Barrios and burbs: residential context and health-risk behaviors among Angeleno adolescents

The increasing size of the Latino immigrant population in the United States underscores the need for a more complete understanding of the role that social context plays in influencing the health of immigrants and their children. This analysis explores the possibility that residential location influences the health-risk behaviors of Latino youth in Los Angeles County, California. The data come from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. We apply multivariate, multilevel Rasch models to two scales of adolescent health-risk behaviors (substance use and delinquency). The findings suggest that residence in Census tracts characterized by above-county-average levels of Latinos and above-county-average levels of poverty is associated with increased odds of health-risk behaviors for Latino adolescents, particularly for those born in the United States. The findings lend support to the contention, put forth in the segmented assimilation literature, that disadvantaged urban contexts increase the risk that U.S.-born children of immigrants will experience downward assimilation.     

Operationalizing environmental indicators for physical activity in older adults

This qualitative study describes environmental supports and barriers to physical activity in an older adult sample drawn from low- and high-walkable neighborhoods. Thirty-seven individuals age 55 and over were recruited and answered open-ended survey questions, with a subsample invited back to partake in a semistructured interview. Content analysis identified categories and themes linking perceptions of neighborhood-environment characteristics to activity. Emerging categories and themes did not differ across neighborhood walkability, so results are presented for both groups combined. Infrastructure was the most common category identified to encourage activity, specifically, well-maintained sidewalks, bike paths or lanes, and traffic control. Other categories of land use, landscape, and aesthetics were reported. Poorly maintained or missing sidewalks, crosswalks, bike paths or lanes, and traffic safety were categories that discouraged activity. In conclusion, the information obtained is helpful in solidifying which environmental characteristics are important to measure as they relate to activity behavior in an older adult population.     

Lesbian studies and activism in India

This essay surveys public debates and writings about lesbianism and the history of activism around lesbian issues in twentieth-century India. Weddings between women and joint suicides by female couples over the last twenty-five years are among the under-researched, but increasingly reported, phenomena that suggest future directions that activism and the study of lesbianism in India may take.     

A family systems-based model of organizational intervention

Employee assistance professionals are expected to be proficient at intervening in organizations and creating meaningful behavioral change in interpersonal functioning. Because of their training in family systems theories and concepts, marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are well suited to serve organizations as "systems consultants." Unfortunately, the authors were unable to identify any family systems-based models for organizational intervention that have been empirically tested and supported. In this article, the authors present a family systems-based model of intervention that they developed while working in an employee assistance program (EAP). They also present research that was used to refine the model and to provide initial support for its effectiveness.     

Four criteria to evaluate providers' service-delivery response to new contraceptive introduction

This article presents an evaluation framework developed to assess the first-level effects of introducing the Standard Days Method (SDM) in Peru Ministry of Health clinics. Four questions are asked: 1) To what extent do providers routinely achieve SDM service delivery standards? 2) Is the time invested in SDM delivery consistent with program norms? 3) How does SDM delivery compare with delivery of established methods? and 4) How does SDM introduction affect delivery of established methods? A study at 62 clinics demonstrated the framework's usefulness. The Standard Days Method introduction had positive overall effects on the quality of care but provider training needed adjustments.     

The Collegiate Learning Assessment: facts and fantasies

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a computer administered, open-ended (as opposed to multiple-choice) test of analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills. Because the CLA has been endorsed by several national higher education commissions, it has come under intense scrutiny by faculty members, college administrators, testing experts, legislators, and others. This article describes the CLA's measures and what they do and do not assess, how dependably they measure what they claim to measure, and how CLA scores differ from those on other direct and indirect measures of college student learning. For instance, analyses are conducted at the school rather than the student level and results are adjusted for input to assess whether the progress students are making at their school is better or worse than what would be expected given the progress of "similarly situated" students (in terms of incoming ability) at other colleges.     

“人新世”和大加速（1780—2021）

“人新世”是环境史最新的前沿理论之一,是作为新纪元被列入地质年代表的一个新议题。20世纪中叶,地球上的水、能源和生物多样性方面发生了巨大变化,因此这一时段被视为“人新世”的起点。关于“人新世”的起源、确立、具体定义、政治性和潜在影响,学界存在争议,我在本文中对此进行了评述,展现了“人新世”概念的跨学科适应性和不同面向,勾画了全球环境史的时空尺度。     

越南战争的足迹：20世纪军事化的环境史

军事化指的是“军事进程”,是在经济、文化和环境的交织过程中实现的。从历史研究的角度看,研究军事化最主要的目的是为了非军事化。本文讨论20世纪全球范围内的军事化问题,重点考察越南军事化的环境史。1975年后越南对军事化的反应较为复杂,构成了当代越南经济复苏的重要背景。     

巴赫金与洛特曼

巴赫金与洛特曼的学术争鸣多年来一直受到斯拉夫文论研究者的关注。本文的前半部分廓清了一些欧美学者对巴赫金与洛特曼观点之争的误读,指出了1970年代以后两人在符号学理论领域的立场趋同。在文章的后半部分,叶戈罗夫一方面分析了两位学者宗教观念和哲学基础的深层差异,另一方面阐明了两者研究方法和伦理原则的殊途同归。本文征引了大量珍贵的第一手资料,对于了解这两位20世纪俄国文论大家的学术思想具有较为重要的参考意义。