Quantifying socio-environmental impacts of predator control policies

Quantitative indices of the socio-environmental impacts of predator control were derived from a mathematical synthesis of public perceptions and physical measures of environmental change. A nationwide survey of the U.S. public yielded cardinal measures of preference for the acceptability, primary and secondary effects on other wildlife, and cost effectiveness of control policies. To determine the public evaluation of a particular policy, the preference values were used to weight social indicators describing the physical impacts of a policy. Policymakers will be able to use the resulting values to view the tradeoffs between economic and socio-environmental costs and benefits of various policy alternatives.     

Fertility decision making,unintended births,and the social drift hypothesis: A longitudinal study

To explore relationships between fertility intentions and subsequent childbearing, data were collected from 334 mothers in a metropolitan area in 1963 and again in 1971, allowing for a time interval of eight years for testing a series of hypotheses on fertility control. The results suggested that social psychological obstacles to decision making should be taken into account as potential qualifiers of the more rational models of fertility behavior currently prevalent in the literature. The alienation variable of meaninglessness was examined in conjunction with education, age at marriage, marital duration, and previous parity. The analyses indicated that pregnancies for many women are experienced as occurrences, happenings, or unintended events within a social psychological context of social drift.Research support pursuant to contract NIH-71-2028 with the Center for Population Research, NICHD, is gratefully acknowledged, as is the assistance of David W. Chilson in the processing of the data. Request reprints from either author, Sociology Department, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403.     

The Socioeconomic Attainments of Second-Generation Southeast Asian Americans in the 21st Century: Evidence from the American Community Survey, 2012–2016

Population Research and Policy Review - Although decades have passed since the initial immigration of Southeast Asians to the U.S. after the Vietnam War, the socioeconomic outcomes of the...     

Prevention of child maltreatment in high-risk rural families: A randomized clinical trial with child welfare outcomes

Few studies have specifically examined prevention of child maltreatment among higher-risk populations in rural communities. The overarching goal of this study was to conduct a randomized clinical trial of SafeCare augmented for rural high-risk population (SC+) compared to standard home-based mental health services (SAU) to examine reductions in future child maltreatment reports, as well as risk factors and factors proximal to child maltreatment. Parents (N = 105) of young children (5 years or less) who had identifiable risk of depression, intimate partner violence, or substance abuse were randomized to SC+ or SAU. Participants randomized to SC+ were more likely to enroll (83% vs. 35% for SAU) and remain in services (35 h vs. 8 h for SAU). SC+ (for participants who successfully completed services) may have had limited impact on child welfare reports during service provision. Further, SC+ had fewer child welfare reports related to DV than SAU. Parent self-reports of parenting behaviors, risk factors, and protective factors did not demonstrate significant sustained program impact. Limitations include power constraints related to sample size. Promising next steps entail future trials with larger sample sizes examining service compliance and further augmentation of SafeCare to bolster service impact and address risk and protective factors.     

Support Systems of Widowed Women in Australia

The support systems that are used across the life cycle by women who become widowed were investigated in terms of (a) their frequency of use, and (b) problems for which support services were not seen as being available. In-depth interviews with 298 widowed women indicate relatively little use of organized social services for personal problems. In contrast, family and local doctors were called upon to help with a wide range of personal and economic problems. Many women had problems for which they perceived little or no help as being available in the community. Expectations of ‘front line’ professionals such as doctors, teachers and bankers for help and consultation were frequently not met. Implications of these findings for support systems are discussed.     

A Critical Examination of Immigrant Acculturation: Toward an Anti-Oppressive Social Work Model with Immigrant Adults in a Pluralistic Society

Today, in North America, the idea of complete assimilation ofimmigrants no longer seems relevant. Under the commonly espousedideologies of multiculturalism and pluralism, the goal of socialwork with immigrants is now integration into the host society,whether that be economically, socially and/or psychologically(Li, 2003). However, critics argue that the traditional ideaof immigrant assimilation continues to lurk behind social policiesand social services for immigrants, in that the successful integrationof immigrants is prompted by their conformation to the dominantculture (Balgopal, 2000). While a growing body of literatureon social work with immigrants has resulted in an increasedunderstanding of this diverse population and its needs, theliterature still lacks coherent theoretical and ideologicalframeworks necessary to inform effective models of service delivery.Social work literature on immigrants also requires criticalinterrogation of the impact of social science theories, particularlyin terms of long-held assumptions of culture and acculturation.In this paper, a critical review of literature on acculturationand social work with immigrants will be followed by findingsof a qualitative study with skilled immigrants in Canada. Basedon the research findings, an anti-oppressive approach to socialwork with immigrants is proposed.     

Greater Downside Risk Aversion

Although investors are concerned foremost with mean and variance, they are also sensitive to downside risk. In this paper, we introduce an index of downside risk aversion to distinguish risk aversion from higher-order aspects of risk preference, including prudence. We show that the index of downside risk aversion S increases with monotonic downside risk averse transformations of utility, thereby directly linking S to the definition of downside risk aversion introduced by Menezes et al. (American Economic Review, 70, 921–932, 1980). Although the index S applies equally to risk averse and risk loving decision makers, for a given positive degree of risk aversion, S is greater when the index of prudence is greater and vice versa.     

The impacts of rapid demographic transition on family structure and income inequality in Brazil, 1981–2011

This study analysed the impact of changing family structure on income distribution. Specifically, it analysed how changes in the proportions of different categories of family in the population contributed to increases in the income of the richest and poorest social strata in Brazil, and the consequent impacts on income inequality. Rural and urban families were compared in order to understand how these dynamics had different impacts on more developed (urban) and less developed (rural) areas. The results emphasize how changes observed in family structure are more pronounced among the richest families, contributing to an increase in (i) the income of the richest families and (ii) income inequality between the richest and poorest families, as well as between urban and rural areas.     

Censorship and the Australian Public

Recently the authors with the assistance of a research grant from the Sebel Company of Australia, carried out a study of attitudes held by sub-groups within Australian society. One of the topical issues investigated was the desirability of censorship of the mass media. The results of this section of the inquiry, based on a questionnaire administered to 1,455 adults in Sydney and Melbourne, are presented in this article.