MODERNIZATION,GENDER EQUALITY,AND MORTALITY RATES IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Although greater accessibility to health care and increasing levels of education among residents of less developed countries have clearly contributed to mortality decline, few theoretical models to date have adequately explained the relationship. A comprehensive model of mortality decline should document both the factors that directly drive down mortality rates and the underlying structural dynamics that give rise to such direct effects. The present article draws on fundamental diffusion concepts and a psychosociological model of modernization that attempts to explain how less developed countries increase their availability of health care services and reduce gender inequality. Two diffusion mechanisms are argued to be operating: the transfer of raw material goods and technology through the international capitalist exchange system and the transfer of modern values, ideas, practices, and knowledge through the mass media. The model was tested with data on four measures of mortality for a sample of 43 less developed countries circa 1993. Partial support is found for the model, and suggestions for future research are made.     

Disregulated Alcohol-Related Behavior Among College Drinkers: Associations With Protective Behaviors,Personality, and Drinking Motives

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Disregulated Alcohol-Related Behaviors Inventory (DARBI), a measure of harmful alcohol-related behavior, and the relationship between protective behavior use and scores on the DARBI and several other measures. Participants: Participants were 281 undergraduate volunteers (60% female) enrolled in introductory psychology sections in Summer and Fall 2007. Methods: Participants completed the DARBI along with paper-and-pencil self-report measures of broad personality domains, trait resilience, protective behavior use, and drinking motivations and consequences. Results: The DARBI's internal consistency was good (alpha = .85). DARBI scores correlated negatively with conscientiousness scores but positively with neuroticism, the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST), Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI), and positive-reinforcement motives scores. The self-reported use of protective behaviors related negatively to DARBI, MAST, RAPI, and enhancement motives scores. Protective behavior use was unrelated to broad personality domains. Conclusions: The DARBI may prove a useful tool in campus interventions. Further research should determine the dispositional and situational determinants of protective behavior use.     

THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE

This article examines the construction of ‘People’ in current and historical interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. It argues that ‘People’ is a powerful rhetorical figure constructed to sustain a narrative that transcends the realities of hard-won social change gained by living groups of people in US history. Opposing the common professional and popular conception of the US Constitution as the oldest continually functioning constitutional document, this paper posits that there have been many US Constitutions. With particular focus on the constitutional sanction of slavery and subsequent abolition amendments, as well as looking at Supreme Court cases concerning segregation and civil rights, it is argued that the Constitution does not represent a continuity, but a series of radically new documents. The Constitution(s) of the United States must, like any other text, be read and interpreted to have meaning; that is, the Constitution(s) do not have inherent, obvious meaning equally and readily available over generations. The contrary is made to seem the case by those interpreters who perpetuate an historical narrative of liberty and ‘People’ regardless of the contradictions, exclusions and hypocrisies of reality. The fights for inclusion are obscured by the sustained appearance of a history of gradual but inevitable absorption into an ahistorical ideal. Further hidden is the possibility that the perceived ideal might itself be culturally and historically contingent. The maintenance of the view that constitutional language can have consistent, available meaning over centuries is not a neutral endeavour. It is used to justify the actions of existing American power as inseparable from an irreproachable, historically legitimated ownership of democratic social values and aims. This takes on a broader significance when considered in the light of current, aggressive exportation of ideas of ‘People,’ ‘democracy,’ ‘liberty’ and so on, as if they had self-evident and transferable meanings.     

Child Sexual Abusers’ Views on Treatment: A Study of Convicted and Imprisoned Adult Male Offenders

In spite of an increasing focus on the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders over the past two decades, much debate persists as to the effectiveness of treatment in reducing recidivism. Given the dearth of research on offenders' perspectives in this area and the potential for offenders' views to inform the development of effective treatment, we consider the views of 35 adult male child sexual abusers on the prison treatment program. Focusing on a number of key themes, namely victim empathy, strategies for desistence, group or individual treatment, motivation, and postprogram support. In doing so, the extent to which this work furthers knowledge in this area and future research directions was considered.     

Endorsement for Civil Rights for Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender People Among Heterosexual College Students: Informing Socially Just Policy Advocacy

In the past decade, advocacy efforts to establish social policies that legally recognize same-sex relationships and protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from employment discrimination have increased considerably throughout the country. To inform these advocacy campaigns, we investigate endorsement for LGBT civil rights among heterosexual college students (n = 1,714). Students, overall, were moderately supportive of LGBT rights. Twenty-one variables were found to be significant in the initial analyses; however, only seven retained significance in the final analysis which controlled for all variables. Results suggest that political ideology and specific LGBT attitudes are most influential. Religiosity and having LGBT extended family members are also important. Implications for LGBT advocacy efforts are discussed.     

Self-Esteem,Self-Efficacy,and Social Connectedness as Mediators of the Relationship Between Volunteering and Well-Being

ABSTRACT

This study examines the potentially mediated relationship between volunteering and well-being. Using survey data from a random sample (N = 2,990) of the population of the state of Victoria, Australia, three hypotheses were tested: Volunteers will report higher well-being than nonvolunteers; volunteers will report higher self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social connectedness than nonvolunteers; self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social connectedness will mediate the relationship between volunteer status and well-being. Results supported the hypotheses and showed that self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social connectedness were all significant mediators of the volunteering–well-being relationship. Increased social connectedness associated with volunteering was found to be the strongest first step in these pathways. This points to the importance of social connection for well-being, but future research using longitudinal designs is required to further test these relationships and provide the capacity for evidence of causality.     

Examining Recruitment Follow-Up Phone Calls and Their Influence on Attendance for Husbands and Wives in a Marriage and Relationship Education Program

Low-income married couples face unique stressors that contribute to increased relationship distress. Federal funding has supported research initiatives aimed at studying how marriage and relationship education (MRE) influences the relationships of low-income married participants. However, research identified recruitment and retention of low-income participants as a major obstacle to the replication of these programs. Therefore, this study examined programmatic data from 786 low-income married participants to investigate how recruitment follow-up influenced attendance in the MRE program. A weak, inverse relationship was found for women between the number of pre-enrollment phone calls made and hours spent in MRE. We found a statistically significant difference between who was contacted (wife, husband, or both) and attendance to the initial intake appointment for program enrollment. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Examining Passive and Active Recruitment Methods for Low-Income Couples in Relationship Education

One of the most difficult aspects of studying low-income couples is the effective implementation of recruitment and retention strategies. Low-income couples face environmental stressors that make participation difficult, and research has yet to identify efficacious methods of recruiting and retaining low-income couples into funded studies. Researchers and practitioners targeting low-income participants rely on a “learn-as-they-go” approach. Therefore, we examined passive and active recruitment strategies for 394 married participants with children under age 18 and reporting a total household income within 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines who participated in a federally funded couples and relationship education program. Univariate ANOVAs indicated significant differences between recruitment method and total time spent in couples and relationship education workshops for both women and men. Further, results indicated a relationship exists between recruitment method and the number of follow-up contacts required before participants attended the initial intake appointment. Implications for practice and research are discussed.