Moving into and out of poor urban areas

Newly available geographical information from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is used to estimate a variety of relationships involving high-poverty metropolitan census tracts. The longitudinal data from the PSID show a great deal of geographical mobility even for persistently poor adults, with as many as one fourth of certain groups of these entering and leaving poor urban census tracts in a year. At the same time, solution of the transition matrices for various groups—whites and blacks of various income classes, in families with and without children, living in different types of census tracts—in the early 1980s shows the gradual emptying out of poor urban tracts, particularly of whites and blacks in families without children. As a consequence, despite the great degree of geographical “churning,” poor urban areas gradually become poorer, blacker, and the home of a larger share of black families with children. Some of these aggregate trends had been noticed by researchers comparing these areas in the 1970 and 1980 censuses; our more up-to-date results demonstrate the relationships between the micro and macro data.     

Staying in the Game or Changing It: An Analysis of Moves and Turns in Negotiation

As parties bargain over the terms of an agreement, they are concurrently negotiating their relationship. In this parallel negotiation, parties seek to position themselves to advantage by using a variety of strategic moves. In so doing the other party can be put into a defensive position making it difficult to advocate effectively. Turns, such as interrupting, correcting, questioning, naming, and diverting, challenge these moves. Turns can be used restoratively to move out of a defensive position or participatively, to engage the other in collaboration. Anticipating strategic moves and having turns in mind is part of preparing to negotiate.     

Descriptive Study of Precursors to Sex Offending among 813 Boys and Girls: Antecedent Life Experiences

In order to understand the precursors to sexual offending among youth and the associated gender differences, the records of 813 sexually abusive children (659 boys and 154 girls) referred for an evaluation of their sexually inappropriate and coercive behavior were reviewed and coded. These children ranged in age from 3 to 18 when they committed their first hands-on offenses. All were under the care of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services either prior to or as a result of their behavior. Principle findings included: (1) a high proportion of girls (19 percent) in a sample of children flagged as sexually abusive to other children, (2) an exceptionally high base rate of severe maltreatment and associated clinical and psychiatric sequelae, and (3) girls were significantly more likely to be sexually abused, and when sexually abused the abuse lasted longer, was more severe, and involved more perpetrators. In addition, the girls were significantly more likely to witness domestic violence and to witness sexual deviance within the home. For all other types of abuse, there were no group differences, and (4) all of the children were subjected to a very high level of caregiver instability.