Begging as work: a study of people with mobility difficulties in Accra, Ghana

Even though begging is illegal in Ghana, an increasing number of disabled people engage in it. Begging is not only abhorred by the law, but also regarded by many Ghanaians as stigmatizing and devaluing. Successive governments of the country and some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have made efforts either to reduce or eliminate begging. The attempts made have, however, been unsuccessful and the disabled beggars involved have returned to the streets of Accra. The question is why is it difficult to reduce begging in the research area. While poverty, mobility needs, lack of education and employable skills and employment avenues are factors that explain the decision to start begging, it also seems that the ways in which beggars justify their activities contribute to its perseverance. The study aims at sensitizing policy-makers and other stakeholders in attempts to find empowering alternatives to begging.     

A Tale of Two Border Cities: Community Context,Ethnicity, and Homicide*

Objective. Using Poisson‐based negative binomial regression, we estimate the effect of neighborhood factors on homicides in two cities (San Antonio, Texas and San Diego, California) that have large Mexican‐origin populations. Methods. Three independent data sources (official homicide police reports, medical examiner records, and the U.S. Census) are used to construct the dependent homicide, and independent neighborhood, variables. Census tracts represent the unit of analysis, which serve as a proxy for neighborhoods. Given the spatial nature of the data, spatial estimation procedures were also modeled. Results. Spatial proximity to violence, neighborhood disadvantage, and affluence (in San Antonio) consistently buffered homicide across neighborhoods, even in heavily populated Latino neighborhoods. Conclusions. Spatial embeddedness and neighborhood characteristics are important for improving our understanding about ethnic neighborhood variations in levels of violence. Comparative approaches across places, namely, Latino‐dominated cities, can yield considerable insight into how the local context intersects race/ethnicity and violent crime.     

Supporting the agency of cities as climate migration destinations

As climate migration has garnered the interest of research and policy communities over the last two decades, the focus has been on whether, how and where climate stresses might precipitate out-migration, and how to assist and protect those affected. Less attention has gone to the places that receive climate migrants, and how their arrival might affect adaptation at destination. Against the backdrop of increasingly severe climate disruptions, this paper examines the likelihood of climate-related movements going into urban areas, and the challenges that this may entail for those who move and for urban governance. With much of climate migration projected to feed into existing urbanization trends, we see the need for data and research to help bolster the agency of communities and cities to plan and act locally, and across geographies, for inclusion and resilience, and to advocate collectively for enabling policy frameworks and increased national and international support.     

Longitudinal links of parental solicitation,knowledge, and peer approval with deviance during early adolescence

The current study examined growth-to-growth associations of parental solicitation, knowledge, and peer approval with deviance during early adolescence, using a 4-wave, 18-month self-reported longitudinal data set from 570 Czech early adolescents (58.4% female; M_age = 12.43 years, SD = 0.66 at baseline). Unconditional growth model tests provided evidence of significant changes in the three parenting behaviors and in deviance over time. Multivariate growth model tests showed that declines in maternal knowledge were associated with increases in deviance, while greater increases in parental peer approval were associated with slower increases in deviance. Findings provide evidence of dynamic changes in parental solicitation, knowledge, and peer approval over time, as well as in deviance; additionally, they importantly show how parental knowledge and peer approval covary developmentally with deviance.     

Persistent symptoms of maternal post-traumatic stress following childbirth across the first months postpartum: Associations with perturbations in maternal behavior and infant avoidance of social gaze toward mother

Recent literature identifies childbirth as a potentially traumatic event, following which mothers may develop symptoms of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Following-Childbirth (PTS-FC). The current study examines whether stable symptoms of PTS-FC during the early postpartum period may impose risk for perturbations in maternal behavior and infant social-engagement with mother, controlling for comorbid postpartum internalizing symptoms. Mother-infant dyads (N = 192) were recruited from the general population, during the third trimester of pregnancy. 49.5% of the mothers were primipara, and 48.4% of the infants were girls. Maternal PTS-FC was assessed at 3-day, 1-month and 4-month postpartum, via self-report and clinician-administered interview. Latent Profile Analysis generated two profiles of symptomology: “Stable-High-PTS-FC” (17.0%), and “Stable-Low-PTS-FC” (83%). Membership in the “Stable-High-PTS-FC” profile associated with perturbed maternal sensitivity, which was in turn significantly associated with infant avoidance of social gaze toward mother (Indirect effect β = −0.15). Results suggest the need for early screening and inform the planning of early preventive interventions.     

Coalition-building and the forging of solidarity across difference and inequality

Diverse coalitions hold great potential for social movements, but they also face tremendous challenges. In this article, I review the literature on diverse alliances with a focus on how trust, commitment, and ultimately, solidarity can be developed and sustained across divides. The article begins by discussing the needs of diverse alliances to build trust and commitment, and the coalitional characteristics deemed vital for doing so, with a focus on shared neutral space, ongoing interaction, and social ties and bridgebuilders. Five coalitional processes and practices are identified and discussed that have been empirically found or theorized to be imperative for cultivating solidarity across difference and inequality. These processes include (a) uniting around shared principles while engaging difference; (b) acknowledging and managing inequalities; (c) making space for each other; (d) attention to managing conflicts; and (e) actions that confirm the shared commitments and negotiated identity. I conclude by evaluating the state of research on developing and sustaining alliances across divides.     

Detection of outliers in simple circular regression models using the mean circular error statistic

The investigation on the identification of outliers in linear regression models can be extended to those for circular regression case. In this paper, we propose a new numerical statistic called mean circular error to identify possible outliers in circular regression models by using a row deletion approach. Through intensive simulation studies, the cut-off points of the statistic are obtained and its power of performance investigated. It is found that the performance improves as the concentration parameter of circular residuals becomes larger or the sample size becomes smaller. As an illustration, the statistic is applied to a wind direction data set.     

The Cat and the Cloud: ACT for LGBT Locus of Control,Responsibility, and Acceptance

Advocating acceptance, committed action, and value-guided behavior over experiential avoidance, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may aid lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) clients affected by hetero/homonormative social pressure. By conceptualizing LGBT paradigms of internal/external control/responsibility (IC-IR; EC-IR; IC-ER; EC-IR), ACT may be adapted to a myriad of multicultural worldviews. This article presents locus of acceptance as the attributed worth of internal/external cues perceived necessary by the client to achieve self-acceptance. Recognizing visibility and isolation as recurrent LGBT issues, locus of acceptances balances identity as individual (internal acceptance) with identity as community (external acceptance).     

Measuring Unidimensional Inequality: Practical Framework for the Choice of an Appropriate Measure

Social Indicators Research - Inequality and its analysis have received increasing attention in the literature over the last decades, which has led to the development of a large number of inequality...