Marriage‐Related Migration to the UK

Spouses form the largest single category of migrant settlement in the UK, but research and policy making on marriage‐related migration to Britain provides incomplete coverage of the phenomenon, having been dominated by a focus on the South Asian populations that are among the largest groups of such migrants. By bringing together immigration statistics with information from academic and third‐sector sources, this article attempts to provide a more balanced and nuanced portrayal of patterns and practices of marriage‐related migration to the UK. In doing so, it reveals important nationality and gender differences in migration flows and considers how varying marriage practices, social and political contexts, and policies of both receiving and sending countries may work to influence marriage‐related migration streams. It also exposes the limitations and lacunae in existing research on this diverse form of migration, highlighting the danger that immigration policy made on the basis of partial evidence will produce unexpected consequences.     

Independent living services,adjudication status,and the social exclusion of foster youth aging out of care in the United States

Recent policy changes have increased the availability of independent living services (ILS) to foster youth aging out of care in the United States. Yet, it is possible that youth who are also involved in the juvenile justice system may have trouble accessing these services. This study uses a social exclusion framework to examine associations between independent living service receipt, adjudication status, and early adult outcomes for youth aging out of the U.S. foster care system. Outcomes and ILS receipt data for 7412 older youth from the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) were used for this study. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models were used to explore the relationships among adjudication status, ILS, social exclusion, and social connectedness at age 19. Findings indicated that postsecondary education support and education financial services at baseline were related to a higher likelihood of being socially connected and lower likelihood of being socially excluded at age 19. Being an adjudicated delinquent and receiving special education and career services were related to a lower likelihood of being socially connected. This suggests that ILS are well-suited for youth already doing well, but may not do enough for those who struggle the most during this period.     

Using innovation to address HIV, AIDS, and environment links: intervention case studies from Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Malawi

This article presents three cross-cutting intervention case studies that address HIV, AIDS, and natural resources management in an integrated manner through innovative programming in Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Malawi. In Zimbabwe, a religious-based non-governmental group and two community organizations work together to build skills of HIV- and AIDS-vulnerable children in rural areas to meet dietary and income needs, while using natural resources sustainably. In Uganda, various government agencies and NGO actors work together to improve the food security of HIV-affected households at the national, district, sub-district, and village levels. Finally, in Malawi, a conservation organization incorporates HIV and AIDS awareness and programming into its operations and projects. Each case study presents pioneering approaches to simultaneously addressing the pressures on conservation initiatives, food security/agricultural production, income generation/livelihoods, and social and health care systems. They also provide lessons for expanding interventions and partnerships.     

Instant Ticket Purchasing by Ontario Baby Boomers: Increasing Risk for Problem Gamblers

Instant ticket purchase gambling (ITPG) is pervasive in Ontario and has features that mimic slot machine play. Previous researchers have reported that ITPG is one preferred activity for at-risk/problem gamblers. In the general Canadian population, rate of participation in ITPG is second only to lottery ticket gambling. Both are particularly favored by youth and seniors. The next cohort of seniors will be Canada’s baby boomers, one-third of whom live in Ontario. Secondary analysis of Statistics Canada data revealed that adults in this cohort who buy instant gambling tickets (N = 1781) are significantly different from the complete group of their age peers (N = 4266) in number of activities pursued and frequency of involvement. At-risk/problem gambling prevalence was 10.2% amongst Ontario baby boomers who participate in instant ticket gambling, significantly higher than the 6.7% found amongst the total group of baby boom gamblers. For those who reported experiencing one or more of the Canadian Problem Gambling Index indicators for problem gambling (N = 237), 73% were buying instant tickets. Future research should consider cohort effects and explore combinations of preferred gambling activities that may increase risk for problem gambling. Social policy recommendations include the use of all ITPG venues as key locations for promoting awareness of problem gambling treatment services. This work was funded by Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.     

Evidencing the harms of hate speech

The ways in which targeted communities experience hate speech is an important, but often neglected, component of the debate over the legitimacy of hate speech laws. This article reports on data drawn from interviews conducted with 101 members of Indigenous and minority ethnic communities in Australia regarding their experiences of hate speech. We give voice to targets’ experiences of face-to-face and more widely broadcast hate speech, and outline the constitutive and consequential harms they claim to have suffered. We assess these against the alleged harms of hate speech in the literature, finding a close correlation between targets’ reports and the literature.     

Visual assessment of matrix-variate normality

In recent years, the analysis of three-way data has become ever more prevalent in the literature. It is becoming increasingly common to analyse such data by means of matrix-variate distributions, the most prevalent of which is the matrix-variate normal distribution. Although many methods exist for assessing multivariate normality, there is a relative paucity of approaches for assessing matrix-variate normality. Herein, a new visual method is proposed for assessing matrix-variate normality by means of a distance–distance plot. In addition, a testing procedure is discussed to be used in tandem with the proposed visual method. The proposed approach is illustrated via simulated data as well as an application on analysing handwritten digits.