Strengthening Social Programs to Promote Economic Stability During Childhood

Economic instability has increased in recent decades and is higher for families with low incomes and Black families. Such instability is thought to be driven primarily by precarious work and unstable family structure. In addition, the social safety net has become less of a stabilizing force for low-income families, in part because benefits are often tied to employment and earnings. Too much change in economic circumstances may disrupt investments in children, parenting practices, and family routines—particularly if the economic changes are unpredictable, undesired, or not part of upward mobility. Given the considerable evidence that economic circumstances affect child health and development, economic stability can and should be an important goal of multiple policy domains. In this report, we describe economic instability, review the pertinent theories for considering how economic instability might matter to children, and describe ideas for policies that could reduce or moderate instability. We include policies that reduce instability in earnings, use public assistance to stabilize income or reduce material hardship, or enhance parents' capacity to deal with or avoid instability.     

Already at the Table: Patterns of Play and Gambling Involvement Prior to Gambling Expansion

During 2011, the Governor of Massachusetts signed a bill to allow casino gambling in the state (Commonwealth of Massachusetts 2011). As a result, two resort casinos will begin operations during 2018 and 2019; a smaller slots parlor began operations during June 2015. Prior to this expansion, gambling was widely available in Massachusetts, through the state lottery, off-track betting, and gambling opportunities available in neighboring states. Within this context, it is important to understand the patterns of gambling involvement in the population prior to gambling expansion. The current study examined gambling involvement, patterns of play, and gambling-related problems prior to gambling expansion among a sample of 511 Massachusetts residents who were members of a statewide Internet panel. To measure patterns of play, we asked questions about past-year games played and frequency of play. To measure breadth of involvement, we assessed the number of different games played. To measure depth of involvement, we measured time spent gambling, amount wagered, and amount won or lost. Principal component analysis revealed four play pattern components accounting for more than 50% of the variance in game play frequency. Multiple regression analyses revealed that component scores composed of casino gambling and skill-based gambling (e.g., poker, sports) variables uniquely contributed to the prediction of gambling-related problems, even when depth of involvement was controlled. However, the addition of breadth of involvement to the model resulted in a model where no set of variables contributed significantly, suggesting a complex relationship among play patterns, depth, and breadth of involvement. The study established discrete and distinguishable gambling play patterns associated with gambling-related problems and identified groups of individuals potentially vulnerable to the effects of gambling expansion.     

Narratives of fathering young children in Britain: linking quantitative and qualitative analyses

The paper examines how in Britain the time fathers and couples spend in employment shifts in the first years of children’s lives, the conditions under which this happens and how fathers feel about and experience time with their families and time in paid work. In order to achieve these aims new longitudinal analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is carried out together with secondary analysis of narrative case studies drawn from a qualitative study of Fatherhood across the Generations. By linking these datasets the paper examines the potential for corroboration and complementarity between different types of data. Further, it seeks to show how qualitative cases corroborate, elaborate and expand on the main employment trajectories in the MCS population of fathers and how these extend understandings of fathers’ experience of time within families.     

Climatic conditions and infant care: implications for child nutrition in rural Ethiopia

Population and Environment - We examine the relationships between climatic conditions, breastfeeding behavior, and maternal time use in Ethiopia. Infant feeding practices are important predictors...     

Which ‘ethnic question’? The development of questions identifying: ethnic origin in official statistics

Questions identifying foreigners have been included in official statistics since the census of 1841 when place of birth was first asked. This question has since been used in many sources. It was later supplemented by a question on each parent's birthplace so that the children of immigrants could be identified. More recently, direct questions on ethnic origin have been introduced. One notable exception to the use of a direct question is the census, which for political reasons has so far been unable to include such a question. The Home Affairs Committee recommended that a direct question be asked in the next census, and also recommended a form of that question. This recommended form is technically poor. In light of the political objections to a direct question, there is a need to address political issues rather than dwell on technical detail.     

The Codex,the Codicil and the Codpiece: Some Thoughts on Diminution and Elaboration in Identity Formation

This article is about the way in which the processes of diminution and elaboration can be detected in gendered accounts of identity formation. Firstly, it considers the ways in which power is denied to women through a series of reductions, restrictions and controls, and looks at the ways in which men, in contrast, elaborate their identities via a range of enlargements and extensions. The codex of the title refers to the role of the ‘Law’, in Kristeva's sense of the term, in authorizing such arrangements. The codpiece offers a metaphor for elaboration and extension: a male form of extension and elaboration. The codicil, an appendage to a last will and testament, is intended to convey the position of women as appendages, afterthoughts, marginal notes. The article is an example of what Pullen and Rhodes have called ‘dirty writing’, that is to say, it is written with the purpose of allowing the intrusion of the author into the text: with a deliberate confusion of the authorial standpoint and the content. Dirty writing contaminates. This article is written with the intention of contaminating the regulatory mechanisms of the production of the codex, to reveal the enormity of the codpiece and to permit the codicil to assume a role within the codex rather than simply occupying the position of appendage to it. The article is not auto‐ethnographic, although it has elements of autobiography. Rather this article seeks to ‘undo’ gender by fragmenting the coherence of the codex. More tentatively, it seeks to lay bare the male erection which is concealed by the codpiece and to expose it for what it is: an elaborate construction — an elaborate creation masking a less adequate membership. And so this piece of writing attempts to undermine the extravagance of masculine forms of writing; of writing to produce the codpiece, writing as conceit; writing which is antagonistic to fragmented experience. It will not satisfy some, it will irritate others. The article is unbalanced, unresolved: like life itself. It is about stories, illustrations, asides, observations. It is also, with all its attempts to subvert, (with all its attempts to make it ‘dirty’), a piece of male writing.     

Marital Therapy — The Therapist

This article applies systems principles to an appreciation of the couple therapist. It offers an overview of the changing role of therapists and addresses the philosophical debate of the therapist as scientist or artist. It demonstrates how the worldviews, beliefs and values of clients and therapists are influenced by, and in turn influence, the therapeutic and wider social contexts to which they belong. The question of how a therapist simultaneously maintains personal values and neutrality is considered. The implications of examining the therapist's role from a systems framework are discussed. It is concluded that research needs to adopt a more holistic methodology and that impasses need to be analysed by examining beliefs at different levels within the systems involved. Finally, a personal account of the effect that therapy has on the therapist is offered.     

Gender Jeopardy: What is the Impact of Gender Differences in Political Knowledge on Political Participation?*

Objective. We explore whether observed sex‐based differences in political knowledge have an impact on men's and women's participation in six different political activities. Methods. Utilizing ANES data from the five presidential elections between 1984 and 2000, we employ logistic regression to estimate the likelihood of voting, influencing a vote, attending a political meeting, working on a political campaign, wearing a political button, and making a campaign donation. Results. At lower levels of political knowledge, women's lower political knowledge depresses their participation in politics. The participation gap disappears at higher levels of political knowledge for three participatory acts: attempting to influence a vote, attending a political meeting, and donating to a political campaign. Furthermore, at higher levels of political knowledge, women are more likely than men to vote, wear a political button, or work for political campaigns. Conclusion. Our analysis reveals that political knowledge differentially affects men's and women's political participation. These findings complement existing scholarship that finds women hold themselves to a higher standard before engaging in political activities such as running for elected office.     

Cleveland 20 years on: what have we learned about intervening in child sexual abuse?

This is the first of two linked papers. It examines the main changes in approach to child sexual abuse that have occurred since the events in Cleveland 20 years ago. Comparison between estimated prevalence rates and registrations for sexual abuse suggests that we are aware of only the tip of the iceberg. It is argued that in many cases uncertainty may have to be accepted, and that protection may be better achieved through a protective parent than through the child protection system. Clinical examples of cases presenting to a specialist child and adolescent mental health service are given. It is argued that, although society is now more willing to recognise the existence of child sexual abuse and professionals are better at dealing with families, outcomes for this group of children are not much improved. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.