College student bereavement experience in a Christian university

As part of the National College Grief Study, college student bereavement experience was examined specifically in a Christian university climate. Sex, year in school, and closeness to the deceased were measured in terms of academic and mental health outcomes and resources utilized. Females reported more mental health problems when close to the deceased, and seniors were less likely than first year students to utilize personal support resources of family and religion. During close losses, students experienced more mental health problems and negative social outcomes, but they did not access more resources. Recommendations for university personnel and suggestions for further research are given.     

Individual cheating in the lab: a new measure and external validity

This paper investigates to what extent laboratory measures of cheating generalise to the field. To this purpose, we develop a lab measure that allows for individual-level observations of cheating whilst reducing the likelihood that participants feel observed. Decisions made in this laboratory task are then compared to individual choices taken in the field, where subjects can lie by misreporting their experimental earnings. We use two field variations that differ in the degree of anonymity of the field decision. According to our measure, no correlation of behaviour between the laboratory and the field is found. We then perform the same analysis using a lab measure that can only detect cheating at the aggregate level. In this case, we do find a weak correlation between the two environments. We discuss the significance and interpretation of these results.

     

The Peer Context of Adolescent Substance Use: Findings from Social Network Analysis

To examine the peer context of adolescent substance use, social network analysis was used to measure three domains of attributes of peer networks: social embeddedness, social status, and social proximity to substance users. The sample was a panel of 5,104 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in three public school systems surveyed every 6 months for five assessments. Hierarchical generalized linear models showed that adolescents less embedded in the network, with greater status, and with closer social proximity to peer substance users were more likely to use substances. Also, adolescents in less dense networks and networks with higher smoking prevalence were more likely to smoke and use marijuana. Results establish the utility of social network analysis for measuring peer context and indicate that conventionality of relationships—having friends in the network, being liked but not too well liked, and having fewer friends who use substances—is most beneficial.     

Statusmasse light: Statusskalen bei unzureichenden Berufsangaben

Using prestige and SES measures requires information on the occupation performed. Because gathering and coding this information is time consuming and expensive, appropriate data are often missing. This article presents proxy-scales that may be used in this situation. These scales are derived from original status measures on the basis of commonly available variables. After presenting the derived status scales their validity is examined. It turns out that they capture approximately half of the variance of the original measures. Using a simple status attainment model, the utility of the derived status scales is demonstrated. Finally, we discuss how the scales may be adjusted to other data structures.     

Les migrations Est‐ouest dans le debat politique et scientifique en france et en allemagne

Les auteurs de ce texte comparent les discours dominants et la recherche menée en France et en Allemagne de 1990 à 1993 sur les migrations en provenance de l'Europe de l'Est. Ils montrent comment les recherches sont fortement influencées par le débat politique et constatent la divergence d'approche: en France, peu touchée par ces migrations, l'accent est sur l'élargissement du champ migratoire européen, alors qu'en Allemagne, la destination privilégiée de ces migrations, la recherche et le débat sont davantage centrés sur ce pays.     

Enduring stigma: the long-term effects of incarceration on health

Although incarceration rates have risen sharply since the 1970s, medical sociology has largely neglected the health effects of imprisonment. Incarceration might have powerful effects on health, especially if it instills stigma, and it could provide sociologists with another mechanism for understanding health disparities. This study identifies some of incarceration's direct and indirect effects and rigorously tests them using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. It finds that incarceration has powerful effects on health, but only after release. A history of incarceration strongly increases the likelihood of severe health limitations. Furthermore, any contact with prison is generally more important than the amount of contact, a finding consistent with a stigma-based interpretation. Although this relationship is partly attributable to diminished wage growth and marital instability, the bulk of the effect remains even under the most stringent of specifications, including controls for intelligence and the use of fixed effects, suggesting a far-reaching process with a proliferation of risk factors. The study also finds that incarceration contributes only modestly to racial disparities, that there are few synergistic interactions between incarceration and other features of inequality, including schooling, and that the evidence for a causal effect is much weaker among persistent recidivists and those serving exceptionally long sentences. These study findings are inconsistent with recent speculation; nevertheless, incarceration is an important addition to sociology's research agenda. Exploring incarceration could lead to, among other things, a fruitful synergy among studies on fundamental causes, stigma, and stress.