Shanta Pandey

Understanding the relationship between neighborhood poverty and specific types of child maltreatment

In this paper we examined the relationship between neighborhood poverty and three different types of child maltreatment; neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. We explore both rates of reporting and rates of substantiated reports across low, moderate, and high poverty areas. We use 1990 Census data and Child Protective Services (CPS) data to study this relationship. We find that neighborhood poverty is positively associated with all three forms of child maltreatment, but to different degrees. Of the three types of child maltreatment, child neglect is most powerfully associated with neighborhood poverty status.

Community Development Programs in Nepal: A Test of Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Many community development programs in developing countries distribute new technology to the rural poor to improve their quality of life. One such technology distributed widely is the improved cookstove. In disseminating improved cookstoves, community development programs have encountered social, cultural, and economic barriers to adoption. In this article, we examine the effect of several social-psychological factors, derived from diffusion of innovation theory, on adoption of new stoves. The analysis and findings are based on research conducted in central Nepal. We tested the hypotheses using a structural-modeling approach. All models were tested with the Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) program. We find that cultural compatibility and relative advantage are crucial for adoption of a new technology. We also find that complexity of a technology is not a deterrent to successful adoption and knowledge of a technology is not sufficient for adoption.

Human capital as structural vulnerability of US poverty

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the individualistic and the structural nature of human capital and its relationship with poverty.Design/methodology/approach – An examination was made of the individual and the interaction effects of three dimensions of human capital (education, training, and health), gender, race, and underemployment on poverty status, after controlling for the direct effect of these variables. The sample included working‐age individuals in the USA taken from the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).Findings – The results show that among the human capital variables, postsecondary education is a particularly important factor associated with poverty among women and minorities. Job training, on the other hand, worsened the economic situation for non‐Whites. For individuals with less than post‐secondary education, the combined effect of training participation and health status significantly reduced the likelihood of being poor. Underemployment c...

Bachelor's degree for women with children

Purpose – In spite of the War on Poverty programs of the 1960s and the economic boom of the 1990s, poverty remains consistently high among families with children in the USA. The main source of income for these families is employment, which is largely a function of educational attainment. The purpose of this paper is to turn to aggregate and individual level data and demonstrate the power of college education in economic well‐being of women with children.Design/methodology/approach – A nationally representative sample of single and married mothers was retrieved and the role of education in economic well‐being of these women was examined using descriptive, bi‐variate, and multiple ordinal logistic regression.Findings – Both married and single mothers benefit immensely from a bachelors degree.Practical implications – In recent years, policy makers in the USA have trimmed resources that promote education among poor women with children. This analysis, underscores the importance of postsecondary education in th...

Differential Effects of Human Capital on the Poor and Near-Poor: Evidence of Social Exclusion

ABSTRACT This article contributes to the body of knowledge by examining the differential effects of three dimensions of human capital—education, training, and health—on the poor and upper income categories. We tested the effects using binomial and multinomial logistic regression analyses of working age individuals. The study revealed that these human capital variables are strong predictors of poverty in the binomial model but have greater effects on the near-poor than the poor in the multinomial model. This may provide evidence for social exclusion of the poor, due to their structural vulnerability in the labor market. Implications are made for a comprehensive workforce development strategy that combine human capital development and labor market inclusion.

Women, environment, and sustainable development

In developing countries, poor populations, especially women and children, are disproportionately concentrated in ecologically degraded, fragile, and marginal lands (Durning, 1989). A wide range of development programs have been launched to promote social and economic development of rural areas. These programs are in the form of reforestation, irrigation and drinking water improvement, innovative farming techniques, primary health care facilities and health education, and training and human capital development. People’s participation, especially women’s, in these development programs is crucial for their success. Much has been written on the failure of states and development projects to engage rural people, especially rural women, in these rural development initiatives (Mayoux, 1995). This paper reviews several case studies conducted in Nepal and identifies some of the factors that contribute to the participation of rural people, especially rural women, in forest resources management programs. The paper also discusses social workers’ role in promoting participation and sustainable development.

Do child abuse rates increase on those days on which professional sporting events are held

This paper examines possible relationships between days on which professional sports events are held and daily rates of substantiated physical abuse of children by males. Three different hypotheses about possible relationships between various types of sporting events and rates of child abuse are examined using statewide data drawn from the Missouri Division of Family Services. Hierarchical OLS Multiple regressions were used to test for these relationships. Effects were controlled for the month in which the abuse occurred and the day of the week during which the incident occurred. The findings do not support the hypothesis that sporting events yield increases in number of substantiated male-perpetrator child abuse cases.

Promise of Welfare Reform

Abstract In the 1990s, devolution of authority from federal to states and local governmental institutions in the administration of social welfare policies, programs, and services is seen as an answer to alleviating poverty among low-income families with children. To this effect, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 has granted an option to tribal governments to administer their own Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) services. In this article we provide findings from early experience of tribes within Arizona in their attempt to self-administer TANF services. We collected and analyzed data from multiple sources, including a review of documents provided by the state and tribal members, in-depth telephone interviews with service providers on 15 of the 21 reservations, and site visits to four reservations at which we conducted group interviews with state and tribal social service providers. We found that under the 1996 welfare legislation, tribal gove...

Assets Effects on Women: A Study of Urban Households in Nepal

This paper examines the effects of private property ownership on women based on a case study in Kathmandu, Nepal. The results show that a higher proportion of women property owners were better educated, had bank accounts and made household financial decisions, had voted in the most recent elections and were satisfied with their lives compared to women without any property. However, these two groups of women were not statistically different in their employment experience, use of contraceptives, and in their experience of domestic conflict.

Predictors of Pap Test Utilization Among Legal Permanent Resident Women

The Office of Minority Health (OMH) notes an increase in health disparities in the minority population (OMH, 2008). This study examines the factors that determine access to Pap test utilization among recent immigrant women who hold legal permanent status using the first wave of data from the New Immigrant Survey. Using the behavioral model of health services for vulnerable populations, we work to determine the variables that contribute to immigrant womens health service utilization or the Pap test. In order to close health disparities among immigrant women, efforts should be made to target women who do not have regular contact with medical providers, are uninsured and single.