Perceptions of Fortune and Misfortune in Older South African Households: Social Assistance and the ‘Good Life’

It is commonly assumed that better living standards will boost subjective well-being. The post-apartheid South African government subscribes to this idea; its social policies aim to provide ‘a better life for all’. Since the coming of democracy in 1994, the state has built over 3 million houses and supplied electricity and clean water to poor households. By 2009, an estimated 43 % of households were beneficiaries of social grants. The question is whether this investment in services and social assistance translates into higher well-being of citizens. It is argued that older people’s experience of positive change in their life circumstances can be taken as a litmus test of progress in society. The paper reports results of a sample survey conducted in 2009 that inquired into the living circumstances and well-being of 1,000 older low-income households in two provinces linked by a labour migration route. Older households were defined as ones with a member 55 years and older. The sample was drawn among three approximately equal-sized subgroups: Rural black households in the former ‘homelands’ of the Eastern Cape Province, and black and coloured households in Cape Town in the Western Cape Province. The majority of the households in the survey had been interviewed in an earlier survey conducted in late 2002. Both material and non-material changes had occurred in the household situation over the 6-year period between 2002 and 2009. Access to housing and infrastructure had improved but financial difficulties and debts continued to plague many of the surveyed households. Rural black households appeared to be worst off among the three categories of older households with the lowest level of living; coloured households best situated with the highest level of living. Urban black households, many of whom were immigrants to Cape Town, appeared to have experienced the greatest fluctuations in their material circumstances between 2002 and 2009 and a mix of fortune and misfortune. Results indicated that social grants, which provided a modicum of financial security and peace of mind, made the crucial difference between fortune and misfortune for vulnerable households. Securing a social pension and other grants appeared to be the main route to good fortune for the rural households in the study. Households in Cape Town required wage income in addition to grant income to get by in the city. This mix of income sources diluted urban households’ dependence on social assistance. Regression model results suggest that income and financial security play a significantly more important role in boosting the well-being of low-income older households than access to services. Pooling of income, a common practice in pensioner households, contributed significantly to household satisfaction.     

Deconstructing borders: Mobility strategies of South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda

Taking the current presence of South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda as a case-study, this paper explores how different forms of mobility enable them to better cope with the harsh conditions caused by their displacement. Based on extensive field research, the results of this article show how for South Sudanese refugees, crossing borders can be empowering, although these complex strategies do not fit within the mutually exclusive ‘durable solutions’ proposed by the international refugee regime. Looking through a transnational lens, it is illustrated how different forms of movement enable the refugees to hold on to certain aspects of ‘normal life’, such as being employed, enacting customs and visiting loved ones, blurring the distinction between voluntary and forced migration. This results in a deepening of transnational networks as the generally large South Sudanese families find their members dispersed across Ugandan and South Sudanese town centres, villages, refugee settlements and third countries in Africa and elsewhere.     

A Parametric Analysis of Rehearsal Opportunities on Procedural Integrity

Behavioral skills training (BST) involves instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Despite its empirical support, the literature provides little to no guidance regarding the best way to implement rehearsal to ensure accurate implementation of behavioral procedures. Thus, the purpose of this study was to conduct a parametric analysis of rehearsal opportunities within a BST package. We evaluated the effects of 1, 3, and 10 rehearsals with feedback on correct implementation of functional analysis (FA). Regardless of the number of rehearsals, 18 undergraduate participants effectively learned to implement FA conditions. The most efficient training involved the use of single rehearsals with feedback until meeting mastery criterion. Participants maintained integrity during a follow-up session and rated the use of rehearsal as highly acceptable.     

Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Nondeceptive Counterfeit Market

Who is most responsible for the proliferation of counterfeit goods—the illicit purveyor of such products or the consumer who procures them? This paper seeks to address this question by presenting a behavior analysis of counterfeit marketing firms in China and the interdependent relationships between legitimate retailers, consumers, and the authorities who populate these competitive environments. This is achieved via an operant interpretation of these key agents and the network of contingent relationships in operation. The results suggest that purveyors of pirate products function as “bad competitors” in the marketplace according to normative business behaviors—behaviors that are amenable to analysis in behavioral terms.     

Effects of Fathers on Adolescent Daughters’ Frequency of Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior

This research: (1) implements a genetically informed design to examine the effects of fathers’ presence–absence and quality of behavior during childhood/adolescence on daughters’ frequency of substance use during adolescence; and (2) tests substance use frequency as mediating the relation between paternal behavior and daughters’ sexual risk taking. Participants were 223 sister dyads from divorced/separated biological families. Sisters’ developmental exposure to socially deviant paternal behavior predicted their frequency of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis (TAC) use. Older sisters who co‐resided with fathers who were more (vs. less) socially deviant reported more frequent TAC use during adolescence. More frequent TAC use predicted more risky sexual behavior for these daughters. No effects were found for younger sisters, who spent less time living with their fathers.     

Patterns of mutual exclusivity and retention: A study of monolingual and bilingual 2-year-olds

When children learn their native language, they tend to treat objects as if they only have one label—a principle known as mutual exclusivity. However, bilingual children are faced with a different cognitive challenge—they need to learn to associate two labels with one object. In the present study, we compared bilingual and monolingual 24-month-olds’ performance on a challenging and semi-naturalistic forced-choice referent selection task and retention test. Overall, both language groups performed similarly on referent selection but differed on retention. Specifically, while monolingual infants showed some retention, bilingual infants performed at chance and significantly worse than their monolingual peers.     

The structural roots of food insecurity: How racism is a fundamental cause of food insecurity

Rates of food insecurity skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, doubling overall and tripling among households with children. Even before the pandemic, the rate of food insecurity in the United States was “unusually high” compared to other rich democracies, and rates have not improved substantially over the last 25 years. What explains the lack of progress in addressing food insecurity? This article maps out an overview of the experiences, causes, and consequences of food insecurity in the United States. We demonstrate that racism is a fundamental cause of food insecurity, both because racism contributes to racial disparities in income and wealth, and because racism is linked to food insecurity independent of poverty and socioeconomic status. For example, people of color are more likely to experience racial discrimination, which is associated with food insecurity, and to live in states where stricter regulations and harsher punishments are tied to social assistance programs, including food assistance programs. Because racism is a fundamental cause of food insecurity, eliminating it requires going beyond “just” eliminating poverty. Instead, the fundamental cause must be tackled directly: racism itself, which is built into the structure of American society and entrenched in its institutions.     

Everyday terrorism: Campus sexual violence and the neoliberal university

This article investigates the ways sexual violence experienced on college campuses in the United States is situated within the neoliberal university. Feminist theories are utilized to explore the relationship between sexual violence and neoliberal ideologies. The authors evaluate how neoliberal tenets imbedded in higher education have contributed to, and exacerbated, an environment where sexual victimization is common. An institutional level of analysis is utilized to examine the neoliberal influence on campus sexual violence and investigate the utility of the term everyday terrorism. The authors also address “crimes of omission”, institutional betrayal, and the significance of institutional bravery/courage. The authors provide recommendations for future research in the areas of everyday terrorism and campus violence.     

Begabung oder harte Arbeit?

During the course of studies, certain situations cause uncertainties that can seriously trouble its success. Within the framework of Collegial Coaching, scholarship students of the Hans B?ckler Foundation who are confronted with similar circumstances work together, in order to develop opportunities for action and to strengthen their self-perception. Older and former scholarship holders are trained to become diversity-aware coaches and will then manage a coaching group.