Partnership Instability and Child Well‐Being

We use data from three waves of the Fragile Families Study (N= 2,111) to examine the prevalence and effects of mothers’ partnership changes between birth and age 3 on children’s behavior. We find that children born to unmarried and minority parents experience significantly more partnership changes than children born to parents who are married or White. Each transition is associated with a modest increase in behavioral problems, but a significant number of children experience 3 or more transitions. The association between instability and behavior is mediated by maternal stress and lower quality mothering. The findings imply that policies aimed at reducing maternal stress and partnership instability may improve child well‐being.     

CURRENT ISSUES Powerful Practices: an Australian case study of contested notions of ethical disability research

Setting the Scene This is the story of research identified by powerful institutional players and a non-disabled researcher as being ethical and non-discriminatory, but held by research subjects with disability to be disrespectful, discriminatory and unethical. It shows the imbalance of power, and limitations of existing Australian provisions in the regulation of research, privacy and anti-discrimination. It also attests to the discursive shaping of notions of justice and ethics by institutional players to suit institutional and corporate ends. This is a true story where only the names of all players have been changed. The author has received consent from the Australian organisation of people with disability to publish this, as they are concerned to articulate some of the issues. Hence, the names are changed, but all other details of this saga remain the same. The account begins in September 1994 and concludes in February 1996. Our assembled cast is a researcher, the State Department of Sport and Recreation, the University of Noname and the organisation 'Humans with Disabilities Inc.' (HWD).     

Cybersex: The Impact of a Contemporary Problem on the Practices of Marriage and Family Therapists

The number of people accessing the Internet for sexual purposes (cybersex) has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. However, little research has been conducted to determine how frequently clients present for treatment with cybersex‐related issues. One hundred sixty‐four clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy participated in the current study, which was conducted to identify the impacts of cybersex on MFTs’ practices. Most respondents report seeing clients with cybersex‐related issues, with client numbers increasing over the past 2 years. Although most respondents felt prepared to diagnose and treat adults with cybersex problems, half felt unprepared to diagnose and treat children. Lastly, most respondents reported that their required college courses were not helpful in preparing them to diagnose and treat cybersex‐related problems. The implications of study findings are discussed.     

Regression Modelling of Disease Risk in Relation to Point Sources

We describe a class of models for the investigation of possible raised risk of disease around putative sources of environmental pollution. An adaptation of the point process method suggested by Diggle and Rowlingson is presented, allowing the use of routinely available aggregated data and incorporating the more general distance–risk model suggested by Elliott and co-workers. An application to data on cancers of the stomach around municipal solid waste incinerators is presented.     

Risk Factors of Sexual Harassment by Peers: A Longitudinal Investigation of African American and European American Adolescents

The present research explores risk factors for, and longitudinal associations of, sexual harassment by peers during adolescence. Eight‐hundred and seventy‐two African American and European American adolescents (65.4% African American, 51.1% females) were assessed during the summer after the eighth grade (mean age=14.2 years) and then again in the 11th grade (mean age=17.1 years). At the first assessment, adolescents were asked about their experiences with sexual harassment, their psychological reactions to sexual harassment, and also about their peer relationships, perceived pubertal timing, problem behavior, and mental health. At the second assessment, adolescents reported on their problem behavior and mental health. In general, youth who associated with peers who were involved in problem behavior were at risk for victimization. Among females, those who perceived themselves to be experiencing early pubertal development were also at risk. Additionally, for some adolescents, sexual harassment predicted later adjustment difficulties.     

BREASTFEEDING AND INFANT MORTALITY: UNTANGLING THE COMPLEX WEB OF CAUSALITY

Much of the research which has been interpreted as showing the positive effect of breastfeeding on child survival is rendered inconclusive by errors in study design. Complexities of the breastfeeding/mortality relationship are discussed and a research strategy is outlined, based on secondary analysis of existing data, which would generate more reliable estimates of the benefits of breastfeeding.     

Uniting the nation? disability,stem cells,and the australian media

In this article, the 2002 Australian debate regarding embryonic stem cells is examined. This shows the importance of an analysis of the media to understanding how disability is constructed in discourses of nationhood and biotechnology. Media representation of disability—for instance, signifying disability as catastrophe—is seen as crucial in securing access to a variety of biotechnologies, such as embryonic stem cells. Analysis of such media moments shows a structure of privileged and excluded voices in debates regarding disability and biotechnology. The diversity of voices in the Australian community regarding disability is not represented in a range of media, nor are people with disability quoted as experts on disability. A recognition of the media's construction of disability must be matched by a commitment to disability as part of a truly civil society. It is only in this way that we will have biotechnologies, and diverse cultural and media representations that meet the requirements of the international disability rights movement motto of 'nothing about us without us', recently emphasized in the Disabled Peoples' International Europe's 2000 statement on biotechnology.     

Managing Contradiction: Stockholder and Stakeholder Views of the Firm as Paradoxical Opportunity

Stockholder and stakeholder perspectives have been positioned in the literature as being in tension, and thus a potential source of innovation and change. However, researchers have overlooked a systematic examination of this presumption in theory and in practice. This study explores the ways that stockholder and stakeholder assumptions are presented by theorists and compares these with expressions of stockholder and stakeholder perspectives used by firms in practice. We argue that theoretical entrenchment dichotomizing these perspectives has disrupted the ability of researchers to leverage this tension. While scholarship remains trapped in a vicious cycle, we also argue that firms in practice express only the acceptance dimension of a virtuous cycle. Our empirical research demonstrates that firms accept and accommodate the paradoxical tension between managing for stockholders versus balancing the interests of stakeholders. This is evidenced by strategies we identify as book‐ending, cadence, continuous and simultaneous co‐mingling, and hybridization. We find that in practice these tensions are more integrated whereas in theory they are treated as more distinct and, often, in conflict. We suggest ways in which both scholarship and practice can better leverage tension as paradoxical opportunity.     

Leisure Activities in Unemployed Emerging Adults: Links to Career Adaptability and Subjective Well‐Being

The present study examined if frequency and quality of 3 types of leisure activities (i.e., relaxation, achievement, and social) can function as protective factors for subjective well‐being (SWB) and career adaptability (CA) among 184 unemployed emerging adults (84 women, 100 men). Participants responded to measures of leisure frequency and quality, SWB, and CA. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the frequency of relaxation, achievement, and social leisure activities had no effect on SWB and CA. However, regression analyses indicated that the quality of social leisure activities significantly predicted SWB and the quality of achievement and social leisure activities significantly predicted CA. The quality of relaxation leisure activities was not associated with SWB and CA. Findings indicate that counselors who work with unemployed emerging adults can use leisure activities to promote SWB and CA. Future research to better understand the role of leisure in well‐being and career development among emerging adults is encouraged.     

Leadership,Passion and Performance: A Study of Job Creation Projects during the Recession

In the aftermath of the economic recession that began in 2008, governmental bodies have been assisting private sector companies to create jobs. To increase financial performance under greater economic uncertainty and liquidity constraints, this study proposes that a leader's type of passion could explain why some project leaders who receive government funding succeed in creating jobs whereas others do not. Harmonious passion, a voluntary but not overpowering urge to engage in an activity, leads to higher job creation, especially under greater environmental complexity. Obsessive passion, an uncontrollable urge to engage in an activity, also leads to higher job creation, particularly under increasing environmental dynamism. Using survey data from 105 European Union projects and archival data on job creation from the EU funding agency, we find support for the proposed framework. The findings provide a basis for acknowledging the relevance of a leader's passion for environmental adaptation.