Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: I argue that the state has an obligation to foster autonomy in its citizens, particularly its most vulnerable – those who are most at risk of being excluded or marginalized. In this paper, I consider whether a theory of an “autonomy-fostering state” ought to be understood simply as a version of “forced to be free”: is the very notion of the state “fostering autonomy” imbued with some elements of paternalism? Moreover, can the state force us to be free; that is, can paternalistic social service delivery ever be autonomy-fostering? I approach these important questions by distinguishing autonomy-fostering from paternalist practices, and in doing so demonstrate that a theory of the autonomy fostering-state is largely consistent with the commonly held assumption that paternalism and autonomy are incompatible. I highlight the distinction by looking to the “New Paternalism,” the influential theory of “supervisory” approaches to social welfare service delivery that can be linked to recent welfare reforms in the United States and Britain, as well as some other European countries.

I look specifically at two instances of new paternalist service delivery: workfare and pregnancy-prevention programs, both directed at welfare recipients. These two programs respond to what many new paternalists claim are the two primary causes of poverty: nonwork and unwed pregnancy. Workfare is by far the most pronounced and largest scale paternalist program in the reformed welfare states; pregnancy prevention provides a useful lens through which to examine in particularly crystallized form, first, the destructively gendered nature of paternalist policy, and second, the specifically moral, rather than solely material implications of paternalist policy. A careful look at each of these programs sharpens our view of what it means for the state to foster autonomy – or to fail to do so, as is the case here. Throughout, I suggest that this incompatibility between autonomy-fostering and paternalist social policy makes most sense when founded upon a notion of paternalism that highlights its implication in oppressive power relations rather than solely its association with interventionist policy

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines how the type of crime matters for the treatment of criminal offenders during sentencing - do crimes that include the violation of a gender role result in harsher penalties?

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Utilizing a life course framework and a nationally representative sample of men drawn from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, this study examines the effects of paternal involvement on father’s well-being. Well-being is assessed by multiple dimensions of psychological and physical health, including overall happiness, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, and self-assessed health. Although the multiple dimensions of paternal involvement (availability, engagement, and affection) have differing effects on some outcomes, involved fathering is generally positively related to men’s well-being. A number of life course factors moderate the relationship between fatherhood and depressive symptoms, but a majority of aspects of the well-being are not conditioned by characteristics of fathers or their families, suggesting that fatherhood is a universal experience that affects men in a similar way across a variety of life course and social positions.

Publication Type: Roundtable Paper
Abstract: Extensive research exists on gender and racial/ethnic disparities in sentencing. However, much of this research ignores or places a limited emphasis on the influence of offenders’ family circumstances on these types of disparities. In addition, most of this research focuses on municipal or state court data or pre-guidelines sentencing patterns, which limits the generalizability of the findings. The present study addresses this limitation by using Daly’s familial paternalism perspective as a theoretical framework for examining sentencing practices within the context of the federal sentencing guidelines. The analyses center on three research questions. First, do offenders’ family ties exert a direct effect on judges’ decisions to grant a downward departure? Second, does offense type affect judges’ considerations of offenders’ family ties? Third, if offenders’ family ties are relevant to judicial decision making regarding departure decisions, is their influence contingent on offenders’ race/ethnicity and gender? In answering these questions, I address the implications of the results for future research and sentencing policy.

Publication Type: Poster
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The green turtle has suffered from population declines throughout its range. In Malaysia, the long term consumptive use of marine turtles, together with the ever-growing incidental captures in fishing gear, loss and destruction of breeding habitats, inappropriate management practices and marine pollution have resulted in dramatic declines in the major nesting beaches. To understand the mating strategy of this endangered animal, we investigated paternity in 22 egg clutches of green turtle from Redang Island, Malaysia using five microsatellite loci. Results showed 36% of nests being sired by at least two different males. In most cases, the contributions of different fathers to a clutch were skewed from equal contributions. We also documented the occurrence of sperm storage in this species. The same patterns of paternity were observed across successive clutches from individual females, consistent with the hypothesis of sperm being stored from mating(s) prior to nesting and being used to fertilize all subsequent clutches of eggs that season, without additional inter-nesting mating by females. We also tested the relationship between the numbers of fathers detected in clutches and body size of females. Results indicated a weak positive correlation between the numbers of detected fathers with body size of females. Results obtained from this study provide important insights for the mating strategy of C. mydas in Malaysia. Multiple paternity have important implication especially in endangered species, as it will increase the effective population size and higher genetic variability within a population.