Asian‐Pacific Islander Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Defensive Aggression*

Objective. This study used the differential‐outcomes hypothesis as a theoretical guide to examine the association of Guam's same‐sex‐ and both‐sex‐oriented Asian‐Pacific Islander adolescents and their participation in defensive aggression. Methods. Using ordinary least squares multiple regression analysis we tested the hypothesis with a probability sample of Guam's Asian‐Pacific high school students. Results. The results of the study demonstrated that same‐sex‐oriented males were less likely to participate in physical aggression and that same‐sex‐oriented adolescent females were significantly more likely to report that they had participated in defensive aggression. Conclusions. Same‐sex‐oriented females are more likely than same‐sex‐oriented males to participate in defensive aggression, primarily because they may be more likely to experience threatening situations on Guam's high school campuses.     

Implementing a Multidimensional Poverty Measure Using Mixed Methods and a Participatory Framework

Recently, there have been advances in the development of multidimensional poverty measures. Work is needed however on how to implement such measures. This paper deals with the process of selecting dimensions and setting weights in multidimensional poverty measurement using qualitative and quantitative methods in a participatory framework. We estimate the multidimensional poverty measures developed by Alkire and Foster for a particular group: persons with psychiatric diagnoses in the United States. To select relevant dimensions and their relative ordering, two discussion groups are convened: one consisting of persons with lived-experience expertise and the other consisting of people with mental health service provision or research expertise. Several methods are used to convert dimension rankings into weights. The selection and ordering of dimensions differed between the two discussion groups, as did the resulting poverty measures. For instance, the poverty headcount using the dimensions and weights of the ‘lived experience’ group ranged from 20.61 to 26.96% as compared to a range of 18.62–33.19% using those of the ‘provider/researcher’ group. One of the main results of this study is that the Alkire Foster method is sensitive to the selection of dimensions and the methods used to derive rankings and weights. It points toward the limitation of relying exclusively on small scale qualitative methods for the selection and ranking of dimensions. In addition, the participatory framework used in this study was found to be essential in interpreting results, in particular with respect to the limitations of the data set in measuring relevant dimensions.     

Who Gets Custody Now? Dramatic Changes in Children’s Living Arrangements After Divorce

This article reexamines the living arrangements of children following their parents’ divorce, using Wisconsin Court Records, updating an analysis that showed relatively small but significant increases in shared custody in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These changes have accelerated markedly in the intervening years: between 1988 and 2008, the proportion of mothers granted sole physical custody fell substantially, the proportion of parents sharing custody increased dramatically, and father–sole custody remained relatively stable. We explore changes in the correlates of alternative custody outcomes, showing that some results from the earlier analysis still hold (for example, cases with higher total family income are more likely to have shared custody), but other differences have lessened (shared-custody cases have become less distinctive as they have become more common). Despite the considerable changes in marriage and divorce patterns over this period, we do not find strong evidence that the changes in custody are related to changes in the characteristics of families experiencing a divorce; rather, changes in custody may be the result of changes in social norms and the process by which custody is determined.     

Estimation in an empirical bayes model for longitudinal and cross‐sectionally clustered binary data

Some studies generate data that can be grouped into clusters in more than one way. Consider for instance a smoking prevention study in which responses on smoking status are collected over several years in a cohort of students from a number of different schools. This yields longitudinal data, also cross‐sectionaliy clustered in schools. The authors present a model for analyzing binary data of this type, combining generalized estimating equations and estimation of random effects to address the longitudinal and cross‐sectional dependence, respectively. The estimation procedure for this model is discussed, as are the results of a simulation study used to investigate the properties of its estimates. An illustration using data from a smoking prevention trial is given.     

Household debt and financial assets: evidence from Germany, Great Britain and the USA

Summary.  We explore the determinants of debt, financial assets and net worth at the household level by using survey data for Germany, Great Britain and the USA. To identify which households are potentially vulnerable to adverse changes in the economic environment, we also explore the determinants of a range of measures of financial pressure: the probability that a household has negative net worth; the debt-to-income ratio; mortgage income gearing; the saving-to-income ratio. Our empirical findings suggest that the poorest and the youngest households are the most vulnerable to adverse changes in their financial circumstances.     

The Incidence of Crime on Industry‐Level Foreign Direct Investment: An Assessment of OECD Member Countries*

In this article, we assess whether the incidence of crime helps to explain the variation in sectoral FDI flows. Using a panel of 29 Organization of Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries for the period 2003–2012, we employ a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation strategy due to the potential for endogeneity between our variables of interest. Our results indicate that crime deters investment to the service sector. In particular, this effect is observed in the following service industry subsector: financial services. Policymakers interested in boosting FDI in the affected sectors should be concerned with policies that focus on the reduction of criminal activities.     

Being there: a family centre worker's role as a secure base for adolescent girls in crisis

Childcare social work practice with troubled adolescent girls can benefit from drawing on attachment theory, not only as a frame-work for understanding their relationship history and current behaviour but also as a framework for defining the nature and potential value of a specific kind of relationship provided by the social worker. This paper offers an analysis of the relevance of attachment theory for work with adolescent girls, particularly models of secure and insecure attachments, and examines practice experience in a family centre setting. The young women referred to the family centre had experienced a range of adversities, including sexual, physical and emotional abuse, which had seriously affected their development. They were drifting outside the systems of family, education and local authority care, because none of these could hold onto them. The paper describes how the social worker aimed to change their internal working model by offering them a different kind of relationship experience. She provided a secure base from which they could begin to develop trust, to repair their self-esteem and to build a sense of self-efficacy – the necessary ingredients for resilience and for more successful future relationships.     

School context influences the ethnic identity development of immigrant children in middle childhood

The present paper describes a study investigating the ethnic identity development of Latino immigrant children (n = 155) in middle childhood (ages 8–11) in a predominantly White community. The study examined how ethnic identity was related to children's school context. School context was operationalized at the structural level, as the ethnic composition of the teachers and peers, as well as the schools' implicit messages about their valuing of multiculturalism; and the proximal interpersonal level, as children's perceptions of peer discrimination and teacher fairness. Results indicated that both the structural and proximal context predicted children's ethnic label choices, the importance placed on their ethnic identity, the positivity of their ethnic identity, and their American identity.