Why Did House Members Vote for H.R. 4437?1

This article examines why members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted for H.R. 4437, the controversial 2005 bill to construct a 700‐mile immigration barrier along the U.S.‐Mexican border and to criminalize illegal presence and aid to undocumented immigrants. Logit analysis suggests that being a first‐term House member or a Republican and representing a district that was in the South or the West or heavily blue‐collar substantially boosted the odds of supporting H.R. 4437. If a member's district was disproportionately Asian, Latino, or, especially, African American, he or she was instead more likely to oppose the measure.     

The Relationships between Activity and Quality of Life for Older Men and Women at Different Ages in Taiwan

This study investigated the relationships between types of activity and quality of life (QOL) for older men and women at different ages. Based on cross-sectional data that included 220 community-dwelling elderly persons aged 65 and older in southern Taiwan, the results showed that the participation rates in many activities declined with age for both genders. Social activity and solitary leisure activity were significantly associated with QOL for old-old men, but not for young-old men. Only social activity was significantly associated with QOL for young-old women, but there was no significant association between any activity and QOL for old-old women.     

Religious beliefs along the suicidal path in northern Taiwan

This study aimed to understand the current inclinations toward depression and compulsion for members of four different religious groups, and to predict religious beliefs along the suicide path through analyzing the lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts for members of these religious groups. Participants in this cross-sectional study, which adopted purposive sampling, were members of Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Taoism in northern Taiwan. In the case of suicide experiences, suicides among people one knows, and tendency toward compulsion and depression, there are statistical differences between the four religions. According to the results, some people with suicidal tendency will attend religious activities; therefore, we predict that religious beliefs play an important role in suicide prevention.     

Healthcare professionals' priorities for child abuse educational programming: A Delphi study

Child abuse reporting and intervening are a complex process. A comprehensive training program with targeted goals and priorities enables professionals to effectively address the needs of abused children and their families. The study purpose was to identify the content and priorities of health professional education in child abuse by integrating expert opinions and achieving consensus. A 3-round Delphi study was conducted with 25 multidisciplinary experts in health care, social welfare, psychology and counseling, and law and jurisdiction. Structured questionnaires collected expert opinion of appropriateness and importance of knowledge, subjective norms, attitudes, skills, team collaboration and teaching strategies. The expert response rates ranged from 96 to 100% for the 3 rounds, and consensus was achieved. Knowledge was regarded as the most important element. Two items on forensic evidence in the skill category received the highest importance score. Results provide a basis to develop educational programs achieving clinical competence in child abuse care.     

The Causes of Pro-Immigration Voting in the United States Supreme Court1

During the pre-confirmation debate over Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, critics accused her of allowing her background to influence her judicial decisions. This article assesses the validity of such a claim for all sitting justices from 1875 to 2007 in one relevant policy area, immigration. In this article, we look at all 185 immigration-related decisions by the Supreme Court from its creation through 2007. Logistic general estimating equation regression analysis of Supreme Court voting on these cases suggests that justices who were nominated by Democratic presidents, who were urbanites, and who had previous judicial experience were more likely to vote in favor of immigration. However, justices who grew up in the Southwest, had Southern European ancestors, or were ideological conservatives were more hostile to immigration. Although public opinion, the unemployment rate, and the percent foreign-born in a given year did not affect justices’ votes, non-asylum cases and appeals from the Eighth Circuit were more likely to receive favorable treatment. The mean level of racial liberalism of the Senators in office during a particular justice’s confirmation hearings likewise had a large impact on his or her subsequent rulings. These findings suggest that Supreme Court voting on immigration is substantially influenced by justices’ background and political preferences as well as by some political and legal structures. These results thus support Legal Realism and New Institutionalism instead of the Traditional Legal Model of Supreme Court behavior.     

More than an urban legend: the short- and long-run effects of unplanned fertility shocks

This paper examines the short- and long-run effects of a quasi-exogenous variation in fertility behavior due to a yearlong period of power rationing in Colombia in 1992. We show that power shortages caused a mini baby boom and that the increase in fertility was unplanned and persistent: the time in between births was reduced and overall lifetime fertility increased. We also present evidence suggesting that women who had a baby due to the outage found themselves in worse socioeconomic conditions 12 years later.     

Adolescent experiences with online racial discrimination: Implications for prevention and coping

Online aggression represents a wide range of negative experiences, including online discrimination targeting individuals based on race, but adolescent perspectives are not well-represented. We interviewed 15 adolescents regarding their experiences with online racial discrimination. After a phenomenological analysis, four main themes emerged: types of online racial aggression, processes supporting online racism, personal coping, and strategies to prevent online racial aggression. These themes provided insights into adolescent experiences, including feelings about targeted online racial discrimination, intersectionality with sexual harassment, and comfort through processing with friends. This study highlights adolescents' thoughts regarding advocacy, education, and social media reform to prevent online racial aggression. Future research should ensure that youth voices from minoritized racial backgrounds are integrated into efforts to address these critical social issues.     

Ethical and legal challenges of mandated child abuse reporters

Background

Mandated reporters inconsistently report child abuse cases. Ethical dilemmas and legal challenges to reporting arise creating barriers to assist abused children and their families.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to describe professionals' ethical dilemmas and legal challenges to reporting child abuse.

Method

A qualitative study was conducted to explore the ethical and legal challenges of mandated reporters when reporting child abuse. Individual interviews between 60 and 100 min were conducted with a purposive sample of 18 mandated reporters including physicians, nurses, social workers, and teachers. Grounded theory methodology was used to develop categorical themes that reflected mandated reporters' experiences and challenges.

Result

Three themes emerged from the data: conflicts, time, and law as refuge. Professionals described challenges in balancing autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. There was no best solution to do no harm. The associated stigma and pressure of cultural and secular norms of child abuse inhibit professionals' action based on legal and ethical requirements. The theme of time included limited time and an uncertain future. The law provides security and refuge for professionals to find a solution to the challenges of reporting child abuse.

Conclusion

The ethical and legal challenges of reporting child abuse create complex dilemmas for mandated reporters. Ethical principles are in constant opposition when negotiating rights of children and rights of parents. Supportive structures and education are needed to assist professionals in meeting their reporting obligation and solving their dilemmas.     

THE WELFARE COST OF LAWLESSNESS: EVIDENCE FROM SOMALI PIRACY

In spite of general agreement that establishing the rule of law is central to properly functioning economies, little is known about the cost of law and order breakdowns. This paper studies a specific context of this by estimating the effect of Somali piracy attacks on shipping costs using data on shipping contracts in the dry bulk market. To estimate the effect of piracy, we look at shipping routes whose shortest path exposes them to piracy and find that the increase in attacks in 2008 led to around an 8% to 12% increase in costs. From this we calculate the welfare loss imposed by piracy. We estimate that generating around 120 USD million of revenue for Somali pirates led to a welfare loss in excess of 630 USD million, making piracy an expensive way of making transfers.     

On the historical explanation of unique events

Among the intriguing issues over which philosophers and historians tend to disagree is the general character of historical explanations of events that are unique. Philosophers argue that every event is actually unique, but that any event may be explained, nevertheless, insofar as it happens to be one of a certain kind. Historians protest that this conception ignores the particularity of individual events and especially the fact that such an event may very well be the only one of its kind. As a result, historians tend to dismiss the philosopher's arguments as ‘purely theoretical’, while philosophers tend to dismiss the historian's retort as ‘merely methodological’, phrases that, within this context, at least, are clearly intended to have pejorative connotations. The purpose of this paper is to undertake an arbitration of this dispute by indicating what appear to be the strengths and weaknesses of both positions, while suggesting the view that more is involved here than either side at various times has been prepared to admit.