Marriage and conjugal roles in Swaziland: persistence and change

"This paper examines one set of relationships central to the Swazi household--marriage and conjugal roles--and how those relationships have changed over the last half century. Information has been analyzed on such topics as types of marriages contracted, the age at marriage, choice of spouse, attitudes towards and participation in polygyny, the nature of conjugal roles, and the question of divorce. This study has drawn upon a wide range of sources including (1) an analysis of civil records from the office of the District Commissioner in Manzini, Swaziland; (2) data collected previously by other social scientists; and (3) survey data gathered especially for this study. The study concludes that while changes have occurred, many traditional patterns of marriage and family continue to be important in contemporary Swazi society."     

The seasons of a CEO's tenure

This article proposes a model of the dynamics of the CEO's tenure in office. The central argument is that there are discernible phases, or seasons, within an executive's tenure in a position, and that these seasons give rise to distinct patterns of executive attention, behavior, and, ultimately, organizational performance. The five delineated seasons are (a) response to mandate, (b) experimentation, (c) selection of an enduring theme, (d) convergence, and (e) dysfunction. The theoretical and practical implications of the model are discussed.     

Migration,race and ethnicity, 1960-1980

"This article compares racial and ethnic patterns in interstate and interregional migration in the years 1960 to 1980.... This research looks at geographical assimilation--the extent to which patterns of migration and regional distribution of minority groups resemble those of whites. Attention is directed to United States-born Asian Americans, blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and whites, and attempts to answer the following questions: 1) To what extent do the patterns of interstate migration of these groups resemble one another? 2) To what extent do the regional distributions and patterns of net regional migration of these groups resemble one another?" This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1988 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (see Population Index, Vol. 54, No. 3, Fall 1988, p. 495).     

Problems in measuring role strains and social functioning in relation to psychological symptoms

The problems that people experience in social roles can be regarded as either causes or consequences of psychological symptoms. To reflect one of these possibilities, Pearlin et al. (1981) developed measures of "role strains" which are considered sources of psychopathology. To reflect the other position, Dohrenwend et al. (1981) constructed measures of "role functioning" which are seen as consequences of psychopathology. We show that the measures developed by these two teams of investigators are similar in content and show substantial empirical overlap despite the different meanings attributed to them. In an effort to understand whether these highly correlated measures assess, "role strain" or "role functioning," we conduct an exploratory analysis of marital and housework role problems, using a small panel sample of New York City residents. Specifically, we use instrumental variables to identify reciprocal effects between psychological distress and each role area. We find that the relationship between housework role problems and distress is more consistent with Pearlin et al.'s interpretation, whereas the relationship between marital problems and distress is more consistent with that of Dohrenwend et al. Investigators interested in measuring either role strain or role functioning must bear in mind the strong possibility of contamination from the other construct.     

Bringing baby home: a comprehensive case management program for obstetrical services

Originally presented to the Society of Home Health Care Management of the American College of Physician Executives at its November 16, 1993, meeting in Tucson, Ariz., the program described in this article was the winner of the College's 1994 Innovations Award in Medical Quality Management, sponsored by Merck Sharp & Dohme. The program shows the potential of case management for both improvement in the quality of care and containment of costs for a managed care population with a substantial Medicaid segment. This article is part of a continuing series on innovative programs in home health care.     

Society,family, and gender in Santa Fe,New Granada,until the end of the colony

The author examines family structure in Santa Fe, the capital of New Granada, a Spanish colony that included Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The focus is on the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He finds that social class structure was closely related to ethnic group and skin color, and that the sex ratio was biased toward women. Women also headed nearly 50% of all households. Data are mainly from the 1801 smallpox census.     

Origins and destinies: Immigration to the United States since World War II

Contemporary immigration to the United States and the formation of new ethnic groups are the complex and unintended social consequences of the expansion of the nation to its post-World War II position of global hegemony. Immigrant communities in the United States today are related to a history of American military, political, economic, and cultural involvement and intervention in the sending countries, especially in Asia and the Caribbean Basin, and to the linkages that are formed in the process that open a variety of legal and illegal migration pathways. The 19.8 million foreign-born persons counted in the 1990 U.S. census formed the largest immigrant population in the world, though in relative terms, only 7.9% of the U.S. population was foreign-born, a lower proportion than earlier in this century. Today's immigrants are extraordinarily diverse, a reflection of polar-opposite types of migrations embedded in very different historical and structural contexts. Also, unlike the expanding economy that absorbed earlier flows from Europe, since the 1970s new immigrants have entered an hourglass economy with reduced opportunities for social mobility, particularly among the less educated, and new waves of refugees have entered a welfare state with expanded opportunities for public assistance. This paper seeks to make sense of the new diversity. A typology of contemporary immigrants is presented, and their patterns of settlement, their distinctive social and economic characteristics compared to major native-born racial-ethnic groups, and their different modes of incorporation in—and consequences for—American society are considered.     

Exploration to Foster Career Development

Responses to the Adult Career Concerns Inventory (ACCI: Super, Thompson, Lindeman, Myers, & Jordaan, 1988) were organized through cluster analysis to identify different ways in which adults use exploratory behavior to cope with career development tasks. Significant differences in life-role salience among the types of adult career explorers identified were also investigated. Findings indicated a variety of ways in which adults use exploratory behavior. However, no significant differences were found in life-role salience among the types of career explorers. The discussion explains how career counselors can interpret their clients' ACCI profiles to select appropriate career interventions.     

Occupational status and mobility among undocumented immigrants by gender

Immigration has long been a national and state concern. The 1989 Legalized Population Survey (LPS-1) collected data on illegal immigrants to the US who subsequently became legalized aliens under the provisions of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. These data are used in a study assessing whether undocumented male and female immigrants improve their earnings and occupational status over time and the extent of variation in occupational status and mobility by gender and region. The data indicate that both undocumented men and women, on average, improved their earnings and occupational status between their first jobs in the US and their jobs just before applying for legalization under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. However, the earnings, occupational status, and occupational mobility of men were greater than for women.