Portraying heroes and villains: Moldovan and Transnistrian print media during the 1992 war in the Dniester Valley

This article explores how the post-socialist media discussed and propagated one of the first separatist conflicts after the collapse of the USSR. It focuses on the 1992 Transnistrian war and explores two conflicting perspectives: Moldovan and Transnistrian perceptions of those involved in the war. The chronological frame is limited to the period of direct combat. The analysis centres on newspapers published at the time by both rival camps. Transnistria’s war for independence represents a good case in point for how pro-Russian separatism challenges sovereignty and impedes nation-building in post-Soviet states. The author examines the discourse of local newspapers, focusing on the portrayal of domestic and foreign “heroes” and “villains.” He argues that although the newspapers of both sides used a similar lexicon to dehumanize the adversary, in doing so, they relied on different ideological clichés. Transnistrians employed the Soviet paradigm of the “friendship of peoples” and exploited the collective memory of the past. Moldovans relied on emerging Moldovan patriotism and appealed to pan-Romanian nationalism. This study enhances our understanding of the media war and demonstrates how both old and new ideological clichés shaped its discourses during a confrontation where one side resisted separatism, while the other fought for self-determination.     

Using cluster random assignment to measure program impacts. Statistical implications for the evaluation of education programs

This article explores the possibility of randomly assigning groups (or clusters) of individuals to a program or a control group to estimate the impacts of programs designed to affect whole groups. This cluster assignment approach maintains the primary strength of random assignment--the provision of unbiased impact estimates--but has less statistical power than random assignment of individuals, which usually is not possible for programs focused on whole groups. To explore the statistical implications of cluster assignment, the authors (a) outline the issues involved, (b) present an analytic framework for studying these issues, and (c) apply this framework to assess the potential for using the approach to evaluate education programs targeted on whole schools. The findings suggest that cluster assignment of schools holds some promise for estimating the impacts of education programs when it is possible to control for the average performance of past student cohorts or the past performance of individual students.     

Eritrean Refugees’ Utilization of Antenatal Services in Israel

This study analyzes Eritrean refugee women's utilization of antenatal services in Israel by means of retrospective self‐reports surveys (N = 63) targeting women's service utilization (array of services used, frequency rates, facility rates and demographic correlates) and semi‐structured interviews (N = 10) targeting women's experienced barriers for service utilization. Findings show that Eritrean women make substantive use of the full array of services, with user rates increasing over time. However, frequency rates are low, although increasing when women have more experience with the system. Facility rates are not in keeping with the recommendations of the Israeli Ministry of Health. Interviews reveal that the barriers of work and a complex system of antenatal care limit women's frequent service utilization in the right facility, while the barrier of miscommunication limits their understanding of the services they actually utilized. Findings stress the importance of analyzing different facets of utilization and their demographic correlates.     

Gender Nonconformity,Homophobic Peer Victimization,and Mental Health: How Same-Sex Attraction and Biological Sex Matter

We assessed whether homophobic name-calling accounts for the relationship between gender nonconformity and mental health (social anxiety and psychological distress) in a sample of 1,026 Dutch adolescents (boys: n = 517) ages 11 to 16 (M_age = 13.4). We also explored whether this hypothesized mediation differs by sexual attraction and biological sex. Data were collected by means of paper-and-pencil questionnaires at five secondary schools located in urban areas in the Netherlands. Mediation analysis indicated that gender nonconformity was related to both social anxiety and psychological distress partially via homophobic name-calling. Moderated mediation analysis further showed that the mediating role of homophobic name-calling varied according to levels of same-sex attraction (SSA) and biological sex. The mediation effects increased in magnitude when levels of SSA increased and were significant only for adolescents with mean and high levels of SSA. The mediation effects were significant for boys and girls in general, although the mediation effects were stronger for boys than for girls. Our findings emphasize the importance of research and school-level interventions to focus on factors that promote acceptance of cross-gender behavior among adolescents.     

The wellbeing of foster children and their relationship with foster parents and biological parents: a child’s perspective

Most Dutch foster children live permanently in foster families. It is often assumed that foster children have ambivalent loyalties and attachments to their birth parents and foster parents and are torn between the two. In this study 59 children between 10 and 18 years placed in long term foster care completed standardised questionnaires on the relationship with their parents respectively foster parents and their wellbeing. Results show that, on average, foster children have positive feelings of loyalty and attachment towards both their foster parents and biological parents. However, their wellbeing appeared mainly related with stronger attachment representations towards their foster parents. This study found no indications for a competing position of biological parents and foster parents from the perspective of the child. Nevertheless, foster children who see their foster and biological parents as more vulnerable or experience stronger normative boundaries, feel worse compared to children who experience this feelings less.     

Derogating benevolent behavior of deviant in-group members: group processes within a real-life sample of heterosexual Christians

How do people evaluate potentially good and desirable behavior by others? We investigate how participants (N = 154) evaluate a couple that wants to adopt an orphan that would otherwise die. We collected data from heterosexual Christians in two cities in the Dutch Bible belt. We manipulated whether the adoptive-parents-to-be were a heterosexual couple or a lesbian couple and whether the couple self-identified as devout Christians or not. Using a subjective group dynamics account, we predicted and found that participants evaluated the lesbian couple in more negative terms than the heterosexual couple, especially when this couple was also Christian. These findings illustrate how positive behavior is derogated when displayed by in-group deviants.     

The social support in kinship foster care: a way to enhance resilience

This paper analyses how social support enhances family resilience in kinship foster families by involving the families in an educational group programme. Sixty‐two kinship foster families from Spain participated in the research. The data were collected before the programme (interviews) and after the programme (interviews and focus groups), and these were analysed by content analysis with the programme Atlas.ti. The results show that the factors that contribute most to the development of family resilience are as follows: (i) feeling able to look for solutions when facing problems; (ii) an increase of their network of formal support; (iii) being able to offer support to other foster families; and (iv) feeling that the support they give to parents' foster children is socially recognized.     

The Impact of Societal Instability on Demographic Behavior (The Case of Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia)

Population Research and Policy Review - This paper investigates the impact of sociopolitical instability on fertility. We develop a model linking macro-level instability with its perceptions as...