The demographic transition is an ongoing global phenomenon in which high fertility and mortality rates are replaced by low fertility and mortality. Despite intense interest in the causes of the ...transition, especially with respect to decreasing fertility rates, the underlying mechanisms motivating it are still subject to much debate. The literature is crowded with competing theories, including causal models that emphasize (i) mortality and extrinsic risk, (ii) the economic costs and benefits of investing in self and children, and (iii) the cultural transmission of low-fertility social norms. Distinguishing between models, however, requires more comprehensive, better-controlled studies than have been published to date. We use detailed demographic data from recent fieldwork to determine which models produce the most robust explanation of the rapid, recent demographic transition in rural Bangladesh. To rigorously compare models, we use an evidence-based statistical approach using model selection techniques derived from likelihood theory. This approach allows us to quantify the relative evidence the data give to alternative models, even when model predictions are not mutually exclusive. Results indicate that fertility, measured as either total fertility or surviving children, is best explained by models emphasizing economic factors and related motivations for parental investment. Our results also suggest important synergies between models, implicating multiple causal pathways in the rapidity and degree of recent demographic transitions.
Abstract While males in many societies endure traumatic and painful rites, in other societies male rites are mild or completely absent. To explain these cross-cultural differences, we use data ...collected from the Human Relations Area Files electronic databases (eHRAF) to test two sets of hypotheses derived from signaling theory. If costly male rites serve to signal mate quality, they would be expected to correlate with the intensity of mating competition. If they serve to signal group commitments, they would be expected to be associated with the importance of overcoming problems of collective action. Our results support the latter set of hypotheses: males in societies that engage in warfare endure the costliest rites. Moreover, we show that whether wars are fought within cultural groups or against other cultural groups is an important determinant of whether or not male rites result in permanent visible marks, such as ritual scars. We argue that costly male rites signal commitment and promote solidarity among males who must organize for warfare.
Does Absence Matter? Shenk, Mary K.; Starkweather, Kathrine; Kress, Howard C. ...
Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.),
03/2013, Letnik:
24, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This paper examines the effects of three different types of father absence on the timing of life history events among women in rural Bangladesh. Age at marriage and age at first birth are compared ...across women who experienced different father presence/absence conditions as children. Survival analyses show that daughters of fathers who divorced their mothers or deserted their families have consistently younger ages at marriage and first birth than other women. In contrast, daughters whose fathers were labor migrants have consistently older ages at marriage and first birth. Daughters whose fathers died when they were children show older ages at marriage and first birth than women with divorced/deserted fathers
and
women with fathers present. These effects may be mediated by high socioeconomic status and high levels of parental investment among the children of labor migrants, and a combination of low investment, high psychosocial stress, and low alloparental investment among women with divorced/deserted fathers. Our findings are most consistent with the Child Development Theory model of female life history strategies, though the Paternal Investment and Psychosocial Acceleration models also help explain differences between women in low paternal investment situations (e.g., father divorced/abandoned vs. father dead). Father absence in and of itself seems to have little effect on the life history strategies of Bangladeshi women once key reasons for or correlates of absence are controlled, and none of the models is a good predictor of why women with deceased fathers have delayed life histories compared with women whose fathers are present.
This article presents what the authors consider to be among the top 20 practice innovations since the inception of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in 1992. The innovations ...embody various characteristics of successful public health programs and have contributed to declines in violence, motor vehicle, residential fire, and other injury rates over the past 20years. Taken together, these innovations have reduced the burden of violence and injury and have influenced current practice and practitioners in the United States and worldwide.
ObjectiveThe epidemiology of violence against children is likely to differ substantially by sex and age of the victim and the perpetrator. Thus far, investment in effective prevention strategies has ...been hindered by lack of clarity in the burden of childhood violence across these dimensions. We produced the first age-specific and sex-specific prevalence estimates by perpetrator type for physical, sexual and emotional violence against children globally.DesignWe used random effects meta-regression to estimate prevalence. Estimates were adjusted for relevant quality covariates, variation in definitions of violence and weighted by region-specific, age-specific and sex-specific population data to ensure estimates reflect country population structures.Data sourcesSecondary data from 600 population or school-based representative datasets and 43 publications obtained via systematic literature review, representing 13 830 estimates from 171 countries.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesEstimates for recent violence against children aged 0–19 were included.ResultsThe most common perpetrators of physical and emotional violence for both boys and girls across a range of ages are household members, with prevalence often surpassing 50%, followed by student peers. Children reported experiencing more emotional than physical violence from both household members and students. The most common perpetrators of sexual violence against girls aged 15–19 years are intimate partners; however, few data on other perpetrators of sexual violence against children are systematically collected internationally. Few age-specific and sex-specific data are available on violence perpetration by schoolteachers; however, existing data indicate high prevalence of physical violence from teachers towards students. Data from other authority figures, strangers, siblings and other adults are limited, as are data on neglect of children.ConclusionsWithout further investment in data generation on violence exposure from multiple perpetrators for boys and girls of all ages, progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5 and 16 may be slow. Despite data gaps, evidence shows violence from household members, peers in school and for girls, from intimate partners, should be prioritised for prevention.Trial registration numberPROSPERO 2015: CRD42015024315.
Over the last 60 years social scientist have debated the causes of the demographic transition with very little consensus about the ultimate cause of the transition. Various theories have attempted to ...explain the transition from high-mortality and high-fertility to low-mortality and low-fertility. Most of these theories have focused on changes in infant mortality and modernization as key factors. This dissertation provides a direct comparison of classic and contemporary theory of the demographic transition. The dissertation presents data on research that was designed to test these theories simultaneously. Specifically, the dissertation is a test of Human Capital (Kaplan and Lancaster 2001), Moral Economy of Childbearing (Handwerker 1989), Diffusion (Bongaarts and Cotts Watkins 1996), and Infant Mortality Rate Reductions (Palloni and Rafalimanana 1999) theories of the demographic transition. Results are from a nine-month study in Otavalo, Ecuador and consist of data from 240 interviews. The Otavalo region is known for its indigenous handicraft market that generates around 9 million U.S. dollars annually. The handicraft market, however, is a new economic phenomenon, but has its roots in Otavaleño culture that predates the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. In Ecuador fertility rates have steadily declined since about 1970. Prior to the 1970s, women expected to have around 6.1 children. During the 1970s and through today, this rate has reduced to around 2.7 children per woman. However, this reduction is not universal; those that live in rural areas retain the pre-transition rate of 6 children per woman. Utilizing the rural areas surrounding the town of Otavalo, I was able to create a pre-post test of theories of the demographic transition. Results indicate the evolutionary model proposed by Kaplan and Lancaster captures the most variation in fertility. There is some support for Handwerker's notion of female empowerment. Tests of infant mortality rates produce mixed results, but when infant mortality rates are placed into Human Capital models, the effect disappears. There is no support for the Diffusion approach. The conclusion of the research is that if evolutionary models of human fertility are used, the results must be informed by cultural data.
This study aims to quantify the prevalence of forced sex, pressured sex, and related pregnancy among adolescent girls and young women in five low- and middle-income countries. Nationally ...representative, cross-sectional household surveys were conducted in Haiti, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia, and Uganda among girls and young women aged 13 to 24 years. A stratified three-stage cluster sample design was used. Respondents were interviewed to assess prevalence of sexual violence, pregnancy related to the first or most recent experience of forced or pressured sex, relationship to perpetrator, mean age at sexual debut, mean age at pregnancy related to forced or pressured sex, and prevalence of forced/coerced sexual debut. Frequencies, weighted percentages, and weighted means are presented. The lifetime prevalence of forced or pressured sex ranged from 10.4% to 18.0%. Among these adolescent girls and young women, the percentage who experienced pregnancy related to their first or most recent experience of forced or pressured sex ranged from 13.2% to 36.6%. In three countries, the most common perpetrator associated with the first pregnancy related to forced or pressured sex was a current or previous intimate partner. Mean age at pregnancy related to forced or pressured sex was similar to mean age at sexual debut in all countries. Preventing sexual violence against girls and young women will prevent a significant proportion of adverse effects on health, including unintended pregnancy. Implementation of strategies to prevent and respond to sexual violence against adolescent girls and young women is urgently needed.
The decay chain \(b \to \bar{\mathrm{B}} \rightarrow \mathrm{D}^{**0} \ell^- \bar{\nu} X , \mathrm{D}^{**0}\rightarrow \mathrm{D}^{*+}\pi^-,\mathrm{D}^{*+} \to \mathrm{D}^0\pi^+, D^0 \to ...(\mathrm{K}\pi\; \mathrm{or} \;\mathrm{K}3\pi)\) is identified in a sample of 3.9 million hadronic Z decays collected with the OPAL detector at LEP. The branching ratio BR \((b \to \bar{B}) \times \mathrm{BR}(\bar{B} \to \mathrm{D}^0_1 \ell^-\bar{\nu} X) \times \mathrm{BR}(\mathrm{D}^0_1 \to \mathrm{D}^{*+}\pi^-)\) is measured to be \((2.64 \pm 0.79 (\mathrm{stat}) \pm 0.39 (\mathrm{syst})) \times 10^{-3}\) for the JP=1+ (D01) state. For decays into the JP=2+ (D2*0) state, an upper limit of 1.4 x 10-3 is placed on the branching ratio at the 95% confidence level.
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