Racial differences in marriage and childbearing: oral history evidence from the South in the early twentieth century

Using oral histories collected in 1938 and 1939 in the Southern United States, this article examines how African-Americans and whites viewed marriage and nonmarital childbearing. The authors document distinct racial differences in family norms and the sanctions that supported those norms. Giving birth outside a marital relationship was clearly not the stigmatizing event for African-Americans that it was for whites. The authors also found that African-Americans were more likely than whites to end marriages under similar conditions. These results suggest that debates about contemporary racial differences need to take into account the historical background, both cultural and demographic, of diverse groups.     

Financial Responsibilities Toward Older Parents and Stepparents Following Divorce and Remarriage

We assessed beliefs about adult children’s responsibilities to financially assist parents and stepparents following later-life divorce and remarriage using a multiple-segment factorial vignette with a national sample (N = 1,121). Ordered logistic regression analyses indicated that beliefs about financial responsibilities to older adults declined after marital transitions, and responsibilities to assist stepparents were more tenuous than to parents. Beliefs about intergenerational responsibilities were affected by adult children’s financial resources and by changes in older adults’ marital statuses. Kinship obligation norms, the adult children’s financial resources, and reciprocity norms were the most common reasons used to explain beliefs about responsibilities to financially assist older parents and stepparents, but these reasons became less salient following divorce and remarriage of the older adult. After marital transitions, beliefs about intergenerational financial responsibilities were more often based on the older adult’s culpability for being in a position of need, relationship quality, and diminished kinship obligations.     

‘Nobody wants the parents involved’: Social norms in parent and adolescent responses to cyberbullying

Parent involvement is considered essential to preventing cyberbullying, yet little is known about how parents respond to cyberbullying when it occurs. With this in mind, this study uses data from focus groups with parents (n?=?48) to examine their responses to hypothetical cyberbullying scenarios in which their child is presented as a victim, aggressor, or bystander. We investigate how parents’ responses conform to, deviate from, or complicate normative recommendations and advice from researchers and advocacy organizations. In addition, we conducted interviews with adolescents (n?=?17) to see how their responses to cyberbullying converge with or contradict parents’ reactions. Results suggest that while parents are concerned about online aggression and are familiar with parenting norms and expectations around cyberbullying, social context and relationships complicate their responses. Children, however, view cyberbullying as normal and believe that parents should not intervene. Our findings suggest a need for improved communication with parents around boundary conditions and preferred responses to cyberbullying as well as a need for continued conversation around rapidly evolving norms for parenting and digital technology.     

Does a nonresident parent have the right to make decisions for his nonmarital children?: Trends in legal custody among paternity cases

Using the Wisconsin Court Record Data, I show that among nonmarital cases joint legal custody increased from 2% in 1988–93 to 20% in the late 90s, jumping further in 2000 and staying relatively high at around 70% in the 2000s. I hypothesize that an increasing preference for joint legal custody, a policy change that made joint legal custody presumptive, a change in the demographic composition of never-married parents, or a combination of these influences explains this trend. Logit models and Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition analyses both suggest that the difference in joint legal custody is mostly explained by the process (the coefficients) rather than the changes in parental characteristics (the independent variables). The patterns of the data suggest that an increasing parental or societal preference for joint legal custody, encouraged by the policy change, is the primary drive for the recent rise in joint legal custody among nonmarital cases.     

A Developmental Stage Hypothesis For Non-Marital Dyadic Relationships*

Within diverse sets of nonmarital relationships it is postulated that similar developmental stages emerge. Delineation of these stages provides a framework for understanding the many complexities of nonmarital interacting systems. Such a paradigm further helps those who encounter these relationships, either professionally or personally, to face the resulting conflicts in a way which does not impede future growth of the relationships. Five hypothetical developmental stages are presented and applied to two types of nonmarital dyads. Case studies further explain the conceptual model.     

Does joint legal custody increase child support for nonmarital children?

Nonmarital children account for two fifths of births in the US, and close to two thirds of these children do not live with their fathers by age five. Although nonmarital children primarily live with their mothers, joint legal custody has emerged as an option for their parents. Parents with joint legal custody are expected to make major decisions for their child together, regardless of their prior marital status. This study investigates whether joint legal custody increases child support payments in the first year of a child support order among fathers of nonmarital children who live with their mothers, using a unique sample of court records in 2000–2009 in Wisconsin. It finds consistent and statistically significant positive associations across different methods; joint legal custody is associated with higher child support payments by about $170 a year and a higher compliance ratio by 5 percentage points. Paying child support is only one way nonresident parents can contribute to their children. Therefore, more studies are needed to understand whether and how joint legal custody affects other aspects of parenting and conditions under which it should be encouraged.     

The history of tipping—from sixteenth-century England to United States in the 1910s

Tipping is a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon that challenges the traditional assumption of selfish economic agents who have no feelings and do not care about social norms. This article reviews the early history of tipping and offers an economic analysis of different aspects of tipping. Using the historical evidence, it then addresses two major questions about tipping: why do people tip? And does tipping improve service quality? The reasons for tipping changed over the years, but conforming to social norms and avoiding embarrassment were generally the main reasons. Tipping seems to improve service quality; the extent of the improvement varies across occupations.     

Precursors of Nonmarital Fertility in the United States

The dramatic increase in nonmarital fertility in the United States has generally been explained in terms of either economic circumstances or changing norms and values. We believe that fertility motivations, and the intentions they generate, should be taken into account, and we hypothesize that nonmarital fertility is more likely when children are seen as an important source of social capital. Using data from the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (N= 1,155), we find support for these views. Women who considered the social resource value of children to be high were more likely to have an out‐of‐wedlock birth than were those who did not. Women who did not intend to have a child were less likely to have a nonmarital conception than were women who did intend to have a child. We conclude that understanding recent increases in nonmarital fertility requires an appreciation of the social benefits that children bring to their mothers, married or not.     

What They Don't Know Won't Hurt Them: Parents’ Judgments About Lying to Their Adolescents

This research examined judgments about parents lying to their adolescents. Ninety‐six participants from four primarily Caucasian groups (24 parents of 18‐year‐olds, 24 parents of 14‐year‐olds, 24 18‐year‐olds, and 24 14‐year‐olds) assessed hypothetical situations in which a parent lies to their adolescent about their past experience engaging in risky activities such as drug use and shoplifting. Evaluations and justifications for deception varied as a function of the domain of each act, the age of the adolescent being lied to, and consideration of parents’ duty to foster a protective and trusting relationship. Results are discussed in terms of parents’ and adolescents’ reasoning about deception to achieve and resist socialization goals in several (moral, personal, prudential, and multifaceted) social‐cognitive domains.     

Marriage following the birth of a child among cohabiting and visiting parents

Approximately half of nonmarital births are to mothers in cohabiting relationships, and an additional 30% are to mothers in visiting relationships. I use data (N= 1,945) from the Fragile Families Study to investigate whether the determinants of marriage in the year following a child's birth are similar for cohabiting and visiting parents. The results show that mothers’ education is predictive of marriage for cohabiting parents, whereas mothers’ earnings are predictive of marriage for visiting parents. The findings imply that visiting mothers place a greater emphasis on economic independence and sufficient resources to establish an independent household before transitioning to marriage. No differences in the association of relationship quality or attitudes and marriage are found.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADOLESCENT NONMARITAL CHILDBEARING AND EDUCATIONAL EXPECTATIONS: A Cohort and Period Comparison

Prior research on the relationship between adolescent childbearing and later life outcomes is deficient in two respects. First, it has focused almost exclusively on socioeconomic octcomes, failing to consider the possible effect of a birth on social psychological outocomes. Second, it generally has ot considered whether the relationship between adolescent choldbearing and outcomes has changed across cohorts and over time. This study attempts to fill these two gaps by estimating and comparing the effects of nonmarital chidbearing on change in a social psychological variable, educational expectations, over the perod between the sophomore year in high school and two years later, using longitudinal data for the sophomore cohorts of High School and Beyond, 1980, and the National Education Londgitudinal Study of 1988. Findings for both cohorts indicate that adolescent girls tend to reduce their educational expectations following a nonmarital pregnancy or birth. In addition, adolescent girls with low educational expectations are at greater risk of a nonmarital pregnancy or birth than adolescent girls with high educational expetions.     

Children's exposure to paternal imprisonment: Incidence, evolution, and correlates among young nonmarital children

Although the well-being of nonmarital children has been the focus of recent public policy developments and academic research, relatively little is known about the risk of paternal imprisonment among these children. Particularly in a context of declining public assistance, the unprecedented imprisonment rate may place additional stress on nonmarital children if a substantial portion of their fathers are incarcerated and therefore unable to provide support. Research on this topic has been impeded by methodological difficulties, such as the lack of representative data on nonmarital children's fathers, and inaccurate or insufficient information on fathers' incarceration. Using unique combined administrative data sets from Wisconsin that largely overcome these methodological obstacles, I provide improved estimates of paternal imprisonment risk among young nonmarital children. I distinguish between point-in-time and cumulative risks and assess the length of paternal imprisonment, first considering only biological fathers and then also including the mothers' other partners. I also estimate the risks separately by socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Results suggest that nonmarital children face a high risk of paternal imprisonment, a substantial proportion also face an elevated risk of lengthy paternal imprisonment, and the racial disparity in risk is significant.     

Shame, Embarrassment, and Formal Sanction Threats: Extending the Deterrence/Rational Choice Model to Academic Dishonesty

Following the lead of Grasmick and Bursik (1990), we propose that significant others and conscience both function as agents of social control to deter illicit behavior in a manner similar to that provided by the law and more formal, bureaucratic organizations. All three–conscience, significant others, and formal organizations–entail potential threats and costs (i.e., shame, embarrassment, and formal sanctions). Actors consider these potential threats and costs, and assess the certainty and severity of them, in deciding whether or not to engage in criminal or deviant behavior. In the research reported here, data from a sample of undergraduate students are employed to examine the effects of perceived certainty and severity of shame, embarrassment, and formal sanction threats of the self-reported prevalence of involvement in a variety of forms of academic dishonesty. The results suggest rather limited support for the deterrence/rational choice model, nearly all of which is due to the influence of conscience (shame).     

Differences in Family Norms for Men and Women Across Europe

The authors examined double standards regarding divorce among parents with young children and regarding having children within nonmarital cohabitation across Europe. Whether people disapprove more of men or of women engaging in these behaviors is not a priori clear. The authors formulated arguments in both directions and expected double standards to vary cross‐nationally by the level of socioeconomic gender equality in a country. They conducted multilevel analyses on a sample of about 44,000 individuals nested in 25 countries, obtained from the European Social Survey (2006). Double standards were measured with a split‐ballot design. The findings indicated that men were generally more disapproved of than women when displaying the family behaviors under study. Overall, women endorsed both double standards, whereas men endorsed only the double standard regarding divorce. However, substantial cross‐national differences in the double standards exist. The higher the level of socioeconomic gender equality, the larger these double standards in favor of women.     

"RENDER UNTO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR'S":

Previous research on the relationship between religiosity and involvement in illegal behavior overlooks Hirschi and Stark's original concern with religion as a sanctioning system. While Hirschi and Stark proposed that religion affects compliance with the law by promising heaven and threatening damnation, this study suggests that its sanctions are self-imposed shame and socially-imposed embarrassment. Shame and embarrassment are compatible with a rational choice perspective on illegal behavior—they lower the expected utility of crime and, thus, its likelihood. These two threats stem from two conceptually distinct dimensions of religiosity. People strongly self-identified as religious are more likely to feel ashamed if they violate the law; those involved in a social network based on religion are more likely to be embarrassed. An adult sample's responses to a question concerning the likelihood of cheating on income taxes in the future tests these hypotheses. The threat of shame emanating from religious identity salience is a stronger deterrent than that of embarrassment.     

The impact of family structure and social change on adolescent sexual behavior

This article presents a biophysical perspective on adolescent sexual feelings and behavior. The study particularly analyzes sexual attraction, desire, and mate selection as evolutionary adaptations just as important to species survival. Sex differences in mating strategies are described as part of this evolutionary adaptation. Recent research findings demonstrate how these strategies explain contemporary sexual and reproductive behavior in Western societies today, as they do sexual behavior in the past or across diverse cultures. The implications of this analysis are significant to intervention efforts to postpone sexual initiation and avert nonmarital births. Discussion on demographic and normative changes that affect adolescent sexual behavior included trends in sexual maturation and changing marriage norms. The author urges greater emphasis on the early pubertal years; increased attention to teaching adolescents more about their own sexual development; a less absolutist focus on sexual abstinence, which may be appropriate and more feasible for 12 year olds but not for 16 year olds; better and more widespread sex education at earlier ages and throughout the school curriculum; frank discussion of all the options available for those who experience an unwanted pregnancy; and same level of attention towards adolescent boys and girls.     

The Effects of a Maritally Disrupted Environment on the Latency Stage Child

This study looks at the deficits which the latency stage child, from a maritally disrupted home, experiences in facing the challenge of formal education. The issues surrounding the maritally disrupted child's environmental and internal resources as compared to the non-maritally disrupted child are reviewed through current published scholarly studies. The conclusions reached were: (a) latency stage children from maritally disrupted homes fare far worse than latency stage children from two parent homes; (b) the single, most crucial factor for the child of the maritally disrupted home is being able to successfully progress through the educational system with free access to both parents; (c) empirical and hypothetical data show that current judicial and societal norms are ineffective in assisting the child from the maritally disrupted home to succeed in the formal educational system.     

Feminist issues in teenage parenting

The focus of this article is on unmarried teenage parents. It is argued that sexism particularly afflicts programs and policies for these young people as well as the behaviors that lead up to their becoming unmarried parents, namely, nonmarital coitus, failure to use effective contraceptives consistently, nonuse of abortion, decision not to place the child for adoption, and decision not to marry. Sexism is defined and the origins of sexist attitudes outlined. Sexism is examined in the context of sexuality education; of research about adolescent sex behavior and in that of programs and policies. It is argued that the availability of more systematic information about female adolescent sexuality than male adolescent sexuality perpetuates the assumption that birth control, pregnancy, childbearing and child rearing are the concern of females to to a far greater extent than for males. These assumptions play into the storong tendency for adoescent sexuality-related services to be developed almost exclusively for young women. Some negative effects of sexism are discussed with respect ot attitudes toward sexual relationships, consequences of teenage parenthood, contraception and abortion. Sexism in these attitudes places unfair burdens on young women and dehumanizes young men. It is important to recognize that both young men and young women tend to have equal needs, feelings and responsibilities with respect ot their relationships with each other and with respect to the families they may or may not found.