PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Study: Unilateral divorce laws caused temporary spike in violent crime

2012-01-25
(Press-News.org) Chicago -- U.S. states that enacted unilateral divorce laws saw substantial increases in violent crime in the years following the reform, according to research in the Journal of Labor Economics. But the ill-effects of the new laws appear to be largely temporary.

The research found an average 9 percent increase in violent crime after a state enacted a unilateral divorce law, which allows one spouse to end a marriage without the consent of the other. The increase in crime was mainly confined to the first two decades after the reform and was mostly attributable to individuals who were young children at the time the reform was enacted.

The link between unilateral reform and crime appears to be poverty and worsening in income distribution, say the study's authors, economists Julio Cáceres-Delpiano (Universidad Carlos III, Madrid) and Eugenio Giolito (Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile).

"Mothers in adopting states were more likely to become the head of the household [after the reform] and to fall below the poverty line, especially less educated ones," they write. "Therefore, our results suggest that a potential channel linking unilateral reform with the increase in crime might have been the worsening in economic conditions of mothers and the increase in income inequality as unintended consequences of the reform."

The researchers used FBI crime reports from 1965 to 1996 for states that enacted unilateral reform during that period.

Unilateral divorce has been the subject of much study since a series of states started allowing it in the 1970s. Some researchers suggested that the reform caused a substantial and permanent uptick in divorce rates. But more recent research has shown divorce rates jumped in the first 10 years after reform, but the effects dissipated after that.

Cáceres-Delpiano's and Giolito's results bolster the notion that the effects of reform on the number of divorces—and the social ills that accompany divorce—were short-term, mainly affecting "families 'trapped' in that transition" to unilateral divorce, the researchers say.

How might the temporary nature of the effects be explained? Some researchers suggest that people changed their approach to marriage once the laws were on the books. "Scholars suggest that the reform has caused changes in the selection into and out of marriage, increasing the average match quality of new and surviving marriages," Cáceres-Delpiano and Giolito write.

###

Julio Cáceres-Delpiano, Eugenio Giolito, "The Impact of Unilateral Divorce on Crime." Journal of Labor Ecnomics 30:1 (January 2012).

Since 1983, the Journal of Labor Economics has presented international research that examines issues affecting the economy as well as social and private behavior. The Journal publishes both theoretical and applied research results relating to the U.S. and international data. And its contributors investigate various aspects of labor economics, including supply and demand of labor services, personnel economics, distribution of income, unions and collective bargaining, applied and policy issues in labor economics, and labor markets and demographics.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Nurturing mothers rear physically healthier adults

2012-01-25
Nurturing mothers have garnered accolades for rescuing skinned knees on the playground and coaxing their children to sleep with lullabies. Now they're gaining merit for their offspring's physical health in middle age. In a recent study published in the journal Psychological Science, Brandeis psychologist Margie Lachman with Gregory Miller and colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Los Angeles reveal that while children raised in families with low socioeconomic status (SES) frequently go on to have high rates of chronic illness ...

Georgetown professor applauds decision of researchers to temporarily halt research on H5N1

2012-01-25
WASHINGTON, DC – A Georgetown University Medical Center professor says the voluntary action taken by two research teams to temporarily halt work involving the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 is "laudable." In the researchers' statement, published today by Science and Nature, the authors stated that they "recognize that we and the rest of the scientific community need to clearly explain the benefits of this important research and the measures taken to minimize its possible risks." The statement comes in the wake of a debate following the U.S. government's request ...

Saginaw Dentist Increases Patient Awareness Through Technology Advancements

2012-01-25
Leading Saginaw dentist, Dr. Greg Herzler, remains up-to-date with technology through the launch of his practice's mobile website. At the current rate of growth, most people will own a smart-phone by 2013 and be capable of browsing the web. A mobile website is designed to load quickly, preferably in about four seconds, while a desktop site can take much longer on a mobile phone because of connection speeds. Dr. Herzler, dentist in Saginaw, MI, is also aware that patients want their information now - they don't want to wait. Patients are often on-the-go, and need to ...

Water sees right through graphene

2012-01-25
Graphene is largely transparent to the eye and, as it turns out, largely transparent to water. A new study by scientists at Rice University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has determined that gold, copper and silicon get just as wet when clad by a single continuous layer of graphene as they would without. The research, reported this week in the online edition of Nature Materials, is significant for scientists learning to fine-tune surface coatings for a variety of applications. "The extreme thinness of graphene makes it a totally non-invasive coating," ...

Diets high in fiber won't protect against diverticulosis

Diets high in fiber wont protect against diverticulosis
2012-01-25
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For more than 40 years, scientists and physicians have thought eating a high-fiber diet lowered a person's risk of diverticulosis, a disease of the large intestine in which pouches develop in the colon wall. A new study of more than 2,000 people reveals the opposite may be true. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine , found that consuming a diet high in fiber raised, rather than lowered, the risk of developing diverticulosis. The findings also counter the commonly-held belief that ...

Waiting for Death Valley's Big Bang

Waiting for Death Valleys Big Bang
2012-01-25
In California's Death Valley, death is looking just a bit closer. Geologists have determined that the half-mile-wide Ubehebe Crater, formed by a prehistoric volcanic explosion, was created far more recently than previously thought—and that conditions for a sequel may exist today. Up to now, geologists were vague on the age of the 600-foot deep crater, which formed when a rising plume of magma hit a pocket of underground water, creating an explosion. The most common estimate was about 6,000 years, based partly on Native American artifacts found under debris. ...

Emergency room visits risky for elderly residents from long-term care facilities

2012-01-25
This press release is available in French. Montreal -- Elderly patients who have visited an emergency department (ED) are three times more likely to develop respiratory or gastrointestinal infections in the week following their return to a long-term care facility, such as a Centre d'Hébergement de Soins de Longue Durée (CHLSD). These are the findings of a new Canadian study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal today. "There certainly seems to be a benefit to isolating residents in the 7 days following their return to a long-term care facility, said ...

Study shines light on ways to cut costs for greenhouse growers

2012-01-25
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Greenhouse bedding plant growers can save themselves time, money or possibly both by giving cuttings in propagation more light, according to a Purdue University study. Flower growers use cuttings from Central America and Africa to start spring bedding plants in greenhouses during winter and early spring. Those cloudy days and cool temperatures make propagation time- and energy-intensive. Roberto Lopez, an assistant professor of horticulture, and horticulture graduate students Chris Currey and Veronica Hutchinson study ways to minimize inputs and ...

Dog skull dates back 33,000 years

Dog skull dates back 33,000 years
2012-01-25
If you think a Chihuahua doesn't have much in common with a Rottweiler, you might be on to something. An ancient dog skull, preserved in a cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia for 33,000 years, presents some of the oldest known evidence of dog domestication and, together with equally ancient dog remains from a cave in Belgium, indicates that domestication of dogs may have occurred repeatedly in different geographic locations rather than with a single domestication event. In other words, man's best friends may have originated from more than one ancient ancestor, contrary ...

Carlsbad, CA Dentist Offers Care for Dental Emergencies

2012-01-25
Dr. Scott Peters, leading dentist in Carlsbad, understands that injuries can be prevented, but not all injuries can be avoided. To accommodate patients who require immediate dental attention, Dr. Carlsbad offers responsive dental emergency care for his patients in Carlsbad. "When teeth are chipped, cracked or lost, patients need to act quickly in order to preserve the tooth and prevent additional complications. We're here to help patients in a time of an emergency, so we offer emergency care that allows a patient to get in to our office right away for the immediate ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Fig trees convert atmospheric CO2 to stone

Intra-arterial tenecteplase for acute stroke after successful endovascular therapy

Study reveals beneficial microbes that can sustain yields in unfertilized fields

Robotic probe quickly measures key properties of new materials

Climate change cuts milk production, even when farmers cool their cows

Frozen, but not sealed: Arctic Ocean remained open to life during ice ages

Some like it cold: Cryorhodopsins

Demystifying gut bacteria with AI

Human wellbeing on a finite planet towards 2100: new study shows humanity at a crossroads

Unlocking the hidden biodiversity of Europe’s villages

Planned hydrogen refuelling stations may lead to millions of euros in yearly losses

Planned C-sections increase the risk of certain childhood cancers

Adults who have survived childhood cancer are at increased risk of severe COVID-19

Drones reveal extreme coral mortality after bleaching

New genetic finding uncovers hidden cause of arsenic resistance in acute promyelocytic leukemia

Native habitats hold the key to the much-loved smashed avocado’s future

Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air

Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction

Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor

How game-play with robots can bring out their human side

Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease

UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery

New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis

XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion

Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors

Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture

Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy

New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer

Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support

[Press-News.org] Study: Unilateral divorce laws caused temporary spike in violent crime