Kinship,courtship, and child maintenance law in Botswana

Official statistics in Botswana suggest very high numbers of extramarital births and female-headed households. One element of family policy in Botswana is a statute allowing women to claim maintenance payments from the biological fathers of their extramarital children. Formal interviews and informal conversations with women and men in a village in Botswana indicate that women do not make use of the maintenance law for a variety of reasons. Among these is that a continuing tie to the biological father of the child would interferen with the traditional mechanisms by which that child is supported and socially positioned and with the woman's own prospects for courtship and eventual marriage to the biological father or another man. Family policies should fit within, rather than being imposed upon, the cultural framework of the people they are trying to help.The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding and support for the research reported on in this article. Funding for fieldwork was provided to Nicholas Townsend by an NICHD postdoctoral fellowship (T32 HD07275-08) and by grants from the Andrew Mellon Foundation administered through the Department of Demography at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University. Funding for fieldwork was provided to Anita Garey by the Andrew Mellon Foundation administered by the Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University. Funding for analysis and writing was provided to Nicholas Townsend by a Mellon Foundation research fellowship from Brown University and to Anita Garey by a Population Council postdoctoral fellowship. Both authors thank the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University for the material and moral support they received while in residence.Her research, both in the United States and in Botswana, focuses on the interaction of cultural meanings and social structures in the experience of mothers. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.His research interests include the connections of men to children and the structure of domestic groups in Southern Africa and the United States. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.     

Work-nonwork conflict among MBAs: Sex differences in role stressors and life satisfaction

Predictors of work-nonwork conflict (work role conflict, career salience, age, length of service, number of children living at home) and relationships between work-nonwork conflict and life satisfaction were investigated among 271 MBA students. There were no significant differences in the level of work-nonwork conflict due to sex or marital status, and work role conflict was the best independent predictor of work-nonwork conflict for both women and men. The number of children living at home was unrelated to work-nonwork conflict. Except for single women, work-nonwork conflict was significantly related to life satisfaction.     

Seapower and socioeconomic change

The present essay examines the concepts of path dependence and change of political and economic regimes. Starting from the debate of the influence of the so called military revolution on the emergence of modern states, the neglected aspect of the influence of seapower on socioeconomic change is presented, using a formal model. It is maintained that the choice of seapower by a state leads to a different regime than the choice of land military power, because sustainable seapower necessitates a wide alliance of interests, which brings with it more democratic regimes, develops new more efficient and complex forms of organizations, requires the acquisition and diffusion of new knowledge and expertise, which brings with it institutional change and economic growth. The essay concludes with a short presentation of the United Provinces' (the Dutch Republic) turn to the sea.     

Living and loving "decent": religion and relationship quality among urban parents

Religious participation is linked to overall satisfaction among both married and unmarried couples in urban America. Less is known about what may account for the association between religious participation and relationship quality. We explore this issue using data from the first two waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Relationship-related behaviors (e.g., temperance) and relationship-specific behaviors (e.g., affection) can each account for the association between church attendance and relationship quality. Furthermore, religious participation appears to be more tightly linked to men's perceptions of relationship quality than women's.     

Obesity and urinary incontinence

Obesity is growing at an alarming rate worldwide. It poses a major health problem that in turn places a huge financial burden on health services. Medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease are commonly associated with obesity, but less well documented is the association between obesity and urinary incontinence. This article reviews the current literature to see whether: (1) obesity predisposes to urinary incontinence; (2) weight loss improves urinary incontinence and (3) obesity affects the surgical outcome. It also covers the surgical and anaesthetic implications of obesity. New minimally invasive surgical techniques make surgical risks acceptable for the obese patient but the anaesthetic risks remain high. Obese patients should not be denied surgery but be made aware of the higher risks. Future research should focus on the impact of obesity on surgical outcomes for continence surgery, particularly on intraoperative and postoperative complication rates as well as long-term cure rates.     

The development of a CAHPS instrument for Nursing Home Residents (NHCAHPS)

We report on a federal initiative to develop a CAHPS (The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey to measure residents' experiences with quality-of-care and quality-of-life in nursing homes (known as NHCAHPS). We focus on how we created and tested questions for inclusion in the instrument and tested a possible cognitive screener to determine which residents could participate in a NHCAHPS interview. The major lessons learned were: (1) In contrast to other CAHPS surveys, ratings were more useful than reports because of the difficulty that residents had with summarizing over time and people; (2) consistent with other CAHPS surveys, the 0 to 10 response scale appeared to work well with nursing home residents for many of the quality-of-care questions; however, a different response scale was needed for many of the quality-of-life items; and (3) in contrast with typical survey methodology and other CAHPS surveys where explicit time reference periods are used, a non-specific present reference period in questions seemed to work best.     

From the Ghetto to the Ivory Tower: Gendered Effects of Segregation on Elite‐College Completion*

Objectives. To explore the continuing consequences of segregation for students in elite colleges and test whether male and female students experience the effects of segregation in different ways. Methods. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF, 1999–2003) are used to predict the odds of elite‐college graduation separately by gender. Theories on childhood gender socialization are addressed using OLS and logistic regression models to test for gendered pathways through which childhood segregation affects the likelihood of college graduation. Results. Males are exposed to higher levels of violence and disorder than females throughout childhood, and the gender gap in exposure grows as levels of segregation increase. The effect of segregation and its sequella on academic performance, however, appears to operate through different channels for males and females. Females experience significant negative effects of ongoing family stress, whereas males at elite colleges do not. Academic preparation, operating through college GPA, remains the single biggest factor affecting the likelihood of college graduation, although the strength of association is greater for males. Conclusions. Growing up in racially segregated environments affects long‐term educational outcomes in ways that are not gender neutral. Despite having reached the “ivory tower,” females and males continue to experience the effects of segregation, although in different ways and degrees.