The effect of child maltreatment on illegal and problematic behaviour: new evidence on the ‘cycle of violence’ using twins data

This paper investigates the effect of physical and sexual child maltreatment on several types of illegal and problematic behaviour. By using variation within pairs of twins, we are able to mitigate concerns about confounding factors from previous studies. Using ordinary least squares and twin fixed effects estimation approaches, we find that child maltreatment has a large effect on illegal and problematic behaviours such as drug abuse, conduct disorders, and crime. The estimated effects suggest an increase of illegal and problematic behaviour between 50 and 100%. Our findings are consistent with the so-called cycle of violence hypothesis.     

Perspectives of Young People in Care About their School-to-Work Transition

Abstract

Achieving in education and employment has long-term effects on quality of life. With below-average levels of educational attainment, many young people in care are ill-equipped for the transition from school to further education and work. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that explored the school to work transition experiences of young people currently or previously in care, and their ideas about future employment. A range of personal and contextual factors that influence study and work goals were identified. Young people spoke about the importance of personal confidence and determination, supportive relationships, someone to believe in them and encourage them, opportunities to pursue their goals, avenues to gain information about how to get desired jobs, positive school experiences, and the need for stability in their lives. The study suggests widening the agenda for case planning, transition from care and after-care support, to include career planning and vocational assistance.     

The Archive as a Social World

Qualitative Sociology - Historical scholars often adopt a solitary ethic, conceiving of their work as the product of a lonely and isolated individual toiling away in a dusty archive. In this...     

Sources of Support for Mandatory Military Service in the Context of the War on Terrorism: Survey Evidence Pre‐ and Post‐September 11, 2001*

Objectives. The advent of the War on Terrorism raises the question of the short‐term impacts on public opinion of terrorist attacks with respect to the idea of universal military service in the United States. Previous studies indicate that international crises tend to produce a polarizing effect on public opinion with respect to military service. Methods. Multinomial logistic regression analysis is used here to analyze an archival data set featuring survey data collected among 18,000+ citizens in 18 major U.S. metropolitan areas in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Results and Conclusions. This article offers further support for previous analyses into the principal sources of support for military service. However, the analysis also indicates that the initial impact of the War on Terrorism may have been to produce a decline in support for mandatory military service and a mild unifying effect on the distribution of attitudes rather than the expected polarization. Attitudes toward military service were more polarized in 2000 and 2001 than in the post‐9/11 2002 studies.     

A cultivated environment: Exploring the global distribution of plants in gardens, parks and streetscapes

Plants cultivated in gardens, parks and streetscapes are becoming increasingly important to peoples?? experience of biological life, and have been the recent focus of research in ecology, invasion biology, human geography and sociology. However patterns of distribution have not previously been explored at a global scale. In this study, global patterns in the distribution of cultivated floras were explored to determine the significance of biophysical and social factors driving species distributions. The taxonomic similarity of 72 published species lists was examined, covering a wide geographic and climatic range and a variety of land uses. Cultivated floras across urban and rural settlements were found to be very different and unsurprisingly to be strongly filtered by temperature. However we found that human behaviour may overcome other physical drivers of plant distribution such as rainfall in some instances. Social factors were also found to be important. Having a different dominant language (a proxy for cultural background) and difference in GDP per person (a proxy for household income) were also related to the dissimilarity of cultivated floras. Differences in both the social and physical environment are related to floristic differences between cities. However, we recognise that other factors identified in the literature but unsuited to meta-analysis, may also influence the composition of cultivated landscapes. These include changes in policy relating to the provision of street and park vegetation, the availability of plants from nurseries and the preferences of influential gardeners and landscape designers. The significance of the relationship between temperature and species composition suggests that cultivated floras are likely to change in response to climate change. The high level of dissimilarity observed between settlements suggests that patterns of potential naturalisation of cultivated plants are likely to be more complex than currently accepted.