Environmental Risk Exposure,Risk Perception,Political Ideology and Support for Climate Policy

The degree to which risk perceptions are socially constructed versus the result of actual exposure to risk is highly contested; how risk exposure and risk perception influence policy attitudes is also poorly understood. We examine how personal exposure to risk factors impacts risk perceptions and policy support related to air pollution and climate change. Our selection of risk exposure variables is informed by the “mental models” literature, and we employ an array of variables to capture subjective risk perceptions using novel survey data. We find that exposure to risk does little to predict risk perception and has a small influence on policy support. Overall, our findings lend support to a constructionist understanding of risk perception and support for policies related to environmental risks.     

Middle‐Class Parents and Urban Public Schools: Current Research and Future Directions

Middle‐class flight from urban public schools to suburban districts or private schools is a key source of educational inequality. Recently, however, a number of studies have focused on middle‐class and upper‐middle‐class families who have made a different choice, opting to remain in the city and send their children to neighborhood public schools. While the movement of advantaged families into urban public schools has received positive attention in the media, this growing body of research tells a more complicated story. Middle‐class families – with their economic, cultural, and social capital – can bring important resources to schools, resulting in widespread benefits. However, their engagement in urban public schools can also lead to marginalization and exclusion. We review the emergent literature on this topic, highlighting four themes: (i) parent preferences, identities, and values; (ii) the role of marketing campaigns and informal networks in attracting the middle class; (iii) the nature and consequences of middle‐class parent engagement in urban schooling; and (iv) the relationship between neighborhood change and school change. We conclude by outlining a research agenda aimed at deepening our understanding of the mechanisms by which middle‐class parent engagement in urban schooling may serve to mitigate, reproduce, or exacerbate educational inequalities.     

Compulsory income management: Combatting or compounding the underlying causes of homelessness?

Compulsory Income Management (CIM) is a form of conditional welfare that involves the mandatory quarantining of a portion of welfare recipients’ social security payments. Quarantined funds are accessible via a government-issued debit card, with restrictions surrounding where and on what funds can be spent. Official justifications of CIM have framed these policies as attempts to combat substance abuse and gambling problems, and to thus secure better outcomes for welfare recipients and their families. Central to this narrative has been the argument that welfare quarantining will ensure more money is spent on ‘essentials’, including accommodation. No existing studies, however, have specifically interrogated the impacts of CIM on housing security. This article responds to this gap in the literature by reviewing existing research concerning CIM's impacts and locating this research within broader debates regarding the causes of homelessness and the efficacy of individualised policy interventions. In doing so, it highlights CIM's potential to exacerbate housing insecurity not only through technical issues such as rental transfer failures, but also by contributing to underlying stressors such as economic disadvantage; relationship difficulties, poor health and addiction; and social stigma. The article concludes that – far from addressing the structural causes of homelessness – CIM has enflamed them.     

The Role of Career Barriers in High School Students' Career Choice Behavior in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of career barriers in social cognitive career theory (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994). The participants were 584 high school students in Taiwan, Republic of China. The gender differences in perceived career barriers and career self‐efficacy were significant. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that some of the perceived career barriers were significant in predicting individuals' career choice behavior after controlling for career self‐efficacy in certain career types.     

Marital Aspirations,Sexual Behaviors,and HIV/AIDS in Rural Malawi

We explore how marital aspirations are related to the sexual behaviors of adolescents and young adults in Malawi, where HIV/AIDS prevalence among adults exceeds 10%. We also consider whether the specter of AIDS is shaping ideals about marriage. By combining survey data (N = 1,087) and in‐depth interviews (N = 133) with young Malawians from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project, we show that looking for and finding a suitable spouse are linked to sexual behaviors and, thus, HIV risks. Moreover, concerns about contracting HIV are closely tied to the ideal characteristics of a future spouse. Our findings draw long‐overdue attention to the importance of marital aspirations in understanding adolescent sexual behaviors and risks in the era of AIDS.     

Son preference and sex composition of children: Evidence from india

Although the effect of son preference on sex composition of children ever born is undetectable in national-level estimates that aggregate across all families, this article provides empirical evidence from India that son preference has two pronounced and predictable family-level effects on the sex composition of children ever born. First, data from India show that smaller families have a significantly higher proportion of sons than larger families. Second, socially and economically disadvantaged couples and couples from the northern region of India not only want but also attain a higher proportion of sons, if the effects of family size are controlled.     

Adaptation of the older worker to occupational challenges

The occupational adaptation practice model guided the search for and the analysis of the literature on the older worker. The purpose of this literature review was to: identify the occupational challenges that older workers experience, determine ways in which the occupational therapist can promote the occupational adaptation of older workers, and articulate the research and policy changes implied in the model related to health and improved productivity. The analysis of the worker's personal characteristics, work tasks, and environments highlighted the types of occupational challenges that may overwhelm the older worker's adaptive capacity. Straining adaptive capacity of the older worker leads to degradation in levels of mastery. The occupational therapist and others could assist the older worker to achieve relative mastery in response to occupational challenges through ergonomic solutions, training, assistive devices, management policy, and health promotion. Combined efforts of the employer, of the occupational therapist, and of the older work to capitalize on the older worker's years of experience, existing skills, and knowledge facilitates higher job satisfaction, better performance, and an increased sense of well-being in the older worker.     

Training family therapists to assess for and intervene in partner abuse: a curriculum for graduate courses, professional workshops, and self-study

Partner abuse is an epidemic with potentially dire consequences for individuals, families, and society. Family therapists must be able to competently assess for and intervene in abuse situations. This article presents a curriculum designed to provide family therapists with introductory knowledge and skills for the assessment and intervention of partner abuse. The curriculum, which is informed primarily by feminist and multicultural theories and practices, can be used in graduate courses, professional workshops, and for self-study.     

The theory,structure, and techniques for the inclusion of children in family therapy: a literature review

Many barriers prevent therapists from including young children in family therapy, despite the theoretical belief that every family member should be present. Although there is a wealth of literature describing how to include children, the information has not been compiled in a way that is easily accessible to therapists. In this article, we report the findings of an exhaustive and systematic literature review of 64 publications, published between 1972 and 1999, related to including children in family therapy. The purpose of this article is to offer therapists a succinct compilation of theoretical, structural, and practical aspects as well as a comprehensive listing of specific techniques for including children in family therapy.