Gender,Race/Ethnicity,and Deviant Drinking: A Longitudinal Application of Social Structure and Social Learning Theory

Aker's (1998) theory of social structure and social learning (SSSL) argues that structural variations in deviant behavior, such as gender or race/ethnic differences in underage or heavy drinking, are mediated by social learning variables. However, longitudinal analyses of deviant drinking in an urban sample of white, black, and Hispanic adolescents fail to support the SSSL mediation hypothesis. Significant gender and race/ethnic differences persist after controls for social learning variables as well as for social bonding variables. Interaction effects involving two social bonding variables—family attachment and moral belief—point to theoretically important conditions that maintain a gender gap in underage drinking and relatively low levels of deviant drinking among African American adolescents.     

Helmut K. Anheier and Stefan Toepler (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Management

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Body Movement Is Associated With Orgasm During Vaginal Intercourse in Women

Very few studies have investigated the relationship between women’s ability to experience an orgasm during vaginal intercourse and specific stimulation techniques. We examined two common techniques during vaginal intercourse both with and without simultaneous external clitoral stimulation: (1) body movement, in particular back-and-forth swinging movements of the pelvis and trunk; and (2) precise rubbing of the clitoris with an immobilized body. Structural equation modeling was used to compare the effects of the two stimulation techniques on women’s orgasm frequency (N = 1,239). As hypothesized, the frequency of orgasm during vaginal intercourse with simultaneous clitoral stimulation was positively associated with a preference for body movement during arousal. Body movement, as opposed to body immobilization, was also associated with a higher frequency of orgasm during vaginal intercourse without simultaneous clitoral stimulation. We conclude that body movement is associated with more orgasms during vaginal intercourse, whereas precise rubbing of the clitoris with an immobilized body is not associated with more orgasms. Teaching women to move their pelvis and trunk in a swinging back-and-forth movement during vaginal intercourse might therefore facilitate reaching an orgasm, whereas encouraging them to self-stimulate the clitoris might be less helpful if done with an immobilized body.     

Fostering Solutions: Bringing Brief-Therapy Principles and Practices to the Child Welfare System

This article describes a 15-month university-community collaboration that was designed to fast-track children out of foster care. The developers of the project initiated resource-oriented systems facilitations, allowing wraparound professionals and families to come together in large meetings to solve problems and find solutions. Families also participated in strength-based brief-therapy sessions. The authors describe the history, structure, and process of the project, and they provide a case study to illustrate the approach and exemplify the kinds of changes that occurred throughout the system. In the final section of the article, the authors reflect on what they learned about their university-community partnership, what they would do differently the next time, and the implications of such larger-system involvements for American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's Core Competencies.     

Motherhood and Earnings: Wage Variability by Major Occupational Category and Earnings Level

Prior research has indicated that women with children earn less than their childless counterparts. In addition, recent research has found that the motherhood wage penalty may be most severe for low-income earners. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979), we test two hypotheses. First, are there occupational differences in the motherhood wage penalty? Second, are there occupational differences in the relative wage penalty experienced by low and high wage mothers? Our results indicated that mothers in sales occupations are penalized at a significantly higher rate than mothers in non-sales occupations, while mothers in blue-collar occupations were penalized the least. Furthermore, the wage cost of motherhood was greatest amongst the highest earners in sales occupations.     

Book Review: Sigrid Betzelt and Rudolph Bauer,Nonprofit-Organisationen als Arbeitgeber,Leske+Budrich,Opladen, 2000, 116 pp.

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

The Melanoma Patient Exchange: Insights from a Supportive Group Intervention for Melanoma Patients and their Caregivers

Melanoma is one of the fastest growing cancers worldwide, and the psychosocial impact of its diagnosis and treatment can be substantial. The authors implemented a support group for melanoma patients and caregivers to address a gap in support services. The authors describe insights from the first year of the program, including group format and dynamics, participant feedback, and satisfaction. Feedback was collected using the Group Session Rating Scale and two open-ended questions. Sixty-six members participated and responses demonstrated high satisfaction with the group (Mean = 38.7/40.0). Similar organizations may utilize these strategies to provide a support group option for their population of interest.     

Works Councils and Organizational Performance

Most studies on the effects of works councils simply analyze whether their mere presence contributes to firm performance. This study seeks to offer a contribution to the literature by adding, to date, largely unexplored potential contingencies: the attitudes of Dutch top managers and works councils as to the functioning of the latter, in bad vis-à-vis good times. The overall conclusion from our probit analyses is that the way in which management and works councils interact, and hence the way in which codetermination is implemented, makes all the difference to the firm’s economic position. Our most compelling finding relates to the role of management: a positive attitude of managers toward the works council is positively associated with organizational performance, both in the private and the public sector. In the private sector, this result is even reinforced in times of reorganization.