Search

Objectives Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is an important indicator for identifying and monitoring efforts to improve maternal health. Studies have identified independent risk factors, including race/ethnicity; however, there has been limited investigation of the modifying effect of socioeconomic factors. Study aims were to quantify SMM risk factors and to determine if socioeconomic status modifies the effect of race/ethnicity on SMM risk. Methods We used 2008-2012 NYC birth certificates matched with hospital discharge records for maternal deliveries. SMM was defined using an algorithm developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mixed-effects logistic regression models estimated SMM risk by demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics. The final model was stratified by Medicaid status (as a proxy for income), education, and neighborhood poverty. Results Of 588,232 matched hospital deliveries, 13,505 (229.6 per 10,000) had SMM. SMM rates varied by maternal age, birthplace, education, income, pre-existing chronic conditions, pre-pregnancy weight status, trimester of prenatal care entry, plurality, and parity. Race/ethnicity was consistently and significantly associated with SMM. While racial differences in SMM risk persisted across all socioeconomic groupings, the risk was exacerbated among Latinas and Asian-Pacific Islanders with lower income when compared to white non-Latinas. Similarly, living in the poorest neighborhoods exacerbated SMM risk among both black non-Latinas and Latinas. Conclusions for Practice SMM determinants in NYC mirror national trends, including racial/ethnic disparities. However, these disparities persisted even in the highest income and educational groups suggesting other pathways are needed to explain racial/ethnic differences., Author(s): Renata E. Howland [sup.1] , Meghan Angley [sup.1] , Sang Hee Won [sup.1] , Wendy Wilcox [sup.1] [sup.2] , Hannah Searing [sup.1] , Sze Yan Liu [sup.1] , Emily [...]

Virginia Woolf was fixated on vision, the actual act of seeing and the concentrated observation of objects and surroundings, so much so that she professed, 'The look, of things has a great power over me.' Utilizing a psychoanalytic framework put forth by Charles Mauron--adapted from Freud for Mauron's study Introduction to the Psychoanalysis of Mallarme--and examining predominantly but not solely moments of observation in To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, and the diaries, I analyze moments in which Woolf's preoccupation with seeing makes itself visible, and explore why, precisely, the look of things held a great power over her.Keywords: Virginia Woolf / seeing / psychoanalysis / To the Lighthouse / vision, One must keep on looking without for a second relaxing the intensity of emotion, the determination not to be put off, not to be bamboozled. One must hold the scene--so--in [...]

Archaeological indicators of inequality at major historic centres of power have long been poorly understood. This paper is the first to address the archaeology of class and inequality at Great Zimbabwe (AD 1000-1700) from an African-centred viewpoint. Data from new excavations, combined with insights from Shona philosophy, practice and ethnography, suggest that the categories of 'elite' and 'commoner' were situational and transient, and that they require a more robust theorisation than that currently adopted for the site. The results provide a valuable study for the comparative archaeology of ancient cities, differing in many ways from established interpretive frameworks in global archaeology. Keywords: Great Zimbabwe, elites, commoners, inequality, Shona philosophy, Introduction Uneven access to resources is often associated with the emergence of social status and its differentiation, stimulating and crystallising inequality (Brumfiel 1992; Lohse & Valdez Jr 2004; Price & [...]

Last year was the eightieth anniversary of George Orwell's book The Road to Wigan Pier--a fascinating narrative of difficult working-class lives in the England of the 1930s, with applications to [...]

Since the end of the 1990s, when European scholars put forward the social quality theory, related research has been recently and increasingly carried out in China. At present, Chinese society has entered a new stage of development, and the main demands of the population have gradually changed. For theoretical and practical reasons, it is highly attractive to strengthen the research on the social quality of China in order to meet new public demands and expectations and to promote the improvement of social quality through the implementation of effective politics and policies. Based on empirical data, this article comprehensively analyzes the cognition of different layers of Chinas population and the change of the four conditional factors of social quality on the overall development of society.Keywords: cognition, social class group, social quality, social policy, societal development, stability, Research BackgroundAlong with the development of its economy and society, China's 'social class groups' have been differentiated. In this article, the concept of social class group refers to a category [...]

This essay contextualizes Ben Jonson's The Alchemist in relation to the social controversy generated by London's rich runaways in the first decade of the seventeenth century. Reading the surviving play [...]

This paper analyses the role that different components of the academic strength of the secondary-school curriculum (i.e. number, subjects and grades of advanced academic courses) play in explaining social origin differences in access to prestigious universities (but also to other higher education institutions) in Scotland and the USA. A central aim of the paper is to investigate whether the mechanism behind the studied patterns of inequality differs depending on the characteristics of each educational system. Our results show pronounced social class gaps in entering top higher education institutions in both Scotland and the USA. Academic curriculum plays an important role in explaining these social class differences in both countries. However, while in Scotland type of subjects taken at an advanced level is the strongest mediator for the identified social class differences, in the USA, number of advanced subjects is the strongest. Moreover, taking into account the three academic components combined entirely explains the social class differences in Scotland. Considerable inequalities which are not explained by the strength of academic curriculum remain in the USA., Author(s): Adriana Duta [sup.1] , Brian An [sup.2] , Cristina Iannelli [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0004 1936 7988, grid.4305.2, Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh, , Edinburgh, [...]

JACOBSON, TICHENOR, AND DURDEN make an intriguing contribution to recent scholarship exploring the development and implementation of immigration policy at the state and local levels. In this piece, the authors [...]

On election night, Tuesday, November 6, returns came in. There were wins and losses. My blood pressure rose and fell, exulting in victories and anguished in defeats. But morning came, [...]

The recent discovery of the tomb of Liu Fei, King of Jiangdu, in eastern China, has provided a unique insight into the significance of early gold production in Western Han society. The recovery of luxury gold ornaments from mortuary contexts shows that hierarchical social order and status were maintained through the bestowal of these items upon the dead. Production of this gold not only entailed the control of organised local labour, but also the co-opting of methods and stylistic attributes associated with foreign territories. The influence of external aesthetics on local production may have helped imbue these artefacts with the prestige and significance that they carried for the elites who bore them into the afterlife. Keywords: China, Western Han, fourth century BC, prestige, exotica, gold, standardisation, Introduction The recent discovery of the tomb of an imperial prince with a cache of finely worked gold ornaments at Dayunshan near Xuyi (Jiangsu) is changing our perspective on gold [...]

Introduction: Wraparound services (i.e., community-based collaborative care) for children with severe mental health needs have been reported as effective. Yet, no attention has been given to aggregating treatment results across racially and economically diverse groups of youth. While controlling for socioeconomic status (i.e., free/reduced lunch status) this study explored potential racial disparities in response to wraparound services. Method: Data from a diverse statewide sample (N = 1,006) of low-income youth (ages 6-18 years) identified as having a serious emotional disturbance were analyzed for differences in wraparound attrition, fidelity, and effectiveness. Results: African American youth receiving free/reduced lunch failed to complete wraparound services at significantly higher rates when compared to Caucasian youth. For those who met treatment goals (i.e., completed services), mean intervention fidelity scores showed services to be implemented similarly across youth. Furthermore, wraparound services resulted in improvements in mental health functioning, though racial background and attrition status impacted exit scores. Discussion: Collaborative community-based mental health services improve youth outcomes and physicians and school personnel should strive to be part of these teams. Further research is needed to more closely examine the challenges of helping youth to meet the goals associated with their wraparound services. Relatively higher service attrition rates in low-income African American youth warrants further investigation. Keywords: wraparound services, racial diversity, evidence-based interventions, attrition, fidelity, The majority of research conducted on addressing mental health concerns has been based on individuals of the dominant race and culture (i.e., Caucasian; Suter & Bruns, 2009). Therefore, investigating whether [...]

While a class gap remains in obtaining a degree despite an expansion of higher education, a variety of second chances have become available. How class matters in receiving parental assistance for seeking a second chance is of increasing importance to understanding educational inequality in an altered context of higher education, but it is under-researched. This article seeks to fill this gap by referring to a qualitative study of 85 community-college students in Hong Kong for illustration. First interviews with respondents recruited from a community college were conducted between the year 2006 and 2009 where they discussed how they desired a second chance option by studying an associate degree in community college. Encouragement and emotional support to seek this new, costly, and risky second chance was provided by parents of most respondents. And yet, as a deficit approach would have us believe, middle-class respondents received more relevant information and academic advice with financial support from their parents than working-class respondents. In spite of that fact, it seems to remain whether the middle class are indeed better able than the working class to get transferred to university through the transfer of an associate degree in Hong Kong. This illustration suggests that the availability of a second chance does not immediately imply that the middle and the working classes are equally capable of taking advantage of it to rectify their previous educational failure. This article will be concluded by discussing the implications of this study for educational inequality., Author(s): Yi-Lee Wong [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) 0000 0004 1937 0482grid.10784.3aDepartment of Educational Administration and Policy, Faculty of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, [...]

For Aldous Huxley, the two most distressing things about people unlike himself are their ignorance and their birthrates, both of which are threatening the intellectualism that Huxley most admires. Huxley's [...]

SINCE THE 1960s, SURVEY RESEARCH has played a role in the research activities of English-Canadian political sociologists and in publications found in the two English-language journals in the discipline, the [...]

This paper uses Canada's corporate criminal liability legislation as an empirical exemplar with which to interrogate the limits of using the law to address the abuses of corporate power and to protect workers' safety. The author draws from Althusser's notion of interpellation to contemplate whether demands to discipline corporations through the law, particularly by labour/unions, misrecognise the problems of workplace safety, including that workers are routinely injured and killed in the pursuit of surplus profits. The author concludes that the problems of workplace safety ultimately demand broader strategies that challenge and transform the capitalist mode of production. Keywords Althusser, corporate crime, neo-Marxism, regulation, safety crimes, Introduction The seemingly endless list of serious crimes and human rights abuses by corporations around the world in recent decades has generated considerable discussion and debate about how best to [...]

Objective This study examined whether socioeconomic status moderated the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and postpartum depression among a community-based sample of women. Defining the role of poverty in the risk of postpartum depression for IPV victims enables prioritization of health promotion efforts to maximize the effectiveness of existing maternal-infant resources. Methods This cross-sectional telephone-survey study interviewed 301 postpartum women 2 months after delivery, screening them for IPV and depression [using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)]. Socioeconomic status was defined by insurance (Medicaid-paid-delivery or not). This analysis controlled for the following covariates, collected through interview and medical-record review: demographics, obstetric history, prenatal health and additional psychosocial risk factors. After adjusting for significant covariates, multiple linear regression was conducted to test whether socioeconomic status confounded or moderated IPV's relationship with EPDS-score. Results Ten percent of participants screened positive for postpartum depression, 21.3 % screened positive for current or previous adult emotional or physical abuse by a partner, and 32.2 % met poverty criteria. IPV and poverty were positively associated with each other ([chi].sup.2 (1) = 11.76, p < .001) and with EPDS score (IPV: beta 3.2 (CI 2.0, 4.5) p < .001, poverty: beta 1.3 (CI 0.2, 2.4) p = .017). In the multiple linear regression, IPV remained significantly associated, but poverty did not (IPV: adjusted beta 3.1 (CI 1.8, 4.3) p < .001, poverty: adjusted beta 0.8 (CI -0.3, 1.9) p = .141), and no statistically significant interaction between IPV and poverty was found. Conclusions Study findings illustrated that IPV was strongly associated with postpartum depression, outweighing the influence of socioeconomic status upon depression for postpartum women., Author(s): Catherine L. Kothari[sup.1] , Michael R. Liepman[sup.2] , R. Shama Tareen[sup.2] , Phyllis Florian[sup.3] , Remitha M. Charoth[sup.2] , Suzanne S. Haas[sup.2] , Joseph W. McKean[sup.4] , Angela Moe[sup.4] [...]

Socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the many factors influencing a person's alcohol use and related outcomes. Findings have indicated that people with higher SES may consume similar or greater [...]

Objectives The purpose is to examine the relation of social risk factors, and the cumulative burden of social risk factors, on parent-reported dental health and dental care-seeking behavior. Methods National Survey of Children's Health data (2011-2012) were analyzed for US children by Title V Block Grant regions. Multivariate logistic regressions were estimated for ten social risk factors, as well as a cumulative risk index, to find any associations with poor condition of teeth, presence of dental caries, and no dental care visits. Results Almost all of the risk factors were significantly associated with poor condition of teeth and presence of dental caries for the US. Models associating no dental care visits suggested that low family income (OR 1.58), poor maternal mental health (OR 1.54), high school education or less (OR 1.34), and multi-racial/other race (OR 1.18) were significant factors for the US. Regional variation existed for those risk factors and their association with the outcomes, but income, education, and poor maternal mental health consistently played a significant role in adverse outcomes. The cumulative risk index was strongly related to poor oral health outcomes, with a weaker relationship to dental care utilization. Conclusions for Practice US children experiencing certain social risk factors, such as low family income, high school education or less, and poor maternal mental health, are likely to be at greater risk for poor dental health and low levels of dental-care seeking behavior. Children experiencing multiple social risks are at greater risk for poor oral outcomes than children who experience fewer social risks. An approach that involves the social determinants of health is needed to address these issues., Author(s): Alyssa J. Yang[sup.1] [sup.2] , Andrea N. Gromoske[sup.2] , Melissa A. Olson[sup.2] , Jeffrey G. Chaffin[sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) Urban Indian Health Institute, a Division of the Seattle Indian [...]

Byline: Asha. Reddy, Naga. Mullapudi, Kirti. Kabeer, Ramesh. Nimmagadda, Selvi. Radhakrishna CONTEXT: The management of breast cancer in older patients is challenging due to factors such as comorbidities, limited mobility, [...]

The study purpose was to use recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) to identify factors that, when clustered, are associated with a high prevalence of pregnancy involvement among US adolescent males. The National Survey of Family Growth is a nationally representative survey of individuals 15-44 years old. RPA was done for the 2002 and 2006-2010 cycles to identify factors which, when combined, identify adolescent males with the highest prevalence of pregnancy involvement. Pregnancy-involvement prevalence among adolescent males was 6 %. Two clusters of adolescent males have the highest pregnancy-involvement prevalence, at 84-87 %. In RPA, the highest pregnancy-involvement prevalence (87 %) was seen in adolescent males who ever HIV tested, had >4 lifetime sexual partners, reported less than an almost certain chance of feeling less physical pleasure with condom use, had an educational attainment of 4 lifetime sexual partners, reported less than an almost certain chance of feeling less physical pleasure with condom use, had an educational attainment [greater than or equal to]11th grade, were >17 years old, and had their first contraceptive education [greater than or equal to]10th grade, had a pregnancy-involvement prevalence of 84 %. Pregnancy-prevention efforts among adolescent males who have been involved in a pregnancy may need to target risk factors identified in clusters with the highest pregnancy prevalence to prevent subsequent pregnancies in these adolescent males and improve their future outcomes., Author(s): May Lau[sup.1] [sup.2] , Hua Lin[sup.1] , Glenn Flores[sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines [...]

Wealth-related disparities in the use of reproductive health services remain a substantial problem in many low- and middle-income countries. Very few studies have attempted to explain such inequalities through decomposition of the contributions made by various individual- and household-level factors. This study aims to: (1) assess the degree of wealth-related inequality and inequity in the use of institutional delivery services in selected low- and middle-income countries, and (2) to explain wealth-related inequity through decomposition by the contributions made by various components, including health insurance coverage. Data come from Demographic and Health Surveys in three countries: Ghana, Rwanda, and the Philippines. Concentration indices are used to calculate inequality and horizontal inequity in service utilization. Multivariate methods are used to decompose inequity. Findings indicate a moderate to high degree of inequity in institutional delivery service use in all study countries. The study provides some evidence of the contribution of health insurance to increased wealth-related inequity in the use of institutional delivery services, although having health insurance was also associated with increased utilization of services. Results suggest that increased health insurance coverage does not automatically translate to lower wealth-related inequity in service utilization. Inequities in service utilization exist if there are still inequities in the health insurance status. The study advocates for expanding health insurance coverage, particularly among the poor to reduce inequity in insurance coverage and increase service utilization., Author(s): Mai Do[sup.1] , Rieza Soelaeman[sup.1] , David R. Hotchkiss[sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Global Health Systems and Development, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 [...]

The social sciences have usually downplayed the existence of forms of individuality in their analysis of popular classes and the popular, offering instead highly collectivist visions of popular classes and their members. Based on two qualitative, empirical studies conducted in Chile using semistructured interviews and group techniques, this article, without disregarding the commonality of experiences within these classes, discusses specific individualizing processes for the popular social group. Facing numerous adversities in a context of high positional instability and acute demands for hyperagency, members of popular urban sectors tend to affirm their individuality by relying on three dimensions: strength of character, personal abilities and sense of opportunity, and irreverent joy and sense of humor. Las ciencias sociales por lo general han propuesto lecturas de las clases populares y de lo popular que han tendido a minimizar la existencia de formas de individualidad en su seno, dando lugar a visiones altamente colectivistas de sus miembros. Sobre la base de dos investigaciones empiricas de tipo cualitativo para el caso de Chile, realizadas mediante entrevistas semidirectivas y tecnicas grupales, este articulo discute que, sin desconocer la comunidad de experiencias observable entre sus miembros, es posible dar cuenta de ciertos procesos individualizadores especificos en este grupo social. Frente a las numerosas adversidades de su existencia en un contexto de alta inestabilidad positional y exigencia de hiperactuacion, los miembros de los sectores populares urbanos tienden a afirmar su individualidad a partir de tres dimensiones: la fortaleza de caracter; la habilidad y el sentido de oportunidad; y el goce y la irreverencia humoristica., Las ciencias sociales han producido lecturas de las clases populares y de lo popular, en las cuales, por lo general, ha tendido a minimizarse la existencia de formas de individualidad [...]

Teenage mothers use marijuana more frequently than older mothers, and marijuana use may predict HIV risk behavior in offspring. Our goals were to (1) describe trajectories of marijuana use in teenage mothers and (2) determine if these trajectories were associated with early sexual behavior in their offspring. Pregnant adolescents (12-18 years) were recruited at a prenatal clinic and interviewed during pregnancy, at delivery, and during follow-up visits when offspring were 6, 10, 14 and 16 years old. At 16 years, 332 women (71% Black, 29% White) and their offspring were assessed. Mothers were asked about their marijuana use at each time point. Offspring reported on their sexual behavior at age 14. Trajectory analyses using growth mixture models revealed four maternal patterns of marijuana use: no use, only at the 6 year follow-up, quit by the 16 year follow-up, and used across most of the time points. The children of chronic users were more likely to have early sex. The maternal marijuana trajectory group variable remained a statistically significant predictor in multivariate models controlling for race, gender, socioeconomic status, child pubertal timing, child externalizing behavior problems, and child marijuana use. These findings suggest that a minority of teenage mothers continue to use marijuana over time. Chronic maternal marijuana use across a decade was associated with early sex in offspring (oral or vaginal sex by age 14). Early sexual behavior places these children at significantly higher risk of teenage pregnancy and HIV risk behaviors. Keywords Longitudinal study * Maternal substance use * Adolescent health * Sexual behavior * Health behavior and risk, Introduction One in ten American children has a teenage mother [1]. These children are at greater risk of early sex and parenthood [2-4]. Risk for early parenthood may be mediated [...]

The articles included here are based on a conference held in Upper Bavaria in 2011, convened with the purpose of fleshing out how Indian 'tribal' populations use expressive culture to bolster claims of indigeneity. Within India, the focus is narrowed to Middle India and the Nilgiri Hills of South India, despite the fact that the issues collectively addressed here transcend local and regional issues. After providing a survey of the literature on 'tribes' in India, the authors pinpoint areas of intersection that weave the enclosed articles together thematically. Further reflections on the concept of indigeneity as a global phenomenon conclude this introduction. KEYWORDS: cultural representation--ethnicity--indigeneity--Middle India--Nilgiri Hills--social classification--tribes, THIS VOLUME is the fruit of an interdisciplinary symposium that the guest editors of this special issue organized on an island monastery in Frauenchiemsee, Upper Bavaria, in January 2011. (1) [...]