Parenthood, Childlessness, and Well-Being: A Life Course Perspective

This article reviews recent research (1999 - 2009) on the effects of parenthood on wellbeing. We use a life course framework to consider how parenting and childlessness influence well-being throughout the adult life course. We place particular emphasis on social contexts and how the impact of parenthood on well-being depends on marital status, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. We also consider how recent demographic shifts lead to new family arrangements that have implications for parenthood and well-being. These include stepparenting, parenting of grandchildren, and childlessness across the life course.     

Children as Witnesses: Understanding Their Capacities, Needs, and Experiences

Historically the law regarded children as inherently unreliable and made it difficult for them to testify. Since 1975 awareness of child abuse has increased and research has established that children can be reliable witnesses. Governments began to recognize the needs and capacities of children and enacted legal reforms to facilitate prosecutions for child abuse. This paper reports on a survey of victim witness workers and other justice system professionals which reveals some of the continued failings of that system in dealing with children. Although relatively rare, there are cases of false allegations of abuse, usually a result of investigations by poorly trained professionals. Further legal reforms and better human supports are required to ensure that the needs of children are met and their capacities as witnesses are fully appreciated.     

Is the Criminalisation of Child Harm and Injury in the Interests of the Child?

The impetus to prosecute in cases of child harm and injury has increased considerably over recent years with earlier involvement of the police in child protection and incremental legal reform which aims for more child-centred practices. Research on the implementation of the Memorandum of Good Practice is presented to propose that the prosecution of child abuse is neither achieved nor achievable in the majority of cases and that the assumption on which the criminalisation of child abuse is based should be challenged.     

Outcomes associated with service involvement among disengaged youth

This pilot study examined outcomes of a school-based effort to promote bonding to the conventional mainstream by integrating socially disengaged youth with conventional peers in a service activity. A sample of forty-two ninth-graders in four schools achieved significant improvements in attendance, achievement, ratings of social-academic competence and conventionality, and in positive peer associations, which protect against risk for problems such as dropout, delinquency, and substance abuse. Comparisons of improvements in school performance with changes in performance exhibited by a group of similar peers indicate that effects were probably not due to the effects of maturation over the ninth-grade year. Findings lend tentative support to the notion that social bonding is enhanced through opportunities for service, and justify efforts to develop and study methods for incorporating service components in school programs. Recommendations for further experimental study addressing design limitations of this pilot study are discussed.     

International Migration Dynamics: The Role of Experience and Social Networks

This paper tests the dynamic implications of cumulative causation and network theory on the self‐sustaining nature of the migration process. A sequential migration model is derived and estimated with a panel of Mexican household heads for the years 1980–89. Consistently with cumulative causation and network theory, the empirical results show that, after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, previous migration experience and migration‐related variables are the strongest predictors of current migration decisions. This persistence in migration patterns implies that immigration policies inducing small changes in expected costs and benefits of US work fail to prevent entry into, or encourage exit from, the US labor market by experienced migrants. However, large temporary disruptions such as the 1994 Mexican peso devaluation may permanently increase migratory flows by inducing new migrants to enter the US labor market.