The Impact of Rainfall on the First Out-Migration: A Multi-level Event-History Analysis in Burkina Faso

Using event history analyses, we investigate the impact of rainfall conditions — a crucial environmental factor in the livelihood of Sahelian households— on the risk of the first village departure in Burkina Faso. The distinction of migrations by destination and duration proves critical in studying this relationship. Findings suggest that people from the drier regions are more likely than those from wetter areas to engage in both temporary and permanent migrations to other rural areas. Also, short-term rainfall deficits tend to increase the risk of long-term migration to rural areas and decrease the risk of short-term moves to distant destinations.     

Linking maternal psychopathology to children's excessive crying and sleeping problems in a large representative German sample—The mediating role of social isolation and bonding difficulties

Attaining self-regulation is a major developmental task in infancy, in which many children show transient difficulties. Persistent, clinically relevant difficulties in self-regulation include excessive crying or sleeping disorders. Many families with affected children are burdened with multiple psychosocial risk. This suggests that regulatory problems are best conceptualized as the maladaptive interplay of overly burdened parents and a dysfunctional parent–child interaction. The current study examines whether social isolation and bonding difficulties function as mediating mechanisms linking maternal psychopathology to (1) children's excessive crying and (2) sleeping problems. The sample comprised N = 6598 mothers (M = 31.51 years) of children between zero to three years of age (M = 14.08 months, 50.1% girls). In addition to socio demographic data, the written questionnaire included information on maternal depression/anxiety, isolation, bonding, and children's regulatory problems. Hypotheses were tested with a mediation model controlling for psychosocial risk and child characteristics. As expected, maternal symptoms of depression/anxiety were linked to infants‘ excessive crying and sleeping problems. Social isolation and bonding difficulties mediated this association for excessive crying as well as for sleeping problems, but social isolation was a single mediator for sleeping problems only. The findings provide important insights in the mediating pathways linking maternal psychopathology to children's regulatory problems.     

Global networks of money and information at the crossroads: Correspondent banking and SWIFT

This article explores how transaction information is a fundamental element enabling and fostering global flows of money. Financial systems, constructed around account-based money, require infrastructure, which is separated into two parts: messaging and settlement, performed via trusted agents. This separation has allowed the geographical expansion of banking, and to this day constitutes a key architecture of increasingly global networks of money. Focusing on the correspondent banking system and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, this article demonstrates the workings of this infrastructure in cross-border payments and in enacting economic sanctions. This sociotechnical infrastructure is a crucial yet overlooked area of global banking, which makes global economic and financial activity possible in the first place. Importantly, by analysing the organizational architecture of the global payments system and including the actors and agencies within it, we elucidate the (changing) relationships between data/information, geographies and power, contributing to the formation of a literature that conceptualizes financial infrastructure.     

Work-home interference: How does it manifest itself from day to day?

Although work-home interference (WHI) refers to a process of negative interaction between the work and home domains, little attention has been paid to the actual processes involved in the within-person, day-to-day management of work and home. Therefore, this study investigated if, and how, a global report for the individual, of WHI (i.e., a general indicator of experienced WHI) is reflected in daily reports of WHI, in employees' daily activity patterns in the work and home domain, and in their daily health and well-being. Effort-Recovery theory (Meijman & Mulder, 1998) provided the theoretical basis for this study. Data were collected among 120 academic staff members (62% male) who completed a general questionnaire, addressing global WHI as well as demographical information, and who also participated in a 5-day daily diary study. WHI was measured using the 8-item WHI subscale of the Survey Work-home Interaction Nijmegen (SWING), with an adapted version being used for the diary studies. Results showed that global WHI: (1) was positively related to daily WHI; (2) was positively related to the time spent daily on overtime work in the evening; (3) was negatively related to the time spent daily on low-effort activities; and (4) was positively related to daily fatigue and sleep complaints. We conclude that Effort-Recovery theory seems promising for the study of WHI, and that diary studies are valuable, as these provide detailed insight into what global reports of WHI actually signify from day to day.     

Developmental Changes in Visual Scanning of Dynamic Faces and Abstract Stimuli in Infants: A Longitudinal Study

The characteristics of scanning patterns between the ages of 6 and 26 weeks were investigated through repeated assessments of 10 infants. Eye movements were recorded using a corneal‐reflection system while the infants looked at 2 dynamic stimuli: the naturally moving face of their mother and an abstract stimulus. Results indicated that the way infants scanned these stimuli stabilized only after 18 weeks, which is slightly later than the ages reported in the literature on infants' scanning of static stimuli. This effect was especially prominent for the abstract stimulus. From the 14‐week session on, infants adapted their scanning behavior to the stimulus characteristics. When scanning the video of their mother's face, infants directed their gaze at the mouth and eye region most often. Even at the youngest age, there was no indication of an edge effect.     

Ende des Elends

In the German speaking Sociology of the Industry the debate about an alleged crisis of the discipline itself continues. Yet recent contributions demand structural surmounting of this crisis through reminiscence and consecutive re-wording of ancient theories — particularly Marx’ theory. The article is considered as an actual contribution towards a conceptual endeavour of the re-wording of the Sociology of the Industry. To begin with, it will be demonstrated that the claim for an action-theoretical re-interpretation endeavour of the re-wording of Marx’ fundamentals falls on prolific grounds — as the Sociology of Work and Industry has already contributed specifically towards the sociological Action-Theory with the concept of subjectifying work action. In addition, the paper shows that the claimed societal-theoretical re-foundation demands a dialectic re-animation of Marx’ fundamentals (perhaps not just) of the Sociology of Work and Industry, and that it seems solvable with the category of work capacity. Thereby an actual contribution to the recent once more claimed extension of the work notion is presented. The article thereby critically continues the debate which has been taking place.     

The Sunday Times Heritage Project: heritage,the media and the formation of national consciousness

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, the landscape of memory in South Africa has undergone significant changes. While most new monuments, memorials and heritage sites have emerged under the aegis of the government, this article focuses on a private sector initiative, the Sunday Times Heritage Project (STHP), sponsored by the Sunday Times newspaper in celebration of its centenary in 2006. The project involved the installation of 30 small-scale memorials commemorating key moments in the history of South Africa, with each memorial being accompanied by a website entry. The article focuses on the role of the media in shaping a new national consciousness in South Africa and specifically investigates how a new, supposedly shared history emerges through the work of the Sunday Times journalists in selecting stories and negotiating with stakeholders. With reference to specific examples, significant differences are highlighted between the newspaper’s heritage initiative and the state-initiated memory projects, but ultimately, it is argued, the STHP reveals a calculated or unconscious acceptance of the state-endorsed historical discourse structured around resistance narratives, which has become hegemonic since 1994.     

Alcohol Consumption Among University Students in North Rhine–Westphalia,Germany—Results From a Multicenter Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To assess alcohol use and problem drinking among university students in the German Federal State of North Rhine–Westphalia (NRW) and to examine the associated factors. Method: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 16 universities in 2006–2007 in NRW by a standardized questionnaire and 3,306 students provided information (response rate of 88%). Problem drinking was measured by the CAGE questionnaire. Results: Alcohol consumption in the last 3 months was reported by >90 % of students. About 80% reported heavy drinking, and 20% displayed problem drinking. Male students, students living in residence halls, and students from sport faculties had a higher risk of heavy drinking and problem drinking. When students were compared across study years, frequency of heavy drinking decreased with higher semesters. Conclusions: Overall, heavy drinking and problem drinking are common among university students in this sample. Intervention programs should be designed for students at a particularly high risk.