Kenneth S. Y. Chew

The spring peak in suicides: a cross-national analysis

This study evaluates the relative influence of social vs bioclimatic factors on cross-national variation in the magnitude of spring suicide peaks. Time series and cross-sectional data for 28 countries are analyzed using bivariate plots and simple correlation. Suicide seasonality (both overall and specifically as manifest by the presence of a sizeable spring peak) is positively correlated with seasonality in other kinds of social activity (measured in this study by the proportion of national work forces engaged in agriculture). However, only populations in the temperature zone exhibit suicide seasonality, suggesting some contextual influence from geographical latitude.

American children in multiracial households.

This study provides a demographic portrait of multiracial households, using children as the units of analysis. The authors conceptualize three dimensions for understanding multiracialness: (1) the racial composition of a household overall, (2) where in the household a racial difference exists relative to the household head, and (3) where in the household a racial difference exists relative to each child. Using microdata from the 1980 U.S. census, the authors explore the first two of these dimensions and test two propositions about the links between racial diversity and other nonracial attributes of childrens household environments. The finding is made, among other things, that the largest proportion of children live in Asian-white households, and that about 60% live in households headed by mixed-race couples. Support for the notion that attributes of multiracial households fall between those of their same-race counterparts was mixed. Nonetheless, there appears to be a link between location of diversity and some nonracial characteristics of the household.

Winter Is the Infanticide Season Seasonal Risk for Child Homicide

This study investigates the circannual pattern of U.S. child homicide rates. Analyses of 23,067 child homicide records extracted from 1976 to 1998 FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports reveal a winter peak for infants and toddlers (age less than 2 years) and a summer peak for primary and middle school children (ages 5 to 14). Logistic regressions find distinct risk factors for the two peaks that support the prevailing developmental risk theory. The risk factors suggest guidelines for a more rational allocation of prevention resources both across the year and among different developmental subpopulations.

The Epidemiology of Child Homicide in California, 1981 through 1990:

An analysis of 30,929 California homicides (including 1,498 homicides younger than age 15) revealed important differences in child and adult risk factors. Adult victims and offenders were predominantly male, and Black or Hispanic; child victims and offenders were closer in race and sex composition to the general population. Adults were most likely to be killed by a stranger or acquaintance, children by a relative. Adult homicides peaked overnight and on weekends, child homicides at midday and midweek. Most adult homicides occurred in public, precipitated by a felony or a dispute; most child homicides occurred at home, precipitated by child abuse or homicide-suicide.

Visitor suicide risk in casino resort areas

In a well-publicized analysis of visitor suicides in three casinoareas (Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and Reno), elevated suicide risk among interstate visitors was attributed to the presence of legalized gambling. A fundamental limitation of the analysis, however, was the absence of estimatesfor at-risk populations. In the present paper, an analysis of 1995 visitor-suicide rates (incorporating estimates for at-risk population) for 310 large UScounties, including places both with and without gambling casinos, yields no evidence to support a gambling-suicide relationship.

The Revolving Door to Gold Mountain: How Chinese Immigrants Got Around U.S. Exclusion and Replenished the Chinese American Labor Pool, 1900―1910

This study provides a quantitative perspective on the Chinese American migratory system of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the magnitude of various means for evading the U.S. embargo on Chinese immigration. Three sources are explored, including federal immigration summaries, census microdata, and a sample of person-voyage records for steamship arrivals at the port of San Francisco (n = 5,707). Whereas parameter estimates vary among the sources from nearly twofold (gross migration) up to fourfold (net migration), all results are consistent with a revolving-door system in which young male workers arrived as replacements for departing older male workers.