Psychosocial Adjustment among Children Experiencing Persistent and Intermittent Family Economic Hardship

Much research on family economic hardship and its effects on children has been cross-sectional in nature, has focused primarily on white children, and has assessed the impact of episodic rather than chronic economic difficulties. In contrast, the present research was designed to study outcomes associated with persistent economic hardship among a heterogeneous group of children over time. Results showed that, for both black and white children, a broad range of difficulties was associated with enduring economic hardship. Children who experienced persistent family economic hardship were more likely than those who did not to have difficulties in peer relations, show conduct problems at school, and report low self-esteem. Children who experienced intermittent family economic hardship fell between the other 2 groups. Connections between persistent economic hardship and psychosocial adjustment were more pronounced for boys than for girls. Consistent with suggestions by a number of investigators, the impact of economic hardship on children in the present sample was mediated in part by its association with parental behavior.     

The correlation of family management practices and delinquency

Family-management skills of parents of seventh- and tenth-grade boys were related to each of 2 criterion measures of delinquency: police contacts and self-reported delinquency. The measures of family-management skills were monitoring, discipline, problem solving, and reinforcement. The measures of parent monitoring and discipline were shown to correlate significantly with both criterion measures. The monitoring score accounted for the most variance in both criterion measures of delinquency, and the problem solving and reinforcement measures accounted for the least. The monitoring score also differentiated moderate offenders from persistent offenders.     

The Environmental Rhetoric of Balance: A Case Study of Regulatory Discourse and the Colonization of the Public

The twelve-year long battle over the relicensure of the Kingsley Dam in western Nebraska is a representative anecdote of environmental regulation. Typical of regulatory discourse, the metaphor of “balance” determined the available fopoi. We argue that “balance” procedurally diminishes the public, cloaks the subjectivity of decision making, and reduces the reasonable rhetor to the role of umpire. Finally, we explore rhetorical strategies for undermining the appeal to “balance.”     

Book reviews

International Review of Education -     

Promoting Critical Thinking in an Online Certificate Program For Faculty in the Health Professions

Organizations governing education in the health professions have recently called for changes in teaching to promote students’ use of critical thinking (CT). Expectations for CT in courses to train educators should be aligned with the expectations of student use of CT. A growing number of certificate and master’s-level programs are being developed to address the needs of educators in the health professions who are unlikely to have experienced training in adult education, curriculum development, and assessment. This study explored the extent to which online course discussion forums in continuing profession education courses on teaching and curriculum design can play a role in the development of participants’ CT skills. It investigated an online pilot program of courses that relied heavily on discussions, with prompts designed to elicit higher-level thinking. The 190 discussion posts made over the four program courses were analyzed for CT. Posts were cross-coded by both authors. Frequency of CT increased substantially over the program. Metacognition use in particular rose sharply and consistently. We found that carefully structured online courses can promote CT among educators in the health professions.     

On inferring selective association: Methodological considerations

The theoretically appropriate means for demonstrating selective association are discussed and shown to be empirically necessary. Following the acquisition of an unsignaled instrumental avoidance baseline, dogs received either CS-contingent shocks (CS+) or random, independent CS/shock presentations. The CS was either a tone or a flashing light. When the CSs were subsequently presented during avoidance responding, only the tone-CS+ group showed absolute facilitation of response rate. However, both tone- and light-CS+ groups showed facilitation relative to their respective random controls due to the nonassociative inhibitory effects of the light. A bidirectionally sensitive dependent variable enabled the detection of this pattern of effects. Thus, a demonstration of selective association requires (1) appropriate controls for nonassociative effects and (2) selection of a dependent measure that is sensitive to both excitatory and inhibitory influences.     

What’s the Bottom Line? Corporate Involvement in an Early Childhood Initiative

Using data from a qualitative case study of a statewide early childhood initiative, this article critically examines the budding relationship between one states early childhood initiative and the corporate community. The analysis is situated within assumptions about the benefits of public–private partnerships and early childhood and childcare as vital to the nations current and future workforce. Early childhood stakeholders courted the business sector to gain support for the program, and their actions resulted in unintended consequences, including privileging the perspectives of businesspersons above those of parents, service providers, and other stakeholders.