Digital Commons Network^™

Gop Denying Women Basic Economic Rights, Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

Turnout Differences Among Registered Voters, Lillard Richardson, Grant Neeley

Grant W. Neeley

Much of what we know about turnout in American elections is based on national surveys of voters participating in presidential elections. Much less is known about voter participation in other types of elections. Using verified turnout and registration data, we surveyed registered voters to determine the demographic and attitudinal differences between two groups of voters: those who participated only in presidential elections and others who participated in midterm congressional, state, and local elections as well as presidential elections. We find that age, education, gender, social connectedness, personal contact with local public officials, and satisfaction with government services are significant factors …

Thin Vs. Thick Morality: Ethics And Gender In International Development Programs, Richard Ghere

Richard K. Ghere

This study examines the ethical dimensions of gender-focused international development initiatives undertaken by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and similar agencies. Specifically, it presents three case studies that depict how specific development initiatives in, respectively, India, Tanzania, and Senegal address gender disparities and power relationships. These case studies support the general conclusion that ethically committed development NGOs find difficulty in encouraging women (and men) to reverse oppressive power status-quos in messy contexts.

A New Face Of Poverty? Economic Crises And Poverty Discourses, Helen Erler

H. Abbie Erler

This article explores how economic downturns shape poverty knowledge. Utilizing a content analysis of 689 articles from three major newspapers from 2006 to 2009, this article examines how the Great Recession has shaped discourses on the meaning and causes of poverty in the United States. I find that contemporary accounts of people in poverty employ a structural/contextual narrative more often than a psychological/moral narrative and focus more on the symbolic, rather than material, aspects of poverty. This study highlights how economic crises create a space for new poverty discourses to emerge that challenge the hegemonic narrative, which stigmatizes and Otherizes …

Exploring The Adolescent Life Skill Outcomes Of State 4-H Congress Participation And The Different Outcomes Of Gender And Race Groups, Barry Garst, Joseph Hunnings, Kathleen Jamison, Jewel Hairston, Robert Meadows, Wendy Herdman

Barry A Garst

Research suggests residential 4-H programs enhance life skills. The study reported here explored the life skill outcomes of a 4-day residential State 4-H Congress. Participants were youth ages 14-18. A retrospective pre test and post test were used to evaluate life skills development. Paired sample t-tests indicated significant differences among all of the pre-test and post-test gain scores. Analysis of variance comparisons indicated males and females differed on some life skill items. The study supports the importance of purposeful planning for positive outcomes, as the greatest gains were related to Congress components that were designed to enhance specific life skills.

Surviving The Streets Of New York: Experiences Of Lgbtq, Ymsm, And Ywsw Youth Engaged In Survival Sex, Brendan M. Conner Esq.

Brendan M. Conner

Swimming Upstream: A Study Of Black Males And The Academic Pipeline, Rhonda Wilkins

Rhonda D Wilkins PhD

ABSTRACT SWIMMING UPSTREAM: A STUDY OF BLACK MALES AND THE ACADEMIC PIPELINE Rhonda D. Wilkins Post secondary participation and graduation rates of Black males are declining rapidly. Black women, however, are realizing substantial growth in both of these areas and account for the majority of the increase in Black student college enrollment. This qualitative case study addresses the decline in Black male participation in higher education by focusing on six Black men who completed college programs and the academic pipeline that brought them to their degree. The purpose of the research inquiry was to determine various factors that either helped …

Police-Building And The Responsibility To Protect: Civil Society, Gender And Human Rights Culture In Oceania, Charles Hawksley, Nichole Georgeou

Nichole Georgeou

Forthcoming: This book examines how the United Nations and states provide assistance for the police services of developing states to help them meet their human rights obligations to their citizens, under the responsibility to protect (R2P) provisions. It examines police-capacity building ("police-building") by international donors in Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea (PNG). All three states have been described as "fragile states" and "states of concern", and all have witnessed significant social tensions and violence in the past decades. The authors argue that globally police-building forms part of an attempt to make states "safe" so that they can adhere …

Continuing To Exercise Choice After School Selection In Nepal, Priyadarshani Joshi

Priyadarshani Joshi

Equally Unprepared: Assessing The Hurricane Vulnerability Of Undergraduate Students, Jason Simms, Margarethe Kusenbach, Graham Tobin

Jason L Simms

Federal Competition And Economic Growth, Katrina Kosec, John William Hatfield

Katrina Kosec

Gay Parenthood And The Revolution Of The Modern Family: An Examination Of The Unique Barriers Confronting Gay Adoptive Parents, Nicholas Arntsen

Nicholas Benedict Arntsen

Abstract: In recent decades, the structure of the American family has been revolutionized to incorporate families of diverse and unconventional compositions. Gay and lesbian couples have undoubtedly played a crucial role in this revolution by establishing families through the tool of adoption. Eleven adoptive parents from the state of Connecticut were interviewed to better conceptualize the unique barriers gay couples encounter in the process adoption. Both the scholarly research and the interview data illustrate that although gay couples face enormous legal barriers, the majority of their hardship comes through social interactions. As a result, the cultural myths and legal restrictions …

Did Teachers’ Race And Verbal Ability Matter In The 1960’S? Coleman Revisited, Ronald Ehrenberg, Dominic Brewer

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Our paper reanalyzes data from the classic 1966 study Equality of Educational Opportunity, or Coleman Report. It addresses whether teacher characteristics, including race and verbal ability, influenced "synthetic gain scores" of students (mean test scores of upper grade students in a school minus mean test scores of lower grade students in a school), in the context of an econometric model that allows for the possibility that teacher characteristics in a school are endogenously determined. We find that verbal aptitude scores of teachers influenced synthetic gain scores for both black and white students. Verbal aptitude mattered as much for black teachers …

The Effect Of Immigrant Composition On Student Achievement: Evidence From New York City, Ryan Yeung

Ryan Yeung

There has been a large body of recent literature focused on the effects of school composition on student outcomes. These studies have focused on peer group characteristics such as achievement, gender composition, ethnic and racial composition, and socioeconomic composition. This area of research has been commonly called "peer effects." A relatively unexplored area of peer effects research involves the effect of immigrant children on their schoolmates. Because of the heterogeneity between immigrant groups, this study focuses on East Asian and Dominican immigrant children. As these two groups are on opposite sides of the socioeconomic spectrum, comparing results of the two …

Low-Income Women Speak Out About Housing, Joan Rollins, Renee Saris, Ingrid Johnston-Robledo

Joan H Rollins

This review of the social science literature examines correlates of homelessness. The review is supplemented by the voices of 12 low-income women who are temporarily housed or living in public housing. Homelessness for women is associated with teen pregnancy and parenting, domestic violence, working at minimum-wage jobs, and waiting lists of several years for subsidized housing. We conclude with a summary of women_s experiences accessing government housing programs. Public policy recommendations regarding housing programs are made. Government housing programs are briefly described in an Appendix to the article.

Course Syllabus: Harry Potter And International Politics - Identity, Violence And Social Control, Emma Norman

Emma R. Norman

The themes we draw from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are used to illuminate parallels in contemporary world politics and to apprehend in detail some of the key problems that revolve around the three core themes of the course (identity, violence, and social control). How, for instance, does life in Hogwarts help to illuminate the multiple, crosscutting identities produced by globalization? How does the divide between wizards and muggles, or Hermione’s obsession with elvish welfare, serve to illuminate continued discrimination in current liberal democracies and do these narratives help to widen our options when it comes to minimizing it? What …

Community-Based Operations Research: Introduction, Theory And Applications, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Handling Anticipated Exceptions In Clinical Care: Investigating The Benefits And Consequences Of Providing “Exit Strategies” In Computerized Clinical Information Systems, Kai Zheng, David Hanauer, Rema Padman, Michael Johnson, Anwar Hussain, Wen Ye, Xiaomu Zhou, Herbert Diamond

Michael P. Johnson

Unpredictable yet frequently occurring exception situations pervade clinical care. Handling them properly often requires aberrant actions temporarily departing from normal practice. In this study, the authors investigated several exception-handling procedures provided in an electronic health records system for facilitating clinical documentation, which the authors refer to as ‘data entry exit strategies.’ Through a longitudinal analysis of computer-recorded usage data, the authors found that (1) utilization of the exit strategies was not affected by postimplementation system maturity or patient visit volume, suggesting clinicians' needs to ‘exit’ unwanted situations are persistent; and (2) clinician type and gender are strong predictors of exit-strategy …

Constructing Risk Maternity Care, Law, And Malpractice, Jan Thomas, Elizabeth Cartwright

Jan Thomas

No abstract provided.