Who Pays for Seniors Housing and Care Communities? Evidence from the Residents Financial Survey

To examine the financial characteristics of residents in assisted living and independent living communities and to see how they currently pay for their care arrangements, we surveyed 2,617 residents in assisted living and independent living communities. We asked them how they pay for their current costs and verified their answers by examining self-reported information on their cost and income. Residents stated that they are largely paying for their community costs independently. Approximately one third of respondents reported using their assets and income to cover their current costs. The data supported the notion that individuals living in assisted living and independent living communities are largely mid- to high-income elderly. However, the cross-sectional analysis showed that length of time in the community was positively associated with paying for their expenses independently out of income, after controlling for many confounders including age, education, and lifetime earnings to try to rule out differential longevity and differential selection over time. Further longitudinal analysis is needed to understand the cause and the implications of the positive correlation between ability to pay one's bills out of income and the length of time in the community before conclusions about spend-down can be made.     

Kin and non-kin foster care—findings from a National Survey

This article uses national data to look at the differences between children in kinship and non-kinship care arrangements. Three groups are compared: children in non-kin foster care, children in kinship foster care, and children in “voluntary” kinship care. Children in voluntary kinship care have come to the attention of child welfare services, are placed with kin, but unlike those in kinship foster care, these children are not in state custody. Findings suggest that children in the kin arrangements faced greater hardships than those in non-kin care. They more often lived in poor families and experienced food insecurity. They were more likely to live with a non-married caregiver who was not working and did not have a high school degree. And fewer kin than expected received services to overcome these hardships. In addition, nearly 300,000 children lived in voluntary kinship care arrangements; these children are of particular concern because they are not in state custody and therefore may or may not be monitored by a child welfare agency.     

Parent’s Perceptions of Involvement in Children’s Education: Findings from a Qualitative Study of Public Housing Residents

Parent involvement in children’s education is an important element in enhancing academic achievement and promoting positive behavior in young people. This qualitative study uses a Grounded Theory approach to examining parent’s perceptions of their ability or inability to be involved in their children’s education by querying about factors impacting involvement and their experiences overcoming barriers. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data on parents (N = 12) of youth who participate in a public housing after-school program by way of focus groups. Results suggest that parents are hopeful about engaging in education, but often fail to become actively involved because they feel marginalized. Furthermore, tangible barriers, a hurdle they were previously able to combat, was more challenging for them to overcome in the face of oppression. Marginalization is manifested cyclically for these parents. Implications for strategies helping parents become more involved in the educational process are identified.     

U.S. Adults’ Pornography Consumption and Attitudes Toward Adolescents’ Access to Birth Control: A National Panel Study

Objectives: The conditions under which adolescents should have access to birth control has been debated by U.S. policy makers and health officials for some time. Given the variability and fluidity of law and policy in this area and the high stakes described by advocates for and against access, identifying predictors of electorate opinion is important. Methods: This study utilized national panel data gathered in 2008 (T1) and 2010 (T2) to examine associations between U.S. adults' pornography consumption and attitudes toward adolescents' access to birth control. Results: Consistent with a social learning perspective on media, pornography consumption at T1 was associated with more positive attitudes toward adolescents' access to birth control at T2, even after accounting for T1 birth control attitudes and multiple potential third-variables. Consistent with Wright's (2011 Wright, P. J. (2011). Mass media effects on youth sexual behavior: Assessing the claim for causality. Communication Yearbook, 35, 343–386. [Google Scholar]) acquisition, activation, application model (3AM) of media sexual socialization, this association was stronger for more morally individualistic adults. Contrary to a selective exposure perspective on media, birth control attitudes at T1 did not predict pornography consumption at T2. Conclusions: These findings have implications for the prediction of birth control attitudes specifically and the socializing influence of pornography more generally.     

“Your Gender is Valid”: Microaffirmations in the Romantic Relationships of Transgender Individuals

Microaffirmations are small, interpersonal interactions that communicate validation for an identity. The present study focuses on transgender microaffirmations received from romantic partners. Participants included 339 self-identified transgender adults in a romantic relationship (currently or within the past 5 years). Participants were recruited via social media and snowball sampling and took an online survey detailing their experiences in romantic relationships. Participant responses were analyzed via thematic analysis, resulting in seven relationship-salient themes: (1) acknowledging and using cisgender privilege, (2) centering on partner’s identity, (3) affirming gender(less) presentation, (4) helping partner process identity, (5) seeking permission, (6) using affirming language, and (7) acknowledging milestones. Findings emphasize the importance of positive aspects of romantic relationships. Implications for working with transgender clients are discussed.     

Resisting to the Neoliberal Urban Fabric: Housing Rights Movements and the Re-appropriation of the ‘Right to the City’ in Rome,Italy

This paper scrutinises the phenomenon of collective squatting for housing in Rome (Italy), which has reached remarkable proportions and developed new characteristics since the start of the 2008 crisis. Based upon two pieces of ethnographic research within the housing movement organisations Coordinamento Cittadino di Lotta per la Casa (Urban Coordination of Housing Struggles) and Blocchi Precari Metropolitani (Precarious Metropolitan Block), the authors aim to enlarge empirical knowledge of the case under study and provide renewed analytical instruments for understanding housing mobilisations. These organisations appear to be more than grassroots approaches to housing deprivation; they also represent alternative forms of social reproduction in post-welfare neoliberal cities. Indeed, squats configure themselves as sites for broader political elaboration. For this reason, we propose to analyse housing squatting using the notion of ‘urban commons’. The introduction of this notion to analyse housing movements helps in the theoretical elaboration of a re-appraised ‘right to the city’, in line with current urban challenges.     

Cocaine use among the College Age Group: Biological and Psychological Effects—Clinical and Laboratory Research Findings

Abstract

Though cocaine has been used by man for centuries for both medical and nonmedical reasons, a knowledge of its effect on the human mind and body remains limited and not yet clearly documented. Sources of information consist of myth, street knowledge, animal studies, and clinical and laboratory studies of man. This paper focuses on findings from the latter two sources.

The biological effects of cocaine include the local effects of producing anesthesia and constriction of blood vessels in areas where it is applied topically. Solutions of the drug applied directly to the eye cause the pupils to dilate. Systemic effects include an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. In some individuals, an increase in alertness occurs, and in others a state of drowsiness. The drug also decreases total sleep, REM sleep, and appetite.

The psychological effects of the drug vary with dosage, chronicity, and a host of other variables. Increasing doses over long periods of time appear to cause increasingly severe impairment of affective and cognitive functioning. These effects include a strong psychological craving, making cocaine one of the most powerfully reinforcing of all known substances. In addition, cocaine may induce symptoms ranging from mild euphoria to hyperalertness, hyperactivity, anorexia, insomnia, hypersexuality, and proneness to violence. In others, cocaine may produce sadness, melancholia, apathy, and various symptoms of dysphoria. Depression has been reported to occur in people who stop taking the drug, especially those who have taken the drug intravenously. At high doses taken over a long period of time, cocaine may produce symptoms that mimic acute paranoid psychosis with hallucinations, stereotyped behavior, paranoid delusions, insomnia, and proneness to violence. Finally, cocaine may cause delirium, convulsions, and death from cardiorespiratory failure. With over 30 million individuals in the college age group reported to have taken cocaine, college health personnel must be prepared to diagnose and treat symptoms resulting from cocaine toxicity.     

Moving Away and Reaching Out: Young Adults’ Relational Maintenance and Psychosocial Well-Being During the Transition to College

In this study, we extended the research on students’ stress and psychosocial well-being during the transition to college to consider the potential moderating effect of their communication of relational maintenance with a parent. We found that as students’ (N = 155) daily stress increased, their daily loneliness and depression increased, and their daily happiness decreased. Moreover, we identified students’ daily communication of openness and assurances with a parent as moderators of the association between their daily stress and daily loneliness. These results suggest that students’ communication with a parent is a salient factor in their well-being during the transition to college.     

Women’s Earnings Before and After Marital Dissolution: Evidence from Longitudinal Earnings Records Matched to Survey Data

This paper investigates the change in women’s earnings following marital dissolution from a longitudinal approach. Using unique data that matches the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) with Social Security longitudinal earnings records, we examine marital dissolution events occurring between 1985 and 2003. Results show significant increases in women’s labor market involvement and earnings following marital dissolutions over the past two decades. We find greater labor force involvement prior to the dissolution event among more recent divorcees; however, among those already in the labor force, the pattern of change in earnings associated with divorce has changed little over the examined period. Human capital and family characteristics were associated with the change in earnings after marital dissolution.     

Is Elder Abuse and Neglect a Social Phenomenon? Data from the First National Prevalence Survey in Israel

This article discusses findings from the First National Survey on Elder Abuse and Neglect in Israel, conducted during 2004–2005 under the sponsorship of The Association for Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel (ESHEL) and the National Insurance Institute. The goals were to examine the prevalence and severity of various forms of abuse and neglect from the victims' perspective, to examine correlates and predictors, and to develop profiles of elders at risk. Data were collected through personal interviews from a national representative sample of community urban dwellers age 65 and older, using cluster sampling techniques and sampling proportionately both Arab and Jewish elders. The sample was composed of 392 males and 650 females, 89% were Jews and 11% were non-Jews. The instrument included sociodemographic data, health and activities of daily living (ADL), a measure of safety, and a battery to examine seven types of abuse (physical, emotional, verbal, limitation of freedom, financial exploitation, sexual, and neglect). Findings indicate that 18.4% of the respondents were exposed to at least one type of abuse during the 12 months preceding the interview, the highest form being verbal abuse followed by financial exploitation. The rates were quite similar between Jews and Arabs. Women were more exposed to physical violence and Arab women were the most vulnerable. Physical, emotional, verbal, limitation of freedom, and sexual abuse occurred mostly among partners. The rates of physical, sexual, and limitation of freedom abuse, however, were relatively low. Financial exploitation was mostly inflicted by adult children. Partners as perpetrators had more chronic health problems and physical and mental disabilities. Children as perpetrators were unemployed, had various mental health problems, and were substance abusers, often in a process of separation or divorce and tended to live with the victims. Neglect in answering primary needs was found among 20% of the sample, regarding the 3 months preceding the interview. This high rate might be related to elders tending to avoid seeking help or sharing their needs with their families. When victims sought help it was mostly from medical and health services. The findings thus corroborate that elder abuse and neglect is a social problem in Israeli society and has to be addressed in policy discourse and service developments.     

Profiles of African American College Students’ Alcohol Use and Sexual Behaviors: Associations With Stress,Racial Discrimination,and Social Support

Though studies show that alcohol use and sexual activity increase during emerging adulthood, few studies examine within–ethnic group differences, particularly among African American college students. This investigation utilized a latent class analytic methodology to identify risk behavior profiles of alcohol use (frequency and amount of alcohol consumed), sexual activity (number of intimate partners), and co-occurring risk behaviors (drinking before sexual intercourse) among 228 African American college students. This investigation also examined whether identified risk behavior profiles were associated with stress (interpersonal, intrapersonal, academic, and environmental), experiences of racial discrimination, and social support (from family, friends, and the college community). Results identified five distinct profiles within this sample: (a) High Sexual Risk—above-average sexual activity; (b) Abstainers—below-average alcohol use and sexual activity; (c) Low Risk—average alcohol use and sexual activity; (d) Alcohol Risk—above-average alcohol use and below-average sexual activity; and (e) Co-Occurring Risk—above-average alcohol use and sexual activity. Identified profiles differed across interpersonal and environmental stress, and self-reported frequency of experiences with racial discrimination. Implications for prevention programs and interventions aimed at reducing alcohol and sexual activity for African American college students are discussed.     

Learning from Experience: Integrating Students’ Everyday Lives into the Urban Community College Sociology Classroom

Over 40 percent of today’s college students are enrolled at community colleges. While the institutions of community colleges have been gaining national attention given this growing statistic, we do not engage in large scale conversations about teaching practices that best benefit our local populations. This paper looks at the risks and rewards of incorporating students’ everyday life experiences into the classroom in an introduction to sociology course. This course is developed in an urban setting giving students tools both to see the world as sociologists and to critically analyze persistent inequalities in society. These goals are accomplished through challenging classroom conversations and culminate in a project where students collect data through their lived experience and analyze it as sociologists. While this style of teaching provides unique and often unexpected challenges, it creates a strong active learning environment in the classroom, confronts important social problems, and holds potential for consciousness raising and social change in the local community.     

“Fathers’ Rights” Activism,Discourse, Groups and Impacts: Findings from a Scoping Review of the Literature

The fathers’ rights movement emerged in its current form in the 1980s as a decentralized, transnational, grassroots network of activists, support groups, and public polemics concerning child custody and child support laws and policies in the context of separation and divorce. This scoping review reports on existing research on the fathers’ rights movement to provide a comprehensive roadmap of how the fathers’ rights movement has so far been understood and interpreted in terms of its characteristics and its impacts. Implications include specifying suggestions for future research as well as the implications for practitioners working with separated fathers and their families.     

Tort Reform and Access to Justice: How Legal Environments Shape Lawyers’ Case Selection

How do lawyers decide which cases to accept? Previous studies suggest that they use a simple risk/return formula to make such decisions. I argue, however, that legal environments also shape lawyers’ decisions. Analyses of in-depth interviews with lawyers across four states demonstrate that lawyers make different decisions about cases in different legal environments. Lawyers in states without tort reform emphasize the importance of how “likeable” a client may be to a potential jury, whereas lawyers in states with tort reform instead focus on the defendant’s “liability.” These differences have important implications for who has access to the civil justice system, and for consumer and medical protections more generally.     

Perspectives of the National Disability Insurance Scheme: participants’ knowledge and expectations of the scheme

Limited research investigates future participants’ perspectives of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – Australia’s first national attempt towards self-directed disability service provision. To identify future participants’ perspectives, seventy people with disability in South-East Queensland participated in an interview. Over half the participants demonstrated having little to no knowledge of the NDIS. Participants’ expected that: (i) they would make decisions around organising and paying support and (ii) that their current service provider would provide the support. Participants also indicated that training around budgeting and hiring would be essential to ensure their successfully engagement with the NDIS. The findings are timely and provide a first-hand account of how people with disability intend to engage with self-directed support programs. Findings also imply that targeted information dissemination and participant training and support are necessary to ensure their successful participation within self-directed programs.     

Working with Homeless Populations to Increase Access to Services: A Social Service Providers’ Perspective Through the Lens of Stereotyping and Stigma

Through the lens of stereotyping and stigma, this article examines discrimination and prejudice toward homeless families from the perspective of social service providers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with practitioners. A critical social work practice perspective is used to provide a framework for understanding how social worker knowledge about discrimination and prejudice informs the ways in which the workers engage with clients, build capacities, and advocate for clients in an anti-oppressive manner. The themes found in this study include: a) providers’ awareness of bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination; b) providers’ use of a range of strategies to work with people experiencing homelessness; c) providers’ ideas about strategies that organizations can implement for service provision; and) providers’ belief that additional advocacy and policy are needed in relationship to people experiencing homelessness.     

Pushkin’s America: A Survey of the Sources

A. S. Pouchkine, comme la plupart des russes éduqués à l’époque, avait certaines préconceptions de la vie en Amérique du Nord. Dans ses écrits de jeunesse on peut trouver certains stéréotypes empruntés soit à des sources littéraires soit à certaines opérettes. Cependant la vérité sur les conditions de vie dans les colonies françaises, espagnoles et anglaises du Nouveau Monde, l’intéressait non moins que leur écho romantique. Il est possible de déterminer assez exactement ce que Pouchkine savait au sujet de l’Amérique et de suivre à travers ses écrits, ses changements d’attitude.

Sa bibliothèque personnelle, cataloguée par Modzalevsky en 1909, nous montre qu’il avait de nombreux ouvrages sur l’histoire, la géographie et les coutumes des Amériques, surtout du nord. On peut aussi tenter d’évaluer ses contacts personnels avec certains officiers de marine et diplomates ayant séjourné au Nouveau Monde. Seule une évaluation solide de l’état exact des connaissances de Pouchkine peut nous permettre de juger correctement ses opinions sur la vie et la littérature des Amériques, que l’on trouve dans ses articles et sa poésie. Ses connaissances des conditions de vie, du commerce, de l’histoire et de la littérature américaines, basées sur les ouvrages de Cooper et de Washington Irving, étaient solides.     

Inclusion in Indignity: Seeing the State and Becoming Citizens in Chile’s Social Housing

Qualitative Sociology - Building on recent ethnographic research on social provision in the global South, this article examines the everyday construction of a welfare state that links distributive...     

Exploring the ‘craftedness’ of multimedia narratives: from creation to interpretation

This paper emerges from a comparative study of two community-based multimedia storytelling projects in Toronto and Montreal, and the multimedia narratives participants produced in those projects. Following current scholarship in visual methods that acknowledges the significance for research of the medium’s formal qualities, the authors offer the concept of ‘craftedness’ as one which might help researchers grapple with the significance of the processes of both creating and interpreting visual data. Through a study of the visual data produced in these two projects, they examine three qualities of this aesthetic experience captured in the notion of craftedness, which seem to both complicate and enable processes of self-representation and interpretation: aesthetic distance, visual excess and the visualisation of the unrepresentable. Taking seriously the craftedness of multimedia works highlights the complexities of interpreting visual data and the dilemmas of representing ourselves and others.