Marriage Form and Son Preference in Rural China: An Investigation in Three Counties*

Abstract Using data from two surveys in three counties among which the prevalence of uxorilocal marriage varies greatly, this paper analyzes effects of marriage form, as well as individual, family, and social factors on son preference in the context of strict birth control in rural China. It is shown that, under the Chinese patrilineal joint family system, son preference can be inferred from the reproductive behavior of couples in virilocal marriage but not from that of couples in uxorilocal marriage. However, the negative effect of uxorilocal marriage on son preference is likely to depend on other factors. For all three counties, women married after the 1990s are less likely to have preference for sons; in regions with low prevalence of uxorilocal marriages, son preference is stronger for virilocally married couples with more sisters or having first birth at older age, and for couples whose marriages were arranged by others; in regions with high prevalence of uxorilocal marriages but under-developed economies, higher educated women in uxorilocal marriages have stronger son preference. Son preference differs greatly among the three counties and increased prevalence of uxorilocal marriage may significantly weaken son preference. These findings relate to changes in rural family and marriage customs during the current demographic and social transition, and suggest new approaches to weakening son preference while maintaining low fertility in rural China.     

Black Immigrants in Portugal: Luso–Tropicalism and Prejudice

This article analyzes the relationship between the luso–tropicalist representation of the history of Portuguese colonization and overt as well as covert expressions of anti-immigrant prejudice. The luso–tropicalist representation emphasizes the uniqueness of the Portuguese colonial relations based on Portuguese empathy and capacity to deal with people from different cultures. This representation was created during Salazar's dictatorial regime and is still assumed to be a dimension of Portuguese national identity. The empirical findings presented in this article show that this luso–tropicalist representation may explain the salience of the norm against prejudice in Portugal and may contribute to weaken the traditional association between national identity and overt prejudice. A second dimension of the association between luso–tropicalism and integration of Black immigrants in Portuguese society was examined, that is, the impact of luso–tropicalism on the attribution and covert evaluation of cultural differences between White Portuguese and Black immigrants. Results show that despite the luso–tropicalist representation, White Portuguese individuals express a covert negative evaluation of cultural differences attributed to Black immigrants. This means that the luso–tropicalist representation can protect against the expression of overt prejudice but not against its covert dimensions.     

South-nonsouth differentials in National Labor Relations Board certification election outcomes

This paper investigates and evaluates the magnitude of regional differentials in outcomes in National Labor Relations Board elections. The data for this project include NLRB elections conducted during the period 1973–1978. The author wishes to thank Steven Hills, Michael Borus, Gil Nestel and Kezia Sproat of the Center for Human Resource Research for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Competency-based program evaluation: A contingency approach

What types and levels of professional competency should an evaluator have? Should requisite competencies differ depending on the nature of an evaluation? Can a practical competency assessment approach be developed for use in educating highly qualified evaluation professionals? This article addresses these concerns by presenting a contingency model of evaluation competencies. Four broad categories of competency — policy analysis, administrative, interpersonal /personal, and technical — are identified along with three different levels or criteria of acceptable performance. Then several features of the evaluation context, including the evaluation type, the phase and the evaluator role, are individually analyzed to determine the required competencies implied by each. Based on this, a contingency model is developed that postulates requisite competency types and levels depending on a combination of contextual features. The article concludes that the model can usefully serve as a heuristic or organizing mechanism for assessing evaluation contexts and orienting the education of professional evaluators.     

“Live Social Work”: How to Bring Life Back into Social Work

Abstract

In this article I discuss how professional social work can entail critical, reflexive work. This is accomplished by adapting the concept of “live sociology”. It is mainly an exploratory article, trying to raise suggestions that can be adopted and be further developed. I argue that people coming into contact with contemporary social work are sometimes reduced to being “dead” objects, as they are pinned down into static categories. The demand for developing evidence-based social work risks substantiating this tendency even further. In contrast, I claim that social work needs to move away from these kinds of explanations and instead turn towards developing “live social work”; that is to say, social work where everyday life, agency, and what people do in what context needs to be the focus, not what people are.     

Single mothers or women in single parenthood (WISP)? A report and reflection on the development of a brief marital metaphor questionnaire (MMQ-10)

Metaphor is embedded with representations of both experience and longing and can go far beyond problem representations in exploring marital experience. This paper reports the development of a marital metaphor questionnaire and its use with 123 Chinese single mothers. Lower marital satisfaction does correlate with their ratings of marital experience, but not with their general attitude toward marriage. The implications are discussed as to how marital metaphors could be used as an effective tool to engage clients on sensitive topics, reveal hopes and strengths, and how empirical studies can be conducted in a stigma-free and strength-based orientation.     

The pre-school child at risk: An eating disorder

This paper discusses the dynamics of a preschool child at risk due to a disturbance in the mother-child relationship. The mother's activities attacked the child's autonomy through the feeding process. The child's defense of oral protest became life-threatening. The therapeutic intervention is described. This case illustrates that socioeconomic factors and educational background are not the only causes of risk for a child.     

农民工小团体现象的探测与分析：基于社会支持网络的研究

本文利用2005年对深圳市农民工的调查数据,应用N G算法,探测到农民工社会支持网络中的小团体现象,并通过对其数目、规模及内聚程度的分析,探讨了亲缘、地缘关系在小团体现象中的角色问题。本研究发现,农民工社会支持网络具有明显的小团体现象,不同性别和不同职业构成的农民工社会支持网的团体化程度存在差异,实际支持网、情感支持网和社交支持网等三类网络的团体化程度也存在差异。混合性别网络的小团体的内聚程度低于单一性别网络的小团体的内聚程度,加工业农民工小团体的内聚力差异程度较大,而建筑业农民工小团体的内聚程度则普遍较高。加工业农民工的业缘关系是小团体形成的重要纽带,建筑业农民工的小团体以地缘关系为主,但业缘关系的作用开始凸显。