Faulty genes or faulty parents? Gender,family and survival in early and late childhood in the Netherlands, 1860–1900

According to the famous economist and Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen women have a significant biological advantage over men. Despite this fact women do not always live longer. In today's third world, but also in some areas in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century we find so-called excess female mortality. In this paper we examine child mortality in The Netherlands in general and gendered patterns of child mortality in particular. The focus is on differential mortality patterns by gender for infants, older children, and young adults up to age 20 in the second half of the 19th century. The analysis takes place at three levels. We start off with an exploration of sex differentials in mortality at the national level, based on the existing literature. We next examine gender differentials in mortality at the level of several Dutch communities, in the region called Twente, focussing on the differences between the city and the countryside. The final part of the analysis focuses on the micro level of the individual and his or her family in the rural community of Lonneker located in the Twente region. In this part of our study we make use of longitudinal individual level data which are analysed with event history methodologies. Our analysis clearly demonstrates that young women and girls in The Netherlands were not always in a position to fully capitalise upon their greater biological advantage and suffered instead considerable excess mortality. Especially in the rural parts of the country girls had lower survival chances. The individual level analysis confirms the importance of sex in explaining child and adolescent mortality. These gendered mortality risks can however not be attributed to social and economic household characteristics. The analysis also shows that, when death came, it literally affected the entire family. This phenomenon, better known under the label ‘death clustering’, may have been an effect of parental incompetence.     

Differentials in overall and cause-specific mortality among infants born in and out of wedlock,Stockholm 1878–1925

This study investigates differentials in the decline of cause-specific infant mortality by marital status of the mother in Stockholm (1878–1925) and factors contributing to the explanation of these differentials using computerized records of individual entries from the Roteman Archives. Included in the analysis were 120,094 children less than 1 year of age who lived in Södermalm during this period. Cause-specific mortality rates were calculated for three time periods. Cox's regression analysis was used to study the relationship between overall and cause-specific risk of infant death and of being born in and out of wedlock in relation to a set of variables. Infant mortality rates and mortality risks were higher among children born out of rather than in wedlock. The most pronounced differentials in cause-specific mortality rates between these groups of children were seen in cases of diarrhea. The socioeconomic status of the household head and number of children in the household were statistically significant with infant mortality, but explain only part of the excess mortality risk of children born out of wedlock. In Stockholm at the turn of the 19th century being born out of wedlock was strongly associated with poor health outcomes, particularly in diarrheal diseases, pneumonia/bronchitis, and immaturity/congenital causes.     

Differentials in overall and cause-specific mortality among infants born in and out of wedlock,Stockholm 1878–1925

This study investigates differentials in the decline of cause-specific infant mortality by marital status of the mother in Stockholm (1878–1925) and factors contributing to the explanation of these differentials using computerized records of individual entries from the Roteman Archives. Included in the analysis were 120,094 children less than 1 year of age who lived in Södermalm during this period. Cause-specific mortality rates were calculated for three time periods. Cox's regression analysis was used to study the relationship between overall and cause-specific risk of infant death and of being born in and out of wedlock in relation to a set of variables. Infant mortality rates and mortality risks were higher among children born out of rather than in wedlock. The most pronounced differentials in cause-specific mortality rates between these groups of children were seen in cases of diarrhea. The socioeconomic status of the household head and number of children in the household were statistically significant with infant mortality, but explain only part of the excess mortality risk of children born out of wedlock. In Stockholm at the turn of the 19th century being born out of wedlock was strongly associated with poor health outcomes, particularly in diarrheal diseases, pneumonia/bronchitis, and immaturity/congenital causes.     

Economic status,religion, and demography in an Ulster town in the early twentieth century

The paper offers an analysis of the demography of the confessionally-divided and heavily industrialized northern Irish town of Lurgan in the early twentieth century. Its main source is the individual household forms of the Irish population census of 1911. This was the first Irish census to provide household-level data on the number of children born—and the number still surviving—to married couples co-resident at the time of the census. The paper begins by producing standard cross-tabulations of socio-economic status, as represented by literacy, numeracy, occupation, and the labour force participation of married women, by religion. It then presents econometric analyses of female labour force participation, marital fertility, and infant and child mortality. The greater poverty of Catholic households forced a higher proportion of mothers to work outside the home, mainly as unskilled workers in the town's linen mills. The analysis of the marital fertility suggests that confessional affiliation did not influence family size much at this juncture. The analysis of infant and child mortality suggests that religious affiliation was to a significant extent a cloak for living standards and socio-economic advantage.     

RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR SECONDARY GIRLS OF INCARCERATED PARENTS

In a review of the literature on child gender and gender‐specific effects for children of incarcerated parents, the present paper examines what we do and do not know about gender‐specific protective and risk factors for children of incarcerated parents. The nuanced effects of parental separation based on child gender are offered, drawn from secondary level girls in an all‐female support group operated at a secondary school in Little Rock, Arkansas for the past six years. Other programs are examined that evidence gender‐specific effects for boys and girls in those programs. A few basic statistical indices suggest that the gender of an adolescent separated from his or her incarcerated parents has differential impacts to be better studied and possibly considered in service programming. The results may enhance the outcomes for the girls, and perhaps the boys.     

Focusing on Girls and Young Women

Abstract

As part of a nationally-funded effort to examine female delinquency, focus groups with girls and young women involved in the juvenile justice system were conducted in ten California counties. This article presents data from these focus groups and provides a detailed picture of the gendered perspective of these respondents in terms of the individual and social factors that contribute to risky behavior and delinquency among girls and young women. Family problems, including relationships with parents and communication problems, running away, abuse issues and substance use were factors most often discussed. Gang issues and violence were also identified as problems among a minority of girls and young women. Problems with school and the early onset of sexual behavior are also related to high-risk behaviors.     

近代机械-原子论与美国财产法理念——个人与社会:不是独白而是对话

在近代科学革命和文化思想模式变革的大背景下,考察近代美国财产法理念的衍生及其特质:近代美国财产法理念是建立在17世纪科学革命对古代和中世纪有机论的批判中产生的机械—原子论主导思想模式基础上的,因而强调个人利益的支配地位。但在美国,意识形态从来都不是一元化的,财产法理念中的个人因素总是与社会因素连在一起的。个人利益与社会利益不是绝对排斥、一方独白,而是妥协共存、双方对话。     

Mainstreaming Gender into European Family Law? The Case of International Child Abduction and Brussels II Revised

Gender mainstreaming is an EU policy tool encouraging equality between men and women by incorporating gender concerns into the formation of EU law. The EU has intervened in private international family law, an area where concerns over gender equality may be present. Child abduction, which is regulated by the Brussels II Revised Regulation, is an aspect of international family law where issues of gender have been highlighted. Women are predominantly the abductors of their children and may abduct a child to escape a violent relationship. These factors were in evidence in the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention and an effective gender mainstreaming strategy should promote discussion to address these concerns. By examining the proposals for Brussels II Revised, this article will demonstrate that the gendered nature of child abduction was not clearly addressed in the development of the legislation and questions how mainstreaming can be effective as an aspect of the legislative process.     

When women disappear from the labour market: occupational status of Dutch women at marriage in a modernizing society, 1865–1922

Between 1865 and 1922 the labour force participation of women at marriage dropped considerably in the Netherlands. At the same time, girls' educational participation increased and egalitarian gender values started to spread. We expect these developments to have affected the occupational status of those women who stayed in the labour market. Using a large dataset of Dutch marriages and municipal-level information on female labour force participation, educational participation, and an indicator of gender values, we show that women's status dropped until around 1885 and then started to rise. The retreat of women from the labour market coincided with a decline in the status of the women who remained, whereas, especially after 1900, the increasing educational participation of girls and the dissemination of egalitarian gender values counteracted this trend by causing women's status to rise.     

Female sexual abusers: Assessing the risk

Successful risk management within child protection is problematic and in many cases is a delicate balancing act between parental and children’s rights. Reversing the expected gender roles creates a dynamic that may increase the difficulties of risk assessment even further. This paper focuses on women who sexually abuse children and discusses the particular problems relating to the assessment of risk in professional practice. The data was gathered in the UK and drawn from a series of qualitative interviews with child protection professionals, including 3 police officers, 2 lawyers, 15 social workers, 6 probation officers, 8 health workers and 11 counsellors. The interview data have identified some links between the gendered assumptions and the rationales used by professionals to explain the abusive behaviour.     

Gendered Paths to Legal Citizenship: The Case of Latin‐American Immigrants in Phoenix,Arizona

In this paper we seek to contribute to a greater understanding of legal citizenship by exploring the gendered experiences of Latin‐American‐origin immigrants in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area as they go through the legalization process. To explore this gendered angle we rely on in‐depth interviews conducted from 1998 through 2008 with women and men from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico. The data reveal that although immigration policies and procedures are presumably gender neutral, they are in fact inflected with gendered meanings and enacted in gendered social structures. Gender ideologies permeate the processes to differentially affect the legalization, permanent legal residence, and citizenship processes of immigrant women and men. This article points to key gender inequalities in immigration law.     

Naming for kin and the development of modern family structures

It is generally assumed that the conjugal family—the family that lived independently from extended kin—came into existence in the Netherlands relatively early, and that a new attitude towards children, characterized by an emphasis on the individuality of the child, developed at more or less the same time. To test whether this more narrow range of kin and the stronger emphasis on the individuality of the child translated itself also in a deviation from the traditional practice of naming newborn children for kin, the article analyzes naming patterns in a rural area of the Netherlands during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The conclusion is that the rise of the conjugal family and the new attitude that recognized the child as an autonomous individual had no impact on the degree of naming for kin. In a more general sense, the findings raise doubts about the idea that changes in family structures and mentality directly express themselves in changes in naming practices.     

Naming for kin and the development of modern family structures: An analysis of a rural region in the netherlands in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

It is generally assumed that the conjugal family—the family that lived independently from extended kin—came into existence in the Netherlands relatively early, and that a new attitude towards children, characterized by an emphasis on the individuality of the child, developed at more or less the same time. To test whether this more narrow range of kin and the stronger emphasis on the individuality of the child translated itself also in a deviation from the traditional practice of naming newborn children for kin, the article analyzes naming patterns in a rural area of the Netherlands during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The conclusion is that the rise of the conjugal family and the new attitude that recognized the child as an autonomous individual had no impact on the degree of naming for kin. In a more general sense, the findings raise doubts about the idea that changes in family structures and mentality directly express themselves in changes in naming practices.     

Pattwena of harm: An analysis of gender and defamation

This article explores whether the law of defamation is gender‐specific. Through a quantitative and historical analysis of libel and slander cases, the study indicates that when women brought actions against those who assaulted their reputations their likelihood of being awarded judicial remedy was unalterably linked to their sexual identity. The study examined 278 appellate cases brought by both male and female plaintiffs during two decades in United States history when emergent women's rights movements were pronounced, the late 19th century and the mid‐20th century.     

Informal transfers,men, women and children: Family economy and informal social security in early 20th century Finnish households

Due to their role in discussions on community solidarity and social security in rich and poor countries alike, informal transfers between households have gradually become established as a research topic in economic and social history. Qualitative research has tended to emphasize the female-dominated nature of informal assistance. While research on intra-household resource allocation has demonstrated the potential for discerning gendered outcomes with household level data, quantitative research on informal assistance tends to ascribe a singular, “family” logic to transfers. Using an early 20th century Finnish household budget survey, this article analyses the differences in the statistical determinants of the reception of informal transfers in cash and in kind in the context of gendered household economy. Record linkage and statistical inference are utilized to reveal the sources of the different types of transfers and show how they were related to the position and welfare of men, women and children within households. The transfers in cash were actually controlled by men in the male breadwinner families of the data, exhibited elements of informal insurance, and were linked to trade union membership. The transfers in kind appeared to be the realm of particularly those women who were mainly engaged in unpaid work in households. At the same time, however, they were linked to outbound reciprocity in cash, indicating implicit dependence on male earnings.     

The role of respondent gender and sexual orientation in shaping punitive attitudes and perceptions of responsibility for same- and opposite-sex student-teacher relationships

ABSTRACT

The sexual double standard posits that men and women are perceived differently for their sexual experiences, including experiences of sexual violence and misconduct. This study explores these gendered perceptions for situations involving teacher-student sexual contact where the student is a minor. A quasi-experimental vignette design (n?=?648 respondents), where the gender of the teacher and student, is used to explore how both same and opposite sex teacher-student gender dyads shape perceptions of the teacher and student, including responsibility, positive outcomes for the student, and punitive attitudes. We found that men are less likely to hold the teacher responsible and more likely to indicate positive student outcomes while women are more punitive toward the teacher. Respondent sexual orientation largely did not influence perceptions. We situate these findings in the literature on child sexual abuse involving authority figures and the implications for theory are discussed.     

The demographic consequences of changing employment opportunities: Women in the Dutch Meierij in the nineteenth century

"In the nineteenth century, the demographic development of the Meierij, a region in the south-east of the Netherlands, was different from that of the rest of modernizing northern Europe. Infant mortality remained high, while it dropped elsewhere. The article shows why the current explanation for high infant mortality, which links a sustained high infant mortality to a change in feeding habits is not valid. Increased fertility due, among other reasons, to a lower marital age offers a better explanation. Changes in economic options open to unmarried women provide the clue. With fewer premarital occupational possibilities, women would have been more inclined to marry, or there would have been less pressure on them to forestall a marriage in order to profit to the full from the occupational options. More and earlier marriages meant more children were born, and also a higher infant mortality rate."     

Powerlessness,isolation, and future expectations: A gender‐based analysis of Korean inmates

This study explored gender differences in perceptions of powerlessness, isolation, and postprison expectation among inmates in the Republic of Korea. Korean women and girls occupy a social location that is characterized by marginalization from the labor force, emphasis on a restrictive gender ideology through family and school socialization, and dependence on the position of their family of origin or, after marriage, their husband for social standing. Given their social location and the socialization that supports and reproduces the social structure, the researchers hypothesized that compared to men in prison, women inmates would express lower levels of control over their own lives, greater feelings of isolation, and be more cynical about their life chances upon release from prison. Each of these hypotheses were supported at both the aggregate‐ and inmate‐level of analysis. The findings suggest the need for gender specific programming within the prison for women.     

Wrongful birth and the politics of reproduction: West German and English law considered

This article considers the law relating to compensation in tort and contract for failed sterilizations and failed abortions leading to the birth of an unplanned but healthy child in the Federal Republic of Germany and England. It uses a policy-based analysis which takes the social construction of gender as a significant factor in judicial decision making. It criticizes existing literature for failing to take into account gender divisions in society and points to ways in which both the framework within which wrongful birth cases are discussed generally and the limitations which have been placed on recovery specifically reflect gender stereotyped notions of female and male behaviour and sexuality. I conclude that there are three main areas of concern in the wrongful birth cases: a) the inadequate recognition which the law accords to women's work in the home when awarding damages for maintenance of the unplanned child to majority; b) the awarding damages exercised by the politics of abortion, which can lead to undue restrictions on recovery; and c) the difficulties which the law experiences when attempting to conceptualize an interference in a woman's procreative autonomy in the same terms as an interference in a typically 'male' sphere of life, such as professional autonomy. Thus there is an urgent need to reconsider the categories of the law of obligations such as 'damage' and 'compensation', which are central to the principle of individual responsibility for harm caused, in order to reveal their gendered content and differential effects.