Intimate Partner Violence and Parenting: Examining the Roles of Parenting Stress,Timing, and Maternal Abuse History

Maternal intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure has been linked to negative parenting outcomes. Studies suggest that parenting stress is an intermediary between IPV exposure and parenting, though past work has relied on small, clinically- referred samples. Moreover, it is unclear if parenting is differentially affected by a mother’s recent versus past history of IPV exposure, or whether a mother’s childhood abuse history moderates the associations of IPV with parenting stress and parenting behaviors. The current study examines whether recent IPV, versus past IPV, has stronger associations with parenting stress and parenting behaviors and tests whether maternal abuse history moderates these associations. Using structural equation modeling, we tested relations between IPV (frequency and recency), parenting stress, and parenting behaviors cross-sectionally and longitudinally in a large community sample of IPV-exposed low-income Hispanic and African American mothers of children aged 0–14 years (N?=?1159). We found that mothers who reported IPV exposure in the past year reported higher negative and lower positive parenting behaviors than mothers who reported less recent exposure. Further, we found that the frequency and timing of IPV exposure affected parenting indirectly through increased parenting stress. However, a childhood history of abuse did not appear to sensitize women to these effects. These findings suggest that psychological interventions aimed at reducing the subjective experience of parenting stress, as well as increased access to resources that reduce objective childcare burden, are important for promoting resilience among families exposed to violence.

     

Perceived and Observed Maternal Relationship Quality Predict Sexual Debut by Age 15

Early sexual behaviors during adolescence have the potential to lead to unhealthy outcomes. This study explored the association between specific dimensions of maternal relationship quality and adolescent sexual debut by age 15. We hypothesized that adolescents who have poor maternal relationships are at greater risk of early sexual debut than those who have a more supportive relationship. These hypotheses were examined using both adolescents’ perception of their maternal relationship quality and observed relationship quality. A sample of 268 adolescents (142 girls; 90% European American) were followed longitudinally from age 13 to age 15. The results indicate that adolescents with sexual debut by age 15 report significantly worse relationships with their mothers compared with other adolescents. Furthermore, behavioral observations of lower maternal support and higher observed displays of externalizing affect towards the mother also were related to early sexual debut. The significance of maternal relationship quality remained after controlling for family structure, race, and socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that mothers have a significant role in the timing of their adolescents’ sexual debut.     

Nepali fuelwood production and consumption: Regional and household distinctions,substitution and successful intervention

This article uses household data from Nepal's two major populated regions (and 27 of 59 districts within those regions) to examine fuelwood consumption and production. In contrast with a purely market assessment, household analysis includes production which is consumed in the producing household. The household regressions yield coefficients and elasticities that are very different from and more reliable than a comparable assessment of market demand and supply. Household results generally support the hypotheses that expenditures on fuelwood are a small share of total household activity and that fuelwood is not sufficiently scarce to alter household behaviour. Fuelwood is sufficiently scarce, however, to alter behaviour for those households in the hill region that do not participate in market exchange. These households may be the best targets for public market interventions designed to alter fuelwood supply and deforestation.     

Does fraud trump partisanship? The impact of contentious elections on voter confidence

Fraudulent elections can reduce citizen trust in elections and other political institutions. But what about the impact of contentious elections that resolve successfully, leading to democratizing change? Do national movements toward democracy trump individual experiences with electoral manipulation? Using public opinion survey data collected before and after the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, we evaluate changes in voter confidence in electoral practices, political institutions, and democracy. Although national trends show increased voter confidence overall, subnational variation suggests pervasive partisan differences in opinions about election quality and institutional confidence. Remarkably, we find that direct exposure to fraud matters far less than anticipated; voters who were personally exposed to fraud felt no more or less confident than their co-partisans. We show that partisanship and the national electoral context may interact in ways that complicate the effects of democratizing elections, suggesting important avenues for future research.     

Green Alert: The Need to Rescue New York's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard

New York is set to miss the 2015 Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard deadline, due in a large part to over-reliance on in-state generation projects. Although much of the current discussion and articles written about New York energy policies are focused on hydrofracking, clean and renewable energy should not be lost in the discussion and the state cannot afford to miss a major energy policy goal. This article provides an analysis of the current energy policies of the Cuomo administration and highlights a major out-of-state generation project, the Champlain Hudson Power Express.     

Joint production and consumption in traditional households: Fuelwood and crop residues in two districts in Nepal

Forest conversion by agricultural households is the leading cause of deforestation. Yet we know little about agricultural household use of forest and tree products. This article measures household production of and demand for fuelwood and fuel substitutes in two districts in Nepal. Women play a larger role in collection in the district dependant on production from common forestlands. Men and agricultural capital are more important inputs in the district dependant on production from private lands. The article also measures demand elasticities for fuelwood, combustible agricultural residues, and improved stoves (a technological substitute), each by household income group. All price and income demand elasticities are less than one. The substitution elasticities between residues and fuelwood are less than one. Residues are more important substitutes for low income households and improved stoves are more important substitutes for high income households.     

WELFARE IDEOLOGY, THE MARKET AND SOCIAL SECURITY: Towards a Typology of Market-Oriented Reform

The global shift towards the market in the provision of social security is typically associated with the values of the New Right, but we take issue with this view. An examination of the main welfare ideologies that have influenced the development of contemporary social security systems suggests that the market and individualism have a role to play in a range of approaches to reform. Whilst some approaches unreservedly endorse the market – in a way which accords with the ideas of the New Right – other approaches adopt a pragmatic orientation based on a recognition of two public policy dilemmas, “market failure” and “state failure.” This attempt to define a middle way typifies many of the recent social security reform initiatives. Drawing upon Esping‐Andersen's recent work on de‐commodification, we construct a typology of normative approaches to the provision of social security which may be used to contextualise market‐oriented social security reform initiatives. This we argue is necessary to avoid the over‐simplified dichotomy between individualism and collectivism which is typical of so much recent work on social security reform.