Adolescents’ Use of the Internet for Sex Education: A Thematic and Critical Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT. A thematic and critical literature review was conducted to determine what is known about adolescents’ experiences with online sex education. Four major themes could be discerned from the literature, revealing that: (a) adolescents report engaging with sex information online; (b) adolescents are interested in a number of topics, including sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy; (c) the quality of adolescent-targeted sex information online can be lacking, but adolescents can evaluate these sources; and (d) Internet-based interventions can increase adolescents’ sexual health knowledge. Inconsistencies in the literature are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.     

Chomsky’s Nativism: A Critical Review

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior -     

Homicide–Suicides in the United States: A Review of the Literature

Homicide–suicides are phenomena where the perpetrator kills one or more victims and subsequently kills himself/herself. The typical classification includes intimate partner homicide–suicides, familial, and extrafamilial homicide–suicides. This review examines research beginning with a 1992 seminal article by Peter Marzuk, Kenneth Tardiff, and Charles Hirsch in the Journal of the American Medical Association in which they suggested that homicide–suicides constituted a distinct domain different from homicides to suicides. This review uses the JAMA article to frame the issues and discuss homicide–suicide research in the United States from the date of that publication. In addition to discussing characteristics of homicide–suicides, this review focuses on homicide–suicides involving intimate partners and compares both to homicides without subsequent suicides and suicides without prior homicides. Suggestions for further research are given as well as research problems available to Sociology.     

A Review of: “Psychology of Orphaned Children”

For many years, intercountry adoption (ICA) in the United Kingdom was an unregulated, “tolerated” practice which was neither scrutinized nor supported to the degree of domestic adoption. Since 1999, legislative changes have sought to place ICA on equal footing with domestic adoption. This article addresses the extent to which this objective has been achieved through an examination of post-placement support practices and parents’ experiences, preferences, and expectations of support services. The findings of this study indicate that a less proactive, inclusive approach, limitations of professional knowledge and experience, the lack of appropriate services, and families’ support preferences contribute to the persistence of a “two-tier service.”     

The Decline in American Trade Union Membership and the “Government Substitution” Hypothesis:A Review of the Econometric Literature

This paper reviews the empirical literature on the “Government Substitution” hypothesis. We focus our attention on the sample periods used, model specification, and econometric technique. The seminal piece on this topic is Neumann and Rissman (J Labor Econ 2:175–192, 1984) and to date there have been less than a handful of extensions beyond this initial investigation. By tracking the limited development of this hypothesis over time we are able to conclude that there is still an opportunity for additional empirical exploration in this area.

Critical Review of the Relationship between Input、Interaction and Output

Research on input, interaction and output, as well as their relationships in second language learning and teaching has gained great prominence for several decades, and has yielded interesting findings in the field of second language learning and teaching. Therefore, this essay reviews the related literature concerned with the relationship between input, interaction and output in second language learning and teaching.     

A Review of: “Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality. Edited by Michael Kauth.”

This study explores the role of the hostess club culture in the creation and maintenance of masculinity in Taiwan. The article focuses on flower drinking (the consumption of alcohol in bars, often integrated with prostitution), which is a common practice in Taiwan. Data were obtained from 58 in-depth interviews with men from a variety of occupations and social backgrounds (mean age = 38.50, SD = 11.00) and 73 questionnaires administered to soldiers (mean age = 21.00, SD = 1.10). Findings indicated that demonstration of skill at flower drinking and facility with the related social etiquette are important channels for male bonding that were central to the mid- to upper-class participants' professional development. Flower drinking also provided a method of discriminating men from other men through their choices of why and where to go and how to behave while there. Specific ways that Taiwanese masculinity differs from Western and from Japanese masculinity, and support for the continuing relevance of the traditional Confucian ideal of masculinity, wen-wu, are discussed.     

What is Really Social Capital? A Critical Review

This paper provides a critical review of the burgeoning literature on social capital. While our focus is primarily on social capital’s place in economics, we do consider its broader social science context. In recent years, social capital literature has produced many insights, however, a number of conceptual and empirical problems remain. In this setting, we trace a panorama of ideas of the principal theorists of social capital for then focusing us on the numerous critics whose it is the subject. Finally we provide recommendations for a prudent use of the concept.     

Sexual Health Interventions for Black Women in the United States: A Systematic Review of Literature

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate approaches used in sexual health interventions targeting Black women in the United States. Methods: We conducted a review of 15 sexual health intervention studies for Black women published between January 2000 and May 2017 in the United States. Results: Each intervention focused on HIV/sexually transmitted infection prevention, incorporated an asset and deficit-based approach, primarily used individual-level assets, and was effective in achieving the stated sexual health-related outcomes. Conclusions: Comprehensive sexual health interventions require further development and refinement to include more community and institutional-level assets to improve long-term sustainable change and empower Black women.