bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Markov Beta and Gamma Processes for Modelling Hazard Rates
Authors: NIETO‐BARAJAS LUIS E. , WALKER STEPHEN G.
Published: March 2003

This paper generalizes the discrete time independent increment beta process ofHjort (1990), for modelling discrete failure times, and also generalizes the independent gamma process for modelling piecewise constant hazard rates (Walker and Mallick, 1997). The generalizations are from independent increment to Markov increment prior processes allowing the modelling of smoothness. We derive posterior distributions and undertake a full Bayesian analysis.
Constructing First Order Stationary Autoregressive Models via Latent Processes
Authors: PITT MICHAEL K. , CHATFIELD CHRIS , WALKER STEPHEN G.
Published: March 2003

First order stationary autoregressive (AR(1)) models are introduced for which there exists a linear relation between the expectations of the observations, and where it is readily possible to arrange the marginal distributions to be other than normal.
Regression Parameter Estimation from Panel Counts
Authors: HU X. JOAN , SUN JIANGUO , WEI LEE‐JEN
Published: March 2003

This paper considers a study where each subject may experience multiple occurrences of an event and the rate of the event occurrences is of primary interest. Specifically, we are concerned with the situations where, for each subject, there are only records of the accumulated counts for the event occurrences at a finite number of time points over the study period. Sets of observation times may vary from subject to subject and differ between groups. We model the mean of the event occurrence number over time semiparametrically, and estimate the regression parameter. The proposed estimation procedures are illustrated with data from a bladder cancer study (Byar, 1980). Both asymptotics and simulation studies on the estimators are presented.
Local Linear Estimation for Time‐Dependent Coefficients in Cox's Regression Models
Authors: CAI ZONGWU , SUN YANQING
Published: March 2003

This article develops a local partial likelihood technique to estimate the time‐dependent coefficients in Cox's regression model. The basic idea is a simple extension of the local linear fitting technique used in the scatterplot smoothing. The coefficients are estimated locally based on the partial likelihood in a window around each time point. Multiple time‐dependent covariates are incorporated in the local partial likelihood procedure. The procedure is useful as a diagnostic tool and can be used in uncovering time‐dependencies or departure from the proportional hazards model. The programming involved in the local partial likelihood estimation is relatively simple and it can be modified with few efforts from the existing programs for the proportional hazards model. The asymptotic properties of the resulting estimator are established and compared with those from the local constant fitting. A consistent estimator of the asymptotic variance is also proposed. The approach is illustrated by a real data set from the study of gastric cancer patients and a simulation study is also presented.
Public Attitudes towards Taxation: Sweden 1981–1997
Authors: Edlund Jonas
Published: March 2003

Claims have been raised from different perspectives that the welfare state suffers from eroding public support. From an examination of public attitudes towards taxation in Sweden by utilising survey data spanning the period 1981–1997, it is concluded that no long‐term trend of increased tax discontent can be distinguished. There are, however, some indications that discontent with taxation has increased during the most recent years. Social conflicts over the preferred distribution and levels of taxes vary in intensity over time, but are foremost structured by class, income, and, to a lesser extent, sector of employment. It is argued that the observed attitude patterns can to some extent be understood as responses to changes in tax and welfare policy.
Grid‐Group Theory and Political Orientations: Effects of Cultural Biases in Norway in the 1990s
Authors: Grendstad Gunnar
Published: March 2003

A number of cultural theories identify, or call for the elaboration of, deeper cultural patterns that both disallow cultural invariance and constrain cultural variation. Grid‐group theory identifies four cultures: hierarchy, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. This article, which measures grid‐group theory’s four cultures by means of cultural biases, (1) explores the neglected relationship between sociodemographic correlates and cultural biases, and (2) tests the theory’s hypothesized effects of cultural biases, controlled for sociodemographics, on attitudes toward nature, technology and human nature, and on geographical belonging and trust in institutions. The test draws on three independent surveys of the general public in Norway in the 1990s. The empirical results show that cultural biases are significantly explained by sociodemographics, and whereas convergent validity of cultural biases on selected attitudes and beliefs was acceptable, discriminant validity was weaker and more inconsistent.
Welfare State Legitimacy: Ranking, Rating, Paying: The Popularity and Support for Norwegian Welfare Programmes in the Mid 1990s
Authors: Pettersen Per Arnt
Published: March 2003

Welfare programmes are targeted at different beneficiaries and grounded on a variety of principles: universalism, means testing, needs testing, targeting, income supplements and income maintenance, to mention some of the most important. The first question asked is: who supports programmes targeted at the different groups? The second question concerns whether the support varies when different techniques are used regarding measuring support for welfare state programmes – those programmes that are recommendable, those people want to spend their tax money on and the programmes where increased spending is followed by acceptance of a tax increase. Basically the results are similar across different measurement techniques. But if an interest group is identifiable – such as parents with young children – there is a distinct tendency for the interested party to be more supportive when money and budget restriction are involved compared with the pure recomendability of the programme. Interested parties also tend to support programmes that they are or will soon be using, most obviously seen in support for day care centres, which are supported largely by families with children below the age of 7 years, and for schools and education, supported largely by families with children above the age of 7 years. Where no distinct interest group – beyond the actual beneficiaries – is identifiable, normative positions such as ideology are the best predictor of support for welfare state programmes.
Coalitions in European Union Negotiations
Authors: Elgström Ole , Bjurulf Bo , Johansson Jonas , Sannerstedt Anders
Published: March 2003

Coalitions will probably become an increasingly important theme in European Union (EU) politics. The spread of decision making by majority voting promotes coalition‐building behaviour. The impending enlargement is predicted to differentiate and polarize policy standpoints within the EU. Increasing levels of policy conflict imply increased propensities for coalition building. Still, the role and nature of coalitions in EU negotiations are obscure. This article raises important research questions: What characterizes coalition building in the EU? How important are coalitions? What coalition patterns are discernible?Using data from a questionnaire to Swedish participants on EU committees, it is shown that coalitions are more frequent when majority voting occurs than when unanimity rules. Coalition behaviour is, however, important also under unanimity. The existence of consensus norms diminishes the propensity to form coalitions. As regards coalition patterns, there is a prevalence of coalitions based on policy interests and/or on cultural affinity. Contrary to conventional wisdom, consistent and durable coalition patterns seem to exist. The north–south divide is one such persistent pattern. The Swedish respondents thus reveal a close cooperation between the Nordic member states and Great Britain, whereas France and Spain are seldom approached for coalition‐building purposes. As to future research, evidence from other member states and from case studies is needed in order to learn more about the bases for coalition building in EU negotiations.
A Case of a Surplus Majority Government: The Finnish Rainbow Coalition
Authors: Jungar Ann‐Cathrine
Published: March 2003

Surplus majority government is the most frequent type of cabinet in postwar Finland. The case study investigates the explicative power of two groups of theories of surplus majority government on the Finnish rainbow coalition formed in 1995. Firstly, theories that model surplus size as instrumental for government capability, i.e. surplus size as critical to decision‐making capability. Secondly, theories that model the surplus size as a possibility or where the size is the result of the expected utility of government being higher than that of opposition for the political parties in terms of goal realisation. The main materials studied are internal party documentation and interviews with key people. The result of the study is that parties’ strategic features best explain the surplus size of the rainbow coalition, since participation in government offers greater opportunities for the realisation of party goals, such as policy, votes and future office.
Prior Creolization of African‐American Vernacular English? Sociohistorical and Textual Evidence from the 17th and 18th Centuries
Authors: Rickford John R.
Published: March 2003

The evidence which sociolinguists have used in recent discussions of the question of prior creolization in African‐American Vernacular English (AAVE) comes primarily from recordings made in the 20th century. While such evidence is helpful, we need to go further back in time, examining sociohistorical and textual evidence from the 17th and 18th centuries in which the roots of AAVE were laid down. Demographic and other conditions were most favorable to pidginization and creolization in the Southern colonies, which accounted for 87 percent of American Blacks in the mid‐18th century, and especially in South Carolina and Georgia. Additionally, the sociohistorical evidence suggests that pidgin‐creole speech may have been brought to America by the large numbers of slaves imported from the West Indies in the formative years of each colony, in New England and the Middle colonies as well as the South. Textual evidence of early creole‐like speech in Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and Virginia may well derive from this source.
Marketing the Damaged Self: The Construction of Identity in Advertisements Directed Towards People with HIV/AIDS
Authors: Jones Rodney H.
Published: March 2003

This paper explores the identities projected in advertisements directed towards HIV positive individuals and people with AIDS. Fifty such advertisements were collected from three popular American magazines for gay men over a period of seven months. Analysis of the ads reveals a paradoxical presentation of people with HIV/AIDS, which offers simultaneous conflicting images of hope and fear, power and weakness, innocence and guilt. An interactive sociolinguistic model through which this contradictory discourse might be understood is presented, drawing on Goffman’s insights on stigma management and the presentation of the self in social interaction. Advertisements directed towards people with HIV/AIDS, it is suggested, present a contradictory discourse in which the advertisers are positioned as ‘the wise’, offering to mediate the conflicting identities of the stigmatized. The identity values enacted in this contradictory discourse are further measured against American conceptions of communication and the self as observed by Carbaugh and others. The possible consequences of these positionings on the roles made available to people with HIV/AIDS in the wider social context are discussed.
Some ‘fractious energy’
Authors: Horvath Barbara
Published: March 2003

Florian Coulmas (ed.). The Handbook of Sociolinguistics (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics, 4). Oxford: Blackwell. 1997. x + 532 pp. Cloth (0–631–19339–1) £70.00.
Privatize your name: Symbolic work in a post‐Soviet linguistic market
Authors: Yurchak Alexei
Published: March 2003

This paper analyzes the new names given to Russian private businesses that have appeared after the collapse of the Soviet State in 1991. By naming new private ventures their owners members of the new business class attempt to privatize public space not only legally but also symbolically and linguistically. They strive to construct their particular new version of social reality, to represent it as positive and meaningful, and to impose themselves publicly as legitimate authors, owners, and masters of this new reality. This paper proceeds on several distinct levels of analysis. First, it analyzes a number of discourses, representing various subcultures and periods of Soviet and Russian history, from which new business names draw their complex meanings. Second, it considers concrete linguistic and semiotic techniques that are employed by the new names in this process. Third, it examines the cultural and social implications of this process of nomination for post‐Soviet developments in the Russian society.
The voices people read: Orthography and the representation of non‐standard speech
Authors: Jaffe Alexandra , Walton Shana
Published: March 2003

Combining features of matched guise tests with sociolinguistic interviewing and oral performance, this study investigates the social meanings carried by non‐standard orthographies. Participant evaluations of the personas represented by non‐standard orthographies showed that people connected orthography to social identities. Specifically, we found that people uncritically and spontaneously read non‐standard orthographies as indices of low socioeconomic status. When we asked participants to read texts out loud, we found marked shifts in their reading performances of texts in standard versus non‐standard orthographies. Through a case study analysis of participants' readings and attitudes, we identify two kinds of stances taken by participants towards stigmatized identities indexed by non‐standard orthographies. Finally, we use these case studies to argue for the necessity of contextually rich qualitative research methods for the study of language attitudes.
Telling it straight? Dictionary definitions of women's genitals
Authors: Braun Virginia , Kitzinger Celia
Published: March 2003

Feminist concerns about the social representation of sex, sexuality, and sexual organs have included analyses of their representation both in dictionaries and in medical texts. Drawing on feminist and social constructionist work, we analysed entries for ‘clitoris’ and ‘vagina’, using entries for ‘penis’ as a comparison, in 12 medical and 16 English language dictionaries. Both ‘vagina’ and ‘clitoris’ were overwhelmingly defined by their location in a female body, whereas the penis was defined in terms of function. Description of sex/sexuality was frequently omitted from both vaginal and clitoral definitions, and women's genitals continue to be defined in relation to an implicit penile norm. Three assumptions informed these definitions – that female sexuality is passive (and male sexuality active), that women's genitals are ‘absence’ (and men’s are ‘presence’), and that genitals are used for heterosexual sex – explicitly coitus. We suggest that these definitions present, as natural biological fact, common sense sexist and heterosexist assumptions about female and male bodies and sexualities.
Current usage of the epicene pronoun in written English
Authors: Baranowski Maciej
Published: March 2003

This paper deals with current epicenepronominal usage in written English. The first part focuses on the prescription of the so–called generic he and includes a short review of research into epicene pronominal usage in the last three decades. The results of previous research serve as a background to the present study, which, based on two corpora of written English, aims at elucidating singular epicene pronominal choices in the writing of British and American writers. The study shows that the traditional form he is no longer predominant, while singular they is the pronoun most likely to be used. He or she is shown to be used rather rarely. It is argued that the choice of singular epicene pronoun is considerably influenced by the semanto–syntactic type of the antecedent and by the social roles stereotypically associated with the referent. Also, differences between British and American writers are discussed. It is shown that American writers are more conservative in their choice of singular epicene pronoun and an explanation of the difference is suggested.
Modelling Regional House Prices in the UK
Authors: Ashworth John , Parker Simon C.
Published: March 2003

Maximum likelihood cointegration methods are used to analyse the determinants of house prices in each of the eleven regions of the UK. Broad similarities in the structure of house price equations are found across regions in England and Wales (but not Scotland or Northern Ireland), indicating that the source of differences in English and Welsh regional house prices should probably be sought in different regional incomes, opportunity costs, and housing starts. Tests of spatial dependence in regional house prices cast doubt on the well‐known ‘ripple effect’ hypothesis.
Public Consumption and Unemployment
Authors: Zoega Gylfi
Published: March 2003

This paper introduces public consumption—hence the size of the public sector—into an efficiency wage model of the labour market. The effect of a simultaneous rise in taxes and public consumption on unemployment is derived. There arises an unambiguous positive relationship between the size of the public sector and equilibrium unemployment if public and private consumption are substitutes and wages are taxed. The impact of taxes on consumption on unemployment, although in general not equal to zero, is ambiguous.
Endogenous effort in a Dynamic Model of Union–Firm Interaction
Authors: Bandyopadhyay >Sudeshna Champati
Published: March 2003

This paper studies the implications of union deviation by reducing effort in the context of a repeated game model. We find that a failure to account for the possibility of union deviation may lead to an overestimation of the possibility of cooperation. In contrast to the existing literature, we find that unions may reach the efficient outcome despite wage hikes because they work harder under cooperation. We also find that when effort is an endogenous variable, the cooperative wage is likely to be higher than otherwise. Finally, our model predicts that if the union alone deviates, effort will fall as the endgame approaches. However, wages could either rise or fall.
The Behaviour of the Firm under Alternative Regulatory Constraints
Authors: Burns Philip , Turvey Ralph , Weyman‐Jones Thomas G.
Published: March 2003

We review the case for intermediate power incentive regulation such as sliding scale when the regulator is badly informed and the firm's profits have a shadow resource cost. We then evaluate a number of different regulatory regimes including sliding scale in terms of productive and allocative efficiency. We find that the sliding scale principle can be applied quite generally—to dividends, profits or rate of return and that it has attractive economic properties.
Globalization and the Future of Social Protection
Authors: Tanzi Vito
Published: March 2003

Social protection in industrial countries has been provided through regulations, tax expenditures, and public spending. This paper argues that globalization will affect the governments’ ability to continue providing social protection at the level of recent decades. Specifically, tax competition among jurisdictions, ballooning electronic commerce, and increased mobility of the factors of production will likely cause significant falls in tax revenue in future years while increasing competition will reduce the scope for some forms of regulations. The paper concludes that countries need to look for new ways to provide social protection.
Do Banks Ration Credit to New Enterprises? And Should Governments Intervene?
Authors: Parker Simon C.
Published: March 2003

Do banks deny credit to new start–ups? The presumption that they do has motivated government intervention in several forms, including publicly backed loan guarantee schemes in the UK and elsewhere. This paper presents an overview of the modern theory and evidence of credit rationing, and concludes that the case for credit rationing is weak. Ultimately, theoretical arguments for or against credit rationing are inconclusive, so evidence is needed to decide the issue. The evidence is not supportive of the view that credit rationing is an important or widespread phenomenon.
A Spatial Cross–Sectional Analysis of Elasticity of Demand for Soccer
Authors: Forrest David , Simmons Robert , Feehan Patrick
Published: March 2003

Several studies estimate the demand for watching English professional football (soccer) as highly inelastic, a puzzling result given that clubs appear to possess a degree of monopoly power. We discuss weaknesses in earlier studies and offer an alternative method of assessing elasticity based on travel costs of spectators living different distances from the grounds. We find that elasticity varies across the 20 senior clubs for which data were available but in almost every case demand is more elastic than reported in the existing literature and pricing policy appears therefore to be more orientated towards profit maximisation than previously thought.
Sustainable Community‐Based Forestry Development: A Policy and Programme Framework to Enhance Women’s Participation
Authors: Armitage Derek R. , Hyma Bala
Published: March 2003

Conventional development theory and practice have often failed to recognise the centrality of women in sustainable resource management. A conceptual shift in environment and resource policies, planning and programmes is required to affirm that women are active participants rather than passive recipients of change. To address the need for enhanced women’s participation in community‐based forestry development, this paper focuses on the policy and programme elements important in the design and implementation of successful community forestry projects. Consequently, the intention of this paper is to increase the awareness of planners and decision‐makers regarding methods of operationalising women’s participation in community‐based forestry. Building upon previous work from aid agencies and other researchers, a range of institutional, organisational, socio‐cultural and project elements are identified. These elements provide a comprehensive framework of the policy and programme issues requiring consideration when promoting women’s participation in successful community‐based forestry activities.
Extending Participation in the Swaziland Sugar Industry to Small‐Scale Growers: Patterns and Prospects
Authors: Terry Alan Keith
Published: March 2003

Since its inception in 1956, the Swazi sugar industry has been dominated by large‐scale estates. In 1991, due to a combination of political and economic factors, steps were taken to allow the industry to become more accessible to small‐scale Swazi farmers. The paper considers the scale and nature of this newly emerging group and discusses its likely impact on employment. Although these developments have been introduced to enable the benefits of the industry to trickle down more effectively to the rural poor, evidence suggests that better off or more organised groups or individuals are best placed to take advantage of the new opportunities. Further growth is now limited by a lack of water and it is likely that the recent rapid increase in this sector will now slow down. Some concern also exists over the impact of sugar cane monoculture on soils.
A Naturalist's Vision of the Tropics: Charles Darwin and the Brazilian Landscape
Authors: Martins Luciana L.
Published: March 2003

This paper considers how European voyagers both engaged with and reconstructed the tropical landscapes they encountered. By examining visions of the Brazilian landscape produced by Charles Darwin during his Beagle voyage, the paper aims to explore the complex interaction between prior knowledge, aesthetic convention and the experience of travelling in the construction of his geographical imagination. While the resulting images necessarily shared a set of scientific and aesthetic codes integral to the visual culture of nineteenth‐century Europe, as well as being evidence of Britain's global imperial project, they were more than simply an “expression” of these wider historical realities. Darwin's visual impressions were shaped through a constant process of negotiation between translocated images: brought by his mind's eye, found in the landscapes presented to his body, and tracked over. The very materiality of Darwin's vision contains traces of his spatial and embodied practices.
Mapping Globalisation
Authors: Mittelman James H.
Published: March 2003

As a form of restructuring with new winners and losers, globalisation begets resistance, and these processes occur in particular places that have distinctive features. A map of globalisation may be drawn by showing the spaces of resistance, many of which are found at the local level, sometimes with transnational links involving formal or informal networks. To do so, one must first assess the variety of meanings that have been assigned to the concepts of globalisation and resistance. Noting shades of meaning from the natural sciences, medicine, history, philosophy, law, and feminist and other branches of social theory, this paper argues that different frames may be used in conjunction with one another to help explain Southeast Asia’s diverse encounters with globalisation. The frames show that resistance is not merely a negation of the jarring effects of globalisation, but also a matter of imagining, in a non‐utopian manner, something better. Remapping globalisation is a quest for an appropriate temporal and spatial scale of social organisation.
Characterisation of Optical Water Quality in Bunaken National Marine Park, Indonesia
Authors: Holden Heather
Published: March 2003

Effective passive optical remote sensing of submerged coral reef ecosystems requires not only appropriate atmospheric correction, but also water column correction. Algorithms accounting for atmospheric effects are fairly well established and readily available, but water column correction algorithms are still under development. Many approaches to water column correction assume horizontal homogeneity and strict adherence to Beer’s Law of logarithmic vertical attenuation, which may not be the case in many coral reef ecosystems. Water column optical properties were measured using a multispectral dropsonde radiometer in Bunaken National Marine Park, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, to examine the vertical and horizontal variability of light in a typical coral reef environment. This largely descriptive case study demonstrates the complexity of the interaction of light in shallow coastal environments with often highly reflective substrata and serves to warn against assumptions of water optical property homogeneity. Downwelling attenuation coefficients are provided for use in water column correction of future remote sensing missions.
Population, Economy and Environment in Island Southeast Asia: An Historical View with Special Reference to Northern Sulawesi
Authors: Henley David
Published: March 2003

This article attempts to provide a long historical perspective on the relationship between population, environment, and the use of economic resources (particularly agricultural land) in island Southeast Asia. Historically speaking, it is argued, both the size and the distribution of Southeast Asia’s human population have been determined mainly by economic factors: population geography has reflected economic geography, and population growth has followed economic growth. Partly because population densities were adjusted, roughly speaking, to local economic conditions, agricultural practices were typically sustainable in the sense that average yields did not decline over time. Episodes of population growth, stimulated by commerce, mostly took place in relatively favourable agricultural environments, and were accompanied by capital and labour investments that made possible higher sustainable yields per hectare of farmland. These arguments are supported with reference to historical sources from Indonesia (particularly northern Sulawesi) and the Philippines.
Forced Evictions in Kenyan Cities
Authors: Otiso Kefa M.
Published: March 2003

Forced evictions are widespread in Kenyan cities and are, on the surface, caused by conflicts in land rights, non–payment of excessive land and house rents, and urban redevelopment. But, more fundamentally, evictions are due to factors embedded in the country’s political economy, in particular, the grossly inequitable land ownership structure which makes it difficult for the poor to access land and decent shelter. Evictions cause significant socioeconomic hardship to individuals, affecting cities and whole nations. To avoid evictions, I argue that Kenya must make its political economy more inclusive, implement land reform, domesticate its municipal planning and related by–laws, and create a proactive slum settlements policy. This paper is based on secondary data, largely drawn from the extensive coverage of urban evictions in recent decades in Kenya’s leading newspapers.
Children’s Theory of Mind: Understanding of Desire, Belief and Emotion with Social Referents
Authors: Nguyen Leanh , Frye Douglas
Published: March 2003

Preschooler’s understanding of belief, desire, and emotion was assessed in a new false belief task that explored childen’s mental state reasoning about social situations. The social analog task presented a change in a partner’s play activity rather than a change in the location of a physical object. Two main differences from the usual pattern of theory of mind results were obtained. Five‐year‐olds had more difficulty understanding a false belief about another’s current social activity compared to a false belief about a physical situation. The understanding of desire exhibited a 3‐ to 5‐year age change that may have been shown because the social situation involved conflicting desires. When there was a conflict, the younger children tended to disregard the stated desire and exhibited ‘social opportunism’ by misattributing desires to permit a social interaction. The new results give a more varied picture of the development of theory of mind, and argue for expanding its study into social frames of reference.
‘Speak roughly to your little boy’? Sex Differences in the Relations Between Parenting and Preschoolers’ Understanding of Mind
Authors: Hughes Claire , Deater‐Deckard Kirby , Cutting Alexandra L.
Published: March 2003

The present study explores relations between young children’s understanding of mind and parental emotional expression and disciplinary style, along with gender differences in these relations. Participants were recruited from a study of 125 same‐sex twin‐pairs (58% female; group mean age 5 43 months, SD 5 1 month). Each child received a comprehensive set of theory‐of‐mind tasks, and was filmed at home for 20 minutes in dyadic interactions with the primary caregiver, who was also interviewed about disciplinary strategies. Ratings of discipline and positive and negative parental affect and control were made from direct observation, from the interview, and from the videoed interactions. Strong correlations were found between family SES, parenting measures, and child verbal IQ and theory‐of‐mind score. However, regression analyses showed that parental behaviours were significant predictors of children’s theory‐of‐mind performance, even when sex, verbal IQ and family SES were taken into account. Sex differences in these relations were also identified; parental affect was especially salient for understanding of mind in girls, while discipline was more salient for boys. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of individual differences in the proximal processes associated with early understanding of mind, and suggest that development in mental‐state awareness is associated with distinct aspects of parenting for girls and boys.
Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Regulation Strategies as Predictors of Social Behavior with Peers During Toddlerhood
Authors: Calkins Susan D. , Gill Kathryn L. , Johnson Mary C. , Smith Cynthia L.
Published: March 2003

Fifty‐six mothers and their 24‐month‐old toddlers were observed on two occasions in a series of laboratory procedures designed to assess relations between emotional functioning (emotional reactivity and emotion regulation) in an individual assessment and social behavior with a same‐sex peer. Emotional reactivity was assessed using two frustration tasks designed to elicit distress. Emotional regulation was assessed by examining the child's behaviors (venting, distraction, focal‐object focus, self‐orientation, and mother‐orientation) when confronted by the two distress‐eliciting tasks. Peer play behaviors were coded for social participation and peer‐directed conflict (aggressive) behavior. The results indicated that both emotional reactivity and emotion regulation were important predictors of at least two types of social behavior: conflict and cooperation. Distress to frustration, when accompanied by high venting or high focal‐object focus, was significantly related to conflict with peers but not when accompanied by distraction, mother‐orientation or self‐focused behaviors. These findings are discussed in terms of the adaptive value of emotion regulation skills in early development, and the importance of identifying the causal relations between child regulation and early social competence.
Children’s Perceptions of Sibling Conflict During Middle Childhood: Issues and Sibling (Dis)similarity
Authors: McGuire Shirley , Manke Beth , Eftekhari Afsoon , Dunn Judy
Published: March 2003

This study focused on the content (rather than the frequency) of sibling conflict, conflict initiation, and conflict resolution during middle childhood. Sibling similarity and heritability of children’s perceptions of sibling conflict were also examined. One hundred and eight school‐aged sibling pairs were interviewed using a semi‐structured interview format (average ages were 11.1 years and 8.2 years, respectively). Children’s responses were coded using 16 categories extracted from the literature and interviews. Results showed that descriptions of disagreements revolved around issues between the siblings (e.g., sharing personal possessions and physical aggression) rather than parental favoritism. Parental intervention, on the other hand, was cited as the most common outcome. Children in the same family rarely mentioned the same issues and only six out of 16 of the topics showed a pattern suggesting heritability. The importance of the school‐aged sibling relationship to children’s sense of self, personal rights, and social understanding is discussed.
Emotional Regulation and Display in Classroom Victims of Bullying: Characteristic Expressions of Affect, Coping Styles and Relevant Contextual Factors
Authors: Mahady Wilton Melissa M. , Craig Wendy M. , Pepler Debra J.
Published: March 2003

Research suggests that victims of bullying may lack skills in emotional regulation, a process which facilitates coping with provocative situations to lessen the stress of negative emotions (Cicchetti, Ackerman, & Izard, 1995). The present study examined the emotional regulation and display patterns of victims during classroom bullying episodes. Children in grades one through six were observed during free play in the winter and spring of three consecutive school years. Results of the study indicated that the coping styles observed in victims of bullying can be grouped into two distinct clusters: 1) problem‐solving strategies that are associated with the de‐escalation and resolution of bullying episodes; and 2) aggressive strategies that tend to perpetuate and escalate the bullying interaction. Parallels were found between victims’ and bullies’ emotional displays. Results are discussed in the context of how maladaptive emotional regulation processes may act as risk factors for chronic victimization.
Book Review: The Really Hard Questions
Authors: Lloyd Barbara
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

E. E. Maccoby (1998), The Two Sexes: Growing Up Apart, Coming Together
Predictors of Peer Victimization among Urban Youth
Authors: Hanish Laura D. , Guerra Nancy G.
Published: March 2003

This study examined aggression and withdrawal as predictors of peer victimization. In addition, peer rejection was evaluated as both a moderator and mediator of these relations. The sample consisted of 1956 African‐American, Hispanic, and White elementary school‐aged boys and girls attending urban and inner‐city schools that were classified as high or moderate disadvantage. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that aggression predicted both contemporaneous and longitudinal victimization by peers. This relation maintained across school disadvantage, ethnicity, age, and sex, andwas mediated by rejection. Withdrawal, mediated by rejection, predicted victimization for fourth graders only; withdrawal also reduced risk for victimization for low rejected children. The implications for understanding the dynamics of childhood victimization and intervention are discussed.
Young Children’s Emotional Attachments to Stories
Authors: Alexander Kristin J. , Miller Peggy J. , Hengst Julie A.
Published: March 2003

In the interest of developing a more holistic and integrated understanding of young children’s experience of stories, this study describes preschoolers’ emotional attachments to stories and the cultural beliefs and practices which surround such attachments. Thirty‐two European‐American, middle‐class families, participated in an interview study of their children’s story attachments, and five of these mothers also participated in a short‐term, longitudinal diary study. Every child experienced at least two emotional attachments to stories. Children were captivated by stories presented in different media, with many attachments occurring around video stories in addition to books. They expressed their attachments by repeatedly requesting the story, expressing strong feelings, and enacting the story in pretend play. Story attachments were social in two fundamental ways: children created relationships with the characters in their favorite stories, and story attachments emerged in the context of relationships with caregivers whose beliefs and practices supported such attachments.
Predicting Teen Motherhood and Teen Fatherhood: Individual Characteristics and Peer Affiliations
Authors: Xie Hongling , Cairns Beverley D. , Cairns Robert B.
Published: March 2003

In a longitudinal investigation of the antecedents and pathways of teen parenthood, 475 participants (248 females and 227 males) were followed from Grade 7 through early adulthood. In the first year of the investigation, homogeneous subgroups were identified by clustering participants on five characteristics (i.e., aggression, popularity, academic competence, age, and socioeconomic status). At the same time, peer social networks were identified by the Social Cognitive Map procedure. For each participant, the configuration of peer characteristics was also identified. A high correspondence was found between the individual characteristics and the characteristics of closely affiliated peers. Both teen fatherhood and teen motherhood were predicted by individual configurations and peer configurations (e.g., a combination of high aggression, low academic competence, low popularity, and low family SES). Peer characteristics, race, and family socioeconomic status assumed unique roles in predicting teen motherhood. Growth curve analyses showed that teen‐mothers differed from non‐mothers in their starting points and developmental trajectories. This study demonstrated that a simultaneous examination of both the individual and his/her peer context yielded important information on teen parenthood.
Naturalistic Observations of Peer Interventions in Bullying
Authors: Lynn Hawkins D. , Pepler Debra J. , Craig Wendy M.
Published: March 2003

This study examined peer intervention in bullying using naturalistic observations on school playgrounds. The sample comprised 58 children (37 boys and 21 girls) in Grades 1 to 6 who were observed to intervene in bullying. Peers were present during 88% of bullying episodes and intervened in 19%. In 47% of the episodes, peers intervened aggressively. Interventions directed toward the bully were more likely to be aggressive, whereas interventions directed toward the victim or the bully‐victim dyad were more likely to be nonaggressive. The majority (57%) of interventions were effective in stopping bullying. Boys were more likely to intervene when the bully and victim were male and girls when the bully and victim were female. The implications for anti‐bullying interventions are discussed.
Social Factors in the Development of Autobiographical Memory: The State of the Art
Authors: Reese Elaine
Published: March 2003

This review addresses theory and research on the role of self understanding, language, theory of mind, attachment security, and parental style in children’s autobiographical memory development. Social‐cognitive factors appear to interact with parental style in producing children’s first verbal memories. Emotional factors, such as attachment security, may also prove to be critical for the socialization of life histories. Further longitudinal studies will be necessary to examine individual differences in the growth of this complex and multiply determined skill.
The Uniqueness of the Child–Father Attachment Relationship: Fathers’ Sensitive and Challenging Play as a Pivotal Variable in a 16‐year Longitudinal Study
Authors: Grossmann Karin , Grossmann Klaus E. , Fremmer‐Bombik Elisabeth , Kindler Heinz , Scheuerer‐Englisch Hermann , Zimmermann And Peter
Published: March 2003

This longitudinal study of forty‐four families explored fathers’ as compared to mothers’ specific contribution to their children's attachment representation at ages 6, 10, and 16 years. In toddlerhood, fathers’ and mothers’ play sensitivity was evaluated with a new assessment, the sensitive and challenging interactive play scale (SCIP). Fathers’ SCIP scores were predicted by fathers’ caregiving quality during the first year, were highly consistent across 4 years, and were closely linked to the fathers’ own internal working model of attachment. Qualities of attachment as assessed in the Strange Situation to both parents were antecedents for children's attachment security in the Separation Anxiety Test at age 6. Fathers’ play sensitivity and infant–mother quality of attachment predicted children's internal working model of attachment at age 10, but not vice versa. Dimensions of adolescents’ attachment representations were predicted by fathers’ play sensitivity only. The results confirmed our main assumption that fathers’ play sensitivity is a better predictor of the child's long‐term attachment representation than the early infant–father security of attachment. The ecological validity of measuring fathers’ sensitive and challenging interactive play behavior as compared to infant proximity seeking in times of distress is highlighted. Findings are discussed with respect to a wider view on attachment in that both parents shape their children's psychological security but each in his or her unique way.
Patterns of Attachment and Maternal Discourse Effects on Children's Emotion Understanding From 3 to 5 Years of Age
Authors: Ontai Lenna L. , Thompson Ross A.
Published: March 2003

Two studies examined the influence of maternal discourse style and security of attachment, and their interaction, on preschoolers’ emotion understanding. The first, with 3‐year‐olds, unexpectedly found no significant prediction of emotion understanding from attachment and discourse, and the interaction of the predictors yielded theoretically unpredicted associations with emotion understanding. Consequently, measures of attachment and emotion understanding were obtained again on these children at age 5 in a second study. At this age, consistent with expectations, secure attachment predicted higher emotion understanding, especially in the context of maternal use of elaborative discourse from the earlier assessment. The findings suggest that during the period of significant representational advance between ages 3 and 5, the influence of maternal discourse and attachment security are developmentally transformed as children's conceptions of psychological states rapidly change. By age 5, however, maternal elaborative discourse in the context of attachment security fosters deeper emotion understanding in preschoolers.
European Welfare Futures: The Views of Key Influentials in Six European Countries on Likely Developments in Social Policy
Authors: Taylor‐Gooby Peter
Published: March 2003

The welfare state, having reached maturity in most European countries, faces challenges from economic, social and political developments. Some studies argue that common pressures are likely to evoke similar responses; others suggest that the differences between welfare regimes both permit and require different policies. It is also suggested that the single European market will require convergence in tax regimes, social provision and entitlements to ensure fairer competition and to prevent “social dumping”. Analysis of data from a survey of politicians, representatives of business, trade unions, civil servants and others shows some convergence in the recognition of problems in welfare policy and in ideas about finance. However, debate about the response to similar issues often differs, according to the detail of institutional structure and the pattern of interests it produces.
Women and the Family in the British Welfare State: The Thatcher/Major Legacy
Authors: Pascall Gillian
Published: March 2003

This paper reviews the moral agenda of Thatcherism, in terms of maintaining traditional family structures, family roles and family responsibilities for economic support and personal care of family members. It asks to what extent and in what ways this agenda was promoted during the eighteen years of Conservative rule; to what extent contradictory forces within Thatcherism and elsewhere undermined this agenda; and what have been the consequences for women in family and public life. The marketization of life, pursued under Thatcherism, contributed to undermining the family form which has traditionally underpinned the market. Deregulated labour markets and spreading owner‐occupation in an unstable housing market have been important contributions to family breakdown, insecurity and women's access to—and need for—jobs. The idea of family responsibility was promulgated, but in practice family members have become less able to support each other.

Nevertheless, one consequence of these changes has been a stronger position for women as women by the end of this Conservative era. Access to paid work makes women less dependent within families and improves their access to public politics. Social policies geared to the Beveridge‐type family had become increasingly threadbare and some changes—such as policies enabling lone mothers to do paid work—had been forced by the increasing mismatch between family realities and the Beveridge model. Many changes owed more to the women's movement than to Thatcherism, but Thatcherite policies played a (largely unintentional) part.