Proceed With Caution? Parents' Union Dissolution and Children's Educational Achievement

Using high‐quality Norwegian register data on 49,879 children from 23,655 families, the authors estimated sibling fixed‐effects models to explore whether children who are younger at the time of a parental union dissolution perform less well academically, as measured by their grades at age 16, than their older siblings who have spent more time living with both biological parents. Results from a baseline model suggest a positive age gradient that is consistent with findings in some of the extant family structure literature. Once birth order is taken into account, the gradient reverses. When analyses also control for grade inflation by adding year of birth to the model, only those children who experience a dissolution just prior to receiving their grades appear relatively disadvantaged. The results illustrate the need to specify and interpret sibling fixed‐effects model with great care.     

Organizing migrant care workers in Israel: Industrial citizenship and the trade union option

The authors examine the feasibility of trade unionism for migrant care workers, based on a recent organizing drive in Israel. Distinguishing between trade unions and other civil society organizations, they re‐examine the concept of workers' collective action, looking at what constitutes a trade union and to what extent unions can address the specific concerns of migrant care workers. They conclude that, despite the numerous problems involved in organizing migrant care workers, and the vulnerabilities intrinsic to migration processes, gendered work and the occupation of care, trade unions play an important role in establishing industrial citizenship and forming political agency.     

Paternal Hostility and Maternal Hostility in European American and African American Families

The authors examined the hypothesized influence of maternal and paternal hostility on youth delinquency over time. The investigation addressed significant gaps in earlier research on parental hostility, including the neglect of father effects, especially in African American families. Using prospective, longitudinal data from community samples of European American (n = 422) and African American (n = 272) 2‐parent families, the authors examined the independent effects of paternal and maternal hostility on youth delinquency. The results indicated that paternal hostility significantly predicted relative increases in youth delinquent behaviors above and beyond the effects of maternal hostility; conversely, maternal hostility did not predict youth delinquency after controlling for paternal hostility. Multiple‐group analyses yielded similar results for both ethnic groups and for boys and girls. These results underscore the importance of including both parents in research on diverse families. Neglecting fathers provides an incomplete account of parenting in relation to youth development.     

Public relations (PR) in nation-building: An exploration of the South African presidential discourse

This research explored public relations strategies employed in the presidential discourses for building relationships among South Africans in a democracy. This was done through analyzing political discourses of the three South African Presidents since 1994–2009 of Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma. A comparative discourse analysis was used to examine five important dimensions in political discourses concerning nation-building. Different themes were identified: relationship managing, democracy, national identity, and national development. Additionally, an exploratory discourse analysis was conducted to further investigate the characteristics of the presidential political discourses on nation-building. These analyses in the present research provide contributions to foster cooperation, developing a common national identity agenda and social cohesion using political campaign strategies, particularly for government, policymakers and public relations practitioners (PRP's), government communication practitioners, who strive to build a better relationship between government and the public.     

A reappraisal of Delphi 2.0 for public relations research

This paper introduces, analyzes, and explains the Delphi method of research, particularly as it applies to the public relations industry. The Delphi technique became known some 50 years ago when the RAND Corporation used it for forecasting. Since then, scholars and forecasters have used it periodically for qualitative explorations into complex issues or domains. The overall purpose of the Delphi is to facilitate formal discussion among selected experts in a given domain around a particular topic; it is particularly useful when those experts cannot easily gather in one place. The method encourages the sharing of diverging worldviews over a few “rounds” or iterations in the hope that the views may converge into some direction around the given topic. For this reason, the Delphi has often been used in situations or environments that tend to be somewhat ambiguous and where interviews and surveys are neither timely nor appropriate.     

Tuning in to the rhythm: The role of coping in strategic management of work-life conflicts in the public relations profession

How public relations practitioners cope with work-life conflict was studied through a national survey of a random sample of PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) members. These active practitioners reported strong preferences in using more proactive conflict coping strategies, such as rational action and positive thinking. Women and those with a graduate degree tend to report more coping behaviors than others. Three types of stressors are identified as sources of work-life conflict: behavior-driven, work-driven, and life-driven.     

The portrayal of public relations in the era of Ivy Lee through the lens of the New York Times

Public relations has and, it appears, always has had an image problem. From public relations’ protohistory, through the rise of the publicist and press agent, the history of the relationship between journalists and public relations practitioners remained rocky. Using the New York Times as a lens, this study seeks to examine, through a qualitative framing analysis (N = 106), how public relations was perceived and discussed by one of its most important audiences, the journalist, during the early years of the twentieth century. The study found that while the tasks and media used in the practice of public relations as framed by the Times may be accurate, the cultural context of the early 20th century called the very “doing” of public relations into question.     

Workplace adversity and resilience in public relations: Accounting for the lived experiences of public relations practitioners

Public relations practitioners face workplace challenges as they cultivate public relationships, resolve conflicts, and manage crises. Odds of adversities may be high in this role, requiring practitioners to be resilient. This qualitative study explores workplace adversities in public relations from a practitioners’ perspective, and examines how they enact resilience. By asking current practitioners about their lived experiences, we found workplace adversities occurred on multiple levels and ranged from mundane to life-altering events. Patterns of resilience were, metaphorically, bouncing forward, bouncing up, bouncing back, and bouncing around. This study contributes to public relations and resilience scholarship by (1) uncovering workplace adversities and resilience enactment in public relations, therefore connecting practice with scholarship, (2) extending the “bounce back” metaphor in the resilience literature, therefore making resilience more inclusive, and (3) exploring the connections of multi-level resilience, and suggesting the complex and negotiated nature of resilience among individuals embedded in collectives.     

The journalist as the audience: Evaluating the U.S. Navy’s “Sailor for a Day” campaign

This study demonstrates how focusing on the journalist as the audience of a media relations campaign can result in significant positive media coverage. Specifically, we examined the U.S. Navy’s “Sailor for a Day” campaign that invited media to experience a day in the life of a U.S. Navy sailor aboard an aircraft carrier. We propose that the “Sailor for a Day” campaign successfully influenced journalist perceptions and media coverage because 1) the pitch tied to programming needs; 2) uncommon access was granted; and 3) the journalist experience was a prominent feature of the media pitch.     

Paternity Leave‐Taking and Father Engagement

Evidence suggests that paternity leave‐taking is associated with higher levels of father involvement, but research has been limited in its focus on cross‐sectional analyses and indicators of father involvement used. This study uses national longitudinal data to examine whether paternity leave‐taking is associated with 2 indicators of father engagement when children are infants, whether paternity leave‐taking is associated with trajectories of father engagement during the first few years of a child's life, and whether the relationships between paternity leave and father engagement are explained by fathering commitments and attitudes. The results suggest that longer periods of leave are associated with more frequent engagement in developmental tasks and caretaking when children are infants as well as during the first few years of children's lives. There is also evidence that father attitudes partially explain the relationships between length of paternity leave and father engagement.