Does the desire to conform to peers moderate links between popularity and indirect victimization in early adolescence?

This study of 426 Canadian early adolescents (M_age = 12.52; 53% girls) investigated whether associations between popularity and indirect victimization (i.e., reputational victimization, exclusion) varied as a function of gender and the desire to conform to characteristics and competencies that are valued within the peer group (i.e., peer conformity goals). Regression analyses revealed popularity was uniquely and positively associated with reputational victimization, but was not significantly related to exclusion after accounting for the effects of meanness and likeability. The associations between popularity and indirect victimization were moderated by peer conformity goals and gender. The results indicated that popular girls with high peer conformity goals experienced more reputational victimization and exclusion than popular girls with low peer conformity goals. However, popular boys with high peer conformity goals experienced less exclusion than popular boys with low peer conformity goals. The findings suggest that peer conformity goals carry with them some risks for popular girls, but may serve a protective function for popular boys.     

The Development and Evaluation of Online Learning Modules to Deliver Lifespan Content in Human Behavior in Social Environment Courses

This article details the development and evaluation of a lifespan development computer modules that were used in human behavior in social environment courses. An anonymous, Web-based survey was developed to evaluate the modules. Supporting the first hypothesis, the majority of students (83.5%) found the modules to be a good learning alternative. The hypotheses that MSW students will experience more barriers to Web-based instruction and that students who previously mastered more content will spend less time on mobdules than students who previously mastered less content were not supported. Lessons learned provide implications for the use of computer-assisted instruction.     

Territoriality,map-mindedness,and the politics of place

Theory and Society - Political sociologists have paid closer attention of late to the territoriality of political communities, and have even begun theorizing the theme of territoriality’s...     

Political Oppression,Social Change and the Family: A View from South Africa

The obvious continuities between the political and the personal, the public and the private, dominate South African life in a way which may not be familiar to those in the Australian context. South African clinical work with families, much of it in the form of mediated interventions, cannot but operate at the edges of our definitions of both what a family is and what it means to be a mental health worker. In this article I argue that thinking broadly about politics and about our work is essential in the service of developing family and personal growth.     

“Taking Mama Steps” Toward Authority,Alternatives, and Advocacy

Ten years ago, the task of blending work and motherhood was arduous, lonely, and painstaking. Most settled for face-to-face interactions or phone calls to friends and family for support. Sadly, frustrated conversations are still happening due to a lack of cultural acceptance, policies, and laws focused on blending work and family life. However, some women are turning to online spaces for social support. In 1991, Donna Haraway posited that online, affinity-based groups contain the potential for activism. Buoyed by digital social media possibilities for social support, we assessed feminist activism within a motherhood support group populated by women from various countries around the world. We found that consciousness-raising can further feminist activism within an online motherhood Facebook group by helping others learn to negotiate their choices, but economic stratification and educational divides still constrain social support; this suggests that digital connections influence affinity-based identities and feminist activism.     

Transforming Access to Research Literature for Developing Countries

Abstract

The economic development of a country depends heavily on its scientific strength and ability to resolve problems in such areas as public health, infectious disease, environmental management, or industrial progress. Access to research information traditionally depends on ability to pay, which has a negative impact on developing countries. A number of new initiatives address this imbalance, ranging from consortial licensing and new publishing models to the Open Access Initiative, and have the ability to meet the needs of research in financially constrained countries. The advent of the Open Access strategies, particularly interoperable institutional archives, has the potential to revolutionize access to essential research.     

When Change Hits the Fan

This case study is based on an actual situation that has been disguised and has had some hypothetical content added. It addresses several problems that may be encountered as an agency struggles with its evolution from a hierarchical bureaucratic organizational structure to an egalitarian consensus model of management. Issues include resistance to change, difficulties with the modification of staff and board roles and responsibilities, and the resultant interpersonal conflict.     

Forecasting the market demand for waste paper

In a recent article in this journal, Livesey and Barcena supplied an interesting but necessarily superficial analysis of the market for waste paper. Their essential conclusion was that, faced with future shortages, and hence increased prices of wood pulp, the paper and board industry would be forced to rely more heavily on secondary fibre. In turn, they felt that ‘in order to ensure an adequate supply of waste paper, governments may need to exert a greater degree of influence over the market than they do at present’.This paper seeks to provide a more rigorous analysis of the ‘waste paper problem’ in terms of future demand and fluctuations in that demand. It also corrects some misconceptions in the paper by Livesey and Barcena as to the likely sources of future supply and the economics of securing those supplies.