Stefanie Doebler

The study objectives were to (1) examine the association between children’s ethnicity and final legal orders at the end of family care proceedings (section 31 of the 1989 Children Act), and (2) test whether residential context, such as co-ethnic density and area-level deprivation, moderates this association. Two sources of data were used for this study. The first consisted of records routinely generated by Cafcass (England) and stored in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank, and the second was the 2021 England Census. The focus was on children whose initial care proceedings took place between 2015/2016 and 2020/2021 and concluded with a recorded final legal order outcome (N = 98,161). Three-level logistic regression models were employed to estimate the relationship between children's ethnicity and adoption, along with the potential moderating effects of co-ethnic density and area-level deprivation. Children's ethnicity is significantly associated with pl...

ObjectiveWhen an infant is identified as having suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm from parents or caregivers, section 31 care and supervision proceedings  (s.31, Children Act 1989) may be issued. We examined the healthcare use of infants under one year old subject to these proceedings in Wales. ApproachA retrospective e-cohort study utilising data held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. General Practice records, emergency department attendances, and hospital admissions (non-elective and elective) were linked with family justice (Cafcass Cymru) data between 2011–2020 for all s.31 proceedings (n = 920). By comparing to the infant population not undergoing family law proceedings (n = 18179), regression models examined the incidence and rate of healthcare events between birth and the court proceeding application date. Wider determinants of health were sequentially added (infant perinatal factors, maternal mental health, sex, area-level depri...

This report sheds new light on the differential effects of domains of deprivation on the rates of infants and children subject to care proceedings in Wales. It is the sixth report in the Born into Care series, following Born into Care: England (Broadhurst et al., 2018), Born into Care: Wales (Alrouh et al., 2019) and Born into Care: 1,000 mothers in care proceedings in Wales (Griffiths et al., 2020), which have provided the first evidence on infants, and their mothers, in the family justice system in England and Wales

This short report summarizes results of recent analysis published by the Family Justice Data Partnership that aims to pinpoint the particular domains of deprivation associated with rates of infant entry to care in local authorities in Wales. The work complements research conducted as part of the Born into Care series, which is building a robust evidence base about the very youngest children in the family justice system

Informal care-giving can be a demanding role which has been shown to impact on physical, psychological and social well-being. Methodological weaknesses including small sample sizes and subjective measures of mental health have led to inconclusive evidence about the relationship between informal care-giving and mental ill-health. This paper reports on a study carried out in a UK region which investigated the relationship between informal care-giving and mental ill-health. The analysis was conducted by linking three data sets, the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, the Northern Ireland Enhanced Prescribing Database and the Proximity to Service Index from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Our analysis used both a subjective measure of mental ill-health, i.e. a question asked in the 2011 Census, and an objective measure, whether the respondents had been prescribed antidepressants by a General Practitioner between 2010 and 2012. We applied binary logistic multilevel ...

This paper examines relationships between religion and two forms of homonegativity across 43 European countries using a bivariate response binary logistic multilevel model. The model analyzes effects of religious believing, belonging and practice on two response variables: a) a moral rejection of homosexuality as a practice and b) intolerance toward homosexuals as a group. The findings indicate that both forms of homonegativity are prevalent in Europe. Traditional doctrinal religious believing (belief in a personal God) is positively related to a moral rejection of homosexuality but to a much lesser extent associated with intolerance toward homosexuals as a group. Members of religious denominations are more likely than non-members to reject homosexuality as morally wrong and to reject homosexuals as neighbors. The analysis found significant differences between denominations that are likely context-dependent. Attendance at religious services is positively related to homonegativity in...

This paper examines relationships between religion and two forms of homonegativity across 43 European countries using a bivariate response binary logistic multilevel model. The model analyzes effects of religious believing, belonging and practice on two response variables: a) a moral rejection of homosexuality as a practice and b) intolerance toward homosexuals as a group. The findings indicate that both forms of homonegativity are preva-lent in Europe. Traditional doctrinal religious believing (belief in a personal God) is positively related to a moral rejection of homosexuality but to a much lesser extent associated with intolerance toward homosexuals as a group. Members of religious denominations are more likely than non-members to reject homosexuality as morally wrong and to reject homosexu-als as neighbors. The analysis found significant differences between denominations that are likely context-dependent. Attendance at religious services is positively related to homo-negativity...

Religion and racism are topics often discussed together. Newspapers regularly make headlines based on misrepresented data, most recently regarding British Muslims – a religious group that is often the target of both blatant racism and of more subtle forms of racial profiling. But Stefanie Doebler explains that rigorous use of surveys shows that religion does not facilitate racist attitudes; poverty and low education are some of the factors that do.

Introduction Better use of administrative data is essential to enhance understanding about the family justice system, and characteristics and outcomes for children and families. The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory Data Partnership supports this aim through analyses of core family justice datasets. When a child is involved in family court proceedings in Wales, Cafcass Cymru are employed to represent a child’s best interests.  This paper provides an overview of the Cafcass Cymru data, and linkage to population level health and other administrative datasets held within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. Two data linkage example analyses are described. Further research opportunities are outlined. Methods Cafcass Cymru data was transferred to SAIL using a standardised approach to provide de-identified data with Anonymised Linking Fields (ALF) for successfully matched records. Three cohorts were created: all individuals involved in family court applications; al...

American Generosity by Patricia Snell Herzog and Heather Price is a comprehensive and detailed account on the demography of philanthropic behaviour across the United States, and is likely the most comprehensive monograph available. The study draws on a wealth of social theory, most notably Putnam’s social capital theory and Simmel’s classic relational theory of social circles. The authors’ decision to use the latter as a framework for the empirical analysis is original and adds new insights to an already large body of knowledge on volunteering, philanthropy and social capital. The book is well-written. It avoids jargon and is accessible to non-experts. This is an important strength, given that demographic and sociological accounts can be dry and unappealing to non-academic audiences. American Generosity speaks to academics, volunteers, policymakers, and really anybody seeking insights into why people donate money and volunteer for charitable causes and what motivates them to do so. The study takes a mixed-methods approach, combining robust primary statistical analyses of a large, nationally representative survey with in-depth qualitative interviews with volunteers, givers and non-givers across the United States. The richness of the data that underpin the analysis is impressive and the study design works well for the exploration of patterns of volunteering and donating across the American population that the authors present in the following chapters. The added interviews provide in-depth insights into why philanthropic behaviour differs between different population subgroups. The chapters cover detailed demographic as well as psychological analyses of who gives and why, and how religious affiliation and other social contexts matter for people’s giving behaviour. Some of the findings may be unsurprising to those familiar with this field (e.g. it is already well-known from a large literature that religion is a key promoter of both volunteering and philanthropic giving). The same can be said about higher 725424 ISS0010.1177/0268580917725424International Sociology ReviewsReviews: Redistributions research-article2017

Objectives: There are few studies on relationships between deprivation and the self-reported health of people aged over 64 years, and no studies fully representative of Northern Ireland’s older population. This paper addresses this gap. Methods: Deprivation of older people as reported in the 2001 and 2011 Censuses and the relationship with self-reported health are analyzed over a ten-year span using multilevel modeling. The data are from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) linked to 2001-11 Census returns. Deprivation measures include housing tenure, property-value, access to a car, educational, employment and area-level income-deprivation. Results: Older people suffering deprivation face a significant health disadvantage over a ten-year time span. Discussion: This health disadvantage is stronger in men than in women, likely due to conservative gender roles prevalent among Northern Ireland’s older population, leading to psychological distress among deprived men. The analy...

This article examines relationships between religion and racial intolerance across 47 countries by applying multi-level modeling to European survey data and is the first in-depth analysis of moderation of these relationships by European national contexts. The analysis distinguishes a believing, belonging, and practice-dimension of religiosity. The results yield little evidence of a link between denominational belonging, religious practice, and racial intolerance. The religiosity dimension that matters most for racial intolerance in Europe is believing: believers in a traditional God and believers in a Spirit/Life Force are decidedly less likely, and fundamentalists are more likely than non-believers to be racially intolerant. National contexts also matter greatly: individuals living in Europe’s most religious countries, countries with legacies of ethnic-religious conflict and countries with low GDP are significantly more likely to be racially intolerant than those living in wealthie...

This paper examines relationships between religion and two forms of homonegativity across 43 European countries using a bivariate response binary logistic multilevel model. The model analyzes effects of religious believing, belonging and practice on two response variables: a) a moral rejection of homosexuality as a practice and b) intolerance toward homosexuals as a group. The findings indicate that both forms of homonegativity are prevalent in Europe. Traditional doctrinal religious believing (belief in a personal God) is positively related to a moral rejection of homosexuality but to a much lesser extent associated with intolerance toward homosexuals as a group. Members of religious denominations are more likely than non-members to reject homosexuality as morally wrong and to reject homosexuals as neighbors. The analysis found significant differences between denominations that are likely context-dependent. Attendance at religious services is positively related to homonegativity in...

This article examines relationships between access to a car and the self-reported health and mental health of older people. The analysis is based on a sample of N = 65,601 individuals aged 65 years and older from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study linked to 2001 and 2011 census returns. The findings from hierarchical linear and binary logistic multilevel path models indicate that having no access to a car is related to a considerable health and mental health disadvantage particularly for older people who live alone. Rural–urban health and mental health differences are mediated by access to a car. The findings support approaches that emphasize the importance of autonomy and independence for the well-being of older people and indicate that not having access to a car can be a problem for older people not only in rural but also in intermediate and urban areas, if no sufficient alternative forms of mobility are provided.

Studies in the US, the UK and Europe found children born close to the cut-off date for the start of school year face disadvantage in terms of educational attainment. This is attributed to the fact that pupils born shortly before the cut-off date are almost a year younger than many of their classmates. They are in an earlier stage of their intellectual, emotional and physical development and are thus relatively disadvantaged. Differences in growth and health outcomes by birth month have been found in other studies. This paper tests whether long-term educational and health disadvantages of individuals born just before the start of school year cut-off date of July 1st exist in Northern Ireland. The analysis is based on a c.28 per cent representative population sub-sample of young people aged 12-18 in 2001 in the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) with linked 2001 and 2011 Census records. Findings indicate no educational or health disadvantages over a decade for individuals born...