A Treatise on the Family. G. S. Becker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1981. Gary Becker is one of the most famous and influential economists of the second half of the 20th century, a fervent contributor to and expounder of the University of Chicago free-market philosophy, and winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in economics. Although any book with the word "treatise" in its title is clearly intended to have an impact, one coming from someone as brilliant and controversial as Becker certainly had such a lofty goal. It has received many article-length reviews in several disciplines (Ben-Porath, 1982; Bergmann, 1995; Foster, 1993; Hannan, 1982), which is one measure of its scholarly importance, and yet its impact is, I think, less than it may have initially appeared, especially for scholars with substantive interests in the family. This book is, its title notwithstanding, more about economics and the economic approach to behavior than about the family. In the first sentence of the preface, Becker writes "In this book, I develop an economic or rational choice approach to the family." Lest anyone accuse him of focusing on traditional (i.e., material) economics topics, such as family income, poverty, and labor supply, he immediately emphasizes that those topics are not his focus. "My intent is more ambitious: to analyze marriage, births, divorce, division of labor in households, prestige, and other non-material behavior with the tools and framework developed for material behavior." Indeed, the book includes chapters on many of these issues. One chapter examines the principles of the efficient division of labor in households, three analyze marriage and divorce, three analyze various child-related issues (fertility and intergenerational mobility), and others focus on broader family issues, such as intrafamily resource allocation. His analysis is not, he believes, constrained by time or place. His intention is "to present a comprehensive analysis that is applicable, at least in part, to families in the past as well as the present, in primitive as well as modern societies, and in Eastern as well as Western cultures." His tone is profoundly conservative and utterly skeptical of any constructive role for government programs. There is a clear sense of how much better things were in the old days of a genderbased division of labor and low market-work rates for married women. Indeed, Becker is ready and able to show in Chapter 2 that such a state of affairs was efficient and induced not by market or societal discrimination (although he allows that it might exist) but by small underlying household productivity differences that arise primarily from what he refers to as "complementarities" between caring for young children while carrying another to term. Most family scholars would probably find that an unconvincingly simple explanation for a profound and complex phenomenon. What, then, is the salient contribution of Treatise on the Family? It is not literally the idea that economics could be applied to the nonmarket sector and to family life because Becker had already established that with considerable success and influence. At its core, microeconomics is simple, characterized by a belief in the importance of prices and markets, the role of self-interested or rational behavior, and, somewhat less centrally, the stability of preferences. It was Becker's singular and invaluable contribution to appreciate that the behaviors potentially amenable to the economic approach were not limited to phenomenon with explicit monetary prices and formal markets. Indeed, during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, he did undeniably important and pioneering work extending the domain of economics to such topics as labor market discrimination, fertility, crime, human capital, household production, and the allocation of time. Nor is Becker's contribution the detailed analyses themselves. Many of them are, frankly, odd, idiosyncratic, and off-putting. …

A Treatise on the Family

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1978, Vol 23(6), 469. Reviews the book, The essential Piaget edited by Howard E Gruber and J. Jacques Voneche (1977). The editors of this large volume have managed to comprise a representative and informative anthology of Piaget's

The essential Piaget

This article examines gender and age differences in the desire for a new partner following widowhood in later life. It also explores variations in actual partnerships that have developed within three to five years of widowhood. Findings are reported from a large representative Dutch survey of persons forty to eighty-five that included 130 widowed people; and a study of eighty-one widows and widowers between ages sixty and seventy-five that combines qualitative and quantitative methods. Desire for a new partner relationship is more often characteristic of those under age seventy. Although more widowers than widows expressed the desire for a new partner in the survey (16 percent vs. 9 percent), this difference is not significant. Three different types of partnerships developed in widowhood are described: consummate partnerships, steady companions, and service providers. There is evidence of continuing loyalty to the deceased partner in almost all the partnerships, suggesting that widowed people do not simply replace their former partners. Re-engagement in consummate partnerships and steady companionship appears to be effective in meeting fundamental relational needs, reducing loneliness, and providing meaning in later life.

Re-engaging: New partnerships in late-life widowhood

This paper reviews the literature on the nature and incidence of child sexual abuse, explores the link between child sexual abuse and later sexual exploitation, and reviews the literature on prevention strategies and effective interventions in child sexual abuse services.

Child Sexual Abuse, Links to Later Sexual Exploitation/High-Risk Sexual Behavior, and Prevention/Treatment Programs

People with disabilities are the largest minority in the world; a minority that continues to face high instances of direct, structural and cultural violence during times of peace, as well as during times of conflict and displacement. Exacerbating their marginalisation has been the absence of the disability community from Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) research, literature and practice, which has perpetuated ableist ideologies and hindered the pursuit of “positive peace”. This research responds to this absence by investigating the intersectionality of disability, conflict and displacement from a PACS perspective. Its purpose is two-fold. The first aim is to conduct pure research that challenges the on-going marginalisation of people affected by disability, conflict and displacement, by intentionally de-subjugating and valuing their knowledge and experiences. The second aim is to use applied research to conceptualise and demonstrate ways in which PACS might actively advance inclusive and accessible positive peace. The design of this research was strongly influenced by critical theories, the transformative paradigm, appreciative inquiry, narrative inquiry and partial-insider research. Over a period of five weeks, twenty interviews were conducted in Ecuador with refugees and asylum seekers with disabilities from Colombia and Venezuela, and their family members. A further five interviews were conducted with service providers. The key findings were simple. Participants confirmed that the intersectional experience of disability, conflict and displacement can be dangerous and harrowing. As participants shared insights into how to navigate direct, structural and cultural violence during conflict and displacement, a second key finding was that a great deal can be learned from people with lived experience. Finally, this research revealed that when PACS is informed by rights-based approaches; when those with lived experience have equitable opportunities to determine their own research agenda and contribute knowledge and expertise; and when “nothing about us, without us” is at the forefront of peacebuilding research and activities, then inclusive and accessible positive peace can begin to be realised.

Nothing about us, without us: The pursuit of inclusive and accessible positive peace

Aim: Intellectual disability often referred to as a mental, cognitive or mental retardation is a lifelong condition that affects intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviors. Information about children with intellectual disability attending regular schools is limited in India as there are no mandatory screening procedures used to detect these children while starting their schooling. Hence the purpose of the study was to examine the demographic and clinical features of children in regular schools with intellectual disability and also to explore their parental demographic and clinical features. Study Design: Cross sectional study Sample: The sample (N=382) was collected from regular school going children within the age range of 5 to 16 years who were referred by special educators. Methodology: Clinical diagnosis and psychological assessments were conducted individually for 382 children and their parents. Results: Results of the clinical evaluation and assessment indicate that intellectual

Socio-Demographic and Clinical Features of Children with Intellectual Disability and Their Parents-an Indian Study

The focus of this chapter is to examine how the conceptual differences influence the definition and prevalence of sexual abuse among children, adolescence and adults. Attempting to understand measures, sources of data and special groups influences on prevalence rates is a challenge. It was observed that the prevalence of sexual abuse varies according to the type of concept and definitions, legal criteria, method of data collection, like interview methods, questionnaires, or self reports, and the source of data such as general population or specific groups such as prisoners, and individuals with disabilities are used for the study. In some studies, the rates are exaggerated because of the definitions. The chapter concludes that is important to evaluate prevalence studies of sexual abuse on different dimensions and criteria to make final conclusions.

Influence of Concept, Definitions, Assessments Methods, and Sources of Data on Prevalence of Sexual Abuse

Online behavior varies according to the purpose and situations and many get involved in intimate relations, like in online dating, which have an impact on the person and his mental health. The chapter focused on the impact of online dating, cyber stalking, cybersex, and pornography on mental health. Though many studied the online dating among adolescents and adults, that of old age group is not yet fully explored especially about their sexual needs. It is worth exploring factors related to risky sexual behaviors among gay and bisexual individuals. Online dating for mentally ill people is an under-researched area. Cyberstalking is an important issue, especially among adolescents and young adults, and cybersex and cyber pornography threatens the safety and mental health in addition to the problems of addiction and child trafficking, and it is linked with high sexual risk behaviors and sex crimes. It is necessary to develop tailored psychotherapeutic and pharmacological interventions by taking into account the complexity and heterogeneity of the problems.

Impact of Online Dating, Cyber Stalking, Cybersex, and Pornography on Mental Health

Intellectual Disability: From History to Recent Trends

Marital Stability is interpreted as whether a couple in a marriage remains together, instead of separating or getting divorced. It is also called as marital longevity or duration of marriage. The aim of the study is to find the relationship between different psychosocial factor (marital adjustment, love, personal intimacy personality, dyadic coping, and spirituality) and marital stability. For the purpose of sampling, thirty married couples were randomly selected using stratified random sampling. The measuring tools used were Locke-Wallace marital adjustment questionnaire (Marital adjustment), Love scale (Love), Personal assessment of intimacy in relationship (Personal intimacy), Big five inventory (personality), Dyadic coping inventory (Dyadic coping) and the daily spiritual experience scale (Spirituality).Six null hypotheses were raised and tested using descriptive and inferential statistics (Percentage, mean, standard deviation and correlation). The research finding shows that there is a significant negative correlation between sexual intimacy Original Research Article Priyadharshini and Gopalan; AJARR, 7(4): 1-16, 2019; Article no.AJARR.53298 2 and marital stability(r= -.44 and p<.01). All other variables (Marital adjustment, love, personal intimacy, personality, dyadic coping and spirituality) are not shown to be contributing to marital stability.

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Rejani Thudalikunnil Gopalan

Papers

Socio-Demographic and Clinical Features of Children with Intellectual Disability and Their Parents-an Indian Study

Influence of Concept, Definitions, Assessments Methods, and Sources of Data on Prevalence of Sexual Abuse

Impact of Online Dating, Cyber Stalking, Cybersex, and Pornography on Mental Health

Intellectual Disability: From History to Recent Trends

Marital Adjustment, Love, Personal Intimacy, Personality, Dyadic Coping and Spirituality on Marital Stability