Commitment of Juveniles to Training Schools

The study analyzes commitment rates to training schools, average length of stay and the facility utilization in the various states over the period 1979–1990. Based on a regression analysis of the data, we found that only the bed ratio, which is the number of beds per 100,000 eligible population, and average length of stay in training schools are significant in explaining the changes of commitment rate over the years. The paper focuses on the meaning of the variation between states on the commitment rate, the average length of stay and facility utilization might have in terms of correctional policy. There is also a discussion of our findings that the only significant variables in explaining commitment rate change were institutional variables that influence correctional policy.     

Exploring sequences: a graphical tool based on multi-dimensional scaling

Summary.  Sequence analysis has become one of the most used and discussed tools to describe life course trajectories. We introduce a new tool for the graphical exploratory analysis of sequences. Our plots combine standard sequence plots with the results that are provided by multi-dimensional scaling. We apply our procedure to describe work and family careers of Israeli women by using data from the Israel Social Mobility Survey. We first focus on some preliminary choices relative to the definition of the sequences: the age span, the length of the sequences and the set of states registered in each time period. We then describe how our plots can be used to gain insights about the main features of sequences and about the relationships between sequences and external information.     

Ethics,human rights and sociological inquiry: Genocide,politicide and other issues of organizational power

This paper introduces a human rights (in contrast to an ethicist) perspective into sociological investigation. Moreover, it indicates why a human rights orientation is necessary for examining genocide, politicide and other issues of organizational power. For years he has been concerned with the sociology of ethics, human rights and bureaucracy. Her research focuses on formal organizations, criminology/deviance, family life and medical sociology. Her primary interests are race and ethnic relations, family life and social psychology. Her interests include formal organizations, American studies and autobiography.     

Interviewing by comment: An adjunct to the direct question

Interviewing by direct question has long been the sociologist's favored means of collecting data. This article seeks to expand understanding of the research interview by proposingthe comment as a supplementary data gathering technique. Several methodological and theoretical considerations are discussed that indicate the appropriateness of interviewing by comment for the general purpose of discovery and for eliciting information about certain behaviors, events, and relationships. In order to demonstrate concretely the utility of interviewing by comment, eight types of comments that can be employed for a variety of research purposes are presented and illustrated.An earlier edition of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Toronto, Canada, 1981.     

Social indicators of marital instability,U.S.A., 1920–1969

A social indicators model which included demographic variables (birth rate and aged child ratio), economic variable (unemployment) and marriage rates (control variable) was utilized in explaining changes in divorce rates over time. Analysis of time series data for two distinctive periods in the U.S.A. (1920–1940 and 1946–1969) revealed the following significant results:

1. Demographic changes in the age structure of the population while controlling for marriage rates explains significantly larger amounts of the variance in marital instability than economic changes alone (unemployment).
2. In the post-World War II era unemployment was not found to be a statistically significant predictor of marital instability when control for demographic changes were established.
3. In the post-World War II era marriage rates appear to be a significant predictor of divorce rates when control for demographic changes were maintained.
4. In the post-World War II era marriage rates were found to be more sensitive to changes in economic conditions than marital instability (divorce rate).

     

The estimation of normal mixtures with latent variables

This paper considers the class of normal latent factor mixture models. It presents a method for estimating the posterior distribution of the parameters, derives analytical expressions for both the first and second derivatives of the posterior kernel (the score and Hessian), and provides posterior approximations that can be computed relatively quickly.     

Enabling social support and resilience: outcomes of Family Group Conferencing in public mental health care

Family Group Conferencing (FGC) is a decision-making model where clients with their social network formulate their own plan. There is little experience with FGC in mental health care. We studied the outcomes of 41 conferences in a public mental health setting in the north of the Netherlands. We interviewed 312 respondents out of a total of 473 conference participants. In 33 cases, it was possible to obtain scores from 245 respondents on scales ranging from 0 to 10 about the situation prior and after the conference on three outcome measures, namely the quality of: (1) social support, (2) resilience and (3) living conditions. In the 33 cases, t-tests and multilevel analyses indicate on all of the three outcomes measures significant positive changes after the conferences. On average, the scores on the quality of social support (5.04–6.73), resilience (4.09–6.32) and the living conditions (3.73–6.64) had been increased since the conferences were organised. The results are modest but remarkable. That the impact of FGC is not more substantial can be explained. The clients referred to a conference in this particular study, mostly had a limited network and few recourses from whom little support could be expected.     

Group Career Construction Counseling: A Mixed‐Methods Intervention Study With High School Students

This study investigated the value of group career construction counseling in a high school context. The author used purposive sampling to select participants who had sought career counseling. A mixed‐methods intervention study design was also used. Participants (N = 57) completed the Career Adapt‐Abilities Scale–South Africa (CAAS‐SA) before the 1st and after the 2nd intervention. The Career Interest Profile and the Maree Career Matrix were used to facilitate the intervention, and the CAAS‐SA was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings revealed that the boys’ and the girls’ career adaptability had improved meaningfully on all of the CAAS‐SA subscales. No gender‐based differences were found. However, differences were detected between both the boys’ and the girls’ pre‐ and posttest Control and Confidence subscale scores. The findings demonstrate the value of career construction counseling in group settings. More longitudinal research with diverse participants is needed.