The Role of Migration and Single Motherhood in Upper Secondary Education in Mexico

We investigated the link between migration, family structure, and the risk of dropping out of upper secondary school in Mexico. Using two waves of the Mexican Family Life Survey, which includes 1,080 upper secondary students, we longitudinally modeled the role of family structure in the subsequent risk of dropping out, focusing on the role of migration in single motherhood. We found that children living without a father because of international migration or divorce or separation are at a greater risk relative to children in 2‐parent households. Economic characteristics of the household provide a partial explanation for children living in single‐mother households because of divorce or separation but do not explain the greater risk of dropping out for children with fathers in the United States.     

‘Something to Deal With’: Customer Sexual Harassment and Women's Retail Service Work in Canada

While sexual harassment in the workplace has been extensively researched over the past two decades, the majority of studies have focused on employer–employee or co-worker relationships. In contrast, the issue of ‘customer sexual harassment’ (i.e. the sexual harassment of employees by customers) has been less explicitly explored. This paper examines customer sexual harassment in the Canadian context, drawing on a study of 63 female retail service workers and 20 security workers. It focuses on the nature, prevalence, and consequences of this form of harassment for women who work in various jobs in retail sales (e.g. flower shops, book shops). Findings from the study suggest that customer sexual harassment is a significant problem. Not only have a majority of women been sexually harassed by customers in their current job, but they appear to be highly constrained in dealing with such behaviour. To the extent that the work environment privileges the customer, through its emphasis on customer satisfaction, women are reluctant to confront harassers and may engage in behaviours (e.g. avoiding male customers, being less friendly) which potentially impact their performance on the job. The paper examines the dilemmas facing female workers and the policy issues raised.     

Queer Intimacies: A New Paradigm for the Study of Relationship Diversity

Recognition of sexual and gender diversity in the 21st century challenges normative assumptions of intimacy that privilege heterosexual monogamy and the biological family unit, presume binary cisgender identities, essentialize binary sexual identities, and view sexual or romantic desire as necessary. We propose a queer paradigm to study relationship diversity grounded in seven axioms: intimacy may occur (1) within relationships featuring any combination of cisgender, transgender, or nonbinary identities; (2) with people of multiple gender identities across the life course; (3) in multiple relationships simultaneously with consent; (4) within relationships characterized by consensual asymmetry, power exchange, or role-play; (5) in the absence or limited experience of sexual or romantic desire; (6) in the context of a chosen rather than biological family; and (7) in other possible forms yet unknown. We review research on queer relational forms, including same-sex relationships; relationships in which one or more partners identify as transgender, gender nonbinary, bisexual, pansexual, sexually fluid, “mostly” straight, asexual, or aromantic; polyamory and other forms of consensual nonmonogamy; kink/fetish relationships; and chosen families. We argue that a queer paradigm shifts the dominant scientific conception of relationships away from the confines of normativity toward an embrace of diversity, fluidity, and possibility.     

WHEN SHOULD DRIVERS BE ENCOURAGED TO CARPOOL IN HOV LANES?

Policies to encourage carpooling in high‐occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes have been adopted in the United States to lower congestion and reduce air pollution. We analytically model highway congestion and other vehicle‐related externalities. Encouraging carpooling decreases total costs when congestion relief in mainline lanes outweighs increased HOV lane congestion. Importantly, entry of new drivers via induced demand can negate the benefits of increased carpooling. Using 10 years of traffic data from Los Angeles we estimate time and route‐specific marginal external costs. Because costs vary substantially across routes, hours, and days, current policies to promote carpooling will often increase social costs. (JEL R41, R48, Q53)     

Medicine and the Aesthetic Invalidation of Disabled People

Contemporary disability discourse is marked by a struggle between medical and social meanings and models. The latter reflects the aspirations and youthful radicalism of the disability movement, while the former regards itself as the legitimate voice of truth in all matters associated with bodily function and process. This paper argues that the battle lines between these two camps need not be redrawn. Despite hints to the contrary, the proposed extension of the social model to accommodate a sociology of impairment does not involve a rapprochement with the medical model. On the contrary, a sociological account of impairment seeks to augment the armoury of the social model by developing one of its weaknesses, namely the cultural critique of medicine. This paper examines some of the ways in which medicine has been involved in the 'aesthetic invalidation' of disabled people and proposes that 'geneticization' is an important current contributor to this form of disability discrimination.     

The Role of Implied Motion in Engaging Audiences for Health Promotion: Encouraging Naps on a College Campus

Abstract

Objective: Lack of sleep among college students negatively impacts health and academic outcomes. Building on research that implied motion imagery increases brain activity, this project tested visual design strategies to increase viewers’ engagement with a health communication campaign promoting napping to improve sleep habits. Participants: Participants (N = 194) were recruited from a large southwestern university in October 2012. Methods: Utilizing an experimental design, participants were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: an implied motion superhero spokes-character, a static superhero spokes-character, and a control group. Results: The use of implied motion did not achieve the hypothesized effect on message elaboration, but superheroes are a promising persuasive tool for health promotion campaigns for college audiences. Conclusions: Implications for sleep health promotion campaigns and the role of implied motion in message design strategies are discussed, as well as future directions for research on the depiction of implied motion as it relates to theoretical development.     

Antisocial Propensity,Adolescent School Outcomes,and the Risk of Criminal Conviction

Data from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort Study (n = 4,645) were used to examine the influence of mid‐adolescent (age 15) school outcomes on late‐adolescent (ages 17–19) risk of criminal conviction. Consistent with social‐developmental theories of offending, we found that poor academic performance and reduced school attachment increase the risk of criminal conviction independently of pre‐existing differences in antisocial propensity and other confounding factors identified in prior research. Moreover, in support of an integrated model, our research suggests that academic performance and school attachment mediate the effects of childhood antisociality and learning difficulties on late‐adolescent risk of criminal conviction. The implications of findings for policy and future research are discussed.