Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Emerging adulthood is proposed as a new conception of development for the period from the late teens through the twenties, with a focus on ages 18-25. A theoretical background is presented. Then evidence is provided to support the idea that emerging adulthood is a distinct period demographically, subjectively, and in terms of identity explorations. How emerging adulthood differs from adolescence and young adulthood is explained. Finally, a cultural context for the idea of emerging adulthood is outlined, and it is specified that emerging adulthood exists only in cultures that allow young people a prolonged period of independent role exploration during the late teens and twenties.

/pdf/emerging-adulthood-a-theory-of-development-from-the-late-48n8l4n0g7.pdf

Emerging adulthood. A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties.

It is hypothesized that collective efficacy, defined as social cohesion among neighbors combined with their willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good, is linked to reduced violence. This hypothesis was tested on a 1995 survey of 8782 residents of 343 neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. Multilevel analyses showed that a measure of collective efficacy yields a high between-neighborhood reliability and is negatively associated with variations in violence, when individual-level characteristics, measurement error, and prior violence are controlled. Associations of concentrated disadvantage and residential instability with violence are largely mediated by collective efficacy.

Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy

Emerging adulthood is proposed as a new conception of development for the period from the late teens through the twenties, with a focus on ages 18-25. A theoretical background is presented, Then evidence is provided to support the idea that emerging adulthood is a distinct period demographically, subjectively, and in terms of identity explorations. How emerging adulthood differs from adolescence and young adulthood is explained. Finally, a cultural context for the idea of emerging adulthood is outlined, and it is specified that emerging adulthood exists only in cultures that allow young people a prolonged period of independent role. exploration during the late teens and twenties.

http://personal.tcu.edu/pwitt/emerging%20adults.pdf

A Theory of Development From the Late Teens Through the Twenties

So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Human biochemical genetics

Pubertal Processes and Physiological Growth in Adolescence

Despite a growing literature associating physical discipline with later child aggression, spanking remains a typical experience for American children. The directionality of the associations between aggression and spanking and their continuity over time has received less attention. This study examined the transactional associations between spanking and externalizing behavior across the first decade of life, examining not only how spanking relates to externalizing behavior leading up to the important transition to adolescence, but whether higher levels of externalizing lead to more spanking over time as well. We use data from the Fragile families and child well-being (FFCW) study to examine maternal spanking and children’s behavior at ages 1, 3, 5, and 9 (N = 1,874; 48 % girls). The FFCW is a longitudinal birth cohort study of children born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 medium to large US cities. A little over a quarter of this sample was spanked at age 1, and about half at age 3, 5, and 9. Estimates from a cross-lagged path model provided evidence of developmental continuity in both spanking and externalizing behavior, but results also highlighted important reciprocal processes taking hold early, with spanking influencing later externalizing behavior, which, in turn, predicted subsequent spanking. These bidirectional effects held across race/ethnicity and child’s gender. The findings highlight the lasting effects of early spanking, both in influencing early child’s behavior, and in affecting subsequent child’s externalizing and parental spanking in a reciprocal manner. These amplifying transactional processes underscore the importance of early intervention before patterns may cascade across domains in the transition to adolescence.

/pdf/spanking-and-children-s-externalizing-behavior-across-the-3j4b7ztu50.pdf

Spanking and children's externalizing behavior across the first decade of life: evidence for transactional processes.

Children in families in communities: Risk and intervention in the Bronfenbrenner tradition.

Background. Obtaining information on children9s health and health events is heavily dependent on maternal report. Experience as to what factors influence accuracy of reporting varies, and few studies have examined the influence of current child health status on recall. Methods. A prospective cohort study involving 1833 children who were assessed in infancy and at 8 to 10 years of age was conducted to assess maternal reports of birth weight, gestational age, neonatal transport, length of neonatal hospitalization, and rehospitalizations in the first year compared with data collected in infancy overall, and as a function of concurrent child functional health status, socioemotional health, and ratings of child health. Results. Maternal recall of neonatal events was accurate but not that of rehospitalizations in the first year. Concurrent child health problems affected accuracy but not sufficiently to make information unusable. Conclusion. Maternal recall of neonatal events 8 to 10 years later is accurate; however, the influence of current child health status on recall may be important in research on the cognitive processes underlying health questionnaire responses.

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/104/Supplement_6/1176.full.pdf

Concurrent child health status and maternal recall of events in infancy.

The education literature contains many studies of what happens in schools and classrooms, but no documentation of what actually happens to children during an entire school day in a nationally-representative sample of students in the US. This study presents data collected from a nationally-representative sample of teachers of first through fifth graders (N 5 553). Teachers completed a time diary, recording exact beginning and ending times for all the target student’s school activities for a randomly selected day. We examined students’ total time in school and their activities while there. We found wide variation in the length of the school day based on the student and classroom characteristics. Students attending school for the longest day were significantly more likely to be White and have fewer special needs, and to have smaller classes with a larger percentage of White students and a smaller percentage of students of other races than students attending for less time daily. We grouped students’ activities at school into four categories that accounted for all but 9 minutes of the school day: academic, enrichment, recess, and maintenance activities. We found variations in how students spent their time based on student, family, and classroom characteristics. Teachers of African American students reported spending more time on academic subjects, and less time on enrichment and recess activities than teachers of white students. The same pattern emerged for teachers of more advantaged students, and classrooms with a larger percentage of White students. Results are discussed in terms of school reform efforts and inequality issues.

Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Papers

Pubertal Processes and Physiological Growth in Adolescence

Spanking and children's externalizing behavior across the first decade of life: evidence for transactional processes.

Children in families in communities: Risk and intervention in the Bronfenbrenner tradition.

Concurrent child health status and maternal recall of events in infancy.

What Happens During the School Day?:Time Diaries from a National Sample of Elementary School Teachers