Exploring the Association Between Housing Insecurity and Child Welfare Involvement: A Systematic Review

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - Housing insecurity and involvement with the child welfare system are common experiences for low-income families. To date, previous empirical studies on...     

Activity Theory Analysis of Heart Failure Self-Care

The management of chronic health conditions such as heart failure is a complex process emerging from the activity of a network of individuals and artifacts. This article presents an activity theory–based secondary analysis of data from a geriatric heart failure management study. Twenty-one patients’ interviews and clinic visit observations were analyzed to uncover eight configurations of roles and activities involving patients, clinicians, and others in the sociotechnical network. For each configuration or activity pattern, we identify points of tension and propose guidelines for developing interventions for future computer-supported healthcare systems.     

Experiencing emerging adulthood in the Netherlands

Emerging adulthood is recognized as a recent and developmentally distinct phase in the life-course, characterized as a period of identity exploration, of instability, being self-focused, feeling in-between, and an age of possibilities. To measure the subjective experience of emerging adulthood Reifman, Arnett, and Colwell developed the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA). While a series of studies demonstrated the applicability of the five dimensions of emerging adulthood and effectiveness of IDEA for measuring these in US samples, results from non-US samples revealed important cultural differences in how emerging adulthood is experienced. The current study tests the extent to which emerging adulthood is experienced by Dutch young people, and the relevance and validity of the IDEA for a general urban population sample from the Netherlands. We examined differences between socioeconomic and ethnic groups within this population. The results revealed that certain aspects of the Dutch emerging adulthood experience are different from the USA. In addition, there are small but significant differences between Dutch socioeconomic and ethnic groups in how this period of life is experienced. Economic and cultural explanations for these differences are discussed.     

Prevalence of same‐gender sexual behavior and HIV in a probability household survey in Mexican men

The prevalence of male same‐gender sexual behavior in Mexico City in relation to HIV transmission was studied. A household probability survey of 8,068 adult men was conducted in 1992–93 using the Mexican National Health Survey sampling frame. The response rate was 59%. Differences between respondents and nonrespondents indicated no evidence for significant bias. A random subsample of 1,116 individuals provided serum or saliva for HIV testing. An estimated 2.5% of men practiced same‐gender sex in their lifetime: 2.1% (95% CI: 1.7 ‐ 2.4%) reported bisexual behavior and 0.4% (95% CI: 0.3 ‐ 0.6%) reported exclusively homosexual behavior. Among bisexuals, 70% reported sex only with women in the previous year, 7% reported sex only with men, 13% reported sex with both, and 10% were sexually inactive. A condom was used by 46% in their last homosexual encounter. An estimated 0.1% of married men were homosexually active in the previous year. The HTV prevalence estimate was 0.2% in the sample. The rate was 4% among homosexual/bisexual men and 0.09% in heterosexual men (p < 0.0001). Estimates of homosexual behavior and HTV infection from this population‐based sample are lower than results from nonprobability studies. The low prevalence of condom use anticipates future growth of the epidemic in the homosexual population. Bisexual behavior appeared to be infrequent and transitory, particularly among married men.     

Reproducing Inequality in Sociology

This essay discusses some mechanisms reproducing inequality in the discipline of sociology. I argue that credit for communally produced ideas accrues to individual and that the discipline is governed by a kind of “racial contract” partially governing which ideas and individuals are included. As a discipline centrally concerned with inequality and stratification, I argue sociologists should employ greater reflexivity when thinking about how disciplinary practices reproduce structures we typically critique in other contexts.     

为21世纪构建安全的全球能源新体系

过去的10年,关于全球能源体系的预期已经发生非常显著的变化。在经历了长期的产能过剩之后,从2001年开始,全球能源市场中大部分能源产品的价格急速上升,能源供应链也极不稳定。全球油价在持续上升18个月之后达到了历史最高水平,而后下降了2/3。此后,在全球经济持续疲软的影响之下,油价再度上扬至令人担忧的水平。事实上,令人担忧的远远不只油价上扬。例如,欧洲各国政府担心天然气供应的安全,印度等