Search

The most recent figures place the number of juvenile arrests in the United States at 2.11 million. (OJJDP, 2009). In some states, children as young as 10 years old are incarcerated for violent offenses. Crowded juvenile facilities are often unable to meet the needs of these large numbers of youth. The cost to treat offenders within long-term residential facilities is expensive. States spend anywhere from $4 million (in smaller states like Hawaii) to $450 million in larger states such as California on their annual juvenile corrections budget (freelibrary.com, 2010). Locked confinement in a state juvenile correction institution can run in excess of $60,000 annually (Tyler, Ziedenberg, and Lotke, 2006). As an alternative to incarceration for adjudicated youth, several forms of adventure therapy programming have been used. Most of these programs were developed around the premise that the structure of the adventure experience and associated facilitation could produce beneficial changes more effectively than time spent within a locked treatment facility. Just as the type of adventure therapy programs are mixed, so are the outcome research findings associated with juvenile delinquency. Several studies criticize adventure therapy with adjudicated youth for having insignificant or no lasting evidence of effectiveness, including Aos, Miller, and Drake (2006), Brown, Borduin, and Henggeler, (2001), Moote and Wodarski (1997), and Wilson and Lipsey (2000). As recognized in these studies, the key to unlocking the understanding of what is an effective adventure therapy program for juvenile delinquents is the inclusion of certain critical elements. Gass (1993), and more recently in Gillis and Gass (2010), identified seven key factors that seem to predominate the treatment elements of successful programs. These seven elements include treatment: (1) enhanced through action-oriented experiences, (2) centered on the use of unfamiliar client environments, (3) producing a climate of functional change through the positive use of stress, (4) highly informed with client assessment, (5) conducted in a small group, supportive atmosphere, (6) focused on solution oriented principles and techniques, and (7) that changed the role of therapist to remain more "mobile" to actively design and frame interventions.

Within the last 50 years, the work-family-household arrangements upon which social policy systems in industrial nations were formulated have disappeared. This briefing paper examines how social policies of the United States, Japan, Germany, Italy, and France have responded. The paper is presented in two major sections. The first section describes family policies in each country concerning parental leave, child benefits/family allowances, child care, marriage/cohabitation, and divorce. The second section discusses the mixed effects of maternity leave on womens employment, the lack of a relationship between fertility and maternity leave and fertility and cash benefits, and factors that complicate the relationship between countries' social spending and child poverty. Job-protected maternity leave is described as the most basic entitlement reflecting public acknowledgment of the economic necessity of working motherhood. Analyses suggest that fertility rates do not seem responsive to cash benefits or other policies, such as extended maternity leave, that function as wages for motherhood. In countries where child care provisions are not widely available, lengthy paid leaves have the effect of bringing women into the home for long periods of time. The most important role of cash benefits is to reduce child poverty, as illustrated by patterns in the U.S., France, and Germany. The paper concludes by asserting that Western European nations family policy can be divided into two types, one in which the social welfare system provides a comprehensive array of universal family benefits and services, and the other in which benefits are nonuniversal and accompanied by higher child poverty rates. The United States fits neither of the European patterns and is characterized by several contradictions contributing to the lack of political support for families. (Contains 98 references.) (KB)

This paper investigates the real living standards and poverty status of U.S. children in the 1990s compared to the children in 17 other nations, including Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, and Australia. The analysis is based on the Luxembourg Income Study database. It was found that American children have lower real spendable income than do comparable children in almost every other nation studied. In contrast, high income U.S. children are far better off than their counterparts in other nations. Persistently high child poverty rates were also found in the United States when compared with other nations. Demographic factors and the effectiveness of tax and transfer policies in reducing child poverty are also explored, and the paper concludes with a discussion of results and their policy implications. An appendix presents two tables of countries studied and poverty figures. (Contains 3 text tables, 8 figures, and 28 references.) (Author/SLD)

This report addresses the sources and remedies for child poverty in the United States through a review of the effects of trends, policies, and changes in social relationships; and an analysis of data concerning poverty and children. An introduction sketches the present condition of children in poverty and the policies and attitudes of the past 30 years. The next section reviews trends in family incomes and poverty, pointing out the antipoverty effects of economic growth and government policies. It also focuses on poverty and income transfer recipiency among children, emphasizing the diversity of the poverty population and analyzing those who are and are not aided by income transfer programs. The third section analyses the effects of changes in family structure and family size on child poverty. The fourth section discusses evidence on persistent poverty and welfare receipt and examines the emergence of an urban underclass. The fifth section analyses some important consequences of poverty for child health and development: adolescent pregnancy and out-of-wedlock childbearing, infant mortality and low birthweight, and others. The paper concludes with an antipoverty agenda for the 1990s. Included are 9 tables, 7 graphs, and an 89-item bibliography. (JB)

Second-generation immigrants are typically analyzed under the assumption that, having been born in the United States, they grew up in the United States. We challenge this assumption by investigating the prevalence and patterns of second-generation Mexican-American children's migration to and return from Mexico during childhood, and consider the consequences of this migration for their schooling. Around 1 in 10 second-generation Mexican-American children live in Mexico for some of their childhood. Strong patterns of return to the U.S. throughout childhood, and especially in early adulthood, argue for their being considered as part of the Mexican-American second generation even when growing up in Mexico. The school enrollment of these emigrating children in Mexico is much lower than for those second-generation Mexican-American children remaining in the U.S. through childhood. The moderately negative selectivity of emigrating second-generation children explains little of their much lower school enrollment. We conclude that country of residence is a far more important determinant than either family background or migrant status. (Contains 4 tables and 4 figures.) [This paper is part of the RAND Labor and Population working paper series. It was made possible by the NIA funded RAND Center for the Study of Aging and the NICHD funded RAND Population Research Center. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 2007 meeting of the Population Association of America.]

In this paper, we review a range of rigorous research studies that estimate the average statistical relationships between children growing up in poverty and their earnings, propensity to commit crime, and quality of health later in life. We also review estimates of the costs that crime and poor health per person impose on the economy. Then we aggregate all of these average costs per poor child across the total number of children growing up in poverty in the U.S. to estimate the aggregate costs of child poverty to the U.S. economy. Our results suggest that "the costs to the U.S. associated with childhood poverty total about $500 billion per year, or the equivalent of nearly 4 percent of GDP." (Contains 35 footnotes.) [This report was prepared for the Task Force on Poverty at the Center for American Progress.]

In all developed countries, single-parent families are particularly vulnerable to poverty. In contrast to many European countries that provide some guaranteed income support for children, the United States has emphasized private responsibility, increasingly requiring child support from the other parent. The reliance on a private approach raises several questions concerning the adequacy and distribution of child support. Using detailed administrative records for virtually all mothers with new child support orders in one U.S. state in 2000, we analyze child support receipts over the subsequent three years. We find that most mothers with child support orders receive support, and many receive substantial amounts. However, the amount received varies substantially from year to year. Moreover, we find substantial instability within years--a characteristic of private support that has been difficult to measure with prior data. Our analysis of child support outcomes across the income distribution shows remarkably similar proportions of families receiving at least some support. Considering amounts received over the distribution of pre-child-support income, we find a U-shaped pattern, with amounts declining slightly with income over the first three deciles, and then increasing steadily. Lower-income families are also less likely to receive regular child support. Nonetheless, child support plays an important role in the income packages of many low-income families, reducing pre-child-support poverty rates by 16 percent and closing the poverty gap by an average of 44 percent in 2001.

This analysis is the third in the Center's series on child poverty in America. The first part of this study is a historical view of trends in child poverty by race and Hispanic origin for children in families below the age of 18 years. The second part presents projections of child poverty rates and levels for the three largest racial groups to the year 2010, based on Census Bureau poverty data. Increasing numbers of corporate leaders are recognizing the critical importance of healthy, well-nourished, and well-educated children for the viability of the work force. There is growing concern over recent findings on the relationships of poverty-related conditions such as undernutrition and social deprivation to cognitive deficits and academic failure. It is also recognized that without healthy and productive families, children in poverty experience diminished opportunities through cognitive impairment, inadequate education, lack of basic skills, reduced job performance, and increased morbidity and mortality. Projections suggest that if current trends continue child poverty will increase dramatically for White, Black, and Hispanic American children. By the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, half of all Black children and more than half of all Hispanic American children will be impoverished. Three tables and six figures present information about poverty trends. (Contains 25 references.) (SLD)

The development and management of children's libraries and library services in the USSR are discussed by N.S. Kobzarenko, State Republican Library for Children of the Ukraine, and comparisons and contrasts between that system and the U.S. system are outlined. Kobzarenko notes that library services for children, established along directives from V.I. Lenin, exist to help schools ensure educational process, to aid in the development of a child's personality and morals, and to assist parents, teachers, and educators with questions regarding children's reading. Materials are regulated through a centralized State library system which publishes books through its own publishing houses. Librarians are trained in the guidance of reading using various detailed methods and programs. The improvement of professional skills of the staff is recognized through methodical centers for research and through government standards. Marilyn Miller, from the University of North Carolina School of Library Science, points out that library services in the United States and the USSR reflect each nation's ideological, social, and economic philosophies while both are dedicated to the welfare of the children served. Objectives for public library service, programming, and collections are compared. (CWM)

Two studies examined factors that predicted children's tendencies to match objects versus relations across scenes when no instruction was given. Study 1 examined a) age and b) nationality as a proxy for cultural differences in experiences with relations. The results showed that Chinese and U.S. children across ages all showed an initial bias to match objects versus relations across scenes. However, older children in both regions were more likely to notice features of the task that indicated relational matches were a more reliable solution and shifted their responding toward relations over time. Study 2 replicated the object mapping bias and age effects within U.S. children while also examining the impact of directly manipulating children's relational experiences. Before the main scene mapping task children did a relation-generation task known to prime attention to relations (Simms & Richland, 2019). This did not override the initial bias toward object mapping, but magnified the role of age, making older children increasingly sensitive to task features that prompted relational matches, further shifting their responding toward relations over time. [This paper will be published in "Journal of Experimental Child Psychology."]

This paper presents the results of a survey that investigated which countries follow the United Nations recommendations by having a national policy for library services to visually impaired and other print handicapped children. Questionnaires were distributed to the 78 members of the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) Section of Libraries for the Blind, and responses were received from 22 members, representing 17 countries. Results showed that Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States have adopted such a national policy. The following criteria were used to characterize a national policy: legislation; goal of production/criteria for selection; information such as union catalogs or national bibliographies; lending by a library network; cooperation with schools for the visually handicapped; trained staff; and publicly funded services. Responding countries that lack a specific national policy for library services to visually impaired children were Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. (MES)

Hardly a week goes by in the United States (and to varying degrees, in the rest of the world) that the word "terrorism" does not appear in the collective consciousness, as represented, channeled, and shaped by the mass media in its many print, broadcast, and internet manifestations. While relatively few children worldwide (and even fewer children domestically in the United States) have been the specific targets for acts of terrorism, some have, and most are growing up in a world in which terrorism in its many aspects is a salient cultural phenomenon. This paper explores the impact of growing up in a world with terrorism on children and youth. It considers both the direct traumatic effects of being a victim and the indirect effects of living in communities and societies in which the threat of terrorism is on the minds of children, but perhaps more importantly, of adults generally, and parents and policy makers in particular. It also considers policy initiatives and programmatic responses. [This document includes two commentaries: (1) Towards a More Holistic Approach to Helping Children Affected by Terrorism and Political Violence (Kathleen Kostelny and Michael Wessells); and (2) Children and Political Violence: Progress on the Pathways of Risk, Resilience, and Peace (Ann S. Masten). Commentaries are individually referenced.]

This paper investigates the effect of multiple cultures and languages on the bilingual utterances of Libyan children who live in the United States and who have acquired English after they arrived there at ages from 3 to 5. Data analysis is based on the Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton, 1993) in order to determine which language is the unmarked code and which language is the marked one. According to Myers-Scotton, the unmarked code is mostly the native language, which is also supposed to be the dominant language. The bilingual utterances in this study are analyzed in terms of subjects' responses to the interviewer and the culture-specific topic under discussion; some of the responses are made in a code different from the one in which the question was asked; others are culture-related. The results show that it is the dominant language (not necessarily the native language) that is most likely the unmarked code, and the less dominant language is the marked code which is chosen more consciously. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

In recent years, a boom in immigration and high birth rates among the foreign-born population has led to significant growth in the number of children in the United States who speak a language other than English at home. This demographic change presents a challenge to the public school system, where English proficiency is central to a child's success. The vast majority of these children are legal citizens, yet as a nation, we have yet to determine how to meet this challenge. State education leaders in Illinois have first-hand experience with these challenges as the immigrant population in the state has grown in recent decades, and has spread to suburban and rural areas where many schools aren't yet accustomed to serving students who are not proficient in English. Illinois is one of the first states to try to tackle this problem as early as possible--before children enroll in kindergarten. While most state programs for ELL students begin when a child is enrolled in kindergarten or first grade, Illinois is in the process of extending its ELL program into state-funded pre-K programs. This will affect a sizeable portion of children in the state-funded Preschool for All program. Recent data shows that 34.2 percent of Preschool for All graduates in Chicago and 13.1 percent of Preschool for All graduates outside Chicago receive bilingual services when they moved on to kindergarten. The change will, the state hopes, create more continuity between pre-K and the early grades of school when students are developing crucial language skills, and reduce remediation for students in later grades by building important language skills early on. This paper takes a deep look at how the state came to see a need for these policies and how it is implementing them on a large scale. It also highlights two parts of Illinois's approach that merit consideration by other states with large or growing ELL populations. First, by expanding into pre-K, the state has created opportunities to align ELL programs across the early school years, opening the possibilities for districts to adopt a PreK-3rd approach. A glossary is included. (Contains 57 notes.)

Language immersion from birth is crucial to a child's language development. However, language immersion can be particularly challenging for hearing parents of deaf children to provide as they may have to overcome many difficulties while learning American Sign Language (ASL). We are in the process of creating a mobile application to help hearing parents learn ASL. To this end, we have interviewed members of our target population to gain understanding of their motivations and needs when learning sign language. We found that the most common motivation for parents learning ASL is better communication with their children. Parents are most interested in acquiring grammar knowledge through learning to read stories to their children. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

An estimated 2.5 million professionals are responsible for the care and education of more than 50 percent of U.S. children ages 0-5. The potential growth and development of children in this critical stage are greatly influenced by the quality of care and education they receive from these early childhood professionals. Unfortunately, the current workforce training and support systems are not consistent across government programs. This ICF International white paper presents strategies for establishing an effective and efficient cross-sector workforce development system designed to attract and retain qualified early childhood professionals. (Contains 6 resources.)

This report tracks federal spending from 1960 to 2006 and uses current policy and some assumptions to project activity through 2017. The report looks at more than 100 major programs that aim to improve children's lives through income security, health care, social services, food and nutritional aid, housing, education, training, and tax credits and exemptions for their families. It provides the most comprehensive examination to date of trends in federal spending on children. It charts the relative changes---and therefore, shifting national emphases---between children's spending and spending on other programs, as well as among different types of children's spending. In this report, children are defined as residents of the United States under age 19. (Contains 3 tables and 19 figures.) [Focus First also sponsored this research. This report is an update and an expansion of the path-breaking work of Rebecca L. Clark, Rosalind Berkowitz King, Christopher Spiro, and C. Eugene Steuerle, "Federal Expenditures on Children: 1960-1997, Assessing the New Federalism." Occasional Paper Number 45, Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2000. (ED454306)]

This paper makes a critical exploration into the core epistemological assumptions of mainstream television effects research and explains why the mainstream study of the cognitive impact of television on children suffers from two reductionist tendencies, i.e., television is understood by most researchers to be solely a technical medium, and most cognitive effects of television are perceived to be relevant only to cognitive skills and knowledge. It is argued that the impact of television on beliefs has generally been left unexplored and unexplained, and that this double reductionism has reinforced researchers' optimistic analyses of television's potential for children's education. In addition, the paper describes how such analyses focus on what television--and video technology--can be made to do (the intended effects), and thus automatically rule out systematic consideration of unintended effects. Based on an understanding of both the historical determination of television as a profit-making institution and the specific quality of television for making its messages believable, researchers are urged to consider an alternative perspective aimed at investigating primarily and directly the unintended cognitive effects of television. (17 notes, 117 references) (Author/CGD)

The rapid increase in overweight among children and adolescents is generating widespread concern. On average, rates of overweight for boys and girls remain similar. Some groups of children are more affected by overweight than others. This paper discusses the health consequences of childhood obesity. A list of school interventions for obesity prevention is also included.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Obesity Education Initiative (OEI) convened a two-day meeting to help develop a national public education outreach initiative to help reduce and prevent overweight and obesity in the United States. This Strategy Development Workshop, held on February 17-18, 2004, convened more that 70 public health leaders, nutritionists and dieticians, food industry experts, health communicators, youth marketing experts, park and recreation officials, and others from professional societies and constituency groups. The Workshop proceedings illuminated the complexity of the factors leading to weight gain; the many environmental and societal influences on the eating and physical activity habits of various population groups; and the community-based strategies that might encourage healthier habits. The objectives of the Workshop were to examine community-based obesity best practices; help determine the unique niche for the new NHLBI Healthy Weight Initiative (HWI); recommend appropriate and effective program strategies and interventions; and identify potential program partners and partnership opportunities. Texts presented at the meeting and contained herein are as follows: (1) Obesity: What are the Challenges, Obstacles, and Strategic Considerations? (Marian Fitzgibbon); (2) The Basic (Care and) Feeding of Homo Sapiens: Are We Truly Clueless About Weight Control? (David L. Katz); (3) CardioVision 2020: A Community Responds to the Obesity Epidemic (Thomas E. Kottke); (4) From Clinical Trial to Public Health Practice: Translation and Dissemination of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) (Deanna M. Hoelscher and Peter Cribb); (5) Youth Marketing and Public Health Messaging (Peter Zollo and Richard Ellis); (6) Talk-Show Session: Feedback From the Field (William A. Smith, Ezra D. Alexander, III, Lisa Bailey-Davis, Kathy Burkhardt, Monica Dixon, Kristy Hansen, Molly M. Michelman, and Anita Pesses); (7) Carousel Brainstorming: Facilitated Small-Group Sessions; (8) When Obesity Is More Common Than Not: Developing a Culturally Positive Approach (Shiriki Kumanyika); (9) Environmental Factors: Disparities in Access to Healthy Foods and Active Living (Jeane Ann Grisso); (10) Is Increased Weight Discrimination Acceptable Collateral Damage in the War on Obesity? (Lynn McAfee); and (11) Closing Session: Workshop Wrap-Up and Next Steps (Marian Fitzgibbon and Karen Donato). Appendices present a participant list; strategy development workshop agenda, participant guidelines for small-group carousel brainstorming; and graphic representations of presentations.

While a nationwide study of vision problems in children has not been conducted in over 30 years, the most recent NHIS (National Health Interview Survey) study shows vision problems are common in children, with an estimated 13.5 million children ages 0-17 affected. As of 2002, 30 states plus the District of Columbia "required" vision screening in elementary schools or for all school-aged children. Eleven states "recommended" vision screenings. Even with these recommendations and requirement, only a small percentage of preschool and school age children actually receive the recommended or required tests. This paper discusses what schools, parents, and communities can do to help children with vision problems.

This study used a Vygotskian perspective to compare child rearing values and beliefs of parents, especially in regard to self-directed activities of children, in the United States, Russia, and Estonia. Participating were 60 families, evenly divided by society and social class (middle or working class), each with a child between 28 and 45 months old. Families were located in Greensboro, North Carolina; Obninsk, Russia; and Tartu, Estonia. Interview and questionnaire data were collected from parents, and observational data were obtained from children observed in their everyday activities for 20 hours during 1 week, focusing on academic lessons, skill/nature lesson, play with academic objects, and conversation with adults. Findings indicated that middle-class parents rated self-direction higher, and control and discipline lower, than working-class parents, and were less likely to be concerned with spoiling their children by giving attention than were working-class parents. There were no cultural differences in parent values and beliefs. Children in Obninsk and Tartu were far more likely than those from Greensboro to be involved in skill/nature lesson. Middle-class children were more likely than working-class counterparts to be involved in academic or skill/nature lessons, except in Obninsk, where there were no social class differences in academic lessons. Middle-class children were more likely to initiate the activities of interest than were their working-class counterparts. (Contains 17 references.) (KB)

As part of a cross-cultural investigation of self-regulated learning, this study investigated American and South Korean children's knowledge of appropriate self-regulation in a variety of settings. Participating in the study were 120 South Korean and 95 American children, nearly equally divided between males and females in each of 3 grades--first, third, and fifth. Children were presented with 20 hypothetical situations highlighting self-regulation issues related to problem solving within and outside the classroom. Six personal self-regulation questions followed. Two raters separately coded children's responses into five categories: no strategy, direct effort, active practice, help from others, and other strategies. Results indicated that Korean children had higher self-regulation scores on non-school-based problems than American children, whereas American children had higher self-regulation scores on school-based problems than did Korean children. Third and fifth graders had higher self-regulation scores than first graders. Cultural differences were evident in the type of strategies selected for problem solving. Grade differences support a developmental trend in metacognition for older children to have more elaborate and advanced understanding of learning strategies. (Two appendices include the interview questions and description of log-linear analysis techniques. Contains 25 references.) (KB)

This study explored the extent of measurable differences in performance on Piagetian tasks among six year olds who are exposed to one or two languages. Subjects (N=120) were divided into four groups: (1) native English-speaking Anglo-Americans who live in the United States; (2) native Japanese-speaking Japanese who live in Japan; (3) native English-speaking Anglo-Americans who are exposed to Japanese and live in Japan; and (4) native Japanese speaking Japanese who are exposed to English and live in the United States. Nine null hypotheses were formulated to test for significant differences among the groups on the performance of three different Piagetian tasks which were individually administered. The F-test (p<.01), Q-test (p<.05), and t-test (p<.01) were used for underlying distribution of the test statistics. All subjects (Japanese and American) exposed to two languages performed significantly better on the three Piagetian tasks as compared to subjects exposed to one language. There were no significant differences in performance on the three Piagetian tasks between: (1) Japanese with one language/one culture and Anglo-Americans with one language; and (2) Japanese with two languages/two cultures and Anglo-Americans with two languages. Two tables are included. (Contains 68 references.) (Author)

By the age of 4, children typically have separate schema for relating events in the physical world and for relating events to associated mental states. Generally, these schema cannot be coordinated until around 6 years of age, when the ability to use them together yields a structure for assigning intentionality. This intentional structure develops until by adolescence the capacity exists for interpreting personal/character traits and history. These social structures develop throughout early and middle childhood and adolescence and are subject to societal processing constraints. To determine variations in development across cultural and class lines, a comparison was undertaken of performance in story composition and identification by middle socio-economic status (SES) children in Canada, the United States, and Japan and low-SES children in North America. While little difference was found in central social structure for the middle-SES groups in the three countries, low-SES group performance on tasks measuring central intentional structure was considerably below that of the middle-SES subjects. This difference might stem from differences between middle and low SES parent language usage, with middle groups using questions to have children display known information (similar to standard classroom questioning) and treating events in a decontextualized manner, thus aiding the development of children's intentional structure. (Charts of cognitive structures, tables, and 31 references are included.) (BCY)

This paper explores some of the intellectual forces and themes connected to the emergence of the child study movement as a focus of scientific interest and research. This analysis is followed by a look at some institutional and social developments, which, it has been suggested, created needs and demands for the systematic study of children. Finally, there is an examination of the history of the movement itself: its chronology, methods and foci of study, some key figures associated with it, and its relationship to and reception by popular and academic audiences. The paper is divided into five sections: (1) early romantic theories of education and studies of development; (2) a note on nonromantic ideological strains in American psychology and education; (3) the influences of Darwinism; (4) social and institutional connections and influences; and (5) the child study movement, covering its major theoreticians, ideas, journals, goals and decline. A seven-page list of project research papers concludes the document. (IS)

Research on indicators related to the state of child well-being is a growing field that has experienced several changes over time. The growing supply of data on children, as well as the need to facilitate conclusions and to track trends, has led researchers to develop a number of child well-being indexes. This paper critically reviews the most recent and relevant child well-being indexes, i.e., the Index of Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, the Child Well-being Index for the European Union, the Microdata Child Well-being Index, and the Deprivation Index. The study focuses primarily on the contributions and innovations the indexes have brought to the field, making a critical assessment of the methods used in the construction of the indexes and identifying their main limitations.

Compares paths of development in Japan (symbiotic harmony) and the United States (generative tension) of parent-child and adult mate relationships, challenging assumptions that certain processes are central in all relationships or that U.S. relationships are less valued or weaker than Japan's. Suggests need to investigate processes underlying, and adaptive consequences of, these two paths. (Author/KB)

This paper presents results of a LISREL factor analysis on data from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Chinese Revised (WISC-CR) (published in 1986) for children ages 6.5 to 16.5 years, using a standardization sample of 200 children (100 males and 100 females) at each of the 11 age levels (2,200) for the WISC-R and 2,237 children for the WISC-CR. The same best fit common factor structure was found for the WISC-R and the WISC-CR. The common factor structure included three factors tentatively labeled verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, and freedom from distractibility. In addition, a multi-sample LISREL analysis was performed to test the equality of the factor pattern between age groups and between the two cultures. Both American and Chinese children in the oldest and youngest ranges of age groups fit the common factor structure better than did other age groups. Those age groups that best fit the common factor structure also showed high factor pattern consistency between the cultures. It is argued that ability and model fit differences may be linked to differences in cultural and educational experiences. Seven tables and three graphs illustrate the analyses. There is an 11-item list of references. (Author/SLD)

This publication offers an overview of the health of Hispanic Americans in the United States. Topics covered include the following: (1) Hispanic representation in health fields; (2) access to health care; (3) maternal and child health; (4) substance abuse; (5) Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Hispanics; (6) Hispanic elderly; (7) migrant farm workers; (8) leading causes of death; and (9) availability of Hispanic health data. The paper notes that 1 out of every 10 women of reproductive age is Hispanic, that 51 percent of Hispanic women of child-bearing age have family incomes at least 200 percent below the poverty level; that 31 percent of Hispanics have no private or public health insurance compared to 12 percent of Whites and 22 percent of African Americans; and that 2 times as many Hispanics as Whites use the emergency room as a source of primary care. (Contains 15 references.) (JB)

This paper explores ideological factors that influenced child labor reform and the image of the child as depicted in romantic and sentimental literature of 19th century England and the United States. In both countries the image of the child and the view of the relative roles of the parent and the state in bearing responsibility for children underwent dramatic change during this era. A reluctance to interfere with paternal authority and a laissez-faire attitude towards industry created, during the last 20 to 30 years of the 19th century, a new attitude of "social responsibility" on the part of the public and the state towards children. Within the contexts of different cultural and historical particulars in the two countries, some common patterns do emerge. It appears that the groups that were disempowered by the sweeping social changes beginning in the late 1700's used the symbol of the child as an expression of their own increasingly marginal sensibilities. After the 1860's the needs of the two nations to maintain military and industrial strength also played a role in the change to a social welfare attitude toward children. Sections on each country are divided into three subsections: (1) early history of child labor reform, (2) sentimental and romantic images of children in literature, and (3) post-1860 reform movements. (IS)

Focusing on relationships between children's behavioral responses and family characteristics, this exploratory, descriptive, and retrospective study investigated bereaved children's responses to the death of a sibling from cancer and examines those responses in relationship to selected individual, situational, and environmental characteristics. Participating in the study were 34 two-parent families from the United States and Canada who had had a child die from cancer within 3 years from the time of data collection and who had a surviving child between 6 and 16 years of age. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to measure behavior problems and competencies reported for bereaved children, and the Family Environment Scale was used to assess dimensions of family social climate. Content analysis of interview data preceded the coding of all data for quantitative analysis. It was found that internalizing and externalizing behaviors correlated negatively with social status, whereas social competence correlated positively with social status. Both internalizing and externalizing behaviors were related negatively to family cohesion, and lower internalizing scores were related to intellectual/cultural orientation, active/recreational orientation, and moral/religious emphasis. Implications of the results were pointed out for nurses who work with children and families in situations of long term illness and death. (RH)

This paper summarizes research findings which suggest that 6 to 11 year olds may be more vulnerable to environmental crises than younger or older youths. A survey of Moroccan immigrants in Israel and France found that those aged 6-ll at the time of immigration had a smaller percentage admitted to college than those aged 0-5 and 12 and over when they immigrated. The effect was identified as the vulnerable age phenomenon. It was hypothesized that while school transfers tend to be stressful for all youths, the fact is more likely to go unnoticed for grade school children whose problems would therefore command less attention from families. Replications with Canadian and United States data corroborated the finding and suggested, futhermore, that: (1) the effect was not specific to cohort, socioeconomic status, or language; (2) the effect was more prominent among interregional U.S. migrants than among shorter-distance migrants; (3) the effect was more noticeable among boys than among girls; and (4) the attrition effect of structural transitions between levels of the educational system should be distinguished from the vulnerable age effect. Certain developmental and environmental factors were presented as possible explanations for the vulnerability of youths in mid-childhood to social or school environmental change. (Author/MJL)

The book-publishing industry is all abuzz over electronic books. E-book advocates say they will revolutionize reading, much as Gutenberg's invention of movable type did more than 500 years ago. Electronic books, they say, provide useful computerized features along with portability and durability. Many bibliophiles, however, sneer at the digitized products. They rhapsodize about the feel of ink-on-paper books as well as useful features of print products that they say e-books lack. Consumer acceptance is uncertain. The $200 to $600 price tag for handheld e-book readers is one barrier. In addition, only a small percentage of books are now available in electronic format. But e-book entrepreneurs are working hard to expand the market and say that prices will come down as that happens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]