Gender inequality in childhood: Toward a life course perspective

Gender inequality does not begin with adulthood, yet scholarship has dealt most appreciably with indicators summarizing patterns for adults. Life course differences need to be recognized and incorporated into the study of gender inequality. I propose various societal practices (such as female infanticide, harsher punishment, social ceremonies, and inclusion) and beliefs (such as son preference, affection, and evaluation) as cross-cultural indicators of gender inequality in childhood. The analysis of preindustrial societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (Murdock and White, 1969) finds that childhood gender inequality is related to hunger, warfare, patrilocality, and the economic contribution and control of women. Childhood gender inequality shares some similarities with adulthood gender inequality but differs in theoretically relevant ways; for example, familial explanations, which are often relegated to secondary status in gender inequality theory, are high-lighted. The implications of focusing on childhood and the life course for gender inequality theory are discussed. Much of her recent work is on gender inequalities in the labor force, including labor force participation, occupational segregation, and affirmative action     

The ebb and flow of marital lust: A relational approach

This diary study examined daily fluctuation in marital lust over a 56‐day period. The purposes of the study were to describe typical patterns of lust over time and to examine intrapersonal and interpersonal associations between relationship affect, relationship states, and marital lust. We also tested various daily moderational predictions. Four patterns of daily fluctuation in lust were identified. Typical patterns varied from almost no fluctuation to wide fluctuation over time. Our findings showed that daily affect was generally related to lust both within partners and between partners. Also, spouses’ relational states (closeness and equality of power) moderated several of these intrapersonal and interpersonal associations. In general, the affect‐lust link was strengthened by closeness and equality of power, while the lust‐lust link between spouses was often conditioned by both relationship affect and relational states. However, the role of negative affect toward spouses in interactions with other constructs was not as expected. We discuss possible explanations for the findings and implications for further research.     

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder–specific stimulant misuse,mood, anxiety,and stress in college-age women at high risk for or with eating disorders

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the misuse of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-specific stimulants in a college population at high risk for or with clinical or subclinical eating disorders. Participants: Four hundred forty-eight college-age women aged 18–25 at high risk for or with a clinical or subclinical eating disorder. Methods: Participants completed assessments of stimulant misuse and psychopathology from September 2009 to June 2010. Results: Greater eating disorder pathology, objective binge eating, purging, eating disorder–related clinical impairment, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and trait anxiety were associated with an increased likelihood of stimulant misuse. Subjective binge eating, excessive exercise, and dietary restraint were not associated with stimulant misuse. Conclusions: ADHD-specific stimulant misuse is associated with eating disorder and comorbid pathology among individuals at high risk for or with clinical or subclinical eating disorders. Screening for stimulant misuse and eating disorder pathology may improve identification of college-age women who may be engaging in maladaptive behaviors and inform prevention efforts.     

Video reviews

Abstract

Working with involuntary clients Chris trotter and Jan Mumford. 51 minutes. Available from Dr Chris Trotter, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, 3168, Victoria, Australia

Companion to book Working with Involuntary Clients, Chris Trotter (2000), Allen & Unwin, Sydney ISBN 1 86448 498 5 162 pp. $29.95 (paperback)     

When data justice and environmental justice meet: formulating a response to extractive logic through environmental data justice

ABSTRACT

Environmental data justice (EDJ) emerges from conversations between data justice and environmental justice while identifying the limits and tensions of these lenses. Through a reflexive process of querying our entanglement in non-innocent relations, this paper develops and engages EDJ by examining how it informs the work of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI), a distributed, consensus-based organization that formed in response to the 2016 US presidential election. Through grassroots archiving of data sets, monitoring federal environmental and energy agency websites, and writing rapid-response reports about how federal agencies are being undermined, EDGI mobilizes EDJ to challenge the ‘extractive logic’ of current federal environmental policy and data infrastructures. ‘Extractive logic’ disconnects data from provenance, privileges the matrix of domination, and whitewashes data to generate uncertainty. We use the dynamic EDJ framework to reflect on EDGI’s public comment advising against the US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule for Transparent Science. Through EDJ, EDGI aspires to create new environmental data infrastructures and practices that are participatory and embody equitable, transparent data care.     

Inconsistencies in reporting the occurrence and timing of first intercourse among adolescents

Two types of reporting inconsistency for sexual initiation were analyzed—event occurrence and its timing—using data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Overall, 11.1% of those who reported they were sexually active at the time of first interview denied this at the subsequent one. Males of each race/ethnic group had higher percentages of inconsistency than their female counterparts. Being older, not living with parents, or having a highly educated mother was negatively associated with rescinding. Among those reporting sexual experience at both interviews, only 22.2% reported the same date of first sex. On average, teens revised their age at first sex to older ages, and boys, especially African American boys, had large variability in reporting dates, as did teens with lower verbal ability. Seven strategies for resolving inconsistent reports are presented and implications for substantive findings are discussed.     

Indigenous identity construction: enacted upon us,or within us

ABSTRACT

This commentary essay questions, theorizes, explores and grapples with the phenomenon of the creation of racial, social and cultural identity: in childhood as Native American identity is negotiated from others; and in adulthood as Native identity is constructed from within. ‘Indigenous Identity Construction: Enacted upon Us, or Within Us?’ is a commentary piece focused around Native American identity and how it is formed both through childhood and into adulthood. I analyze and interpret my experiences and understanding of my identity formation as an indigenous person- which usually is left out of the socio-political notions of modernity. Conceptualizations from ‘othering’ racial identities are discussed along with indigenous ontologies constructed within land and water. Through metaphorically revisiting past racializing incidents this piece continues working through the idea of othering and induction into whiteness in childhood, but also focuses on how indigenous identities might be constructed and sustained in adulthood. Efforts to model the indigenous assertion of self-determination and decolonizing the mind was used to re-present thoughts on the construction of Native American identity     

Integrating Participation into Research and Consultancy: A Conservation Example from Arabia

Conservation projects in the Middle East have recently focused on reintroducing extinct mammals into their former grazing lands. The indigenous human populations in these areas—mainly nomadic pastoralists—have been, until very recently, excluded from any part of the information gathering, planning, implementation and management of such schemes. This intellectual and physical exclusion has resulted in hostility, distrust and occasionally sabotage. To succeed, many conservation efforts have had to rethink and redesign their activity. The key concept underlying this restructuring is 'participation'. The term, however, means many things to the various actors involved in conservation research and consultancy and care must be taken to identify its uses and meanings. Looking at recent Syrian government efforts to reintroduce the Arabian oryx into the desert as an example, I examine the major pseudo-scientific assumptions which have underpinned most projects and consultancies in the semi-arid lands of Syria. These positions, I show, have led to an untenable 'no-win' situation for the nomadic pastoralists. Finally I examine the way in which an effort to introduce the concept of participation through a series of consultancies has resulted in some encouraging collaboration between the indigenous human population, the conservation experts, the local government technocrats and higher authorities.