Search

Previous studies explored how urban or rural place of origin influences the source of social capital. There remains a need to consider how the place of origin affects the type of ties--family, friends, or "paisanos" (countrymen)--with those who provide support to migrants. We use data from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP128) and perform multinomial logistic regression models to predict who (among family, friends, or paisanos) provides lodging to first-time undocumented male migrants from Mexico, taking into account the size of their place of origin. We find that paisanos are important in providing lodging to those from rural areas, and family members are more likely to assist those from urban settings. Paisanos are more likely to help at the beginning of the migratory flow of the community (rural or urban), and family members to do so once the flow has matured. Also, paisanos are more likely to help those in rural areas during more difficult times, such as after the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement. We suggest that paisanos fulfill a role similar to that in Granovetter's (1973) concept of the strength of weak ties in which they act as substitutes for other ties (such as to friends and family) to provide social capital, making the first-time undocumented migration possible.

By utilizing manipulative tactics, such as persuasion techniques and strategies through social media sites, moral entrepreneurs can maintain and/or increase their scope of influence. In this article, we propose another tactic utilized by moral entrepreneurs, a concept we refer to as shifting morals. The complexity of moral entrepreneurs' life experiences provides them with an endless set of social and moral norms that they can use to tweak their own ideals to encompass other moral framing networks to gain more followers and thus increase their influence. We examine theoretical literature, while also providing examples that resulted from content analysis from media websites to illustrate our proposed concept of shifting morals. We conclude that the shifting morals tactic is another tool moral entrepreneurs use to increase their influence in society to enact social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the proliferation of stressors that contribute to depression in grandparents who are caregivers of an adult child with a long-term illness and their grandchildren. The data were drawn from Wave 4 of the Cape Area Panel Study in South Africa and subjected to linear regression analysis to predict depression in these older adults. We found evidence that the combination of primary and secondary care leads to a proliferation of stressors as these older adults experienced higher levels of depression, lower income, and greater food insecurity. Providing financial help to others and declining health also contributed to an increase in depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project explores the influence of discursive interactions on driving moral panics by drawing on the theoretical strands of the public sphere and the white racial frame. We apply the framework of the Latino cyber-moral panic to understand online public discourse surrounding the criminalization of undocumented immigrants in the United States. With an ethnographic approach, we find the Internet becomes a cyber public sphere where user's interactions reinforce and are reinforced by a white racial frame; this then contributes to the spread of a moral panic, and ultimately reinforces systemic racism. We argue that social media sites and their discursive tools, such as hashtags, comments, and 'likes,' help to efficiently and continuously target Latino and undocumented immigrants. By weaving communication literature and critical race scholarship, we conceptualize the Internet as a powerful mechanism for the spread of white supremacy and systemic racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apartheid era in South Africa had such harsh polices against those who were non-White that the effect of those polices could still be reflected long after Nelson Mandela's efforts to dismantle such policies during the post-apartheid years. In this paper, we use the Cape Area Panel Study data for older adults to examine the predictors of the household income of older adult households (those 50 and older) from the Cape Area focusing on the personal characteristics and household conditions of older adult South Africans by race and sex. Results show differences in income and economic resources between Whites, Coloureds, and Africans, with Africans having significantly lower income, being less likely to have a savings account, and being more likely to be currently earning money. When examining the predictors of income for the different groups, we found important differences among the difference racial groups, but also found that being a single female-headed household, currently earning money, number of rooms in the household, and number of consumer goods are related to income for all racial groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]