Employment and the Risk of Domestic Abuse Among Low‐Income Women

This paper uses data from 2 randomized evaluations of welfare‐to‐work programs—the Minnesota Family Investment Program and the National Evaluation of Welfare‐to‐Work Strategies—to estimate the effect of employment on domestic abuse among low‐income single mothers. Unique to our analysis is the application of a 2‐stage least squares method, in which random assignment enables us to control for omitted characteristics that might otherwise confound the association between employment and domestic abuse. We find that increased maternal employment decreases subsequent reports of domestic abuse in both studies. In the Minnesota Family Investment Program—a program with an enhanced income disregard that allowed welfare mothers to keep a portion of their welfare income as earnings rose—an increase in household incomes appears to have contributed to reductions in reports of domestic abuse.     

The Timing of Entry Into Fatherhood in Young, At-Risk Men

Timing of first fatherhood was examined in a sample of 206 at-risk, predominantly White men, followed prospectively for 17 years. An event history analysis was used to test a model wherein antisocial behavior, the contextual and familial factors that may contribute to the development of antisocial behavior, and common correlates of such behavior, including academic failure, substance use, and early initiation of sexual behaviors, lead both directly and indirectly to an early transition to fatherhood. Having a mother who was younger at first birth, low family SES, poor academic skills, failure to use condoms, and being in a cohabitating or marital relationship predicted entry into fatherhood. Implications of the findings for prevention of and intervention with early fathering are discussed.     

Border Lines: Indigenous Peoples in Genocide Studies*

L'histoire des peuples autochtones ne figure pas parmi les sujets qui sont traités dans la recherche comparée en génocide. Les auteures examinent l'approche conceptuelle qui a conduit à cette lacune en s'attardant à la terminologie employée et à la distinction qu'impose la typologie du génocide entre génocide idéologique et génocide provoqué par l'expansion d'un groupe aux dépens d'un autre, et en soulignant l'importance qui est rattachée dans cette même typologie à la logique qui motive les régimes coupables de génocide. On examine également la relation qui existe entre génocide des peuples autochtones et ceux des autres peuples, ceci en relation avec trois critères d'analyse, soit la réaction des persécutés, le processus de guérison et la quête de justice. À la suite de cet examen, on démontre qu'une approche plus globale dans l'étude comparée du génocide, approche qui reconnaîtrait l'enver-gure des génocides des peuples autochtones, serait à l'avantage des chercheurs. Enfin, les auteures font remarquer que l'approche foncièrement européenne dans la recherche en génocide a pour effet de circonscrire le débat. The experiences of indigenous peoples have been left outside the framework of comparative genocide research. We first discuss conceptual reasons for this omission, focussing on the role of genocide definitions, ideological vs. developmental distinctions in genocide typologies, and the emphasis in genocide typologies on the motivations of perpetrators. We then illustrate the relation between indigenous genocides and other genocides by examining three important foci of genocide studies: responses, healing and justice. From these comparisons and contrasts, we conclude that a broader comparative approach that acknowledges the importance of indigenous genocides would contribute significantly to genocide studies. Finally, we note that adherence to European world views in genocide studies limits the potential for constructive analysis.     

EXACT TWO-SAMPLE MEDIAN TESTS WHEN ONE "SAMPLE" VALUE POSSIBLY FROM A DIFFERENT POPULATION

Random samples are assumed for the univariate two-sample problem. Sometimes this assumption may be violated in that an observation in one “sample”, of size m, is from a population different from that yielding the remaining m—1 observations (which are a random sample). Then, the interest is in whether this random sample of size m—1 is from the same population as the other random sample. If such a violation occurs and can be recognized, and also the non-conforming observation can be identified (without imposing conditional effects), then that observation could be removed and a two-sample test applied to the remaining samples. Unfortunately, satisfactory procedures for such a removal do not seem to exist. An alternative approach is to use two-sample tests whose significance levels remain the same when a non-conforming observation occurs, and is removed, as for the case where the samples were both truly random. The equal-tail median test is shown to have this property when the two “samples” are of the same size (and ties do not occur).     

Self-help housing in urban Colombia; alternatives for the production and distribution of building materials

Building materials account for a high percentage of the non-land cost of self-help housing. Few studies, however, have examined the use of building materials by self-help builders and the practicalities of producing and distributing the materials in an alternative manner. This paper discusses the nature of construction by self-help in the intermediate-sized Colombian city of Pereira, focusing in particular on the building materials used, and examines various attempts to reduce the cost of building-materials for self-help builders. It is concluded that projects which aim to introduce alternative building materials or retail outlets for self-help builders, need to consider the nature of construction by self-help and the operation of the building-materials market, if they are to have any chance of success.     

Alcohol abuse as a rite of passage: the effect of beliefs about alcohol and the college experience on undergraduates' drinking behaviors

Qualitative studies of alcohol's ritual influences indicate that college undergraduates who drink heavily tend to view alcohol use as integral to the student role and feel entitled to drink irresponsibly. Our analyses, based on a standardized measure of these beliefs administered to approximately 300 students, confirmed these findings. Among our sample, beliefs about alcohol and the college experience had an effect on levels of alcohol consumption similar in magnitude to that of other variables commonly associated with a risk for heavy drinking. Moreover, the alcohol beliefs index moderated the effects of three risk factors--gender, high school drinking, and friends' use of alcohol--on respondents' drinking behaviors. These findings are discussed within the context of the anthropological literature on liminality and rites of passage and with regard to strategies for intervention that address the structural roots of the widespread abuse of alcohol on college campuses.     

Shaping the future of social work in end-of-life and palliative care

The second Social Work Summit on End-of-Life and Palliative Care was held from June 1 to June 3, 2005. Sixty representatives of more than 35 social work and other professional organizations with a commitment to improve care for the terminally ill, dying, and bereaved, attended and formulated key priority directions and initiatives that will further the field.     

The Evolving Field of Risk Communication

The 40th Anniversary of the Society for Risk Analysis presents an apt time to step back and review the field of risk communication. In this review, we first evaluate recent debates over the field's current state and future directions. Our takeaway is that efforts to settle on a single, generic version of what constitutes risk communication will be less productive than an open-minded exploration of the multiple forms that comprise today's vibrant interdisciplinary field. We then review a selection of prominent cognitive, cultural, and social risk communication scholarship appearing in the published literature since 2010. Studies on trust in risk communication messengers continued to figure prominently, while new research directions emerged on the opportunities and critical challenges of enhancing transparency and using social media. Research on message attributes explored how conceptual insights particularly relating to framing, affective and emotional responses, and uncertainty might be operationalized to improve message effectiveness. Studies consistently demonstrated the importance of evaluation and how varying single attributes alone is unlikely to achieve desired results. Research on risk communication audiences advanced on risk perception and multiway engagement with notable interest in personal factors such as gender, race, age, and political orientation. We conclude by arguing that the field's interdisciplinary tradition should be further nurtured to drive the next evolutionary phase of risk communication research.