Partner‐specific relationship characteristics and condom use among young people with sexually transmitted diseases

This study describes associations of partner‐specific relationship characteristics with consistent condom use among 297 young people (ages 13–24) with sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Relationship‐specific variables were relationship quality, reasons for sex, relationship duration, duration of sexual relationship, coital frequency, “established” versus “new” sexual partner, cohabitation, children, sexual coercion, and drug or alcohol use associated with coitus. Relationship characteristics associated with consistent condom use included lower relationship quality, lower emotional reasons for sex, lower coital frequency, sex with a new partner, noncohabitation, and not having a child with the partner. Controlling for sociodemographic variables, factors exhibiting independent associations with consistent condom use were lower relationship quality, lower coital frequency, and not having a child with the partner. While condom use with potentially high risk new partners is important, other types of relationships are also risky but associated with lower likelihood of consistent condom use. Better understanding of complex relationship characteristics is necessary to improve STD intervention programs.     

1998 MSSA PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: TECHNOLOGY,INNOVATION, AND HIGHER EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF SOCIOLOGY IN THE 21st CENTURY

Higher education is undergoing radical change as we move into the 21st Century. The challenges are both external and internal. Using a sociological perspective to consider these challenges can transform them into opportunities and place sociology in a leadership role in the process of change.     

General and specific measures of alienation: Is there a difference?

Nisbet and Perrin (1977) suggest that of the two types of alienation, general and specific, the latter is more prevalent. This paper examines differences between general and specific measures of alienation by breaking each into three component parts: powerlessness, self‐estrangement, and anomia. Results of tests to determine whether specific and general alienation are novel traits are mixed; the general and specific powerlessness measures are found to be more different from each other than are the measures of self‐estrangement and anomia. When the reported extent of general alienation and specific alienation is compared, all specific types are significantly greater. Finally, general measures of alienation correlate more strongly with measures of general phenomena than with specific phenomena, while specific measures of alienation correlate more strongly with measures of specific phenomena than with general phenomena.     

Family allowances in France

We model the impact of past migration on fertility, assessing the separate effects of relative urbanization of the destination, as a proxy for norms, and post-migration employment, as a proxy for opportunity costs. In the Philippines, we find that large fertility declines accompany post-migration employment. If not followed by work for pay, the estimated fertility impact of migration is small. We find little evidence of migrant selectivity in fertility, and offer speculative evidence that fertility disruption accompanying migration may be large enough to account for much of the apparent effect of normative adaptation.     

Trauma and Stress Among Older Adults in the Criminal Justice System: A Review of the Literature with Implications for Social Work

The purpose of this article was to review the empirical literature that investigated trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system. Nineteen journal articles published between 1988 and 2010 were identified and extracted via research databases and included mixed age samples of adjudicated older and younger adults (n = 11) or older adult only samples (n = 8). Findings revealed past and current trauma and stress, consequences and/or correlates, and internal and external coping resources among aging offenders. The implications and future directions for gerontological social work, research, and policy with older adults in the criminal justice system are advanced.     

Gender-specific differences in labor market adjustment patterns: Evidence from the United States

Do men and women behave differently while adjusting labor supply over the business cycle? Using data from the United States, we show that women are significantly more likely to adjust along the intensive margin (number of hours), while men adjust more along the extensive margin (employment). Older, single, and divorced/widowed adjust predominantly along the extensive margin.     

Assessing the validity of a single-item HIV risk stage-of-change measure

This study examined the validity of a single-item measure of HIV risk stage of change that HIV prevention contractors were required to collect by the California State Office of AIDS. The single-item measure was compared to the more conventional University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA). Participants were members of Los Angeles County-defined behavioral risk groups recruited from a mobile HIV testing program (N = 123). The study found low correspondence between participants' stage of change on the single-item and the URICA, suggesting that they do not assess the same construct, and that the single item may not provide a valid measure. The current data suggests that the single-item measure should be revised or abandoned in favor of more conventional stage-of-change measures.     

数学之王丘成桐

1979年,当时在普林斯顿高等研究所任职的数学家丘成桐访问中国,并提请当时的政府官员允许他去探望一下他的出生地汕头--坐落在广东省的一个山区城镇.     

A components method for measuring the impact of a family planning program on birth rates

One of the major goals of family planning programs worldwide has been to reduce the level of fertility in hopes of slowing the rate of natural increase and promoting social and economic development. Such programs have now been in existence for sufficient lengths of time to have had an impact on fertility levels. In general countries with organized family planning programs, marked declines in fertility levels have been observed. The extent to which such declines may be credited to organized programs has not been rigorously measured because an appropriate research methodology has been lacking. This paper describes one method of directly linking declines in fertility levels to the contraceptive protection experienced by a population. The contribution of organized family planning programs is estimated by decomposing the amount of total contraceptive protection into within-program and outside-program sources.     

Is population growth a deterrent to development in the South Pacific?

Some have argued that population growth deters development, while others claim that population growth either aids development or has no significant effect on development. In a sample of South Pacific nations, population growth and size were found to be unrelated to economic development, defined as GDP per capita. However, when indices of quality of life or social development such as mortality, health services and education were used, population growth and size were found to be negatively related to these indices. If these “quality of life” indices are valued by nations, an argument may exist for policy support for family planning.