Development of Parenting Skills in Individuals with an Intellectual Impairment: an epigenetic explanation

Current changes in legislation in the United States support the rights of individuals with an intellectual impairment to marry and have children. Current societal views, however, are heavily influenced by our history of viewing these individuals as inadequate parents. This historical view is based upon the assumption that those with intellectual impairments are genetically inferior. Changing views of development, however, suggest that the issue of how individuals with intellectual impairments develop is somewhat more complex. The epigenetic model is one that proposes that development is the result of the complex transaction between the individual and the environment. This paper applies this model to persons with an intellectual impairment to better understand the parenting skills they display. It is argued that by intervening and changing developmental pathways, the development of parenting skills of those with intellectual impairments can be facilitated.     

A Sociology of the Periphery Versus a Peripheral Sociology: Rural Sociology and the Dimension of Space1

Abstract Rural sociology is intrinsically concerned with the spatial dimensions of social life. However, this underlying research tradition, particularly the use of space as a research strategy, has been insufficiently addressed and its contributions to general sociology are little recognized. I outline how concern with space, uneven development, and the social relationships of peripheral settings have provided substantive boundary and conceptual meaning to rural sociology, propelled its evolution, and left it with a legacy of strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. A willingness to tackle the dimension of space and the thorny problems it raises often sets rural sociologists apart from other sociologists. This research tradition contrasted with general sociology's concern with developing generalization, aspatial covering laws, and proto-typical relationships of modern or Fordist development settings. Conceptual openings have left sociologists questioning their past agenda. Coupled with the “creative marginality” inherent in the questions and contexts addressed by rural sociologists, this makes the subfield central to contemporary sociology.     

Suicide Attempts by Adolescent Latinas: An Exploratory Study of Individual and Family Correlates

Epidemiological data show high rates of suicide attempts among adolescent Latinas. Few studies have addressed the psychosocial, cultural and family correlates of suicide attempts among this age group of a rapidly growing population. The authors studied 31 adolescent Hispanic females who were receiving mental health services; 14 girls had attempted suicide in the previous five years and 17 had never attempted suicide. The two groups of girls did not differ significantly with respect to demographic profiles, levels of depression, family type, acculturation, or self-esteem. However, as hypothesized, the mutuality between girls and their mothers was lower among suicide attempters. Maladaptive coping skills of withdrawal and wishful thinking were more commonly used by attempters, and non-attempters used emotional regulation and problem-solving more frequently. Findings are discussed within the context of the empirical and theoretical literature and implications for practice are considered.     

Rehabilitating the Criminality of Immigrants Under Section 19 of the Canadian Immigration Act1

Immigration has historically been associated with moral entrepreneurship and xenophobia. In periods of high unemployment and global dislocation, immigrants easily become the targets of political commentators who complain of their criminality, morals, demand on public services, and competition for scarce employment. In this exercise, looking at the recidivism of immigrants who come to Canada with a previous, foreign criminal history, quite a different picture emerges. Among this random sample (N=204), 97.5 percent of immigrants granted a rehabilitation waiver under the provisions of the Canadian Immigration Act were not re‐arrested in Canada within a period of about 3.5 years after their landing was approved by the Minister. Of those who were arrested, most of the delinquency was manageable and, in fact, resulted in either an acquittal, diversion or lower‐range sanctions. This is not the kind of imagery complained of by the tabloids or critics in the body politic. It behooves us, then, to exercise care in discussing crime and immigration, as it is a subject easily prone to the creation of “moral panics” and resulting repressive legislation against persons of color.     

WAGE DISCRIMINATION ACROSS ETHNIC GROUPS: EVIDENCE FROM ISRAEL

We investigate wage differentials between ethnic groups in Israel, proposing a new methodology and an illustration based on the latest Israeli census. By using separate wage equations for the various occupations, our methodology allows us to decompose the wage differential into three components: one reflecting human capital differences; one reflecting wage discrimination; and a third indicating occupational segregation. We find that 70 percent of the wage gap is due to segregation, 26 percent to wage discrimination and only 4 percent to human capital differences. Evidence is also found for the existence of duality in the Israeli labor market.     

Design optimization using ANOVA

This paper describes the design optimization of a robot sensor used for locating 3-D objects employing the Taguchi method in a computer simulation scenario. The location information from the sensor is to be utilized to control the movements of an industrial robot in a 'pick-and-place' or assembly operation. The Taguchi method, which is based on the Analysis-of-Variance (ANOVA) approach, is utilized to improve the performance of the sensor over a wider operating range. A review of the Taguchi method is presented along with step-by-step implementation details to identify and optimize the design parameters of the sensor. The method allows us to gauge the impact of various interactions present in the sensor system exclusively and permits us to single out those factors that have a dominant influence on the overall performance of the sensor. The investigation suggests that the Taguchi method is a more structured and efficient approach for achieving a robust design compared with the classical full factorial design approach.     

Führung durch Selbstführung

This paper outlines the conceptual bases, strategies, and psychological attributes of leadership by self-leadership. In addition, relations to other theories of leadership are drawn. Dimensions and correlates of self-leadership competence are described and discussed. Various approaches for developing self-leadership competence are discussed as well.