Showing papers in "American Sociological Review in 2001"

The Wage Penalty for Motherhood

Abstract: Motherhood is associated with lower hourly pay, but the causes of this are not well understood Mothers may earn less than other women because having children causes them to (1) lose job experience, (2) be less productive at work, (3) trade off higher wages for mother-friendly jobs, or (4) be discriminated against by employers Or the relationship may be spurious rather than causal-women with lower earning potential may have children at relatively higher rates The authors use data from the 1982-1993 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth with fixed-effects models to examine the wage penalty for motherhood Results show a wage penalty of 7 percent per child Penalties are larger for married women than for unmarried women Women with (more) children have fewer years of job experience, and after controlling for experience a penalty of 5 percent per child remains "Mother-friendly" characteristics of the jobs held by mothers explain little of the penalty beyond the tendency of more mothers than non-mothers to work part-time The portion of the motherhood penalty unexplained probably results from the effect of motherhood on productivity and/or from discrimination by employers against mothers While the benefits of mothering diffuse widely-to the employers, neighbors, friends, spouses, and children of the adults who received the mothering-the costs of child rearing are borne disproportionately by mothers

America's liberalization in attitudes toward homosexuality, 1973 to 1998

Abstract: Using General Social Survey data from 1973 to 1998, changing American attitudes toward homosexuality are examined. Two hypotheses are tested: (1) Can changes in attitudes be accounted for by the changing demographics of the population? (2) Are changing attitudes toward homosexuality embedded within larger cultural ideological shifts? The data indicate that Americans distinguish between the morality of homosexuality and the civil liberties of homosexuals. Americans became increasingly negative regarding the morality of homosexuality through 1990, but since then their attitudes have become increasingly liberal. The same 25-year period witnessed a steady decline in Americans' willingness to restrict the civil liberties of homosexuals. Changes in American demographics-particularly increasing educational levels-and changing cultural ideological beliefs can account for only about one-half of the change over time in attitudes toward homosexuality. Several theories are put forth to explain these patterns of change and the distinction made between morality and civil liberties

Marriage Delayed or Marriage Forgone? New Cohort Forecasts of First Marriage for U.S. Women

Abstract: Do recent declines in first marriage rates signal that an increasing proportion of women will remain single their entire lives, or merely that they are postponing marriage to older ages? Our forecasts for cohorts born in the 1950s and 1960s suggest that marriage will remain nearly universal for American women-close to 90 percent of women are predicted to marry. However, separate forecasts by educational attainment reveal a new socioeconomic pattern of first marriage: Whereas in the past, women with more education were less likely to marry, recent college graduates are now forecast to marry at higher levels despite their later entry into first marriage. This educational crossover, which occurs for both black women and white women in recent cohorts, suggests that marriage is increasingly becoming a province of the most educated, a trend that may become a new source of inequality for future generations. Forecasts presented here use data from the 1995 Current Population Survey and compare estimates from the Hernes model with those from the Coale-McNeil model

Powerlessness and the amplification of threat: Neighborhood disadvantage, disorder, and mistrust

Abstract: A theory of trust is developed and tested. The theory posits that mistrust develops in neighborhoods where resources are scarce and threat is common, and among individuals with few resources and who feel powerless to avoid or manage the threat. Perceived neighborhood disorder, common in disadvantaged neighborhoods where disadvantaged individuals live, influences mistrust directly and indirectly by increasing residents'perceptions of powerlessness which in turn amplify disorder's effect on mistrust. The hypotheses are examined using the Community, Crime, and Health data, a 1995 survey of a representative sample of 2,482 Illinois residents with linked data on neighborhoods. Net of individual disadvantage, residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods have low levels of trust as a result of high levels of disorder in their neighborhoods: People who report living in neighborhoods with high levels of crime, vandalism, graffiti, danger, noise, and drugs are more mistrusting. The sense of powerlessness, which is common in such neighborhoods, amplifies the effect of neighborhood disorder on mistrust

How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter

Abstract: Opponents of lesbian and gay parental rights claim that children with lesbigay parents are at higher risk for a variety of negative outcomes. Yet most research in psychology concludes that there are no differences in developmental outcomes between children raised by lesbigay parents and those raised by heterosexual parents. The analysis here challenges this defensive conceptual framework and analyzes how heterosexism has hampered intellectual progress in the field. The authors discuss limitations in the definitions, samples, and analyses of the studies to date. Next they explore findings from 21 studies and demonstrate that researchers frequently downplay findings indicating difference regarding children’s gender and sexual preferences and behavior that could stimulate important theoretical questions. A less defensive, more sociologically informed analytic framework is proposed for investigating these issues. The framework focuses on (1) whether selection effects produced by homophobia account for associations between parental sexual orientations and child outcomes; (2) the role of parental gender vis-a-vis sexual orientation in influencing children’s gender development; and (3) the relationship between parental sexual orientations and children’s sexual preferences and behaviors.

The small world of germany and the durability of national networks

Abstract: The globalization offinancial markets and the concomitant restructuring decisions of firms challenge the historical legacy of national systems of governance German corporate ownership patterns and restructuring events in the 1990's are examined here in this light The results show that ownership links among German firms constitute a "small world" that has consequences for understanding mergers and acquisitions Ownership links form closely-knit clusters offirms that are nonetheless highly connected across the network as a whole Restructuring events fall squarely in the center of this structure Despite increasing global competition, the German small world tends to replicate itself To illustrate this robustness, potential disruptions to the observed German network are simulated This simulation shows that the properties of the small world remain intact even when ownership ties are changed These findings suggest that a more global economy in Germany need not lead to the dissolution of the ownership structure, but rather may be associated with a deepening of network ties

The effects of divorce and marital discord on adult children's psychological well-being.

Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated associations between exposure to parental divorce and marital discord while growing up and children's psychological distress in adulthood. Few studies, however, have attempted to explain these associations. Three pathways are evaluated through which family disruption and discord may affect offspring's well-being: children's socioeconomic attainment, children's marital and relationship stability, and the quality of children's relations with parents. Using 17-year longitudinal data from two generations, results show that divorce and marital discord predict lower levels of psychological well-being in adulthood. Parentchild relationships mediate most of the associations between parents' marital discord and divorce and children's subsequent psychological outcomes. Marital discord appears to erode children's emotional bonds with mothers, whereas both divorce and marital discord appear to erode children's emotional bonds with fathers. The results highlight the continuing importance of parent-child ties for children's well-being in early adulthood.

Does race matter in residential segregation? Exploring the preferences of white Americans

Abstract: Employing an alternative methodology and new data, the authors address the debate concerning the underlying causes of racial residential segregation. Are white Americans avoiding racially mixed neighborhoods because they do not want to live with nonwhites? And if so, is this the case independent of factors with which race is associated, such as crime levels or housing values? An over-the-telephone factorial experiment addresses these issues, measuring variables that shape white Americans' choice of purchasing a home. Based on a national, random-digit-dial survey of 1,663 white Americans, the effects of African American, Asian, and Hispanic neighborhood composition on whites' likelihood of buying a house are explored, as well as the other variables for which race may serve as a proxy. Results indicate that Asian and Hispanic neighborhood composition do not matter to whites. Black neighborhood composition, however, does matter, and matters even more for white Americans with children under age 18. The effect of black composition is net of the variables that whites offer as the primary reasons they do not want to live with blacks. The implications of these findings for segregation trends and for future research are considered.

Nations of Joiners: Explaining Voluntary Association Membership in Democratic Societies

Abstract: Levels of voluntary association membership for 33 democratic countries are compared using data from surveys of nationally representative samples of adults from the 1990s. Four explanations of national differences in association involvement are identified and tested: economic development, religious composition, type of polity, and years of continuous democracy. The analyses consider total and working association memberships, both including and excluding unions and religious associations. Americans volunteer at rates above the average for all nations on each measure, but they are often matched and surpassed by those of several other countries, notably the Netherlands, Canada, and a number of Nordic nations, including Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. Hierarchical linear models show that voluntarism tends to be particularly high in nations that have: (1) multidenominational Christian or predominantly Protestant religious compositions, (2) prolonged and continuous experience with democratic institutions, (3) social democratic or liberal democratic political systems, and (4) high levels of economic development. With some exceptions for working memberships, these factors, both separately and in combination, are clearly important predictors of cross-national variation in voluntary association membership.

The Structural Contexts of Civic Engagement: Voluntary Association Membership in Comparative Perspective

Abstract: Editorial changes have been underlined AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW or otherwise noted on this proof. The Structural Contexts of Civic Engagement: Voluntary Association Membership in Comparative Perspective Evan Schofer University of Minnesota Marion Fourcade-Gourinchas Princeton University and New York University Voluntary association membership varies dramatically among nations, by both the number and the type of associations that people join. Two distinctions account for much of this variation: (1) the distinction between statist versus nonstatist (some- times called “liberal”) societies, and (2) the distinction between corporate versus noncorporate societies. These two dimensions summarize historically evolved differ- ences in state structure, political institutions, and culture of nations that channel, legitimate (or deligitimate), and encourage (or discourage) various types of associa- tional activity. Membership in associations in 32 countries is examined using data from the 1991 World Values Survey; hierarchical models estimate the effects of indi- vidual-level and country-level factors on individual association membership. Results show that statism constrains individual associational activity of all types, particu- larly in “new” social movement associations. Corporateness, however, positively affects membership, particularly for “old” social movements. Finally, temporal trends indicate some convergence toward Anglo-American patterns of association. I Refs say n contemporary nation-states, vol- untary associations are important bodies that mediate between the individual and the broader societal environment. Following de Tocqueville’s ([1862] 1981) early state- ments on the different political organization of America and Europe, political scientists and sociologists have noted that people of different countries and regions vary in their involvement in associational activity (Al- mond and Verba 1963; Putnam 1993; Wuthnow 1991). The United States, for in- stance, is traditionally described as a “nation of joiners,” while some European countries (e.g., France, Italy) and Japan seem to have a much less developed civic orientation. In sum, “country of residence” appears to be “an important predictor of voluntary asso- ciation joining” (Curtis, Grab, and Baer Many scholars attribute this variation in civic involvement to the different value sys- tems internalized by members of each soci- ety (Almond and Verba 1963; Inglehart 1997). Final explanations often recognize that these value systems may be rooted in larger institutional and ideological struc- tures. These explanations usually emphasize how such structures are mediated at the in- dividual level to produce particular attitudes and behaviors (e.g. “post-materialist val- Direct all correspondence to Marion Fourcade- Gourinchas, Department of Sociology, Princeton University, Princeton NJ, 08540 (fourcade@ princeton.edu) or Evan Schofer (schofer@soc. umn.edu). The authors contributed equally to this research. A version of this paper was presented “wish to” at the 1999 annual meeting of the American So- not added. ciological Association. The authors thank Ron Wordy. Jepperson for extremely valuable insights and Just go advice, as well as Frank Dobbin, Marshall Ganz, ahead and Joe Galaskiewicz, Kieran Healy, Ann Hironaka, do the Michele Lamont, John W. Meyer, Kimberly Mor- thanking! gan, Virag Molnar, Francisco O. Ramirez, Abigail Saguy, Theda Skocpol, Dietlind Stolle, and the members of the Stanford Comparative Workshop. We also thank the ASR Editors and Avoid anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments using the and suggestions. word American Sociological Review, 2001, Vol. 66 (December:806–xx) “very.”

HoW MOVEMENTS WIN: GENDERED OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURES AND U.S. WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENTS, 1866 TO 1919

Abstract: State women's suffrage movements are investigated to illuminate the circumstances in which social movements bring about political change. In 29 states, suffragists were able to win significant voting rights prior to passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. In addition to resource mobilization, cultural framing, and political opportunity structures, the authors theorize that gendered opportunities also fostered the successes of the movements. An event history analysis provides evidence that gendered opportunity structures helped to bring about the political successes of the suffragists. Results suggest the need for a broader understanding of opportunity structure than one rooted simply in formal political opportunities.

Social movements and policy implementation: the mississippi civil rights movement and the war on poverty, 1965 to 1971

Abstract: This study of the Mississippi civil rights movement and the War on Poverty examines the relationship between social movements and policy implementation. A "movement infrastructure" model is developed that focuses on organizational structure, resources, and leadership to account for the impact of social movements on policy implementation. A two-tiered research design is employed that includes (1) a quantitative analysis of poverty programs in Mississippi counties from 1965 to 1971, and (2) case studies that show the complex interaction between the civil rights movement, resistance by whites, local powerholders, and federal agencies. The quantitative analysis shows that counties with strong movement infrastructures generated greater funding for Community Action Programs. The case studies show that movements were excluded from the initial formation of these programs as local whites attempted to preempt civil rights activists. However, in counties with strong movement infrastructures, activists were able to gain access to decision-making bodies and shape the content of poverty programs.

The Structure of Disadvantage: Individual and Occupational Determinants of the Black-White Wage Gap

Abstract: This study is motivated by the idea that the racial gap in earnings is generated not only by individual differences but also by systematic variation in the occupational structure that attenuates or exacerbates the effects of race. Using data from the 1990 census and the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, a hierarchical linear modeling approach is employed that allows the simultaneous exploration of the mechanisms of income inequality operating both within and between occupations. Among private-sector employees, striking evidence shows that racial disparities increase in both absolute and percentage terms as one moves up the occupational earnings hierarchy. The association between average occupational earnings and within-occupation racial disadvantage reveals an overlooked source of racial earnings inequality which constrains the opportunities available to upwardly mobile black men in the private sector. This association cannot be explained by measured individual characteristics, or by the status, demographic composition, or skill demands of occupations. In the public sector, on the other hand, racial inequality in earnings is not systematically associated with average occupational earnings, and is instead more closely tied to individual human capital and occupational placement. The implications of these results are considered and directions for future research are suggested.

Getting deals done: The use of social networks in bank decision-making

Abstract: Economic actors confront various forms of uncertainty making decisions, and how they deal with these obstacles may affect their success in accomplishing their goals. This study examines the means by which relationship managers in a major commercial bank attempt to close transactions with their corporate customers. It is hypothesized that under conditions of high uncertainty, bankers will rely on colleagues with whom they are strongly tied for advice on and support of their deals. Drawing on recent network theory, it is also hypothesized that transactions in which bankers use relatively sparse approval networks are more likely to successfully close than are transactions involving dense approval networks. Both hypotheses are supported. Bankers are faced with a strategic paradox: Their tendency to rely on those they trust in dealing with uncertainty creates conditions that render deals less likely to be closed successfully. This paradox represents an example of unanticipated consequences of purposive social action.

Transformations in New Immigrant Religions and Their Global Implications

Abstract: Immigrant religious communities in the United States are undergoing profound transformations. Three processes of change occurring in new immigrant religions are described and analyzed: (1) adopting the congregational form in organizational structure and ritual, (2) returning to theological foundations, and (3) reaching beyond traditional ethnic and religious boundaries to include other peoples. These changes support the new paradigm in the sociology of religion that refutes secularization theories: Internal and external religious pluralism, instead of leading to the decline of religion, encourages institutional and theological transformations that energize and revitalize religions. Moreover, these changes are not merely attributable to Americanization. Rather, these changes have transnational implications for global religious systems-implications that are facilitated by the material and organizational resources that new U.S. immigrants possess.

Uncertainty, risk, and trust: Russian and American credit card markets compared

Abstract: The strategies that Russian and American banks use to evaluate the creditworthiness of prospective credit card holders are compared. Drawing on Knight's theory of risk and uncertainty, the authors argue that uncertainty, inherent in any credit transaction, can only be reduced to measurable risk if there are institutions that create stability over time, categorize events properly, and allow for verification and accumulation of information. In the United States, the gradual evolution of institutions underpinning rational calculation permits the transformation of uncertainty into risk. In Russia, however, such institutions are absent, and a great degree of uncertainty prevails in consumer credit. Using data from original fieldwork in Moscow, this study demonstrates that when actors face uncertainty and are unable to calculate risk, they rely on trust. Russian banks use and extend their existing social ties, or in some cases build new ties. They also exploit cardholders' own networks, unrelated to the bank, to increase their accountability through anchoring. These strategies, however, keep the market embedded, limited in size, and uninsurable. The authors conclude that calculation of probabilities (and economic rationality in its formal sense) is not an innate human ability but a social capacity that exists courtesy of institutional arrangements

Intellectualization and art world development: Film in the United States

Abstract: The social history of film in the United States is examined to illuminate the ideological and organizational foundations of the valuation of art. Attempts to valorize film as art began in film 's first decades. Thereafter, a series of key events and actions in the late 1950s and 1960s, both inside and outside the film world, resulted in a shift in audiences'perception of film-from a form of entertainment to a cultural genre that could properly be appreciated as art. This shift in perception was made possible by the opening of an artistic niche brought about by changes outside the film world, by the institutionalization of resources and practices within the film world, and by the employment of an intellectualizing discourse by film critics

Sources of racial wage inequality in metropolitan labor markets: racial, ethnic, and gender differences

Abstract: Research on racial inequality has become increasingly specialized, often focusing on a single explanation and subgroup of the population. In a diverse society, a broader comparative framework for interpreting the causes of wage inequality for different racial, ethnic, and gender groups is called for. The effects of a range of different factors on the wages of Latinos, Asians, and blacks, relative to whites and separately for women and men, are examined. New sources of racial wage inequality are also considered. Significant differences are found in the sources of wage inequality across race, ethnicity, and gender. Differences are generally greater between racial and ethnic groups than between men and women. Key findings include a large negative effect of immigration on the relative wages of Latinos and Asians and only a small effect on the relative wages of black women (and no effect on black men). In contrast, the relative wages of blacks remain most affected positively by the presence of manufacturing employment and unions. New economy indicators of high-skill services and flexible employment conditions play only a secondary role in explaining metropolitan racial wage inequality.

Mass education and fertility transition

Abstract: The relationship between the spread of mass education and fertility-limiting behavior is examined. Existing theories relating education to fertility limitation are integrated, including those relating the presence of educational opportunity to fertility decline, theories relating women's education to their fertility behavior, and theories relating children's education to the fertility behavior of their parents. Using survey data from a sample of 5,271 residents of 171 neighborhoods in rural Nepal, the individual-level mechanisms linking community-level changes in educational opportunity to fertility behavior are tested. A woman's proximity to a school during childhood dramatically increases permanent contraceptive use in adulthood. This finding is largely independent of whether the woman subsequently attended school, whether her husband attended school, whether she lived near a school in adulthood, and whether she sent her children to school. Strong fertility limitation effects were also found for husband's education and for currently living near a school. These effects were independent of other education-related measures. The largest education-related effect is for sending children to school

Community as Gift-Giving: Collectivistic Roots of Volunteerism

Abstract: Who in America volunteers what and why? And what impact does volunteering have? It is widely believed that the typical volunteer is middle-aged and middle-class and that volunteerism is rooted in American cultural individualism. Undocumented and unexplored are collectivistic roots of giving, which may have a different social base than individualistic-grounded volunteerism. Characteristics of collectivistic-rooted volunteerism, conditions under which it transpires, and group and community effects of such giving are explored here. The analysis is based on ethnographic research in a predominantly old immigrant working-class inner-ring suburb. Collectivistic-rooted volunteerism is shown to be community-embedded and to have group, community, and class stratifying effects.

Losers and winners : The financial consequences of separation and divorce for men

Abstract: Contrary to conventional thinking, the majority of partnered men in the United States lose economic status when their unions dissolve. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this analysis shows that for most men the primary source of economic decline after union dissolution is their inability to fully compensate for the loss of their partner's income. A secondary source of economic decline is an increase in compulsory and voluntary support payments. Welfare state tax and transfer mechanisms have a much smaller overall impact on changes in men 's living standards following separation. Although most men experience a decline in living standards following union dissolution, men's outcomes are heterogeneous, and the minority of men who relied on their partners for less than one-fifth of pre-dissolution income typically gain from separation and divorce. The data show a clear trend toward greater economic interdependence in American partnerships, and this trend appears to increase the proportion of men who suffer a reduced standard of living following separation.

Parental influences on the gendered division of housework

Abstract: Despite a recent emphasis on contextual explanations for the gendered division of housework, early socialization may also be important. Data from a 31-year panel study of white mothers and children are used to examine parental predictors of the division of household labor among the adult children. Parental influences are assessed when the children were ages 1 and 15; characteristics of the adult children are measured at ages 23 and 31. The effects of the parents' division of housework and parents' education on children's division of housework are considered, as well as the effects of the mother's gender-role attitudes and employment. The parental division of labor measured when the sons were very young has a positive effect on the sons' later participation in routine housework, while the mother's employment during their daughters' early years is a more important predictor of the allocation of housework among the daughters. Parental influences are transmitted partially through the children's gender-role attitudes, but there is also evidence of enduring direct effects of parental characteristics on children's housework allocation, especially for men

Exchange structures in transition: Lending and trade relations in Chinese Business Groups

Abstract: The networks of interfirm relations that developed in business groups during economic transition are central to China's reform and are becoming an important part of the country's emergent economic structure. Using a recent and original data set that includes direct observations of economic choices made by firms, the process by which these interfirm lending and trade ties emerged and evolved in the early stages of reform is explored. Initially, information from sources external to the network dominated the formation and direction of exchange relations. Firms turned to their prior connections, took advantage of market position, and drew on bureaucratic power to develop alliances. Over time, internal influences gained importance, and managers increasingly drew on internal nontrade relations and other indicators inside the business group to identify lending and trade partners. The results demonstrate the central but changing role that social relations and environmental cues played in the creation of economic structure during China's transition. This study also contributes to an understanding of the processes of organizational adaptation to a major economic transition and interfirm alliance formation more generally. The findings reveal that firms select exchange partners of known reputation and solicit relations that reduce uncertainty, even when there is a cost involved

Food security in less developed countries 1970 to 1990.

Abstract: Despite a global food surplus almost half of the worlds less developed countries suffer significant problems concerning food. Most social science and policy discussions of food security make the "food availability" assumption that increased food supply is the key to reducing hunger. Critics argue however that increased food supply has little impact on hunger and that the primary culprits are entrenched inequality and militarism. A lagged panel analysis of food supply and child hunger rates (1970- 90) shows that the food supply has only modest effects on child hunger rates and that food supply is structurally rooted in development processes (domestic investment urban bias foreign capital penetration) while child hunger is politically based in arms imports internal violence and political democratization. Population pressure tapped by increased age dependency undermines both the supply of food and the populations access to it and culturally dualism magnifies the effects of population pressure on child hunger. The effects of economic growth "trickle down" to affect food both supply and child hunger and economic growth is also positively correlated with political democratization suggesting there is no short-term "trade off" between growth democratization and social equity. (authors)

THE TWo FACES OF CAPITAL: CORPORATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL CAPITALISTS AS POLITICAL ACTORS

Abstract: Widespread access to public records of campaign contributions by corporate political action committees (PACs) have made these the preferred data for analyzing political partisanship within the capitalist class. By comparison, data on political contributions by individual capitalists were, until recently, difficult to obtain and rarely subjected to systematic study. Important differences are demonstrated between these two forms of capitalist political action by directly comparing the campaign contributions of 592 individual capitalists with the contributions of the 394 major corporations with which those capitalists were associated. Campaign contributions by individual capitalists follow a logic different from that of corporate PACs. Corporations are generally more interested in buying influence with incumbents, while individual capitalists are more concerned with bolstering the election prospects offavored candidates. By providing a more direct measure of capitalists'political preferences, the analysis of campaign contributions by individual capitalists clarifies theoretical questions that remain unresolved in the research based on corporate PACs. Variables that elude measurement when corporations are the units of analysis (e.g., ethnicity) are shown to have important consequences for capitalist political partisanship.

Managing Laboratory Work through Skepticism: Processes of Evaluation and Control

Abstract: Laboratory ethnographies are the shop-floor studies of the knowledge economy. Observational data from 11 months of fieldwork in a multidisciplinary neuroscience lab suggest that scientific skepticism, long understood as an evaluative mechanism, also serves social control and monitoring functions. The author applies insights from organization theory, social psychology, science studies, and the sociology of science to demonstrate that skepticism is socially organized at the microlevel of laboratory interactions. This organization makes skepticism a solution to the problems of control, coordination, and evaluation raised by uncertain scientific work conducted in a physically dispersed multidisciplinary setting. The diverse roles skepticism plays in laboratory interactions resonate with examinations of work in a number of occupational settings while providing direct insight into mechanisms that may account for the patterning of rewards and status across knowledge-intensive workplaces

Youth Violence and the End of Adolescence

Abstract: American youth experience high levels of violence, and increasingly the U.S. public policy response is to punish young perpetrators of violence through waivers and transfers from juvenile to adult courts. Adolescence is a time of expanding vulnerabilities and exposures to violence that can be self-destructive as well as destructive of others. Such violence can involve intimate relationships or strangers, and in addition to being perpetrators or victims, youth are often bystanders and witnesses to violence. The authors hypothesize that the life-course consequences of experiences with violence, especially violence in intimate adolescent relationships, include more than contemporaneous health risks, leading also to subsequent depression and premature exits from adolescence to adulthood. An analysis of panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health indicates that violence in intimate adolescent relationships results in depressed feelings, running away from home, serious thoughts about suicide, dropping out of school, and teenage pregnancy. Among adolescent females, violence in intimate relationships is especially likely to lead to depression, and exposure to violence on the street combines with violence by intimate partners to result in especially high risks of pregnancy. Future work should consider how exposure to violence and premature exits to adulthood negatively affect adult life outcomes.

Time-Dependent Effects of Wives' Employment on Marital Dissolution

Abstract: The specialization and trading model-the dominant theoretical perspective on marital stability-posits a positive effect of wives' economic independence on the risk of divorce. Prior evidence for this association is mixed, however. This analysis explores the possibility that the effect of wives' labor force supply and educational attainment on marital dissolution varies across historical periods and across the marital life course. Event-history analyses of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 3,523 married couples observed between 1969 and 1993 reveal that the impact of wives' employment on marital dissolution has become increasingly positive, Moreover, as marriages age, the positive effect of wives' employment on divorce becomes stronger and the negative impact of wives' education becomes weaker, Possible explanations for these varying effects include the development of institutional supports for unmarried working mothers, the increasing adoption of nontraditional gender-role ideologies, and trends in workplace sex segregation

Media and Mobilization: The Case of Radio and Southern Textile Worker Insurgency, 1929 to 1934

Abstract: Collective action rests, in part, on group identity and political opportunity. Just how group identity is manifested and perceptions of political opportunity are altered, however, remain unclear, particularly in the case of a geographically dispersed population. An often overlooked mechanism is media technology. This article analyzes an important yet underexamined instance of worker mobilization in the United States: the southern textile strike campaigns of 1929 to 1934 during which more than 400,000 workers walked off their jobs. Using historical data on textile manufacturing concentration and strike activity, FCC data on radio station foundings, and analyses of political content and song lyrics, the authors show that the geographic proximity of radio stations to the textile belt and the messages aired shaped workers' sense of collective experience and political opportunity: Walk-outs and strike spillover across mill towns resulted. The implications of the analyses for social movement theory generally, and for the understanding of how media can enable or constrain collective struggle, are discussed.