Complex Interrelations of Trait Vulnerabilities in Mothers and their Infants

Despite the developmental and clinical relevance of this area of inquiry, no studies have examined the interrelations of trait vulnerabilities in the affective, behavioral, and interpersonal domains between mothers and their infants. Thus, this study examined the interrelations of three trait vulnerabilities (i.e., negative affective intensity, impulsivity, and insecure attachment) between mothers and their 12‐ to 23‐month‐old infants, focusing in particular on the unique and interactive influence of these maternal trait vulnerabilities on the expression of and precursors to these traits in their infants. Mother–infant dyads (N = 101) completed several laboratory procedures, and mothers reported on their own and their infants' expressions of the trait vulnerabilities of interest. Findings from this study provide preliminary evidence for intergenerational relations between these traits and suggest that it is the confluence of trait vulnerabilities in mothers that relates to the early expression of some of these traits in infants.     

Environmental Exposures to Metals in Native Communities and Implications for Child Development: Basis for the Navajo Birth Cohort Study

Two disparate statistics often cited for the Western United States raise concern about risks for developmental disabilities in Native American children. First, 13 of the states with the highest percentage of Native American population are located in the Western United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2010 (U.S. Census Briefs, January, #C2010BR-10). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf [Google Scholar]). Second, more than 161,000 abandoned hard-rock mines are located in 12 Western states (General Accounting Office, 2014 General Accounting Office. (2014, July 14). GAO-11–834T: Abandoned Mines. Information on the number of hardrock mines, cost of cleanup, and value of financial assurances. Statement of Anu K. Mittal, Director, Natural Resources and Environment Team, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-834T [Google Scholar]). Moreover, numerous studies have linked low-level metals exposure with birth defects and developmental delays. Concern has emerged among tribal populations that metals exposure from abandoned mines might threaten development of future generations.     

Mental Disabilities in an Aboriginal Context

Aboriginal (meaning original peoples) North American mental health is acknowledged to be in a more precarious state than that of the dominant cultures. Disability arises from the conditions of poverty, homelessness, and lack of resources that are compounded for North American aboriginal people by the historical trauma of conquest, being placed on reservations, residential schools, and continued discrimination. We present culturally sensitive and syntonic intervention programs that can reduce the impact of Aboriginal mental disabilities and discuss the commonality among these programs of celebrating culture, language, and tradition.     

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: The Elusive Search for Racial Equity in Higher Education

In 1965, when affirmative action officially became part of the national consensus to achieve racial social justice, it was based on the compelling justification of establishing equality and remedying the effects of past discrimination. Since then, there has been a slow but steady shift from "equity" to "diversity" as its rationale. The shift has had a negative effect on achieving the original goal of racial equality. The diversity rationale has permitted parallel procedures to evolve that provided majority students with an even larger differential advantage than that conferred on minority students by affirmative action. In addition, we continue to have massive segregation. Minorities are concentrated in second level schools in urban areas, while whites are concentrated in higher quality institutions in the educational suburbs. It is without factual or legal foundation that whites can argue that they (relative to minorities) are the victims of discrimination through unfair and unequal educational policies and practices that determine access to higher education.     

Developing Early Years Childcare in England, 1997–2002: The Choices for (Working) Mothers

The UK has long been near the bottom of the EU “childcare league”. Attitudes of policymakers towards employment for the mothers of young children were ambivalent up to and including the Thatcher years, and the problem of “reconciling” work and family was historically deemed to be a private decision. This changed in 1998, when the Labour government put forward the first ever national childcare strategy. This paper argues that the aims behind the strategy were intimately linked to the attack on poverty and social exclusion in that: (1) efforts to stimulate provision focused on disadvantaged neighbourhoods; (2) subsidy was provided for early years education , rather than care (in order to give children a better start in life); and (3) stimulating provision was intended to promote women's employment, especially among lone‐mother families, thereby improving the material welfare of poor families. The means of expanding childcare have taken the form of a complicated set of demand‐ and supply‐side subsidies, reflecting the ongoing commitment to a mixed economy of childcare. The paper argues that this has implications for access and quality, and that there are tensions between the social investment approach to childcare on the one hand, and the desire to promote mothers’ employment on the other.     

Models for estimating discount rates for long-term health risks using labor market data

This article utilizes evidence from job choices involving fatality risks to estimate individual discount rates for adverse health outcomes. The study compares the results from five distinct models for estimating discount rates from labor market data. The estimated discount rates range from 1% to 14% with confidence intervals that usually include financial market rates for the same period. This result, and consistent findings of significant compensating differentials for fatality risk, provide strong support for life-cycle models of individual rationality in the choice of job risks. Discounted value-of-life estimates are also developed and compared to the crosssection estimates that are more prevalent in the literature.     

Adaptive learning,adaptive utility,and rational behavior in a repeated prisoner's dilemma

Two dimensions of learning are explored in a repeated prisoner's dilemma experiment. Subject update their perceptions of the true model of their opponent's behavior. Subjects also update their beliefs Kraft Funds at the Fuqua School of Business, helpful comments by Robert Axelrod, Michael Cohen, Fred Feinberg, J. Keith Murnighan, Kip Viscusi, Bob Winkler, and two anonymous referees, and the programming assistance of Oris Stuart and Michael Guiry.     

Four Public Declarations of the Revolutionary Period

In our complex, interdependent world, it is critical that educators prepare students for global citizenship. One way to develop students’ awareness and understanding of the world is through global literature. Through exposure to this type of literature, students gain multiple perspectives and learn about the social, political, and moral conditions under which people around the world live. They also develop respect and understanding of socially and politically oppressed peoples and learn why it is important to promote social justice. The authors discuss global literature for elementary students and describe an example of a lesson taught in a third-grade classroom using these books. Finally, the authors share the outcomes of the lesson based on their observations and analysis of the students’ oral responses and written reflections.