Search

Increasing empathy toward others is an unspoken goal of many sociology courses, but rarely do instructors measure changes in empathy throughout a semester. To address this gap in the literature, I use a combination of quantitative and qualitative data gathered before and after students from five sociology classes participated in a simulation on domestic violence. I systematically evaluate whether students' levels of global empathy, empathetic responses toward victims, definitions of abuse, and propensity to agree with victim-blaming attitudes change after completing this experiential learning activity. Posttest results suggest a statistically significant but small increase in global empathy scores, a growth in empathetic responses toward victims, an expansion in students' definitions of abuse, and greater disagreement with victim-blaming attitudes. I discuss ways sociology instructors can use this simulation as a tool to help students comprehend a difficult subject matter while simultaneously engendering empathy toward victims of abuse.

This study examines the underexplored relationship between union type and mental health for married, cohabiting, and living apart together ("LAT") individuals. Further, we assess whether gender and age moderate (separately and jointly) this relationship. Using data from Wave 1 of the Generations and Gender Survey (N = 34,833), results suggest that cohabitors and LATs have worse mental health than married individuals. The negative effects of cohabiting or living apart on mental health are stronger for women than men. Young and middle-aged female LATs (to an equal magnitude) have worse mental health than married women of the same ages, while there are no such differences among older women. Middle-aged and older male LATs have worse mental health than married men of the same ages (with the larger effect found for middle-aged men), but there are no such differences among younger men. Thus, we highlight previously undocumented gender and life course dynamics of union type and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the household behaviors or beliefs associated with housework among a subset of fathers: those who stay home. Do these men embrace housework as being 'part of the job' or reject some chores associated with femininity? Using a combination of in-depth interview, housework activity, and time diary data collected from a sample of 30 stay-at-home fathers, I fill this gap in the literature. I empirically evaluate what types of chores fathers accomplish and detail the nuanced reasons men provide for completing specific tasks more often than others. In doing so, I contribute to the masculinities, housework, and fatherhood literature by uncovering how male caregivers both reinforce and redefine masculine norms through the performance of gendered chores. Keywords caregiving and care work, fatherhood, gender equality, masculinity, A great deal is known about the division of housework by gender in married households (Bianchi, Milkie, Sayer, & Robinson, 2000; Bianchi, Sayer, Robinson, & Milkie, 2012; Coltrane, 2000; Craig, [...]

Little is known about men who serve as primary caregivers for American families due to a lack of detailed questions on fatherhood and small numbers found in large-scale, nationally representative [...]

Using 509 mother/father–child dyads drawn from Wave 8 of The German Family Panel (pairfam), this study examines the direct effects of mothers' and fathers' work–family conflict (WFC) on children's internalizing (emotional) and externalizing (conduct) problem behaviors. We also test whether these effects are moderated by several child characteristics and family characteristics. Results suggest that both mothers' and fathers' WFC are associated with greater emotional problems, whereas only mothers' WFC is associated with greater conduct problems. The detrimental effect of fathers' (mothers') WFC on emotional problems is stronger for older children and girls (households with a preschool-aged child and boys). While there is no direct effect of fathers' WFC on conduct problems, results show that the detrimental effect of mothers' WFC on conduct problems is stronger for boys, as well as in households with more children and those with a preschool-aged child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores how southern food in entwined with the culture, history, and traditions of the Southern States and is part of its cultural identity. Based on the findings of the Spring 1992 Southern Focus Polls conducted by the Center for the Study of the American South and the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina, the author compares the attitudes towards food of people living in the South to those people who reside outside the Southern States, as well as between White Southerners and African American Southerners. Some of the food items asked about were: okra, chitlins, fried tomatoes, pork rind, sweet potato pie, catfish, boiled peanuts, and moon pie.