Educational Attainment and the Lesbian Wage Premium

This paper provides insight into the wage gap between lesbians and heterosexual women. Using data from the 2000 Decennial Census, we find a lesbian premium that equals approximately 10% for women without a bachelor’s degree, and is nearly non-existent for women with higher levels of education. These findings are consistent with proposition that the gap between lesbians’ and heterosexual women’s commitment to the labor market narrows at higher levels of education. We also find that controls for industry and occupation exert only a small effect on the gap between lesbian and heterosexual women’s wages.

Methods Used and Topics Addressed in Quantitative Health Research on Gay,Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Research on sexual minority men (gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men) was examined with regard to the measures of sexual orientation used, the methods of research, and the main health outcomes under study. A systematic review of English-language quantitative studies was conducted focused on the health of sexual minority men published in 2010 (n = 250). The results provide a snapshot of the literature and revealed that research on sexual minority men overwhelmingly focused on HIV, STIs, and sexual health for which sexual orientation was most commonly defined behaviorally. For topics of mental health or body/fitness outcomes, sexual orientation was most commonly defined by identity. Most study samples were venue-based, and only 8.8% of published papers drew data from population-based samples. The findings suggest that there exists a need for research on sexual minority men’s health beyond STIs and HIV that will examine mental and physical health outcomes beyond sexual risk, uses probability-based samples, and addresses intersectional concerns related to race/ethnicity and age.     

Supervision reviewed: reflections on two different social work models in England and Sweden

This article draws on the findings of two independent research projects on supervision: one based in England and the second in Sweden. The findings cited illustrate predominantly the perspectives on supervision held by social workers and managers in the statutory services. In the process of contextualising, theorising and pulling together the threads from their respective findings, the authors reflect on the fabric and models of supervision in the two countries. The opportunities and disadvantages of the two contrasting models in current practice are discussed. This includes the steps that could be taken in either country to improve the quality of supervision within learning organisations.     

Mobility and the City Improvement District: Frictions in the Human-capital Mobile Assemblage

In this paper, we interrogate the role of the city improvement district (CID) in the intervention and management of mobility within the context of the South African city and the case study of the Groote Schuur Community Improvement District (GSCID), a public–private urban governance scheme situated in Cape Town’s middle income southern suburbs. Using the theoretical lens of bodily-scale mobility, we investigate the CID’s activation and management. This is useful, as we will demonstrate, because it is through the mobility and immobility at the scale of the body, where the CID’s mandate is operationalised and it is through the control of mobility that the CID’s mission, discourses and activities are linked. This work demonstrates that CIDs, as elite-driven urban renewal initiatives closely aligned with capital interests, employ exclusionary spatial practices that have the potential to shape the twenty-first century urban experience in significant ways. We conclude by theorising the co-constitutive nature of human mobilities and capital as the ‘human-capital mobile assemblage’ and by arguing that the CID occupies an ambivalent place in the contemporary city.     

Tweedie's Formula and Selection Bias

We suppose that the statistician observes some large number of estimates z(i), each with its own unobserved expectation parameter μ(i). The largest few of the z(i)'s are likely to substantially overestimate their corresponding μ(i)'s, this being an example of selection bias, or regression to the mean. Tweedie's formula, first reported by Robbins in 1956, offers a simple empirical Bayes approach for correcting selection bias. This paper investigates its merits and limitations. In addition to the methodology, Tweedie's formula raises more general questions concerning empirical Bayes theory, discussed here as "relevance" and "empirical Bayes information." There is a close connection between applications of the formula and James-Stein estimation.     

Silence and the physician executive

Silence can be an indication that things are running smoothly; on the other hand it can be an ominous sign that there is dissent among your staff.     

Aren't they just black kids? Biracial children in the child welfare system

In the USA, African‐American children are overrepresented in the child welfare system. However, little is known about the child welfare system experiences of biracial children, who are predominately both White and African‐American. To better understand this population, data from public child welfare in a US county were used to examine biracial children in the child welfare system. Results showed significant racial differences between children in the child welfare system. Despite the common belief that biracial children will have experiences similar to African‐American children, the child welfare system seems to view them differently. Biracial children are more likely to be referred, rated as high risk and investigated compared with White or African‐American children. Their mothers were younger, and were more often assessed as having physical, intellectual or emotional problems. These caregivers were also considered to have lower parenting skills and knowledge compared with White or African‐American caregivers. Although the disproportionate representation of African‐American children in the system has been well documented, this study provides evidence that biracial children are also overrepresented. Despite the fact that this is a rapidly growing population in the USA, there is little research available about biracial children and their families.     

NIVAH: a composite index measuring violence and harm in the U.S.

The National Index of Violence and Harm (NIVAH) tracks levels of violence and harm in the United States and identifies trends over the study period 1995–2003. NIVAH is comprised of nineteen variables in the areas of interpersonal, intrapersonal, institutional and structural violence and harm as experienced by people in the U.S. Two composite indexes are formed to describe overall trends in the realms of personal and societal violence. In addition to describing the Index’s construction and most recent conclusions, various methodological issues and their impacts on index findings are investigated.

Clinicians’ Perspectives on the Diagnosis of Antisocial Disorders in Adolescence

The intent of the study was to explore how professionals view the assessment and diagnosis of antisocial disorders such as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Six professionals from varying theoretical orientations were interviewed in order to gain insight into how theoretical and clinical perspectives influence the diagnostic process of antisocial disorders. Data was analyzed using a qualitative, constructivist grounded theory research methodology. The findings from the research interviews suggest that clinicians perceive a multifaceted approach to diagnosis. Participants emphasized the importance of individualized assessment, differential diagnosis, the role of context and impairment, and the functional and stigmatizing effects of diagnostic labels. The results illustrate relative consistency among practitioners in the assessment and diagnostic process. Further, it appears that clinicians incorporate a biopsychosocial approach to conceptualizing ODD and CD. This type of qualitative research serves to develop a conceptual understanding of the diagnostic process related to antisocial disorders.     

Financial literacy education: An opportunity for colleges and sociology

Financial literacy represents the knowledge necessary to manage one's financial affairs in a way that contributes to overall wellbeing, yet financial literacy and financial education are understudied in sociology. While emerging adults have low rates of financial literacy overall, this article focuses on college students due to increasing college access and student loan debt. Based on the limited literature that assesses college financial literacy education, it appears that these types of programs may serve to advance college students' financial knowledge. Additional mechanisms that serve to develop college students' financial literacy include parent socialization, banking experience, and high school financial education programs. However, not everyone has the same access to these resources. Thus, given the magnitude of the US student debt crisis and persistent economic inequalities, college financial literacy education may prove beneficial for all students, particularly those from economically vulnerable backgrounds. This article serves as an invitation to sociologists to consider financial literacy education as both a worthwhile pursuit in application and as a research topic.