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Estimating The Effects Of Condemned Inmates' Last Statements On Public Opinion About The Death Penalty: A Factorial Survey Approach, Timothy P. Colyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been an increase in writings that address the last statements of condemned offenders. Many of these writings suggest that exposure to the humanity sometimes exhibited in these last statements may steer public opinion against the death penalty. This dissertation tests this suggestion by exposing 400 participants to randomly generated vignettes containing various capital crimes, demographic characteristics, and last statements. The survey data are analyzed utilizing multilevel modeling. Study results include the effects of varying levels of demonstrated humanity in the last statements of condemned offenders on public opinion, and whether specific demographic characteristics appear to influence study participant …

Citizens' Engagement With Torture: An Analysis Of Neutralizations, Leigh Dickey

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Sexual Politics And Social Change, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

The Article examines the impact of social movement activity upon the advancement of GLBT rights. It analyzes the state and local strategy that GLBT social movements utilized to alter the legal status of sexual orientation and sexuality following the Supreme Court's ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick. Successful advocacy before state and local courts, human rights commissions, and legislatures fundamentally shifted public opinion and laws regarding sexual orientation and sexuality between Bowers and the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas. This altered landscape created the ''political opportunity" for the Lawrence ruling and made the opinion relatively "safe. "

Currently, …

The Effects Of An Offender's Ethnicity As Well As The Type Of Crime Committed, On Public Perceptions Regarding Seriousness, And The Sentencing Principles Seen As Most Appropriate, Andrea Kysely

Theses : Honours

Public opinion has been evidenced as exerting significant influence over the development of, and alteration to, policies dealing with offenders (Roberts, 1992). Research suggests that an offender's ethnicity, as well as the seriousness of a crime, have a significant effect on public opinion regarding the appropriateness of an imposed sentence, and the goals of sentencing seen as most important (Herzog & Rattner, 2003). However whilst research in the United States and Europe has continued to expand, there is a significant lack of research directly related to the Australian context. The significant over-representation of Indigenous Australians in Australian prisons, potentially reflects …

Will The Followers Be Led? Where Union Members Stand On Immigration?, Roger Waldinger

Roger D Waldinger

Immigration is a source of cleavage on both sides of the usual ideological divides, as illustrated by its propensity to divide the American labor movement. This paper explores this question through a detailed analysis of a 2006 survey of national opinion, conducted by the Pew Centers, which provides the unusual opportunity to spotlight the opinions of union members. The results signal a warning light, as the views of union members turn out to be very different from those advanced by their leaders.

Personal Responsibility Versus Government Responsibility Welfare Attitudes Post-1996, Emily C. Ing

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The welfare system in the United States underwent a major overhaul in 1996, transforming Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Since then, there has been little research conducted on attitudes toward welfare. This is still a topic worth investigating, as poverty and homelessness remain a problem in the United States.

This thesis hypothesized that attitudes about welfare would vary according to an individual's commitment to individualism, a hegemonic value in the United States. This thesis also hypothesized that welfare attitudes would vary according to an individual's education, gender, marital status, race, and …

Opinions On Government Spending On Social Security: A Year And Cohort Analysis, Melissa Castora

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper is an analysis of American's opinions on government spending on Social Security. The main objectives were to analyze the effect of year and cohort membership on the likelihood for American's to say that they think the government is spending too little on Social Security. The data was obtained from the General Social Survey. Results of the analysis conclude that year is statistically significant in predicting the likelihood of those who say the government is spending too little on Social Security. When comparing every year to 1994, 1996 is the only year that year that respondents were less likely …

Lock'em Up And Throw Away The Key: Racial Attitudes And The Structural Determinants Of Support For Crime Policy Among White Americans, Amanda J. Abraham

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates support for the death penalty and federal crime spending among white Americans. Data from the American National Election Studies (ANES) series (1992-2000) are matched with census tract level indicators of demographic and community characteristics from the 1990 and 2000 Census Bureau Summary File Tape 3A and county level crime data supplied by the Federal Bureau of Investigation�s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Ordered logistic regression is used to investigate five general research questions: (1) Are racial attitudes the most salient individual level predictors of support for crime policy among whites as suggested by prior research? (2) Are whites� …

An Examination Into The Effects Of Social Positioning And Capitalist Immersion On Gendered Attitudes Towards Homosexuality In The United States, Fiona J. Blee

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Previous research on attitudes towards homosexuality has concentrated on characteristics of individuals, and neglected the capitalist structure of society that provides the contextual setting for the creation and maintenance of cultural attitudes.

This thesis uses responses collected in the general social survey of the United States between 1993 and 1998, to provide a more comprehensive explanation of differences in attitudes towards homosexuality, through an analysis of social position and the capitalist agenda. The analysis revealed significant relationships between sex, age, race, income, beliefs regarding the domestication of women, and attitudes towards homosexuality.

The analysis showed that respondents categorized as black …

Why Did They Emigrate? An Examination Of Five Danish Farming Periodicals During The Period From 1860 To 1900 To Determine What Motivated Farm Laborers To Emigrate., Jette Mackintosh

The Bridge

One question in emigration research has always intrigued me: Why did Peter Jensen find conditions in Denmark so unbearable that he could stand them no longer or why was he so tempted by the prospects on the other side of the Atlantic that he emigrated, while his neighbor, Jens Petersen, who apparently had exactly the same conditions, stayed at home and put up with things? Unfortunately it can probably never be answered satisfactorily. It may be possible to find reasons for some of the emigrations in letters and diaries, but we have no basis for comparison in the form of …

The Influence Of Male Gender Role Conflict On Life Satisfaction, Tracey Hancock

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examined the relationship between male gender role conflict and life satisfaction, once the effects of both psychological symptoms and recent traumatic life events were accounted for. The study comprised 100 male participants, 50 from a clinical sample and 50 from a non-clinical sample. Participants were aged between 19 and 70. Participants were asked to complete 4 questionnaires: the Gender Role Conflict Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the Life Events Questionnaire. Results were obtained using standard and multiple regression analyses. Gender role conflict was found to impact on life satisfaction for both …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2000, James V. Koch, Aditi Agarwal, Vinod Agarwal, Rebecca Bowers, Steve Daniel, Michele Darby, John Gawne, Beth Herders, Jeffrey Harlow, Tatiana Isakovski, Sharon Lomax, Helen Madden, Stephen Medvic, Deborah L. Miller, Wayne Talley, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

Those who know and love the region of Hampton Roads wish to make it an even better place to live than it is currently. In order for us to achieve that end, we must know literally "where we are" in critical areas. This first "State of the Region" Report is designed to provide citizens with a detailed, though not burdensome, look at several critical aspects of the lives we live in Hampton Roads. The Report focuses on topics such as the regional economy (including the tourist and military sectors), the workforce, K-12 education, technology, and of course, government and regional …

Contesting Legal Procedures Of Risk Management In Belgium: A Case Study, Tomke Lask

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Lask evaluates legal procedures for dealing with siting problems in Belgium in the context of an actual conflict, and discusses how citizens' dissatisfaction with governmental systems has resulted in increased involvement in environmental issues.

Occasional Paper No. 092-1: Health Care Perceptions Of Nebraska's Urban & Rural Aged, James A. Thorson, F. C. Powell

Publications

Random samples were drawn in Douglas County, Nebraska (N = 196, mean age = 73.8 years), in the counties surrounding Douglas County also served by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging (N = 104, mean age = 72.4 years), and in eleven of the rural Sandhills counties of Nebraska (N = 200, mean age = 76.6). Participants responded to structured interviews of 169 questions that included self-assessed health status, availability of health care and physician services, costs, attitudes toward health care services, health experiences and beliefs. While the Sandhills respondents were significantly older and had less access to health services, …

Support For An Outdoor Pool In Papillion, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This report summarizes findings from a December 1991 telephone survey that was conducted by the Center for Public Affairs Research for the city of Papillion. The survey was designed to determine voter support for the construction of an out-of-doors swimming pool.

Turning On Youth To Politics; Beyond Community Service, Harry C. Boyte

Civic Engagement

Studies by the Times Mirror Center ("The Age of Indifference") and others purport to reveal that today's teenagers and young adults view politics with nearly universal hatred and express apathy toward public affairs generally. A little more probing uncovers a more complex set of attitudes. Allan Moyle's film Pump Up the Volume, based in part on workshops with teenagers in New York, reveals a generation not so much apathetic as disgusted with adult hypocrisy, furious at adults' apparent inaction on mounting social problems, cynical about 1960s-style protest and uncertain about what else there is to do. But it is clear …

Commonwealth's Choice: Results From The Massachusetts Public Opinion Survey, Barry Bluestone, Mary Ellen Colten, Thomas Ferguson

John M. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies Publications

From November 11 through December 4, 1989, the Center for Survey Research of the University of Massachusetts at Boston conducted a random digit dial survey of adults aged 18 and over in Massachusetts. A total of 423 individuals were interviewed in a sampling procedure that yielded a 63 percent response rate. In contrast to most media polls, this survey was carried out over a period of four weeks permitting extensive efforts at locating and interviewing difficult-to-reach, reluctant, or less interested respondents. This survey is likely to be more representative of the true population of Massachusetts than most state polls.

Public Opinion On The Death Penalty: The Reasons Behind The Views, Lauren Ungar

Honors Papers

Even the most outspoken proponents of the death penalty would not support its use for all of these 'crimes', but there is little consensus as to when, if ever, it should be used. Public opinion has been considered an important indicator of the death penalty's constitutionality and it is likely to be heavily considered by state and national legislators deciding whether to support upcoming bills to reinstate the death penalty. Recent public opinion polls show increasing support for the death penalty, but few researchers have asked their respondents to expand on why or under what circumstances they would favor the …

An Analysis Of Attitudes Navajo Community Leaders Have Toward A Religion Sponsored Program Based Upon Membership Of That Faith And Amount Of Information Attained, Howard Rainer

Theses and Dissertations

The problem is to analyze the opinions of the Navajo community leadership towards a religion sponsored program, as related to their exposure to information about the program and to othether social variables. Specifically, this study is concerned with two main questions:
1. Is the reaction among Navajo community leaders towards the LDS Indian Placement Program related to the amount of information they have available about that program?
2. Is the attitudes of Navajo community leaders concerning the Placement Program related to their social economic status of age, religious affiliation, and other such variables?