A first look at the need for enhanced support services for kinship caregivers

This article describes findings from a series of focus groups conducted with formal kinship caregivers in Maryland. The findings reveal that kinship caregivers are committed to providing safety and stability for the children placed with them. The findings also suggest that caregiving can be a significant adjustment for many kinship caregivers and that expanded support services are needed to enhance their relationship with the child welfare agency.     

Surface Estimation, Variable Selection, and the Nonparametric Oracle Property

Variable selection for multivariate nonparametric regression is an important, yet challenging, problem due, in part, to the infinite dimensionality of the function space. An ideal selection procedure should be automatic, stable, easy to use, and have desirable asymptotic properties. In particular, we define a selection procedure to be nonparametric oracle (np-oracle) if it consistently selects the correct subset of predictors and at the same time estimates the smooth surface at the optimal nonparametric rate, as the sample size goes to infinity. In this paper, we propose a model selection procedure for nonparametric models, and explore the conditions under which the new method enjoys the aforementioned properties. Developed in the framework of smoothing spline ANOVA, our estimator is obtained via solving a regularization problem with a novel adaptive penalty on the sum of functional component norms. Theoretical properties of the new estimator are established. Additionally, numerous simulated and real examples further demonstrate that the new approach substantially outperforms other existing methods in the finite sample setting.     

Superheroes and third-wave feminism

Recent developments in superhero comics have seen positive changes to the representation of characters and storylines. In this article, we use examples of the increase in female characters and female-led titles, the swapping of gender from a male character to a female one, and the increase in female writers and artists to investigate how the representation of female characters has evolved. We argue that these changes mark an intervention on behalf of female creators in keeping with the theory and practice of third-wave feminism. We also argue that this evolution provides a good example of how third-wave feminism remains indebted to and continues the important work of second-wave feminism. The article explores the important role of intersectionality alongside themes relating to the body and sexuality, violence, solidarity and equality, and girlhood in comics such as Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, and A-Force.     

Home Futures: Living in Yesterday’s Tomorrow? Home Futures,An Exhibition by the Design Museum,London in Partnership with IKEA Museum,Almhult – 2018-9

ABSTRACT

Home Futures, the major exhibition at the Design Museum, London, and IKEA Museum Sweden, explores the trajectory of radical domestic visions from the 1960s—but it seems that the future was closer in the 1960s than now.     

The differential influence of geographic isolation on environmental migration: a study of internal migration amidst degrading conditions in the central Pacific

Population and Environment - This study investigates how geographic isolation interacts with declining environmental and economic conditions in Kiribati, an island nation wherein which limited...     

Population recovery in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: exploring the potential role of stage migration in migration systems

In this research brief, we explore how places affected by natural disasters recover their populations through indirect, or “stage,” migration. Specifically, we consider the idea that post-disaster impediments (e.g., housing and property damage) in disaster-affected areas spawn migration flows toward and, over time, to disaster-affected areas through intermediary destinations. Taking as our case Orleans Parish over a 5-year period after Hurricane Katrina, we show that stage migration accounted for up to about one-fourth of population recovery. We close by discussing the implications, limitations, and potential extensions of our work.     

The Issue of Schools as Social Systems: Socialization Effects as Inferred from Lengths of Membership*

The critical limitation of the interpretation of schools as independent normative systems is the failure to demonstrate that observed student orientations are acquired in schools rather than in other settings such as the home or community. The problem is approached here as a question of whether students' orientations vary with lengths of membership in the same school organization. Data were examined for 7,954 students in 19 schools which contained grade-lengths 7-9, 7-12, 9-12, and 10-12. The analyses indicated that the distinctiveness of school normative climates is slightly but positively associated with lengths of school membership when school size is controlled. While schools can be viewed as relatively distinct systems, they should also be seen as highly permeable in the midst of their community and home environments.     

Has Voluntary Association Activity Declined? Cross‐national Analyses for Fifteen Countries*

Les études antérieures concernant l'adhésion volontaire à des associations aux États‐Unis ont menéà des conclusions contradictoires concernant la diminution du membership. Nous analysons ici des participations nominales et actives à des associations à l'échelle du Canada, des États‐Unis ainsi que de 13 autres pays au début des années 1980 et au début des années 1990. Des comparaisons en fonction du temps sont faites, incluant les syndicats et les organisations religieuses, et excluant ces groupes, avant et après des'contrôles. Les résultats fournissent peu de preuves de déclin, pour le Canada, les États‐Unis ou les autres nations, en particulier pour des adhésions actives. Sans et avec contrôles, les États‐Unis, la République fédérale d'Allemagne et les Pays‐Bas font état d'augmentations significatives d'adhésions actives à des syndicats. Seule l'Espagne affiche des baisses substantielles d'adhésions actives au cours de cette période. Mis à part quelques exceptions, le tableau général en est un de stabilité, sans changement significatif. Previous studies of voluntary association membership in the United States have generated inconsistent conclusions about whether membership has declined. We analyse here both nominal and active association involvements for national samples from Canada, the U.S., and 13 other societies in the early 1980s and early 1990s. Temporal comparisons are made, with union and religious memberships both included and excluded, before and after controls. The results provide little evidence of decline, for Canada, the U.S., or the other nations, particularly for working memberships. Both without and with controls, the U.S., West Germany, and the Netherlands exhibit significant increases in working memberships. Only Spain shows substantial declines in working memberships over the period. With few exceptions, the overall pattern is one of stability, or no significant change.