Multiple‐Family Group Intervention for Incarcerated Male Adolescents Who Sexually Offend and Their Families: Change in Maladaptive Emotion Regulation Predicts Adaptive Change in Adolescent Behaviors

The multiple‐family group intervention is an effective, yet affordable, 8‐week treatment that is conducted in a juvenile correctional institution in Alabama with adolescents who sexually offend and their families. Data from 115 incarcerated male adolescents and their male and female caregivers collected at pre‐, post‐, and 1‐year follow‐up were used to determine that problem behaviors (internalizing, externalizing) decreased over pre‐ and posttest and the significant decreases in maladaptive emotion regulation predicted those changes. Adolescent‐reported anxiety over abandonment and attachment dependence on parents increased significantly; these changes were predicted by decreases in maladaptive emotion regulation. Linear growth models were also fit over the 3 time points and indicate decreases in adolescent problem behavior and maladaptive emotion regulation.     

Options to liberalize Social Security disabled widow(er)s benefits

Each month, 200,000 widows and 6,000 widowers receive Social Security disabled widow(er)s benefits, each benefit averaging about $550. Among the most economically at-risk Social Security beneficiaries, their benefits are permanently reduced. This paper reviews the legislative history of the disabled widow(er)s benefit, identifying key decisions that gave shape to this benefit. Social Security program data and six years of Current Population Survey data (March Annual Demographic Files, 1995-2000) are used to profile the economic status of current and potential disabled widows. The analysis, including comparison with other widows, provides strong evidence of economic need among disabled widows with, for example, 44% of disabled widow beneficiaries, ages 50-59, having below-poverty incomes compared with 15% of like-aged non-disabled widows. We conclude that serious consideration should be given to extending eligibility to all widow(er)s disabled before the normal retirement age; to providing a benefit equal to 100% of the deceased spouse's private insurance amount (PIA); to eliminating the unnecessarily restrictive seven-year rule; and to protecting beneficiaries from losing their eligibility to Medicaid. Even in the context of today's heated Social Security debate, we suggest that a rare opportunity may exist to garner bipartisan support for meaningful, low-cost improvements, in a benefit that primarily targets women.     

Some limitation on stein's phenomenon

We show that Stein's phenomenon is impossible for the following decision setting: the parameter space is compact, the loss function is the sum of coordinatewise strictly convex continuous loss functions, and the probability density function having the same support for every parameter θ is continuous in θ. Therefore, any coordinatewise admissible decision rule is admissible.     

Biodiversity of ant species along a disturbance gradient in residential environments of Puerto Rico

One of the most effective ways to describe the successional gradient of an environment is by using measures of biodiversity. We investigated the biodiversity of ant communities (known tramp/structure invaders) in an environment undergoing urban succession to characterize how ant communities changed along a disturbance gradient. Ant community dynamics were examined within three Puerto Rican housing developments of different ages. Within each development, we assessed the ant community using biodiversity measures of richness, abundance, diversity and evenness. We also studied changes in biodiversity within each development over time as well as how biodiversity related to food preferences within the ant communities. In general, the biodiversity measures increased as the age of the housing development increased. Monthly changes in biodiversity indicated that month was a better predictor of biodiversity in the most recently disturbed development, while the biodiversity in the older developments was less predictable from month to month. The biodiversity measures also suggested that the ant community in the youngest development was comprised mostly of generalist feeders. However, the older sites’ ant species appeared to have more specific feeding preferences. Based on the biodiversity measures of these ant communities, our findings suggest that the housing developments of different ages represented advancing stages of secondary succession. Furthermore, this study indicated that the succession of ant species occurs rapidly (<10 years) in urban environments, resulting in a relatively diverse ant community.     

Variability in the Inter‐group Attitudes of White Children: What We Can Learn from Their Ethnic Identity Labels

The current study examined the ethnic identity of White (N = 120), Latino (N = 87), and African‐American (N = 65) children and early adolescents (aged = 9–14 years), with an emphasis on whether the specific ethnic label White children used to describe themselves might reflect differences in their inter‐group attitudes and whether those differences mirror group differences between White children and children in ethnic minority groups. Results indicated that White children who identified with a minority label (i.e., White biracial, hyphenated American, ethnic/cultural/religious label) had more positive ethnic identities, were more aware of discrimination, and were less likely to show biases in their perceived similarity to in‐group and out‐group peers than youth who identified as White or American. In many instances, White children who identified with a minority label did not differ from ethnic minority youth. In addition, although all participants were more positive about their ethnic in‐group than out‐groups, children who identified their ethnicity as American were less positive about out‐groups relative to other children. Taken together, the findings indicate that children's self‐chosen ethnic identity is as important as their ascribed ethnic or racial identity in predicting their inter‐group attitudes.     

Designing a social security pension system

Abstract   This paper looks at potential models of social security pension systems. It refers often to the systems that exist in the United States and Canada (the latter more particularly) to outline the issues involved in attempting to design a "good" social security pension system. Of course, one of the issues is the definition of "good". This paper will use criteria such as poverty alleviation, retirement income adequacy, benefit/contribution sustainability, income equality and wealth distribution. In the course of the discussion, the reader will be exposed to many issues that need to be addressed in the establishment of any social security pension system in the world. This may prove to be helpful in countries where new systems are established (and even for evolving systems). It is also hoped that future students of social security will find this paper helpful in that it is meant to lay out some basic principles consistent with good social security pension design.     

They might be giants: a review of small presses and little magazines: an interview with Whitney Pastorek,Editor of Pindeldyboz

Abstract

This installment of “They Might Be Giants” highlights a small online/print zine from New York called Pindeldyboz. Described by its editor Whitney Pastorek as a lit mag, Pindeldyboz publishes new fiction every week or so at the Web site but then publishes longer fiction once a year in the annual print zine of the same name. While this may indicate a split personality on the part of the editor/publisher, the goals of both the print and online versions are the same: to publish good fiction.