Children's Perceptions of Family Relationships as Assessed in a Doll Story Completion Task: Links to Parenting, Social Competence, and Externalizing Behavior

This study was designed to examine the links between parenting, children's perceptions of family relationships, and children's social behavior. Seventy‐four children (M age=6.01 years; 39 boys; 35 girls) and their parents took part in the study. Children completed relationship‐oriented doll stories that were coded for coherence, prosocial themes, and aggressive themes. Parents completed a report of their child's social behavior, a parenting scale, and a number of demographic items. Teachers also completed measures of children's social competence and externalizing behavior. Warm parenting predicted both a child's representation of prosocial themes in the doll stories and social competence, whereas harsh parenting predicted both a child's use of aggressive themes in the doll stories and a child's externalizing behavior. These findings support the idea that children are constructing models of relationships out of the early interactions with caregivers, and that they use these representations to guide their social behavior.     

The Timing of Entry Into Fatherhood in Young, At-Risk Men

Timing of first fatherhood was examined in a sample of 206 at-risk, predominantly White men, followed prospectively for 17 years. An event history analysis was used to test a model wherein antisocial behavior, the contextual and familial factors that may contribute to the development of antisocial behavior, and common correlates of such behavior, including academic failure, substance use, and early initiation of sexual behaviors, lead both directly and indirectly to an early transition to fatherhood. Having a mother who was younger at first birth, low family SES, poor academic skills, failure to use condoms, and being in a cohabitating or marital relationship predicted entry into fatherhood. Implications of the findings for prevention of and intervention with early fathering are discussed.     

Learning to be seen: the depiction of encounters between Israeli and newcomer children in children’s literature

Books written for and about children may serve to convey central cultural tenets to new members of society. This paper looks at the depiction of encounters between newcomer and locally born children in contemporary Hebrew literature aimed at teenage readers and presents the major resources and practices by means of which the newcomer protagonists are portrayed as coming to find their place in the new society. The paper suggests that, rather than introducing Israeli‐born readers to newcomer cultures, as might be expected in the current ideological climate of cultural pluralism, these books serve as a means of conveying to children and young people socially sanctioned modes of coming to belong to Israeli society.     

Technical Uncertainty in Quantitative Policy Analysis — A Sulfur Air Pollution Example

Expert judgments expressed as subjective probability distributions provide an appropriate means of incorporating technical uncertainty in some quantitative policy studies. Judgments and distributions obtained from several experts allow one to explore the extent to which the conclusions reached in such a study depend on which expert one talks to. For the case of sulfur air pollution from coal-fired power plants, estimates of sulfur mass balance as a function of plume flight time are shown to vary little across the range of opinions of leading atmospheric scientists while estimates of possible health impacts are shown to vary widely across the range of opinions of leading scientists in air pollution health effects.     

Is obesity stigmatizing? Body weight, perceived discrimination, and psychological well-being in the United States

We investigate the frequency and psychological correlates of institutional and interpersonal discrimination reported by underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese I, and obese II/III Americans. Analyses use data from the Midlife Development in the United States study, a national survey of more than 3,000 adults ages 25 to 74 in 1995. Compared to normal weight persons, obese II/III persons (body mass index of 35 or higher) are more likely to report institutional and day-to-day interpersonal discrimination. Among obese II/III persons, professional workers are more likely than nonprofessionals to report employment discrimination and interpersonal mistreatment. Obese II/III persons report lower levels of self-acceptance than normal weight persons, yet this relationship is fully mediated by the perception that one has been discriminated against due to body weight or physical appearance. Our findings offer further support for the pervasive stigma of obesity and the negative implications of stigmatized identities for life chances.     

Cost containment in complex social security systems: The limitations of targeting

Two aspects of the structure of existing social security systems limit the scope for containing costs by increasing targeting: the insurance principle, and the use of category membership to establish eligibility for benefits. The first aspect is antithetical to targeting because the most needy people are also the most likely to fail to establish an adequate contributions record. Some countries appear committed to maintaining the insurance principle because it is part of the fabric of the relationship between employers, employees and the State. The second aspect can be seen as an effective way of identifying groups whose income is likely to fall short of their needs. However, the primary function of category definition is to establish the legitimacy of claims—to examine why a shortfall of income in relation to needs has arisen, what personal responsibility the claimant bears, and what alternative mechanisms might be available. Several countries have revised category definitions in response to issues about the motivation and "deservingness" of claimants. We designate as "pseudo-targeting" reforms of this type, which are not likely to result in the allocation of a higher share of social expenditure to the worst-off. The scope for increasing targeting in existing systems is very restricted, reflecting the limitations of the concept. Non-categorical social assistance is the archetypal targeted benefit, and it has serious limitations. The obstacles to targeting are integral to the legitimation of social security. If targeting reforms undermine this legitimating structure, they risk undermining the claim on resources exercised by the social security system.