Life History Approach Research Articles

A Life History Approach to the Assessment and Management of Deepwater Fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic

A Life History Approach to the Assessment and Management of Deepwater Fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic

Explaining adaptive shifts in body size on islands: a life history approach

The tendency for island populations to differ in body size from their mainland relatives has been well documented, but the mechanisms for these size changes remain speculative. Explanations have typically been based on ecological interactions that directly favor either an increase or decrease in body size. While it is clear that direct ecological interactions can influence body size, life history shifts present an alternative explanation for observed insular size trends across phylogenetic groups and trophic levels. Here I describe how decreased resource availability and reduced predation pressure, the same selective forces invoked by previous hypotheses, can operate to produce body size changes via the evolution of life history traits. This mechanism is more generally applicable than previous explanations and is consistent with much of the available data.

Prose and Cons: Offender Auto/Biographies, Penal Reform and Probation Training

‘The life history approach is peculiarly ignored in teaching contexts’ wrote Ken Plummer in 1983 (p.74). Things may have changed on ordinary social science degrees, but offender/prisoner autobiographies — akin to the life story approach — are a still underused resource in the training of probation officers. The criminological importance of such autobiographies was recently affirmed by the late Steve Morgan (1999), adroitly re–therorised by Goodey (2000) and used constructively by Wilson and Reuss (2000) in a study of prison(er) education. This article describes, from experience, how they can be used at the beginning of a probation training programme, to develop a preliminary understanding of desistance, and to open up debate on what works with offenders and what doesn’t, in and out of prison. An historical background to British prisoner autobiographies is provided to ground this approach to teaching in a distinctive criminological discourse, to provide a resource for those who wish to take debate on prisoner autobiographies further, and to indicate the kind of impact that the best of this writing has had on the penal reform process. The article should be read both as a contribution to an overdue, and at present meagre, debate on how an academically sound and vocationally relevant curriculum for trainee probation officers can be constructed, and as an at least partial substantiation of the deeper argument that probation training can draw productively on traditions of penal reform which it has hitherto neglected.

A life history approach: working on the site of Il Pizzo (Nepi VT, Italy)

Prospection en Italie Centrale a 45 km au NE de Rome, Il Pizzo : promontoire. Trace d'une necropole romaine avec loculi, mais tres peu d'autres traces d'epoque romaine ou sans doute presence initiale d'un poste de surveillance au moment de la conquete

The Increased Prosecution of Adolescents in the Adult Criminal Justice System

ABSTRACT This paper explores the implications of the increased prosecution of adolescents in the adult criminal justice system. Public misperceptions about juvenile crime have contributed to the use of harsh criminal sanctions toward youth offenders, most of whom are convicted of nonviolent crimes. Consequences of these policies, and the resultant over-reliance on incarceration, include harms to youth housed in adult facilities, stress and marginalization of family members, and weakened communities. A life history approach highlights the dangers of incarceration for youth and the difficulties a child's imprisonment poses for families. Recommendations for reform are presented as well as an example of a new initiative to protect minority youth in the justice system and promote effective juvenile justice policies.

Life-history theory and risky drinking.

Life-history theory, a major theory related to evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology, is applied to analyze patterns in alcohol abuse and dependence. The life-history approach examines how intensity of reproductive competition affects the benefits and costs of risk-taking, which are typically greater for young men than for women or older men. We used this framework to predict demographic variation in hazardous patterns of alcohol use, assuming that they reflect risk-taking in general. This paper is a review of literature on demographic patterns in risky drinking and alcohol dependence. Predictions are generated using evolutionary analysis of risk-taking. Existing surveys of drinking behavior are reviewed, and findings are compared to predictions. Results were generally consistent with predictions. The frequency of risky drinking and dependence is higher for men, and people of younger age, single marital status, childless parental status or unstable environmental resources. An exception is the effect of educational attainment. which is inconsistent. Risky drinking behavior, as with other forms of physical risk-taking, is more frequently observed in young men, and it increases where environmental instability is higher. The utility of life-history theory is compared to alternate conceptions of risky drinking and dependence. Implications of this perspective for research and clinical efforts are explored.

Notes on the Life History of a Pot Sherd

This article discusses various life history approaches in archaeology: short life histories study the lives of things in the past (until they end up in the ground), long life histories study these lives going on until the present. Both approaches share the assumption that although people are free to give to a thing any meaning they want, their material essence necessarily remains unchanged. As an alternative, I present an ethnographic approach, studying the ‘life’ of a pot sherd on an excavation project. All the thing’s properties and characteristics, including its material identity and age, are taken to be the outcome of processes taking place in the present. The data presented shows in some detail how ‘momentary, fluid and flexible’ archaeological classifications and interpretations of material culture are. It emerges that the material identities ascribed to things are not their essential properties but the result of specific relationships of people and things: their very materiality is potentially multiple and has a history.

“My Eyes have been Opened”

A life history approach was used to examine the narratives of 6 White teachers of racially diverse classrooms who had been nominated as being “aware of race and racism” by a diverse panel of experts. The teachers’ responses to race were examined by semistructured interviews, a drawing of their racial identity, and a classroom visit that examined classroom artifacts and teacher-student interactions. Narrative analysis revealed that teachers’ perceptions of racial awareness were influenced by (a) perceived identity as “outsiders,” due to class background or sexual orientation, that enabled them to disidentify with the White mainstream; (b) living and working with individuals of other races in relationships that approximated “equal status” and exposed them to “insider” perspectives on race and racism; and (c) personal religious/philosophical beliefs that emphasized equality and social justice concerns. Implications for restructuring teacher education programs include revising candidate selection criteria, increasing the racial diversity of students and faculty, experiencing “immersion” in communities of color, and using autobiographical narrative as a pedagogical tool.

Stratigraphy and Practical Reason

The organization of human behavior often defies utilitarian or practical reason. Inferences based in practical reason simplify behavioral variability and as a result obscure evidence of ritual organization contained in sequences of archaeological deposits. To expose such sequences, 1 offer a behaviorally based artifact life history approach to the study of prehistoric ritual stratigraphy. I illustrate this approach through a case study of ethnographic and archaeological evidence of ritual and warfare in the American Southwest. [Key words: theory, ritual, war, stratigraphy, Casas Grandes]

Dental and general health in a population of wild ring‐tailed lemurs: A life history approach

Data are presented on dental and general health for seven groups of wild ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta, from the Beza Mahafaly Reserve, in southern Madagascar. As part of a study of population demography, adults were captured, collared, and tagged, and biometric measurements, dental casts, and analyses of dental and general health were made. Results indicate that patterns of dental health vary by individual, age, sex, and habitat. Prime adults show more dental attrition than young adults. Prime males living in more marginal habitats show greater mean attrition than those living in richer habitats. Dental damage, specifically to the toothcomb, indicates that mechanical stresses to this region may include the initial harvesting of foods, in addition to grooming. Males exhibit more evidence of past trauma, including scars and chipped teeth. These results indicate that environmental as well as social factors, such as female dominance, may lead to sex differences in health patterns among lemurs. Am J Phys Anthropol 117:122–132, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Dental and general health in a population of wild ring‐tailed lemurs: A life history approach

Data are presented on dental and general health for seven groups of wild ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta, from the Beza Mahafaly Reserve, in southern Madagascar. As part of a study of population demography, adults were captured, collared, and tagged, and biometric measurements, dental casts, and analyses of dental and general health were made. Results indicate that patterns of dental health vary by individual, age, sex, and habitat. Prime adults show more dental attrition than young adults. Prime males living in more marginal habitats show greater mean attrition than those living in richer habitats. Dental damage, specifically to the toothcomb, indicates that mechanical stresses to this region may include the initial harvesting of foods, in addition to grooming. Males exhibit more evidence of past trauma, including scars and chipped teeth. These results indicate that environmental as well as social factors, such as female dominance, may lead to sex differences in health patterns among lemurs.

Studying Headteachers' Professional Lives: Getting the life history

In order to obtain a better understanding of how headteachers frame their professional lives, a comparative project was set up with a life history approach. A series of open-ended interviews were conducted where headteachers talked about themselves, their work, background, experiences and career. The article focuses on the modes of inquiry used in the study and explores alternative approaches to analysis, especially of content and form. Several methodological issues are discussed, for instance the production of data as an interactive and collaborative process of creating meaning, the central role of the research relations, dialogical analysis and how to move from separate individual stories to an analysis of headteachers' lives across different countries. As the analysis has unfolded, new questions have been posed about the comparative aspect of the project. At the beginning, cross-national similarities and differences were relatively straightforward and were found in the content of interviews. Since then, explorations of the form and structure of the stories have raised more complex juxtapositions. More recently, new questions have begun to emerge, such as about the nature and meanings of 'professional confidence' and its relationship to external accountability in national contexts.

Deep into the Shinnyo Spiritual World

“Shinnyo‐en” (Garden of the Truth) is one of the most famous religious groups in Japan today. But outside Shinnyo‐en it is difficult to understand Shinnyo teaching. By focusing on the words from interviews, this article depicts its spiritual world and analyzes the function of its spiritual power on interviewees. The believers' narrative is interpreted from a sociological perspective using computer‐aided qualitative data analysis and a life history approach. The computer‐aided coding method is found to be an effectual means to discover significant factors in Shinnyo teachings. This method has four steps: (1) interview transcripts are input in ASCII format in several groups according to the time we interviewed; (2) KT2 system, a set of programs for computerized content analysis, disaggregates the transcripts into words to which I assign codes; (3) the codes are integrated into several meaningful categories for a cross‐tabular examination of two variables, times and categories; (4) a contour map made from the cross‐table helps to grasp the significance of the categories and their relations in a life history. This procedure enables us to understand the significance of the “self”, and the transformation of the “self” according to the time flows. The contour map of the belief commands a panoramic view of Shinnyo teaching. From this point of view we can scrutinize the interview data and describe the Shinnyo spiritual world as it is understood.

Moving on? Elite Hong Kong Female Athletes and Retirement from Competitive Sport

The purpose of the research was to study the transitional experiences of elite female athletes who are going through the process of athletic retirement. Using a life history approach, six former and six current athletes in Hong Kong were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were utilized based on the Schlossberg’s (1981, 1984) transition model. Data were analyzed using typology and constant comparison methods. Diversity and commonality in the experiences of women withdrawing from elite sports competition were found. The life history approach was effective in illustrating the ways in which Hong Kong female athletes feel and think about career end, with a transition from competition to retirement evident as part of career passing. Content analysis of interviews revealed several salient themes related to sports retirement. Key distinctions across projected and experienced retirement were associated with a woman’s being an immigrant athlete, entering early into sport, and pursuing an education. Athlete status also affected transition to retirement and lifestyle after an elite sports career.

Qualitative Investigation of the Meanings of Eating Fruits and Vegetables for Adult Couples

Objective The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory expressing the meanings couples associated with eating fruits and vegetables. Design This inductive qualitative study was based on a grounded theory approach and employed the constant comparison method of data analysis. Data were collected using semistructured individual interviews and a life history approach. Subjects Ten adult couples, aged 20 to 60 years, with and without children, all of whom were born in North America, were recruited using modified snowball sampling. Results Two overarching themes emerged. The “should syndrome” describes a morality concerning fruit and vegetable consumption arising from a tension between the low status of these foods in participants' childhood homes and their contemporary idealized status. The creation of couple gastronomies expresses couples' efforts to construct their own food norms and practices within a context of changes in social norms and fruit and vegetable availability. The substantive theory, making choices that balance their lives, conveys the dynamic processes involved in participants' fruit and vegetable choices. Implications Future research will determine the transferability of the “should syndrome” and new couples' receptiveness to trying new fruits and vegetables. Understanding the changing contexts of food choice may help nutrition professionals better support healthful eating.

Gerotranscendence and different cultural settings

Within the framework of an international research project aimed at studying the impact of different cultural settings on gerotranscendent development, six groups of older people distinguished by religiosity and cultural origin were studied. A life history approach, followed by thematic semi-structured interviews, was applied. One of the objectives was to inquire about the possible impact of religion, conceived of as a cultural setting, on development towards gerotranscendence. The findings of this inquiry gave rise to two hypotheses as to the relationship between gerotranscendence and religiosity. The first hypothesis is that the internalisation of mystical-type ideas in individuals' ways of thinking is probably a factor involved in the development of a gerotranscendent view of life. In other words, whether individuals practice their ‘religion’ in a spiritual, nonorganisational way, or in an organisational way, may play a role for development towards gerotranscendence. The second hypothesis is that certain characteristics, such as the secular and individualistic features of modern societies, may delay development towards gerotranscendence.

An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Life History Analysis in the MBA Marketing Management Class

This paper presents an assessment of the potential value of the life history method as a potential learning device in the marketing management MBA class. The discussion first explains the life history technique and its utilization as a pedagogical tool. An empirical study is presented that furnishes some degree of evidence as to the worth of the life history approach, particularly in comparison to other teaching methods.

Life Course: Innovations and Challenges for Social Research

Recent developments of life-course theory and research are discussed in a comparative framework. With accelerating social change, the life course has become a topic that centres on the interplay of personal and institutional dynamics through the life span that provides the temporal and social contexts for biographical planning and stock-taking. Modern life-course analysis asks to what extent biographies are losing their structural embeddedness in favour of negotiations among individuals, opportunities, institutions and social networks. First, a historical account about European and North American traditions of life-course research is presented, delineating the cohort/life-event and the life-history approaches. Second, three conceptual frameworks are illuminated that focus on the relationship between social change and human lives: linking mechanisms, structuration and institutional arrangements (with a focus on age and gender). Concerning methodology, longitudinal studies that use quantitative as well as qualitative methods are necessary to understand the interrelationships between social change and biography. Third, innovative themes for research are presented, relating to the issues of agency and institutions, the timing of transitions and linked lives. The article concludes with a call for more cross-cultural life-course research.

Making the Personal Professional: Pre-service teacher education and personal histories

Pre-service teachers tend to use their personal experiences as critical filters in accepting and integrating course content that is intended to develop professional decision-making frameworks. This may restrict their abilities to deal with pedagogical issues associated with the acceptance of diversity and individuality, and encourage an unthinking acceptance of the status quo in classrooms, schools and society. To address this problem and nurture the growth of 'reflective practitioners', we structured the content and experiences of one unit of the Graduate Diploma of Education (secondary) to allow for the integration of personal life histories with other views and perspectives. This paper reports on the use of this life-history approach, its potential and its limitations.

Integrating theory of clutch size and body size evolution for parasitoids

The way that parents allocate resources amongst offspring has been a subject of interest since the beginnings of modern life history theory (Roff 1992, Stearns 1992). Many animals, such as altricial birds and many insects, deposit eggs together in discrete groups, called clutches, where the offspring develop together for some time. Variation in clutch size is typically then studied as a route to understanding the selective pressures and constraints on the resource allocation strategy of the organism. Here we propose a neglected but complementary route to understanding resource allocation in insect parasitoids involving offspring body size as a focal parameter. Our message is that consideration of both body size and clutch size variation simultaneously can enhance understanding or resource allocation strategies in this group of organisms, illustrating the value of an integrated life history approach. Parasitoids are insects (the vast majority wasps) which lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods. The young parasitoids feed on the still-living body of their host, eventually killing it. Parasitoids may lay from one to several hundred eggs on or in a host, variability which begs explanation. In the mid1980s, theory of clutch size evolution, which developed under an ornithological tradition, began to be applied to parasitoids and other insects, and many models were developed based around the trade-off between clutch size and offspring fitness (reviewed in Godfray 1994). In testing those models, it was realized that one of the major fitness related variables which trades off with clutch size is the body size of resulting offspring: because host insects represent a resource of limited size, larger clutches or broods tend to result in smaller-bodied offspring, especially in idiobiont species whose hosts do not grow after parasitoid oviposition. The optimal clutch size then depends upon how adult body size is related to fitness, a relationship which itself has spawned a small industry of research. Parasitoids can either develop solitarily or gregariously. In solitary parasitoids only one offspring develops successfully from each host, and the offspring frequently display contest competition for resources. In gregarious species several offspring may complete development from a single host and competition more closely approaches a scramble situation. A multitude of studies (reviewed in Godfray 1994), have demonstrated that body size in solitary parasitoids tends to be positively correlated with host size; if the host is fully consumed (see Harvey et al. 2000 for an exception) and only one offspring develops per host, then larger hosts providing more resources for growth should lead to larger offspring. Less intuitively though, a number of studies have shown that offspring body size increases with host size within and across gregarious species (Opp and Luck 1986, le Masurier 1987, Hardy et al. 1992, Ode et al. 1996, Mayhew 1998, Mayhew and Hardy 1998). This trend is surprising because it has been widely found that gregarious species will lay larger clutches of eggs on larger hosts (Godfray 1994), a fact which intuitively leads us to expect that they are compensating for the extra resources provided by larger hosts. Apparently though, gregarious species tend to undercompensate when adding eggs to larger hosts such that larger hosts still provide more per capita resources for offspring (Mayhew 1998). We do not know of models which have explicitly tried to explain this trend. Parasitoid clutch size models rarely explicitly consider body size. Several more gen-