Desired Risk: Broadening the Social Amplification of Risk Framework1

Recently Kasperson et al.⁽⁶⁾ have proposed a conceptual framework, “The Social Amplification of Risk,” as a beginning step in developing a comprehensive theory of public experience of risk. A central goal of their effort is to systematically link technical assessments of risk with the growing findings from social scientific research. A key and growing domain of public risk experience is “desired” risk, but this is virtually neglected in the framework. This paper evaluates the scope of the “Social Amplification of Risk Framework,” asking whether it is applicable to desired risks, such as risk recreation (hang gliding, mountain climbing, and so forth). The analysis is supportive of the framework's applicability to the domain of desired risk.     

Too Many References,Just Cut a Few and It Will Be Perfect: APA vs. Chicago

Here, I offer a retrospective research narrative of four of my works, Writing in Rhythm: Spoken Word Poetry in Urban Classrooms (published under Maisha T. Fisher, 2007b); Black Literate Lives: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (published under Maisha T. Fisher, 2009); Writing Instruction in the Culturally Relevant Classroom (with Latrise P. Johnson; Winn &; Johnson, 2011); and Girl Time: Literacy, Justice, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline (Winn, 2011). I revisit these texts in order to contribute to a larger discussion of how activity systems and youth participation in these activity systems provide support for youth to build and sustain literate identities in both schools and in out-of-school contexts.     

The Truth About Sex-Less than Meets the Eye but Less Is More Commentary on Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance by Janet R. Jakobsen and Ann Pelligrini

Black feminist writing has alerted us to the interplay of racial and gender identity within the black liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Elaine Brown's A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story permits investigation of these interpersonal and intrapsychic dynamics in the instance of the Black Panther Party. Of special interest is the complex role played by masculine introjects in Brown's struggle for individual and collective self-definition.     

Fertility Decline in Prussia, 1875–1910: A Pooled Cross-Section Time Series Analysis

Marital fertility level and decline are examined in 407 small areas in Prussia using quinquennial data for the period 1875 to 1910 from an unusually rich and detailed data set, and pooled cross-section time-series methods. Religion, ethnicity, and prevalence of mineworkers are the only statistically significant factors associated with marital fertility level. However, none of these are important predictors of marital fertility decline. Marital fertility decline in nineteenth-century Prussia is better predicted by increased women's labour force participation in non-traditional occupations, the growth of financial institutions, the development of a transport-communications infrastructure, reduction in infant mortality and improvements in education.     

Negotiating cultural values and expectations within the public child welfare system: A look at familismo and personalismo

This paper examines, from the perspective of parents and child welfare workers, how cultural values and expectations are integrated and negotiated in public child welfare cases. The study focuses on the experiences and interactions of Mexican families with the public child welfare system in Southern California. Grounded theory is used to complete the content analysis. Findings indicate that workers' efforts to provide culturally congruent services are limited by organizational structural factors. Consistent with the value of personalismo, parents stress the importance of a good relationship with their worker and the implications to their case. Specific recommendations to enhance service delivery include (1) developing services models that are informed by families served; (2) developing/providing ongoing training and evaluation to ascertain if services are in fact culturally competent; and (3) promoting a change in child welfare policy that reflects the diverse needs of families.     

Exact and Approximate Statistical Inference for Nonlinear Regression and the Estimating Equation Approach

The exact density distribution of the non‐linear least squares estimator in the one‐parameter regression model is derived in closed form and expressed through the cumulative distribution function of the standard normal variable. Several proposals to generalize this result are discussed. The exact density is extended to the estimating equation (EE) approach and the non‐linear regression with an arbitrary number of linear parameters and one intrinsically non‐linear parameter. For a very special non‐linear regression model, the derived density coincides with the distribution of the ratio of two normally distributed random variables previously obtained by Fieler almost a century ago, unlike other approximations previously suggested by other authors. Approximations to the density of the EE estimators are discussed in the multivariate case. Numerical complications associated with the non‐linear least squares are illustrated, such as non‐existence and/or multiple solutions, as major factors contributing to poor density approximation. The non‐linear Markov–Gauss theorem is formulated on the basis of the near exact EE density approximation.     

Suicide and Homo Duplex an Interpretation of Durkheim's Typology of Suicide*

The four types of suicide that Durkheim distinguished are implicit in his concept of homo duplex and the view of socialization this entailed. The individual requires both repression of his passions and direction toward society; too much or too little of either of these two processes leads to suicide and each of the four types represents one type of such failure in socialization. Internal evidence from Suiciae is used to show that Durkheim did in fact derive the suicide typology from his view of man. From the standpoint of this interpretation, those by Parsons and Douglas and by commentators who equate the anomic and egoistic suicide types are reviewed and their misunderstandings noted. Finally, the interpretation given is used to shed light on other aspects of Durkheim's thought, especially some that are disputed in the secondary literature.