Proxies in the New Political Economy: Caveat Emptor

Some common professional criteria for evaluating econometric tests that use proxies for political, social, and institutional variables as regressors may lull scholars into a false sense of security about specious results. The highly publicized correlations between income and economic freedom based on the economic freedom indexes supplied by the Fraser Institute, Heritage Foundation, and Freedom House are used as illustrations. Because these correlations bear strong resemblances to one another, most economists would consider them mutually supportive. Yet this is not so, implying that mutual resemblance and consistency are not criteria for judging econometric results. (JEL B49 , C19 )     

NEWS ABOUT MURDER IN AN AFRICAN AMERICAN NEWSPAPER: Effects of Relative Frequency and Race and Gender Typifications

Previous scholarly research on selection bias in news about murder indicates that race and gender stereotypes and, to a much lesser extent, the relative frequency of particular murders explain why some homicides are made into news and others are not. However, previous research has directed nearly exclusive attention to white newspapers. The present research remedies this omission by directing attention to the factors that shape selection bias in news about murder in a big-city African American newspaper. The results indicate that the relative frequency dimension of newsworthiness is a weak and inconsistent explanation of selection bias in news about murder in the black newspaper examined. Race, however, has profoundly different effects in white and African American newspapers. Whereas white newspapers use long-standing race stereotypes to filter news about murder, the data from the African American newspaper signal a firm rejection of the black image in the white mind (Entman and Rojecki 2000). Newspaper images of women and men are another matter. In both black and white newspapers, gender stereotypes uniformly filter news about murder and fundamentally distort gender effects. The implications of these findings are discussed including the clear need and ample scholarly room for replicative analyses of news about murder in other African American newspapers, with a keen eye on both "raced ways of seeing" (Hunt 1999, pp. 181–215) and gendered ways of seeing.     

Sexual needs, control, and refusal: how "doing" class and gender influences sexual risk taking

The poor are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We know relatively little, however, about the sexual processes behind these disparities. Despite studies of gender enactment's influence on sexual behaviors, few analyses examine the sexual "doing" of social class. We conducted sexual history interviews with 36 women and men, half middle class and half poor and working class. Most respondents reported that men have greater sexual appetites than women, but the middle class were more likely to cite social influences while the poor and working-class respondents primarily ascribed biological origins. The social construction of sexual controllability among the middle class contributed to perceptions that sex was a containable force. Poor and working-class women described men's sexual needs as physiologically irrepressible, which shaped sexual refusal. Our findings move beyond socioeconomic status (SES) as a "risk factor" and explore two examples of how gender and social class mediate people's sexual selves and health.     

Contextualized theory-based predictors of intention to practice monogamy among adolescents in Botswana junior secondary schools: Results of focus group sessions and a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Culture and tradition influence behavior. Multiple-partner and concurrent relationships are held responsible for the increase of HIV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. A contextualized “theory of planned behavior” is used in this article to identify predictors of intention to practice monogamy. A mixed method design using qualitative data from focus groups, stories, and a survey is analyzed for quantitative data. The qualitative data add to the behavioral beliefs a sociocultural belief domain, as well as attitudes and subjective norms. Perceived behavioral control predicts the intention to practice monogamy. Adolescents show a tendency toward having more than one sexual partner. The normative beliefs and the sociocultural beliefs also predict intentions, while hedonistic beliefs and partner’s reaction do not. In contextualizing theory-based interventions, it is important to draw from stories and the language that circulate in a community about a given behavior. More studies are needed on ways to combine qualitative approaches with quantitative approaches to inform the development of theory-based, culturally appropriate, and context-specific intervention strategies to reduce the risk of HIV.     

Warriors and Healers: Preparing for Returning Veterans

Despite its ideological differences, social work has had a long history of affiliation with the military. In 1918, the Smith College School for Social Work was established to respond to the mental health needs of “shell‐shocked veterans.” In 2008, the School renewed this commitment by sponsoring a three‐day conference aimed at preparing social workers to respond to the new and complex needs of veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A joint planning process effectively developed a program that helped military and civilian social workers gain insight into the impact of multiple deployments, traumatic brain disorder, post‐traumatic stress disorder and other factors present in today’s new military culture.     

Rethinking Needs Assessment in Planning Services for Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Needs assessments are widely used in the field of aging, and are considered valuable tools for planning service responses to unmet and undermet needs of older adults. This article describes a comprehensive needs assessment of Bermuda's older population and presents some of its findings to illustrate concerns about needs assessments that emerged from this experience. We suggest that even when needs assessments are carefully planned and adhere to generally recognized best practice principles, they may not be able to fully provide desired information. A revision of key assumptions about needs assessment is offered for researchers, planners, and community workers.     

Exploring Autonomy in Group Work Practice with Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

Preserving the autonomy of individuals with intellectual disabilities in group work is challenging. Group workers often experience inadequate guidance about autonomy—an individual's capability to act independently without influence by others. Group workers can enhance autonomy through group activities that promote self-efficacy, empowerment, and the ability to make decisions. Fostering autonomy requires that the group workers be knowledgeable and aware of personal biases, analyzing their expectations and actions. To promote the autonomy of persons with intellectual disabilities in group work practice, the authors make recommendations to strengthen the IASWG Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups in this area.     

Japan's demographic transition re-examined

The variations in the initiation, course, speed and terminations of demographic transitions may involve cultural and temporal specificities as well as historic incidents. In this article there is an exploration of three of the critical questions involved in the typicality and predictability of the Japanese experience and its wider relevance. The first is the validity of the official record of increasing fertility, with special reference to the reputed prevalence and later decline of infanticide. The second concerns the almost classic pattern of differential fertility in the late twenties and early thirties and its relevance to the use of transition theory for projective purposes. The third question concerns the continuities in the patterns of differential fertility at the sharply reduced levels of recent years. The distinctive dimensions to this first complete transition outside the Western countries were associated intimately with the indigenous and the developing culture of the Japanese. Neither the component variables nor the transition itself were predicted or predictable.