Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Why Has “Development” Become A Political Issue In Indian Politics?, Aseema Sinha

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Most observers of India have an implicit model of how Indians vote. They assume that voters in India act on their primary identities, such as caste or community, and that parties seek votes based on group identities—called vote banks—that can be collated into majorities and coalitions. K.C. Suri articulates the logic of this dominant model:

People of this country vote more on the basis of emotional issues or primordial loyalties, such as caste, religion, language or region and less on the basis of policies. The victory or defeat of a party depends on how a party or leaders marshal support …

Mass Media Consumption In Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan And Kazakhstan: The View From Below, Barbara Junisbai, Azamat Junisbai, Nicola Ying Fry

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

This article examines how ordinary people utilize and assess the information options available to them drawing on original, nationally representative surveys conducted in 2012 in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, two regimes characterized by different trajectories since independence. In both countries, television is the main go-to source, while the Internet is used least. Trust in media, however, follows an unexpected pattern. On average, media enjoy higher levels of trust in Kazakhstan than in Kyrgyzstan, despite greater media independence and pluralism in the latter. Ironically, open political competition and media freedom in Kyrgyzstan may have a dampening effect on public trust, while in …

“Performing Archive”: Identity, Participation, And Responsibility In The Ethnic Archive, David J. Kim, Jacqueline Wernimont

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

This essay is an effort to reflect on the theoretical underpinnings and implications of both our three-month process and its product. In particular, we would like to consider how our digital book both publishes an archive and allows authors and readers to “perform archive” or enact “liveness” with the materials therein. We also want to use this as an occasion to raise questions regarding the liberal discourse of digital access that seems at times to overshadow opportunities for critical intervention at this moment of digital-archive fever. In particular, we want to bring the insights of critical race and ethnic studies …

Review - The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus, Robert J. Bunker

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Robert J. Bunker's review of Jennifer L. Hesterman's book, The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus: An Alliance of International Drug Cartels, Organized Crime and Terror Groups, CRC Press 2013.

Sweetened Drink And Snacking Cues In Adolescents. A Study Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Jerry L. Grenard, Alan W. Stacy, Saul Shiffman, Amanda N. Baraldi, David P. Mackinnon, Ginger Lockhart, Yasemin Kisbu-Sakarya, Sarah Boyle Abd, Yuliyana Beleva Abd, Carol Koprowski, Susan L. Ames, Kim D. Reynolds

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The objective of this study was to identify physical, social, and intrapersonal cues that were associated with the consumption of sweetened beverages and sweet and salty snacks among adolescents from lower SES neighborhoods. Students were recruited from high schools with a minimum level of 25% free or reduced cost lunches. Using ecological momentary assessment, participants (N=158) were trained to answer brief questionnaires on handheld PDA devices: (a) each time they ate or drank, (b) when prompted randomly, and (c) once each evening. Data were collected over 7days for each participant. Participants reported their location (e.g., school grounds, home), mood, social …

Multiple Peer Group Self-Identification And Adolescent Tobacco Use, C. Anderson Johnson, Juliana L. Fuqua, Peggy E. Gallaher, Jennifer B. Unger, Dennis R. Trinidad, Steve Sussman, Enrique Ortega

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Associations between peer group self-identification and smoking were examined among 2,698 ethnically diverse middle school students in Los Angeles who self-identified with groups such as Rockers, Skaters, and Gamers. The sample was 47.1% male, 54.7% Latino, 25.4% Asian, 10.8% White, 9.1% Other ethnicity, and 59.3% children of immigrant parents. Multiple group self identification was common: 84% identified with two or more groups and 65% identified with three or more groups. Logistic regression analyses indicated that as students endorsed more high risk groups, the greater their risk of tobacco use. A classification tree analysis identified risk groups based on interactions among …

'The Earth Is Crying Out In Pains Of Childbirth': Bauxite Mining And Sustainable Rural Development In The Brazilian Atlantic Forest, Lena R. Connor

Environmental Analysis Program Mellon Student Summer Research Reports

In 2003, residents of the Serra do Brigadeiro Territory, a rural region of Southeastern Brazil in one of the few remaining patches of the Atlantic Forest, learned of a large number of bauxite concessions in their territory given by the federal government to the prominent Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA), Brazil’s largest aluminum producer. Because the region prides itself on its small-scale agriculture and its lush natural environment, the mining has been the source of much contention in the community. Introduced to the topic by the international conservation non-profit and research center, Iracambi, I spent two months in the territory …

A New Paradigm: Brazilian Catholic Eco-Justice Activism In The Neoliberal Age, Lena R. Connor

Environmental Analysis Program Mellon Student Summer Research Reports

This paper analyzes how traditional liberation theology in Brazil has been adapted in the neoliberal age to encompass ecological goals and rhetoric. In this research report, I first examine the work of prominent Brazilian ecotheologians, Ivone Gebara and Leonardo Boff. I then look into the applications of such ecological liberation theology in Catholic activism in Brazil, focusing on the role of religious advocacy in dam controversies, land reform, and mining.

Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, And Participation, Allegra Swift

Library Staff Publications and Research

Building on their prior research on public policy and the Internet, the authors of Digital Citizenship examine the impact of the Internet on economic opportunity, civic engagement, and political participation. Karen Mossberger, Caroline J. Tolbert, and Ramona S. McNeal define “digital citizens” as those who use the Internet daily and with skill. Analyzing data from Current Population Survey (CPS) and Pew Internet and American Life Project surveys, the authors find that Internet use is lowest in the section of society that would benefit most. The surveys analyzed are compiled of questions about location, education level, work, earnings, computers use, marital …

The Persistent Problem: Inequality, Difference, And The Challenge Of Development, Aseema Sinha, John Echeverri-Gent, Leslie Elliott Armijo, Marc Blecher, Daniel Brumberg, Valerie Bunce, Kiren A. Chaudhry, John W. Harbeson, Evelyne Huber, Bronwyn Leebaw, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, Loren Ryter, Susan L. Woodward

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

This report highlights the complex, multidimensional nature of inequality in the era of globalization. It documents that despite the impressive strides by nations like China and India, absolute inequality between the richest and poorest countries is greater than ever before in history. It demonstrates that the rise of China and India creates a new dimension to the persistent problem of inequality.

Why We Can't Sleep, Gayle Greene

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

Can't sleep? Well you're not alone, especially among women. A 2007 poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that 67 percent of women frequently experience sleep problems and 29 percent use some type of sleep aid at least a few nights a week. Other surveys have consistently found that nearly half again as many women as men complain of insomnia.

Snooze Alarm: What The Deaths Of Celebrities Can Teach Us About The Dangers Of Insomnia, Gayle Greene

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

When a star dies from an overdose, there's a tendency to write it off as "drug abuse." That amazing combination of drugs in Heath Ledger's body, for instance -- what was he thinking? Blame the celebrity, chalk it up to reckless living, a self-destructive lifestyle, a pursuit of pleasure through recreational drugs. But the drugs that killed Ledger -- three types of benzodiazepines, an antihistamine, two pain relievers -- are all substances people take for sleep.

A Bedtime Story, Gayle Greene

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

As we begin National Sleep Awareness Week, that time of year we set the clocks forward, the National Sleep Foundation is busily "Waking America to the Importance of Sleep." A fine and laudable mission, but I wonder, as I watch sleep get its twice-annual 15 minutes of fame --what about those of us who just can't sleep?

The Qingdao Twin Registry: A Focus On Chronic Disease Research, C. Anderson Johnson, Zengchang Pang, Feng Ning, Jennifer B. Unger, Shaojie Wang, Qian Guo, Weihua Cao, Liming Lee

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

With the changing patterns of morbidity and mortality in China, noncommunicable chronic diseases have become the major threats to the health of the Chinese population. The causes of chronic diseases include genetic factors and behavioral risk factors such as the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, unhealthy dietary behaviors, and lack of physical activity. Twin studies offer a unique opportunity to disentangle the genetic and environmental risk and protective factors for chronic disease. The Qingdao Twin Registry (QTR) was initiated in 1998 as part of the National Chinese Twin Registry. Over 11,000 pairs of twins and multiples of all …

Cultural/Interpersonal Values And Smoking In An Ethnically Diverse Sample Of Southern California Adolescents, C. Anderson Johnson, Paula Palmer, Jennifer B. Unger, Sohaila Shakib, Peggy Gallaher, Anamara Ritt-Olson, Michele Mouttapa

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

In ethnically diverse school contexts, values from multiple cultures might influence adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. This study developed scales to assess cultural values among Southern California 6- grade adolescents (N=2281) and evaluated the associations between values and smoking. The scales assessed values salient in many Hispanic and Asian cultures: Respect for Adults (e.g., filial piety, respeto). Interpersonal Harmony (e.g., saving face, simpatia), and Differentiated Gender Roles (e.g., machismo). In cross-sectional and one-year longitudinal models. Respect for Adults and Interpersonal Harmony were associated with a lower risk of lifetime smoking. The associations were significant even after controlling for demographic characteristics, friends' …

Too Many Options Dilute Shared Experience, David E. Drew, Hedley Burrell

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Despite the red carpet glitter of the Oscars, it is no secret that Hollywood has had a far from perfect year at the box office.

And unfortunately for Tinsel Town, its problems go beyond the obvious need for more successful films.

The way we experience both movies and television has evolved. We don't do things together the way we once did. We rent movies and watch them at home rather than going to a local movie theater with family and friends. Box office returns suffer and the centrality of film in our lives is weakened.

The same fragmentation is true …

Geophilia, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Extrapolated from E. O. Wilson's concept of biophilia, geophilia asserts that humans have an organic propensity to find wildlands emotionally compelling. It exists as a human tendency to emotionally connect with natural landscapes.

Getting Grounded In The Post Hometown World, Hedley Burrell, David E. Drew

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Remember when Americans had hometowns? "Where are you from?" we'd ask one another.

And the answer would come back: New York City. St. Joseph, Mo. Atlanta. Santa Barbara, Calif. Chattanooga, Tenn.

But odds are that now we'd get a more complicated response. It'd go something like this: "Well, I was born in Atlanta but we moved to Baltimore when I was 11 and in my junior year of high school, we went out to L.A. I've been in Chicago for a year."

And even this might not be quite accurate. The speaker may have been born in an Atlanta exurb …

Predicting The Past, Recounting The Future: Human Ecology And A Prehistory Of Consciousness, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

This paper is concerned with the organic derivation and primary meaning of Pleistocene finger flutings; I propose that in order to gain insight into the significance of the flutings, we must attempt an understanding of the physical and mental contexts in which they emerged. I suggest that finger flutings provided a cultural record in the Pleistocene which documented thought and action, and made it ready for reflection. Through the process of finger fluting, the human 'self' was objected and reality was modified in the experience of self-consciuosness. I argue that finger flutings, like language, were employed to discover and convey …

Why Are They Dying? An Exercise In Social Analysis And The Formation Of Social Policy, Rudi Volti

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

In the spring semester of 1985 I began to teach a seminar on sociology and public policy. When I met the class for the first time, I had two general goals. First, I wanted to create a classroom environment in which there would be a substantial amount of discussion, questioning, and joint effort, along with the inculcation of a problem-solving spirit. Second, since the course met only once a week, I could not be content to offer the standard first-session fare: handing out a syllabus, taking roll, going over readings and assignments, and generally setting the stage for the real …

Organizations And Expertise In China, Rudi Volti

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

A number of analyses of contemporary Chinese society have centered on the presumed conflicts between politically reliable "reds" and technically proficient "experts." This article challenges this mode of analysis by indicating the multi-dimensionality of both categories and by setting them in their historic and cultural contexts. Particular emphasis is accorded to the importance of organizational affiliation in defining the social role of the expert. A short history of the interaction between organizational development and the role of the expert is presented, along with some considerations of future trends in this area.

The First Year Of College: A Follow-Up Normative Report, David E. Drew, Alan E. Bayer, Alexander W. Astin, Robert F. Boruch, John A. Creager

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The major purpose of this ongoing research program is to determine how students are affected by the colleges they attend (Astin, Panos, and Creager, 1966). Consequently, subsamples of the original groups of participating students have been periodically followed up. These follow-up surveys consist in part of post-tests on selected items administered previously in the Freshman Information Form and in part of items that cover the student's experiences and achievements at his institution, his aspirations and plans for the future, his perceptions and evaluations of the college environment, and his educational outcomes and academic standing.