Premarital Cohabitation and Marital Dissolution: An Examination of Recent Marriages

An ongoing question remains for family researchers: Why does a positive association between cohabitation and marital dissolution exist when one of the primary reasons to cohabit is to test relationship compatibility? Drawing on recently collected data from the 2006–2008 National Survey of Family Growth, the authors examined whether premarital cohabitation experiences were associated with marital instability among a recent contemporary (married since 1996) marriage cohort of men (N = 1,483) and women (N = 2,003). They found that a dichotomous indicator of premarital cohabitation was in fact not associated with marital instability among women and men. Furthermore, among cohabitors, marital commitment prior to cohabitation (engagement or definite plans for marriage) was tied to lower hazards of marital instability among women, but not men. This research contributes to our understanding of cohabitation, marital instability, and broader family change.     

We Are the Corporation: Dispersive CSR

We contend that the current trend of emphasis on corporate social responsibility (CSR) serves to divert the public's attention from the real ethical issues facing business and society. We extend the scope of social responsibility beyond business corporations to include a range of institutions. We also propose that CSRs be reconceptualized in terms of the ways that managers enable stakeholders to hold themselves and each other responsible for the ways their actions affect each other as they conduct business through the firm. In this article, we propose a new view of corporations and responsibility that reconstrues behavior currently referred to as CSR. Starting with an overview of theories of the firm, we show that the way in which a firm is conceived yields different views on CSR. A shortcoming of the theory of the firm approach to CSR is that it leads us to focus excessively on business corporations at the expense of a broader analysis of other institutional players. These theories also tend to emphasize the obligations of corporations to people rather than of people to each other. We propose that social responsibility be viewed through a systems theory paradigm instead. We then argue that corporations should be construed in terms of the people who impact them. We advance a different conception of business responsibility that is more comprehensive, inclusive, and systemic.     

Is Social Work a 'Non-Traditional' Occupation for Men?

Correspondence to Alastair Christie, Department of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Cork. Email: A.Christie{at}ucc.ie Summary The European Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commissionhave called for the increased employment of men in occupations,such as social work, where men are numerically under-represented.In Britain, men's employment in social work is contentious but,as yet, little discussed. This article draws on Williams' (1993,1995) concept of ‘non-traditional occupations for men’to explore the positions of men in social work. It focuses inparticular on continuities and dissonances between dominantconstructions of men's gender and professional social work identities.These are discussed in relation to particular areas of practiceand an agenda for further investigation is considered.     

From IRCA to Orca: Apprehending the Other in 'Your San Antonio Experience'

Abstract From the Alamo to Sea World, the San Antonio tourist experience reiterates an historical and ethnic narrative that positions the Anglo-American subject in relation to the Mexican as 'other'. Like the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, this strategy of definition and containment is inseparable from profound ambivalences about the possibility of effectively 'naturalizing' difference. In 'remembering the Alamo', the tourist is faced with the possibility of dis-integration and an inversion of the colonizer/colonized relationship.     

Moral Panic and the Nasty Girl*

Dans cet article, nous examinons pourquoi les récents incidents de violence commis par des filles sont interprétés comme un signe qu'aujourd'hui les adolescentes sont de plus en plus dangereuses. Nous démontrons que cette interprétation est le produit d'une panique morale centrée sur le concept du risque. Les politiques de réforme sociale et criminelle résultant de cette panique créent des mécanismes disciplinaires agissant sur le corps de l'adolescente délinquante et encou-ragent le développement d'une culture fondée sur la gestion du risque.
We examine why, despite evidence to the contrary, recent incidents of female violence have been interpreted as sign that today's girls are increasingly nasty. We argue that the Nasty Girl phenomenon is the product of a moral panic. We show that while girl violence always existed, today's discussion is dominated by the concept of risk. Reform initiatives resulting from the panic consist of disciplinary mechanisms acting on the body of the individual delinquent, and techniques that regulate individuals through the fostering of a culture of risk management and security consciousness. Finally, we situate the panic in the current backlash against feminism.