Farmer participation in voluntary land diversion schemes: Some predictions from a survey

National and European agricultural policy schemes are now coming forward which rely on land diversion to achieve a variety of supply control, social and environmental policy goals. Operating on a voluntary basis, these will depend for their success on sufficient numbers of farmers agreeing to enrol land in sufficient quantities and in the right localities. Participation is thus a crucial variable in any assessment of land diversion policies. This paper draws on the results of a farm survey to make some predictions about the level and pattern of uptake of a range of such schemes, identifying the characteristics of resistors and adopters and exploring the motives of participants. It is concluded that land diversion will have most appeal to well-placed farmers who are able to justify the diversion of land out of an agricultural use in terms of forestry and conservation plans which have already been laid. The implication is that voluntary schemes may not be especially powerful instruments for bringing about land use changes on the large number of holdings in the U.K. which presently lack any history of conservation or forestry management, at least not without accompanying reductions in the level of market support for agriculture.     

Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System for African American Adolescents: Examining Associations with Behavioral Health Problems

While researchers have found that African American youth experience higher levels of juvenile justice involvement at every system level (arrest, sentencing, and incarceration) relative to their other ethnic counterparts, few studies have explored how juvenile justice involvement and number of contacts might be correlated with this broad range of problems. A convenience sample of 638 African American adolescents living in predominantly low-income, urban communities participated in a survey related to juvenile justice involvement. Major findings using logistic regression models indicated that adolescents who reported juvenile justice system involvement versus no involvement were 2.3 times as likely to report mental health problems, substance abuse, and delinquent or youth offending behaviors. Additional findings documented that the higher the number of juvenile justice system contacts, the higher the rates of delinquent behaviors, alcohol and marijuana use, sex while high on drugs, and commercial sex. These findings suggest that identifying and targeting youth who have multiple juvenile justice system contacts, especially those in low-resourced communities for early intervention services, may be beneficial. Future research should examine whether peer network norms might mediate the relationships between juvenile justice involvement and youth problem behaviors.     

Influence of Female Genital Cutting on Sexual Experience in Southern Ethiopia

Female genital cutting (FGC) is a persistent social norm in the Liben district of southern Ethiopia. This study explores whether the sexual experiences of married men and women differ by women's FGC status. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 women with different types of FGC (or no FGC) and 21 husbands. Compared to others, women with more severe FGC reported traumatic sexual experiences and decreased sexual desire. Nonetheless, participants largely endorsed FGC for daughters, revealing pressure to maintain the practice. Opportunities for change exist, as women and men recognized the sexual pleasure and healthy birth experiences of uncut women.     

Driving Under the Influence of Risky Peers: An Experimental Study of Adolescent Risk Taking

Both passive and active social influences may affect adolescents' dangerous driving. In this study, we used an experimental paradigm to delineate these two influences with actual peers. Adolescents completed a simulated driving task, and we measured risk preferences of each member of the peer group. We used hierarchical linear modeling to partition variance in risky decisions. Adolescents experienced many more crashes when they had “passengers” present who reported a strong preference for risk taking and who actively provided decision‐making guidance. Although youth in the passive peer condition were also influenced by the riskiness of their peers, this relation was less strong relative to the active condition. We discuss the need for interventions focussing on active and passive peer influence.     

Involving Service Users in Social Work Management Education: What Makes it Meaningful According to the ‘Experts’?

Course leaders have adopted a relatively cautious approach to involving service users and carers in Post-Qualifying (PQ) social work management education programmes in the UK, looking for opportunities in which it ‘makes sense’ for them to be included. Whilst there is, to a certain extent, the belief that involving service users and carers in PQ social work education is ‘a good thing’, it has proved challenging to implement. This research study sought to explore, through interviews with ‘experts’ in the field, why this process had proved so challenging. A term which emerged during the research was the importance of ‘meaningful involvement’. The research explored what ‘meaningful involvement’ might mean for managers, for academics and also for service users and carers; what it looks like and how might it take forward the understanding of and the preparation for PQ social work management education.     

Understanding the relationship between social change and its impacts: The experience of rural land use change in south-eastern Australia

This study investigated socio-economic impacts of land use change, giving explicit attention to the relationships between independently observed land use change and associated socio-economic changes, perceived land use change and socio-economic change, attributed cause of change, and experienced impacts of change. Using a case study region in south-east Australia, we examined the impacts of growth in use of land for dairy farming, cropping, blue gum plantations and rural residential development on (i) rural population trends, and (ii) the amount and nature of employment available in the study region. Perceptions and impacts of change were assessed using multiple qualitative and quantitative methods. Results demonstrate that local residents were not always aware of the extent and nature of land use change, and had difficulty attributing social changes and their impacts to the land use changes that underlie them. Furthermore, the felt impacts of land use change appeared dependent on a person's awareness of that change, and on their beliefs about the causes of social change. These findings highlight avenues for theoretical development to better specify the processes by which social change processes are experienced as human impacts. The findings also have implications for land use policy and social impact assessment, illustrating the importance of understanding both perceived and actual social change.