Latin American immigration policy and the Jews, 1938–43: The discrepancy between word and deed

This article deals with a distinct minority group, the Jews, and Latin American perceptions of them as well as perceptions of Jews as immigrants and the discrepancy between official statements and actual policy. A main point of the article is that this discrepancy between word and deed was evident prior to the Marín survey of 1942–43, as epitomized by the Evian Conference of 1938 on refugees and immigration, and continued into the Second World War, at a time when more open immigration policies were so desperately needed.     

The arrival of Jewish refugee children in England, 1938–1939

Between December 1938 and the outbreak of World War II in the following September over 9,300 children were brought to England from Nazi occupied territories, under the auspices of the Movement for the Care of Children from Germany. The event which precipitated this exodus was Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938). This paper examines the background to the formation of this organization, how it operated, and the problems which it faced. Attention is also given to the disquiet which was voiced in various quarters about the Movement's work.     

Youth–Family,Youth–School Relationship,and Depression

This study sought to examine the association between adolescents’ relationship with family and school and depressive symptoms across ethnic/racial groups (White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian), and to test potentially unique explanatory power in youth–family relationship versus youth–school relationship, in a sample of 4,783 adolescents. Depressive symptoms were assessed with a 19-item, modified Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). The results indicated that youth–family relationship and youth–school relationship were significant predictors of adolescent depression. However, the findings of the study indicated that unique contributions by youth–family relationship and youth–school relationship were different by racial/ethnic groups. These findings elucidate protective factors for adolescent depression and highlight the importance of cultural context of each racial/ethnic group.     

Talcott parsons and the “far east” at Harvard, 1941–48: Comparative institutions and national policy

This article traces the involvement of Talcott Parsons in research and teaching about Asian nations, especially China and Japan, in the period of World War II. The data indicate that, in contrast to his Eurocentric image, Parsons worked to develop a global perspective in studies on comparative institutions. This approach, inspired by the sociology of Max Weber, also addressed the practical needs of policy makers in connection with the war effort. Within Parsons’s intellectual biography, it stands between the “voluntaristic” framework of his early treatise, The Structure of Social Action (1937) and the later non-historical formalism of The Social System (1951) for which he is perhaps most famous. An understanding of this relatively unknown phase of Parsons’s work is therefore indispensable for an adequate appreciation of his career as a whole.     

Gambling Participation,Expenditure and Risk of Harm in Australia, 1997–1998 and 2010–2011

Gambling-related harm results primarily from financial losses. Internationally Australia continues to rank as the largest spending nation per capita on gambling products. This would suggest that Australian gamblers are at disproportionately high risk of harm despite almost two decades of industry scrutiny and regulation, and investment in research, treatment and education programs. However, declines in participation rates, per capita expenditure, household expenditure, national disposable income spent on gambling and problem gambling rates have been cited as evidence that fewer people are gambling, that gamblers are spending less, and that gambling safety in Australia has improved. The current study investigated these propositions using national population and accounts data, and statistics from Australia’s two population-representative gambling surveys conducted in 1997–1998 and 2010–2011. Despite a falling participation rate the study found no real change in the number of people gambling overall, and increasing numbers consuming casino table games, race wagering and sports betting. Further found were increases rather than decreases in average gambler expenditure, overall, and across most products, particularly electronic gaming machines (EGMs). Potentially risky levels of average expenditure were observed in both periods, overall and for race wagering, casino table gaming, and EGMs. Changes in the proportion of income spent on gambling suggest risks declined overall and for race wagering and casino table gaming, but increased for EGMs. Finally, while problem gambling statistics were not comparable between periods, the study found double the number of moderate risk gamblers previously estimated for 2010–2011 amongst the 2 million Australians found to have experienced one or more gambling-related problems. The findings have implications for public health policy and resourcing, and the way in which prevalence and expenditure statistics have been interpreted by researchers, government and industry in Australia and elsewhere.     

Homelessness in Sweden–discussion,patterns, and causes

In a number of countries in Western Europe and in North America homelessness has come to the fore once again over the last 15-20 years, a fact to which many books and surveys bear witness. In a number of countries, organizations have been formed both for and by the homeless.¹Newspapers sold on the street to promote the cause of the homeless are becoming an increasingly common sight.²Despite this trend there is at present still no generally acknowledged explanation of the cause of homelessness and we do not know whether the causes are the same in the social democratic European welfare states, in the USA and Canada, or in countries with a poorly developed welfare system. Nor do we know whether homelessness for the individual is a short-term or permanent state. This article highlights Swedish homelessness. It is based on the results of a research project which I ran from 1993 to 1998.³The article has three objectives. First, I wish to provide a brief presentation of the issue of Swedish homelessness using, among other things, a study of how the media have dealt with the issue. Secondly, I wish to discuss the pattern of homelessness in Sweden and provide an explanation of why the length of homelessness varies. Thirdly, I wish to highlight the question of how we explain why people can be homeless in a country where social welfare and housing policies have, decade after decade, been directed at eradicating housing problems. The last two questions were highlighted in a case study conducted by me in Malmö, the country's third largest city.     

Work–family conflict among Black,White, and Hispanic men and women

Are there racial/ethnic differences in work–family conflict? Using a nationally representative survey of Americans, we analyze differences in work–family conflict among Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics and then utilize an intersectional approach, disaggregating men and women within each racial/ethnic group. Using structural equation modeling, we find that the usual predictors of conflict – family and work characteristics – have varied effects on work–family conflict among men and women of different racial/ethnic groups. Nonstandard schedules were uniformly linked to increased work-to-family conflict among all respondents, regardless of subgroup. Our findings reveal the merits of intersectional approaches, and suggest the need for theoretical models of the work–family interface that better reflect the experiences of men and women of color.     

Sugar,Slavery and Productivity in Jamaica, 1750–1807

The article revisits one of the most significant questions in the historiography of British West Indian slavery and abolition. It examines the argument that the relatively weak state of the British West Indian economy from the 1780s onward was the main reason why Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807. In confronting this question of decline, the article analyzes the largest and most important slave plantation economy – Jamaica – during the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Using newly generated indicators such as total factor productivity and national income, the paper constructs a case for the dynamism and efficiency of the plantation system in Jamaica right up to abolition in 1807.     

Italian Immigrants and the Mexican Nation: The Cusi Family in Michoacán (1885–1938)

This article considers the trajectory of the Cusi family, a family of Italian immigrants in Mexico. After arriving in the 1880s, the family accumulated significant land, which was later expropriated under redistributive policies of the 1930s. The Cusis' class status, however, does not explain this expropriation entirely, and this article turns to the family's Italian heritage to explain it more fully. In doing so, it tracks the perception of the Cusis over a 50-year span and points to the shifting boundaries of the Mexican nation. Finally, it analyses a memoir written by a member of the Cusi family as a response to those shifting boundaries and an effort to claim a place in the nation.