Reaping the benefits of sickness? Long-term illness and the experience of welfare claims

This article documents the experience of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) in claiming sickness-related benefits in the United Kingdom. Based on responses to an enquiry on an email noticeboard, it focuses on the work and stress involved in making a claim; the felt stigma of being a claimant; and the strong desire to return to paid employment. The paper also notes the lack of documentation of the experience of making claims for, and of living as, a claimant of these benefits, and argues for the importance of research in this area, especially given that tightened criteria are currently generating even greater anxiety and risk of impoverishment.     

Sharing the small moments: ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat

Ephemeral social media, platforms that display shared content for a limited period of time, have become a prominent component of the social ecosystem. We draw on experience sampling data collected over two weeks (Study 1; N?=?154) and in-depth interview data from a subsample of participants (Study 2; N?=?28) to understand college students’ social and emotional experiences on Snapchat, a popular ephemeral mobile platform. Our quantitative data demonstrated that Snapchat interactions were perceived as more enjoyable – and associated with more positive mood – than other communication technologies. However, Snapchat interactions were also associated with lower social support than other channels. Our qualitative data highlighted aspects of Snapchat use that may facilitate positive affect (but not social support), including sharing mundane experiences with close ties and reduced self-presentational concerns. In addition, users compared Snapchat to face-to-face interaction and reported attending to Snapchat content more closely than archived content, which may contribute to increased emotional rewards. Overall, participants did not see the application as a platform for sharing or viewing photos; rather, Snapchat was viewed as a lightweight channel for sharing spontaneous experiences with trusted ties. Together, these studies contribute to our evolving understanding of ephemeral social media and their role in social relationships.     

Hooking Up in the College Context: The Event-Level Effects of Alcohol Use and Partner Familiarity on Hookup Behaviors and Contentment

The current study examined hooking up experiences through event-level analyses, including the connections involving alcohol use, the extent of physical contact, and postevaluations of the hookup event. Participants were 828 college students (67.0% female). Of students who reported hooking up sometime within the past year (54.8%), chi-square analyses revealed that they were more likely to have been drinking when they met their partners the night of the hookup. Females who were drinking beforehand and females who met their partners that night were more likely to feel discontent with their hookup decisions. Among participants who consumed alcohol prior to their last hookup, a notable 30.7% of females and 27.9% of males indicated that they would likely not have hooked up with their partners had alcohol not been involved. Further, 34.4% of females and 27.9% of males indicated that they would not have gone as far physically if they had not been drinking. Among participants who reported both drinking beforehand and hooking up with unfamiliar partners, greater number of drinks consumed was associated with more advanced sexual behaviors. The current findings highlight the potential risks associated with alcohol use in the hooking up culture.     

Congregational Political Activity and Same‐Sex Marriage: Social Movement Theory and Evidence for Contextual Influence

We interpret three strands of social movement theory (social threat, opportunity structure, and resource mobilization) to understand religious congregations' political activity related to same‐sex marriage. Using a unique, national data set from the 2008 presidential election, we show the importance of the anti‐same‐sex marriage discursive opportunity structure (DOS) for facilitating, and occasionally constraining, congregational political activity. Other theoretical factors influence congregations under limited, although important, conditions. Our research develops a nuanced understanding of congregations' roles in social movements that prioritize institutionalized political activity and expands DOS theory in relation to local religious organizations.     

Adolescent fertility and religion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the year 2000: the role of Protestantism

Social transformations in Brazil in recent years have included a substantial increase in adolescent fertility, a dramatic rise in membership of Protestant religious denominations, and an accompanying decline in the number of Catholics. We used the 2000 Brazil Census to examine differentials in fertility and family formation among adolescents living in Rio de Janeiro by the following religious denominations: Catholic; Baptist; other mainline Protestant; Assembly of God Church; Universal Church of the Kingdom of God; other Pentecostal Protestant; and no religion. Results from logistic regression models show that the majority of the Protestants are at a lower risk of adolescent fertility than Catholics, and that among adolescents who have had a child, most Protestants are more likely than Catholics to be in a committed union. Our findings offer some support for the hypothesis that Protestant churches are more effective than the Catholic Church in discouraging premarital sexual relations and childbearing among adolescents.     

Blacks and the family cap: pregnancy, abortion, and spillovers

While reducing out-of-wedlock childbearing is a central goal of welfare reform, most policymakers prefer achieving this objective via a reduction in nonmarital pregnancy rates rather than through an increase in the incidence of abortion. Using aggregate state-level data from 1984 to 1998, I estimate fixed effects models that allow for autocorrelated and heteroskedastic disturbances to examine the association between the family cap and nonmarital birth, pregnancy, and abortion rates. I find robust evidence that the family cap is associated with a reduction in nonmarital birth rates, particularly among black women. This reduction is driven by a reduction in nonmarital pregnancy rates rather than through an increase in abortion or marriage rates. These findings suggest that that the stigmatizing effect of the family cap may influence the nonmarital pregnancy decisions of black women.

Exploratory Analysis of Spatial Patterns in Brazil’s Fertility Transition

We use census data to investigate fertility change across more than 500 Brazilian microregions during 1970–2000, before and after controlling for local covariates. We use semivariograms to analyze spatial patterns, in order to investigate the importance of diffusion or social interaction in the spread of fertility transition across a map. Our analysis shows that spatial patterns in Brazilian fertility change are strongly related to spatial patterns in measurable local conditions such as electrification, child mortality, and female education. Differences in local conditions are particularly good at explaining spatial correlations at distances >500 km. At shorter distances, there remains some unexplained spatial correlation in fertility change that could be attributed to diffusion or social interaction.     

Do youth nonmarital childbearing choices reflect income and relationship expectations?

We hypothesize that teen nonmarital birth events are influenced by adolescent girls’ perceptions of the consequences of their choices. Two such consequences are explored: (1) a teen’s expected future marriage and cohabitation relationships and (2) the present value of expected future income. We also measure the effects of the characteristics of the teen, her prior choices, her family, her neighborhood, and the social and economic environment in which she lives. The results, based on the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics, suggest that teens place greater weight on the relationship consequences than the income consequences, but that both consequences influence their nonmarital birth choices.

Understanding the role of schools in the Asian-white gap: a seasonal comparison approach

Asian Americans are the most highly educated racial group in the United States and are commonly heralded as the model minority for their high academic success. Nevertheless, previous research suggests that Asian Americans may face certain disadvantages in school settings. For example, Asian Americans’ academic advantage over non-Hispanic white students diminishes between kindergarten entry and the next several years of schooling. This study provides a closer examination of the educational progress of Asian American students compared to white students through a seasonal comparison approach. Using the Northwest Evaluation Association, we analyze reading and math scores for over 130,000 Asian American and white students in grades K-7 in approximately 675 public schools across the US. We find that Asian Americans have higher academic achievement than white students in general, but that these advantages are maintained primarily through faster rates of learning during the summer months. When school is in session, the Asian advantage either remains unchanged or shrinks, consistent with the view that some school processes undermine the educational progress of Asian American students relative to white students.