Life Chances Research Articles

The invention of race and the persistence of racial hierarchy: White privilege, White supremacy, and White colorblindness

AbstractGiven the long history of contention over the meaning of race and the continued discomfort about what role it plays in the structure of inequality, I endeavor to clarify the origins of the association of race with skin color and other physical features by briefly discussing the historical record by which race became codified in law. My focus is the U.S. and specifically Colonial Virginia, where the codification of racial categories in law was especially consequential. I also discuss the existence of a racial hierarchy in which Whites are dominant and Nonwhites of various types are subordinate. I argue that the continued existence of this racial hierarchy not only has a legacy from the past, but it is reproduced in the present and continues to have major effects on the life chances of those thought of as belonging to different racial groups. I also discuss the elasticity, ambiguity, and contested nature of racial classifications, as well as the internal differentiation among those thought to belong to the same racial groups and the changes and variations over time that are continually remaking the meaning of race. Because of the political significance of race, I also clarify the meaning of key concepts that have been receiving recent attention: White privilege, White supremacy, and White colorblindness. Finally, I discuss race as a process rather than as a classification and briefly discuss how Whites and men can become allies, advocates, and activists in support of social justice.

Our First Experience with Transplantation – A Case Report

Goal: Transplantation is the medical procedure of transplanting an organ from a living or deceased person into the body of a recipient whose organ is severely and irreversibly damaged. In this way, the recipient's survival rate and quality of life are improved. Heart transplantation is a revolutionary procedure that provides a new chance for life to patients with serious heart diseases. It represents a great challenge both for the patient and for the entire healthcare system. We aim to provide a comprehensive account of our first heart transplant experience. Through a detailed analysis of the case report, we will present the challenges we encountered, the successes we achieved, and provide a deeper insight into the entire process of heart transplantation from the perspective of nurses.

Family Functioning, Identity Commitments, and School Value among Ethnic Minority and Ethnic Majority Adolescents.

Ethnic minority youth show worse school adjustment than their ethnic majority peers. Yet, it remains unclear whether this gap can be explained by differences in family functioning and consequent identity commitments. This study examined (1) whether family functioning relates to identity commitments over time and (2) whether identity commitments impact later school value (3) among minority and majority adolescents. Minority (N = 205, Mage = 16.25 years, 31.1% girls) and majority adolescents (N = 480, Mage = 15.73 years, 47.9% girls) participated in this preregistered three-wave longitudinal study (T1: March-April 2012; T2: October 2012; T3: March-April 2013). Dynamic Panel Models revealed that most within-person cross-lagged associations were not significant in the total sample. Yet, multigroup analyses revealed differences between groups: Stronger identity commitments related to lower school value among minority adolescents, but were unrelated to school value among majority adolescents over time. Additionally, higher school value increased identity commitments among minority youth, yet it decreased identity commitments among majority youth over time. The findings highlight the differential interplay between identity commitments and school adjustment for minority and majority adolescents, with important implications for their future life chances.

Nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness: A multi-national comparison.

INTRODUCTION: Stigmatizing attitudes perpetuated by nursing professionals are a pervasive problem for people experiencing mental health issues. This global issue has detrimental consequences; inhibiting one's life chances and help-seeking behaviours. To date, few studies have compared nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness from a multi-national perspective. To compare undergraduate nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness across six countries: Australia, India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and USA. In a cross-sectional design, data were collected from undergraduate nursing students (N = 426) using the Social Distance Scale. A one-way analysis of variance was used to compare differences between countries. Nursing students' attitudes to mental illness differed between countries. Social Distance Scores were highest amongst nursing students from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Students from Taiwan and India possessed moderate stigma scores. Social Distance Scores from the USA and Australia were lowest. Clear differences in stigmatizing attitudes emerged between countries; these are discussed in relation to possible cultural influences. It is suggested that educating nurses, combined with direct contact with people with lived experiences of mental illness, can reduce stigmatizing attitudes regardless of country, location or educational institution.

LIFE CHANCES AND STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY

The article delves into the historical trajectory of global inequality, tracing the transition from an era of relative equality to the emergence of profound disparities following the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the West. It scrutinizes the Eurocentric narrative of progress, emphasizing the pivotal role of scientific advancements, technological innovations, and capitalist expansion in shaping the Western ascendancy. Furthermore, it explores the concept of life chances as a lens through which to analyse structural inequality and the distribution of resources among individuals. The discourse extends to the revaluation of values in the context of sustainability, advocating for a shift towards a more sustainable and equitable societal framework. The paper underscores the enduring challenges posed by durable inequality and the allure of the Western lifestyle to less privileged regions. Through a multidisciplinary lens encompassing historical, sociological, and ecological perspectives, it offers insights into the complexities of global development, social stratification, and the quest for a more just and sustainable world order.

Age Differences in Unemployment Risk and Reemployment Outcomes in Late Working Life in Sweden

ABSTRACT Participation of older workers in the labor market depends, among other things, on older workers employment chances. This study examines age differences regarding risk of unemployment and reemployment outcomes in late working life in Sweden. Using Swedish registry data, we analyzed the probability of unemployment as well as work-related activity following unemployment (wage- or self-employment; exit; downward mobility) of all people born between 1954 and 1968 (aged 49–63) and registered in Sweden between the years 2012 and 2018. Results show that although risk of unemployment does not differ significantly across age groups, younger age groups are more likely to be reemployed as wage-employed while older age groups are more likely to be reemployed as self-employed or exit working life. After an unemployment period, older employees are more likely to have a lower wage than during their previous employment or become part-time unemployed. We conclude that different age groups have unequal chances in late working life in terms of reemployment, risk of exit, and risk of downward mobility following unemployment. Policies for extending working life and promoting inequality should include measures for increasing employability of older workers such as anti-discriminatory laws and dealing with skills mismatch.

Neuropsychological Stimulation Program for Children from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Guatemala remains one of the poorest countries in Central America and suffers from high rates of social inequality and violence. In addition to the negative impact that two years without attending school has had on Guatemalan children due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, this unfavourable socioeconomic context poses a risk to children's emotional and cognitive development. This work presents a protocol for implementing a cognitive and emotional stimulation program aimed at increasing the academic performance of these children and consequently improving their quality of life. The protocol proposes the implementation of a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a 24-session-long stimulation program. It targets the cognitive functions of attention, language, executive functions, and social cognition, using the digital neurorehabilitation platform NeuronUP. The participants (n = 480) will be randomly assigned to an Experimental or Control group. Pre- and post-intervention assessments will be carried out, together with a follow-up in the next academic year, in which both groups will change roles. Results will be compared for the first and second years, looking for differences in academic and cognitive performance between groups. Mid- and long-term outcomes are still unknown, but effective interventions based on this protocol are expected to facilitate the following benefits for participants: (1) improved cognitive and emotional development; (2) improved academic performance; (3) improved well-being. We expect to create a validated neuropsychological stimulation program that could be applied in similar socioeconomically disadvantaged contexts around the world to help these children improve their life chances.

Foreword

I was delighted to open the conference on ‘Violence Against Children’ organized by the Department of Religion Studies, at the Universityof Johannesburg, in partnership with the New Testament Society of Southern Africa (NTSSA). I am extremely pleased that a special issue on the topic has been produced so briskly. Although there is currently much work being done on violence, there is insufficient interdisciplinary and collaborative work on how violence configures the lives of children in Southern African countries. One does not hear of conferences on children or children’s rights as often as one might hear about initiatives on other compelling topics. This coming together of scholars to reflect on the experiences and lived realities of children – and, on the theme of childrenand violence – is exciting and timely. Currently, there are more than 2 billion children in the world, with the highest proportion living in sub-Saharan Africa. By the middle of this century, more than 40 percent of children younger than 5 years will be resident here. It is often pointed out that a child’s life chances are shaped by the place of birth, year of birth, and privileges of the natal familial context – in this regard, class, race, nationality, regionality, and gender are some of the key predictors of a child’s future. Many countries face entrenched inequalities and disparities, thus economic, sociopolitical,cultural, religious, and communal factors often have considerable and defining impacts on a child’s future well-being and success. Interventionsto create equality of opportunities and mitigate inherited disadvantages have been considerable. Despite government and civil society efforts, thesituation of children today remains dire. This is distressing to note for all who work in this field and who acknowledge that a country’s future stability, growth, and development, are inextricably linked to the ways in which this youngest cohort is treated, catered for, inspired, and afforded economic, social, and educational opportunities.

The same social elevator? Intergenerational class mobility of second-generation immigrants across Europe

Abstract Ethnicity and social class are two of the main axes stratifying life chances in developed societies. Nevertheless, knowledge of the integration of ethnic minorities into the pattern of class reproduction remains incipient as evidence stems mostly from studies concentrating on specific ethnicities or single host countries. This article advances this knowledge by providing a comparative perspective on the intergenerational occupational mobility of second-generation immigrants and the majority population across 26 European countries. Drawing on pooled data from the European Social Survey (2004–2018), the article demonstrates that ethnic penalties arise for employment and occupational mobility in many countries, however, with crucial differences across and—to a smaller extent—within major country groups. Across countries, ethnic barriers for the second generation are connected to their social integration in the host society and the composition of the first migrant generation, emphasizing the importance of familial and social support for social advancement. By contrast, I detect no link between anti-immigration norms and ethnic penalties, and only mixed evidence for the role of integration policy. The article concludes that ‘ethnicity matters’ in many European societies, even if ethnic cleavages vary according to the composition of migrant populations and the context in the host society.

Knowledge about HIV-Related Services Among Young Blacks with Diverse Sexual Identities: an Intra-racial Analysis.

Given the disproportionate representation in HIV/AIDS cases among young Black members of the LGBTQIA community, it is important to continue to identify both their ability to assess the knowledge that can foster healthier sexual outcomes as well as dynamics that may foster or undermine their efforts. The goal of this study is to examine whether 236 young Black persons ages 18-30 years old who are members of the LGBTQIA community know where to go locally to locate healthcare services to combat HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted health issues. Quantitative findings show the influence of self-identified sexual identity, age, and place of residence on knowledge about HIV-related services. The implications of these results illustrate the possible effects of place and identity development on knowledge about HIV-related services that can affect life chances and quality of life for certain members of this community.

Life in a Random Universe: Sciama's Argument Reconsidered

Random sampling in high dimensions has successfully been applied to phenomena as diverse as nuclear resonances, neural networks, and black hole evaporation. Here we revisit an elegant argument by the British physicist Dennis Sciama, who demonstrated that were our Universe random, it would almost certainly have a negligible chance for life. Under plausible assumptions, we show that a random universe can masquerade as “intelligently designed,” with the fundamental constants instead appearing to be fined tuned to achieve the highest probability for life to occur. For our Universe, this mechanism may only require there to be around a dozen currently unknown fundamental constants. We speculate on broader applications for the mechanism we uncover.

Mitigating Unemployment Stigma

Abstract The stigma faced by unemployed Americans places a toll on their wellbeing and decreases their life chances. While all unemployed Americans are subject to stigmatization, the stigma levied on Black Americans may be particularly potent due to racializing stereotypes that associate Blackness with the undeserving poor, including the inability to obtain employment. Given the social and economic challenges Black people face, research elucidating the racial complexities of unemployment stigma is needed. Through in-depth open format face-to-face interviews of unemployed individuals residing in urban and suburban areas, this study produces an alternative perspective on how impression management techniques are connected to both internalization and mitigation of unemployment stigma. This study contributes to employment, race, and stigma literature by providing a theoretical frame that synthesizes Du Boisian and dramaturgical concepts to conceptualize an “unemployed worker-self.” Through this framing, I find variations across race and community type in impression management techniques executed by unemployed people. I conclude with suggestions for future research and potential applications for the theoretical frame developed in this study.

Territorial Configurations of School‐To‐Work Outcomes in Europe

<p>Comparative research on school-to-work transitions mainly focused on country differences, examining the variation in institutional design and its impact on shaping youth labour market outcomes. The field has been dominated by a sort of methodological nationalism assuming nation states as homogeneous objects of comparison, while the territorial variations in youth transitions among sub-national territories have been less explored, notwithstanding their potential impact on life chances. In this article, we look at the outcomes of transitions in EU regions, comparing regional configurations of school-to-work transitions and their change over time. Is it possible to identify differences among groups of regions? To what extent do these patterns change over time? In order to answer these questions, we construct and analyse a longitudinal and systematic set of indicators that combine regional aggregated outcomes of transitions from education to work and regional contextual traits at the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics level 2 for the period 2007–2019. We perform two cluster analyses to describe regional differences and trends over time. The findings provide novel insights into the characteristics and patterns of an unequal geography of youth opportunities in Europe.</p>

Conceptualisation of violence and discipline among students, teachers, and parents in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania

BackgroundLittle academic research has been conducted on how people conceptualise ‘violence’ and ‘discipline’, especially in humanitarian settings. This may limit the transferability of violence prevention interventions. This paper examines the understanding of violence and discipline concepts among students, teachers, and parents in the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania. MethodsA qualitative study was undertaken as part of the larger trial testing the effectiveness of the EmpaTeach intervention to prevent physical violence from teachers to students implemented in 27 schools in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp. Data from baseline and midline surveys in control schools that did not receive the intervention informed this paper where a total of 14 in-depth interviews (eight with students and six teachers) and six focus group discussions (two with teachers and four with parents from the Parent Teacher Association) were analyzed. Both audio recordings from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim, and translated from Kiswahili to English (Congolese) and Kirundi to English (Burundian). Translated data were verified and coded using thematic analysis based on the views of students, teachers, and parents. ResultsParticipants revealed that the same behavioural acts could be differentially classified as violence or discipline. Violence was understood in relation to the consequences of acts, which could include physical or psychological harm, or other harms which were seen as detrimental to children's futures and life chances, particularly adolescent pregnancy. Sexual acts without consent were also seen as violence. In contrast, discipline was understood according to intent, and perceived acts done towards students to correct bad behaviour. ConclusionResults imply that education about the harmful consequences of behavioural acts intended as discipline, may be important for violence prevention interventions and that framing interventions in terms of positive child development could help change discipline strategies in schools.

Women's transnational migration through football: Possibilities, responsibilities, and respectability in Ghana

The growth of girls’ and women's football in Africa, coupled with increased professionalisation in Europe and the United States, has led to rising international migration of African female players. This trend reflects the longer standing culture of independent, transnational migration among African women since the late 1980s and of enlarged possibilities and responsibilities triggered by neoliberal reform across the continent. This article explores how these sporting, cultural and economic transformations have coalesced to influence the aspirations and agency of female youth and young women in Ghana. To do so, we draw on original data from ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana, Sweden and Denmark undertaken between 2015 and 2021. Our findings reveal that for ambitious, talented female footballers, transnational football migration is increasingly viewed as a speculative route to improve ones’ life chances and negotiate intergenerational responsibilities to family. Significantly, the article also illustrates that in seeking to produce this highly prized form of migration, they must carefully navigate gendered social norms and hierarchies related to ‘respectable’ career and life trajectories. The conclusion proposes a critical research agenda to explore the interplay between sporting opportunities, migration aspirations and diverse socioeconomic conditions in Africa.

Gavin W. Jones: demography detective and the mystery of the MURs

ABSTRACT Meeting for the first time in Jakarta in the early 1980s, Gavin Jones and I encountered a great mystery: how had decades of slow-growing, involuting cities in Asia suddenly become a new era of accelerated urbanisation producing mega-urban regions (MURs) with population sizes having no historical precedent? With collaborators in 6 MURs, in 2000 we launched a book project presenting our solution to the mystery. We showed how MUR formations extended far beyond core cities by incorporating towns and villages into their daily orbits. Our findings illuminate key issues at stake, including increasing disparities in life chances over space, rising risks of global climate change, and complexities of MUR governance.

The Mobility Interview: Triangulating Interview and Global Positioning System Data to Explore the Role of Mobility in Everyday Life

This article presents a mixed-methods research protocol suitable for studying everyday mobility and its effects on life chances for a wide range of populations. We argue that it can address, among other issues, two important methodological challenges in the study of mobility: addressing pre-reflexivity and habits, as well as differentiating between voluntary and forced movements. The research protocol combines a problem-centered interview, two weeks of GPS tracking, and a subsequent mobility interview. It has been shaped by its application to more than 60 socially disadvantaged residents of rural peripheries as part of an international research project. It contributes to existing qualitative methods of spatial analysis because its design incorporates not only theoretical considerations but also insights of real-world application from conducting it in varied contexts and with different populations, which are typically underrepresented in more elaborate research designs. Nevertheless, due to its thematic openness, the design is not only interesting for mobility research, but also for other research focusing on spatial phenomena at the individual level. We provide a detailed account of the method’s implementation, contextualize it in relation to previous approaches, and discuss the analytical potential of the data obtained. We suggest that by triangulating movement data with interview data, perceptions and meanings of everyday mobility can be uncovered that would otherwise remain at a pre-reflexive level.

Strategic Offending: Colombia’s Part-Time Child Drug Traffickers and Their Community, City and Country Lines

Through participatory research and creative auto/biography, in particular, this article highlights how young offenders in southwestern Colombia live at home, go to school and fit in the trafficking of cannabis in their spare time. This part-time participation in criminal networks becomes part of a deliberate plan to succeed and confront positions of socio-economic hardship and emotional precarity. This strategic offending in the region of Cauca with its protracted violence and alternative social order constitutes an attempt to confront ontological insecurity and establish improved life chances. These lived experiences of drug trafficking also highlight Colombia’s community, city and country lines – three levels of trafficking route along which these young part-timers shift cannabis to local, national and international markets.

The influence of cultural constraints on entrepreneurial motivations: Exploring the experiences of Muslim women entrepreneurs in Pakistan

This article explores the influence of cultural constraints on entrepreneurial motivations for women entrepreneurs of the Muslim faith. A qualitative approach is taken by drawing from extraordinarily rare interviews with 17 women entrepreneurs who run businesses in the open market in the Northwest region of Pakistan. Push and pull factors were examined in the context of cultural constraints using the lens of post-materialism and dissatisfaction theories. The findings reveal that some entrepreneurs are pulled into entrepreneurship to give something back to local youths and to improve their life chances and/or reduce hardship. In relation to the push factors, some entrepreneurs decided to do something about the harsh circumstances they found themselves in to demonstrate their agency. All were aware of the cultural constraints around them and are highly motivated to overcome these as role models for future generations and to hopefully achieve parity with male peers. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing new insights to the reader in extending the post-materialism and dissatisfaction theories for women Muslim entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Furthermore, it also demonstrates how cultural constraints related to family issues motivate women in a male-dominated society to become entrepreneurs.

The Impact Of Law Number 16 Of 2019 Marriage Dispensation And Child Marriage Gap

Child marriage in Indonesia is quite high. Child marriage is a form of violence against children and is a practice that violates children's basic rights as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Child marriage limits access to essential services, including education and health services, and can have long-term negative impacts on children's well-being and life chances. The legal age limit for marriage in Indonesia is a minimum of 19 years. However, one of the policies in the Marriage Law is a loophole that supports the legality of child marriages, through the granting of dispensations by the Court. The number of requests for marriage dispensation at the Ambarawa Religious Court continues to increase. This data is a reference for the author in studying the impact of the enactment of Law Number 16 of 2019, an amendment to Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage, on children. This research uses normative juridical methodology, namely reviewing court decisions. As a finding, one of the impacts of the enactment of Law Number 16 of 2019 which amends Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage is the increase in the number of requests for marriage dispensation at the Ambarawa District Court, Semarang Regency. This increase reached 337%, with the average number of applications per month increasing from 7.44 to 25.07. Changes in the marriage age as stated in Article 7 regarding the minimum marriage age of 19 years are not effective in reducing the number of child marriages. So it is necessary to optimize the implementation of Supreme Court Regulation Number 5 of 2019 concerning Guidelines for Granting Marriage Dispensations to ensure that judges have clear procedures and structured steps in adjudicating marriage dispensation cases.