Constructing a global understanding of the social ecology of leaving out of home care

Engagement with globalisation is growing in the field of youth transitions from out of home care. This includes cross national exchange of research, policy and practise, regional advocacy networking and global policy development. Furthering this emerging international child welfare perspective requires extending it to countries in the developing world and building conceptual frameworks which encompass a social ecology of care leaving, including its global dimension, the latter needs to address not only the needs, expectations and rights of care leavers but also the theories of change underpinning service design and delivery. Such a model is presented combining resilience and social capital as personal assets situated within a social ecology of support. To illustrate how this provides a means to help engage with the experience of countries where there appears to be very little information available on care leaving, a small scale South African initiative is considered. SA-YES is a youth mentoring project for young people leaving a variety of out of home placements. Planned as a three-year pilot, initial results are encouraging but require more rigorous evaluation focusing on program process and outcomes, quality of interpersonal relationships and synchronisation with cultural expectations and policy environment.

Adolescents' educational outcomes in a social ecology of parenting, family, and community risks in Northern Ireland

This study examines the influence of social ecological risks within the domains of parenting, family environment, and community in the prediction of educational outcomes for 770 adolescents (49% boys, 51% girls, M = 13.6 years, SD = 2.0) living in a setting of protracted political conflict, specifically working class areas of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Controlling for religious community, age, and gender, youths' lower academic achievement was associated with family environments characterized by high conflict and low cohesion. School behaviour problems were related to greater exposure to community violence, or sectarian and nonsectarian antisocial behaviour. Youths' expectations about educational attainment were undermined by conflict in the family environment and antisocial behaviour in the community, as well as parenting low in warmth and behavioural control. Findings underscore the importance of considering family and community contributions to youths' educational outcomes. Suggestions regarding targeted interventions toward promoting resilience are discussed, such as assessing both child and family functioning, developing multidimensional interventions for parents, and building community partnerships, among others.

Measuring the macrosystem in post-accord Northern Ireland: A social-ecological approach

The macrosystem refers to the overarching patterns that influence behavior at each level of the social ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1977), making it a necessary component for assessing human development in contexts of political violence. This article proposes a method for systematically measuring the macrosystem in Northern Ireland that allows for a subnational analysis, multiple time units, and indicators of both low-level violence and positive relations. Articles were randomly chosen for each weekday in 2006-2011 from two prominent Northern Irish newspapers and coded according to their reflection of positive relations and political tensions between Catholics and Protestants. The newspaper data were then compared to existing macro-level measurements in Northern Ireland. We found that the newspaper data provided a more nuanced understanding of fluctuations in intergroup relations than the corresponding measures. This has practical implications for peacebuilding and advances our methods for assessing the impact of macro-level processes on individual development.

A Social–Ecological, Process-Oriented Perspective on Political Violence and Child Development

Youth's risk for adjustment problems amid political violence is well documented, but outcomes vary widely, with many children functioning well. Accordingly, researchers are seeking to identify the mechanisms and conditions that contribute to children's adjustment, with an interest in understanding effects on children in terms of changes in the social contexts in which they live and the psychological processes engaged by these social ecologies. In this article, we look at the importance of studying many levels of the social ecology and of differentiating the effects of exposure to contexts of political versus nonpolitical violence, and we address theories about explanatory processes. We review research pertinent to these themes, including a six-wave longitudinal study on political violence and children in Northern Ireland.

Emotional insecurity in the family and community and youth delinquency in Northern Ireland: A person-oriented analysis across five-waves

Background: Over one billion children are exposed worldwide to political violence and armed conflict. Currently, conclusions about bases for adjustment problems are qualified by limited longitudinal research from a process-oriented, social-ecological perspective. In this study, we examined a theoretically-based model for the impact of multiple levels of the social ecology (family, community) on adolescent delinquency. Specifically, this study explored the impact of children’s emotional insecurity about both the family and community on youth delinquency in Northern Ireland. Methods: In the context of a five-wave longitudinal research design, participants included 999 mother-child dyads in Belfast (482 boys, 517 girls), drawn from socially-deprived, ethnically-homogenous areas that had experienced political violence. Youth ranged in age from 10 to 20 and were 12.18 (SD = 1.82) years old on average at Time 1. Findings: The longitudinal analyses were conducted in hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), allowing for the modeling of inter-individual differences in intra-individual change. Intra-individual trajectories of emotional insecurity about the family related to children’s delinquency. Greater insecurity about the community worsened the impact of family conflict on youth’s insecurity about the family, consistent with the notion that youth’s insecurity about the community sensitizes them to exposure to family conflict in the home. Conclusions: The results suggest that ameliorating children’s insecurity about family and community in contexts of political violence is an important goal toward improving adolescents’ well-being, including reduced risk for delinquency.

Political Socialisation

The process of political socialisation (PS) has been classically defined as the “learning of social patterns corresponding to [an individual’s] societal position as mediated through various agencies of society” (Hyman, 1959, p. 25). Distinguishing PS from other types of socialisation (e.g. ethnic, cultural), this definition still serves as the foundation for the majority of empirical research in this area, despite methodological advances and new attention to previously under researched aspects of PS. As it was assumed that PS was relatively stable throughout life, early research focused on analysing this process during early childhood (Merelman, 1986). However, more recent studies found that ideas and attitudes acquired during childhood change through emerging adulthood due to multiple factors, such as personality, maturation and past experiences (“Beyond Political Socialization,” 2014). Therefore, current research has expanded beyond the effects of the classic socialisation agents (i.e., parents, peers, school) to include other relevant factors such as overarching context and individual cognitive development. Yet, the research to date offers a fragmented perspective of the process with heterogeneous results related to PS outcomes (e.g., voting behaviour, political engagement, identities, intergroup attitudes, prejudice, discrimination, etc.). This fact highlights the need for further research from childhood through emerging adulthood that also considers a wider-range of multiple socialisation agents, the over-arching context, and a greater numbers of outcomes related PS processes.

The Dynamics of Male and Female Street Prostitution in Manchester, England

This article examines male street prostitution in Manchester, England, and draws some comparisons to its female counterpart in this city. While the two sectors have some important similarities, we also find significant differences in the physical and social ecology of the places in which they work, in their behavior patterns, and in individuals’ demographics and work experiences. We find that ecological dif- ferences between the male and female markets have a major impact on partici- pants’ work practices, opportunities, and integration into the local community. The data also indicate that it is incorrect to speak of a monolithic male street market or sector in Manchester because sellers shift between settings (street, bar, and escorting), unlike the female street sector. We also find that the males demonstrate more diversity in their repertoires for earning money. The findings have implications for local government policy and for outreach workers who work with these populations.

Fitness costs associated with mounting a social immune response

Social immune systems comprise immune defences mounted by individuals for the benefit of others (sensu Cotter & Kilner 2010a). Just as with other forms of immunity, mounting a social immune response is expected to be costly but so far these fitness costs are unknown. We measured the costs of social immunity in a sub-social burying beetle, a species in which two or more adults defend a carrion breeding resource for their young by smearing the flesh with antibacterial anal exudates. Our experiments on widowed females reveal that a bacterial challenge to the breeding resource upregulates the antibacterial activity of a female's exudates, and this subsequently reduces her lifetime reproductive success. We suggest that the costliness of social immunity is a source of evolutionary conflict between breeding adults on a carcass, and that the phoretic communities that the beetles transport between carrion may assist the beetle by offsetting these costs.

Personal immunity versus social immunity

[No abstract available]

Genetic differentiation across the social transition in a socially polymorphic sweat bee, Halictus rubicundus

Eusociality is widely considered a major evolutionary transition. The socially polymorphic sweat bee Halictus rubicundus, solitary in cooler regions of its holarctic range and eusocial in warmer parts, is an excellent model organism to address this transition, and specifically the question of whether sociality is associated with a strong barrier to gene flow between phenotypically divergent populations. Mitochondrial DNA (COI) from specimens collected across the British Isles, where both solitary and social phenotypes are represented, displayed limited variation, but placed all specimens in the same European lineage; haplotype network analysis failed to differentiate solitary and social lineages. Microsatellite genetic variability was high and enabled us to quantify genetic differentiation among populations and social phenotypes across Great Britain and Ireland. Results from conceptually different analyses consistently showed greater genetic differentiation between geographically distant populations, independently of their social phenotype, suggesting that the two social forms are not reproductively isolated. A landscape genetic approach revealed significant isolation by distance (Mantel test r = 0.622, p

Single mating in orchid bees (Euglossa, Apinae): implications for mate choice and social evolution

Neotropical orchid bees (Euglossini) are conspicuously different from other corbiculate bees (Apinae) in their lack of advanced sociality and in male use of acquired odors (fragrances) as pheromone-analogues. In both contexts, orchid bee mating systems, in particular the number of males a female mates with, are of great interest but are currently unknown. To assess female mating frequency in the genus Euglossa, we obtained nests from three species in Mexico and Panama and genotyped mothers and their brood at microsatellite DNA loci. In 26 out of 29 nests, genotypes of female brood were fully consistent with being descended from a singly mated mother. In nests with more than one adult female present, those adult females were frequently related, with genotypes being consistent with full sister-sister (r = 0.75) or mother-daughter (r = 0.5) relationships. Thus, our genetic data support the notions of female philopatry and nest-reuse in the genus Euglossa. Theoretically, single mating should promote the evolution of eusociality by maximizing the relatedness among individuals in a nest. However, in Euglossini this genetic incentive has not led to the formation of eusocial colonies as in other corbiculate bees, presumably due to differing ecological or physiological selective regimes. Finally, monandry in orchid bees is in agreement with the theory that females select a single best mate based on the male fragrance phenotype, which may contain information on male age, cognitive ability, and competitive strength.

Habitat effects on the spatial ecology of the European badger (Meles meles)

This study investigates how habitat variation affects sett density, the number of animals per social group and group territory size in the badger (Meles meles). Identical methods were applied in three habitat types: lowland parkland with mixed woodland, pastoral farmland and upland rough pasture with moorland, representing areas of presumed good, medium and poor badger habitat, respectively. Contiguous main setts were identified and bait-marking was used to estimate territory size. Group size was estimated by direct enumeration. Variation in sett density, group size and territory size supported the hypothesis that badger group and territory size are influenced by habitat type. This was further supported by analyses of data from other studies in the British Isles. The implications for badger spatial ecology, badger survey techniques and the badger's role in the epidemiology of TB are discussed.