Protective Predictors of Alcohol Use Trajectories Among Canadian Aboriginal Youth

Some Aboriginal youth are at disproportionate risk of using substances and developing abuse and dependence disorders. However, not all Aboriginal youth misuse substances and limited research has examined the protective factors conferring against substance use among these youth. The present study aimed to identify protective factors related to the alcohol use trajectories from early adolescence to emerging adulthood among off-reserve Canadian Aboriginal youth. Participants (N = 330; 50.3% male) aged 12–23 were selected from cycles 2–7 of Statistics Canada’s NLSCY. Multilevel modeling was employed to identify protective factors for two constructs of alcohol use. Participation in weekly activities and optimism were found to be protective for both the frequency of alcohol use and heavy drinking trajectories. Attendance of religious services was also found to be protective for heavy drinking behaviors. In contrast, positive peer relationships were a risk factor for frequency of alcohol use, but not heavy drinking. The results provide preliminary evidence of important developmental factors to integrate into substance use intervention programs targeting Aboriginal youth.     

A Prospective Study of Mexican American Adolescents’ Academic Success: Considering Family and Individual Factors

Mexican American youth are at greater risk of school failure than their peers. To identify factors that may contribute to academic success in this population, this study examined the prospective relationships from 5th grade to 7th grade of family (i.e., human capital [a parent with at least a high school education], residential stability, academically and occupationally positive family role models, and family structure) and individual characteristics (i.e., externalizing symptoms, bilingualism, gender, and immigrant status) to the academic performance of 749 Mexican American early adolescents (average age = 10.4 years and 48.7% were girls in 5th grade) from economically and culturally diverse families as these youth made the transition to junior high school. Results indicated that while controlling for prior academic performance, human capital and positive family role models assessed when adolescents were in 5th grade positively related to academic performance in 7th grade. Further, being a girl also was related to greater 7th grade academic success, whereas externalizing symptoms were negatively related to 7th grade academic performance. No other variables in the model were significantly and prospectively related to 7th grade academic performance. Implications for future research and interventions 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.     

Empowerment boom or bust? Assessing women's post-conflict empowerment initiatives

Over the past decade, the term ‘empowerment’ has been generously employed and woefully ill-defined. In particular, women's empowerment has been embraced by such a vast number of development actors that it appears to be a unifying mission within development. Despite the boom in women's empowerment initiatives, there remains little critical analysis of the use of empowerment in general, and the perceived success or failures of specific empowerment initiatives. Using the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in Sierra Leone as a case study, this paper examines how reintegration was described as a source of empowerment for women. Drawing from interviews and analysis of related policy discourses, it is argued that, rather than representing a radical shift in development approaches towards more inclusive and representative policies, empowerment projects are shaped by neoliberal ideas such as individualism, responsibility and economic order and carry implicit, gendered and disciplining messages about appropriate social behaviour.     

Understanding Green Card Marriage Fraud by Malgorzata Zuber

Crime, Law and Social Change -