Are men or women more reluctant to marry in couples sharing a non-marital birth?

In this paper I examine whether one gender is driving the “retreat from marriage” among unmarried parents. I use a sample of romantically involved unmarried parents—taken from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Survey—to examine whether a gender difference exists in marriage attitudes that are current-relationship specific and not relationship specific, with and without controls of current relationship quality. Using ordered logistical analysis, I find that, net of other factors, men are more positive regarding marriage and their current relationship than their female partners. She earned her M.A. in sociology from Northwestern University in 2004. Her research interests include gender and the family.     

The mentally ill student on campus: theory and practice

Traditional biases about the nature of mental illness and the mission of the academic environment have frequently shaped college policy and practice affecting mentally ill, suicidal, or chemically addicted students. Too often, removal of the student from campus has been seen as appropriate, therapeutically and educationally. The assumption that separating seriously disturbed students from the classroom is in the students' best interests is challenged by models of cognitive and emotional functioning that recognize the multifaceted nature of each. Such models affirm the salience of the student identity for the troubled student's sense of self and therapeutic prognosis. Creating an environment responsive to and supportive of the student in distress may also lead to significant educational benefits to the institution as a whole. Higher education has an opportunity to create work and study environments that meet broadly conceived ethical and educational goals. Experience with the Skidmore College-Four Winds Hospital program demonstrates that few additional resources are needed to implement such policy and practice.     

保持高校学生党员先进性长效机制建设的调研与思考

高校学生党员在保持党员先进性方面存在问题的主要原因,在于没有形成教育、管理、监督的长效机制。只有通过组织制度和投入的保障,实施学习教育、实践、监督及考评机制的创新,才能真正形成让学生党员长期受教育,永葆先进性的长效机制。     

A study of three-dimensional curves

In certain abnormalities of spinal shape, the long axis of the spine moves out of the median sagittal plane, producing both an axial torsion and a lateral deviation out of the usual front-back plane. Clinicians need to be able to assess rapidly and accurately whether or not an individual has such an abnormality. In this paper, we examine several case studies. These are analyzed using some simple summary statistics, and the use of these methods to infer abnormality is demonstrated. Using a simple fitted model for the data, an angular estimate of abnormality is obtained. Empirical measures of abnormality based on the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix are also determined. These methods are applied to a number of individuals for whom the surface spinal profiles have been recorded and who have been assessed as normal or abnormal by clinicians.     

A class of partially linear single‐index survival models

The authors define a class of “partially linear single‐index” survival models that are more flexible than the classical proportional hazards regression models in their treatment of covariates. The latter enter the proposed model either via a parametric linear form or a nonparametric single‐index form. It is then possible to model both linear and functional effects of covariates on the logarithm of the hazard function and if necessary, to reduce the dimensionality of multiple covariates via the single‐index component. The partially linear hazards model and the single‐index hazards model are special cases of the proposed model. The authors develop a likelihood‐based inference to estimate the model components via an iterative algorithm. They establish an asymptotic distribution theory for the proposed estimators, examine their finite‐sample behaviour through simulation, and use a set of real data to illustrate their approach.     

Losing Selves: Dementia Care as Disruption and Transformation

Caregiving is a process of transformed identities and reconstructed relations. The disruption of Alzheimer's disease affects both the individual with dementia and the person providing care. One becomes enselfed in dementia, the other transformed into a caregiver. Using data from twenty qualitative interviews with family caregivers, this article traces the transformative process by which the previous relational selves of both participants become casualties of the disease. Findings suggest that the ill person in this dyad is silenced through dementia, leaving the caregiver narratives to become the morality tales of transformation from disorder to order, from havoc to meaningful interaction. By becoming caregivers, family members construct value in their struggles to negotiate the disorder of illness and recreate meaningful and affirming selves and relationships.     

An analysis of variables affecting length of stay in foster care

The purpose of this paper was to find out whether the relationship between type of contact with agency and/or child in foster care and average number of contacts over time makes any difference in length of stay in foster care. Four types of contacts were examined: Family—Agency, Family Initiated—Agency, Social Worker—Initiated, and Family—Child. Results indicated that there were critical numbers for each contact type found to be statistically significant that would tend to reduce the length of the child's stay in foster care. The importance of contact during the first month of placement was emphasized.     

How I demystified academe and got a Ph.D.

Graduate education is more than simply taking courses, taking comprehensive exams, and writing theses and dissertations. It is also a process of personal intellectual growth that results in a redefinition of identity. This transformation of self is tantamount to a demystification process such that students must debunk the “Ph.D. mystique” to identify with sociologists and become members of the sociological community. Faculty can aid this process by sharing their own transformative experiences, but the structured inequality of the faculty-student relationship is a harrier against such personal disclosures. Yet transcending those structural barriers may be necessary to enhance the quality of graduate education in sociology. She is specializing in political economy and is writing a dissertation on economic change and work-time reduction.     

Brief Family Therapy: A Critique of Kinston and Bentovim

There has been a growing interest in the use of brief family therapy with children. Despite this increased interest, research into the effectiveness of this approach appears to have lagged behind clinical practice. The present paper critically reviews a study by Kinston and Bentovim (1978) which could be viewed as typical in the area of brief family therapy. Analysis of Kinston and Bentovim's investigation revealed serious methodological deficiencies and raised some important clinical issues in brief family therapy studies. These include the importance of training in family therapy, the use of a consistent theoretical framework, and flexibility in the application of techniques. On the basis of this review, recommendations are made that future investigations of brief family therapy follow the guidelines necessary for valid psychotherapy research.