Urbanization and fertility: An event-history analysis of Coastal Ghana

In this article, we undertake an event-history analysis of fertility in Ghana. We exploit detailed life history calendar data to conduct a more refined and definitive analysis of the relationship among personal traits, urban residence, and fertility. Although urbanization is generally associated with lower fertility in developing countries, inferences in most studies have been hampered by a lack of information about the timing of residence in relationship to childbearing. We find that the effect of urbanization itself is strong, evident, and complex, and persists after we control for the effects of age, cohort, union status, and education. Our discrete-time event-history analysis shows that urban women exhibit fertility rates that are, on average, 11% lower than those of rural women, but the effects vary by parity. Differences in urban population traits would augment the effects of urban adaptation itself. Extensions of the analysis point to the operation of a selection effect in rural-to-urban mobility but provide limited evidence for disruption effects. The possibility of further selection of urbanward migrants on unmeasured traits remains. The analysis also demonstrates the utility of an annual life history calendar for collecting such data in the field.     

Sex,Inequality, and Ethnography: Response to Erich Goode

Qualitative Sociology -     

Review Essay: Making Citizens,Making Gender: The Importance of National Context

Sociological Forum -     

毛泽东和农民:一个革命战略形成中的阶级和力量(上)

针对西方毛泽东研究领域比较盛行的那种认为毛泽东是农民革命家,而不是正统的马克思主义者,毛泽东对农民的重视决定了他是马克思主义的一个异端的观点,以成熟的方法论准备和扎实的文献学为基础,对这种观点进行了有理有据的反驳。毛泽东对农民的重视主要是一种战略和策略的需要,毛泽东从未否认工人阶级在革命中的领导地位,毛泽东是真正的马克思主义者。     

The short- and long-term effects of adolescent violent victimization experienced within the family and community

Adolescents face high rates of victimization, yet little is known regarding the criminal consequences of these experiences. Using data from the National Youth Survey, this investigation compared the relative and combined effects of adolescent violent victimization perpetrated by family and nonfamily members on self-reported criminal offending from adolescence to early adulthood. The results demonstrate that both types of violence have an immediate and sustained impact on criminal involvement, although the effect is somewhat stronger for nonfamily victimization, and for both types, the relationship tends to weaken over time. In addition, those experiencing both types of victimization report a higher frequency of offending compared to those experiencing only one type. The findings indicate the need for prevention programs aimed at decreasing the prevalence of adolescent victimization, as well as intervention efforts to help victims from becoming offenders.     

Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives on Domestic Violence: Implications for Social Action

Theoretical and methodological paradigms used by researchers and applied workers to conceptualise domestic violence are examined, with particular emphasis on the implications for social action. It is argued that the gender assumptions underlying the theoretical framework adopted are often implicit, unacknowledged, and that when they assume equal power between men and women may do a disservice to female victims. We maintain that the consequence of discrepant approaches of professionals encountering domestic violence is insufficient dialogue between researchers and applied workers, reducing the potential for effective social remedy. Some resolutions of this dilemma are proposed; specifically, these concern the adoption of feminist paradigms, the importance of making victims more visible, and empowering women to overcome violent oppression.     

Does Family Structure Matter? A Comparison of Adoptive,Two‐Parent Biological,Single‐Mother,Stepfather, and Stepmother Households

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we compared quality of family relationships and well‐being across five different family structures with a particular focus on adoptive households. Four theoretical perspectives, each emphasizing the importance of different factors in determining relationship quality and well‐being, guided this work and led us to compare adoptive families with families that include two biological parents, single mothers, stepfathers, and stepmothers. We found the most support for the perspective stressing the importance of family processes that occur in all types of families, rather than family structure. Specifically, there were few family structure differences based on fathers' and children's reports, and structure differences in mothers' reports were no longer significant after controlling for disagreements between family members. The implications of these results for adoption theory and policies are discussed.     

Job Changing and the Decline in Long-Distance Migration in the United States

Interstate migration in the United States has decreased steadily since the 1980s, but little is known about the causes of this decline. We show that declining migration is related to a concurrent secular decline in job changing. Neither trend is primarily due to observable demographic or socioeconomic factors. Rather, we argue that the decline in job changing has caused the decline in migration. After establishing a role for the labor market in declining migration, we turn to the question of why job changing has become less frequent over the past several decades. We find little support for several explanations, including the rise of dual-career households, the decline in middle-skill jobs, occupational licensing, and the need for employees to retain health insurance. Thus, the reasons for these dual trends remain opaque and should be explored further.     

Sibling loss and fertility desires in the high-mortality context of Peru

Despite demographers’ long-standing preoccupation with the effects of child mortality on women’s fertility desires, scholars continue to know little about the consequences of other pervasive mortality exposures. We use nationally representative data from the high-mortality context of Peru to examine whether the desire to have a(nother) child varies as a function of sibling loss and to assess heterogeneity in this association by women’s current number of children and a range of conditions related to siblings’ deaths. Women who have experienced sibling bereavement and have two or more children report higher odds of desiring another child. These effects are not contingent on the age or sex of the deceased sibling but are only significant if the sibling died during the respondent’s lifetime (not before). These findings highlight the theoretical and empirical import of investigating the relationship between fertility desires and a wider range of familial mortality exposures beyond own child mortality.