,也是俗文化的核心。针对民间自发形成的信仰与崇拜,汉代政权采取多重政策,或引导支持,或借鉴利用,或排斥打击,主要取决于其是否与官方信仰及主流文化相抵触,是否从根本上影响到社会秩序和百姓生产生活。不管官方态度如何,作为一种强大的民间力量,民间信仰以其特有的方式参与政治生活,与官方政权相互影响、相互补充,形成既配合又抗衡的互动局面,并以顽强的生命力传承、延续和发展。