WELFARE AND CITIZENSHIP: The Effects of Government Assistance on Young Adults' Civic Participation

Recent scholarship and public discourse highlight an apparent waning of civic engagement in the United States. Although the welfare state is generally thought to support democracy by reducing economic inequality, it may paradoxically contribute to political disempowerment of some groups. We examine the effects of state interventions on civic participation among young adults, hypothesizing that involvement with stigmatizing social programs, such as welfare, reduces political engagement, while receipt of nonstigmatizing government assistance does not dampen civic involvement. Using official voting records and survey data from the Youth Development Study (YDS), a longitudinal community sample of young adults, a series of regression models suggests that welfare recipients are less likely to vote than nonrecipients, whereas recipients of non-means-tested government assistance participate similarly to young adults who do not receive government help. These effects hold even when background factors, self-efficacy, and prior voting behavior are controlled. Welfare receipt is not associated, however, with suppressed participation in nonstate arenas such as volunteer work. Intensive interviews with YDS welfare recipients are used to illustrate and develop the analysis.     

Using evidence-based research to redirect a conversation: Newspapers’ coverage of strategies to address college binge drinking

This study examines selected newspapers’ coverage of college binge drinking while also serving as an example of evidence-based practices that can be of use to public relations practitioners and health care professionals working to draw attention to important factors that are not being addressed in either public or policy conversations related to this issue. We examine newspaper coverage in 32 newspapers from 1997 to 2006 to determine which strategies to address college binge drinking are being covered and which of those are evidence-based and implemented by colleges. The mix of individual versus environmental strategies was examined based on Social Cognitive Theory. In the 255 articles analyzed, the majority of strategies covered were environmental. The most frequently covered strategy, increasing student knowledge, is individual and not evidence-based. Strategies classified as effective were not frequently covered. Media advocacy is offered as an evidence-based practice that public relations and health care professionals can use to affect change.     

Objects,Meanings, and Role Identities: The Practices that Establish Association in the Case of Home‐Based Employment1

Contemporary social theory suggests that the meaning of any object differs by how we, as social actors, respond and relate to it. The challenge for sociology lies in exploring the different strategies and practices recursively and productively embedded in these relationships. In this article, I present data from in‐depth interviews with 20 home‐based employees to illustrate how these individuals interact with familiar objects in their surroundings to form anchor points for diverse lines of conduct. Although I draw from a number of sociological theories in my analyses, I further utilize cognitive theory to outline three micro‐psychological practices (i.e., routinization, goal targeting, and emotional alignment) that respondents apply in their attempt to establish the desired association between objects and identities. In this way, the article both extends previous lines of inquiry into the relationship between objects and actors, and makes a new contribution to the growing literature on culture and cognition.     

Pregnancy and Dropout: Effects of Family,Neighborhood, and High School Characteristics on Girls’ Fertility and Dropout Status

Population Research and Policy Review - Administrative data from multiple sources are combined to measure pregnancy (excluding those ending in abortion or miscarriage) and high school dropout in a...     

"When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple": Red Hatters cope with getting old

This ethnographic study examined women's friendships in Red Hat Society (RHS) chapters. Qualitative data included in-depth interviews (n = 25), a focus group interview (n = 7), participant observation, and examination of RHS publications. Results suggest that participation in the RHS (1) aids in developing and enhancing positive attitudes about self and aging that contribute to overall well-being, (2) offers the opportunity to obtain instrumental and emotional support, and (3) provides social connections that prevent feelings of social isolation. Collectively, these findings highlight the potential buffering role of RHS participation in women's lives.     

'Tell me in your own words': disabling barriers and social exclusion in young persons

This article summarizes two research studies carried out in the University of Cantabria and the University of Sevilla with young persons at risk of social exclusion (underprivileged socio-economic groups, ethnic/cultural minorities and disabled people). We uphold the need to study exclusion as a socially constructed process, which allows us to discuss barriers to social participation (following the social model of disability) while ruling out the essentialist and psychological explanations of inequality and social oppression. We aim to know the barriers young persons have encountered in social and school participation through their own words. We have used several biographical/narrative techniques which have an emancipating interest. Such techniques allow us to learn from the discourses of the young women or men that participated in the research and to discover the fundamental milestones that have shaped their excluded identities.     

Entry-level jobs: First rung on the employment ladder or economic dead end?

The ability of young workers to move from dead-end jobs into higher-wage jobs which have better career prospects is greatly influenced by the individual’s characteristics, local labor market conditions, and his or her human capital. This paper examines the characteristics of entry-level jobs of young workers in the 1980s with emphasis on how education and training influence the types of jobs held. The incidence of post-school training is quite low even though all types of post-school training raise wages significantly. Company-provided training reduces the probability that a young worker will leave his or her employer, while off-the-job training increases the ability of employees, especially young women, to move out of a dead-end job.     

Gender Differences in Adult Children's Support of Their Parents in Taiwan

This paper examines the patterns and determinants of four types of support provided by adult children to their parents, with particular attention to differences in the helping behaviors of sons and daughters. The data come from the 1989 wave of the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan. The analysis is based on 12,166 adult children from 2,527 families. We find that usually only one child in a family provides help with activities of daily living (ADLs) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), but for financial or material support the responsibility is likely to be shared among siblings. Sons generally carry the major responsibility for taking care of their older parents, and daughters fulfill the son's roles when sons are not available.