Category: Series: Social Indicators
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Social Indicators: Family Formation and Sexuality (Part 2 of 2)
[Continued from Social Indicators: Family Formation and Sexuality (Part 2 of 2)] Despite the decrease in teenage sexual behavior and less unprotected sexual behavior, there is a rapid increase in the rate of sexually transmitted diseases: After declining somewhat erratically from 1975 to 1997, the rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) rose more than 20%…
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Social Indicators: Family Formation and Sexuality (Part 1 of 2)
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act was passed by Congress in 1996. Two of the Act’s goals were to reduce out-of-wedlock births and to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. Scholars and politicians generally agree that the most desirable form of the family for the nurture of children is a household where…
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Social Indicators: Substance Abuse
Drug abuse was confined mainly to the poor and certain subcultures until recently. Drug abuse escalated and entered mainstream culture during the 1960s and 1970s. Few reliable time-series statistics exist that measure levels of drug abuse over an extended period. The most widely used statistics come from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA).…
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Social Indicators: Crime (Part 2 of 2)
[Continued from Social Indicators: Crime (Part 1 of 2) The Columbine High School tragedy in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999 has come to symbolize a culture of pervasive youth violence. There is no question that the Columbine episode was well beyond the ordinary expression of youth violence, but was it truly symbolic of trends in youth…
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Social Indicators: Crime (Part 1 of 2)
A fundamental indicator of a deteriorating society is increased criminal behavior. Crime analysis in the United States has focused on two primary measures over the last few decades. One measure is based on crimes reported to law enforcement officers. These are compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and presented in the Uniform Crime Report…
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Social Indicators: Suicide
The ultimate pathology is suicide. Suicide should be on the increase in a society that is in decline. People whose mental health is at risk should increasingly be pushed over the edge due to the stresses and strains of decaying society. What is happening with suicide in the United States? The most basic measure of…
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Social Indicators: Infant Mortality and Life Expectancy
There is a common perception that the quality of life in American society is in decline and has been in decline for some time. Is this perception accurate, and in what ways? If perception doesn't match reality, why? Over the next few weeks, I will write several posts looking at social indicators. After that, I…