Ethnic Classification in Global Perspective: A Cross-National Survey of the 2000 Census Round

Academic interest in official systems of racial and ethnic classification has grown in recent years, but most research on such census categories has been limited to small case studies or regional surveys. In contrast, this article analyzes a uniquely global data set compiled by the United Nations Statistical Division to survey the approaches to ethnic enumeration taken in 141 countries. The motives for this analysis combine theoretical, applied, and policy objectives. I find that 63% of the national censuses studied incorporate some form of ethnic enumeration, but their question and answer formats vary along several dimensions that betray diverse conceptualizations of ethnicity (for example, as “race” or “nationality”). Moreover, these formats follow notably regional patterns. Nonetheless, the variety of approaches can be grouped into a basic taxonomy of ethnic classification approaches, suggesting greater commonality in worldwide manifestations of the ethnicity concept than some have recognized.

Adolescents' perspectives on relationships with grandparents: The contribution of adolescent, grandparent, and parent–grandparent relationship variables

There is limited research on adolescent–grandparent relationships, especially from the adolescent perspective and on large-scale samples. The study examined the associations between the adolescent–grandparent relationship (i.e., importance of, emotional closeness to, and respect for grandparents' views) and the characteristics of the adolescent, grandparent, and parent–grandparent relationship, as well as the interactions between several of these factors. It was based on a representative sample of 1478 students aged 11–16 from England and Wales who completed a structured questionnaire. Results supported the position that grandparents are a significant factor in the lives of adolescents. Findings of hierarchical regression analyses showed that more frequent contact, greater grandparent involvement, and better parent–grandparent relationships predicted adolescents' reports on higher levels of emotional closeness to, importance of, and respect for their closest grandparent's views. The interactions consistently emphasized the role of parents as gatekeepers of intergenerational exchange.     

Children’s Strategies for Agency in Preschool

This article is based on an ethnographic study of children’s everyday life in Swedish preschools. The ethnography is used to explore children’s strategies for influencing, defending and constructing the social order of a preschool institution. The focus of our concern is on how the children, in their interactions with each other and with the preschool teachers, manage the collective regulation and how they negotiate their participation in collective activities. There is an inherent tension between free play and the high degree of routinised and collective activities within the preschool institution. The study shows that children are active in playing at the border, acting as if the institution is the children’s place. It also shows how they draw on different strategies as resources for managing the regulations, accounting for personal autonomy and negotiating the social order. In taking a child perspective and acknowledging children as active agents, it is possible to see how they influence and shape their everyday life in a preschool context. In addition, the article illustrates individual children’s strategic and pragmatic use of resources and in doing so contribute to their own childhood and thereby become part of a social and cultural construction process.     

Infants' Response to Maternal Mirroring in the Still Face and Replay Tasks

Infants' response to maternal mirroring was investigated in 4‐month‐old infants. Mother–infant dyads participated in the still face and replay tasks. Infants were grouped by those whose mothers did and did not mirror their behavior in the interactive phases of the tasks. In the still face task, infants with maternal mirroring showed more attention, smiling, and positive vocalizations across the phases, although both groups of infants demonstrated the still‐face effect with attention and smiling. Infants' social bidding to the mother during the still‐face phase correlated with mothers' mirroring behavior. In the replay task, infants with maternal mirroring demonstrated carryover effects with smiling; infants without maternal mirroring showed no awareness of change in their mothers' behavior. In both the still face and replay tasks, infants with maternal mirroring were more engaged with their mothers. Results suggest that maternal mirroring of infants' behavior affects infants' detection of, and response to, reciprocal interaction.     

An Investigation of Measures of Modern and Old-Fashioned Sexism

Working from the Principle of Beneficence we make the case that there is a need for adequate measures of sexism in men and women. Swim, Aikin, Hall and Hunter (1995) suggest that modern sexism represents a constellation of beliefs in which individuals: (a) disavow women's present-day discrimination; (b) reject women's demands for political and economic power; and (c) disapprove of policies designed to promote gender equality. To assess this construct, Swim et al. (1995) developed the Modern Sexism Scale (MSS), and to date, few studies have assessed its reliability and factor structure. Using data from 187 Canadian participants, confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the unidimensionality of the MSS and Swim and associates' (1995) Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale (OFSS). Results do not support Swim et al.'s conceptualization of modern sexism as a unidimensional construct; however, the OFSS fit a unidimensional model. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

THE LAWYER-THERAPIST CONSULTATION TEAM*

This paper discusses a six-month pilot study done at The Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy. Joint consultations with a Family Therapist and a Matrimonial Attorney were offered to ten couples and one woman contemplating divorce. Sessions were videotaped. A project addendum was done with telephone interviews. The authors were interested in determining whether joint consultations would be useful to help couples understand the psychological and legal implications of conflicts expressed during the separation process.