A Note from the President

Abstract

A marked pattern of area-to-area differences in violence is described for Northern Ireland during 1969–74. Violence, measured by death rates, is especially high in the two largest cities and in the southwestern area. Two variables which together account for most of the area variation in violence are population density and proportion Roman Catholic. These findings underline the relative importance of group mobilization for political challenge as a basis of recent Ulster violence.     

Moderating effects of race on internalizing and externalizing behaviors among children of criminal justice and child welfare involved mothers

This study examined whether the influences of multiple maternal criminal justice involvement (MCJI), community adversity, and violence exposure on children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors were moderated by race. The study included 409 children of criminal justice and child welfare involved mothers, ages 5–15 who participated in the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW). Results indicated that race, defined as Black vs. non-Black, moderated the associations between multiple MCJI and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Decomposition of the regression effects indicated that non-Black children exposed to multiple MCJI, as compared to non-Black children who were not exposed to multiple MCJI, exhibited significant increases in both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while Black children who experience multiple MCJI, on average, showed no increases. Similarly, race moderated the association between exposure to community adversity and externalizing behaviors. The decomposition of regression effects indicated that non-Black children who experienced higher levels of community adversity exhibited increases in externalizing behaviors, while Black children showed no increases. Criminal justice and child welfare practice and policy implications are discussed.     

“Would You Do That in Your Home?” Making Nursing Homes Home-like in Culture Change Implementation

Qualitative interviews with nursing home administrators reveal innovative and cost-conscious ways to physically modify facilities that help institute culture change practices. Telephone interviews were conducted following a national survey of nursing home nursing directors and administrators. In this cross-sectional snapshot of administrator experiences, motivations for making facilities more home-like and less institutional and creative responses to challenges are described. State and corporate support and regulator encouragement are noted that help their reform efforts. Administrators note that small steps to create a more home-like environment can result in a positive impact that minimizes disruption to existing care processes. They describe how they respond to challenges, such as the physical plant and high costs, and note how comparative shopping, cost-conscious physical improvements, and continuous involvement of staff and residents contribute to successful efforts. Their examples illustrate novel ways to humanize long-term care facilities that other nursing homes can emulate.     

Assessing the Psychometric Properties of Both a Global and a Domain-Specific Perceived Quality of Life Measure When Used with Youth Who Have Chronic Conditions

The purpose of this paper was to assess the psychometric properties of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS) and the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) when used with youth who have chronic conditions. Baseline data from a longitudinal study examining predictors of changes in perceived quality of life (PQOL) for youth with chronic conditions were used. SLSS and BMSLSS data were collected on over 400 youth aged 11–17 using youth self-report and parent proxy-report versions. Internal consistency, convergent validity, and factor structure were examined for both versions. Extent of agreement and magnitude of differences between youth and parent report were evaluated. Finally, gender, age, and condition group differences in youth report scores were examined for the SLSS and BMSLSS. Strong internal consistency was demonstrated for the youth and parent reports of both measures. As with normative samples, a single factor structure was found for youth and parent reports of the BMSLSS. However, both youth and parent reports of the SLSS had a two-factor structure: one consisting of five positively worded items, and the other, two negatively worded items. Youth reported their PQOL to be significantly higher than did their parents. Significant differences in PQOL scores for the youth report were not found by age, gender, or conditions. Findings show that, from a psychometric standpoint, the BMSLSS (both youth and parent report) is a promising measure of PQOL for use in population-based research with youth who have chronic conditions. The SLSS may need to be revised to exclude negative items when used with this population of youth.     

Italian Americans in the ‘Bocce Belt’: ‘Old World’ memories and ‘New World’ identities

This essay examines the development of an ethnically and racially segregated resort landscape in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York in the twentieth century. Focusing on the history of Italian American resorts clustered primarily in Greene County, New York, it demonstrates that ethnicity continued to shape the social and cultural lives of many European immigrant New Yorkers and their families well after World War II. Ethnic resorts provided vacationers with an insulated recreational environment in which group identity and transatlantic ties – both real and imagined – could be fostered and sustained. However, the flexibility of these ethnic identities and the pervasive discrimination against African Americans at ethnic resorts in the 1940s and 1950s reveals the extent to which European Americans had largely internalized a sense of white ethnic identity by the postwar decades. The history of ethnic resorts in the Catskills sheds light on the process by which generations of European Americans in New York City negotiated these multiple ethnic, national, and racial identities.     

Lone mothers' time allocations: choices and satisfactions

This paper uses the 2006 Australian Time Use Survey to examine the allocation of time to personal care, employment‐related activities, home duties, leisure and child care of lone mothers, in comparison to the time allocations of single women, women in childless couples and partnered mothers. Both primary and secondary time allocations are considered. The satisfactions that women report concerning their current time allocations are also analysed. The time use and satisfaction data are described using both tabulations and multiple regression methods. Lone mothers are shown to have similar time allocations as the other types of households, even though they have different financial and time resources. This raises the concern that lone mothers' desire or need to maintain such time allocations may lead to task overload. Consistent with this, lone mothers are found to be less satisfied with the way they allocate their time than single women and partnered mothers. The tensions associated with time use among lone mothers discussed in the literature are real, and important.