The Contingent Effects of Fatherhood on Offending

A growing body of research assesses the relationship between fatherhood and desistance. Qualitative studies typically find fatherhood reduces offending, especially substance use; yet, quantitative studies have produced mixed findings. Guided by life-course theory, this study hypothesizes that fatherhood affects certain kinds of offending and fatherhood’s effects on offending are most pronounced among fathers who reside with their child. To test our hypotheses, NLSY97 data are employed along with fixed-effects regression analyses to estimate the relationship between fatherhood and offending, while controlling for time-varying and time-stable competing factors. Periods of fatherhood are associated with reductions in licit and illicit substance use but not other kinds of offending, and these effects are considerably stronger in periods in which fathers resided in the same household as their child. By contrast, residential fatherhood is associated with reductions in property offending and arrest. These results confirm the findings of qualitative research in that fatherhood, particularly residential fatherhood, reduces substance use but has weaker effects on other kinds of deviance.     

The Role of Mothers’ and Adolescents’ Perceptions of Ethnic-racial Socialization in Shaping Ethnic-racial Identity Among Early Adolescent Boys and Girls

The current study examined relationships between adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of ethnic-racial socialization and adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity. The sample included 170 sixth graders (49% boys, 51% girls) and their mothers, all of whom identified as Black, Puerto Rican, Dominican, or Chinese. Two dimensions of ethnic-racial socialization (cultural socialization and preparation for bias) were evaluated alongside three dimensions of ethnic-racial identity (exploration, affirmation and belonging, and behavioral engagement). Mothers’ reports of their cultural socialization predicted adolescents’ reports, but only adolescents’ reports predicted adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity processes. Mothers’ reports of preparation for bias predicted boys’ but not girls’ reports of preparation for bias. Again, only adolescents’ reports of preparation for bias predicted their ethnic-racial identity. Thus, several gender differences in relationships emerged, with mothers’ and adolescents’ perceptions of cultural socialization, in particular, playing a more important role in girls’ than in boys’ identity processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research.

Piteşti: a project in reeducation and its post-1989 interpretation in Romania

The purpose of this article is twofold: to provide a critical account of the Pite?ti experiment and its significance within the history of Romanian Communism and to examine current public disputes relative to memorializing the Pite?i experiment that concern issues of legitimacy, collective memory, and identity construction. The main argument pursued here is that within the recent postcommunist politics of memory, one major prevailing trend is to reincorporate a nationalist ideology within a postcommunist rhetoric. This leads to the conclusion that such mnemonic practices indicate a strong relationship between collective memory and political culture.     

Community elder-care in Tasmania: examining whether caregivers believe they "make-a-difference" in an urban and rural island

Adult caregivers (n = 184;Mage = 43.9 years old) working at a non-profit, eldercare program at five geographically diverse sites located in the self-contained, island state of Tasmania, Australia, completed a set of self-report measures. Results across the five sites indicated that respondents experienced a relatively strong sense of self-efficacy toward making a difference in their local community. However, there were significant differences (controlling for social desirability) when comparing caregivers from rural northern (n = 45) with urban southern (n = 139) communities, with rural caregivers claiming stronger sense of common mission with others, reciprocal responsibility to help others, and caregiver satisfaction, plus lower disharmony with other members and caregiver stress in helping the elderly than urban caregivers. Implications suggest that community self-efficacy may be high among eldercare staff, but their sense of community and caregiving perceptions may reflect geographic differences, especially in Tasmania.     

Interrogating “Urban Citizenship” vis-à-vis Undocumented Migration

This article critically interrogates the emerging literature on cities and citizenship, with specific reference to undocumented, “illegal”, or irregular migrant status. It first identifies and discusses three major approaches in the cities and citizenship literature, namely: normative, rescaling, and agency-centered approaches. It then interrogates this literature through the lens of migrant legal status and entertains a normative vision of urban citizenship in which a person would become a “citizen” not by explicit consent of fellow citizens, but merely by presence and residence in a place. While the immediate possibilities for such an unbounded, “grounded” citizenship are small, the article takes lessons from this model and discusses a fourth approach to cities and citizenship which explores the contemporary creation of urban “citizenship” policies for undocumented migrants in the United States. It concludes by discussing four brief examples of these local policies: (1) the contemporary struggle to reinstate local noncitizen voting, (2) the increasing acceptance of matrículas consulares as a valid form of identification for undocumented Mexican residents, and the debates over whether or not states should (3) issue driver licenses to undocumented migrants and (4) allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition for public colleges and universities.

Global cities are spaces where the very meaning, content and extent of citizenship are being made and transformed. (Isin, 2000 Isin, E. 2000. Democracy, Citizenship and the Global City, New York: Routledge.  [Google Scholar], p. 6)

… It's ridiculous that becoming a citizen in the US is a problem. I've been here for 17 years! This is my home. You need to make a difference where you live! (Undocumented resident of Los Angeles1 ^?1 I interviewed this individual as part of my research on undocumented migrants and residents in Los Angeles who, somewhat paradoxically, have been participating in campaign politics and “get out the vote” drives run by their labor unions. For a thorough discussion and analysis of this field work, see Varsanyi (2005 Varsanyi. 2005. The paradox of contemporary immigrant political mobilization: organized labor, undocumented migrants, and electoral participation in Los Angeles. Antipode, 37(4): 775–795. [Crossref] [Google Scholar]). Quotation translated from Spanish. View all notes)     

The Use of Religion in Death Penalty Sentencing Trials

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented religious appeals and testimony about a defendant's religious activities in order to influence capital jurors' sentencing. Courts that have objected to this use of religion fear that religion will improperly influence jurors' decisions and interfere with their ability to weigh aggravators and mitigators. This study investigated the effects of both prosecution and defense appeals. Prosecution appeals did not affect verdict decisions; however, use of religion by the defense affected both verdicts and the weighing of aggravators and mitigators. These results could be due to differences in perceived sincerity and remorse that are conveyed in the various appeals.