Gender and housing : The provision of accommodation for young adults in three Mexican cities

The literature on gender and housing is oddly distorted, for it is dominated by research on households which are ‘women-headed’, even where the majority of women may live in households conventionally regarded as being headed by men. This literature shuns the ‘traditional’, male-headed, nuclear household and regards ‘non-traditional’ households as being those headed by single mothers or women living alone. The first part of this paper argues that it is important not to restrict discussion of gender and housing to the problems facing single mothers or women living alone, because there is a danger of rendering the majority of women, once again, invisible.Equating ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ households with ‘nuclear’ and ‘women-headed’ households, respectively, confuses structure with headship and overlooks cultural variations in what constitutes a ‘traditional’ household — the nuclear household is not necessarily the traditional norm. The second part of this paper explores a little-documented housing arrangement in which large numbers of women are involved in urban Mexico: sharing. ‘Sharing’ occurs when two or more households occupy the same plot of land; one household owns the plot, allowing the other(s) to live there rent-free. Sharing mostly involves the adult sons or daughters of the plot owners, and may be regarded as a variation on the extended household structure. Sons are more likely to be allowed to bring their wives to their parents' home, whereas daughters are more likely to leave. Women living with their in-laws lack security of tenure and there is often conflict between wives and members of their husband's family of origin, particularly their mothers-in-law.The anthropological literature has identified gender relations as the source of conflict between women in extended households. Sharing reduces the potential for conflict by giving the younger household greater autonomy. Furthermore, concern for their daughters' welfare leads many parents to offer accommodation to married daughters as well as sons. Single mothers, however, are more likely to live as part of their parents' household than to share. In this respect, the nuclear household norm is reinforced, since sharing seems to be a privilege accorded only to those who are married.     

Problematic alcohol use and sexting as risk factors for sexual assault among college women

ABSTRACT

Sexual assault is a major public health concern and college women are four times more likely to experience sexual assault than any other group. We investigated whether sexting is a mechanism by which alcohol use increases risk for college women to be targeted for sexual assault. We hypothesized that sexting would mediate the relationship between problem drinking and sexual assault, such that drinking (T1 = beginning fall semester) would contribute to increased sexting (T2 = end fall semester), and in turn increase the risk of being targeted for sexual assault (T3 = end spring semester). Results: Among 332 undergraduate women (M(SD)age = 19.15(1.69), 76.9% Caucasian), sexting (T2) predicted sexual assault (T3; b = 3.98, p = .05), controlling for baseline sexual assault (b = 0.82, p < .01). Further, sexting (T2) mediated the relationship between problem drinking (T1) and sexual assault (T3) (b = 0.04, CI[.004,.12]). Conclusion: Findings suggest that sexting is one mechanism through which drinking increases the risk of college women being targeted for sexual assault.     

Learning About Poverty Through Simulation: A Pilot Evaluation

ABSTRACT

Previous research suggests many health care professionals and students, including those in social work, have limited understanding of the causes and implications of poverty. Effective and relevant education is needed to train health care professionals to relate to those living in poverty. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of team-based simulations on student perceptions and critical thinking about poverty. Data were collected from three poverty simulations, which took place at a university in the spring of 2015. Evaluations were completed by 230 students, and results showed promising improvements in students’ ability to think critically about poverty and increases in their ability to understand others’ perspectives regarding living in poverty.     

Habitat near nest boxes correlated with fate of eastern bluebird fledglings in an urban landscape

Nest boxes are commonly erected in managed landscapes such as backyards, golf courses and parks, attracting cavity-nesting birds to habitats they would not otherwise occupy. Although studies have shown that habitat around natural nests influences postfledging survival, this relationship has not been examined for artificial nest cavities, which humans may site at inappropriate locations. In Williamsburg, Virginia, we compared vegetation surrounding nest boxes which produced eastern bluebird fledglings that were predated by hawks within 10 days of leaving the nest to vegetation surrounding nest boxes producing surviving fledglings. We found a significant difference between PC scores for forest denseness around nest boxes that produced surviving versus predated fledglings; fledglings that survived tended to come from nest boxes with high forest and canopy cover, close trees and little grass.     

From Porter to Bourdieu: The Evolving Specialty Structure of English Canadian Sociology, 1966 to 2014

How has English Canadian sociology changed from 1966 to 2014? Has it become more intellectually fragmented or cohesive over time? We answer these questions by analyzing cocitation networks extracted from 7,141 sociology articles published in 169 journals. We show how the most central early specialties developed largely in response to John Porter's The Vertical Mosaic. In later decades, the discipline diversified, fragmented, and then reorganized around a new set of specialties knit together by the work of Pierre Bourdieu. The discipline was most intellectually fragmented in periods where multiple specialties were emerging or declining concurrently (i.e., 1975 to 1984 and 1995 to 2004), and was more structurally cohesive from 2005 to 2014 than in any previous period. Comment est‐ce que la sociologie canadienne‐anglaise a‐t‐elle changé entre 1966 et 2014? Est‐elle devenue plus intellectuellement fragmentée ou cohérente avec le temps? Nous répondons à ces questions en analysant des réseaux de co‐citation qui ont été déduits de 7,141 articles publiés par 169 journaux. Nous démontrons les spécialités primordiales se sont développées en réponse de The Vertical Mosaic de John Porter. Durant les décennies suivantes, la discipline s'est diversifiée, fragmentée et puis s'est réorganisée autour d'une nouvelle série de spécialités liées ensemble par le travail de Pierre Bourdieu. La discipline était la plus intellectuellement fragmentée durant les périodes où plusieurs spécialités émergeaient ou déclinaient concurremment (par exemple de 1975 à 1985 et de 1995 à 2004). Par contre, elle était plus cohérente que tous les autres périodes entre 2005 et 2014.     

The Role of Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies in Alcohol-Involved Consensual and Nonconsensual Sex Among Women of Asian/Pacific Islander and Women of European Race/Ethnicity

Alcohol-involved sexual experiences, including incapacitated sexual assault and alcohol-involved sex, are major public health concerns among college women. Further, racial/ethnic diversity among college students is increasing, particularly with regard to increases in college students of Asian/Pacific Islander (API) race/ethnicity. Of relevance, evidence suggests differences in sexual assault rates across ethnicities and cultures; however, no known study to date has examined differences by ethnicity and first language in expectancies and experiences specifically surrounding alcohol and sex. The current study sought to examine differences in incapacitated sexual assault, alcohol-involved sex, and heavy episodic drinking, as well as differences in sex-related alcohol expectancies among native English-speaking college women of European (EU) race/ethnicity, native English-speaking women of API race/ethnicity, and non–native English-speaking women of API race/ethnicity (NNES-API). EU reported higher frequency of heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-involved sex, and incapacitated sexual assault compared to API and NNES-API. In addition, API reported more frequent alcohol-involved sex and incapacitated sexual assault compared to NNES-API, in part due to API’s stronger endorsement of sexual disinhibition–related alcohol expectancies (indirect effects: β = ?.04, p = .04, and β = ?.07, p = .04, respectively). Findings highlight the important role of expectancies in acculturation and influence on actual alcohol-involved sex and sexual assault.