Part I. Previous analyses of samples of women in the 1950's revealed that intentions for further births were affected by the sex of the previous children. More recent analyses found however that the effect of previous childrens' sex on fertility intentions has either diminished or disappeared completely, and some writers on the subject concluded that the decline in family size norms could account for that finding. The research reported herein, using samples of married women interviewed in the 1965 and 1970 National Fertility Studies, shows that at least among women with two children there has been no change over time in the tendency for mothers of similar sex children to be more likely to want an additional child than mothers of opposite sex children. The persistence of that tendency among mothers of two children argues strongly for including the sex of previous children as an independent variable in models of fertility intentions, since the decline in family size norms makes factors which affect the decision to have (or not have) a third child increasingly important. Part II. Since Stouffer's pioneering effort to ascertain the public's intolerance of various nonconformists, numerous researchers have relied on summary measures and scales to investigate intolerance and have stressed the effects of such general processes as aging and education on such measures. Parallel analyses of four of Stouffer's original items that were recently replicated and of four items included in the 1958 and 1971 Detroit Area Studies schedules indicates however that the use of such summary measures or scales is unjustified and that the processes of education and aging alone are inadequate in explaining changes in intolerance over time. While a small proportion of both samples are consistently (and perhaps ideologically) tolerant or intolerant in their responses to both sets of items, most respond situationally to the items and changes in tolerant and intolerant responses over time vary according to the item considered. Differential change by color in the Detroit sample suggests that short term and less predictable period effects must be considered (along with such general processes as aging and education) in explaining the level of intolerance at any given time, and changes in that level over time. Part III. An analysis of juveniles attending six Arizona high schools in the fall of 1975 shows that how homes were disrupted (by death, divorce or separation, or some other reason) has little impact on delinquent behavior and referrals to court, but whether homes were broken had a strong and consistent effect on both. Further, whereas it was the absence of a mother or father which affected the juveniles' delinquent behavior, it was the absence of a mother (but not a father) which affected their being referred to court.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/282780 |
| Date | January 1980 |
| Creators | Sloane, Douglas Mark |
| Contributors | Erickson, Maynard L. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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