Contexts

sociology for the public

In Brief

News and notes.

Grownups

The pathway to adulthood is no longer one road, but perhaps five separate tracks, each reflecting different strategies toward and ordering of work, school, and family events. Read More

The Cost of Color

The relationship between skin tone, discrimination, and health for U.S.-born Blacks. Read More

Abstinence and Masculinity

What happens to masculinity if you opt out of promiscuity? Read More

Germany Avoids Going Gray

More support for parents may help increase the birth rate, perhaps by relieving some of the difficulties of that transition to parenthood. Read More

Smoking Drives Mortality Inequalities

People who smoke die earlier. People with less education die earlier. People with less education are more likely to smoke. Read More

Building Walls, Buying Guns

Anti-immigrant ordinances are correlated with increased gun sales at the local level. Further, a greater association between immigrants and crime in local news coverage also results in a significant increase in handgun sales. Read More

The Paper Ceiling

Why do women seem to be missing from so many newspaper stories? Read More

Online Dating Choices, Constrained

Single people have an ever-expanding array of choices for romantic partners. Arranged marriages are no longer prevalent, and norms and laws … Read More

Father Schools and Promise Keepers

In many countries, women have gained greater access to education, the right to work with fair compensation, and protection from violence. These all reflect changing … Read More

Suicide’s Gender Divide

Whereas Durkheim considered fatalistic suicide caused by high levels of social regulation a marker of premodern societies, this research suggests gender regulation may be harmful to adolescents’ mental health in the present day as well. Read More