Ethnic Self‐Identification of First‐Generation Immigrants1

This paper uses the concept of ethnic self‐identification of immigrants in a two‐dimensional framework. It acknowledges that attachments to both the country of origin and the host country are not necessarily mutually exclusive. There are three possible paths of adjustment from separation at entry, namely the transitions to assimilation, integration, and marginalization. We analyze the determinants of ethnic self‐identification in this process using samples of first‐generation male and female immigrants, and controlling for pre‐ and post‐immigration characteristics. While we find strong gender differences, a wide range of pre‐immigration characteristics like education in the country of origin are not important.     

Eco‐Sociology: Inside and outside of the cocoon

The present article examines how American and German sociological theories deal with the concept of nature and with environmental problems. The results of an analysis of professional sociological publications are presented. Various conceptions of sociological theorists are discussed focussing on nature and environmental problems. It is argued that the social sciences and the mass media are becoming more and more intertwined, increasingly coming to comprise ‘parallel systems of meaning production’ (Gamson and Modgliani, 1989). The basic cultural orientations (subsystems) determine how the concept of nature is discussed. It is suggested to investigate how different conceptions of nature are used in social actions and social situations.     

Self-perceptions of unpopularity in adolescence: Links to past and current adjustment

Self-perceptions of unpopularity in 404 high school students were found to reflect current emotional and behavioral distress. The authors studied these youths from ages 9 to 15 to examine early risks and current factors associated with perceptions of unpopularity. Feelings of unpopularity in middle childhood increased the risk of similar feelings in adolescence. However, self-reports of unpopularity at age 9 were not strong predictors of emotional and anti-social problems at age 15. Identification of unpopular adolescents and recommendations for future practice and research are proposed.This research was supported in part by Grant MH41569, National Institute of Mental Health. It was adapted from the doctoral dissertation of Dr. Cohen, Simmons College School of Social Work, completed in June, 1991. The authors wish to thank the dissertation committee members, Craig Edelbrock and Barent Walsh for their major contributions.Dr. Cohen is affiliated with the Early Adulthood Research Project, Simmons College, School of Social Work, and the co-authors are affiliated with the School of Social Work.     

Influences on parental involvement of African American adolescent fathers

This study explores several factors related to the parental involvement of African-American adolescent fathers. These factors are identified through empirical literature as exerting influence upon adolescent fathers and their roles as fathers. An exploratory research design was utilized in order to obtain a better understanding of these fathers and how the identified factors affected parental involvement. Findings suggest that these adolescent fathers exhibit a level of parental involvement that is not generally perceived by the public. Additionally, the findings suggest that the identified factors interact to influence different dimensions of parental involvement.This research study was supported with a grant from the Maurice Falk Medical Foundation in Pittsburgh, PA. Mr. Phillip Hallen, Executive Director. Thanks to Drs. Anthony King, Sharon Milligan, Elizabeth Robinson and Mark Singer for comments and suggestions on previous drafts and to Ms. Theresa Wilson for editing.     

Barriers in permanency planning for medically fragile children: Drug affected children and HIV infected children

This article discusses the problems of medically fragile children, drug affected and/or HIV infected. Passage of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 markedly increased the number of these children in foster care. The specific barriers to permanency planning for this group of children are discussed and include interviews with staff people, review of the literature and integration of material from pilot studies of families fostering and adoping children with HIV.Dr. Groze is an Associate Professor, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Mr Haines-Simeon is a Research Assistant, Univ. of Iowa, School of Social Work.Funding for the project from which this article was derived was provided by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, Abandoned Infants Assistance Programs, contracts #90CB00029.     

A cross-cultural study of body-focused hand movement

The apparently irrelevant self- or object-manipulatory behavior, otherwise known as body-focused movement, of children drawn from four cities, Adelaide, Brussels, Rome, and Sheffield, was observed while subjects performed four different tasks. Higher frequencies of body-focused movement were observed for a monologue task than for a rest task in each city. Slightly higher body-focused movement frequencies were observed for a Stroop color confusion task when compared with its color-naming control. No significant difference in self-manipulatory frequency was observed between the cities. Irrelevant clothing- and object-manipulatory behaviors were significantly more frequent for the Italian- and French-speaking children.This study would have been impossible without the assistance provided by Dr. Pierre Feyereisen (University of Louvain), Dr. Peter Smith (University of Sheffield) and Prof. M. Allessio (University of Rome).     

The differential effects of family violence on adolescent adjustment

The present study examined the effects of different types of domestic violence (i.e., being a victim of parent-child violence and witnessing interparental violence) on adolescent adjustment. The sample included a large, racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse group of high school students. Findings revealed that this sample experienced and witnessed high levels of family violence. Two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with externalizing behavior problem and internalizing behavior problem scores as the outcome variables. Variables were entered in three blocks with numerous sociodemographic variables entered first as covariates, the amounts of parent-child violence and witnessing interparental violence entered in the second block, and the interaction of gender and violence variables and interaction of the two violence variables in the third. Results revealed the amounts of parent-child violence and interparental violence witnessed were significant predictors of both externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Significant effects were also found for the interaction between parent-child violence and interparental violence. The implications of the findings are discussed.