Publishing Opportunities

CALL FOR ARTICLES – The Russell Sage Foundation – Moving Beyond Deaths of Despair: Understanding Rising Mortality and Morbidity among Americans without College Degrees

In articles published in 2015 and 2017, economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton, two of the co-editors of this issue of RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, reported that mortality rates were rising among middle-aged white Americans without four-year college degrees. Case and Deaton pointed to the cumulative effects of decades of industrial decline on successive cohorts, and they argued that when decent-paying, often unionized work is in short supply, people who are unable to obtain these jobs experience a loss of purpose and dignity that can lead to self-destructive behaviors. In making this argument, the authors drew upon, in part, the writings of the other co-editor of this issue, sociologist Andrew Cherlin, on the working-class family. Cherlin argued that the psychological distress among the white working class stemmed from the comparisons that young adults were making between their standard of living and the standard of living of their parents when they were growing up—a comparison that often showed that the young adults were not doing as well as their parents.

But mortality rates have evolved over time, and the metaphor of despair is not as useful as it was a decade ago. For Case and Deaton, “deaths of despair” was simply a label for the three causes, suicide, drugs, and alcohol; and they never proposed a clinical definition of “despair.” The overdose problem, however, is no longer simply about prescription opioids or even heroin usage, as it was in the early 2010s. It has also become a fentanyl problem, and it is not limited to white people. By 2021, as fentanyl flooded urban drug markets, two things had happened: First, the prevalence of heroin use had risen not just among white Americans but also among Black Americans (and to a lesser extent among Hispanic Americans). Second, the rate of overdose deaths attributed to fentanyl had become larger among Blacks than among whites (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). The huge increase in overdose deaths due to fentanyl since 2014 has more to do with the deadly power of this synthetic opioid than with feelings of despair among its users. This broader focus on the topic should be guided by a central finding that has been consistent and unchallenged since the early Case and Deaton articles: the widening difference in mortality rates by educational level.

We invite scholars to submit proposals that address the questions of what explains the growing educational divide in physical and mental health and what this widening means for the lives of Americans without college degrees. We expect that many of the papers will directly address differences in mortality, including not only drug abuse, alcohol-related disease, and suicide but also major causes of death such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. But we also encourage papers that will encompass topics as diverse as the changing labor market; social class; gender, racial, ethnic perspectives; studies of family and personal life; spatial variation; political processes; and social policy. Papers that primarily continue the debate that has occurred over the past decade about the appropriateness of the deaths of despair framing are not the focus of this issue. Rather, we wish to move forward by de-emphasizing that framing and focusing on important research questions for the next decade. We welcome evidence-based proposals from all social science disciplines and all methodological approaches. Below we offer a (non-exhaustive) list of the kinds of thematic questions that are well-suited for this issue.

Deadline: Prospective contributors should submit a CV and an abstract (up to two pages in length, single or double spaced) of their study along with up to two pages of supporting material (e.g., tables, figures, pictures, etc.) no later than 5 PM EST on September 4, 2024 to:

https://rsf.fluxx

Posted 07/17/24

Nature: Special Collections – Call for Papers The journal Nature (impact factor: 42.78) has issued calls for several topical issues focused on social science themes including: Continuity and change in Russian politics; Green criminology and environmental harm; China in the Global South; Digital society and capitalism; Social and spatial inequalities: processes, impacts and policies; Conceptualizing health research participation in the era of big data; Migration, poverty and inequality; Critical and cultural perspectives on dementia and more. Learn more at Nature: Special Collections.

Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity is a scholarly journal dedicated to the dissemination of information in the field of sexual orientation and gender diversity. The journal seeks submissions in all areas of psychological research, including developmental, social, clinical, community, counseling, family, gender roles and gender nonconformity, lifespan and aging, cultural diversity including race and ethnicity, and international issues. To learn more about the journal, including how to submit a manuscript, see the Psychgology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity website.