ABBOTT L. FERRISS

SELECTIONS FROM SINET – THE SOCIAL INDICATORS NETWORK NEWS (Accepted 28 May 2001)

QOL INDICATORS FOR PICTURING TRENDS FOR INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The Calvert Group, an asset management firm, has assembled a volume on U.S. QOL that sets the stage for a five year effort “to point a broader picture of quality of life to complement current statistics and identify statistical ‘blindspots’ where new data collection is needed.” The fifteen authors of the volume approach the task by discussing the implications and content of each area and presenting selected time series to illustrate it. No general QOL measure is offered and the SINET reviewer, K. Land, has some reservations about the conceptualization. The twelve domains of QOL are chiefly indexed by objective indicators. They are heralded as an interdisciplinary, systems approach that will identify underlying trends. The volume: Hazel Henderson, John Lickerman and Patrice Flynn, eds, Calvert Henderson Quality of Life Indicators, Bethesda, MD: Calvert Group, Ltd., price, $19.95. Order from Calvert Group, Ltd., 4550 Montgomery Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814. The twelve chapters are devoted to the following topics: − Education Indicator, by Jill Dianne Swenson, addresses quantity, quality and distribution of education in the U.S. Life long learning is emphasized through identifying who learns what, where, and how throughout the life cycle. − Energy Indicator by John A. “Skip” Laitner, describes the quantity and efficiency of energy consumption in the U.S. and suggests steps to reduce environmental impact of energy consumption. − Environmental Indicator by Kenneth P. Scott, presents information on the health of our environment, emphasizing the Social Indicators Research 56: 353–358, 2001. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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production-consumption process, and offers a focus on water and air quality. Health Indicator by Constance Battle and Mary Jenifer, discusses what constitutes health and looks at the status of the general public’s health by age, race and gender. Human Rights Indicator by Alya Kayal, examines the degree to which the Bill of Rights of the Constitution is protecting citizens and the level of participation in the electoral process. Income Indicator by Lawrence Mishel, identifies changes in the standard of living as measured by family income, and examines trends in the level nd distribution of family income and wealth over the past 25 years. Infrastructure Indicator by William J. Mallett, explains the significance of physical infrastructure to the economy and gives an example of how to supplement national accounts with an improved asset account to monitor physical stock. National Security Indicator by Col. Daniel M. Smith, Ret., explains the process of achieving national security through the political process and includes diplomatic and military strategies which are influenced by public opinion. Public Safety Indicator by Trudy Karlson, examines the effectiveness of promoting public safety that is conditioned by personal decisions, public actions, risks and hazards that may result in deaths. Recreation Indicator by Richard A. Peterson and Carrie Y. Lee, provides an approach to the myriad ways we choose to re-create to be revitalized in body and mind, and to re-establish social contacts through leisure time activities. Shelter Indicator by Patrick A. Simmons, explores Americans’ housing, its affordability and its effects on broader social outcomes.

The volume promises further exploration of these dimensions with “reliable, consistent and verifiable statistics” for the reader to ponder. In commenting upon the volume, K. Land points out the need for a definition of the QOL, the further need for summary or aggregated measures of the several domains. While the volume advances the ‘systems approach’ in fact no systems model is advocated, nor are

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linkages among the domains suggested. This is, however, the first volume in what is promised as a five-year effort.

CHILD TRENDS: CRITERIA FOR IMPROVING CHILD AND FAMILY INDICATORS

The nonpartisan, non-profit research center, Child Trends (4301 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20008; ph. 202 362-5580) has published a Research Brief, “Building a Better System of Child and Family Indicators,” which will interest scholars of child well-being. It identifies five uses of social indicators and sets fourth criteria for child well-being, some of which require further data development. The five uses of indicators are: description of children and families, monitoring trends in indicators, the use of setting goals for program development, accountability for the outcome of public programs, and the use of evaluation of programs intended to change child and family well-being. These uses are set forth in B. V. Brown and T. Corbett, “Social Indicators and Public Policy in the Age of Devolution,” IRP Special Report Series, Madison, WI: Institute for Research on Poverty, 1998. Thirteen indicators of child well-being are set forth from an article by Kristin A. Moore, “Criteria of Indicators of Child Wellbeing” from the volume, Robert M. Hauser, Brett V. Brown and William Prosser, eds, Indicators of Child Well-Being, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997. The thirteen are: 1, comprehensive coverage; 2, children of al ages; 3, clear and comprehensive; 4, positive outcomes; 5, depth, breath, and duration; 6, common interpretation; 7, consistency over time; 8, forward looking; 9, rigorous methods; 10, geographical detailed; 11, cost efficient; 12, effective social goals; and 13, adjusted for demographic trends. The Research Brief further emphasizes the need for positive measures of child well-being, noting that current measures chiefly index the prevalence of problems, such as infant mortality and violence.

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL INDICATORS MOVEMENT

SINET nos. 61 and 61, a combined issue of February/May, 2000, presents “A Brief History of Social Indicators Developments.” The author, Abbott L. Ferriss. traces from the genetic steps in the 1930s to major events in the 1960s and continuing to current advances, citing some 26 references. The article outlines the intellectual underpinnings of the use of social indicators in the 1930s, sets forth the promising beginnings in the 1960s, the vigorous achievements of the 1970s, and describes the evolution during the 1980s when major support for the program in the U.S. was reduced. The article sets forth the “welfare” orientation of the initial promises of the “movement” and points to the flowering of quality of life studies today. Other historical reviews are cited, as follows: Land, Kenneth C.: 1992, ‘Social indicators’, in E. F. Borgatta and M. L. Borgatta (eds.), Encyclopedia of Sociology (Macmillan, N.Y.), pp. 1844– 1850. Land, Kenneth C.: 1996, ‘Social indicators and the quality of life: Where do we stand in the mid-1990s?’ SINET 45, pp. 5–8. Noll, H-H and Wolfgang Zapf: 1994, ‘Social indicators research: Societal monitoring and social reporting’, in L. Borg and P. P. Mohler (eds.), Trends and Perspectives in Empirical Social Research (Walter de Gruyter, N.Y.), pp. 1–16. Andrews, Frank M.: 1989, ‘The Evolution of a Movement’, The Journal of Public Policy 9(4), pp. 401–405. Ferriss, Abbott L.: 1979, ‘The U.S. Federal effort in developing social indicators’, Social Indicators Research 6(2), pp. 129–149. Ferriss, Abbott L.: 1989, ‘Whatever happened, indeed!’, The Journal of Public Policy 9(4), pp. 413–417. Ferriss, Abbott L.: 1988, ‘The uses of social indicators’, Social Forces 66(3), pp. 601–617. Rockwell, Richard C.: 1983, ‘Social indicators at the council’; Elearnor Bernet Sheldon, Robert Parke and Murray Aborn, ‘Recollections and views of key figures in the social indicators program’, and ‘The council’s program in social indicators’, Items (December) 37(4).

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INDICATORS OF CRIME AND INCARCERATION IN THE U.S.

The National Crime Victimization Survey shows that property crimes have declined in the U.S. for a least 25 years. Since 1958, crimes of larceny, burglary, theft in general and motor vehicle theft have fallen 58 percent. Jan M. Chaiken, the author of the analysis published in the National Institute of Justice Journal (Jan. 2000), shows that during roughly the same time span property crime in Canada has remained roughly steady while in England and Wales property crimes have increased and now the rates exceed those of the U.S. Chaiken attributes the U.S. decline in property crimes to instillation of window and door alarms, better illumination inside and outside houses, more private security and gated communities, and the use of credit cards rather than carrying cash. Fewer people are abroad at night, owing to TV home viewing, thereby reducing opportunities for being victims. U.S. rape rates have been declining since about 1979, rapidly since 1992. Chaiken discusses the possibility that victims of rape are reluctant to report incidents and reviews efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Criminal Justice to develop more sensitive methods for understanding the incidence of domestic violence, including sexual assault. He also points out that women have become more capable of protecting themselves from aggression. Serious, violent crimes against the person have declined by about 31 percent since 1994. The author points to legislation at State and Federal levels against violence against women. However, for women victimization rate declined less than 15 percent during the 1990s and still is above the level of the 1970s. Women college students are at greater risk than non-college women of the same age. There is a long-term decline in the use of guns in fatal crimes. Since 1975 in the U.S. incarceration rates have increased alarmingly. After holding more or less steady for decades the rate has more than quadrupled. Disproportionately, minority racial and ethnic groups are incarcerated. This has implications for the body politic, for in some communities everyone knows a person who is incarcerated, and felons become ineligible to vote, thereby reducing interest in elections. Data show that generally 30 percent of black

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men ages 20 to 29 are under correctional supervision. A statistical model reveals that a black man age 16 in 1996 had a probability of 0.285 of spending time in prison during his life. This does not include spending a night or so in jail. Chaiken’s discussions urges study of the forces behind the decline in crime, including comparative studies of crime trends in other nations. In his commentary on the study, Kenneth C. Land points to the importance of understanding crime phenomena for social indicator and quality of life researchers. Crime influences the quality of life in communities, he points out. This also applies to the effects of incarcerated persons on their communities. Editor’s Note: Reader’s contributions to this department should be addressed to Abbott L. Ferriss, Editor Emeritus, SINET, Department of Sociology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA (E-mail: [email protected]). 1273 Oxford Rd. N.E. Atlanta, GA 30306 E-mail: [email protected]