ALL IN THE FAMILY: Red States,Blue States,and Postmodern Family Patterns, 2000 and 2004

In this article, we propose a new way of understanding presidential election outcomes in red and blue states in 2000 and 2004, one that takes into account state‐level variation in postmodern family patterns. Using data from the Statistical Abstract, Census, the American Community Survey, and National Vital Statistics Reports, we construct two measures of state patterns of postmodern family formation (a father‐absent family scale, and a small/delayed family scale). We find that these patterns of postmodern family formation are powerful predictors of states' percentage of votes cast for the Democratic candidate in 2000 and 2004, even after controlling for differences in the composition of states' populations and for differences in states' economic characteristics (rates of economic growth, unemployment, and poverty). We suggest ways that this approach could contribute to the literature on how individual‐level factors, such as demographic characteristics and moral values, shape voting behavior and electoral outcomes.     

Identifying and Troubleshooting Link-Resolution Issues with ILL Data

Troubleshooting when a link resolver goes wrong can be difficult as it usually relies on the user to report the problem. Using data on interlibrary loan requests that have been cancelled because the materials are available online is one way that libraries can examine where link resolvers may be failing. For the 2012/2013 school year, the Samford University Library looked at this cancelled interlibrary loan request data to determine where their new link resolver and knowledgebase needed further customization to improve the user experience. This process not only identified a number of problems all along the link resolution chain, but it also put in place an ongoing process for identifying and troubleshooting link resolution issues in the future.     

Developing a Brief Suicide Prevention Intervention and Mobile Phone Application: A Qualitative Report

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth and has become a serious public health problem. There has been limited research on strategies to decrease the likelihood of reattempt in adolescents. As phase one of a treatment development study, clinicians, parents, and adolescents participated in qualitative interviews in order to gain new perspectives on developing a targeted intervention and a safety plan phone application for suicide prevention. Participants indicated that transition of care, specific treatment targets, and safety planning were important parts of treatment. In addition, all participants endorsed the use of a smartphone application for these purposes.     

Roles,race and subjective well-being: A longitudinal analysis of elderly men

The basic contention of this paper is that research on subjective well-being would benefit from an integration of theory and research from other studies of subjective states, such as mental and physical health. Toward that end, we present results of an analysis of the impact of race and social roles on subjective well-being in a nationally representative sample of elderly men. The findings demonstrate that particular role configurations have an effect on happiness and that these effects are different for blacks and whites. Theoretical implications of these findings for subjective well-being research and role accumulation theory are discussed.     

The More Things Change,the More They Remain the Same?

Since the publication of Arlie Hochschild’s groundbreaking work, The Second Shift (1989), scholars have delineated and deliberated the predictors and implications of American men’s participation in unpaid labor. Still, there’s little consensus about the current or future state of gender inequality in US households. In the course of reviewing scholarship published on this topic over the last two decades, this piece outlines and critically reflects upon two paradoxical conclusions one might reach when examining trends in men’s housework and care work time. In comparing and contrasting what I call ‘the mop bucket is half full’ and ‘the mop bucket is half empty’ conclusions, I also highlight the major theoretical frameworks, empirical findings, and diverging opinions on whether Hochschild’s ‘household revolution’ is permanently stalled, slowly reigniting, or ready to take off. I then conclude with a call for consensus among scholars and suggestions for future research on men’s participation in unpaid labor.     

“Because being fat means being sick”: children at risk of type 2 diabetes

This study addresses the social and cultural underpinnings that shape children’s risk of type 2 diabetes, as identified by a racially and economically diverse group of parents and their children living in Anaheim, California. Based on in-depth interviews with 28 adults and 17 children, we explored how they understood what constitutes “good health” in children and the aspects of their neighborhoods and communities that acted as resources or impediments to their children’s well-being. We found that parents and children employed a language of food that reflected a fear-based, medicalized orientation to food consumption. Although nearly all agreed that children should stay active, densely populated neighborhoods, apartment complexes with rigid outdoor rules, high crime rates, police surveillance, and diminished access to public parks and recreational facilities posed challenges. Similarly problematic were deficits in school lunch programs and the limited sometimes demeaning, conversations with healthcare professionals about diabetes risk and prevention. Together, these narratives identify key structural processes attendant to type 2 diabetes risk in children and call for a more politicized conversation regarding prevention strategies and public healthcare practices.     

The role of narrative in public relations ethics pedagogy

Competence in ethical decision making is one of the most important issues in the industry and practice of public relations, yet professionals entering the discipline overestimate their knowledge and skills related to ethical principles. This article features a pedagogical approach to strengthen ethics education in public relations through the use of collaborative student-professional ethics narratives. This technique attempts to move beyond a traditional case study approach and transcend traditional classroom boundaries through the development of narratives featuring real ethics situations experienced by public relations professionals. The project involved the development, implementation and assessment of the pedagogical approach that required students to interview local communication professionals (mostly in public relations) and to craft narratives that explore ethical dilemmas these professionals faced. Pre- and post-test surveys and group feedback helped explore the impact of narrative inquiry in helping students internalize ethical lessons.     

Approaches,assaults, attractions,affairs: Policy implications of the sexualization of the workplace

This article is an analysis of the relationship between, on the one hand, empirical findings and theoretical perspectives on the sexualization of the workplace and, on the other, changes in public policy intended to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment as a problem for employed women. The sexualization on the workplace is conceptualized as all consensual and coerced sexual interactions at work, that is, both sexual harassment and sexual relationships. A summary of the evidence regarding both types of behaviors reveals that sexual harassment is experienced quite often by women workers; occasionally, women engage in sexual relationships with persons met at work. Harassment has significant negative consequences for the economic, emotional and physical condition of women, delimiting further an economic position for women which has already been affected severely by occupational segregation and employment discrimination. In assessing the impact of guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defining sexual harassment as sexual discrimination, issues are raised concerning the use and effectiveness of the guidelines by women workers, courts, and employers. It is argued that public policy on harassment is necessary and progressive but limited in its impact; the bulk of the problem, especially with regard to co-worker behavior, and the structural context of inequality are left relatively untouched.This article is a revision of a presentation given at the Labor Studies Colloquium, the Society for the Study of Social Problems (August 1984).     

Irish child sexual abuse victims attending a specialist centre

We profiled a cohort of CSA cases referred for assessment to a specialist child sexual abuse (CSA) centre in a national paediatric hospital in Ireland. Historical and clinical data were drawn from records of 171 cases. The majority of cases were referred by social workers following purposeful disclosure of CSA. Three quarters of the cases were female with a mean age of 9 years. They were from a wide spectrum of socioeconomic groups and many had suffered a range of family adversities. In most cases, the abuse involved masturbation of the child by the abuser. Almost all of the perpetrators were male with a mean age of 28 years and in 60% of cases extrafamilial abuse had occurred. In 23% of cases, the perpetrator had a history of previous sexual offending. Anxiety was the most common emotional problem before disclosure and after disclosure the most common emotional problem was guilt. Before disclosure school refusal was the most common behavioural problem and after disclosure fighting was the most prevalent behavioural difficulty. The most common factors supporting the credibility of CSA allegations were labile mood, the child's ability to differentiate fact from fantasy and a detailed disclosure of contextual details. More adolescents showed deterioration in schoolwork after disclosure and for more pre school children clinginess following disclosure was a significant emotional problem. More primary school aged children were abused by perpetrators who had abused a number of children. For children abused by such perpetrators, vaginal intercourse was less common. Vaginal intercourse was more common in 6–11‐year‐old victims and those who were abused on a daily basis. The threat that disclosure posed to the integrity of the family structure was more often a factor hindering disclosure in victims abused by father figures and abused very frequently. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.