Social Fathering in Low‐Income,African American Families with Preschool Children

Although research increasingly focuses on nonresident biological fathers, little attention has been given to the role of other men in children's lives. The authors examine the factors associated with social father presence and their influence on preschoolers' development. Findings indicate that the majority of children have a social father and that mother, child, and nonresident biological father characteristics are all related to social father presence. These associations differ depending on whether the social father is the mother's romantic partner or a male relative. The social father's influence on children's development also depends on his relationship to the child. Male relative social fathers are associated with higher levels of children's school readiness, whereas mothers' romantic partner social fathers are associated with lower levels of emotional maturity.     

Evaluating Cooperative Game Theory in water resources

Two empirical applications of Cooperative Game Theory concerned with regional cooperation in the use of irrigation water are presented. Both studies attempt to derive income maximizing solutions for the participants and the related income allocation schemes. Distinction is made between transferable and non-transferable utility situations. The reasonableness and the acceptability of the schemes derived are later critically evaluated. Main findings are: (1) use of utility functions leads to problems in gains allocations, (2) the Core concept may be useless in this application because since it is either difficult to calculate or is empty in many cases, (3) gains allocation and the derived core are heavily dependent on probabilities of coalitions formation in the Shapley value or the Generalized Shapley Value.During the course of this research in The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.On leave from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.     

Perceptions of the narrative of the ‘other’ among Arab and Jewish adolescents in Israel: between peace talks and violent events

One of the major challenges for the process of peace building is to overcome the rigid structure of the socio‐psychological repertoire that accompanies it. Our longitudinal study examined one element of this repertoire among Jewish and Arab adolescents in Israel: the cognitive legitimacy and the emotional reactions toward the historical narrative of the opponent. We focused our question on the impact of the socio‐political context and the role of the violent reality in the development of these perceptions among youth. Data were collected in four stages (1999–2000, 2002, 2004, and 2007) among various samples of Arab and Jewish high school students (10th and 12th graders). The results showed that among the Jewish adolescents, the readiness to legitimate Palestinian narratives significantly decreased during violent periods. Among the Arab students, the impact of their difficult status as a Palestinian minority in the State of Israel is reflected in their relatively high level of readiness to accept both narratives. The results are discussed from social, cultural, and developmental perspectives with a focus on the role of the conflictual reality itself in the development of the socio‐psychological repertoire among youth.     

Whitewater: Decentralization of river basin water resource management

This paper focuses on empirically assessing determinants of river basin management decentralization, which is growing in popularity among water resource managers world wide. Measuring decentralization as a shift of decision-making responsibility to water users or governments at the river basin level or below, the analysis sheds light on the decentralization reform process and its success, using primary data from 83 river basins world wide. Contrary to common perception that primarily emergency situations trigger reform, persistent water scarcity is found to be a major stimulus to reform. Similarly, financially well-endowed or -developed basins do not necessarily outperform poor and underdeveloped basins. Conditions improving decentralization performance include: existence of dispute resolution mechanisms; greater financial responsibility of users; and as opposed to traditional thinking, government financial support to basin budget.     

Complex Questionnaires

We study a principal–agent model in which the agent is boundedly rational in his ability to understand the principal's decision rule. The principal wishes to elicit an agent's true profile so as to determine whether or not to grant him a certain request. The principal designs a questionnaire and commits himself to accepting certain responses. In designing such a questionnaire, the principal takes into account the bounded rationality of the agent and wishes to reduce the success probability of a dishonest agent who is trying to game the system. It is shown that the principal can construct a sufficiently complex questionnaire that will allow him to respond optimally to agents who tell the truth and at the same time to almost eliminate the probability that a dishonest agent will succeed in cheating.     

What Does Sexual Arousal Mean to You? Women With and Without Sexual Arousal Concerns Describe Their Experiences

Sexual arousal is frequently characterized by both subjective (i.e., mental) and physiological (e.g., genital) components. The nuances of these components, however, are difficult to capture via self-report instruments. Asking women to describe sexual arousal in their own words may therefore enhance our understanding of this construct. In the present study, women with (n = 190) and without (n = 610) arousal concerns were recruited online and wrote about their experience of sexual arousal. Seven clusters of words were extracted using automated text analysis, and the prominence of these clusters was compared between groups of women. The autonomic arousal cluster differed between groups such that women with arousal concerns invoked this cluster significantly less than did women with no such concerns. Furthermore, the context cluster significantly predicted group membership (odds ratio [OR] = 1.063); greater scores on this cluster were associated with arousal concerns. Results suggest that autonomic arousal and relationship factors may play important roles in arousal concerns. It is suggested that clinicians assess for aspects of the sexual relationship that may facilitate or hinder sexual arousal. Clinicians may also consider inquiring about the presence or appraisal of autonomic arousal (e.g., one’s interpretation of an increase in heart rate or respiration) during sexual activity.     

Nonstandard Work and Marital Instability: Evidence From the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

This article replicated and extended Harriet Presser's (2000) investigation of the linkages between nonstandard work and marital instability. We reexplored this question using data from a sample of 2,893 newlywed couples from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and using different analytic techniques. In contrast to Presser, we found that the key dimension of husbands' and wives' employment was nonemployment. Similar to Presser, we found that wives' working of fixed night shifts increased the risk of divorce, driven by the experience in marriages over 5 years in duration. However, we did not replicate Presser's finding that the effect is significant only among households with children; rather, wives' fixed night shifts were associated with divorce only among those without children.     

Predicting supportive behavior of parents and siblings to a family member with intellectual disability living in institutional care

This feasibility study examines whether the theory of planned behavior can predict supportive behavior provided by either parents to their offspring-or adult siblings to their brothers and sisters-with an intellectual disability living in 2 Israeli institutional care facilities. Participants were 67 parents and 63 siblings who were interviewed at baseline regarding their intentions to visit their offspring or sibling in the institutional care facility, to contact the caregiving staff, and to accept visits at home. Parents' and siblings' behavior regarding visitation and supportive behavior was examined after 6 months by caregiving staff. Core findings indicated that subjective norms in siblings and parents predicted frequency of home visits. Perceived behavioral control predicted frequency of contact between siblings and staff. Differences between parents and siblings regarding their supportive behaviors are discussed with respect to social work practice.     

Work Hours,Schedules, and Insufficient Sleep Among Mothers and Their Young Children

Studies have linked parents' employment, work hours, and work schedules to their own sleep quality and quantity, but it is unclear whether these associations extend to children. The authors used data from the 5‐year in‐home survey of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,818) to examine the associations between maternal work hours and schedule and insufficient sleep among disadvantaged mothers and their young children. They found that mothers who worked more than 35 hours per week were more likely to experience insufficient sleep compared to mothers who worked fewer hours, whereas children were more likely to experience insufficient sleep when their mothers worked between 20 and 40 hours. Nonstandard work schedules were associated with an increased likelihood of insufficient sleep for mothers but not their children. The results highlight a potentially difficult balance between work and family for many disadvantaged working mothers in the United States.     

Gay, Orthodox, and trembling: the rise of Jewish Orthodox gay consciousness, 1970s-2000s

In 2001, the documentary movie, Trembling Before God, was played in Jewish and gay film festivals around the world, provoking strong emotional reactions. Trembling Before God comprises interviews with Orthodox Jewish gay and lesbian persons who vividly and movingly describe their struggles to live their lives as observant Jewish people, being faithful at the same time to their sexual desires and their religious tradition. Almost all the people interviewed in the movie expressed mixed emotions: love towards their tradition and attachment to their community of faith, coupled with resentment against a community, which in their eyes failed to respond with understanding to their emotional needs, thus adding to their pain. This article aims to modify the picture portrayed in the movie. The dilemmas and struggles of gays and lesbians who live their lives in Orthodox Jewish communities are indeed real. Orthodox gays and lesbians experience a greater dissonance between their sexuality and the values of their community and therefore face more anxieties and inner turmoils than gays and lesbians who live in more permissive environments. The struggles of gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews, however, are not necessarily greater than those of gays and lesbians who live their lives in other conservative communities. In fact, while it is almost impossible to be a sexually active gay or lesbian and a practicing Southern Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Jehovah's Witness, or Mormon, it is not impossible for gays and lesbians to live their lives in an Orthodox Jewish environment. Amazingly, since the 1970s, thousands of gays and lesbians have given up on liberal environments and joined the ranks of traditionalist Jewish congregations.