A critical appraisal of the 1998 meta-analytic review of child sexual abuse outcomes reported by rind, tromovitch, and bauserman

The goal of this article is to present a methodological critique of the 1998 meta-analysis of child sexual abuse outcomes by Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman. Seven major concerns are addressed. Rind et al.'s view is, at best, extremely limited. By restricting a supposedly broad meta-analysis to only some of the population in question, the conclusions they drew regarding this complex topic, primarily that adult-child sex is not necessarily harmful, are invalid.     

The Changing Association Among Marriage,Work, and Child Poverty in the United States, 1974–2010

Marriage and work have long been central to debates regarding poverty and the family. Although ample research has demonstrated their negative association with child poverty, both marriage and work have undergone major transformations over recent decades. Consequently, it is plausible that their association with child poverty may have also changed. Using 10 waves of U.S. Census Current Population Survey data from the Luxembourg Income Study, this study examined the relationships among marriage, work, and relative measures of child poverty from 1974 to 2010. The results indicated that both marriage and work still decrease the odds of child poverty. However, time interactions showed marriage's negative association with child poverty has declined in magnitude, whereas work's negative association with child poverty has increased in magnitude. These findings underscore the historically varying influence of demographic characteristics for poverty. They also suggest the limitations of overemphasizing marriage and the growing importance of work for reducing child poverty in America.     

Children with problematic sexualized behaviors in the child welfare system

This study assessed the utility of the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI) in a child welfare sample. In this study, 97 children from ages 10 to 12 from either foster boarding homes or a residential treatment center participated. Researchers interviewed foster parents or primary therapists about children's sexual behavior, traumatic events, clinical symptoms, and their attitudes toward the child. Findings revealed that problematic sexualized behaviors were more prevalent in the residential treatment center (RTC) sample than they were in a normative sample. The pattern of associations between sexual behavior problems, traumatic events, and clinical syndromes in both the RTC and the foster boarding home (FBH) samples was similar to what has been found in samples in which biological custodial parents were the respondents. Analyses comparing youth who met the criterion for having problematic sexualized behaviors and youth who did not meet the criterion revealed that the two groups differed on clinical symptoms, prior traumatic events, and negative reports by caregivers. Results confirm the utility of the CSBI measure for this population and highlight several important clinical and programmatic concerns for addressing problematic sexual behavior in children in the child welfare system.     

THE MARRIED WIDOW: MARRIAGE PENALTIES MATTER!

Marriage penalties are a controversial feature of many government policies. Empirical evidence of their behavioral effects is quite mixed, which is surprising because economic theory predicts that they should have an impact on the headship decision. We investigate the removal of marriage penalties from the surviving spouse pensions of the Canadian public pension system in the 1980s. These reforms provide a simple and transparent source of identification. Our results indicate that marriage penalties can have large and persistent effects on marriage decisions. We also present evidence suggesting that it is individuals with characteristics correlated with greater wealth who respond to the penalties. (JEL: J1, H2)     

The feminization of bereavement among community-dwelling older adults

We examined gender differences in frequency and sociodemographic predictors of spousal, non-spousal family, and friendship bereavement events among community-dwelling older adults using data from the UAB Study of Aging. Analysis involved a 30-month observation period of 893 subjects. There were significant differences between women and men for all types of loss. Significant differences were also found in the sociodemographic predictors of loss between and within gender categories. This study revealed the extent to which older women disproportionately bear the burden of loss and points to the need for greater attention to bereavement as a women's issue.     

Valuing lives equally: Defensible premise or unwarranted compromise?

This article examines the nature of the restrictions on the underlying social welfare function that would appear to be required in order to justify the application of a “common” Value of Statistical Life (VSL) for any particular hazard within a given society and considers the way in which the magnitude of this common VSL might relate to the values actually employed in practice. The article also considers the question of whether, by contrast, discounts or premia might legitimately be applied to the VSL in order to take account of factors such as age or current exposure to risk and explores the form that such discounts or premia might reasonably take.

Family Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Risks of Financial Insecurity and Coping

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families have experienced unprecedented financial and social disruptions. We studied the impact of preexisting psychosocial factors and pandemic-related financial and social disruptions in relation to family well-being among N = 4091 adolescents and parents during early summer 2020, participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development^SM Study. Poorer family well-being was linked to prepandemic psychosocial and financial adversity and was associated with pandemic-related material hardship and social disruptions to routines. Parental alcohol use increased risk for worsening of family relationships, while a greater endorsement of coping strategies was mainly associated with overall better family well-being. Financial and mental health support may be critical for family well-being during and after a widespread crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Shifting visibilities: the social implications of a Roma aesthetic

ABSTRACT

This paper is a personal reflection by a Roma artist upon the mutual influence of Roma social relations and Roma visual culture. Strategies of art making are considered via analyses of contemporary Roma art works. It is suggested that historic marginalisation and continuing discrimination have determined the contingent nature of the Roma aesthetic resulting in keen facilities for adaptation and obscured visibility. Roma artefacts are shown to employ these resistant characteristics of Roma visuality to convey social, cultural, artistic and political agency via visual and performative means. The conclusion calls for a reconceptualisation of Roma visibilities so that we as Roma might forge new political unities and new forms of politics to more effectively challenge embedded Romaphobia.     

The invisibility of disability for homeless youth

A largely unexplored complexity in the lives of youth who have experienced homeless is the presence of intellectual, developmental and/or learning disabilities. Although emerging research shows that youth with cognitive disabilities are more likely to become homeless and that rates of cognitive disabilities are higher among the homeless population than the population in general, exploring the intersection of disability and homelessness for youth has not been a priority. In this study, a critical disability and systems failure lens is brought to bear on the vulnerability of youth who experience this intersection. Based on interviews with key informants in the disability, homelessness, education, employment and child welfare sectors in three sites in Ontario, Canada, the invisibility of disability among homeless youth is brought to light. We explore the ways youth with a disability in the homelessness sector are made vulnerable, the insurmountable barriers to getting access to the requisite assessment for disability services and the siloed nature of the homelessness and disability service sectors. An argument is made that “working outside the box” to assist youth to navigate significant system disjunctures is insufficient.