Age reporting among white Americans aged 85+: Results of a record linkage study

This study investigates age reporting on the death certificates of older white Americans. We link a sample of death certificates for native-born whites aged 85+ in 1985 to Social Security Administration records and to records of the U.S. censuses of 1900, 1910, and 1920. When ages in these sources are compared, inconsistencies are found to be minimal, even beyond age 95. Results show little distortion and no systematic biases in the reported age distribution of deaths. To explore the effect of age misreporting on old-age mortality, we estimate "corrected" age-specific death rates by the extinct-generation method for the U.S. white cohort born in 1885. With few exceptions, corrected and uncorrected rates in single years differ by less than 3% and are not systematically biased. When we compare corrected rates with those for the same birth cohort in France, Japan, and Sweden, we find that white American mortality at older ages is exceptionally low.     

Adult Social Bonds and Use of Internet Pornography*

Objective. Sociological theories of deviant behavior have not been systematically applied to the problem of who uses and who does not use cyberpornography on the Internet. The present study contributes to the literature by providing the first systematic application of selected sociological theories of deviance to the problem of explaining use of cyberpornography. It tests a blended theoretical perspective, which includes measures from social control and opportunity theories of deviance, as well as measures of broader deviant lifestyles, as possible predictors of use of cyberporn. A key hypothesis is that persons with the strongest ties to conventional society will be less likely than others to use cyberporn. Methods. Complete data on 531 Internet users are taken from the General Social Surveys for 2000. Social bonds measures include religious, marital, and political ties. Measures of participation in sexual and drug‐related deviant lifestyles, and demographic controls are included. Results. The results of a logistic regression analysis found that among the strongest predictors of use of cyberporn were weak ties to religion and lack of a happy marriage. However, past sexual deviance (e.g., involvement in paid sex) was also a strong predictor of cyberporn use. Overall the model explained 40 percent of the variance in porn use on the Internet. Conclusion. Traditional theoretical perspectives on deviance are apparently applicable to this new form of deviant behavior.     

States,regimes, and decisions: why Jews were expelled from Medieval England and France

This article explores the relation between the expulsion of Jews from medieval England and France and state building, geo-politics, regime styles, and taxation in these countries. Jews were evicted as a result of attempts by kings to manage royal insecurity, refashion relations between state and society, and build more durable systems of taxation within the territories they claimed as theirs. As they engaged in state building and extended their ties, often conflictual, to key societal and political actors, Jews became financially less important but more visible as outsiders, becoming a liability for the crown. Similar mechanisms were at work despite important differences distinguishing England’s growing regime of rights and representation and France’s emergent absolutist patrimonialism.     

Commitment of Juveniles to Training Schools

The study analyzes commitment rates to training schools, average length of stay and the facility utilization in the various states over the period 1979–1990. Based on a regression analysis of the data, we found that only the bed ratio, which is the number of beds per 100,000 eligible population, and average length of stay in training schools are significant in explaining the changes of commitment rate over the years. The paper focuses on the meaning of the variation between states on the commitment rate, the average length of stay and facility utilization might have in terms of correctional policy. There is also a discussion of our findings that the only significant variables in explaining commitment rate change were institutional variables that influence correctional policy.     

Accuracy of death certificate ages for the extreme aged

This study attempts to verify age reporting on the death certificate for the “extreme aged” population and to evaluate the accuracy of recent death rates for this group in light of the findings. In addition, methods used and problems encountered in carrying out a record linkage study, particularly a low match rate, are identified. A sample of more than three thousand death records was selected from those filed for decedents age 85 and over in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the 1968 to 1972 period. Death certificates of 53 percent of whites and 30 percent of nonwhites were linked to the 1900 U.S. Census. A comparison of age on the death certificate with the age reported for the same individual in the census record showed a high level of agreement for whites, except at ages 100 and over; for nonwhites, however, age agreement levels were substantially lower. Within racial groups, there was little difference by sex in agreement on age. These results, corroborating those of earlier studies, make it clear that nonwhite mortality at the oldest ages has been consistently understated in official statistics.     

Indicators of contraceptive policy for nations at three levels of development

The study is concerned with examining variations in contraceptive policies among 74 nations of the world. Employing quantitative data collected by the United Nations, the national policies for three types of contraceptive devices (birth control pills, condoms and IUDs) were examined for nations at three levels of development. The policies for the three items were found to be highly intercorrelated. Given this fact, a restrictiveness index related to the commercial sale of the three types of contraceptive was constructed. A set of independent variables was then related to this restrictive index employing multivariate analysis. The results differed appreciably for the developed and non-developed nations. For the developed nations restrictiveness was significantly related to the fertility rate and the number of physicians in the society, whereas for the developing nations it was significantly related to the infant mortality rate in the society.     

Book Reviews and Book Notes

Abstract

The American City. By Stuart Alfred Queen and David Bailey Carpenter. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1953. Pp. viii, 383. $5.00. Reviewed by Wayne C. Neely.

Out of Step. By Joseph Trenaman. New York: The Philosophical Library, Inc., 1952. Pp. xx, 223. $4.75. Reviewed by J. F. Santee.

Readings in Sociology. College Outline Series, Alfred M. Lee, Editor. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc. 1951. Pp. 1, 439. $1.75. Reviewed by Wilfred T. Grenfell.

The War of the Revolution, Christopher Ward, edited by John Richard Alden, New York: Macmillan, two volumes. $15.00. Reviewed by Ralph Adams Brown.

The Rise of Modern America, 1865–1951. By Arthur Meier Schlesinger, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1951. Pp. xvii, 607. $5.25. Reviewed by Mahlon H. Helleruh.

Some Modern Historians of Britain. Edited by Herman Ausbel, J. Bartlet Brebner, and E. M. Hunt. New York: The Dryden Press, 1951. Pp. xxii, 384. $5.00. Reviewed by Raymond G. Cowherd.

Display for Learning. By Marporie East. Edited by Edgar Dale, Dryden Press, 3 W. 54th St., New York 19, N. Y. Pp. 306. $3.00.

Interstate Cooperation. A Study of the Interstate Compact. By Vincent V. Thursby. Washington, D. C.: Public Affairs Press, 1953. Pp. vii, 152. $3.25.

Exploring Pennsylvania: Its Geography, History and Government. By Sylvester K. Stevens; Ralph W. Cordier; Florence O. Benjamin. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1953. Pp. xi, 624. $3.84. Reviewed by Mahlon H. Hellerich.     

Efficient frontiers for electricity procurement by an LDC with multiple purchase options

In meeting its retail sales obligations, management of a local distribution company (LDC) must determine the extent to which it should rely on spot markets, forward contracts, and the increasingly popular long-term tolling agreements under which it pays a fee to reserve generator capacity. We address these issues by solving a mathematical programming model to derive the efficient frontier that summarizes the optimal tradeoffs available to the LDC between procurement risk and expected cost. To illustrate the approach, we estimate the expected procurement costs and associated variances that proxy for risk through a spot-price regression for the spot-purchase alternative and a variable-cost regression for the tolling-agreement alternative. The estimated regressions yield the estimates required to determine the efficient frontier. We develop several such frontiers under alternative assumptions as to the forward-contract price and the tolling agreement's capacity payment, and discuss the implications of our results for LDC management.     

University-assisted community school program of West Philadelphia: democratic partnerships that make a difference

The university-assisted community school model is showing results for children and youth in West Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania's (Penn's) Center for Community Partnerships has coordinated universitywide efforts, in partnership with the community, in order to create and develop community school programs. The Sayre program aims to become a university-assisted community school, with a comprehensive community problem-solving curriculum and communitywide program that is fully integrated across both the Sayre curriculum and the curriculum of a number of Penn's schools. The Penn-Sayre project demonstrates that higher education can be a permanent anchor for revitalizing schools and communities if the vast resources it possesses, particularly its faculty, students, and staff, are brought to bear in a coordinated fashion.