Mother’s,Household, and Community U.S. Migration Experience and Infant Mortality in Rural and Urban Mexico

This study explores rural and urban differences in the relationship between U.S. migration experience measured at the individual, household, and community levels and individual-level infant mortality outcomes in a national sample of recent births in Mexico. Using 2000 Mexican Census data and multi-level regression models, we find that women’s own U.S. migration experience is associated with lower odds of infant mortality in both rural and urban Mexico, possibly reflecting a process of healthy migrant selectivity. Household migration has mixed blessings for infant health in rural places: remittances are beneficial for infant survival, but recent out-migration is disruptive. Recent community-level migration experience is not significantly associated with infant mortality overall, although in rural places, there is some evidence that higher levels of community migration are associated with lower infant mortality. Household- and community-level migration have no relationship with infant mortality in urban places. Thus, international migration is associated with infant outcomes in Mexico in fairly complex ways, and the relationships are expressed most profoundly in rural areas of Mexico.

The Family Context of Relational Aggression in “Difficult to Treat” Female Juvenile Offenders

Female juvenile offenders often engage in socially aggressive behaviors that make them more difficult to treat than male juvenile offenders. This social (i.e., relational) aggression may be developed or maintained through transactions with family members. To investigate this issue, we measured relational aggression in the family interactions of 140 adolescents divided by gender and offender status into four equal‐sized groups (female juvenile offenders, male juvenile offenders, female nonoffenders, and male nonoffenders). Adolescents and caregivers completed a family discussion task, and raters coded relationally aggressive behaviors at the dyadic level. Results showed that female juvenile offenders and their mothers directed more relational aggression toward each other than did mother–adolescent dyads in the other groups. Implications of these results for treatment and research are discussed.     

Household Disorder,Network Ties,and Social Support in Later Life

Family relationships, social interactions, and exchanges of support often revolve around the household context, but scholars rarely consider the social relevance of this physical space. In this article the author considers social causes and consequences of household disorder in the dwellings of older adults. Drawing from research on neighborhood disorder and social connectedness in later life, she describes how network characteristics may contribute to household disorder and how household disorder may weaken relationships and reduce access to support. This is explored empirically by estimating cross‐lagged panel models with data from 2 waves of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. The results reveal that household disorder reflects a lack of social support, and it leads to more kin‐centered networks and more strain within family relationships. The author concludes by urging greater attention to how the household context shapes—and is shaped by—the social interactions and processes that occur within it.     

Theories of Low-Wage Work: Findings from an Analysis of Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment

This is a review of 14 of the most commonly used textbooks on human behavior and the social environment as regards their content relating to low-wage work. The textbooks are divided into three categories, analyzed, and compared. Particular attention is paid to theoretical perspectives on low-wage work. In most of the textbooks, the content on low-wage work is scattered, with few textbooks providing theoretical grounding on this issue. However, several of the textbooks did provide theoretical lenses that could be applied to low-wage work. The review concludes with a discussion of how theoretical views could be incorporated better into each of the three categories.     

Measuring Attitudes Toward Empirically Supported Treatment in Real-World Addiction Services

Mental health workers with favorable attitudes toward empirically supported treatments (ESTs) are more likely to break through implementation barriers. The Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale has been shown to be reliable for mental health workers, but it has not been validated with addiction workers. This study investigates the use of the scale with a convenience sample of addiction workers from 4 agencies in 1 city. Results show that compared to mental health providers, addiction workers were more likely to view ESTs favorably if they were mandated and intuitively appealing. They also tended to rely more heavily on practical experience in forming attitudes toward treatment options. These results might help addiction agencies understand which types of workers are more likely to implement ESTs and inform effective engagement approaches specific to addiction workers.     

“It Isn’t in the Curriculum”: World History Teachers’ Views on U.S. Presidential Elections

Abstract

This study examines world history teachers’ attitudes regarding teaching U.S. presidential elections. During interviews with nine teachers, participants emphasized that the competing demands of their classrooms negatively influenced their willingness to teach about the U.S. presidential elections generally, and the 2016 Election specifically. The participants reconsidered their stances on not teaching elections during the interviews but struggled to reconcile their role as world history teachers with their priorities as social studies more generally. While elections are part of the civics curriculum and can be easily associated with history courses, this study suggests that greater attention should be paid to how citizenship practices can be understood through world history classes to promote teaching about elections as part of the curriculum.     

A Grounded Theory of Interracial Romantic Partners’ Expectations for Support and Strain with Family Members

ABSTRACT

Interracial romantic partners (IRPs) are known to experience additional hardships in their relational functioning compared to same-race partners. This study explores the support processes that IRPs engage in with those who are often the source of external pressures on the romantic unit – family members. The study examines IRPs’ support expectations from family and how this shapes the support and resilience of the IRP over time. In-depth interviews were conducted with 32 IRPs and 30 parents of IRPs, resulting in a grounded theory of participants’ support expectations and their violations and ensuing experiences of support and/or strain. Based on their support expectations, participants came across three support paths after initiating support-seeking disclosure strategies. Encounters with these support paths resulted in support and strain for IRPs and their parents. Taken together, the results contribute to theorizing about processes of support and their functionality in underrepresented relationships.