Economic Stress and Psychological Distress Among Urban African American Adolescents

SUMMARY

The present study tested the hypothesis that maternal depression and negative parenting mediate the relationship between economic stress and psychological symptoms among urban African American youth. Two distinct economic Stressors were examined: (1) acute economic loss and (2) chronic economic strain. Each of these economic Stressors was expected to predict maternal depression, which, in turn, was expected to predict negative parenting, which, finally, was expected to predict adolescent symptoms. Results suggest that maternal depression and negative parenting partially mediate the relationship between economic stress and adolescent psychological symptoms among urban African American youth. Directions for future research and intervention implications are outlined.     

Knowledge generation,political action and African development: A polycentric approach

ABSTRACT

Knowledge generated to meet societal needs is the bedrock of development. Africa's development crisis is marked by the persistent gap between the application of intellectual rigours and political action. Despite abundant development potential (human and natural resources, and scientific knowledge), coupled with reform declarations and commitments by African leaders over the past four decades, development remains illusory. This article examines the relationship between key development players (African public officials and African scholars), and how generated knowledge is applied to respond to the needs of African citizens. Using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework (otherwise known as new institutionalism) this article examines weaknesses in the interaction of knowledge, political action and development, while at a local level African citizens, through shared strategies and problem-solving interdependency, are effectively transforming indigenous knowledge inherited from their parents to confront daily challenges. The article suggests ways of bridging the gap between development players by proposing an African Development Institutional Mechanism (ADIM) aimed at enabling key development players to operate in synergy.     

Living on the edge: Migrant women in Malta

Research on ethnic minorities in Malta is relatively infrequent. Research on ethnic minority women is even scarcer. However, there is consensus in the literature that migrant women can face additional disadvantages when compared with minority men and women in the host country. More specifically, migrant women are at risk of the most extreme forms of poverty and social exclusion, in many if not all dimensions of life: housing, education, employment, health care, and multiple discrimination. This paper presents a critical overview of the socioeconomic situation of migrant women in Malta as a first and crucial step toward a better understanding of the disadvantages and specific needs faced by this vulnerable group. It then goes on to discuss the role of the state for evidence-based decision making and policy responses. I finally argue for active inclusion policies that redress social inequalities, and that encourage the full integration of migrant women living on the edge of Maltese society.     

Economic Sanctions,Poverty, and International Terrorism: An Empirical Analysis

This study examines the impact of economic sanctions on international terrorism. It is argued that sanctions intensify economic hardships on the poor within countries and this increases their level of grievance and makes them more likely to support or engage in international terrorism. Further, economic sanctions are conceptualized as creating an opportunity for rogue leaders to manipulate aggrieved poor people to terrorize foreign entities who are demonized as engaging in a foreign encroachment on the sanctioned nation's sovereignty. A cross-sectional, time-series data analysis of 152 countries for the past three decades provides evidence that ceteris paribus, economic sanctions are positively associated with international terrorism. This finding suggests that, although the main purpose of economic sanctions is to coerce rogue countries to conform to international norms and laws, they can unintentionally produce a negative ramification and become a cause of international terrorism.     

英国消除未成年贫困政策及对我国的启示

未成年贫困是英国的一个较为严重的社会问题,为了消除未成年贫困现象,英国政府在促进父母就业,为家庭提供援助,针对子女进行补贴以及提供子女照顾和教育服务等方面制定并实施了一系列政策,降低了未成年贫困率,对我国发展子女保障事业,促进社会公正具有一定的借鉴意义。     

贫困与留守儿童心理健康关系研究——以江西省修水县分析为例

贫困对儿童心理健康的影响研究尚存学术争议,学界对留守儿童群体的相关实证研究较为缺乏。文章基于社会因果论的理论分析框架,通过分析江西省修水县625名留守儿童的问卷调查数据,验证贫困对留守儿童心理健康的影响。结果表明：（1）留守儿童的贫困程度较高,多维剥夺现象严重;（2）贫困对留守儿童的消极心理健康和积极心理健康均有显著性影响,但影响程度有差异;（3）留守儿童的心理健康存在显著年级差异,高年级留守儿童的心理健康水平相对较差。文章的研究发现为提升贫困留守儿童心理健康水平提供了重要依据。     

农村社区贫困户社会救助问题的警示

文章以对全国28个省、自治区、直辖市农村贫困户抽样调查的翔实数据,客观地反映了在传统农村社会救济制度下贫困户生活的现状和困难,以此向现行的传统农村社会救助制度提出了一个令人深思的警示。     

Achievements and challenges of energy poverty alleviation policies: Evidence from the select states in India

Indian energy sector has undergone a tremendous transformation with consistent government policy interventions since 2000. Against this backdrop, we examine the extent to which energy poverty has decreased due to the expansion of energy services and the significant determinants of energy poverty in select six states in India. Overall, results reveal that absolute multidimensional energy poverty has substantially decreased across all states examined in the study as well as across all income and social groups between 2015 and 2018. Specifically, acute multidimensional energy poverty has reduced by an average of 30% between 2015 and 2018 in six states. At the same time, dependency on biomass remains more or less the same between 2015 and 2018. Results also show that inequality in the access to energy across income and social groups exists, and education is negatively related to energy poverty. Energy poverty has declined by a similar percentage among most employment groups, except for people practicing cattle rearing. Finally, culture is a significant determinant of energy poverty as households with the elderly and more land owned have higher energy poverty, probably due to the easy access to biomass and preference of such households to use it.     

Overwhelmed and Immobilized: Raising the Consciousness of Privileged Young Adults about World Hunger and Poverty

In this study, I compared the shifts in worldview of affluent young adults participating in a course on social justice issues to a control group of similar young adults. In this course, participating students learned about the size, scope, causes, and impact of world hunger and global poverty. However, an analysis of pre- and postsurvey data revealed that the young adults participating in the social justice course experienced a decline over the course of the semester in their support for humanitarian aid in comparison to the control group. Interviews with these young adults, and analyses of their student work, revealed that the manner in which they learned about world hunger and poverty led them to become overwhelmed by the size and scope of these global problems and convinced of their intractability.     

Why International Organizations Should Bring Basic Needs Back in

An important milestone in the development debate is the recognition of poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon via the capabilities approach. However, a challenge remains in that many governments in less-developed countries continue to avoid prioritizing issues of absolute deprivation. This paper demonstrates how and why existing efforts to operationalize capabilities may distract policy makers from giving sufficient weight to issues of basic survival. We propose that international organizations can address this challenge through a method of triangulation: (1) identify how countries rank on universal goals of human development; (2) identify how countries rank on universal goals of basic needs provision; and (3) promote participatory poverty assessments. This approach ensures that absolute deprivation issues are addressed, and it establishes an acceptable (and necessary) balance between standardization and local complexity.