Talk on the Playground: The Neighborhood Context of School Choice

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. M. Bader ◽  
Annette Lareau ◽  
Shani A. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Neighborhood Context ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
The Life Course

Despite consensus that neighborhoods influence children's outcomes, we know less about the mechanisms that cause neighborhood inequality and produce those outcomes. Existing research overlooks how social networks develop among people at similar points in the life course through repeated interactions in neighborhoods. Existing studies do not illuminate the ways in which these geographically based networks can influence life–altering decisions. In this article, we use qualitative interviews with White, middle–class parents in gentrifying neighborhoods in a large Northeastern city to examine how parents decided where to send their children to kindergarten. Parents reported relying heavily on information that they received from their network of other neighborhood parents whom they had befriended on the playground or at daycare in the course of their daily child–rearing routines. The daily routines of child rearing led to rich and important social networks. But tensions also emerged among parents as they made different decisions about where to send their children to kindergarten. By focusing on how life course stages affect how people use space and interact in neighborhood spaces, we can better understand how neighborhood spaces shape the decision–making process of school choice.

Depression, Work and Family Roles, and the Gendered Life Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Leupp
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Protective Effect ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Traditional Gender Roles ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Work And Family Roles ◽  
The Life Course

Despite the importance of employment for shaping mental health over the life course, little is known about how the mental health benefits of employment change as individuals age through their prime employment and child-rearing years. This study examines the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 Cohort ( N = 8,931), following respondents from their late 20s to mid-50s. Results suggest that among women, the aging of children is especially salient for shaping the mental health consequences of employment. Young children diminish the protective effect of mothers’ full- and part-time employment, but the salubrious effects of paid work increase as children get older. The benefit of employment for men’s mental health also changes over time, but it is the aging of men themselves rather than their children that alters the magnitude of full-time employment’s protective effect. Findings suggest the contribution of employment to life course mental health remains tethered to traditional gender roles.

scholarly journals Taking a life Course Perspective on Social Assistance use in Canada: A different approach

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Cooke ◽  
Amber Gazso
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Income Dynamics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Parcours De Vie ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract In this paper we argue that a life course perspective on social assistance use in Canada can offer a more nuanced theoretical understanding of both individuals’ experiences and the importance of social structure, than more traditional sociological or economic approaches to welfare use. We also propose that examining social assistance use in this way does not require longitudinal quantitative or qualitative data, as is sometimes suggested, but that cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative data can be interpreted through a life course lens. We demonstrate this by examining the covariates of social assistance receipt using cross-sectional quantitative data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, and by analysing qualitative interviews with recipients about the process of beginning and barriers to ending benefit receipt. These analyses show not only how the cross-sectional data can easily be considered from the perspective of the life course, but also how this perspective provides a more satisfactory understanding of how social assistance polices can be thought of as both providing resources that are important in individual decision-making and as shaping lives. Résumé d’article Dans cet article, nous montrerons que le paradigme du parcours de vie sur le bien être social au Canada peut offrir une compréhension théorique plus nuancée des expériences des individus avec ces programmes qu’une approche traditionnelle sociologique et économique face à l’usage du bien être social, tout en reliant cet usage à de plus larges structures sociales. Nous proposons aussi qu’examiner l’assistance sociale de cette façon ne requiert pas de données longitudinales quantitatives ou qualitatives, tel qu’il l’est parfois suggéré, mais que des données quantitatives et qualitatives qui se croisent peuvent être interprétées à travers la loupe de la durée d’une vie. Nous démontrons ceci en examinant les covariantes de la réception à l’assistance sociale, covariantes agencées en se servant des données quantitatives sectionnelles tirées du Enquête sur la dynamique du travail et du revenu (EDTR) et en analysant les interviews qualitatives des bénéficiaires à propos de leurs démarches initiales et leurs obstacles jusqu’à la réception finale de leurs bénéfices. Ces analyses montrent non seulement que des données sectionnelles qui se croisent peuvent être facilement considérées du point de vue de la perspective du cours d’une vie, mais aussi comment cette perspective fournit une compréhension plus satisfaisante de la façon dont on peut voir la double importance des politiques qui offrent des ressources aux individus et qui changent leur vie.

Second-Generation Contextual Mobility: Neighborhood Attainment from Birth to Young Adulthood in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Van C. Tran
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Neighborhood Context ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Over Time

This article examines trajectories of neighborhood mobility for the post-1965 second generation in the United States. It advances the concept of second-generation contextual mobility, defined as the change in neighborhood context over the life course among the second generation. This analysis uses unique geocoded longitudinal data over three decades to documents patterns of second-generation neighborhood attainment. Compared to US blacks, the second generation has achieved significant contextual mobility both over time and across generations. Specifically, the second generation in this New York sample lived in better neighborhoods in young adulthood compared to birth neighborhood where their parents once lived. Most groups moved away from the most disadvantaged areas, with the exception of Dominicans. While the second generation has yet to achieve neighborhood parity with US whites, they have already surpassed US blacks in neighborhood attainment. Second-generation contextual mobility is thus an important, but missing, piece in established accounts of neighborhood mobility in the United States.

Generational Mobilities, Transitions for the millennial generation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexa Delbosc
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Millennial Generation ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
Head Of Household ◽  
Time Work ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Car Travel ◽  
Developed World

Mobility and accessibility plays a fundamental role throughout the life course. In most of the developed world, the majority of this mobility is provided directly or indirectly through the private car, yet our relationship with car travel varies significantly through the life course. Household car ownership follows a ‘life cycle effect’, increasing as young households form and peaking when the head of household reaches their mid-40’s. Recently there is growing evidence that the millennial generation is approaching auto-mobility transitions differently to previous generations. Licensing rates among young adults have declined in much of the developed world and even where declines have not taken place, millennials are more multi-modal and less car-dependent than previous generations. Yet there is evidence that rather than forgoing a driving license, millennials may in fact simply be delaying key life stages (such as full-time work and child-rearing) that lend themselves to auto-mobility. There is a risk that any shift toward more sustainable mobility may be only temporary. This chapter uses a case study of millennials in Australian cities to illustrate these trends. The chapter concludes by discussing ways in which sustainable mobility can be encouraged and supported even as millennials transition into traditionally auto-dependent life stages.

Social Gerontology Theories: Past, Present, and Future

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Suitor ◽  
Megan Gilligan ◽  
Marissa Rurka ◽  
Yifei Hou ◽  
Gulcin Con
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Public Health Medicine ◽  
Social Gerontology ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
The Life Course

Theories of social gerontology have progressed from a focus on individuals’ later-life decline to theories that emphasize the intra- and interindividual variability of later-life experiences and the ways in which such heterogeneity is conditioned by social structural, cultural, and interpersonal factors that often begin in childhood and continue to shape individuals and members of their social networks across the life course. Consistent with theories across the sciences, theories of social gerontology predict and explain real-world experiences. In the case of social gerontology, the goals of theory address a wide array of phenomena, ranging from individuals’ attitudes and motivations, social networks and social support, the actions and functions of formal organizations, the embodiment of cultural norms and stereotypes, social determinants of health, and sources of inequality throughout the life course.. As the field of social gerontology has developed, theories in the field have shown increasing complexity, particularly regarding the roles of early life course experiences, social structural positions, and interpersonal relations in explaining variations in well-being, longevity, and the quality of life across the lifespan. As part of this increased complexity, social gerontology has become increasingly cross-disciplinary, spanning disciplines such as sociology, psychology, biology, anthropology, public health, medicine, and engineering, with a strong emphasis on how each discipline can contribute to developing principles that transcend individual fields. These integrative theories of social gerontology are crucial to developing comprehensive approaches to improving the health and well-being of individuals throughout the life course. Theories of social gerontology help us comprehensively understand the aging process by emphasizing individual characteristics, social relationships, and the larger cultural contexts in which individuals’ lives are embedded.

Sexuality Across the Life Course

Sociology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shari M. Blumenstock ◽  
John DeLamater
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
The Body ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Sexual Expression ◽  
Biopsychosocial Perspective ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact

Sexuality is a multidimensional aspect of human life that includes sexual behaviors, sexual feelings, and sexual orientation (see the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology article “Sexualities” by Nancy Fischer). Sexual expression is influenced by psychological factors such as attitudes, emotions, and the learned residues of past experience, as well as social factors such as social norms and laws, and one’s social identities and relationships, including (potential) partners and social networks. Sexuality and sexual expression also have a biological base, as genetic inheritance and the resulting anatomy and physiology of the human body set the parameters of human sexual behavior, both solo and partnered. Thus, we need a biopsychosocial perspective to incorporate the relevant influences on an individual’s sexual expression and lifestyle. Sexuality and its expression play critical roles throughout an individual’s life. Scholars have often focused on sexuality in a single stage of life—childhood, adolescence, adulthood, later life—or within a specific type of relationship—noncommitted (i.e., casual or “hookups”), premarital, marital, divorced, cohabiting. In reality, sexuality undergoes a continuous process of development from birth to death. Thus, in addition to a biopsychosocial perspective, we need a perspective that has the breadth to encompass this lifelong process. The life course perspective (see the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology article “Life Course” by Deborah Carr) is based upon four key assumptions: 1) lives are embedded in and shaped by historical context; 2) individuals construct their own lives, within the constraints of historical and social context; 3) lives are intertwined through social relationships; and 4) the meaning and impact of a life transition depends on when it occurs. Applied to sexuality, this perspective recognizes the impact of biology via inheritance at birth; biological processes such as puberty, menopause, and aging; and influences related to the body. The historical and social context, particularly extant norms and laws relating to sexual practices, intersecting social identities, and relationships is also important. Sexual expression is further influenced by families, social networks, and intimate relationships. Moreover, within the constraints related to their biological, social, and historical contexts, individuals exercise agency and play an active role in constructing their sexuality. Lastly, life events, and their timing, have a major impact on an individual’s current and later sexuality (e.g., consider the effects of pregnancy at 15 versus 25 versus 45 years of age). Combining an interdisciplinary biopsychosocial perspective on sexuality with a broad life course perspective on the influences on individuals’ lives yields a powerful and nuanced analysis of sexual expression throughout life.

The Interplay Between Poly-Victimization and Sexual Assault in Late Life in the Context of Life Course Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110120
Author(s):  
Sagit Lev ◽  
Dovrat Harel ◽  
Hadass Goldblatt ◽  
Tova Band-Winterstein
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Marital Relationships ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
The Life Course

The aim of this article is to explore the interplay between poly-victimization and sexual assault against women in late life (SAWLL) according to the life-course perspective. Two themes emerged from qualitative interviews with 18 experienced welfare and health care professionals who intervened in cases of SAWLL: sexual assault by a spouse co-occurring with other types of abuse within marital relationships, and sexual assault and other types of abuse by two or more perpetrators along the life course. In many cases, SAWLL is an expression of a broader experience of poly-victimization, which relates to vulnerability in old age.

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