Foster children in the public child welfare system are increasingly likely to find lasting homes through kinship adoption by their relatives. The aim of the present study is to examine how the kinship adoptive experience differs from other adoptive types. Using tobit regression analyses, we examine data from 2382 adopted children (kin placements = 397 and non-kin placements = 1985). We report that kin adoptive parents more negatively assessed adoption's impact on their family and the family's current functioning. However, the family bond with the adoptee also appears to influence positively a kin family's willingness to adopt the same child again, to be generally satisfied with the overall adoption, and to report a positive relationship with the adopted child. Kinship adoptions appear more readily to produce positive outcomes and permanent placements.

PURPOSE:Widowhood eliminates a key source of support that may trigger greater involvement in social activities and volunteer participation, which are related to better late-life health and functioning. We reexamine and build upon 2 recent studies exploring recent widowhood and social participation. Using different data, we perform a quasi-replication of Utz, Carr, Nesse, and Wortman's (2002; "The effect of widowhood on older adults' social participation: An evaluation of activity, disengagement, and continuity theories," The Gerontologist, 42, 522-533) study and employ different analytic strategies to Li's (2007; "Recovering from spousal bereavement in later life: Does volunteer participation play a role?" Journal of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 62, S257-S266) study. DESIGN AND METHODS:A synthetic cohort of recently widowed individuals aged 60 years and older (n = 228) was compared with random, non-widowed older adult controls (n = 228) across 3 waves of Americans' Changing Lives data. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess the impact of widowhood on levels of social participation and formal and informal volunteerism, controlling for social, economic, demographic, and psychological factors. RESULTS:Similar to Utz and colleagues, we found that widowhood was positively related to informal social participation, net of other effects, but did not reproduce this finding for formal social participation. Unlike Li, we did not find a significant relationship between widowhood and formal or informal volunteerism. Controlling for prior participation, widowhood remained significantly related to informal and formal social participation. IMPLICATIONS:Older adults increase their reliance on sources of other social support following spousal loss but do not change their volunteer activities. This suggests that continuity of volunteer engagement and enhanced social participation are important following widowhood. Given their positive associations with late-life well-being, efforts to help older widows and widowers increase their social participation and maintain established patterns of volunteerism following spousal loss are warranted.

Concern exists that organizations are not ready to take advantage of the growing number of older volunteers. This study offers a conceptualization and preliminary measurement strategy to enhance knowledge on the institutional capacity of volunteer programs to engage older adults. Data were collected from 51 program directors to assess 10 dimensions of institutional capacity: specification of role, dissemination of information, role availability, compensation of expenses, in-kind incentive, skill development, role flexibility, role recognition, accommodation, and integration. Eight factors were identified. The subscales were moderately reliable, and dimensions were independent. Programs rated highest on the capacity to recognize volunteers and disseminate information and lowest on their ability to provide cash compensation. Subsequent research on institutional capacity depends on its strong measurement. Future works will assess the extent to which these institutional capacity factors affect the recruitment, retention, and effective utilization of older volunteers.

PURPOSE There is a dearth of research on older adoptive parents caring for minor children, despite a growing number of such adoptions finalized each year. This study offers a large-scale investigation of adoptive families headed by older parents. We describe these families and explore how preadoptive kinship between the adoptive parent and the child impacts adoption outcomes. DESIGN AND METHODS We analyze data from kin (n = 98) and nonkin (n = 310) adoptive families headed by adults aged 60 years and older. RESULTS We find that older kin adoptive families are smaller, report lower income, and include adoptive mothers with less formal education. Children in these families had less severe needs for special care at the time of placement. Although kin and nonkin older parents offer similar assessments of their parent-child relationships, kin adopters indicate a greater willingness to adopt the same child again and yet report less positive current family functioning. Multivariate regression analyses reveal that preadoptive kinship predicts more negative parental assessment of the adoption's impact on the family and less positive family functioning net of other parent, family, and child characteristics. Externalizing behavior by the child (e.g., delinquency or aggression) is the strongest predictor of deleterious outcomes for both groups. IMPLICATIONS Kin adoption by older adults creates new families under strain but does not reduce parental commitment to the child. We conclude that older adults serve as effective adoptive parents but would benefit from preadoption and postadoption services to assist them in preparing for and positively addressing the challenging behaviors exhibited by adopted children.

This study estimates the prevalence of productive engagement among adults aged 60 and over residing in the United States over a nine-year period. We analyze three waves of data from the Americans' Changing Lives Study, which allows the findings to describe the non-institutionalized older American population. Focusing upon five activities-formal paid employment, irregular paid work, unpaid volunteerism, caregiving, and informal assistance to others-we identify changes in the engagement rates, examine the extent to which engagement occurs through single or multiple concurrent activities, and document intra-individual patterns of engagement within and across forms of productive activity, including the continuity, initiation, and cessation of involvement. The findings reveal that late-life productive engagement is widespread, with the majority of older individuals involved in multiple forms of activity concurrently. Non-market-based activities such as caregiving, informal assistance, and volunteering are most prevalent. Initiation and cessation of activities are common and yield more complex patterns and lower rates of non-participation than are revealed in cross-sectional analyses. Time spent in productive engagement is highly variable and exhibits an overall decline across time. We conclude by highlighting policy strategies to increase the availability and quality of opportunities for productive engagement and promote planning for engagement in late life.

This article asks what contexts facilitate control of individuals in modern slavery. We review the modern-slavery literature relevant to context, and propose four new constructs and a new model for analyzing how social and economic factors facilitate control of slaves in the United States. We validate this model through a secondary qualitative analysis of eleven confirmed U.S. slavery cases occurring between 1992 and 2002. We discuss implications for policy makers, public and private administrators, and practitioners. Keywords: Human trafficking Language: en

This study examines the association between engagement in productive roles and the physical and mental health of adults aged 60 and over. We present secondary analyses of data from three waves of the Americans' Changing Lives Study (n = 1,644). Self-rated health, functional impairment, and depressive mood were regressed on measures of engagement during the previous 12 months using generalized estimating equations, while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and health measures at the previous wave. Five productive roles were included: paid worker, irregular paid worker, unpaid volunteer, caregiver, and provider of informal social assistance. The findings reveal that being engaged in at least one productive role and the total role number are associated with better self-rated health and less functional impairment but not depressive mood. There is no effect of hours of engagement. The findings illuminate productive engagement as an important, but not necessarily causal, pathway to health in late life.

Consideration of the phenomenon under other labels is not new in aging. History and demography compel us to place older Americans at the heart of discussions about civic engagement. The current generation of elders has shown that it comprises active citizens whose commitment to civic life- strengthened by events or circumstances of their young adult years- has served as a vital resource for communities. What about approaching cohorts? Will their civic engagement equal that of the Greatest Generation? Some speculate that this is unlikely (Samuel and Sanders, 1991). Others assert that, given their collective history of testing social norms, and sheer numbers, the baby boomers in particular will redefine the conventional wisdom of how we are to behave in later life and seek avenues for greater participation in civic life (Freedman, 1999). We know that the baby boomers express a strong desire to remain actively in their communities (Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 1999; 2002). Concurrent improvements in health, longevity, and education mean that this generation will be well-positioned to fulfill those expectations. It is less clear how civic engagement by current and future older adults will affect those individuals, their communities, and the broader culture and society. The purpose of this article is not to join the fray over how best to define civic engagement, or to settle long-standing questions about why individuals undertake civic activity. Instead, we review what is known about the impact of civic engagement especially by engaged older adults. It is notable that little systematic research exists on civic engagement per se, in part because there is no consensus regarding the scope of actions that fit under this specific term. This examination relies on an inclusive view, as the label currently is referring to a broad array of political and social behaviors that affect communities direcdy or indirectly (Christiano, 1996; Wuthnow, 1991). While scholars only recently have taken the cue from advocates and begun to explore civic engagement as it relates to older adults, consideration of the phenomenon under other labels is not new in aging. THEORIES of ENGAGEMENT AND AGING Nearly a half-century ago, disengagement theory emerged as the leading perspective on activity in the lives of older individuals (Cummings and Henry, 1961). This view held that individuals relinquish their claims to valued social roles as they age - in effect, disengaging from society. In turn, society disengages from the aging individual, and transfers those responsibilities to younger people. The net effects of this inevitable disengagement were assumed to be beneficial for the older person and for the society. Although disengagement theory appeared to explain patterns of activity for some older adults, many notable scholar-advocates challenged the theory's propositions, asserting instead that prevailing stereotypes and biases prevented older individuals from retaining their status as full people and curtailed their involvement in valued, productive roles (Friedan, 1993). The noted geriatrician Robert Butler (1975) observed that society had created a myth of unproductivity surrounding individuals of advanced age to justify their exclusion. Others argued that marginalization was detrimental to both the individual and the broader culture and predicted that older adults would seek to remain vitally involved (Erikson, Erikson, and Kivnik, 1986). Evidence to support these contentions is mounting rapidly. In the years since disengagement theory was proposed, research has revealed that many older individuals prefer to be engaged and that they benefit from engagement. Such findings have led to alternative views, such as continuity theory, activity theory, and the perspectives of successful and productive aging, which posit that engagement is beneficial to the individual and that the loss of valued roles and responsibilities can result in declines in well-being for older adults. …

Productive engagement is a potential pathway to health for older adults, but this relationship varies by race. This study examines the relationship of productive engagement to the health and observed health disparities of older African American and white adults. Productive activities include formal and irregular paid employment, caregiving, volunteering, and informal social assistance. The authors analyzed longitudinal panel data on individuals ages 60 and older from the Americans' Changing Lives survey with generalized estimating equations methods. Indicators of self-rated health and functional status were regressed separately on measures of productive engagement after accounting for sociodemographic differences and prior levels of health. Analyses were stratified by race and compared. Engagement in productive activities predicts better functional status for both groups, but higher self-rated health only among white adults. Number of activities performed was positively related to both health measures for all individuals, and hours of engagement and the ratio of paid to unpaid hours did not predict health outcomes.

Proponents of productive aging claim that occupying productive roles is beneficial to the self and others. The authors use the role enhancement and role strain perspectives to examine the impact of multiple productive roles on the well-being of older caregivers. Using three waves of the America Changing Lives Study, the authors controlled for invariant and time-variant factors to test the effects of occupying multiple productive roles on the three well-being indicators of 270 older caregivers. Older caregivers who worked and/or volunteered reported better self-rated health, supporting the role enhancement hypothesis. No evidence of role strain was found. For caregivers without multiple productive roles, high informal social integration was related with low functional impairment. This study suggests that productive roles may have a positive effect on older caregivers and finds no evidence of any negative effects. The implications of these findings in policy, research, and program development are discussed.