Assent-maximizing social choice

We take a decision theoretic approach to the classic social choice problem, using data on the frequency of choice problems to compute social choice functions. We define a family of social choice rules that depend on the population’s preferences and on the probability distribution over the sets of feasible alternatives that the society will face. Our methods generalize the well-known Kemeny Rule. In the Kemeny Rule, it is known a priori that the subset of feasible alternatives will be a pair. We define a distinct social choice function for each distribution over the feasible subsets. Our rules can be interpreted as distance minimization—selecting the order closest to the population’s preferences, using a metric on the orders that reflects the distribution over the possible feasible sets. The distance is the probability that two orders will disagree about the optimal choice from a randomly selected available set. We provide an algorithmic method to compute these metrics in the case where the probability of a given feasible set is a function only of its cardinality.     

2009–2010 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among College Students From 8 Universities in North Carolina

Abstract

Objective: The authors sought to describe the 2009–2010 seasonal influenza vaccine coverage of college students. Participants: A total of 4,090 college students from 8 North Carolina universities participated in a confidential, Web-based survey in October–November 2009. Methods: Associations between self-reported 2009–2010 seasonal influenza vaccination and demographic characteristics, campus activities, parental education, and e-mail usage were assessed by bivariate analyses and by a mixed-effects model adjusting for clustering by university. Results: Overall, 20% of students (range 14%–30% by university) reported receiving 2009–2010 seasonal influenza vaccine. Being a freshman, attending a private university, having a college-educated parent, and participating in academic clubs/honor societies predicted receipt of influenza vaccine in the mixed-effects model. Conclusions: The self-reported 2009–2010 influenza vaccine coverage was one-quarter of the 2020 Healthy People goal (80%) for healthy persons 18 to 64 years of age. College campuses have the opportunity to enhance influenza vaccine coverage among its diverse student populations.     

Auto Therapy: Using Automobiles as Vehicles for Reminiscence With Older Adults

Reminiscence can be beneficial for older adults and contribute to well-being and ego integrity. In this exploratory pilot study, researchers assessed the feasibility and tolerability of a novel reminiscence intervention using automobiles as the focal point. Nineteen older adults (N = 19) were asked to reminisce using photographs of automobiles from across their lifespan. The RE-AIM framework was used to assess the intervention in terms of reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. The intervention was well-received, quickly established rapport, and effectively fostered reminiscence. Social workers may find this intervention useful in helping older adults to explore their lives.     

The Impact of Housing Instability on Child Maltreatment: A Causal Investigation

More than a half million children are confirmed as victims of maltreatment by the child welfare system each year. Children from unstably housed families are over-represented in child maltreatment reports, and a growing body of evidence links housing problems to maltreatment and Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation. The present study applies two propensity score analysis approaches—greedy matching and propensity score weighting—to data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study to move toward a causal explanation of child maltreatment behaviors among mothers in low-income households. Utilizing two separate methods to correct for overt selection bias, the present study finds that housing instability leads to a small increase in maltreatment behaviors, yet this small positive net impact on child maltreatment does not fully explain the over-representation of unstably housed families in the child welfare system. Families experiencing housing problems likely have a range of needs that require earlier, targeted intervention to mitigate consequences of poverty, domestic violence, and maternal depression. Child welfare services should invest resources in housing assistance programs in-house as well as through partnerships with local public housing authorities to stabilize families, reduce housing-related strain on caregivers, and promote family preservation.     

A Preliminary Analysis of Research on Recovery from Homelessness

Changing attitudes toward the poor are producing sweeping revisions in public welfare. The homeless population may be particularly affected by stricter guidelines for subsidies and selVice. This article reports findings from the first 2 years of an ongoing, qualitative, longitudinal study of nine formerly homeless families who received selVices at a transitional shelter in 1994. The purpose was to explore the extent to which these families were able to maintain self-sufficiency. One year after care, two families were on the verge of homelessness again, and all needed public assistance to meet basic needs. Two years after care, eight families were beginning to attain economic self-sufficiency. Recommendations address programmatic issues, including the need for comprehensive selVices during the shelter stay and family mentoring during the rehousing process.     

A. B. and C. versus Ireland

This article analyses some possible political implications of the case and the decision in A. B. and C. v. Ireland at the European Court of Human Rights. This case was heard in a public hearing on 9 December 2009; the judgment was provided in December 2010. I argue that the three applicants in this case employed a novel strategy, not previously considered, to access legal abortion in the Republic of Ireland. By highlighting the varied circumstances of unintended pregnancy in more than a single instance, the applicants utilized an offensive manoeuvre to which the government is unlikely to respond consistently over time. They exposed Irish governments' use of clandestine political negotiations in relation to European treaties, the questionable exertion of governments' authority to uphold political and moral agendas and racialized constructions of Irishness and national interests. The applicants also raised serious questions about state practices in the Republic of Ireland in relation to its legal obligation to uphold human rights under the European Convention. However, I argue that it is unlikely that this novel strategy and legal decision and their political implications are enough to adequately address the lack of access to legal abortion in the Republic of Ireland.     

Therapeutic management of violence in residential care for severely mentally ill clients: An application of intrapsychic humanism∗

The innovative psychology, intrapsychic humanism, is applied to formulate guidelines for effectively managing violent symptoms of severely mentally ill clients in residential settings, with the aims of: 1) helping staff reduce client violence; and 2) helping clients regulate their violent behavior. Using intrapsychic humanism, staff can understand, anticipate, and respond therapeutically to client violence. Triggers of violence, such as aversive reactions to pleasure and destructive reactions to real losses are described. Residential program structures that strengthen clients’ constructive motives and staff's caregiving motives are outlined.     

Social Stratification and the Body: Gender,Race, and Class

This article introduces the study of social stratification and the body in sociology. Two major fields of social inequality, race and sex, are characterized by visible, physical markers (such as skin tone or body shape) that people use to attribute meaning to the bodies of those around them. Class, on the other hand, offers far subtler bodily clues to the casual observer. Drawing on studies of racialized and sexed bodies, this article derives two principles for studying bodies, class, and social stratification more broadly. First, the relationship between bodies and inequality is bidirectional and co‐constitutive: while beliefs about the meanings of bodily difference are used to legitimate social inequality, preexisting inequalities also shape the appearance, health, and capabilities of the body. Second, the mechanism by which bodily difference is used to justify inequality is the ideology of self‐control: claims about the bodies of marginalized groups tend to frame them as reflecting a lack of self‐discipline, thereby “proving” their moral or evolutionary unfitness for power. The article ends by identifying emerging areas of study that promise to advance the study of embodied stratification and by highlighting the continuing centrality of intersectisonal theories of difference and inequality in embodiment research.     

Migrant remittances and the web of family obligations: ongoing support among spatially extended kin in North-east Thailand, 1984-94

Exchanges of money, goods, and assistance among family/kin members are influenced by the intertwined lives of individuals and their family/kin. As people pass through the young adulthood years, acquiring obligations as spouses and parents, and migrating in search of economic opportunities, tensions can arise over existing obligations. Using rich longitudinal data from Northeast Thailand, we examined the role of family networks (origin and destination) on migrants' exchanges with family/kin. Our approach overcame many shortcomings of earlier studies, allowing us to 'see' the family social network arrayed in a broader network. We show that intra-family exchanges are influenced by marital status, the presence of children, having parents in the origin household, and having siblings depart from it. The results are stable across sensitivity tests that systematically include or exclude various familial links. In addition, reports provided by origin households on migrant remittances are consistent with reports from migrants themselves.     

Beyond A Lesbian Space? An Investigation on The Intergenerational Discourse Surrounding Lesbian Public Social Places in Amsterdam

This article investigates intergenerational discourse on public lesbian social spaces within Amsterdam, Netherlands. The author seeks to address how lesbian women from different generations talk about lesbian social spaces in Amsterdam through anthropological ethnographic research and semistructured interviews with 20 lesbian women who have or currently are attending these places. The author also addresses the gradual decline of lesbian specific spaces in the city and the current belief that lesbian women are beyond having a public social space that services only the lesbian community. The rise in popularity of mixed gay- and lesbian-friendly bars and girl circuit parties will be identified as a key area where generational tensions and discourse are being played out. Issues pertaining to generational disagreements over lesbian identity, visibility, and space will be addressed.