Don't call it child abuse if It's really poverty

As a society, we continue to broaden the jurisdiction of child abuse programs so that an ever larger proportion of poor children (and their families) are drawn into the child protective system. Helping these families does not require mandatory reporting laws, involuntary investigations, central registers of reports, and psychologically oriented “treatment” interventions     

Microstructural analysis in interorganizational systems

This paper argues that network analyses of interorganizational relations should begin by examining the way in which relations are organized at the local level. It posits that systematic departures from random models for dyad and triad censuses should be found before interpreting structural patterns isolated by analytic techniques concerned with overall network structure. Three principles of organizational bonding (resource inequality, reciprocity, and redundancy) are identified, and the implications of these for dyadic and triadic microstructures are detailed. Particular attention is given to differentiating between microstructural patterns to be anticipated when a system consists of autonomous actors approximately equal in power and resources and those expected when a system is highly centralized.     

Sexual Behavior in China: Trends and Comparisons

Dramatic political, economic, and social changes in China over the past several decades have been accompanied by much discussion in popular media and among academics of a fundamental transformation in Chinese sexual behavior. Several studies have examined current Chinese sexual behavior but have been limited to particular provinces or cities and have been based on non‐random samples. The potential threat of a generalized HIV epidemic in China highlights the dearth of population‐based information on current patterns of sexual behavior that could help design better intervention strategies and prevent misguided ones. This article uses data from the first national probability survey of adult sexual behavior in China completed during 1999–2000, along with a historical and literature review, to address three key questions: 1) Has there been a revolution in sexual behavior in China? 2) Is China unique compared to other countries in these transformations? 3) What are the implications of these findings for China's risk of a generalized HIV epidemic?     

Network position and sexual dysfunction: implications of partner betweenness for men

This article combines relational perspectives on gender identity with social network structural perspectives on health to understand men's sexual functioning. The authors argue that network positions that afford independence and control over social resources are consistent with traditional masculine roles and may therefore affect men's sexual performance. For example, when a heterosexual man's female partner has more frequent contact with his confidants than he does--which the authors refer to as partner betweenness--his relational autonomy, privacy, and control are constrained. Analyses of data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) show that about a quarter of men experience partner betweennessa and that these men are 92% more likely to report erectile dysfunction. Partner betweenness is strongest among the youngest men in the sample, which may reflect changing conceptions of masculinity in later life. The authors consider several explanations for these findings and urge additional research on the links between health, gender, and network structure.     

Marital Conflict in Older Couples: Positivity,Personality, and Health

The authors examine the implications of health and personality characteristics for late‐life marital conflict using data from the 2010–2011 wave of the National Social Life Health and Aging Project, a nationally representative study with data on both partners in 955 marital and cohabitational dyads. Using these data, they relate characteristics of husbands to characteristics of their wives and vice versa. Wives with husbands in fair or poor physical health were more likely to report high levels of marital conflict, but the reverse was not true. Similarly, wives reported more conflict when their husbands were high on Neuroticism, high on Extraversion, and low on a new measure the authors call Positivity. The findings suggest noteworthy gender differences between men and women in the associations between individual characteristics and levels of marital conflict. The authors point to differences between husbands' and wives' marital roles as a contributor to these differences.     

Unwanted sexual activity among married women in urban China

This paper examines the prevalence, precursors, and consequences of unwanted marital sex activities in a national sample of 1,127 married urban Chinese women aged 20-64. During the lifetime of their current marriage, 32% reported ever experiencing unwanted spousal intercourse, with about one-fifth reporting that this unwanted intercourse ever involved force. Reports for the past year were 21% unwanted intercourse, 22% unwanted sex act(s), and 72% sex only to please the husband. The major risk factors for these activities were poor relationship quality (hitting, lack of daily intimacy and foreplay, and husband insensitivity to wife's sexual needs); a woman's negative attitudes towards sex, and weak bargaining position (low income share, husband's family of superior economic status, and no additional adults in home). In addition, unwanted activity was more common when women reported sexual dysfunctions (dryness, pain, low arousal, inorgasmia), were more educated, and had more permissive sex attitudes. Net of feedback effects, unwanted sexual activity diminished women's psychological well-being.