Download or read book Destinies of the Disadvantaged written by Frank F. Furstenberg and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2007-11-15 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teen childbearing has risen to frighteningly high levels over the last four decades, jeopardizing the life chances of young parents and their offspring alike, particularly among minority communities. Or at least, that's what politicians on the right and left often tell us, and what the American public largely believes. But sociologist Frank Furstenberg argues that the conventional wisdom distorts reality. In Destinies of the Disadvantaged, Furstenberg traces the history of public concern over teen pregnancy, exploring why this topic has become so politically powerful, and so misunderstood. Based on over forty years of Furstenberg's research on teen childbearing, Destinies of the Disadvantaged relates how the issue emerged from obscurity to become one of the most heated social controversies in America. Both slipshod research by social scientists and opportunistic grandstanding by politicians have contributed to public misunderstanding of the issue. Although out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy rose notably between 1960 and 1990—a cause for concern given the burdens of single motherhood at a young age—this trend did not reflect a rise in the rate of overall teen pregnancies. In fact, teen pregnancy actually declined dramatically in the 1960s and 1970s. The number of unmarried teenage mothers rose after 1960, not because more young women became pregnant, but because those who did increasingly chose not to rush into marriage. Furstenberg shows how early social science research on this topic exaggerated the adverse consequences of early parenthood both for young parents and for their children. Researchers also inaccurately portrayed single teenage motherhood as a phenomenon concentrated among minorities. Both of these misapprehensions skewed subsequent political debates. The issue became a public obsession and remained so during the 1990s, even as rates of out-of-wedlock teen childbearing plummeted. Addressing teen pregnancy was originally a liberal cause, led by advocates of family planning services, legalized abortion, and social welfare programs for single mothers. The issue was later adopted by conservatives, who argued that those liberal remedies were encouraging teen parenthood. According to Furstenberg, the flexible political usefulness of the issue explains its hold on political discourse. The politics of teen parenthood is a fascinating case study in the abuse of social science for political ends. In Destinies of the Disadvantaged, Furstenberg brings that tale to life with the perspective of a historian and the insight of an insider, and provides the straight facts needed to craft effective policies to address teen pregnancy.
Download or read book The Long Shadow written by Karl Alexander and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2014-05-31 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology West Baltimore stands out in the popular imagination as the quintessential “inner city”—gritty, run-down, and marred by drugs and gang violence. Indeed, with the collapse of manufacturing jobs in the 1970s, the area experienced a rapid onset of poverty and high unemployment, with few public resources available to alleviate economic distress. But in stark contrast to the image of a perpetual “urban underclass” depicted in television by shows like The Wire, sociologists Karl Alexander, Doris Entwisle, and Linda Olson present a more nuanced portrait of Baltimore’s inner city residents that employs important new research on the significance of early-life opportunities available to low-income populations. The Long Shadow focuses on children who grew up in west Baltimore neighborhoods and others like them throughout the city, tracing how their early lives in the inner city have affected their long-term well-being. Although research for this book was conducted in Baltimore, that city’s struggles with deindustrialization, white flight, and concentrated poverty were characteristic of most East Coast and Midwest manufacturing cities. The experience of Baltimore’s children who came of age during this era is mirrored in the experiences of urban children across the nation. For 25 years, the authors of The Long Shadow tracked the life progress of a group of almost 800 predominantly low-income Baltimore school children through the Beginning School Study Youth Panel (BSSYP). The study monitored the children’s transitions to young adulthood with special attention to how opportunities available to them as early as first grade shaped their socioeconomic status as adults. The authors’ fine-grained analysis confirms that the children who lived in more cohesive neighborhoods, had stronger families, and attended better schools tended to maintain a higher economic status later in life. As young adults, they held higher-income jobs and had achieved more personal milestones (such as marriage) than their lower-status counterparts. Differences in race and gender further stratified life opportunities for the Baltimore children. As one of the first studies to closely examine the outcomes of inner-city whites in addition to African Americans, data from the BSSYP shows that by adulthood, white men of lower status family background, despite attaining less education on average, were more likely to be employed than any other group in part due to family connections and long-standing racial biases in Baltimore’s industrial economy. Gender imbalances were also evident: the women, who were more likely to be working in low-wage service and clerical jobs, earned less than men. African American women were doubly disadvantaged insofar as they were less likely to be in a stable relationship than white women, and therefore less likely to benefit from a second income. Combining original interviews with Baltimore families, teachers, and other community members with the empirical data gathered from the authors’ groundbreaking research, The Long Shadow unravels the complex connections between socioeconomic origins and socioeconomic destinations to reveal a startling and much-needed examination of who succeeds and why.
Download or read book Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality written by Paul R. Amato and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The widening gap between the rich and the poor is turning the American dream into an impossibility for many, particularly children and families. And as the children of low-income families grow to adulthood, they have less access to opportunities and resources than their higher-income peers--and increasing odds of repeating the experiences of their parents. Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality probes the complex relations between social inequality and child development and examines possibilities for disrupting these ongoing patterns. Experts across the social sciences track trends in marriage, divorce, employment, and family structure across socioeconomic strata in the U.S. and other developed countries. These family data give readers a deeper understanding of how social class shapes children's paths to adulthood and how those paths continue to diverge over time and into future generations. In addition, contributors critique current policies and programs that have been created to reduce disparities and offer suggestions for more effective alternatives. Among the topics covered: Inequality begins at home: the role of parenting in the diverging destinies of rich and poor children. Inequality begins outside the home: putting parental educational investments into context. How class and family structure impact the transition to adulthood. Dealing with the consequences of changes in family composition. Dynamic models of poverty-related adversity and child outcomes. The diverging destinies of children and what it means for children's lives. As new initiatives are sought to improve the lives of families and children in the short and long term, Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality is a key resource for researchers and practitioners in family studies, social work, health, education, sociology, demography, and psychology.
Download or read book Altered Destinies written by Gene I. Maeroff and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 1999-04-15 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Altered Destinies, Gene Maeroff poses important questions about what is needed to equalize the tremendous imbalance between the education received by middle to upper class children and the education received by lower class children. He argues that, in addition to greater financial investment in their schools, lower class children must possess a strong support system--what he refers to as "social capital"--which emphasizes four areas: a sense of connectedness, a sense of well-being, a sense of academic initiative, and a sense of knowing. Maeroff builds a compelling case for how and why the concept of social capital will make a difference in the effort to improve opportunities for disadvantaged schoolchildren.
Download or read book Growing Up Fast written by Bonnie J. Ross Leadbeater and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2014-03-05 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first edition of Growing Up Fast attempted to counter the stereotype of poor, minority adolescent mothers and describe the diversity of their educational, work, parenting, and relationship experiences. The volume followed a strengths-based approach to understanding why some mothers appeared resilient to the stresses of early parenting, compared to their peers, and what obstacles undermine resiliency for some of these young women. We hear their stories in their own words. We also see how many disadvantaged mothers go on to succeed in school, work, and parenting while avoiding many of the risk associated with teen parenting . The research is based on a six-year study of 120 young disadvantaged mothers and their children from New York City. It uniquely combines the analysis of longitudinal questionnaire data with qualitative analysis of extensive interviews conducted with these women focusing on the first six years after their child was born. A past winner of the Society for Research on Adolescence best book award, Growing Up Fast is a fascinating study of human resilience that will continue to be recognized for its contribution to individuals involved in program development and policymaking with teenage parenting. A new introductory chapter to the book suggests that we can look at the previous findings through a new lens that emphasizes not only the diversity of outcomes for young mothers and the sources of their strengths, but also asks what we can learn from these women about supporting their educational and work goals, as they transition to adulthood. New attention to emerging adulthood shows that this is a critical stage of life when the foundations for health and healthy life styles are laid down. Developmental tasks of this phase include building the capacity for financial and residential independence through post-secondary education and job training, and establishing stable sources of support from parents, romantic partners, and peers for all youth. Leadbeater addresses the societal changes that make these tasks particularly salient for young women and focuses attention on how we can support youth who make this transition with children.
Download or read book Combating Educational Disadvantage written by Dr Theo Cox and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-01-04 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New Labour Government puts Education, Education, Education at the heart of its agenda but is it doing enough to combat educational disadvantage? Combating Educational Disadvantage sets the discussion of educational disadvantage within the socio-political context of the 1980s and 1990s, with its market philosophy in education and brings together the contributions of leading writers and researchers of international standing.
Download or read book Red Tape written by Akhil Gupta and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2012-07-17 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yet India's poor are not disenfranchised; they actively participate in the democratic project.
Download or read book Help for Troubled Destinies written by Taiwo Olusegun Ayeni and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2009-12 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Help for troubled Destinies begins with examination of what God did for us in the beginning, the foundation of empowerment laid for us to excel, where we missed it and God's follow-up rescue plan. This background approach clearly shows us that we were empowered to succeed from the beginning as revealed in man's encounter with God in Genesis Chapter 1:28. There God blessed man and He gave him five faith commands to pursue: be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it and have dominion. From this perspective the book goes on to express the fact that because man had been positioned to excel he ought not to experience troubled destinies. Several of these were examined for the readers' attention and solutions to them also proffered. It concludes with testimonies that God is beautiful for every situation.
Download or read book Young Disadvantaged People 14 17 Years of Age needs and opportunities written by Stephen Rourke and published by Combat Poverty Agency. This book was released on 1994 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interwoven Destinies written by Henry Cisneros and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1993 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book White Trash written by Nancy Isenberg and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-06-21 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestseller A New York Times Notable and Critics’ Top Book of 2016 Longlisted for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction One of NPR's 10 Best Books Of 2016 Faced Tough Topics Head On NPR's Book Concierge Guide To 2016’s Great Reads San Francisco Chronicle's Best of 2016: 100 recommended books A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2016 Globe & Mail 100 Best of 2016 “Formidable and truth-dealing . . . necessary.” —The New York Times “This eye-opening investigation into our country’s entrenched social hierarchy is acutely relevant.” —O Magazine In her groundbreaking bestselling history of the class system in America, Nancy Isenberg upends history as we know it by taking on our comforting myths about equality and uncovering the crucial legacy of the ever-present, always embarrassing—if occasionally entertaining—poor white trash. “When you turn an election into a three-ring circus, there’s always a chance that the dancing bear will win,” says Isenberg of the political climate surrounding Sarah Palin. And we recognize how right she is today. Yet the voters who boosted Trump all the way to the White House have been a permanent part of our American fabric, argues Isenberg. The wretched and landless poor have existed from the time of the earliest British colonial settlement to today's hillbillies. They were alternately known as “waste people,” “offals,” “rubbish,” “lazy lubbers,” and “crackers.” By the 1850s, the downtrodden included so-called “clay eaters” and “sandhillers,” known for prematurely aged children distinguished by their yellowish skin, ragged clothing, and listless minds. Surveying political rhetoric and policy, popular literature and scientific theories over four hundred years, Isenberg upends assumptions about America’s supposedly class-free society––where liberty and hard work were meant to ensure real social mobility. Poor whites were central to the rise of the Republican Party in the early nineteenth century, and the Civil War itself was fought over class issues nearly as much as it was fought over slavery. Reconstruction pitted poor white trash against newly freed slaves, which factored in the rise of eugenics–-a widely popular movement embraced by Theodore Roosevelt that targeted poor whites for sterilization. These poor were at the heart of New Deal reforms and LBJ’s Great Society; they haunt us in reality TV shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty. Marginalized as a class, white trash have always been at or near the center of major political debates over the character of the American identity. We acknowledge racial injustice as an ugly stain on our nation’s history. With Isenberg’s landmark book, we will have to face the truth about the enduring, malevolent nature of class as well.
Download or read book T T Clark Handbook of Political Theology written by Rubén Rosario Rodríguez and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-10-03 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The T&T Clark Handbook of Political Theology is a comprehensive reference resource informed by serious theological scholarship in the three Abrahamic traditions. The engaging and original contributions within this collection represent the epitome of contemporary scholarship in theology, religion, philosophy, history, law, and political science, from leading scholars in their area of specialization. Comprised of five sections that illuminate the rise and relevance of political theology, this handbook begins with the birth of contemporary “political theology,” and is followed by discussions of historical resources and past examples of interaction between theology and politics from all three Abrahamic traditions. The third section surveys the leading figures and movements that have had an impact on the discipline of political theology in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries; and the contributors then build on previously discussed historical resources and methods to engage with contemporary issues and challenges, emphasizing interreligious dialogue, even while addressing concerns of relevance to a particular faith tradition. The volume concludes with three essays that look at the future of political theology from the perspective of each Abrahamic religion. Complete with select bibliographies for each topic, this companion features the most current overview of political theology that will reach a broader, global audience of students and scholars
Download or read book Reversible Destiny written by Peter T. Schneider and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003-03-13 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reversible Destiny traces the history of the Sicilian mafia to its nineteenth-century roots and examines its late twentieth-century involvement in urban real estate and construction as well as drugs. Based on research in the regional capital of Palermo, this book suggests lessons regarding secretive organized crime: its capacity to reproduce a subculture of violence through time, its acquisition of a dense connective web of political and financial protectors during the Cold War era, and the sad reality that repressing it easily risks harming vulnerable people and communities. Charting the efforts of both the judiciary and a citizen's social movement to reverse the mafia's economic, political, and cultural power, the authors establish a framework for understanding both the difficulties and the accomplishments of Sicily's multifaceted antimafia efforts.
Download or read book Agency written by Ian V. Rowe and published by Templeton Foundation Press. This book was released on 2022-05-16 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every child in America deserves to know that a path to a successful life exists and that they have the power to follow it. But many never set foot on that path because they grow up hearing the message that systemic forces control their destinies, or that they are at fault for everything that has gone wrong in their lives. These children often come from difficult circumstances. Many are raised by young, single parents, live in disadvantaged neighborhoods, attend substandard schools, and lack the moral safeguards of religious and civic institutions. As a result, they can be dispirited into cycles of learned helplessness rather than inspired to pursue their own possibilities. Yet this phenomenon is not universal. Some children thrive where others do not. Why? Are there personal behaviors and institutional supports that have proven to make a difference in helping young people chart a course for their futures? Agency answers with a loud and clear “yes!” This book describes four pillars that can uplift every young person as they make the passage into adulthood: Family, Religion, Education, and Entrepreneurship. Together, these pillars embody the true meaning of freedom, wherein people are motivated to embrace the ennobling responsibilities of building healthy social structures and shaping the outcomes of their own lives. For that reason, Ian Rowe calls the four pillars the FREE framework. With this framework in place, children are empowered to develop agency, which Rowe defines as the force of one’s free will, guided by moral discernment. Developing agency is the alternative to the debilitating ‘blame-the-system’ and ‘blame-the-victim’ narratives. It transcends our political differences and beckons all who dare to envision lives unshackled by present realities. In addition to making the case for agency, Rowe shares his personal story of success coming from an immigrant family. He defends America as an ever-improving country worthy of our esteem. He corrects misguided calls for “anti-racism” and “equity,” and champions a game plan for creating new agents of agency, dedicated to promoting the aspirational spirit of America’s children, and showing them the path that will set them FREE.
Download or read book When Children Want Children written by Leon Dash and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former Washington Post reporter Leon Dash spent a year living in one of the poorest ghettos in Washington, D.C., and a total of seventeen months conducting interviews examining the causes and effects of the ever-lowering age of teenage parents among poor black youths. Dash had expected to find inadequate sex education and lack of birth control to be the root cause of the growing trend toward early motherhood, but his conversations with the mothers themselves revealed the truth to be more complex. A riveting account of the human stories behind the statistics, When Children Want Children allows readers to hear the voices of young adults struggling with poverty and parenthood and gets to the heart of teenage parents' cultural values and motivations.
Download or read book Managing to Make It written by Frank F. Furstenberg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2000-12 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the myths about families in inner-city neighborhoods is that they are characterized by poor parenting. Sociologist Frank Furstenberg and his colleagues explode this and other misconceptions about success, parenting, and socioeconomic advantage in Managing to Make It. This unique study—the first in the MacArthur Foundation Studies on Successful Adolescent Development series—focuses on how and why youth are able to overcome social disadvantages. Based on nearly 500 interviews and case studies of families in inner-city Philadelphia, Managing to Make It lays out in detail the creative means parents use to manage risks and opportunities in their communities. More importantly, it also depicts the strategies parents develop to steer their children away from risk and toward resources that foster positive development and lead to success. "Indispensible to anyone concerned about breaking the cycle of poverty and helplessness among at-risk adolescents, this book has a readable, graphic style easily grasped by those unfamiliar with statistical techniques." —Library Journal
Download or read book Schooling in Disadvantaged Communities written by Carmen Mills and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-10-23 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a study of one secondary school located in a disadvantaged community in Australia, this book provides a different perspective on what it means to ‘play the game’ of schooling. Drawing on the perspectives of teachers, parents and students, this book is a window through which to explore the possibilities of schooling in disadvantaged communities. The authors contend that teachers, parents and students themselves are all involved in the game of reproducing disadvantage in schooling, but similarly, they can play a part in opening up opportunities for change to enhance learning for marginalised students. Rather than only attempting to transform students, teachers should be also be concerned to transform schooling; to provide educational opportunities that transform the life experiences of and open up opportunities for all young people, especially those disadvantaged by poverty and marginalised by difference. The book is also designed to stimulate understanding of the work of Bourdieu as well as of a Bourdieuian approach to research. Seeing transformative potential in his theoretical constructs, it airs the possibility that schools can be more than mere reproducers of society.
