The Role of Social Support in Students’ Perceived Abilities and Attitudes Toward Math and Science

Social cognitive models examining academic and career outcomes emphasize constructs such as attitude, interest, and self-efficacy as key factors affecting students’ pursuit of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses and careers. The current research examines another under-researched component of social cognitive models: social support, and the relationship between this component and attitude and self-efficacy in math and science. A large cross-sectional design was used gathering data from 1,552 participants in four adolescent school settings from 5th grade to early college (41 % female, 80 % white). Students completed measures of perceived social support from parents, teachers and friends as well as their perceived ability and attitudes toward math and science. Fifth grade and college students reported higher levels of support from teachers and friends when compared to students at other grade levels. In addition, students who perceived greater social support for math and science from parents, teachers, and friends reported better attitudes and had higher perceptions of their abilities in math and science. Lastly, structural equation modeling revealed that social support had both a direct effect on math and science perceived abilities and an indirect effect mediated through math and science attitudes. Findings suggest that students who perceive greater social support for math and science from parents, teachers, and friends have more positive attitudes toward math and science and a higher sense of their own competence in these subjects.     

Adolescent Neglect, Juvenile Delinquency and the Risk of Recidivism

Victims of child abuse and neglect are at an increased risk of involvement with the juvenile justice and adult correctional systems. Yet, little is known about the continuation and trajectories of offending beyond initial contact with law enforcement. Neglect likely plays a critical role in continued offending as parental monitoring, parental rejection and family relationships are instrumental in explaining juvenile conduct problems. This study sought to determine whether neglect is associated with recidivism for moderate and high risk juvenile offenders in Washington State. Statewide risk assessments and administrative records for child welfare, juvenile justice, and adult corrections were analyzed. The sample was diverse (24 % female, 13 % African American, 8 % Hispanic, 5 % Native American) and included all moderate and high risk juvenile offenders screened by juvenile probation between 2004 and 2007 (n = 19,833). Official records from child protection were used to identify juvenile offenders with a history of child neglect and to identify juvenile offenders with an ongoing case of neglect. Event history models were developed to estimate the risk of subsequent offending. Adolescents with an ongoing case neglect were significantly more likely to continue offending as compared with youth with no official history of neglect. These findings remain even after controlling for a wide range of family, peer, academic, mental health, and substance abuse covariates. Interrupting trajectories of offending is a primary focus of juvenile justice. The findings of the current study indicate that ongoing dependency issues play a critical role in explaining the outcomes achieved for adolescents in juvenile justice settings. The implications for improved collaboration between child welfare and juvenile justice are discussed.     

Associations Between Adolescents’ Perceived Discrimination and Prosocial Tendencies: The Mediating Role of Mexican American Values

Experiences with perceived discrimination (e.g., perceptions of being treated unfairly due to race or ethnicity) are expected to impact negatively youths’ prosocial development. However, resilience often occurs in light of such experiences through cultural factors. The current longitudinal study examined the influence of perceived discrimination on the emergence of Mexican American adolescents’ later prosocial tendencies, and examined the mediating role of Mexican American values (e.g., familism, respect, and religiosity). Participants included 749 adolescents (49 % female) interviewed at 5th, 7th, and 10th grade. Results of the current study suggested that, although perceived discrimination was associated negatively with some types of prosocial tendencies (e.g., compliant, emotional, and dire) and related positively to public prosocial helping, the associations were mediated by youths’ Mexican American values. Directions for future research are presented and practical implications for promoting adolescents’ resilience are discussed.     

Anthropological stranger: the intellectual trajectory of Hortense Powdermaker

This article investigates the life and works of Hortense Powdermaker (1896-1970). In contradistinction to the intellectual climate of her times, Powdermaker's intellectual trajectory can be characterised as eclectic, dynamic and forward thinking. Spanning nearly four decades, Powdermaker's academic career was dedicated to developing a distinct ‘anthropological vision’. Yet, although she conducted studies of culture and society that transcended structures of orthodoxy and charted alternative theoretical and methodological terrain, in turn establishing herself as a pioneer of contemporary anthropological thought, Powdermaker's work has failed to gain incorporation into wider disciplinary research agendas. Set within a sociology-of-intellectuals framework, it is argued that Powdermaker occupies a peripheral position in the history of anthropology – a position which does not adequately reflect the significance of her work – and that Powdermaker's greatest intellectual contribution was her innovative epistemology and sophisticated ‘anthropological vision’. Nonetheless, as a result of the powerful traditions and orthodox schools of thought which reigned supreme in mid-century anthropology and sociology, she was unable to exert any enduring influence on British or American social thought.     

Pomeroy v. Pomeroy: beauty,modernity, and the female entrepreneur in fin-de-siècle London

As a fictional personality trading as ‘Mrs Pomeroy’, Jeannette Scalé dominated London's elite beauty market through the late nineteenth century. By 1906, her control over the expansive commercial empire had collapsed, as new company owners publicly accused her of pecuniary ambitions unbefitting her sex. This article charts Scalé's extraordinary transformation into London's leading complexion specialist, exploring the gender conventions regulating both the beauty business and middle-class female enterprise at the fin de siècle. An investigation of the ‘Mrs Pomeroy’ character reveals businesswomen's changing opportunities in England's ‘modernizing’ retail market, opportunities engendered through new systems of advertising, growing anonymity in the expanding urban scene, and novel forms of self-representation that did not necessarily impinge upon businesswomen's respectability.     

Public Perceptions of Benefits from and Worries over Plant‐Made Industrial Products and Plant‐Made Pharmaceuticals: The Influence of Institutional Trust

Although agricultural biotechnology has been a seminal reference point in risk perception studies, public awareness of their exposure to risk deriving from this new technology has been minimal at best. However, recent events indicate there may be growing public concern as new variations of this technology appear. Understanding what drives perceptions of benefits from the third generation of the agricultural biotechnology and what determines public worries are keys for the future of this technology. To this end, this study analyzes survey data from the midsouth region of the United States to construct four separate regression models of perceived benefits from and worries over plant‐made industrial products and plant‐made pharmaceuticals. Findings suggest that while prior experience with and knowledge about agricultural biotechnology has an impact on perceptions of benefits and worries, trust in farmers plays a highly important role in determining perceptions.     

Special Edition on Performance Management

This edition of Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice isdevoted to police performance management. Several of the articlesherein trace the origins of this style of police managementand the influences that have brought it about. Others appraiseits effects on matters as diverse as domestic violence, criminalinvestigation and the closure of police stations. They do so,not only from the perspective of the UK, but also from thoseof France, the United States and elsewhere; police performancemanagement is widespread and so are the issues that it raises. In this editorial