Migration bias in indirect estimates of regional childhood mortality levels

Demographers often use Brass‐style indirect methods to obtain childhood mortality estimates for regions within developing countries. Regional populations are not closed to migration, however, and mortality reports of women resident in a certain region on the survey date may contain information on events and exposure that occurred elsewhere as the mother migrated. Including this “imported”; mortality information may cause significant bias in regional estimates. In this paper the authors: (1) investigate the possible magnitude of migration bias using a multiregional simulation model, (2) propose a modification to standard methods which should reduce bias in many circumstances, and (3) apply the modified technique to data from Brazil's 1980 Census. We find that migration bias can indeed be significant, and that in the specific case of São Paulo state, imported mortality information may result in overestimates of local mortality levels of 10–15% when using Brass‐style methods.     

A New Goodness-of-Fit Test for Censored Data with an Application in Monitoring Processes

In this article, we propose a new goodness-of-fit test for Type I or Type II censored samples from a completely specified distribution. This test is a generalization of Michael's test for censored data, which is based on the empirical distribution and a variance stabilizing transformation. Using Monte Carlo methods, the distributions of the test statistics are analyzed under the null hypothesis. Tables of quantiles of these statistics are also provided. The power of the proposed test is studied and compared to that of other well-known tests also using simulation. The proposed test is more powerful in most of the considered cases. Acceptance regions for the PP, QQ, and Michael's stabilized probability plots are derived, which enable one to visualize which data contribute to the decision of rejecting the null hypothesis. Finally, an application in quality control is presented as illustration.     

Property rights and the gender distribution of wealth in Ecuador, Ghana and India

Women’s ability to accumulate wealth is often attributed to whether they have property rights; i.e., a legal personality to own and manage property. In this paper we argue that basic property rights are insufficient; whether women are able to accumulate wealth also depends upon the marital and inheritance regimes in particular contexts. Drawing upon surveys which collected individual level ownership data in Ecuador, Ghana and the state of Karnataka in India, we estimate married women’s share of couple wealth and relate it to how assets are owned within marriage as well as to different inheritance regimes and practices. In Ecuador, married women own 44 %, in Ghana, 19 %, and in Karnataka, 9 % of couple wealth. Ecuador is characterized by the partial community property regime in marriage while inheritance laws provide for all children, irrespective of sex, to be treated equally, norms that are largely followed in practice. In contrast, Ghana and India are characterized by the separation of property regime which does not recognize wives’ contribution to the formation of marital property, and by inheritance practices that are strongly male biased. Reforming marital and inheritance regimes must remain a top priority if gender economic equality is to be attained.     

The Norm among the Exceptional? Experiences of Latino Students in Elite Institutions

This article examines Latino students’ experiences within two elite educational contexts: an elite liberal arts college and an elite law school. Drawing on combined data of 42 in‐depth interviews, we interrogate how elite institutional spaces reify and shape panethnic identities. In the face of marginalization in predominantly white, elite spaces Latino students strategically search for new community and comfort, which in turn influence how they perceive their identities, encouraging a broadening of boundaries to include both panethnic and minority alliances. By documenting the experiences of Latino students in two stages of the educational pipeline, we show how elite institutions influence identity talk lead students to cultivate a sense of shared fate with other Latino‐origin individuals and at times, people of color in general.     

Leader power and self-serving behavior: The Moderating Role of Accountability

This study explored whether accountability influences the relationship between power and leader self-serving behavior. Across three studies, using both experimental manipulations and individual difference measures, we found that accountability mitigated the effects of power on leader self-serving behavior. Specifically, we found that powerful accountable leaders acted less self-servingly than their non-accountable counterparts. Moreover, as expected, low power leaders' behaviors were not affected as strongly by the explicit presence of accountability constraints. Overall, these results suggest that holding powerful leaders accountable for their actions could serve as a powerful tool to prevent potential self-serving actions on their part.     

Voluntary organisations and the social state in the European Community

Accurate comparison of the social welfare systems operating in the twelve countries of the European Community is inhibited by lack of information about the voluntary or non-governmental organisations which form an important element in those systems. This paper summarises available information about the scale and scope of voluntary organisations, and attempts to set them in the context of current policy debates. The changing nature of the family in Europe, the development of mixed economies in the provision of welfare, the functions of NGOs as employers and organisers of volunteering, the future of NGOs after 1992, and in the context of a steadily more open Europe are some of the themes which are preoccupying voluntary organisations in most countries of the Community. The paper refers to the inadequacy of most data on NGOs atnational level and to the consequent impossibility of constructing valid cross-national comparisons.I am grateful to the Department of Social Welfare in Dublin for sponsoring the work on which this paper is based. An earlier version was presented as a background paper at the European ConferencePartners in Progress, jointly organised by the Minister of Social Welfare and the EC Commission in Galway, Ireland, June 1990.     

Overview of the “state of the field”

The editors offer a short overview of the state of the field in the light of contributions to this special issue.     

Facilitating Arts-Based Mindfulness Group Activities with Vulnerable Children: An Example of Nondeliberative Social Group Work Practice

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the process of facilitating arts-based mindfulness group work and activities with vulnerable children age 8 to 12 years who were involved with the child welfare or mental health systems. Specifically, it delineates connections between our group program and Norma Lang’s nondeliberative social group work practice. Importantly, in working with vulnerable children, the authors purposefully fostered the development of mutual aid, creativity, and strengths and recognized that each group had a life of its own.