Romantic partners and young adult offending: Considering the role of partner's socioeconomic characteristics

In this study, we examined whether and to what extent the effects on offending of marriage and different types of cohabitating partnerships depend on the romantic partner's socioeconomic status (SES). Such research addresses a key gap in knowledge regarding potential heterogeneity of effects on behavior of romantic partnerships. Drawing on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examined the within‐individual effects of three romantic partner's socioeconomic characteristics–education, employment, and income–on offending from ages 18 to 34. Results revealed that marriage was related to reductions in arrest only for those whose spouse was employed (full or part time) and had income. In contrast to marriage, partner SES was not related to arrest among those who cohabited with a partner they never married. Additionally, partner SES was often associated with reductions in arrest among those who cohabited with a partner they later married, but the reductions were statistically indistinguishable across levels of partner SES. Lastly, these effects were experienced similarly for low‐ and high‐SES individuals alike, and no gender differences were detected in these effects. Our findings suggest that important life events such as marriage and cohabitation can be behavior‐altering transitions, but the effects of these events are variable.     

Ignorance in Bliss: Modeling Knowledge of Rights in Marriage and Cohabitation

We live our lives against an extensive backdrop of legal rights and responsibilities, yet a growing number of studies indicates low levels of public legal literacy. In the context of opposite‐sex cohabitation and marriage law, this study employs new survey data from the United Kingdom to explore, in detail, how many and which people are ignorant of the law, and what are the nature and origins of erroneous beliefs. We find that people's beliefs about both cohabitation and marriage law are frequently wrong. They are also strikingly similar, and reflect the divergence of social attitudes from the law. Our findings are consistent with the notion that legal literacy links to salience of issue. They are also consistent with recent public legal education initiatives that affected public understanding of cohabitation law, but we argue that social attitudes and the intransigence of erroneous beliefs generally present significant challenges to such initiatives.     

Marriage,Cohabitation, and Crime: Differentiating Associations by Partnership Stage

A wealth of scholarship generally finds that marriage protects against crime, but there is less consistent evidence for cohabitation. In this article, we contribute to scholarship on marriage and put forward new evidence about cohabitation by examining marital and cohabiting partnerships as transitions with distinct stages of entry, stability, and dissolution. We use within-person change models with contemporary data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to analyze these stages for the full sample and separately for men and women. The findings show differential protective associations of marriage and cohabitation depending on the stage of the partnership. Both recently formed cohabiting partnerships and stable cohabiting partnerships are associated with reductions in the level of offending, although to a lesser degree than marital relationships. Cohabiting partnerships that are stable, in that they have lasted at least a year, are associated with larger decreases in offending, particularly among women.     

The unmarried couple in post-communist Romania: a qualitative sociological approach

Over the last few decades, ‘new’ contemporary couple relationships have been at the heart of international research on the cultural meanings and reference values that organize life couple nowadays. What is the situation in Romania? After the fall of the communist regime, the rise and development of new forms of couple relationships (other than the legitimate nuclear family that was widely accepted during the former political regime) have become more and more visible. During the transition to a market economy and pluralistic democracy, the development of living together outside marriage and the progressive spread of democratic values, as well as the slow but deep redefinition of the institution of marriage, have been obvious. Yet there have been insufficient efforts in tracking and reporting these transformations. This article presents some results of the first qualitative sociological investigation dedicated to cohabiting unmarried couples in post-communist Romania. In order to have a greater understanding of cohabitation at a macro level, it first focuses on the way cohabitation is presented in the Romanian demographic literature. Second, the analysis is followed by a micro-level study based on qualitative field research conducted in Bucharest with young people living as part of cohabiting opposite-sex couples.     

How unique is the Western European marriage pattern?: A comparison of nuptiality in historical Europe and the contemporary Arab world

In this article a comparison is drawn between the historical Western European marriage pattern (WEMP), and more recent trends in nuptiality in Arab countries. This comparison makes clear that marriage behavior in the present-day Arab world shows striking similarities to nuptiality patterns which have been described by Hajnal and adherents as typically Western European. Due to a combination of economic hardship, ever growing costs in the marriage ceremony, prolonged education and the emancipation of women, people in the Arab world have started to marry at ever higher ages during the past decades. Moreover, there are indications that universal marriage is in decline. Just as Western European couples in the nineteenth century had to spend years of saving in order to meet the economic requirements for marriage, young couples in today's Arab world have to postpone marriage as they are only at a more advanced age able to bear the economic burden involved in getting married. Striking is also the fact that marriage restriction in both societies started at a moment when the social and legal position of women was improving (in late Medieval Western Europe and today in the Arab world). However, in some ways the historical Western European marriage pattern differs from the contemporary Arab pattern. No other marriage regime has been able to completely reduce fertility and balance population growth to economic development. Whereas population growth in pre-twentieth century Europe was only restricted by nuptiality control, demographic expansion in present day Arab society is also restricted by modern family planning. Declining nuptiality in the Arab world can however not, as some might assume, be put under the header of the Second Demographic Transition observed in Western societies, from the 1960s on. After all, until today, a rise in cohabitation and extra-marital births has not occured in the Arab world.     

Societal openness during the urban crisis. Partner selection in the 19th-century Belgian textile cities Ghent and Verviers

This paper examines the partner selection of the lower classes during an urban crisis period in early industrial Belgian cities. It was found that in this period characterized by an economic transition, overpopulation, migration and a low standard of living, social heterogamy was high, whereas social homogamy increased, or was ‘restored’, in the subsequent period. The urban crisis effect on partner selection contradicts the claims of modernization theory that there was a gradual increase in societal openness and that societal openness was typically modern, but it fits the idea of the informalization of marriage, a process marked by an increase in unmarried cohabitation and illegitimacy.     

Societal openness during the urban crisis. Partner selection in the 19th-century Belgian textile cities Ghent and Verviers

This paper examines the partner selection of the lower classes during an urban crisis period in early industrial Belgian cities. It was found that in this period characterized by an economic transition, overpopulation, migration and a low standard of living, social heterogamy was high, whereas social homogamy increased, or was ‘restored’, in the subsequent period. The urban crisis effect on partner selection contradicts the claims of modernization theory that there was a gradual increase in societal openness and that societal openness was typically modern, but it fits the idea of the informalization of marriage, a process marked by an increase in unmarried cohabitation and illegitimacy.     

Cohabitation from illegal to institutionalized practice: the case of Norway 1972–2010

The main objective of this article is to explore the institutionalization of cohabitation that occurred in Norwegian law in the period 1972–2010. From being (officially) illegal until 1972, cohabitation in its contemporary form has become majority practice, a child-rearing institution, as well as recognized in law in ways that blur the differences between cohabitation and marriage. Although cohabitation is common in many European countries, Norway is one of the few to have gone full circle. This article focuses on the changes in politicians’ ideas and norms regarding intimate relationships during this period. The empirical analysis is based on political documents and debates in the Norwegian parliament about cohabitation, marriage, single motherhood and the family.     

非婚同居中女性健康权保护的法律困境及对策

规范非婚同居已经成为我国婚姻法学界的共识,但同居中女性的健康权问题却被忽略了。在司法实践中,许多法官往往用侵权法规则来解决相关的法律纠纷,在现行的法律框架下,这只是一种权宜之计。女性在非婚同居中的健康权不仅仅是女性健康不受侵犯的一种私法上的消极权利,也是一种积极的权利,国家有义务通过相关法律制度来保障女性健康权,这一点需要通过尽快制定非婚同居的法律来实现。     

Women's status and fertility in rural India

This article examines the relationship between women's status and fertility in India in the current (third) phase of the Indian fertility transition that began in the period 1900–1920. Variables used in the study include caste, occupation, and education of husband and wife, educational status of the household, role of female in the society, autonomy in decision-making, and interaction with and exposure to mass media. Women's status is conceptualized at the micro-level using the household as a unit; and the macro-level using society as a unit. Given the low levels of female literacy and participation in salaried employment, variables such as caste, education, and occupation of husband have been included in the computation of women's status. The variables, age-specific fertility rate, fecundity, and the number of children ever born, have been used as measures of fertility. Among other findings, the study reveals that there is a difference of approximately two births in the total fertility rate between low status and high status groups of women, and that there is an inverse relationship between the autonomy in decision-making and the level of fertility.     

Women's status and fertility in rural India

This article examines the relationship between women's status and fertility in India in the current (third) phase of the Indian fertility transition that began in the period 1900–1920. Variables used in the study include caste, occupation, and education of husband and wife, educational status of the household, role of female in the society, autonomy in decision-making, and interaction with and exposure to mass media. Women's status is conceptualized at the micro-level using the household as a unit; and the macro-level using society as a unit. Given the low levels of female literacy and participation in salaried employment, variables such as caste, education, and occupation of husband have been included in the computation of women's status. The variables, age-specific fertility rate, fecundity, and the number of children ever born, have been used as measures of fertility. Among other findings, the study reveals that there is a difference of approximately two births in the total fertility rate between low status and high status groups of women, and that there is an inverse relationship between the autonomy in decision-making and the level of fertility.     

国家治理中的司法策略:以转型乡村为背景

在转型期的当下中国,司法策略的产生背景源自于乡村传统治理术的衰退与纠纷解决的现实需要。为了适应社会转轨的实际需要,司法机关所采取的司法策略的目标定位是强调和谐社会与法治社会的兼容;选择的方法是"大调解"与"能动司法",而村民应对的策略是司法"体内循环"与"体外循环"并举。这些司法策略整合了纠纷解决的各种智慧,包含了尽可能多的治世方略,形成了"软硬兼施"、"刚柔并济"的处理矛盾的"规制矩阵",是我国司法机关审视自身条件与能力、适应转型环境、满足政治任务的"条件反射"。它反映出当下司法是一种补充社会资源、承担公共责任、加强联动治理、确保社会稳定的"安抚型司法"。     

Working women in France,nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Where,when, and which women were in work at marriage?

We look at women's labour force participation for the whole of France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We study to what extent young women were working at the time of their marriage, in which occupations, and how differences in labour force participation might be explained. Using a sample of 53,451 marriage records from the TRA project, we identify regional and temporal differences in rates of female labour force participation and in types of work in France between 1860 and 1986.We observe rather stable levels of female labour force participation between 1860 and 1950 of about 60 per cent, but higher levels in the second half of the twentieth century. Over time, women started to work across virtually all occupational sectors. Regional differences declined over time but continued to exist in the late twentieth century. We formulate a set of hypotheses to explain which women worked, taking into account their resources, as well as their expectations, in a male-breadwinner-dominated society. The results of our hierarchical logistic analysis indicate that women with fewer parental resources were more likely to work.     

Bridal pregnancy and women’s educational attainment in South Korea, 1970–2009

We examine the link between marriage and fertility in South Korea by focusing on the historic trend of bridal pregnancy (marriage preceded by pregnancy) over the four decadal marriage cohorts since the 1970s. We first demonstrate how the rate of bridal pregnancy changes over the observed period and then investigate the educational differentials in the trend. These inquiries are examined by analyzing a sample of 29,213 ever-married Korean women from recently pooled data from the National Survey of Fertility and Family Health (NSFFH). The results show that bridal pregnancy has increased from 16% in the 1970s marriage cohort to 20% in the 2000s marriage cohort. In response to class differentials, while bridal pregnancy has been more prevalent among less-educated women than among their counterparts, bridal pregnancy has increased across all education groups over time. In addition, the magnitudes of increase are more noticeable among highly educated women of recent marriage cohorts. We contextualize our findings and provide speculations about subsequent family changes in South Korea.     

The Scientific and Organizational Forms for Improvement of Soviet Legislation

In the period of the comprehensive building of communism, the Soviet state of the entire people has the task of regulating social relationships so as to promote the successful solution of the following problems: the creation of the basis for communism in material goods and technology, the transformation of socialist relationships into communist, and the education of a new man — the man of communist society.     

非婚同居的规制不会冲击结婚登记制度

结婚登记制度是非婚同居产生的制度条件,非婚同居不是对现行婚姻制度的冲击,非婚同居制度与结婚登记制度可以相得益彰。法律保护非婚同居,虽在一定程度上弱化婚姻法价值导向,但并没有动摇婚姻的主流地位,破坏家庭法目标的实现。婚姻危机无法缓解,并不能因此归责于法律承认和保护了非婚同居,而应正视和反思婚姻制度自身所面临的问题。法律对非婚同居的承认,并不排斥婚姻制度,人们根据自身的需要选择不同的两性结合方式。婚姻依然是人类自我延续和子女健康成长的必不可少的组织,应将婚姻置于优先保护的地位,赋予婚姻与非婚同居不同的待遇,婚姻家庭模式的主流地位得以巩固。     

Parliamentary Consociationalism in Lebanon: Equal Citizenry vs. Quotated Confessionalism

This article sheds light on the governance dilemma in a deeply divided post-conflict Lebanese sectarian society undergoing democratic transition. It assesses consociational democracy as a working model institutionalised by Lebanon in light of the country's composition of multiple religious minorities. In particular, it focuses on the political forces shaping the current Lebanese National Assembly (parliament) within the confessional structure and analyses the prospect and impasses confronting the development of a stable and representative assembly. Analysis of the Lebanese parliament is made in light of five assessment areas identified as fundamental for the emergence of a stable democratic institution: political will and domestic support, representation, lawmaking, oversight, and management and infrastructure. After revealing the deep-rooted deficiency of quota-based confessional representation, the article provides institutional transitional reform recommendations that could increase the likelihood for the legislature to better fulfil the critical functions of representation, oversight, and lawmaking vital for democratic transition. The realisation of consociational democracy in Lebanon, the article argues, would require the eventual adoption of proportional representation as a means of moving the country from a ‘confessionally quotated’ to ‘equal citizenry’ based representation.     

Cohabitation in Europe: a revenge of history?

Unmarried cohabitation is often seen as a radically ‘new’ phenomenon, originating in the 1960s, but in fact it has long historical antecedents. The question is, however, whether traditional and modern cohabitation are comparable and whether we can speak of persistence. This article offers a literature review on cohabitation in Europe, with the focus on persistence over time, integrating the results of a 2013 conference on this topic. What sources are available to confirm or reject such persistence? How should we understand persistence? In terms of the motivations of unmarried cohabitants? Or in terms of the acceptance of the community at large? And if no real persistence is found, does this mean that European cohabitation since the 1970s truly represents ‘new’ behaviour? We show that, on the regional level, the legacy of the past is still visible in factors affecting the timing and frequency of marriage of cohabiting couples. These factors are a mixture of regional socio-economic constraints, the relative cultural importance attached to marriage, the religious history, and the level of secularization.     

事实婚姻的效力

事实婚姻在法律性质上原属于不存在的婚姻。 2 0世纪 70年代以来 ,西方国家的法律逐渐开始对事实婚姻予以调整 ,使同居双方具有一定的权利、义务。我国有关事实婚姻的法律规定有的较为笼统 ,需要解释 ,有的存在漏洞需要补充。     

Keeping up with revolutions: evolution of higher education in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan’s higher education system has undergone some dramatic changes in the past century, evolving from largely traditional religious colleges to fully state-funded communist-atheist institutions. Since the end of the communist administration and subsequent market-oriented reforms, the institutions of higher education (IHEs) in Uzbekistan have had to reinvent and reform themselves again, as the demand for different kind of education increased. This paper puts the current changes and trends in IHEs into an historical perspective and highlights some important effects of the market reforms on the educational scene.