Asian American Interracial and Interethnic Marriages: Differences by Education and Nativity1

Using the 1990 U.S. census data, we apply log‐linear models to examine Asian Americans' interracial marriage with whites and interethnic marriages between Asian ethnic groups. Japanese and Filipino Americans are most likely to marry whites, followed by Chinese and Korean Americans. Southeast Asian and Asian Indian Americans are least likely to marry whites. We further explore how interracial marriage differs by couples' educational and nativity combinations. The impact of educational attainment, generally, is very strong but is modest for Japanese Americans, the most assimilated group, and for Southeast Asian Americans, the least assimilated group. Interracial marriage is more likely for native than for immigrant couples, but immigrants marrying natives are more likely to marry whites than persons of their own ethnic group. Interethnic marriage between Asian ethnic groups is limited to several ethnic groups, but is much more frequent among natives than among immigrants. Japanese and Chinese Americans, who have lived in the United States for several generations, have the highest rate of interethnic marriage. We have shown two forms of integration for Asian Americans – integration into mainstream society through interracial marriage for both immigrants and natives and integration into Asian American pan‐ethnicity through interethnic marriage for later‐generation natives.     

The family as gender and sexuality factory: A review of the literature and future directions

Early theorists understood the family as a key institution in the production of gender and sexuality. In this paper, I trace the development of this line of thought and review parents' role in shaping children's gender and sexuality over the life course. I first describe the three most prominent theoretical frameworks used to locate parents in these studies: psychoanalysis, socialization, and interactional approaches. In doing so, I illuminate the contributions of each theory to sociological thought on children's gender and sexuality while pointing to weaknesses with psychoanalysis and socialization. I then discuss how parents influence children's development and performance of gender and heterosexuality, paying attention to variations based on race, class, gender, and sexuality. Based on the current state of the literature, I suggest that we sociologists should diversify our methodological approaches in this area, attend to how changes in families correspond to changes in parents' role in shaping children's gender and sexuality, and grapple with how children's performances of gender and sexuality influence parents' performances of gender and sexuality.     

Does Observed Conflict Recovery Play a Role in Adolescent Dating Aggression?

In a study of conflict recovery and adolescent dating aggression, 14- to 18-year-old couples (N = 209 dyads) participated in a 1-hr observational assessment. Negative behavior was observed during conflict-evoking “hot” tasks and in a “cooldown” task. Physical and psychological dating aggression were assessed via questionnaires. Negative behavior measured in the cooldown task was not associated with dating aggression after controlling for carryover effects of negativity from the hot to cooldown tasks. Moreover, cooldown negativity moderated the associations of hot task negativity and dating aggression. Actor and partner effects were disentangled via dyadic data analyses. Given the paucity of observational studies of dating aggression, our findings are an important contribution to the literature and in need of replication and extension.     

Race and psychological distress: the South african stress and health study

We analyze data from the South African Stress and Health Study, a nationally representative in-person psychiatric epidemiologic survey of 4,351 adults conducted as part of the World Mental Health Survey Initiative between January 2002 and June 2004. All blacks (Africans, Coloreds, and Indians) initially report higher levels of non-specific distress and anger/hostility than whites. Access to socioeconomic resources helps explain differences in non-specific distress between Coloreds and whites and Indians and whites. However, only when social stressors are considered do we find few differences in psychological distress (i.e., non-specific distress and anger/hostility) between Africans and whites. In addition, self-esteem and mastery have independent effects on non-specific distress and anger/hostility, but differences between Coloreds and whites in feelings of anger/hostility are not completely explained by self-esteem and mastery. The findings contribute to the international body of work on social stress theory, challenge underlying assumptions of the minority status perspective, and raise a series of questions regarding mental health disparities among South Africans.     

Antisocial and Prosocial Teasing Among Children: Perceptions and Individual Differences

Two studies examined fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students’ perceptions of antisocial and prosocial teasing among peers and potential correlates of individual differences in their tendencies to engage in both forms of teasing. The children were rated as showing a greater tendency to be prosocial teasers than antisocial teasers by both teachers and peers. In addition, the children indicated that they generally experienced and observed prosocial teasing more frequently than antisocial teasing at home and in school. Although boys were perceived to tease in a hostile, antisocial manner to a greater extent than were girls, the evidence for a gender difference in affiliative, prosocial teasing among these children was relatively weak. Additionally, systematic relations were found among ratings of the children's tendencies to engage in antisocial and prosocial teasing with peers, teachers’ ratings of their general level of antisocial and prosocial behavior with peers, ratings of the frequency with which they experienced antisocial and prosocial teasing at home and at school, and their attitudes toward antisocial and prosocial teasing.     

Policies,Procedures, and People: Sources of Support for Government?

Objective . Many have written about the public's low opinion of the federal government; however, the theoretical sources and consequences of political trust have been empirically elusive. Drawing on the procedural justice framework, this study investigates the structure and consequences of people's mistrust of the federal government. Methods . Using data from various years of the National Election Study (NES), this research investigates the relationship between policy, procedural, and personal concerns and support of government. Results . Judgments about policy outputs, the process by which these policies develop, and the people involved in this process are shown to be sources of governmental trust, and certain aspects of trust are shown to have important behavioral consequences. Conclusions . These findings help to explain the failure of previous research into the causes and consequences of political trust. The various policy and process judgments that the NES Index combines play important independent roles in explaining political trust itself and its relationship with political behaviors and other attitudes.     

Childbearing Biographies as a Method to Examine Diversity and Clustering of Childbearing Experiences: A Research Brief

Population Research and Policy Review - Due to increasing heterogeneity in if, when, and under what conditions women have children, the timing, spacing, and other demographic aspects of...     

Bridge Builders: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Experiences of Former Refugees Working as Caseworkers in the United States

ABSTRACT.

Individuals who come to the United States as refugees and work as resettlement caseworkers offer peer support, modeling, and assistance with integration to newly arriving refugees, despite often having limited training or experience in social service provision. A phenomenological approach was utilized to gain understanding about the experiences of refugee caseworkers. Nine caseworkers who came to the United States as refugees completed in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify primary themes, including: a) the caseworker's bridge-building role with clients; b) their role in building bridges with others in the community, including the resettlement agency; and c) the caseworkers’ experience as bridge builders, including motivations, perspectives toward their role, and needed supports. Refugee service providers face unique challenges in negotiating boundaries with clients and meeting the expectations of their ethnolinguistic community members. Their strengths in understanding household experiences and in building agency and community understanding highlight their ability to contribute to positive resettlement outcomes. The findings from this study have implications for agencies serving refugees and for other social services that utilize peer-support strategies, particularly in regards to staff training and support. Findings highlight the need for research examining effective resettlement strategies and the perspectives of refugees toward resettlement approaches.     

“Otis”: A Case Study of an Online Attempt to Purchase Children for Sex

ABSTRACT

The researchers analyzed court documents to develop a case study of an individual convicted of buying sexual services from exploited children. Findings indicate that the subject deviates from preexisting victim selection processes and demonstrates characteristics inconsistent with existing sexual offender typologies that likens offender behaviors to the hunting techniques and behaviors of predatory animals. As evidenced in the case study, the individual perceived the victims solely as a means of deviant sexual satiation and did not participate in traditionally established victim acquisition techniques. In addition, the researchers propose adopting terminology that adheres to the term consumer rather than buyer as it better represents some offenders’ disconnect and lack of empathy in the victim acquisition process.     

A Qualitative Look at the Perceived Strengths of Male Batterers: Implications for Intervention Programs

Currently, batterer intervention programs tend to focus on education and confrontation, with outcomes being less than promising. Limitations of current interventions have encouraged development of alternative treatment forms aimed at ending relationship violence. An emerging trend in the fields of social work and positive psychology is to build on strengths and competencies of offenders. The purpose of this qualitative study was to introduce an alternative position within the treatment field by identifying self-disclosed strengths of men who had been charged with a domestic violence offense and who were being evaluated for a voluntary batterer diversion program. A content analysis revealed competencies useful for helping men be accountable and end violence against their partners through redirecting negative behavior and identifying resources and strengths.