Call for Papers

Call for Papers

Call for Papers     

Gender/Racial Differences in Jock Identity,Dating, and Adolescent Sexual Risk

Despite recent declines in overall sexual activity, sexual risk-taking remains a substantial danger to US youth. Existing research points to athletic participation as a promising venue for reducing these risks. Linear regressions and multiple analyses of covariance were performed on a longitudinal sample of nearly 600 Western New York adolescents in order to examine gender- and race-specific relationships between jock identity and adolescent sexual risk-taking, including age of sexual onset, past-year and lifetime frequency of sexual intercourse, and number of sexual partners. After controlling for age, race, socioeconomic status, and family cohesion, male jocks reported more frequent dating than nonjocks but female jocks did not. For both genders, athletic activity was associated with lower levels of sexual risk-taking; however, jock identity was associated with higher levels of sexual risk-taking, particularly among African American adolescents. Future research should distinguish between subjective and objective dimensions of athletic involvement as factors in adolescent sexual risk.Research Scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions of the University at Buffalo. Received PhD in sociology from the University at Buffalo. Research interests include adolescent athletic involvement, gender, race, and health-risk behavior, particularly substance use.Department Chair and Professor of Sociology at the University at Buffalo. Received PhD in sociology from Yale University. Research interests include the effects of families, friendships, and organizational participation on adolescent development and substance use.Senior Research Scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions of the University at Buffalo. Received PhD in sociology from the University at Buffalo. Research interests include family influences on adolescent substance use, gambling, and other problem behaviors.Professor of Physical Education and Sport at SUNY College at Brockport. Received PhD in physical education from Ohio State University. Research interests include the sociology of sport, social psychology of sport, sport group dynamics, and sport spectatorship/fandom.Professor of Sociology at DYouville College. Received PhD in sociology from the University at Buffalo. Research interests include the sociology of sport, gender, and mens health.     

Personality Disorder in Psychological Injury: A Biopsychosocial and Forensic Perspective

The present paper explores personality disorder from a biopsychosocial and developmental perspective, in particular, while considering forensic applications. It reviews criticisms of the current approach to classification, especially about its categorical in nature. Then, the paper focuses on the Five-Factor Model of personality dimensions and the attempts to relate it to understanding and assessing personality disorder (Costa and Widiger 2002). Developmental research is revealing that from early in life, temperament and personality seem to conform to a five-factor structure akin to the Big Five, although there are exceptions. Next, the paper examines the biopsychosocial model of personality and considers how personality disorder in the healthcare context affects treatment, relations with providers, and so on. Lastly, the paper examines Young’s (1997) stage model of development in relation to the Big Five and shows how the manner in which it deals with the development of the self may facilitate understanding of personality development and its disturbance. Recommendations and implications are considered.     

Risk Factors for Family Abduction: Demographic and Family Interaction Characteristics

Previous research in the study of family abduction has been plagued by three problems in efforts to establish risk factors for the experience of these events: (1) failure to use appropriate comparison groups; (2) focus on only the most severe cases of abduction, without consideration of the full spectrum of these events; and (3) use of data drawn only from some “reported” source (i.e., police, court, or missing children agency reports). This paper addresses these three methodological difficulties, using data drawn from a national sample of families, and including both abducted and nonabducted children. We find that race, age of children, family size, and incidence of violence in the family all appear to bear on the risk of experiencing a family abduction event. Further, recency of divorce or separation appears to be associated with the risk for more serious or alarming cases of family abduction.