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What measures do prisons follow to prevent recidivism?

https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=163&q=What+measures+do+prisons+follow+to+prevent+recidivism%3F&cvid=b5786cce11f34743a8c5ad1b56dbfead&gs_lcrp=EgRlZGdlKgYIABBFGDkyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQ6QcY_FXSAQc5OTJqMGoxqAIAsAIA&FORM=ANNAB1&DAF0=1&PC=U531

There are 6 evidence based practices that are proved to lower recidivism. Risk and needs assessment is first, it will be predictive of who will repeat and who won't. Second, individual motivators. Assess the offender for what keeps them motivated. The information is used to self-motivate the offender. Third, target the appropriate intervention. If the prisons put a offender into a treatment program they don't need it will hurt them more than do good. An effective intervention should take up 40%- 70% of the high risk offenders time for up to 9 months. Fourth, rewire the brain. The staff has a lot to do with how the offender will think. If they are watching positive behavior and role models they will be more likely to want to act like that. Fifth, increase positive reinforcement. Encouraging positive behavior and verbally recognizing it. Sixth, ongoing support. The offenders peer-group is a leading factor in deciding whether or not a person will reoffend. Most fail to stay away from the bad influence outside of the prison. The offender needs support to keep towards their goal. This is similar to the other Wes Moore because after he got arrested for shooting Ray, he was let out of prison and committed another crime shortly after. A main reason he repeat offended was because he went back to the same group and the same influence with no change. He lacked a positive environment and there was no one to support him to make him better, therefore he repeat offended.

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What measures do prisons follow to prevent recidivism? - Bing

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Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you.

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How much help is the Job Corps?

https://www.jobcorps.gov

Help individuals have motivation for success

Helps low-income individuals

Helps people gain new job opportunities and a new start

The Job Corps program is set up to help struggling individuals. The other Wes heard about it from a friend and decided to try it himself to get better for his family and help his kids have a better future. He was able to get job opportunities and try to make some money while trying to save money for his kids and give them a better life, since their moms are still getting into trouble and not willing to change like he is. Although this program got him on a better track, he unfortunately fell back to where he started with drugs and violence.

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Job Corps does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. Job Corps also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites.

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Social Issues Investigator- Catherine Melin

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Social Issues Investigator- Catherine Melin

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How does abuse affect how someone responds to a situation?

Various studies show that experiencing abuse can be traumatic and cause physical and psychological damage. It brings about feelings of guilt and shame when the abuser convinces someone it's their fault. This results in anxiety, depression, isolation, sleep issues, confusion, and even mood swings. Wes Moore, the author, hit his sister in a part of the novel, and his mother, Joy, responded in panic because she was abused by her first husband at one point. Wes was confused as to why it meant so much to Joy, but her anxiety and psychological damage were presented because she didn't want her daughter to go through the same thing and experience the same effects.

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Understanding Reactive Abuse: Signs and Solutions

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In this article, we explore the psychological dynamics of reactive abuse, the signs to look out for, the impact it can cause, and steps to get help and break the cycle.

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Question- How do quick decisions affect your control of a situation?

Speed does not kill--decision making in uncertain times

Quick decisions can affect decision quality and performance as they may sacrifice information elaboration.

understanding the advantages and disadvantages of quick judgments and balancing speed with thoughtful consideration can improve decision-making

The average human prefers to be directed. They dislike responsibility, is unambiguous, and desires security above everything.

The outcome of environmental forces and resulting organizational and PMO orientations are crucial elements in the determination of individual behavior and the manner and speed in which decisions are made.

This relates to the book because many quick health decisions were made which caused multiple characters to lose their lives. For example, Alma passed away because she decided on a kidney transplant which failed. The quick decision to get the transplant without much thought costed her life. Another example is Wes Moore's father's death. The doctors quickly decided that he was being dramatic and sent his father home. Because of that quick decision he died.

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How easy is it to leave an area that lacks resources?

Overcoming poverty/scarcity someone should enter an abundance mindset. "Not feeling limited by the things you don't have, but instead, focusing on the opportunities you do have in order to gain what you want in life." https://www.headspace.com/mindfulness/there-will-always-be-more-overcoming-scarcity-mindset

Becoming less dependent on others lowers the risk of greater economic insecurity.

Without sufficient money, people go into debt to cover basic needs

low adult incomes require their children to work

https://www.atd-fourthworld.org/lack-of-resources-prevents-people-from-living-with-dignity/

In Chapter 1, Mary ends up having to drop out from her college in order to keep up on bills and tuition. Her financial aid was cut. This would place her family in a deeper hole and make the struggle more difficult without a higher degree.

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Childhood Trauma and Its Effects: Implications for Police | Office of Justice Programs

Question - Can childhood trauma be

caused by cops?

- the primary way cops blow off steam and defend themselves against the terrible things they see nearly every day on the job on offensive humor.

-It’s impossible to blame a child for his or her own abuse. Or to blame a baby for having negligent or cruel parents.

-Childhood trauma can be caused by police officers, as they are often the first responders to situations that pose threats to the safety and well-being of children and families.

This relates to the book because Wes Moore was arrested for trying to defend himself after being slapped. The cops were very aggressive with his arrest. They slammed him against the car and put him in cuffs. This could be a leading factor to why Wes Moore ended up in jail.

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Cops and PTSD: When the Victim Is a Child

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When police officers deal with child victims, their usual ways of coping don’t work. Here’s why they don’t work and how to heal.

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Question- How can the absence of a parent affect kids?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7559575/#:~:text=The%20results%20show%20that%20parental,likely%20to%20attend%20a%20college.

The absence of a parent can negatively affect a child's development as they grow up.

Parental care in early childhood is viewed as one of the most important factors that help foster the cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of children.

Mechanism analyses show that parental absence may result in a less healthy mental status of children and reduce children’s efforts in class.

Children’s development can be affected in health status, daily behaviors, and in-school performance

This relates to the book because both Wes and the other Wess have to deal with the absence of a father while growing up. This can affect both of them mentally in ways like the father being absent and a deceased father.

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Abstract

Parental care in early childhood is viewed as one of the most important factors that help foster children's abilities. Using two nationally representative datasets collected in China, this paper examines the effects of parental absence on the short-term in-school outcomes and long-term educational achievement of left-behind children. The results show that parental absence is negatively associated with the development of left-behind children. Left-behind children have a lower cognitive test score and academic test score, and they are also less likely to attend a college. In particular, a mother's absence seems to have persistent negative effects on children's development. Mechanism analyses show that parental absence may result in a less healthy mental status of children and reduce children's efforts in class. However, we do not find significant evidence that the exposure to left-behind children in class lowers the in-school outcomes of children.

Keywords: parental absence, cognitive ability, test score, left-behind children

1. Introduction

Parental care in early childhood is viewed as one of the most important factors that help foster the cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of children [ 1]. A vast literature has shown that the absence of parental care in early childhood negatively affect children's development in health status, daily behaviors, and in-school performance [ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. A longitudinal study in Thailand finds negative impacts of parental absence on the school enrollment of left-behind children (LBCs), and shows the long-term absence of the mother appears to reduce the educational chances of LBCs [ 8]. A study examines the data from the Mexican household survey, and find higher emotional and behavioral problems among LBCs than non-LBCs [ 9]. Concurrently, a study in the Philippines shows the opposite results, that is, LBCs have better well-being outcomes than non-LBCs [ 10]. A systematic literature reviews the effects of international labor migration on mental health and well-being, and shows that the effects are not always negative but depend on the characteristics of LBC as well as other family characteristics [ 11]. Compared to international migration, a study uses a nationally representative panel dataset in China and shows that internal parental migration significantly increases the depression scores of children aged 10-11 [ 7].

Since the reform and opening up, China has witnessed a large-scale internal migration from less developed areas to developed areas. Meanwhile, migrant workers usually cannot bring their children to the cities due to the restrictions of the urban educational system [ 12]. As a result, a number of children become "left-behind children" who typically do not live with their parents for a long time and lack sufficient parental care. At the end of 2015, the number of left-behind children (aged 0-17) due to parental migration reached approximately 69 million ("Left-behind children" here refer to those "who live in their original domicile, but have not lived with their parents for over six months, as either one or both parents have migrated"), which accounts for 25.4% of the total child population in China [ 13].

A growing number of studies have examined the effect of parental absence on the human capital development of left-behind children, but the evidence is still far from a consensus [ 14, 15, 16, 17, 18]. For example, Li finds that parental migration leads to significant declines in left-behind children's educational performance [ 14]. A study further distinguishes the impacts of the absence of one versus both parents [ 15]. Their findings show significant adverse effects of being left behind by both parents on children's cognitive development, but much smaller insignificant impacts of being left behind by one parent [ 15]. A study estimates the effect of parental migration on students' school behavior, and finds that parental migration negatively affects school behavior of left behind older students significantly, especially the class integration and personal behavior control [ 19]. One exception found no significant impact of parental migration on the math achievement of left behind children [ 20]. Furthermore, a study shows that parental absence has a significant negative impact on students' long-term educational development [ 17].

In this paper, we employ the data from China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), a nationally representative middle school-based survey, to examine whether and how parental absence affects the educational development of middle school students in China. We contribute to this literature in four aspects. First, we look at the effects of parental absence on rural left behind children as well as their urban counterparts. The number of left behind children in urban areas increased from 14.7 million in 2005 to 28.3 million in 2015 [ 13]. However, less attention is devoted to the effects of parental absence on left behind children in urban areas. Second, while previous studies on left behind children extensively look at the short-term effects of parental absence, we also investigate the potential persistent effects of parental absence. Third, we uncover the potential mechanisms by using mental health as a mediator variable affecting students' educational development. We also explored other mechanisms through which parental absence affects student achievement in middle school. Lastly, we attempt to examine the external effect of left behind children in a class on the outcomes of their classmates.

The CEPS data provide detailed demographic and family characteristics, which help us identify the family structure on whether the student lives with one or both of his/her parents, regardless of whether the student has a rural or urban Hukou (The Hukou system refers to the household registration system, which classifies people into two types, i.e., rural residents and urban residents. More details are explained in Section 2). We limited our sample to schools that randomly assign students into classes since the CEPS contains information on a school assignment rule, which helps eliminate the potential self-selection problem. Furthermore, we employ an instrumental variable strategy to address the endogeneity issues. Thus, this study estimates the causal effects of parental absence on the educational development of students in rural and urban areas of China. The CEPS also enables us to examine whether and how the Share of LBCs affects students' academic achievements.

In this study, we show that parental absence has significant adverse impacts on left behind children educational outcomes. We find that left behind children have a lower cognitive test score and academic test score, and they are also less likely to attend a college. Our results are robust to a series of sensitivity tests. The effects of parental absence vary across gender, parents' education level, and Hukou type, with more significant effects for girls, students with low-educated parents, and urban students. Further mechanism analyses suggest that parental absence reduces students' mental health by increasing the likelihood of being depressed or unhappy. Students with parental absence tend to have a lower self-assessment on their behavior and campus life, such as more likely to be late for school, less likely to receive praise from the head teacher, and problems with class integration and social interaction with others. Our estimations also find no significant evidence in which the exposure to left behind children in class lowers the in-school outcomes of children.

We further examine the long-term effect of parental absence on students' educational development using alternative data from the China Family Panel Studies. The results show that a mother's absence is significantly and negatively associated with children development in comparison to a father's absence. One percentage increase in the length of mother's absence reduces the probability of graduating from senior high school and entering college by 6.7% and 6.5%, respectively.

The rest of the paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 provides the institutional background. Section 3 introduces the data and variables used in the empirical analysis. Our estimation strategy is discussed in Section 4. Section 5 presents the empirical results. Section 6 concludes the paper.

2. Institutional Background

Left behind children in China have attracted increasing attention, and there are many concerns that children are separated from their parents. China has experienced rapid economic development and unprecedented urbanization since the reform and opening-up policy, which have attracted people to move to large urban centers with employment opportunities. However, migrant workers usually cannot move their families to the cities due to the institutional segregation between rural and urban areas as well as because of their own financial constraints. For example, parents' economic resources cannot support living with children in a destination city where they search for better employment opportunities. Therefore, parents have to leave the children in their hometown and ask relatives to take care of the children.

Except for financial constraints, the fact is that internal migration in China has always been controlled by the government, mainly through the household registration system, which is also known as the Hukou system. In the 1950s, the Chinese central government established the Household Registration System that registered all Chinese citizens as residents in a specific region, which is usually their birthplace and cannot easily be changed. Notably, the registration system classified people into two types-agricultural (rural residents) and non-agricultural (urban residents) [ 21]. Depending on the different types of registration, people's access to public services differed from each other. At the same time, individuals' "local" residency was also associated with eligibility for benefits provided by local governments, such as public education and social security. That is, people who have registered in one place could rarely enjoy benefits elsewhere [ 21].

China's household registration system is often criticized for hindering the free movement of labor and restricting access to government-sponsored benefits. Migrants who move to some developed areas for employment rarely have access to the destination's Hukou on which the social welfare system is based. Thus, they obtain fewer resources for their children's development when compared to the natives. Because of a lack of urban household registration status (hukou), migrant children do not enjoy the same educational opportunities and resources as local children. For example, a study found that the majority of rural migrants in cities who do not possess Hukou are unable to enroll in public schools to receive free compulsory education [ 22] (In Chinese cities, two criteria are essential for public schools to admit students. First, students must reside within the local school district in the city, and, second, students must be registered in the school district as well, i.e., having local Hukou [ 22]).

Since 2012, the Hukou system has undergone a variety of reforms and received increasing attention, as the Chinese government started to propose a unified Hukou system to break the dual division pattern in realizing urbanization. Recent Hukou reforms aim to integrate migrant children into the local public education system. Even though the official policy is clear that migrant children should not be charged extra fees for public school education, there are still other barriers for the migrant parents. For example, they are required to provide a continuous record of social insurance contributions and other documents so that their children can have access to local public education. Even though migrant children can receive nine-year compulsory education in the inflow areas, they may still not be able to attend the college entrance examination. As a result of the cost or uncertainty of educational opportunities in inflow areas, the migrant parents may choose to leave their children in their hometown.

3. Data and Variables

The primary data used in the paper are from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), which is conducted by the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University of China (The baseline survey of CEPS was completed in the 2013-2014 academic year, conducted by the National Survey Research Center (NSRC) at the Renmin University of China. The CEPS applies a stratified, multistage sampling design with probability proportional to size (PPS) by randomly selecting a school-based, nationally representative sample across mainland China). The CEPS is a large-scale, nationally representative, longitudinal survey starting with two cohorts-the 7th and 9th graders in the 2013-2014 academic year. The baseline sample consists of approximately 20,000 students in 438 classrooms of 112 schools in 28 county-level units in mainland China.

Although the Chinese education system requires the random assignment of middle school students to classes, some schools may not strictly comply with the rule in practice (As documented in Article 22 of the Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China, "People's governments at or above the county level and the administrative departments for education shall promote balanced development among schools by narrowing the differences in the conditions for school running, and they shall not divide the schools into key and non-key schools. Furthermore, the schools shall not divide the classes into key and non-key classes." Article 57 of the Law further regulates that "a school shall be ordered to make rectification within a time limit by the administrative department for the education of the people's government at the county level" and "if the circumstances are serious, the person directly in charge and the other persons directly responsible shall be punished according to law" if Article 22 is violated). We use the following steps to identify the schools that may not strictly comply with the random assignment rules. First, each principal is asked to answer whether students are randomly or evenly assigned to classes when they are enrolled in school and whether students are transferred to another class during the subsequent middle school period. We drop the schools that reported a nonrandom assignment during entrance or a redistribution in grades 8 and 9. Second, head teachers are requested to report whether students in the school are assigned by test scores. We drop the schools that may assign students by test scores. As a result, the final sample of CEPS consists of 10,532 students distributed over 256 classrooms and 64 middle schools.

The CEPS contains rich information on each student's performance, which enables us to have multiple measures for students' academic achievements, namely, cognitive test scores, academic test scores, and educational aspiration. It is well documented that cognitive test scores and academic test scores play important roles in determining the enrollments of high school. The CEPS conducts standardized cognitive ability tests for students in each grade, respectively, and collects mid-term examinations provided by the school administration offices (The school administration offices are requested to provide students' academic test scores in the core subjects (Chinese, math, and English) in the mid-term examinations. These subjects (Chinese, math, and English) are compulsory and are the main components in the standard tests for admission to senior high school. Test scores in the core subjects are there for a consistent measure of academic achievement across students from the same grade in the same school). To measure educational aspiration, the CEPS asked each student the following question: What degree do you want to attain? The answers include "dropping out of school right now," "middle school," "technical secondary school," "vocational high school," "senior high school," "3-year college," "4-year college/bachelor's degree," "master's degree," and "doctoral degree." We construct a dummy variable that equals 1 if the desired educational attainment is at least college.

We are interested in whether being a left behind child would affect his or her own academic performance. Exposure to left behind children in class would have an adverse effect on children's academic performance. Hence, we construct two key independent variables. One is parental absence defined as a dummy variable equal to 1 if the student is a left behind child. The other is share of LBCs defined as the share of classmates who are left behind children.

We also control some predetermined individual variables (such as age, gender, Hukou, ethnicity, mother's education, and father's education) and class-level variables (such as class size and share of better-educated parents in class) that may affect children's educational development [ 7, 15, 23, 24]. Definitions of these variables are presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Variables

Definitions

Observation

Mean

S.D.

The CEPS data also cover rich information about students' self-assessment on mental health status, behaviors, and campus life as well as the interaction between student-student and student-teacher, which enables us to explore further the black box inside the effects of parent-child separation. We defined a set of potential channel variables (as listed in Table 1) according to children's responses to the questions.

Table 1 summarizes the statistics of the variables. On average, 19.8% of students in the sample are left behind children. However, the standard deviation (0.398) of Share of LBCs indicates inequality in peer composition across classes. Table 2 presents the summary statistics of the outcome variables for LBCs and non-LBCs students. It can be seen that non-LBCs students have better academic performance than LBCs students.

Table 2.

Variables

Non-LBCs Students

LBCs Students

Differences

Mean

S.D.

Mean

S.D.

4. Methodology

We implement the following linear-in-means model to estimate the effects of a parental absence.

=β 0+β 1∗P a r e n t a l a b s e n c+β 2∗S h a r e o f L B C s−i c s+ϕ+ϖ g+λ s+δ g s+

(1)

where i denotes students, s denotes middle schools, and c denotes classes. is the outcome measure for student i in class c of school s. P a r e n t a l a b s e n c is a dummy variable denoting whether student i is/was a left-behind child who is/was absent of parental care. S h a r e o f L B C s−i c s denotes the share of classmates who are/were absent of parental care in student i's class excluding student i. λ s is a school fixed effect that controls for the potential endogenous sorting of students across schools based on unobserved factors. The term ϖ g is a grade fixed effect that controls any unobserved grade-specific shocks common to all schools. Furthermore, we include school-specific grade trend effects to account for any unobserved school-specific grade-varying factors. The covariate vector contain individual and class characteristics that are essential determinants of students, including students' age, ethnicity, sibling size, gender, Hukou type, parents' education levels, class size, and share of better-educated parents in class. Lastly, is the error term. Throughout the analysis, we cluster the standard errors at the class level.

The coefficients and are parameters of interest. captures the effects of parental absence on our own educational outcomes of left behind children, while captures the external effects of exposure to left behind children in class on the educational outcomes of students in the class. An ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation of Equation (1) may obtain biased estimates of and because both being a left behind child and share of LBCs may be endogenous. To overcome the potential bias, we employ an instrumental variables strategy to address the possible endogeneity of being a left behind child. We use Stata 16.0 to conduct the regression analysis based on Equation (1) and the Stata program codes are available upon request.

Furthermore, we follow the literature to exploit the mandatory rule that requires schools to randomly assign students to classes in school to address the possible class sorting [ 25, 26, 27, 28, 29]. While some schools might declare that they follow the randomized rules, but did not, we cannot identify such schools and eliminate them from the sample.

To test whether the rule works well, we follow the approach of Lavy and Schlosser to perform a Monte Carlo Simulation [ 30]. Specifically, for each student i in the sample, we randomly generate the parental absence status of i using a binomial distribution function with p equal to the average proportion of students with a parental absence in the school across four classes. We then compute the within-school standard deviation, using the residuals from regressions of LBCs share on school fixed effects, grade fixed effects, and school-specific grade trend effects. We repeat this process 1000 times to obtain an empirical 95% confidence interval of within-school standard deviations. Figure 1 summarizes the simulation results for students with a parental absence. We find that the observed standard deviation in the LBCs share is within the 95% empirical confidence interval for 90% of schools, which is consistent with a random process.

Figure 1.

Monte Carlo Simulations of left behind children (LBCs) share. Notes: The figures present the Monte Carlo simulations for the within-school standard deviation in the share of LBCs. Vertical bars represent simulated 95% confidence intervals for within-school standard deviations in the share of LBCs. Scatter points represent actual within-school standard deviations for each school. Filled circles indicate that the actual standard deviation is within the simulated 95% confidence interval, whereas x's indicate schools with standard deviations outside the simulated confidence interval.

We also investigate the validity of the identification strategy by looking at whether the variation in the share of LBCs within schools and grades is related to the variation in several predetermined student characteristics. If this assignment process is truly random, the students should be similar across these predetermined characteristics [ 29]. We run separate regressions in which the dependent variable is students' predetermined characteristics, and the share of LBCs in the class is the independent variable by adding grade and school fixed effects and school-specific grade trend effects. The evidence in Table 3 supports the validity of the above identification assumption. That is, the students' predetermined characteristics are balanced across classes with a different share of LBCs students.

Table 3.

Variables

OLS

School Fixed Effects

Grade-by-School Fixed Effects

(1)

(2)

(3)

These statistical tests suggest that variation in the share of LBCs is uncorrelated with observable and unobservable changes within schools. A final potential threat to our identification strategy is if students strategically transferred to another school or class. While we cannot directly test for this with our data, we find it highly unlikely in the context of the Chinese middle school education system, where students cannot generally transfer from one public school to another unless they relocate to another city province (In the Chinese educational system, middle school students are assigned to the classroom at the beginning of the 7th grade and take the same courses throughout three years of middle school. Students are required to take three core subjects-Chinese, math, and English and a set of subsidiary subjects. During a regular school day, students remain in the same classrooms all day, and different teachers come to the classroom to deliver subject-specific letters).

5. Results

5.1. Ordinary Least Squares Estimation

Table 4 reports the estimation results for Equation (1). We report the results without controlling for individual controls in the odd columns, and those with individual controls in the even columns. We first examine the effects of parental absence on students' educational outcomes, as measured by a cognitive test score, an average academic test score, and educational aspiration. The coefficient of parental absence is negative and statistically significant, which suggests that the absence of parental care may have an adverse effect on the academic outcomes of left-behind children. The effect is not small. As shown in Columns (2) and (4), on average, a parental absence tends to decrease a cognitive test score and an average academic test score of left behind children by 0.167 and 2.612 points, respectively. Columns (6) indicates that parental absence will lead to a 2.2 percentage point decrease in the likelihood of attending the college.

However, we find the coefficient of the share of LBCs is statistically insignificant, which suggests no evidence is supportive of the external effect of exposure to LBCs students in a class.

5.2. Instrumental Variable Estimation

As noted earlier, the status of being a left behind child may be endogenous due to some unobservable factors. To address this potential endogeneity, we conduct the instrumental variable estimation. An instrumental variable should be correlated with the status of being a left behind child, but does not directly affect children's educational performance. Since parental absence at the school level reflects the overall parenting behavior of a school district, the parenting behavior in other classes in the same school are likely to affect the parents in a particular class but will not affect the students' educational performance. Therefore, we use the share of LBCs within the same school as the instrumental variable.

As shown in Table 5, the F statistics of the first stage indicate that the weak instrument problem may not be a significant issue. Columns (1)-(3) in Table 5 presents the results of IV estimations. The results are similar to the baseline estimations, that is, parental absence has adverse effects on students' educational outcomes.

5.3. Robustness Tests

We further conduct a series of robustness tests to check the baseline results. We first examine whether the effects of parental absence vary across subjects (i.e., Chinese, Math, and English). We both conduct an ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation and an instrumental variable (IV) estimation. The results in Table 6 suggest that the signs and magnitudes of the effects for each subject are similar to those reported in Column (4) of Table 4 and Column (2) of Table 5.

We also follow the approach to conduct a placebo test. Specifically, we check whether the regression results change dramatically if we randomly drop several schools from the baseline sample [ 31]. To maintain a sufficient sample size, each time we randomly drop two schools from 64 schools, and repeat it 1000 times. Figure 2 shows the probability density distribution of the regression coefficient β 1 . The distributions are strictly around their respective baseline estimates. Overall, it shows that our estimations are unlikely to be biased due to containing non-randomly assigned schools.

Figure 2.

Distribution of estimated coefficients on student outcomes. Note: The figures present the distribution of estimated coefficients of parental absence on student outcomes, ( a) distribution of estimates on cognitive test score, ( b) distribution of estimates on the academic test score, and ( c) distribution of estimates on educational aspiration.

5.4. Heterogeneity

We then explore the potential effect of heterogeneity among students. Again, IV estimation is used for the estimations. We first consider whether the effects vary across gender, as shown in Panel A of Table 7. For boys, the cognitive tests score and academic test score are significantly and negatively associated with parental absence. For girls, parental absence decreases the academic test score heavily, and the likelihood of student's educational aspiration also significantly reduces.

Next, we examine the potential effect of parents' education. The corresponding results are presented in Panel B of Table 7. The coefficients of parental absence for students with at least one better-educated parent are statistically insignificant (The educated parents are whose parents who have at least a college degree). The coefficients of parental absence are all much larger in magnitude and statistically significant for the students whose parents are not better-educated. Such results suggest that students whose parents are not educated suffer the adverse effects of separating from their parents. One possible explanation is that better-educated parents are able to earn more money by working outside, which increases an educational investment in children to offset the lack of parental absence.

Given the differences between urban and rural children in many aspects, we also examine the patterns of the effects on urban and rural students. As shown in Panel C of Table 7, parental absence has a larger negative effect on the outcomes of left behind children in urban areas than their rural counterparts. While previous studies mainly focused on rural left behind children, our results suggest that urban left behind children also suffer adverse effects and deserve more attention.

5.5. Mechanism

The baseline and IV estimations show that parental absence has a significant adverse impact on educational outcomes of left behind children whereas there is no evidence that exposure to more LBCs students in a class will negatively affect the outcomes of classmates in the class. In this section, we investigate the possible mechanisms underlying the internal effects of a parental absence.

The CEPS data cover rich information about students' self-assessments on mental health status, behaviors, and campus life as well as the interaction between student-student and student-teacher, which enables us to conduct a series of tests to explore further the black box inside the effects of parent-child separation.

We first look at the effects of parental absence on students' mental health. Some studies have shown that left-behind children have mental health problems [ 7, 32, 33, 34, 35]. To measure student's mental health outcomes, we use students who represent five personnel items. The CEPS asked students about the frequency of the following feelings during the previous seven days on a scale from 1 to 5: Depressed, blue, unhappy, life is meaningless, and pessimistic. For regression, the dependent variables are dummy variables equal to 1 if the answers are "often" or "always," 0 otherwise. Table 8 presents the estimated effects on students' mental health. Though most of the R-square is less than 5%, all the coefficients are negative and statistically significant, which suggests that parental absence reduces the student's mental health.

The CEPS also investigates students' behaviors and campus life, which helps us explore the potential mechanisms of student's effort in study, teacher-student interactions, student-student interactions, and classroom environment. As shown in Table 9, the CEPS asked students whether they agree with the following statement about campus life on a scale from 1 to 4. In regressions, the responses are dummy variables equal to 1 if the answers are "comparatively agree" or "strongly agree" and 0 otherwise. The effects are statistically significant. LBCs students are more likely to be late for school and less likely to receive praise from the head teacher. LBCs students may also have problems in communication with their classmates. Overall, we find supportive evidence that parental absence will reduce student's effort, the frequency of teacher-student interactions and student-student interactions, and worsen the classroom environment.

We also use alternative aggregated variables as the measures for mental health and students' perception of campus life to check the validity of the above mechanism analysis. For the mental health variable, we simply aggregate the response scores for five questions (i.e., depressed, blue, unhappy, life is meaningless, and pessimistic) to obtain a numerical variable that ranges from 5 to 25. The higher is the variable, the more severe is mental health. For the perception of campus life, we clarify two kinds of variables. We aggregate the response scores for three questions (i.e., late for school, feel bored, and hope to transfer school) to a numerical variable of negative feedback that ranges from 3 to 12. The higher the negative feedback variable is, the unhappier campus life is. We aggregate the response scores for six questions (i.e., "praises from headteacher," "friendly classmates," "easy to get along with," "pleasant learning environment," "activity participation," and "feel close to students") to a numerical variable of positive feedback that ranges from 6 to 24. The higher the positive feedback is, the happier campus life is. As shown in Table 10, we find that the findings using aggregate measures as dependent variables are basically consistent with those using separate measures as dependent variables listed in Table 8 and Table 9.

5.6. Long-Term Effects of Parental Absence: Alternative Data

In this sub-section, we focus on the long-term effects of parental absence on students' educational development. Due to the limitations of the CEPS, we use alternative data from the 2010 and 2018 wave of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) (The CFPS is a national representative, longitudinal survey of Chinese communities, families, and individuals, launched in 2010 by the Institute of Social Science Survey (ISSS) of Peking University and followed-up every two years since, covering 25 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and Hainan)). We use a subsample of children who were in school in 2010 and aged 18+ in 2018. As before, parental absence is a dummy variable equal to 1 if the child was a left behind child in 2010. In the exercises, we further classify a father absence and a mother absence. Almost 13% of the children in our sample were left behind children in 2010. Among the left behind children, 66.2% were only absent of father's care, 12.96% were only absent of mother's care, and the remaining 20.83% were absent of parental care.

The measures for educational outcomes in this sub-section include two dummy variables denoting whether graduating from senior high school and whether entering college, respectively. The information on educational attainment is extracted from the adult data of CFPS 2018. To be consistent with the previous analysis, we also control the same set of individual characteristics, but we cannot control class characteristics due to data limitations.

Table 11 reports the OLS estimation results. Columns (1) and (3) test the long-term effects of parental absence on children's educational development measured as senior high school graduation and college enrollment. The coefficients of parental absence are negative but statistically insignificant. As an attempt to understand the role of father and mother, we separately estimate the effects of fathers' and mothers' absence in Columns (2) and (4). The results suggest that the effect of a mother's absence is more significant and harmful than that of a father's absence on the outcomes of children. One possible reason is that a father may make more money than a mother to increase the educational investment, which may outweigh the effect of reduced time put into child learning. The other possible reason is that the role of the mother is to take care of the children in the Chinese traditional family, but the father is outside of fostering the children. Lastly, we explore the effect of the length of parental absence in Columns (3) and (6). Specifically, the length of a father's/mother's absence is defined as a child's accumulated months of parental absence by the survey year (i.e., 2010). It shows that the length of a mother's absence is negatively associated with children's educational attainment, but there is no significant effect of the length of a father's absence.

6. Conclusions

Using two large-scale survey datasets collected from China, this paper investigates the effects of parental absence on the educational development of left-behind children. Our IV estimation results show that a parental absence has significant negative impacts on the short-term and long-term educational outcomes of left behind children. Left behind children have a lower cognitive test score and academic test score, and they are also less likely to attend a college. Potential mechanism analyses show that a parental absence may result in a less healthy mental status of children and reduces children's efforts in the class. In particular, a mother's absence seems to have persistent negative effects on children development. This study also investigates and finds no significant evidence that the exposure to left-behind children in class lowers the in-school outcomes of children. This paper shows that a parental absence has negative effects on children's education development, which may also affect China's future human capital accumulation. One implication of the finding is that the governments should pay more attention to the LBCs and develop constructive policies to improve the situation of LBCs.

Although growing literature have devoted attention to the issue of parental absence, we contribute to this literature in several aspects in comparison with the previous studies. First, we look at the effects of parental absence on the rural left behind children as well as their urban counterparts whereas most previous studies focus on the left behind children in rural areas [ 7, 14, 15, 16, 18, 34, 35]. Second, we also examine the potential persistent effects of parental absence, while most previous studies only investigate the short-term effects [ 14, 15, 16, 18]. Third, we further explored potential mechanisms underlying the effect. Besides mental health mechanism that is well documented in previous studies [ 7, 11, 32, 33, 34, 35], we further explored other potential mechanisms such as in-school interactions. Lastly, we examine the external effect of left behind children in a class on the outcomes of their classmates even though the effect is found to be statistically insignificant.

This study also has limitations that can be improved in the future. First, the left behind children in the CEPS 2013-2014 are students in the compulsory education period, which indicates that we cannot look into the consequences of parent-child separation during early childhood. An early stage environment, especially before age five, seems to be a critical period of human development [ 1, 36, 37]. Second, the data lack some important family-level information (such as family income), which may also play a crucial role in parental migration decision.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, H.Z. Methodology, H.Z., M.M. and L.Z. Software, M.M. and L.Z. Validation, H.Z. Formal analysis, M.M. and L.Z. Writing-original draft preparation, M.M. and L.Z. Writing-review and editing, H.Z. Supervision, H.Z. Project administration, H.Z. Funding acquisition, H.Z., M.M and L.Z. contribute equally to this work. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

The Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71873123), National Social Science Fund of China (No. 18FJY026), Social Science Fund of Zhejiang Province (No. 20JDZD004), and the Fundamental Research Funds for Zhejiang Provincial Colleges & Universities (No. 2020QNA259) funded this research.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

References

32. Fan F., Su L., Gill M.K., Birmaher B. Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Chinese Left-behind Children: A Preliminary Study. Soc. Psychiatry Psych. Epidemiol. 2010;45:655-664. doi: 10.1007/s00127-009-0107-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

33. Cheng J., Sun Y.H. Depression and Anxiety among Left-behind Children in China: A Systematic Review. Child Care Health Dev. 2015;41:515-523. doi: 10.1111/cch.12221. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health are provided here courtesy of Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

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The Effects of Parental Absence on Children Development: Evidence from Left-Behind Children in China

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Parental care in early childhood is viewed as one of the most important factors that help foster children's abilities. Using two nationally representative datasets collected in China, this paper examines the effects of parental absence on the ...

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What level of influence does where someone grows up have on them?

Where you live as a child can determine how much you're exposed to crime, gun violence and even mental health and physical health hazards

many of the youth felt the emotional weight of stigma associated with neighborhood issues

People without support systems have higher chances of negative outcomes making the positive ones more difficult to achieve

moving to a neighborhood that is just a mile of two away can change children's average earnings by several thousand dollars a year

https://projects.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-neighborhood-success/

In chapter 2, the other Wes Moore was raised in multiple "projects" like communities. His brother fell a victim to the drugs and influence of the neighbors around him. Wes listens to what his brother teaches him and has an. outburst. Wes Moore, moved to the Bronx. The area is rough as he walks through, but still finds purpose at the courts.

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Question- How do stressful situations affect your decisions?

waldenu.edu

Making decisions while stressed can be difficult because your brain isn't thinking clearly.

Stressful situations can lead to bad judgment, which can lead to impulsive choices.

Stress can affect decision making by limiting the ability to make reasonable decisions.

This relates to the book because the other Wes Moore was stressed out because he didn't like the fact that a kid smaller than him punched him. He was hurt physically and mentally, so he wanted revenge. Since Wes was stressed, he made a bad decision to run back to the kid with a knife and was caught by the cops.

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Stress has a profound effect on both our physical and mental health, including how we make decisions. Think about the decisions you've made under duress. Were they difficult to make because your brain wasn't clear? Maybe you've made a poor decision in the heat of the moment, before you had time to logically think it through. Whether it's these spur-of-the-moment decisions or simple day-to-day choices, stress impacts decision making in many ways.

1. Stress Affects the Ability to Make New Decisions and Adapt to Change
One way that stress can affect decision making is by limiting the ability to make novel decisions and adapt to change. For example, a 2012 study found that participants who were subjected to the stress of preparing for a medical selection exam tended to make decisions out of habit, whereas participants who were not under the same stress were able to make new decisions, adapting them to the situation at hand and the perceived consequences. Researchers concluded that "the brain resorts to habitual decision making because it exerts less demands on our cognitive resources."¹

2. Chronic Stress Alters Brain Chemistry and Leads to Poor Decision Making
Just as stress affects our ability to make new decisions, stress also affects brain chemistry, making it difficult to assess benefits and costs. This can lead to poor decision making where the risks are as great as the rewards.¹ In fact, it all stems from our brains sensing anxiety, leading the brain to prepare for survival mode and enter what is called a positive stress state, where an increase in blood flow and oxygen to the brain leads to greater cognitive performance. However, when anxiety is not managed, the body shifts to a negative stress-or toxic stress-state, which has the opposite effect. There is a decrease in blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which promotes lower cognitive functioning and sends the brain into a chaotic state. In this state, the brain is unable to access the information it needs to make logical decisions.²

3. Stressful Situations Make Daily Decision Making Difficult
When the brain is under stress, everyday decisions prove to be more difficult. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Harris Poll conducted a survey of American adults that found that people felt less stress regarding the future and more stress in making everyday decisions. One-third of adults surveyed said that the stress they felt from the pandemic made it more difficult to make everyday decisions, such as determining what to wear and what to eat.³

4. Decision Making Can Lead to Stress and Fatigue
We've found that stress can impact our ability to make decisions. However, it also seems that the opposite is true: The more decisions we make in a day, the more stressed out we become. The phenomenon of decision-making fatigue states that the more decisions we make in a day, the harder it will be to make additional clear-headed decisions. Also referred to as ego depletion, it's as if the brain has only a limited capacity to make decisions, and once this capacity is depleted, there's little left.⁴ Parents of young children surveyed said that the additional decisions brought on by parenting during the pandemic resulted in even greater stress and decision-making fatigue.³

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¹Source: https://thedecisionlab.com/insights/health/stress-redesigns-decision-making/
²Source: www.wellandgood.com/anxiety-stress-decision-making/
³Source: www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/october-decision-making
⁴Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/decision-fatigue#causes

Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, www.hlcommission.org.

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clinical mental health counseling online programs

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master's programs in clinical mental health counseling

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licensed clinical mental health counselor salary

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what is a clinical mental health counselor

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licensed clinical mental health counselor

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Stress has a profound effect on both our physical and mental health, including how we make decisions. Think about the decisions you've made under duress. Were they difficult to make because your brain wasn't clear? Maybe you've made a poor decision in the heat of the moment, before you had time to logically think it through.

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What role does the absence of solidarity play in reinforcing poverty cycles?

Why the Poor Stay Poor. Understanding the Cycle of Poverty | by Connie | Medium

The lack of education in high poverty areas and the lack of solidarity leaves kids without the education and support system to break the cycle. The cycle will continue until a kid is able to get into a better area of education and an area that has a support system. The social and systemic issues in these areas need to be addressed before any student is able to break the cycle. When schools don't address the lack of support and solidarity in their community, there is no way to break the cycle.

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question- Does lack of friends cause depression?

Depression and Everyday Social Activity, Belonging, and Well-Being - PMC

-Dysfunctional social behavior has been implicated in the experience of depression.

-people with greater depressive symptoms report more frequent negative social interactions and react more strongly to them.

- People form bonds readily and organize much of their behavior around establishing and maintaining those bonds.

- This relates to the Novel because Wes Moore feels that he doesn't fit into any friend groups because he is too rich for the Bronx but too poor for Riverdale. The lack of friendships and belonging may cause Wes to feel stronger which may be why he acts out and creates fake stories to try and fit in. Maintaining bonds is very crucial to human beginnings and their behavior can change because of this.

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Depression and Everyday Social Activity, Belonging, and Well-Being

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Dysfunctional social behavior has been implicated in the experience of depression. People with greater depressive symptoms report more frequent negative social interactions and react more strongly to them. It remains unknown, however, whether…

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How can not fitting in because of change affect an individual?

https://www.succeedsocially.com/dontfitintoanygroup

Feeling like you don't fit in can put you in a between zone where you don't feel good enough for a group.

When you feel this way, it is said to try and fit yourself in various groups and find which fit is best.

This relates to Wes more because in chapter three he states that he feels too rich for the kids in the neighborhood, and too poot for the kids at school. This caused him to be put in an in between zone because he can connect with both, but not fully to the point where he feels like he belongs. The other Wes thought to fit in with the kids around him, he could sell drugs like them. That's what he did, but his mother was also trying to teach him what is right, causing Wes to feel like he doesn't know where he belongs.

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When You Feel Like You Don’t Fully Fit Into Any Social Group | www.succeedsocially.com

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Sometimes people feel like one of the issues preventing them from finding some friends is that they don’t fully fit into any one social group. Instead they fall into an in-between zone where they’re not that great of a match for anyone, and they slip through the cracks.

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What causes the incline in drug use by the youth?

at first the youth does not think about the long term concequences drugs can have, they are trying to establish themselves socially

pain, stress, or social awkwardness increases a young persons decision in starting drugs

https://www.turnbridge.com/news-events/latest-articles/why-do-young-people-turn-to-drugs/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwktO_BhBrEiwAV70jXnCfffb_-JQlgBTAfj9Qu8FlQ2y9LnPwFUUAvPmTcp3Tm5zdzY89gBoCYGYQAvD_BwE

The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics claims the 2.08mill., 8.33%, of 12-17 year olds report using drugs in the last month(2022)

due to the prevalence and access to substances on social media and are easily concealable

https://health.choc.org/why-are-youths-resorting-to-substance-and-drug-use/

In The Other Wes Moore, the other Wes Moore had an experience with drugs at a young age, he claims he learned the power of drugs and alcohol but realized why people are addicted to it as well. He claims when he was high, he forgot about all his problems and time seemed to stop. This caused him to continue to sell drugs with people he had met following his brothers footsteps.

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What influence do the people you live with have on your life?

The Power of the People Around You | by Brad Stulberg | Mission.org | Medium

Whoever your surround yourself with will have an impact on your life. You will not be able to self-improve when you surround yourself with people who limit that. A positive attitude and an environment where people are all working towards the same goal makes hard stuff a lot easier. Negativity is ultimately more powerful than positivity. Enthusiasm and motivation as well as negativity is spread to those around you. Whatever you project onto others they will soak in. Your behavior is contagious to those around you. In the novel the other Wes Moore was around Tony a lot which then he adapted to his attitudes and behaviors. Tony's bad habits rubbed off on Wes making it easier for Wes to belive that he was doing was right.

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An enormous part of self-improvement is with whom you surround yourself.

I've recently had the opportunity to spend time at world-class athletic programs - places that produce numerous Olympic medals, which is really hard to do. What sets the best apart from the rest isn't cutting-edge technology, or ritzy facilities, or even great individual athletes or coaches. It's the supportive community and culture; when the athletes and coaches are all dedicated to getting better and supporting each other in doing so. This kind of culture makes doing the hard thing just a little easier, whether the "hard thing" is a specific task, keeping a positive attitude amongst a string of setbacks, or gritting out a tedious stretch of work.

What's interesting is that while positivity and great leaders can boost the group up, it's negativity that is unfortunately most powerful. In other words, most teams are pulled heavily toward the lowest common denominator. As the Stoic philosopher Epictetus said years ago, "Remember that if you consort with someone covered in dirt you can hardly avoid getting a little grimy yourself."

Working to build a better self almost always means working to build a better community or tribe with which you surround it.

Consider a 2010 study of United States Air Force Cadets in which psychologists from the National Bureau of Economic Research tracked a cohort of cadets over 4 years. The researchers found that while there was variability in fitness gains/losses across all the cadets, there was hardly any variability within squadrons. Squadrons are groups of about 30 cadets to which an individual is randomly assigned prior to his freshman year. Cadets spend the vast majority of their time interacting with peers in their squadron. In a sense, the squadron becomes a second family: Cadets in the same squadron eat, sleep, study, and work out together. Even though all the squadrons trained and recovered in exactly the same manner, some squadrons showed vast increases in fitness over 4 years whereas others did not.

It turns out the determining factor as to whether the 30 cadets within a squadron improved was the motivation of the least fit person in the group. If the least fit person was motivated to improve, then his enthusiasm spread and everyone improved. If, on the other hand, the least fit person was apathetic or, worse, negative, he dragged everyone down. Just like diseases easily spread through tight-knit groups, so does motivation. And it's quite contagious.

The people with whom you surround yourself have an enormous impact on your life. In many ways, they shape it.

Even the simple act of observing others can affect your own motivation, and in ways far broader than physical fitness. For instance, researchers at the University of Rochester had subjects watch a video of someone describing themselves as being either intrinsically motivated (i.e., motivation comes from within) or extrinsically motivated (i.e., motivation comes from external recognition and rewards) to play a game. Those who were assigned to watch the video of people describing themselves as being intrinsically motivated reported feeling more intrinsically motivated themselves. Furthermore, when researchers left the subjects alone, those who had watched the intrinsic video started playing - and of their own volition - the same game shown in the video, while those who watched the extrinsic video did not. Perhaps most fascinating is that these effects were strong irrespective of whether someone identified as being intrinsically or extrinsically motivated prior to the experiment. It's as if your own attitude pales in comparison to the attitudes of those around you.

So much focus on behavior change and performance focuses on the individual. Yet that's only half the story. Working to build a better self almost always means working to build a better community or tribe with which you surround it. This concept holds true whether you are trying to get better at running, painting, writing, making music, parenting, or coaching. It also holds true if you are trying to quit smoking, adhere to a healthier way of eating, or start a new exercise program. It's true if you are a beginner or on the verge of becoming world-class. In other words, the people with whom you surround yourself have an enormous impact on your life. In many ways, they shape it.

Who is in your squadron? Whose motivation is rubbing off on you?

It's no wonder why the world's best performers prioritize building and nurturing community. As Plato once said, "What is honored in a culture gets cultivated there." Putting yourself in cultures that work in service of your goals and values is a powerful way to ensure you live them.

If you found this valuable, please spread the message by recommending this post (the little heart).

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I've recently had the opportunity to spend time at world-class athletic programs - places that produce numerous Olympic medals, which is really hard to do. What sets the best apart from the rest...

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Can being in juvenile detention take away all of someones future?

"If a kid ends up arrested and misses school, and then maybe doesn't get their high school degree, their life is over...They might not even know how to write."

juvenile offenders share a common experience upon release: The odds are stacked against them

Nearly 90% if juvenile offenders say they want to return to school after release, but inly one-third do

most detention centers require juveniles to attend school during their sentence...but programs tend to be lackluster, leaving people behind in academics

https://kidsimprisoned.news21.com/life-after-incarceration-reentry/

young adults leaving incarceration have an immediate need for financial stability but lack of education or employment experience causing them to take low-wage jobs that do not offer opportunity for advancement

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-to-improve-employment-outcomes-for-young-adults-leaving-incarceration/#:~:text=Many%20young%20adults%20leaving%20incarceration,of%20education%20or%20employment%20experience.

In chapter 6, the Other Wes Moore was released from prison and returned to school. The school he was at was over populated and with him being 2 years older than his grade, considering he had to be held back, he lost all motivation to learn or try. He also had no one really supporting him to keep going. He also had no work experience to get a job to help his growing family. He turned to selling drugs because it was easy to do. He eventually would be caught and locked up again. The lack of solidarity from the community who is supposed to help teach and guide him is seen in this chapter.

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What effects does part time jobs have on a person compared to full time?

full-time employment is usually considered between 30-40 hours a week, part-time employment is usually less than 30 hours a week

part-timed salaried employee who works three days a week will make 60% of what a full-time salary is

people who work fulll-time will likely recieve a broad range of benefits

insurance benefits for part time employees may also be limited

people who are part-time could have the same responsibilities as a full-time employee with less pay

less stability

https://www.justworks.com/blog/part-time-vs-full-time-employees-what-qualifying-hours#paying-parttime-employees

In chapter 7, the Other Wes Moore is. trying to be employed to support his family. The part-time jobs he takes don't make him a lot of money and working multiple jobs takes away time with his family. He also still isn't making much money with all the jobs he has tried so he is barely holding his family a float.

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How does motivation have an impact on an individual?

Fostering motivation enhances personal growth & well-being, empowering individuals to reach their potential.

Motivation is a driving force behind human behavior, influencing goals, outcomes & personal satisfaction.

External sources of motivation are often understood in terms of environmental variables, like incentives or goals. Our internal sources of motivation interact with external sources to direct behavior.

This relates to the book because Wes Moore is motivated to be better while at military school so that he can get back home to his family. Although he is receiving letters from his friends and family, he still feels disconnected from them and is gaining motivation to get back home. The other Wes Moore lacks motivation. He has the chance to get better for his family by doing things like getting a safe and reliable job and also going to school. Having some motivation towards goals in life can help him grow as a good person and change his life around for the better.

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In our world of exponential change and ever-increasing complexity, the power rests with those who act, and especially those who act with self-determination and persistence.

Our motivation is our most valuable commodity. Multiplied only by action, its value fluctuates with how we invest our attention.

Why is it that we are all born with limitless potential, yet few people fulfill those possibilities?

Abraham Maslow

Some of our motives to act are biological, while others have personal and social origins. We are motivated to seek food, water, and sex, but our behavior is also influenced by social approval, acceptance, the need to achieve, and the motivation to take or to avoid risks, to name a few (Morsella, Bargh, & Gollwitzer, 2009).

This article introduces some of the core concepts in the science of motivation and provides links to more in-depth discussions of more nuanced topics and specific applications of motivational theories to real-world motivational problems.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for fre e. These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

Types of Motivation

The sources of motivation can be experienced as either internal in the form of push motivation or external as in the case of pull motivation. Push motivation is described in terms of biological variables originating in a person's brain and nervous system and psychological variables that represent properties of a person's mind, such as psychological needs.

Pull motivation is understood in terms of environmental variables that describe external sources of motivation, like incentives or goals. Our internal sources of motivation interact with external sources to direct behavior (Deckers, 2014).

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

George Eliot

Our evolutionary history also explains aspects of motivated behavior, and our individual personal histories shed light on how our lifelong experiences shape our motives and determine the utility of goals and incentives.

Motivation also depends on stable individual differences, like personality traits and psychological needs. Finally, emotions also serve as motives. Each of these sources of motivation is discussed in greater detail below as well as other articles on this topic which can be found by typing motivation in our blog search menu.

Drive Motivation

When the sympathetic nervous system produces hormones of epinephrine and norepinephrine, they create energy for action. This explains why motivation is often conceptualized in terms of drives, otherwise known as internal states of being out of balance. The need to return to equilibrium initiates the goal of striving toward a desired end-state where the drive has been reduced or eliminated (Reeve, 2018).

Needs are internal motives that energize, direct and sustain behavior. They generate strivings necessary for the maintenance of life as in physiological needs, and for the promotion of growth and wellbeing as in psychological and implicit needs.

A hungry stomach will not allow its owner to forget it, whatever his cares and sorrows.

Homer, 800 B.C.

Physiological needs like hunger, thirst, or sex are the biological beginnings that eventually manifest themselves as a psychological drive in a person's subjective awareness. These biological events become psychological motives. It is important to distinguish the physiological need from the psychological drive it creates because only the later has motivational properties.

The drive theory of motivation tells us that physiological needs originate in our bodies. As our physiological system attempts to maintain health, it registers in our brain a psychological drive to satisfy a physiological craving and motivates us to bring the system from deficiency toward homeostasis (Reeve, 2018).

The biological need turns into a psychological motive when the drive to satisfy it interferes with our normal functioning by causing us to feel increasing tension until the need is satisfied.

When our body needs food, we describe it as pangs of hunger, we say we feel parched when thirsty, or sexually frustrated when our intimacy needs are not being met. Through complex feedback between our bodies and our brain, these biological needs evolved for our survival and drive our behavior in significant ways, which we often underestimate (Reeve, 2018).

If you want to know more about this topic, see our articles on Motivation Science and Theory of Motivation.

Goal Motivation

When talking about motivation, the topic of goals inevitably comes up. As a cognitive mental event, a goal is a "spring to action" that functions like a moving force that energizes and directs our behavior in purposive ways (Ames & Ames, 1984).

Goals, like mindset, beliefs, expectations, or self-concept, are sources of internal motives and are together referred to as cognition. These cognitive sources of motivation involve our way of thinking and unite together many mental constructs that spring us into action.

Ironically enough, goals are generated by what is NOT, or in other words, a discrepancy between where we are and where we want to be. The saying; " If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there " describes the difference in motivated behavior between those who have goals and those who do not focus their attention towards a defined outcome (Locke, 1996; Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002).

But it isn't necessarily enlightening to simply formulate goals. As a motivational construct, goal setting translates into performance only when the goals are challenging, specific, and congruent with the self.

We exert more effort toward challenging goals (Locke & Latham, 1984, 1990, 2002), focus our attention to the extent of their specificity (Locke, Chah, Harrison, & Lustgarten, 1989), and draw energy from how those goals reflect our values (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999).

Motivation at its best is spontaneous and makes goal pursuit a way of being where self-concordance paves the way for strategic use of attention directed toward the end goal (Koestner et al., 2008).

But let's not get carried away here, other factors such as ability and resources also influence performance, and there is no direct correspondence between goals and performance.

When difficult goals don't energize the performer, specific goals fail to direct that energy toward a particular course of action, and concordant goals fail to enhance performance (Earley, Wojnaroski, & Prest, 1987; Sheldon & Elliot, 1999) it is time to take care of the basics and increase ability and resources.

Motivation and Emotion

The concept of motivation is closely related to emotion. Both of these words are derived from the same underlying Latin root movere that means "to move."

Emotions are considered motivational states because they generate bursts of energy that get our attention and cause our reactions to significant events in our lives (Izard, 1993). Emotions automatically and rapidly synchronize four interrelated aspects of experience:

Different emotions are associated with distinct goals and elicit different action tendencies. The purpose component gives emotion its goal-directed character and generates an impulse to action that explains why we take the action necessary to cope with the circumstances at hand (Keltner & Gross, 1999).

Together with emotion, motivation is part of a core psychological phenomenon referred to as an affect. It is distinct from cognitive processes that are rational and calm because motivation and emotion involve physiological arousal.

This bodily response, created by the sympathetic nervous system, causes our heart to pump more blood, our respiration to increase, our pupils to dilate to help us see better, our liver to put extra sugar into the bloodstream, and we begin to perspire to cool the body (Reeve, 2018).

We feel these experiences, and they motivate and guide our behavior and decision making, but most importantly, they have a significant impact on our mental and physical health. See our article on the Importance and Benefits of Motivation.

Motivation and Personality

Is personality linked to motivation? Are we predisposed to be motivated in different ways?

Personality theory and research show that we are, in fact, motivated in different ways based on our personality traits. A high level of a particular trait will often make us act as the trait implies: we will be more open to experience, conscientious, extraverted, agreeable, and neurotic. We will be motivated by different incentives, goals, and activities but also choose to be in different situations.

The task of psychology is to determine what those situations and behaviors are.

The trait-environment correlation studies show that if we exhibit characteristics at one end of a personality dimension we will seek out, create, or modify situations differently than do individuals at the other end of the spectrum.

In addition to each of the big five personality traits, our tendency to sensation-seeking plays a significant role in how willing we are to take risks to experience varied, novel, complex, and intense sensations and experiences (Deckers, 2014).

The cybernetic big five theory linked personality traits with the type of goals we choose, and showed that specific goals would motivate appropriate personality state behaviors that are effective for achieving that goal. For example, although extraverts and introverts react similarly to stimuli designed to put them in a pleasant hedonic mood, extraverts have greater sensitivity to rewards.

They react with greater energetic arousal in response to the pursuit of rewards and are more likely than introverts to seek social stimulation in a variety of situations (Deckers, 2014).

The channeling hypothesis examines how specific traits determine how psychological motives are expressed and satisfied and how we react and select or modify different situations. It proposed that:

extraverts tend to enter high-impact careers to satisfy their power motive and are more likely than introverts to do volunteer work to fulfill their affiliation motive

those who are high in neuroticism are easier to put in a bad mood, are less satisfied with their relationships and careers, and are more likely to choose to drink in solitude following negative social exchanges

individuals high in conscientiousness earn higher grades and are more likely to engage in health-enhancing behaviors

highly agreeable people were found more likely to help friends and siblings in distress.

The selection hypothesis suggests that frequently, a composite of trait levels will be associated with a particular behavior. Many of these studies produced some very interesting results, which showed that:

students low in extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness spend more time using the Internet

individuals high in openness-to-experience sought out minority contact more and reported less prejudice as a result than did individuals high in agreeableness

happiness was associated with high levels of extraversion and agreeableness and low levels of neuroticism (Deckers, 2014).

Coping styles were also shown to vary with personality traits:

those who are high in conscientiousness experience fewer stressors because of planning

individuals high in agreeableness experience fewer interpersonal stressors because they are more cooperative

those high in neuroticism experience more interpersonal stressors

individuals high in conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness-to-experience cope through direct engagement with stressors

those high in neuroticism cope through disengagement, such as escaping from a stressor or not thinking about it

weight gain over people's lifetimes is more significant when their neuroticism and extraversion traits are high, and their conscientiousness trait is low

aspects of low agreeableness also contribute to weight gain

high-sensation seekers respond positively to risky events, drugs, and unusual experiences and are more likely to seek out and engage in risky sports, prefer unusual stimuli and situations, and experiment with things out of the ordinary

low-sensation seekers respond negatively to risky events

different components of sensation-seeking are associated with a preference for nonsense humor or sexual humor content (Deckers, 2014).

Finally, one study showed that personality traits of conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion were positively associated with intrinsic achievement motivation. But it also found that conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism were also positively related to extrinsic achievement motivation.

Although agreeableness was found to be negatively associated with extrinsic achievement motivation, conscientiousness was anomalous in that it was positively related to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. These results suggest that both forms of motivation may be more complicated than expected initially (Stasson, Mahoney, & Story, 2007).

See our article on the Importance and Benefits of Motivation to learn more about what constitutes self-motivation and full self-determination.

Motivation for Change

The topic of motivation is most frequently discussed in the context of change.

Many of us join a gym or a training program; others enter therapy or coaching because we desire change. But change is rarely a simple or a linear process. Part of the reason has to do with how difficult it is to find the motivation to engage in activities that are not intrinsically motivating.

When an activity is autotelic, or rewarding and interesting in its own right, we do it for the sheer enjoyment of it and motivation is hardly necessary (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.

Eckhart Tolle

More often than not, however, what we want to change requires self-control to abstain from behaviors that don't serve us but are enjoyable. Not to mention that commitment is required to pursue these often challenging and unrewarding activities that move us in the direction of a valued outcome.

Ryan and Deci, who studied autonomous self-regulation, suggested that what we need is to move away from extrinsically motivated action, e.g., when we have to do something because we fear consequences, and toward introjected and even fully self-determined regulation, where we value the new behavior and align it with other aspects of our life (1995).

See our blog post entitled What is Motivation to learn more about self-motivation.

"Stage-based" approaches to behavioral changes have proven to be particularly effective in increasing motivation toward the pursuit of difficult and non-intrinsically motivating goals as they allow for realistic expectations of progress (Zimmerman, Olsen, & Bosworth, 2000).

The Stages of Change model of Prochaska, et al. (DiClemente, & Prochaska, 1998), also known as the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TMC), is one such approach commonly used in clinical settings. In this model, change is regarded as gradual, sequential, and controllable. Its real-world applications are seen in motivational interviewing techniques, a client-centered method of facilitating change.

Here motivation is increased together with readiness for change which is determined by our:

willingness to change,

confidence in making the desire changed and

the actions taken to make the change.

See our article on Motivational Interviewing for an in-depth analysis of this model of change and its many applications.

Maslow Motivation

The topic of motivation is most frequently associated with the name of Abraham Maslow and his famous hierarchy of needs (1971). Maslow argued that we all know we must eat, drink, and sleep, but once our basic needs are met, we develop meta-needs. They reflect our higher values, like the need for spiritual and psychological fulfillment.

Maslow believed that all psychological problems stemmed from a lack of meaning and anxiety about these needs not being met (Butler-Bowdon, 2007).

On the whole I think it fair to say that human history is a record of the ways in which human nature has been sold short. The highest possibilities of human nature have practically always been underrated.

Abraham Maslow

Maslow's legacy also included an interesting observation that we fear our best as much as our worst. The Jonah Complex describes our tendency to evade our own capacities.

He observed that for some to have ideals and a mission in life is simply a frightening prospect as it implies that we must lay aside the excuses for not living up to our potential. As a result, we resist the call to greatness and practice what Maslow calls mock humility (1971).

He warns us that when we set low aims for ourselves and do only as much as necessary to be competent, we set ourselves up for deep unhappiness in life. When his students shivered with weakness at the thought of becoming remarkable, Maslow would recall Nietzsche's idea of the law of eternal recurrence and suggested that if we had to live our lives over and over again, we would only do what was really important (1971).

More on Maslow and the hierarchy of needs in our article on Theories of Motivation.

Happiness Motivation

Can happiness be a motivating factor? The answer to that questions depends both on how we define happiness, and also on whom we ask.

Thanks to the rapidly growing research in positive psychology, the science behind what makes life worth living, we know a lot about what makes us happy and what leads to psychological wellbeing. There is also plenty of evidence that positive subjective experiences contribute to increased motivation, or in the least what psychology considers an expression of the same.

From Barbara Fredrickson's research on how positive emotions broaden our perception and increase positive affect and wellbeing to the studies of Teresa Amabile that show how happy employees are more productive, we can see how cultivating optimism and positive emotions can serve an adaptive role and be a distinct motivational factor.

Those who feel good or show positive affect are more creative, help others more, show persistence in the face of failure, make decisions efficiently, show high intrinsic motivation, and so on. Studies show that short-term positive affect helps us be successful in many areas in our lives, including marriage, friendship, income, work, and health (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005).

When we combine basic emotions, cognitive appraisals, and higher-order cognition (e.g., self-concept, emotion, knowledge), we get what psychologists call emotion schemas, which function as the central source of human motivation (Izard, 1993). And here is how we get to connect motivation to the pursuit of what makes life worth living.

The good life consists in deriving happiness by using your signature strengths every day in the main realms of living. The meaningful life adds one more component: using these same strengths to forward knowledge, power or goodness.

Martin Seligman

Martin Seligman argued that genuine happiness and life satisfaction has little to do with pleasure, and much to do with developing personal strengths and character. If cognition operates in the service of motivation (Vohs, & Baumeister), then developing personal strengths and character should lead to increased motivation.

Studies in eudemonic wellbeing, associated with happiness, excellence, and flourishing, describe eudemonic behaviors to include excellence, autonomy, authenticity, self-development, engagement, and autotelic motivation.

When talking about eudaimonia as a form of wellbeing, the recurring concepts include meaning, higher inspiration, connection, and mastery (David, Boniwell, & Ayers, 2014), all attributes related to cognitive mechanisms of motivation.

The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times...the best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limited in voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

These higher motives and their behavioral expressions can also be described as consequences of eudaimonia. According to Haidt (2000), elevating experiences can motivate virtuous behavior.

Seligman (2002) called it a higher pleasure, and Maslow (1973) described an eudemonic person as autonomous, accepting of self, positively relating to others, and possessing a sense of mastery in all of life's domains (David, Boniwell, & Ayers, 2014). And as this description indicates, these individuals would be highly motivated.

Positive psychology looks at a person and asks, "What could be?" Most importantly, however, positive psychology brings attention to the proactive building of personal strengths and competencies, and these cannot be bad for motivation.

A Take-Home Message

Understanding the principles of motivation gives us the capacity to find workable solutions to real-world motivational problems. For what could ever be more important than empowering those around us toward more intentional action, goal attainment, optimal experience, full functioning, healthy development, and resilient sense of self.

Studying and applying motivational science can also help us reverse or cope with impulsive urges, habitual experience, goal failure, counterproductive functioning, negative emotion, boredom, maladaptive or dysfunctional development, and fragile sense of self.

If the greatest victory is over self, should we not aspire to rise above our limitations?

Leave us your thoughts on this topic.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free.

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Motivation and What Really Drives Human Behavior

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In our world of exponential change and ever-increasing complexity, the power rests with those who act, and especially those who act with self-determination and persistence. Our motivation is our most valuable commodity. Multiplied only by action, its value fluctuates with how we invest our attention.

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What is the importance of Nelson Mandela?

8 Ways Nelson Mandela Changed the World - RED

From the beginning, Mandela knew that a single person could be a catalyst for change. He wasn’t afraid to be that catalyst. He refused to give up on his cause and his country. Mandela set an example of dedication, courage, and sacrifice for all. He knew that his struggle was his people’s, as his people’s struggle was his. But Mandela opened that struggle and his message of justice to the world. He set up a foundation in order to secure that his work for justice and peace could continue. Mandela delivered a groundbreaking speech for the fight against HIV/AIDS at a crucial time for South Africans. He understood that while it is important to forgive, history must never forget its troubled past. Mandela channeled his childhood lessons of Ubuntu, and gave those values to the world. Wes was inspired by this when he went to South Africa.

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8 Ways Nelson Mandela Changed the World - RED

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On Nelson Mandela’s birthday, we celebrate the life, achievements, and legacy of the former South African leader.

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question- How does lack of education contribute to poverty?

Understanding How Poverty is the Main Barrier to Education

-Lack of access to education is a major predictor of passing poverty from one generation to the next, and receiving an education is one of the top ways to achieve financial stability.

-Increasing access to education can equalize communities, improve the overall health and help save our planet.

-If families cannot afford the costs of school, they are likely to send boys than girls.

The Lack of education connects to the book because Chapters 7–8 is a major reason why the other Wes Moore remains trapped in a cycle of crime and poverty. The book suggests that education isn’t just about school but it’s about access, support, and the belief.

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Education is a basic human right that opens doors for people to lead healthy lives and contribute to their communities. To end extreme poverty by 2030, we must invest in quality education for all. You can join us and take action on this issue here.
Lack of access to education is a major predictor of passing poverty from one generation to the next, and receiving an education is one of the top ways to achieve financial stability.

In other words: education and poverty are directly linked.

Increasing access to education can equalize communities, improve the overall health and longevity of a society, and help save the planet.

The problem is that about 258 million children and youth are out of school around the world, according to UNESCO data released in 2018.

Children do not attend school for many reasons - but they all stem from poverty.

Here are all the statistics, facts, and answers to questions you might have that shed light on the connection between poverty and education.

How does poverty affect education?

Families living in poverty often have to choose between sending their child to school or providing other basic needs. Even if families do not have to pay tuition fees, school comes with the added costs of uniforms, books, supplies, and/or exam fees.

Countries across sub-Saharan Africa, where the world's poorest children live, have made a concerted effort to abolish school fees. While the ratio of students completing lower secondary school increased in the region from 23% in 1990 to 42% in 2014, enrollment is low compared to the 75% global ratio. School remains too expensive for the poorest families. Some children are forced to stay at home doing chores or need to work. In other places, especially in crisis and conflict areas with destroyed infrastructure and limited resources, unaffordable private schools are sometimes the only option.
Read More: These Are the Top 10 Best and Worst Countries for Education in 2016

Why does poverty stop girls from going to school?

Poverty is the most important factor that determines whether or not a girl can access education, according to the World Bank. If families cannot afford the costs of school, they are more likely to send boys than girls. Around 15 million girls will never get the chance to attend school, compared to 10 million boys.

Gender inequality is more prevalent in low-income countries. Women often perform more unpaid work, have fewer assets, are exposed to gender-based violence, and are more likely to be forced into early marriage, all limiting their ability to fully participate in society and benefit from economic growth.
Read More: 10 Barriers to Education Around the World
When girls face barriers to education early on, it is difficult for them to recover. Child marriage is one of the most common reasons a girl might stop going to school. More than 650 million women globally have already married under the age of 18. For families experiencing financial hardship, child marriage reduces their economic burden, but it ends up being more difficult for girls to gain financial independence if they are unable to access a quality education.

Lack of access to adequate menstrual hygiene management also stops many girls from attending school. Some girls cannot afford to buy sanitary products or they do not have access to clean water and sanitation to clean themselves and prevent disease. If safety is a concern due to lack of separate bathrooms, girls will stay home from school to avoid putting themselves at risk of sexual assault or harassment.

An educated girl is not only likely to increase her personal earning potential but can help reduce poverty in her community, too.

"Educated girls have fewer, healthier, and better-educated children," according to the Global Partnership for Education.

When countries invest in girls' education, it sees an increase in female leaders, lower levels of population growth, and a reduction of contributions to climate change.
Read More: 264 Million Children Are Denied Access To Education, New Report Says
Can education help break the cycle of poverty?

Education promotes economic growth because it provides skills that increase employment opportunities and income. Nearly 60 million people could escape poverty if all adults had just two more years of schooling, and 420 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all adults completed secondary education, according to UNESCO.

Education increases earnings by roughly 10% per each additional year of schooling. For each $1 invested in an additional year of schooling, earnings increase by $5 in low-income countries and $2.5 in lower-middle income countries.
Read More: How We Can Be the Generation to End Extreme Poverty
Education reduces many issues that stop people from living healthy lives, including infant and maternal deaths, stunting, infant and maternal deaths, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and violence.

How can we end extreme poverty through education?

There are more children enrolled in school than ever before - developing countries reached a 91% enrollment rate in 2015 - but we must fully close the gap.

World leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters to address the disparity in 2015 and set 17 Global Goals to end extreme poverty by 2030. Global Goal 4: Quality Education aims to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere."

The first step to achieving quality education for all is acknowledging that it is a vital part of sustainable development. Citizens, governments, corporations, and philanthropists all have an important role to play. Learn how to ensure global access to education to end poverty by taking action here.

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Understanding How Poverty is the Main Barrier to Education

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Here are all the statistics, facts, and answers to questions you might have that shed light on how poverty is the main barrier to education.

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question - How does stubbornness affect growth?

Stubborn Personality: Traits, Challenges, and Growth Strategies

-Stubbornness can be a double edged sword, cutting both ways in terms of its impact on our lives and relationships.

-It takes an enormous amount of effort to shift a stubborn person’s perspective or habits.

-One of the more challenging aspects of stubbornness is the difficulty in admitting mistakes.

-Professional settings can be particularly challenging for stubborn individuals. While their determination can be an asset, an inability to compromise or adapt can lead to conflicts with colleagues and superiors.

Stubbornness is connected to the novel because Wes Moore the author grows in his strength and his maturity when he allows the military school to help him change. In the beginning Wes refused to do what he was told in military school and even tried to run away. However, after his phone call with his mother, Wes began to positively allow guidance in his life.

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Stubborn Personality: Traits, Challenges, and Strategies for Personal Growth

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Explore the traits of stubborn personalities, understand their challenges, and learn effective strategies for personal growth and improved relationships.