In the Mix,Yet on the Margins: The Place of Families in Urban Neighborhood and Child Development Research

In the 1990s, the most popular theoretical and empirical research issue concerning the local ecologies of families focused on the impact of family structures (e.g., household composition) and processes (e.g., child management strategies) on the relationship between urban neighborhoods and child and adolescent development. In this article, we synthesize and critically examine the decade's prevailing literature on the topic, organizing this review into three areas: (a) the research designs of quantitative and ethnographic studies of urban neighborhoods, families, and child outcomes; (b) the conceptual approaches used in these studies; and (c) the role of structural and behavioral features of family and parenting as factors that influence the relationship between urban neighborhoods and child development in ethnically and racially diverse populations. Results suggest that although family has been center stage in the neighborhood effects research question of the decade, it has remained on the margins in terms of theoretical and methodological specificity. Recommendations for future research are also offered.     

Social Perception and Stereotyping: An Interpersonal and Intercultural Approach

Social perception and stereotyping have been important issues in social and cross-cultural psychology for most of the 20th century. After briefly reviewing its history, the current article discusses social perception and stereotyping from the interpersonal and the cross-cultural perspective. Specifically, these issues are presented along a dimension ranging from intraindividual, to intragroup, to intergroup perception. First, the discussion of interpersonal perception emphasizes social perception in a face-to-face context. Though this section may appear to be technical and complicated to some readers, this level of detail is necessary to elaborate a most basic version of the componential approach to interpersonal perception. Second, the section on social stereotypes discusses social identity theory and the ingroup and outgroup homogeneity effects. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of lingering concerns in research on social perception and stereotypes.     

宋元转变的汉人精英家族：儒户身份，家学传统与书院

1315年恢复科举制度前后,士大夫家庭已通过兴办书院从而把利用教育作为维护社会地位和经济地位的战略。元初那些通过资助,兴办或以其他形式与书院联系,从而维护儒学学术传统的家族,获得入仕的有利机会。元朝建立后,书院时南方士大夫家庭的命运起着重要作用。书院除了为书院山长提供潜在的仕途外,还帮助元朝指定的儒户,即传统的士绅家庭维持特权。元初,恢复科举制度前,通过建立和扩大书院对当地教育有所贡献的家庭,经常受到官方任命作为奖赏。除了具有教育传统的家庭兴办书院,那些自南宋起就存在的家塾,为元代的书院奠定了基础。元代的书院,既是国家教育机构的组成部分,也是南北方汉族士人——以及非汉族士人——通过坚持儒家教育传统而保持地位的手段。     

A theoretical analysis of antecedents of young couples’ fertility decisions and outcomes

Longitudinal survey data from 509 couples who at Time 1 interview had recently married or had their first child did not support the hypothesis that demographic factors influence fertility intentions, decisions, and outcomes only indirectly through their effects on attitudes and motivations. Husbands’ and wives’ attitudes exerted reciprocal influence on one another. However, while husbands’ sex-role traditionalism and motivation for parenthood strongly influenced wives’ traditionalism and motivation in the case of recently married couples, this pattern was reversed for riew parents. Birth control use was directly affected by wives’ fertility intentions, but not by husbands’ intentions. Difficulties in examining couple interaction variables such as relative power and the possible limitations of fitting these data to a complex theoretical model using LISREL are discussed.     

Resolving inconsistencies in trends in old-age disability: Report from a technical working group

In September 2002, a technical working group met to resolve previously published inconsistencies across national surveys in trends in activity limitations among the older population. The 12-person panel prepared estimates from five national data sets and investigated methodological sources of the inconsistencies among the population aged 70 and older from the early 1980s to 2001. Although the evidence was mixed for the 1980s and it is difficult to pinpoint when in the 1990s the decline began, during the mid- and late 1990s, the panel found consistent declines on the order of 1%-2.5% per year for two commonly used measures in the disability literature: difficulty with daily activities and help with daily activities. Mixed evidence was found for a third measure: the use of help or equipment with daily activities. The panel also found agreement across surveys that the proportion of older persons who receive help with bathing has declined at the same time as the proportion who use only equipment (but not personal care) to bathe has increased. In comparing findings across surveys, the panel found that the period, definition of disability, treatment of the institutionalized population, and age standardizing of results were important to consider. The implications of the findings for policy, national survey efforts, and further research are discussed.     

The Benefits from Marriage and Religion in the United States: A Comparative Analysis

In the United States, married people have better outcomes on a variety of measures of wellbeing than do single persons. People who participate in religious activities show similar advantages relative to those who have no religious involvement. This article présents a comparative analysis of these two social institutions: marriage and religion. A critical review of the literature on how religious involvement and being married affect a range of child and adult outcomes provides evidence of generally positive effects. Religion and marriage have an impact on many of the same domains of life, and there are remarkable similarities in the mechanisms through which they exert an influence.     

Childbearing and Women's Survival: New Evidence from Rural Bangladesh

Effects of childbearing on women's mortality and the implications of family planning programs in reducing these effects are examined in a 20‐year prospective study of more than 2,000 women in Matlab, Bangladesh. Maternal mortality is defined as a death occurring in the six weeks after childbirth. But childbearing may affect women's survival beyond this brief period. Additional hypotheses considered relate to 1) cumulative exposure to childbearing, whether measured by parity or pace of childbearing, 2) age at first birth, and 3) effects beyond the reproductive ages. The results offer no support to cumulative exposure hypotheses, showing no link between parity or pace of childbearing and mortality risk. Instead, we identify an extended period of heightened mortality risk associated with each birth—the year of the birth and the two subsequent years. Family planning programs, by reducing the number of children and therefore a woman's exposure to extended maternal mortality risk, potentially increase survival. Research is needed to identify and address the specific causes of extended maternal mortality risk so that appropriate ameliorative programs may be developed.