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Alba, Richard; Abdel-Hady, Dalia
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00002.xpmid: N/A
We examine the possibility of ethnic exclusion by U.S. intellectual elites for the case of Italian Americans, a large, identifiable group that has assimilated into the mainstream during the last half century but is still the subject of demeaning stereotypes with wide currency. Membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellowship of nearly 4,000 members drawn from throughout the academic, scientific, and artistic worlds, is used as a window into processes of ethnic stratification among intellectuals and academics. The analysis establishes that Italian Americans are represented in the Academy at a level well below their percentage among college and university faculty. Their frequency of election has increased substantially in recent years, but we conclude that the evidence is consistent with continuing ethnic disadvantage.
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00003.xpmid: N/A
Interracial exposure and isolation (p*) indices have been widely used in studies of residential racial segregation. However, a recent pilot study raised serious issues about the use of these indices, because they are based on the mean statistic, which may yield misleading results in the case of skewed distributions, as is often the case with census tract racial compositions. An alternative median exposure index (p*-md) is proposed, and mean and median indices of white-to-African-American and African-American-to-white exposure, as well as white and African-American isolation, are compared for the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The analysis shows that the mean and median measures produce different results, and that most of these differences are maximized in those areas that are most segregated and, especially for African-American-to-white exposure, in areas where the largest number of African Americans live. This creates significant problems in the interpretation and use of mean exposure and isolation indices, and in most cases, the median index yields a result more representative of the residential neighborhood situation of the majority of whites and African Americans. A particular problem with the mean exposure indices currently in common use is their tendency to overstate the degree of neighborhood-level interracial contact in U.S. metropolitan areas, and, in so doing, to understate the impact of racial housing discrimination.
Bolzendahl, Catherine; Brooks, Clem
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00004.xpmid: N/A
Scholarly debates over modernization and social change in the late twentieth century have raised far-reaching questions about the possible consequences for religious group conflict and differences in behavior, identity, and opinion. Three general theoretical interpretations—polarization, secularization, and stable influence—have been asserted in the relevant literatures, yet which interpretation might best capture the effects of religious group memberships during the past three decades remains unresolved. We seek to advance research and debate on the changing influence of religion by investigating questions about the magnitude of, and trends in, religious groups differences in attitudes toward issues relating to gender, abortion, and sexuality during the past three decades. Building from past research, our analyses make use of three innovations: we apply a new typology of religious group memberships; we evaluate main versus interaction effect models to gauge evidence of change in the magnitude of religious influence; and we use indices that enable comparisons of the magnitude of group-based differences in attitudes across distinct issues and over time. Of the seven different issues we analyze, two reveal evidence of growing group-based differences, while the remaining five are characterized by a pattern of stability. We discuss the significance of these results for understanding limits of secularization theory, considering in conclusion how our results contribute to ongoing debate over the effects of religious group memberships.
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00005.xpmid: N/A
Despite the association between religiousness and conservative sexual attitudes, links between religion and patterns of parent–child communication about sex and birth control are largely undocumented. This study examines these relationships using two nationally representative data sets of parents and adolescents. I evaluated a conceptual model of religious influence on the sexual socialization of adolescents. Results suggest that parental public religiosity curbs the frequency of conversations about sex and birth control, and after accounting for conversations about sexual morality, so does parental religious salience. Despite notable relationships with religious affiliation, age, race, and gender still shape parental communication patterns most consistently.
Mennino, Sue Falter; Rubin, Beth A.; Brayfield, April
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00006.xpmid: N/A
We draw on gender theory and neo-institutional theory to examine the impact of workplace characteristics and family demands on negative job-to-home and home-to-job spillover. Our multivariate analyses of the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce data indicate that family-supportive workplace cultures reduce negative spillover in both directions, whereas the availability of company policies, such as dependent care benefits and flextime, do not. Our results also show that family demands increase spillover more for women than for men. Our findings suggest that the atmosphere of the workplace is more important than the availability of company policies in reducing negative spillover.
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00007.xpmid: N/A
This article examines variation in intergenerational coresidence among older women and men in Egypt using data from the WHO Collaborative Study on the Social and Health Aspects of Aging. Residence with sons and daughters-in-law is preferred, although residence with daughters and sons-in-law occurs because patrilocal endogamy is common. Whereas residence with sons and daughters declines with age among men, it declines then increases with age among women. Residence with sons-in-law is uncommon among older men and becomes more frequent with age among older women. Findings support the idea that women's exchange of kin-keeping tasks for protection from kin gives older women greater access to normative and alternative forms of intergenerational coresidence, even after accounting for differences in need.
Draus, Paul J.; Siegal, Harvey A.; Carlson, Robert G.; Falck, Russel S.; Wang, Jichuan
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00008.xpmid: N/A
This article describes the process of recruiting research subjects for a natural history study of illicit stimulant use in rural Ohio using respondent-driven sampling and ethnographic methods. Participant observation, qualitative interviews, and focus groups were used to establish the project and to evaluate and modify the sampling process as it unfolded. We outline the steps taken in several different rural counties, using ethnographic data to illustrate local differences and obstacles that were faced. The article concludes that respondent-driven sampling is a promising method for identifying and recruiting members of hidden populations in rural areas. However, adequate time must be allotted to establish ethnographic footholds and to reach various networks in separate communities.
doi: 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00009.xpmid: N/A
The two dominant perspectives in cross-national comparative criminology (modernization and conflict) make competing predictions about the convergence of national crime rates over time. The modernization perspective predicts convergence in crime rates for all nations of the world whereas the conflict perspective predicts growing divergence between industrializing poor nations and highly industrialized rich nations. I also explore an intermediate possibility: that convergence is limited mostly to nations of the industrial elite. I use econometric methods to test for convergence and divergence in homicide victimization rates for 34 nations from 1956 to 2000. My results show the most support for an elite convergence model: although there are several examples of crime convergence among the nations in this study over time, all of these examples are drawn from the wealthy, highly industrialized nations.
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