Child Well‐Being: What Does It Mean?

The notion of child well‐being appears in a large number of publications nowadays. Our review of the literature underlines both the oddly pathogenic approach to child well‐being and the scarcity of papers discussing a still poorly defined notion. Through this review, we identified the recourse to a binary language; from there, we derived five theoretical axes that heed the multidimensional and multilevel nature of well‐being, although for each one, a pole is here predominantly developed. We argue in favour of an override of a one‐dimensional, single‐level, unipolar approach to child well‐being and an exploration of its otherwise underdeveloped positive, hedonic, subjective, spiritual and collective dimensions.     

On the educational edges of a learning society: the Finnish hinterland as a framework of educational choices for young people

In this article, we examine the school-going and educational choices of youth living in sparsely populated regions of Finland that are located far away from educational institutions. We ask the following question: What kind of concrete impact does the geographic narrowing of educational possibilities have on the lives of youth in remote villages? Thirty-five interviewees (15 boys and 20 girls) between the ages of 14 and 18 were selected for this analysis. According to the results, gender and families’ symbolic resources are still strong predictors of youth’s educational choices; however, in the Finnish hinterland, families’ economic resources become a significant reflection of young people’s realistic educational possibilities. The youth in our analysis can be seen as ‘others’ of the contemporary educational and regional policies – that is, members of a learning society who are living in an educational vacuum and are forced to create their educational paths by making numerous compromises and forgetting many of their personal dreams. Their situation is not unique, as Finland’s wide-ranging neoliberal centralisation policies tend to create educational vacuums in certain regions on the edges of society.     

Unionization in the American Newsroom, 1930 to 1960

This study of the material benefits brought to American news workers from the 1930s through the 1960s builds on previous work by media labor‐studies scholars such as Bonnie Brennen, Daniel Leab, Phillip Glende and Sam Kuczun, among others, who have examined the history of the American Newspaper Guild (ANG) in great detail. Their work has focused on legal and policy developments under the Roosevelt administration and in U.S. labor law. My study, as part of a larger project, looks at some of the ground‐level impacts of unionization. It does so examining Editor & Publisher, The Quill and The Guild Reporter, among other publications, and references to the material benefits in pay, time off, work‐life balance, health insurance, job security and other, practical and positive ancillary effects brought by the uneven unionization of the newsroom. The arrival of white‐collar unions for new workers was not a panacea to their problems. But it did help them in their collective quest in the United States during the interwar and then post‐World War Two‐eras for better working conditions and a firmer sense of their professionalized identity.     

Multiple Monte Carlo testing,with applications in spatial point processes

The rank envelope test (Myllymäki et al. in J R Stat Soc B, doi: 10.1111/rssb.12172, 2016) is proposed as a solution to the multiple testing problem for Monte Carlo tests. Three different situations are recognized: (1) a few univariate Monte Carlo tests, (2) a Monte Carlo test with a function as the test statistic, (3) several Monte Carlo tests with functions as test statistics. The rank test has correct (global) type I error in each case and it is accompanied with a p-value and with a graphical interpretation which determines subtests and distances of the used test function(s) which lead to the rejection at the prescribed significance level of the test. Examples of null hypotheses from point process and random set statistics are used to demonstrate the strength of the rank envelope test. The examples include goodness-of-fit test with several test functions, goodness-of-fit test for a group of point patterns, test of dependence of components in a multi-type point pattern, and test of the Boolean assumption for random closed sets. A power comparison to the classical multiple testing procedures is given.     

Negotiating motherhood: women with troubled upbringings and their self‐conceptions as mothers

This paper examines how women who experienced severe adjustment problems during adolescence, and who had troubled childhoods in families with high levels of conflict, construct their self‐conceptions as mothers. Applying data from a 30‐year‐long follow‐up study, this paper examines how participants with troubled upbringings experience social norms of motherhood. Two overall themes emerged along with their associated subcategories, and these are identified as significant findings. The first theme is the stigmatizing gaze, exemplifying how the intervention of the child welfare service is recognized as essential to the women's self‐conception; its three subcategories are prejudiced motherhood, predestined motherhood and self‐critical motherhood. The second theme is significant relationships, exemplifying the mothers' personal bonds and contributing greatly to their self‐conception; its three subcategories are the other half, next of kin and disturbed relations. The findings reveal that the way these women view themselves as mothers cannot be separated from the way that others view them, and in addition, they must negotiate their positions as mothers through the normative discourses of motherhood. The findings apply to both theoretical and practical social work, addressing the need for an understanding of motherhood within the field of child welfare.     

Gender differences in gambling preferences and problem gambling: a network-level analysis

Most gambling studies have a gender-blind research approach, although a large body of scientific evidence suggests that gambling in females is on the rise and that males and females have different gambling behaviours and experience specific gambling-related harm. This study addressed these gender differences using a network analysis, an innovative approach considering disorders/concepts as dynamic systems of interacting symptoms/items. Data on gambling activities, problem gambling, substance use and mental health were collected in a representative sample of French adult gamblers (n = 8805). The study capitalized on the network analysis directly to compare associations of specific gambling activities with gambling disorder symptoms separately for both genders. The network analysis revealed that problem gambling was strongly associated with gambling machines among females, whereas it was related to sports betting, poker and casino games among males. The networks that included substance use and mental health showed that substance use was related to specific gambling activities. These findings confirm the links between various gender-specific gambling patterns and problem gambling and suggest a need to consider these gender differences to improve prevention efforts. More broadly, the present study further supports the importance of gender differences for gambling research and policy.     

Le faux problème de l'indéfinition de la religion: les origines du ‘problème’ et ses enjeux actuels

When one refuses to participate in shallow debates on the definition of religion, which define in general tactics of declassing the beliefs of others or of under-classing our own beliefs, one recognizes that beyond the emerging patchworked spiritual diversification which emerges in today's advanced industrial societies there is a unified religious dogma. The idea that spirituality will be contradictory to religion does not constitute a pertinent concrete distinction, but occupies a place in this new religious dogma that presents itself as spiritual.     

Drinking Motives,Alcohol Use,and Sexual Attraction in Youth

Sexual minority youth were found to be more likely to drink alcohol during weekdays compared to heterosexual youth. Drinking during weekdays was associated with consuming alcohol as a coping strategy. Sexual minority youth also more frequently consumed alcohol to eliminate personal worries (coping) and to not be excluded by their peers (conformity). Sexual orientation–related alcohol problems should be addressed at an early stage. Such efforts are likely to be effective if insecurities and stress related to sexual orientation are addressed as well.