Influence of Perceptions of Current and Future Community on Residential Aspirations of Rural Youth

Outmigration of youth has concerned rural communities and researchers for several decades. Yet not all communities experience extensive youth outmigration and some youth want to stay in their rural communities as adults. This article examines youth satisfaction with their current community and the importance of characteristics of the community in which they would like to live as an adult for youth preferences to leave or stay in their rural community. The data are for rural ninth‐grade youth in Pennsylvania from the Rural Youth Education Project. The results suggest that perceptions of available jobs and educational opportunities in both current and future community, parental and friend influences, and the quality of the natural environment and outdoor recreation are important in determining residential aspirations. In particular, identifying a clean natural environment and outdoor recreation as important in the adult community increases the likelihood that rural youth have residential aspirations to stay in their rural community. This research adds to our knowledge about factors important in determining youth residential aspirations by identifying attributes of community beyond jobs and educational opportunities that youth find attractive as they consider places to live as adults.     

Between Spatial and Social Segregation among Immigrants: The Case of Immigrants from the FSU in Israel

Studies on immigrants' residential concentration have reported mixed findings. Some have argued that immigrants' residential concentration is a necessary step in the process of their social integration because there the newcomers find housing and employment opportunities as well as social support. As they learn the language and improve their socioeconomic status, they move to neighborhoods where they share space with the native population. Others have argued that the ethnic neighborhood delays the process of social integration in the new society because it nurtures informal ethnic social networks that provide incomplete information and retard the process of language acquisition. The study reported here investigated the effect of motivations, perceptions of attitudes of the host society, acculturation and socioeconomic factors on immigrants' residential concentration. It also sought to expand previous research by examining the relationship between immigrants'residential concentration and social relationships with nonimmigrants. Data for the study were collected in 1999 through a survey of immigrants from the FSU who had settled in one northern city in Israel after 1989. The results show a negative relationship of socioeconomic status and fluency in Hebrew with the percentage of immigrants residing in a given neighborhood. The higher the socioeconomic status and the more fluent the immigrant in Hebrew, the lower the percentage of immigrants in his or her neighborhood. Immigrants who expressed a proactive motivation for migration resided in neighborhoods with a low percentage of immigrants. Immigrants' residential concentration was not found to be related to the development of social relationships with the local population. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Globalization,Societal Change,and New Technologies: What They Mean for the Future of Adolescence

Nations around the world are undergoing rapid changes that are altering the nature of adolescence in their societies. This volume examines current trends in adolescent experience across nations, with the objective of identifying emerging problems and opportunities in adolescents' preparation for adulthood. This introduction reviews methods used by futurists and how these methods are applicable to adolescence, and provides an overview of some of the macrochanges that are shaping the societies in which adolescents of the future will live. The macrochanges considered include demographic trends, globalization, trends in government, and changes in technology. Subsequent articles in this volume examine how these and other changes are altering adolescents' transition to adult work, preparation for adult interpersonal lives, civic and community engagement, and health and well‐being. The final article focuses on social policy and is followed by a conclusion with the main points and trends in the volume.     

PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR ADOLESCENT CHILDREN,PARENTAL RESOURCES,AND PARENTS' SATISFACTION WITH THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP

Building on Belsky's process model of the determinants of parenting and using a nationally representative dataset of U.S. adolescents, this article examines the relationship between parental satisfaction and parents' perceptions of their adolescents and their own personal and social resources. As such, it provides a coherent framework for understanding parental well-being during a critical stage of the family life course. The results suggest that parental satisfaction is negatively related to parents' perceptions that their adolescents are involved in problem behaviors or experiencing challenges in other domains of their lives; however, the relationship between parental satisfaction and adolescents' problem behaviors is mediated by parents' perceptions of their adolescents' characters, including whether or not they have a bad temper and their levels of trustworthiness. With respect to personal and social resources, parents' educational achievement and marital status are positively related to parental satisfaction, and the level of conflict in the spousal relationship is negatively related to parental satisfaction.     

Immigrant socioeconomic mobility in the United States: Mechanisms of inequality and the role of ethnic capital

We review recent social science research on the socioeconomic mobility of immigrants to the United States by focusing on the educational, occupational, and income attainments among immigrant adults, the first‐generation, and the educational attainment of their children, the New Second‐Generation. Existing research has identified significant inequalities in educational attainment between second‐generation Asian and Latinx immigrant groups. Researchers have also highlighted the importance of ethnic capital for mobility, but we find that they have largely proceeded with the assumption that co‐ethnic ties are easily available as a benefit for immigrants upon resettlement. We propose that future research on immigrant socioeconomic mobility should incorporate conceptual insights from economic and cultural sociology as well as use comparative ethnographic research designs to directly observe how ethnic capital operates to challenge or reinforce patterns of socioeconomic inequality.     

The Effects of Parental Resources on Adolescent Perceptions of Parental Rewarding and Punishing: Persuasive Appeals

The present study examined the impact of parental socioeconomic resources on adolescent perceptions of parental rewarding and punishing persuasive message strategies. It was argued that parents with greater socioeconomic resource bases are equipped better than lesser endowed parents to invoke rewarding and punishing persuasive appeals. Using Marwell and Schmitt's typology of rewarding and punishing persuasive strategies, one hundred and ninety adolescents ranging from seventh to twelfth grade were sampled from two midwestern communities. Results provide some support for the influence of parental socioeconomic resources on adolescent perceptions of parental rewarding and punishing persuasive appeals. However, a secondary analysis revealed adolescents' age and gender affect their perceptions more than parental resources.     

Trajectories of Perceived Friendship Quality During Adolescence: The Patterns and Contextual Predictors

Findings are presented from an ecologically grounded, longitudinal study of 206 urban, ethnic minority adolescents that used hierarchical linear modeling to examine: (1) individual trajectories of change in adolescents' perceptions of general and closest same‐sex friendship quality from middle to late adolescence; (2) the effects of gender and ethnicity on these trajectories of change; and (3) the relative influence of adolescents' perceptions of individual‐level (i.e., self‐esteem) and contextual‐level (i.e., family relationships and school climate) variables on change over time in perceptions of friendship quality. Findings indicated that adolescents' perceptions of the quality of friendships improved from middle to late adolescence. Boys reported sharper increases over time than girls in their perceptions of the quality of their closest, same‐sex friendships. Furthermore, perceptions of contextual level variables (i.e., family relationships, teacher/student relations, and student/student relations) were significantly associated with change over time in perceptions of general and/or closest same‐sex friendship quality.     

Access to and exclusion from housing over time: Refugees' experiences in rural areas

Taking the example of recognized refugees in rural Germany, and following the housing pathways approach, the paper addresses the complex interplay of individual and family-related residential preferences over time as well as structural factors regarding access to housing and associated settlement and integration. Results are from a long-term empirical study that encompassed both refugees’ and local actors’ views. Mechanisms and practices of exclusion that prevent refugees from accessing appropriate private housing are related to the negotiation of residential preferences about where and how to live, as well as to structural aspects such as the pattern of local housing markets, accessibility of infrastructures or the unwillingness of landlords to let to refugees. The paper concludes to highlight the role of place in housing trajectories and the significance of social resources within refugees' practices and local intermediaries' strategies to overcome exclusion and provision of access to rural housing.     

Segregation and Supply: Preferences and Plans among ‘Self-Made’ Women

Recently, Hakim (1991) has argued that women's choices and decisions are a key determinant of labour market behaviour and patterns of gender segregation. Drawing on a case study of women scientists and engineers, this paper examines the extent to which horizontal segregation is the product of preference and planning. The evidence suggests that the women's choices were a significant factor in entering the technical professions. However, from predominantly middle-class families, coming from single-sex schools, the women were able to specialize in technical subjects and to withstand pressure to change their decisions. Their subsequent occupational positions were the product of these educational choices rather than well-formulated career plans. Their involvement in their employers' schools/industry liaison policies highlighted that the majority of young women do not consider professional science and engineering as an appropriate job for them. The findings of the study illustrate that preferences and plans are made in ‘gendered’ social contexts in which women face different opportunities and constraints in exercising their decisions. While the study of women's attitudes and behaviour should not be neglected, sociologists should be wary of voluntaristic accounts of gender segregation which rely on rationalistic notions of labour market behaviour.     

Parental Behavior and the Quality of Adolescent Friendships: A Social‐Contextual Perspective

On the basis of an evolving social‐contextual perspective, the authors predicted and found that socioeconomic advantage in terms of income and parental education promotes supportive and inhibits hostile parental behaviors toward an adolescent child (N= 221). These parental behaviors predicted similar actions by the child toward a close friend 4 years later. In turn adolescent supportiveness promoted close friendship ties, whereas hostility diminished the quality of friendships. The results support the notion that, to a significant degree, the quality of family interactions: (a) arises from the social context surrounding the family, (b) is transmitted across generations, and (c) has a demonstrable impact on the quality of adolescents' social ties outside the family.     

Should I stay or should I go? Migration expectations among youth in Icelandic fishing and farming communities

Social mobility presupposes geographical mobility in many rural areas. Migration decisions feature prominently in the lives of rural adolescents, and the viability of local communities often hangs in the balance. As in many other rural areas, the majority of adolescents in Icelandic fishing and farming communities expect to live somewhere else in the future. An analysis of national surveys in 1992 and 2003 reveal that perceptions of occupational opportunities are by far the strongest predictor of migration intentions, and they fully account for gender differences in this regard. Other significant predictors of wanting to stay include being raised in the community, parental support and parental control, and interest in working in the primary industry. Parental education is associated with increased migration intentions, but this effect operates through other factors. In the early 1990s, parental involvement in the primary industry and well-being in school predicted migration intentions, but these issues no longer appeared to be a factor in the early 2000s. Finally, adolescents who identify strongly with the local community and are more proud of their nationality are less likely to expect to migrate. These results are discussed in the context of changing social identities in an increasingly global culture.     

Adolescents' Perceptions of Family Belonging in Stepfamilies

Prior research has established that adolescents' perceptions of family belonging are associated with a range of well‐being indicators and that adolescents in stepfamilies report lower levels of family belonging than adolescents in two‐biological‐parent families. Yet, we know little regarding what factors are associated with adolescents' perceptions of family belonging in stepfamilies. Guided by family systems theory, the authors addressed this issue by using nationally representative data (Add Health) to examine the associations between family characteristics and adolescents' perceptions of family belonging in stepfather families (N = 2,085). Results from structural equation models revealed that both the perceived quality of the stepfather–adolescent relationship and in particular the perceived quality of the mother–adolescent relationship were the factors most strongly associated with feelings of family belonging.     

Shared Parenting After Divorce: A Review of Shared Residential Parenting Research

One of the most complex and compelling issues confronting policymakers, parents, and the family court system is what type of parenting plan is most beneficial for children after their parents' divorce. How much time should children live with each parent? An increasing number of children are living with each parent at least 35% of the time in shared residential parenting families: How are these children and their parents faring? In what ways, if any, do divorced parents who share the residential parenting differ from parents whose children live almost exclusively with their mother? How stable are shared residential parenting plans? By reviewing the existing studies on shared parenting families, these questions are addressed.     

Family Functioning and Adolescent Career Development

Family systems propositions as applied to career development theory were tested in a cross-sectional survey examining the relationship between family members' perceptions of family functioning and adolescent career development measures. Results of the analysis showed that family functioning dimensions as evaluated by 11th-grade students and their parents were more frequent and stronger predictors of career development than gender, socioeconomic status, and educational achievement.     

Preludes to Attainment: Race,Sex, and Student Achievement Orientations*

This paper investigates race-sex differences in achievement orientation using a national sample of high school seniors. Achievement orientation is approximated by attitudinal measures (educational expectations, occupational aspirations, academic self concept, self esteem, and locus-of-control) known to be correlated with expected and actual attainments. Three major sets of student background factors are related to ent orientation: (1) family SES, (2) school context, and (3) parental expectations. Race-sex comparisons of achievement orientation revealed several interesting, but few definitive differences. Occupational aspirations were a dimension of consistent differentiation: whites and males aspired to higher status, less stereotypic occupations than did blacks and females. Pronounced interpersonal effects are implied throughout, with family educational attainments, peer plans, teacher evaluations (grades) and parent aspirations strongly influencing achievement orientations in all race-sex subgroups. The paper calls for intensive, longitudinal studies of student interactions with parents, friends, teachers, and other individuals who influence their perceptions of what constitute desirable and possible future roles.     

Neighbourhood social ties: how much do residential,physical and virtual mobility matter?

Following up on the prediction by classical sociological theorists that neighbours will become irrelevant as societies become more mobile, this research examines the strength of people's social ties with neighbours and the associations thereof with residential, physical and virtual mobility using longitudinal data for Germany. Unlike previous studies, the research considers the three forms of mobility simultaneously and contrasts its effects on social ties with neighbours to those with family. The results show that residential and physical mobility are negatively associated with social ties to neighbours and positively with ties to family. Virtual mobility does not weaken social ties with neighbours but ties with family. The positive association between mobility and social ties with family may not be strong enough to ascertain that people maintain as close social ties to others in the future as it does not outweigh the negative association with visiting neighbours.     

Rural communities and well‐being: a good place to grow up?

This study looks at young people's accounts of life in communities in rural northern Scotland, and considers in what ways affective and social aspects of community are bound up with well‐being, over and above young people's concerns for the future, rural youth transitions, and out‐migration. Interviews were held with 15–18 year‐olds in four study areas (16 groups, N=60+) and a parallel survey of 11–16 year‐olds was conducted in eight study areas (N=2400+). Themes to emerge from the interviews included: opportunities locally, the future and staying on, as well as local amenities and services; but older teenagers also spoke at length about their social lives, family and social networks, and their community, both as close‐knit and caring and as intrusive and controlling. Rural communities were seen as good places in childhood, but not necessarily for young people. In parallel with that, the survey data paints a picture where feelings of support, control, autonomy, and attachment were all associated with emotional well‐being. Importantly, links between emotional well‐being and practical, material concerns were outweighed by positive identifications of community as close‐knit and caring; and equally, by negative identifications as intrusive and constraining, where the latter was felt more strongly by young women. Certainly, beliefs about future employment and educational opportunities were also linked to well‐being, but that was over and above, and independently of, affective and social aspects of community life. Additionally, migration intentions were also bound up with sense of self and well‐being, and with feelings about community life; and links between thoughts about leaving and community life as controlling and constraining were, yet again, felt more strongly by young women. Thus, gender was a key dimension affecting young people's feelings about their communities with significant implications for well‐being, and out‐migration. The study illustrates the importance of understanding the experiences young people have of growing up in rural areas, and how they evaluate those experiences: particularly, how life in rural communities matters for young people's well‐being; and especially, for young women.     

Economic Disadvantage,Family Dynamics,and Adolescent Enrollment in Higher Education

This study applies a family process model to the linkage between early economic disadvantage and later enrollment in higher education. Using two waves of data on low‐income youth, the authors found that the attitudes and behaviors of their parents, mostly mothers, mediate the impact of disadvantage on enrollment. Economically disadvantaged parents are less optimistic about their adolescents' educational chances and, in turn, engage less in the proactive parenting that promotes enrollment. The authors also found that parents' perceived efficacy buffers against the more negative consequences of disadvantage that can influence their adolescents' educational trajectories. Group comparisons reveal few differences by gender or ethnicity.     

CHAUFFEURING AND COMMUTING

Work and family decision-making as a factor of life in a small middle class town in semi-rural Michigan is discussed in relation to class reproduction and gendered parenting identities. Interview and ethnographic data reveal why parents choose to live in this community and how their work and family lives are shaped in part by the town's location and character. Topics considered are children's school and extracurricular activities and parents’ career trajectories, commuting distances, local job opportunities, and family participation. Framed by a life course approach, the data provide a holistic on-the-ground picture of the intersection of these diverse elements in the lives of study participants.