Digital Commons Network^™

Mental Health And Substance Abuse Services Preferences Among American Indian People Of The Northern Midwest, Melissa Lynn Walls, Kurt D. Johnson, Les B. Whitbeck, Dan R. Hoyt

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examines factors that influence preferences between traditional cultural and western mental health and substance use associated care among American Indians from the northern Midwest. Personal interviews were conducted with 865 parents/caretakers of tribally enrolled youth concerning their preferences for traditional/cultural and formal healthcare for mental health or substance abuse problems. Adults strongly preferred traditional informal services to formal medical services. In addition, formal services on reservation were preferred to off reservation services. To better serve the mental health and substance abuse treatment needs of American Indians, traditional informal services should be incorporated into the current medical model.

Perceptions Of Latin American Immigration Among Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Miguel A. Carranza, Bruce B. Johnson, Alan J. Tomkins

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

In an earlier Nebraska Rural Poll report (August 2006), rural Nebraskans were asked their opinions of newcomers in general to their community. Some parts of rural Nebraska have seen significant growth of a specific group of newcomers, Latin American immigrants. How do rural Nebraskans view recent immigrants from Latin America? How do they view various immigration policies? Do their views differ by community size, the region in which they live, or their education level?

This report details 2,482 responses to the 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eleventh annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions of current issues and conditions. Respondents …

Perceptions Of Well-Being Among Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson, Alan J. Tomkins

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Nebraska’s economy has been relatively stable during the past year. However, some rural areas continue to be economically challenged. How do rural Nebraskans perceive their quality of life? Do their perceptions differ by community size, the region in which they live, or their occupation?

This report details 2,482 responses to the 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eleventh annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions regarding their individual well-being. Trends for these questions are examined by comparing data from the ten previous polls to this year’s results. In addition, comparisons are made among different …

A Qualitative Study Of Early Family Histories And Transitions Of Homeless Youth, Kimberly A. Tyler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using intensive qualitative interviews with 40 homeless youth, this study examined their early family histories for abuse, neglect, and other family problems and the number and types of transitions that youth experienced. Multiple forms of child maltreatment, family alcoholism, drug use, and criminal activity characterized early family histories of many youth. Leaving home because of either running away or being removed by child protective services often resulted in multiple transitions, which regularly included moving from foster care homes to a group home, back to their parents, and then again returning to the streets. Although having experienced family disorganization set youth …

Building A Better Board: Springboard Into Action, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Building a Better Board: Springboard into Action

Roles and responsibilities

Time devoted to six basic elements

Obstacles

Strategies

Ethics

Recruitment

2006 Nebraska Rural Poll Results: Views Of Life In Nebraska’S Rural Communities, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson, Alan J. Tomkins

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Many rural communities have experienced population growth during the past decade. Communities can continue to attract new residents and maintain their current population by enhancing and promoting their amenities and services. How do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided? Are they planning to move from their community next year?

This report details 2,482 responses to the 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eleventh annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their community. Trends for some of these questions are examined by comparing data from the ten …

Enhancing The Global Fight To End Human Trafficking, U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On International Relations

Human Trafficking: Data and Documents

When I held the first hearing on human trafficking as Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights back in 1999, only a handful of countries had laws explicitly prohibiting the practice of human trafficking. Individuals who engaged in this exploitation did so without fear of legal repercussions. Victims of trafficking were treated as criminals and illegal immigrants and had no access to assistance to escape the slavery-like conditions in which they were trapped. Few seemed to be even aware that this modern form of slavery was taking place and even some of those who did failed to …

Individual And Familial Stressors Among Rural Nebraskan, Bilingual, Paraprofessional Educators, Rochelle L. Dalla, William E. Lopez, Vicky O. Jones, Yan Ruth Xia

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Individual (e.g., depression, learning styles) and familial (e.g., social support) factors affecting the psychosocial well-being of bilingual, rural Nebraska, paraprofessional educators were examined. Of 26 participants, 15 were first and 5 were second generation Hispanic immigrants. All were currently (n = 20) or formerly (n = 6) involved in an online, distance education, bachelor’s degree program in elementary education, with English as a second language certification. Results from data analyses are presented, as are suggestions for working with unique populations.

Newcomers In Nebraska’S Rural Communities, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson, Alan Tomkins

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Population loss in rural Nebraska communities has been a concern, but many communities across the state have experienced population gains during the past decade. Are rural Nebraskans aware of new residents living in their community? How do they feel about their community’s new residents? What do they think will happen to their community’s population during the next ten years?

This report details 2,482 responses to the 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eleventh annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about new residents in their community and their expectations regarding population growth in their …

Trading Sex: Voluntary Or Coerced? The Experiences Of Homeless Youth, Kimberly A. Tyler, Katherine Johnson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examined the circumstances surrounding a homeless youth’s “decision” to trade sex for food, money, shelter, or drugs. Forty homeless youth in 4 Midwestern states participated in individual, in-depth qualitative interviews. Interviewers recruited youth through both service agencies and street outreach. The findings revealed that approximately one third of the sample had some experience with trading sex, whether it was in the form of having traded sex, having been propositioned to trade sex but having refused, or having friends or acquaintances that had traded sex. Young people ‘s reports indicated that they had traded sex for things they deemed …

Examination Of The Relationship Between Nonresponse And Measurement Error In A Validation Study Of Alumni, Kristen Olson, Courtney Kennedy

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

While the individual components of total survey error have been well documented in the literature, relatively little is known about the intersection of these error sources. In particular, there is scant empirical work on the interplay between nonresponse error and measurement error – despite the potentially significant implications for data quality as well as techniques used to recruit respondents. In this paper we investigate the connection between these two error sources using data from a survey of University of Maryland alumni. The availability of administrative records for seven items on the survey instrument (donations, membership in the alumni association, and …

Nurturing New Careers: Preparing Future Librarians For Their Careers Through Pre-Professional Development Sessions At The University Of Alabama Libraries, Brett Spencer, Allyson R. Ard

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

We describe a pre-professional development program for library school graduate assistants that helped participants learn career survival skills, gave them an overview of academic librarianship, and encouraged networking. Many intern or graduate assistant programs have focused on primary job training, but we know of few other assistantship programs featuring pre-professional development sessions on career survival skills like writing a CV or crafting a poster session. We discuss the structure, topics, and results of our program and provide suggestions for creating similar programs at other academic libraries.

Collegiality And The Academic Library, Michael Lorenzen

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

This paper examines the concept of collegiality and how it can be applied to academic libraries. This includes a definition of what collegiality is, a review of the library literature which describes how other writers have seen this issue, and a discussion of how collegiality can be applied in libraries. This includes an examination of how faculty in a library and faculty on other parts of campus work differently which makes collegiality more important in the library. It also looks at why collegiality is important in academic libraries where librarians work hand-in-hand with support staff and student employees.

Review Of Indigenous Use And Management Of Marine Resources By Nobuhiro Kishigami And James M. Savelle, Editors. Osaka: National Museum Of Ethnology, 2005, 455 Pp., Alan J. Osborn

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Book review of Indigenous Use and Management of Marine Resources, by Nobuhiro Kishigami and James M. Savelle, editors. Published in Osaka, Japan by the National Museum of Ethnology in 2005, 455 pages.

Mother–Child Bookreading In Low-Income Families: Correlates And Outcomes During The First Three Years Of Life, Helen Raikes, Barbara Alexander Pan, Gayle Luze, Catherine S. Tamis-Lemonda, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Jill Constantine, Louisa Banks Tarullo, H. Abigail Raikes, Eileen T. Rodriguez

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

About half of 2,581 low-income mothers reported reading daily to their children. At 14 months, the odds of reading daily increased by the child being fi rstborn or female. At 24 and 36 months, these odds increased by maternal verbal ability or education and by the child being fi rstborn or of Early Head Start status. White mothers read more than did Hispanic or African American mothers. For English-speaking children, concurrent reading was associated with vocabulary and comprehension at 14 months, and with vocabulary and cognitive development at 24 months. A pattern of daily reading over the 3 data points …

“It’S A Balancing Act!”: Exploring School/Work/Family Interface Issues Among Bilingual, Rural Nebraska, Paraprofessional Educators, Rochelle L. Dalla, Pallabi Moulikgupta, Wiliam E. Lopez, Vicky Jones

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Nebraska’s rural school districts have a rapidly growing Spanish-speaking student body and few qualified instructors to meet their educational needs. This investigation examined factors that promote and challenge the ability of rural Nebraska paraprofessional educators to complete an online B.S. program in elementary education, with a K-12 English as a second language endorsement. Interviews focused on the interface between school, work, and family, with special attention on family system change and adaptation. Twenty-six bilingual paraprofessional educators enrolled (or formerly enrolled) in the education program were interviewed. Twenty were first- (n = 15) or second-generation (n = 5) immigrant Latino/as. Influences …

Making A Living In Rural Nebraska, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson, Alan J. Tomkins

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Nebraska has historically had a low unemployment rate but the state’s per capita income has also been below the national average. How are rural Nebraskans making a living? How many households have individuals with multiple jobs? Why do individuals hold multiple jobs? How important is agriculture to rural Nebraskans’ families, communities and the state?

This report details 2,482 responses to the 2006 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eleventh annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their jobs and their perceptions about the importance of agriculture in Nebraska. For all questions, comparisons are made …

Modern Day Slavery: Spotlight On The 2006 "Trafficking In Persons Report," Forced Labor And Sex Trafficking At The World Cup, U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On International Relations

Human Trafficking: Data and Documents

The Subcommittee will hear expert testimony today concerning the scourge of human trafficking—modern-day slavery. As I know many people know by now, the United States Government estimates that between 600,000 to 800,000 women, children, and men are brought and sold across international borders each year and exploited through forced labor or commercial sex exploitation. Potentially millions more are trafficked internally within the borders of countries.

No Longer Intending: The Relationship Between Relinquished Fertility Intentions And Distress, Lynn K. White, Julia Mcquillan

Bureau of Sociological Research: Faculty Publications

We use data from both waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to assess whether relinquishing a serious intention to have (more) children leads to greater increases in depressive symptoms than continuing confidence in childbearing intentions. Our sample includes 2,200 individuals of childbearing age, men and women, all parities, and all marital statuses. Change score analysis shows that individuals who relinquished a serious intent to have children had elevated distress at Time 2 and that the association is conditioned by gender, health, and education. We find that fertility potential can be important to psychosocial well-being and that closing …

“That’S The Way We Do Things Around Here”: An Overview Of Organizational Culture, M. Jason Martin

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

Culture permeates all aspects of any society. It acts as the basic fabric that binds people together. Culture dictates tastes in music, clothes, and even the political and philosophical views of a group of people. Culture is not only shared, but it is deep and stable. However, culture does not exist simply as a societal phenomenon. Organizations, both large and small, adhere to a culture. Organizational culture determines how an organization operates and how its members frame events both inside and outside the organization. This paper explores the basic concepts of organizational culture. It describes what organizational culture is, …

Comparing Check-All And Forced-Choice Question Formats In Web Surveys, Jolene D. Smyth, Don A. Dillman, Leah Melani Christian, Michael J. Stern

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

For survey researchers, it is common practice to use the check-all question format in Web and mail surveys but to convert to the forced-choice question format in telephone surveys. The assumption underlying this practice is that respondents will answer the two formats similarly. In this research note we report results from 16 experimental comparisons in two Web surveys and a paper survey conducted in 2002 and 2003 that test whether the check-all and forced-choice formats produce similar results. In all 16 comparisons, we find that the two question formats do not perform similarly; respondents endorse more options and take longer …

Explaining Disparities In Treatment Seeking: The Case Of Infertility, Lynn K. White, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objective: To present an integrated model of help-seeking, review empirical work in its support, and show its application to the explanation of racial and ethnic disparities in infertility help-seeking.
Conclusions: A help-seeking model provides a plausible explanation of observed disparities in infertility help-seeking. In addition to being related to income, race and ethnicity is related to prior experience with doctors, marital status, parity, knowledge and attitudes toward reproductive technology, and attitudes supporting spiritual rather than technological solutions to health problems.

Montessori Education And Its Scientific Basis, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Review of: Angeline Stoll Lillard, Montessori: The science behind the genius, Oxford University Press, 2005.

Montessori education is the subject of Angeline Lillard’s book. Montessori, a brilliant figure who was Italy’s first woman physician, created an approach that reflected a late 19th century vision of mental development and theoretical kinship with the great European progressive educational philosophers, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Johann Pestalozzi and Fredrich Froebel (Edwards, 2002 and Edwards, 2003). The many parallels between her ideas and those of the American progressive, John Dewey, her contemporary, are due to the fact that their ideas grew out of shared theoretical roots …

Some Guiding Assumptions And A Theoretical Model For Developing Culturally Specific Preventions With Native American People, Les B. Whitbeck

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This essay proposes six basic assumptions to guide the development of prevention research partnerships between Native American communities and non-Native American prevention researchers. It also presents a five-stage theoretical model for the development of culturally specific prevention research. The theoretical model addresses the need for: (a) the cultural translation of key prevention constructs pertaining to risk and protective factors and (b) the development of measures of culturally specific risk and protective factors that will contribute to explained variance over and above that explained by traditional European models. “Cultural translation” refers to the process of adapting key variables to reflect their …

Pathways In And Out Of Substance Use Among Homeless-Emerging Adults, Kimberly A. Tyler, Katherine Johnson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although high rates of alcohol and drug use have been found among homeless young people, less is known about who is responsible for their initiation, the reasons for their continued use, and why some individuals eventually transition out of using whereas others do not. Based on qualitative interviews with 40 homeless individuals 19 to 21 years of age in the Midwest, results revealed that the majority of respondents were initiated into substance use by friends and acquaintances, although family also played a significant role. Almost one half of respondents reported using substances to cope with early family abuse, stress, and …

Family, Community, And School Influences On Resilience Among American Indian Adolescents In The Upper Midwest, Teresa D. Lafromboise, Dan R. Hoyt, Lisa Oliver, Les B. Whitbeck

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examines resilience among a sample of American Indian adolescents living on or near reservations in the upper Midwest. Data are from a baseline survey of 212 youth (115 boys and 97 girls) who were enrolled in the fifth through eighth grades. Based upon the definition of resilience, latent class analyses were conducted to identify youth who displayed prosocial outcomes (60.5%) as opposed to problem behavior outcomes. A measure of family adversity was also developed that indicated only 38.4% of the youth lived in low-adversity households. Defining resilience in the context of positive outcomes in the face of adversity, …

Survey Participation, Nonresponse Bias, Measurement Error Bias, And Total Bias, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

A common hypothesis about practices to reduce survey nonresponse is that those persons brought into the respondent pool through persuasive efforts may provide data filled with measurement error. Two questions flow from this hypothesis. First, does the mean square error of a statistic increase when sample persons who are less likely to be contacted or cooperate are incorporated into the respondent pool? Second, do nonresponse bias estimates made on the respondents, using survey reports instead of records, provide accurate information about nonresponse bias? Using a unique data set, the Wisconsin Divorce Study, with divorce records as the frame and questions …

Models Of American Indian Education: Cultural Inclusion And The Family/Community/School Linkage, Adrienne Freng, Scott Freng, Helen A. Moore

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Educational research has explored the impact of culture and the linkage of families and communities to schools on student achievement among minority students. Little focus, however, has been placed on the family/community interactions with schools among culturally distinctive populations such as American Indians and students' perceptions of the educational process. This exploratory research examined the state of education from the perspective of American Indian young adults from various tribes in Nebraska. Instead of focusing on educational achievement, the emphasis of most educational research relating to American Indians, this study explored the model of education in existence. Additionally, researchers explored the …

Infertility: Testing A Helpseeking Model, Lynn K. White, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, David R. Johnson

Bureau of Sociological Research: Faculty Publications

This paper uses data from a study of 196 infertile women from the Midwestern US to examine a general theory of help-seeking behavior applied to infertility. All of these women report meeting the medical definition of infertility—12 months or more of regular intercourse without conception—at some point in their lives. Only 35 percent of this sample of infertile women identified themselves as having had fertility problems and only 40 percent had sought medical treatment.

Drawing on prior theories of help-seeking, we examine the effects of symptom salience, life course cues, attitudes, predisposing factors, and enabling conditions on help-seeking. We posit …

Food Insecurity Among Homeless And Runaway Adolescents, Les B. Whitbeck, Xiaojin Chen, Kurt D. Johnson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of food insecurity and factors related to it among homeless and runaway adolescents.

Design: Computer-assisted personal interviews were conducted with homeless and runaway adolescents directly on the streets and in shelters.

Setting: Interviews were conducted in eight Midwest cities: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Kansas City, Lincoln, Omaha, St. Louis and Wichita.

Subjects: The subjects were 428 (187 males; 241 females) homeless and runaway adolescents aged 16–19 years. Average age of the adolescents was 17.4 (standard deviation 1.05) years.

Results: About one-third of the adolescents had experienced food …