Establishing auditory-tactile-visual equivalence classes in children with autism and developmental delays

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - The current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of a stimulus equivalence training procedure in establishing auditory–tactile–visual stimulus classes...     

Advocacy and the SSSP: An analysis of research articles in social problems

This study examines the extent of advocacy in the research articles appearing in the journalSocial Problems from 1953–1992. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) was founded in order to counter the mainstream scientism of the American Sociological Society. Becker’s presidential address to the SSSP in 1966 confronted the issue of advocacy and the consequences associated with research that does not explicitly “take sides.” The present study investigates advocacy inSocial Problems by means of a typology drawn from Becker’s address. The findings indicate that political advocacy has increased sharply over the duration ofSocial Problems. Implications of the findings are discussed in the context of value-neutrality and its relation to social problems research.     

Transformative Processes in Marriage: An Analysis of Emerging Trends

The study of conflict has dominated psychological research on marriage. This article documents its move from center stage, outlining how a broader canvas accommodates a richer picture of marriage. A brief sampling of new constructs such as forgiveness and sacrifice points to an organizing theme of transformative processes in emerging marital research. The implications of marital transformations are explored including spontaneous remission of distress, nonlinear dynamic systems that may produce unexpected and discontinuous change, possible nonarbitrary definitions of marital discord, and the potential for developing other constructs related to self‐transformation in marital research.     

Expert testimony in adversarial legal proceedings

Many business, political, and personal disputes in the United States are settled only after passing through the nation's judicial or regulatory system. The culmination of this process is frequently a hearing or trial in which the opposing parties argue the merits of the case. Demographic factors play a critical role in many of these disputes and demographers are often called upon to testify in hearings or trials. This article discusses the role of the demographer as expert witness and offers some tips on how to prepare and present expert testimony. The objective is to provide some practical guidance to prospective witnesses which will help them maximize effectiveness and minimize emotional distress when testifying in adversarial legal proceedings.     

Family cap provisions and changes in births and abortions

As part of welfare reform efforts in the 1990s, 23 states implemented family caps, provisions that deny or reduce cash assistance to welfare recipients who have additional births. We use birth and abortion records from 24 states to estimate effects of family caps on birth and abortion rates. We use age, marital status, and completed schooling to identify women at high risk for use of public assistance, and parity (number of previous live births) to identify those most directly affected by the family cap. In family cap states, birth rates fell more and abortion rates rose more among high-risk women with at least one previous live birth compared to similar childless women, consistent with an effect of the family cap. However, this parity-specific pattern of births and abortions also occurred in states that implemented welfare reform with no family cap. Thus, the effects of welfare reform may have differed between mothers and childless women, but there is little evidence of an independent effect of the family cap.     

Liberalism and the decay of the American political economy

Free markets and liberalism in Europe both emerged as the result of a particular combination of structural, cultural and personality variables. Both functioned relatively successfully because they operated within the framework of certain assumptions about the nature and acceptable limits of self-interest. These assumptions are now collapsing, in part as a function of internal contradictions in liberal capitalism itself, and, in part, as a function of the challenge of new elites which have become increasingly significant in advanced capitalist societies.     

"Coloured Power" or "Coloured Bourgeoisie"? Political Attitudes among South African Coloureds

Why have Coloureds in South Africa—people of mixed racialdescent—voiced less opposition to white minority rulethan have black Africans? A theoretical analysis suggests thatColoureds feel both "relatively deprived" in comparison withwhites and "relatively gratified" in comparison with Africans,that they believe they may eventually be accepted by whites,and that individually they have difficulty identifying withthe broader Coloured community; in short, seemingly ideal conditionsfor the emergence of a "Coloured Bourgeoisie" rather than a"Coloured Power" ideology.