Digital Commons Network^™

Net Worth Accumulation By Different Quintiles Of Older Adults Approaching Retirement Age And 10 Years Later, Martha N. Ozawa, Yeong H. Yeo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The shift in responsibility for income security from the government to individuals makes the accumulation of net worth a vital issue. We investigated the rate of net worth accumulation for people aged 51 to 61 in 1991 (N=7,544) and 61 to 71 in 2001 (N=5,711) using the RAND Health and Retirement Study. We found that the rate of net worth accumulation by the fifth (top) quintile was extremely high in 1991, and the distribution of net worth became more skewed in favor of the wealthy in 2001. Older adults in the first and second quintiles are unable to face the …

Foster Care Workers' Emotional Responses To Their Work, Alissa Schwartz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The field of child welfare struggles with high rates of job turnover. This study describes the contributors to and experiences of foster care workers' emotional responses to their work. Uniquely drawing from the field of Positive Psychology, it describes and conceptualizes the relationships of multi-level contributors to foster care workers' emotional reactions at work. In-depth interviews conducted with 25 foster care workers found that negative emotions were more prominently featured than positive, but that working in an agency with positive workplace characteristics mitigated this relationship. Theoretical implications and limitations of taking a Positive Psychology approach to the study are discussed.

Social Work And Conditional Cash Transfers In Latin America., Cindy Calvo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs are a recent anti-poverty strategy in Latin America. CCT programs provide cash benefits to finance basic needs and foster investment in human capital to extremely poor households. These benefits are conditioned on certain behaviors, usually related to investments in nutrition, health, and education. In the literature, there is a recognizable lack of analyses from social science disciplines related to CCT program implications. This paper contributes in this arena by analyzing the particular role of social work in CCT anti-poverty programs. The educational element of these programs and its theoretical foundation based on the human capital …

Anything Goes? Science And Social Constructions In Competing Discourses, Philip Dybicz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examines, then disproves, the claim that social work practices based upon postmodern thought are either anti-science, or at the very least, weak on their respect for and application of scientific knowledge. Postmodern thought does attack the epistemological theory of positivism as well as the correspondence theory of truth. Hence, postmodern social work practices do seek to displace the role that scientific knowledge plays in guiding the helping situation. Rather than diagnosing causes and effects in a problem-solving endeavor, science is used to circumscribe the boundaries within which a postmodern endeavor at consciousness- raising takes place. Describing this new …

The Role Of The Neighborhood In Making Welfare Reform Possible, David I. Siegel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article will analyze the role of the neighborhood in making welfare reform possible. It will consider the neighborhood and its environment as a context for welfare reform, the influence of neighborhood conditions and effects, recent neighborhood theory building, the neighborhood as a source of relevant values, and finally neighborhood programs that contribute to welfare reform.

Review Of Invisible Hands: The Businessmen's Crusade Against The New Deal. Kim Phillips-Fein. Reviewed By Robert Leighninger., Robert Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Kim Phillips-Fein, Invisible Hands: The Businessmen's Crusade Against the New Deal. W. W. Norton, 2009. $16.95 paperback.

Review Of Remaking Citizenship: Latina Immigrants And New American Politics. Kathleen M. Coll. Reviewed By Lirio K. Negroni., Lirio K. Negroni

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Kathleen M. Coll, Remaking Citizenship: Latina Immigrants and New American Politics. Stanford University Press, 2010. $22.95, paperback.

Review Of American Uprising: The Untold Story Of America's Largest Slave Revolt. Daniel Rasmussen. Reviewed By Phillip Seitz., Phillip Seitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Daniel Rasmussen, American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt. Harper Collins, 2011. $26.99, hardcover.

Review Of The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America's Great Migration. Isabel Wilkerson. Reviewed By Richard Sherman., Richard Sherman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. Random House, 2010. $30.00, hardcover.

Review Of Living The Drama: Community, Conflict, And Culture Among Inner-City Boys. David J. Harding. Reviewed By Wilma Peebles-Wilkins., Wilma Peebles-Wilkins

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of David J. Harding. Living the Drama: Community, Conflict, and Culture among Inner-City Boys. The University of Chicago Press, 2010. $25.00, paperback.

Moving To Opportunity: The Story Of An American Experiment To Fight Ghetto Poverty. Xavier De Souza Briggs, Susan J. Popkin & John Goering. Reviewed By Margeurite Rosenthal., Marguerite Rosenthal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Xavier de Souza Briggs, Susan J. Popkin & John Goering, Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty. Oxford University Press, 2010. $19.95, paperback.

Review Of Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, And Intervention In Haiti. Erica Caple James. Reviewed By Amy Wilentz., Amy Wilentz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Erica Caple James, Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti. University of California Press, 2010. $60 hardcover, $24.95 paperback.

Review Of From Madness To Mental Health: Psychiatric Disorder And Its Treatment In Western Civilization. Greg Eghigian (Ed.). Reviewed By Christopher Hudson., Christopher Hudson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Greg Eghigian (Ed.), From Madness to Mental Health: Psychiatric Disorder and its Treatment in Western Civilization. Rutgers University Press, 2010. $32.95, paperback.

Fragmentation And Segmentation: Marketing Global Benefits, Russell P. Adams

International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications

Though consumption culture and globalization are major themes impacting the modern landscape, there has been limited research in these areas due to, in part, the increasing fragmentation of markets. A case is made that the seemingly disparate views, cultural fragmentation and global segmentation can be harmonized. This paper presents a theoretical framework to understand how the fragmentation of markets and global segmentation strategies can be compatible. Due to the cultural convergence brought on by globalization and marketing intermediaries, global segments can be identified through the common needs sought by consumers.

Rural Tourism And Gendered Nuances, Peggy Petrzelka, Stephanie Malan, Emily Goodwin

All Current Publications

Despite numerous studies conducted on rural residents’ perception of attempts at tourism development in their communities, findings are often contradictory. While several explanations have been provided for these contradictions, the two of interest here are a tendency to view residents under study as a single group, rather than examining variation among local subgroups, and the related tendency to ignore or trivialize possible differences in men’s and women’s orientations.

Lifting The Weight Of Chronic Illness: Wsu Social Work Researcher Uncovering Ways To Cope With Long-Term Disease And End-Of-Life Issues, Editorial Staff

New Science

Faith Pratt Hopp, Ph.D., M.S.W., assistant professor of social work in Wayne State University's School of Social Work, recognizes that advanced chronic diseases such as heart failure and diabetes have as many psychological implications as they do medical. Hopp conducts qualitative and quantitative research to understand the experience of those with advanced chronic illness, as well as their caregivers, with the purpose of identifying coping strategies and developing interventions. Her most recent studies were funded by a $100,000 grant from the John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program. The research was done in the context of the social …

The Arab Spring: Endgames As Framing Battle, Colm Campbell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The narrative of the Arab Spring (including the Syrian uprising) in the mainstream media appears clear and linear: a cruel dictator is challenged in a series of street demonstrations that rapidly coalesce to become a popular uprising. The dictator resorts to increasingly brutal repression, but this fails to end the challenge. Within a relatively short time the dictator is overthrown. Elections within a reasonable period are announced, promising the creation of a democracy that is representative not only of the protest movement, but of society as a whole. Raghida Dergham's Huffington Post article largely reflects this perspective, drawing attention to …

September Roundtable: "The Syrian Spring" And Human Rights, Introduction, Raslan Ibrahim

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“The UN Security Council's Pro-Syrian 'Defiance Coalition' Crumbles”. By Raghida Dergham. Huffington Post, August 2011.

White Noise, White Heat, Therese O'Donnell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

If, as former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously uttered, "A week is a long time in politics," then the Six weeks since Raghida Dergham's article could be a lifetime and the last six months of the "Arab Spring" an aeon.

The Moral International Sphere As A New "Civic Virtue", Claudia Heiss

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Liberal political theory, the predominant paradigm at least since the 1970s, rules out as oppressive the imposition of any substantive notion of a "good way of life" and proposes instead a neutral conception where each individual should have the right to pursue his or her own preferred project of life. This opposition of an ancient "virtue" and a modern "freedom" seems challenged by current debates about morality and the responsibility to protect innocent civilians from massive crimes. The moral outrage of the international community may be interpreted as a signal of a perhaps minimal notion of civic virtue, which translates …

The Effects Of Systemic Ableism On Those With A Visual Impairment : A Theoretical Perspective, Jessica Lynn Wierzbowski

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This theoretical investigation examines the link between systemic ableism towards those with visual impairment and whether it elicits symptoms of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the visually impaired. For the purpose of this thesis ableism will be defined as, –often makes the world unwelcoming and inaccessible for people with disabilities_С_ (Hehir, 2007, p.10). Meaning, barriers exist (Madriga, 2007) for those with a visual impairment. An example of a barrier for those with a visual impairment is the desire to want those with a visual impairment to read regular print instead of large print or Braille (Hehir, 2007). Society maybe be …

High School Dropouts Returning To Study: The Influence Of The Teacher And Family During Secondary School, Robert Whannell, William Allen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated the influence of the teacher and family relationships during secondary school for 18 to 22 year old students who had dropped out of secondary school and were attempting to gain access to tertiary study through a tertiary bridging program at a regional university. 144 students from two student cohorts completed a questionnaire intended to facilitate an understanding of how social context influenced secondary school attrition. It was identified that students who had not completed secondary school reported significantly lower levels of emotional engagement with school and poorer relationships with teachers. The study concluded that the residential situation …

Cirt Newsletter--September 2011, Center For Instruction & Research Technology (Cirt)

CIRT News

This issue contains:

Faculty Spotlight: Capturing Student Attention with Animated Character Video

Teaching Online Seminar and Distance Learning at UNF

Upcoming Events

Digital Thinking: New Media Consortium Summer Conference

Best Practices Online: Using Communication to Build a Rich, Engaging Learning Environment

Blackboard News: New Timer and StudyMate Class

App Review: Jump Start Your iPad With Appstart and Swype for Android

News from ITS: Survey Tool Upgrade

The Validity And Incremental Validity Of Knowledge Tests, Low-Fidelity Simulations, And High-Fidelity Simulations For Predicting Job Performance In Advanced-Level High-Stakes Selection, Filip Lievens, Fiona Patterson

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In high-stakes selection among candidates with considerable domain-specific knowledge and experience, investigations of whether high-fidelity simulations (assessment centers; ACs) have incremental validity over low-fidelity simulations (situational judgment tests; SJTs) are lacking. Therefore, this article integrates research on the validity of knowledge tests, low-fidelity simulations, and high-fidelity simulations in advanced-level high-stakes settings. A model and hypotheses of how these 3 predictors work in combination to predict job performance were developed. In a sample of 196 applicants, all 3 predictors were significantly related to job performance. Both the SJT and the AC had incremental validity over the knowledge test. Moreover, the AC …

Entry Into New Niches: The Effects Of Firm Age And The Expansion Of Technological Capabilities On Innovative Output And Impact, Reddi Kotha, Yangfeng Zheng, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We provide evidence that young firms systematically differ from older firms in their innovative output when they enter ‘new to the firm’ technological niches. We analyze data from 128 biotechnology firms since their inception and track these firms over time. Our analyses reveal that the organizational age at which the firm branches into new technological niches significantly influences its innovative activity. We refine the focus of the extant literature by separately examining the effects of branching on the quantity of innovative output and the impact that this output has on the technology domain. Subsequent to branching into new niches, we …

Behind Cultural Competence: The Role Of Causal Attribution In Multicultural Teacher Education, Yan Yang, Diane Montgomery

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In an attempt to bridge the gap between achievement motivation and multicultural teacher education, this study explored the relationship between causal attribution of cultural awareness and cultural competence among preservice teachers. Participants were 793 preservice teachers from two large public universities who reported their causal attributions of cultural awareness and their cultural competence. Canonical correlation analysis results showed two significant relationships between causal attribution and cultural competence. Personal control over the causes of cultural awareness was found to be positively related to praxis, i.e., behavioral outcome; whereas attributions to internal and stable causes were positively associated with knowledge as major …

Exploring The ‘How’ And ‘Why’ Of Value Orientations In Physical Education Teacher Education, Lorna B. Gillespie

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper focuses on the significance of curriculum value orientations for curriculum implementation and, therefore, for teacher education. The paper draws on data arising from research undertaken with six Health and Physical Education teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand to explore issues pertinent to Physical Education teacher education (PETE). Selected findings from the study are presented and critically engaged with from a teacher education viewpoint to specifically address (i) considerations relating to students’ value orientations that teacher educators need to be cognisant of, and (ii) issues arising for teacher educators seeking to engage with value orientations in undergraduate and/or post-graduate PETE …

Gender Matters, Volume 17, Issue 1, September/October 2011, Women's, Gender, And Sexuality Studies Program

Gender Matters (2006-2011)

A bulletin of the Illinois State University Women’s and Gender Studies program, Volume 17, Issue 1, September/October 2011.

2011 September, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for September of 2011.

Blind Men And Elephants: A Multi-Method Analysis Of Periodical Literature, Garrett Trott

The Christian Librarian

One blind man feels a tree. Another blind man feels something sharp, like a spear; and a third, feels something like a fan. All these men feel the same thing, an elephant, but different parts of it. This article looks at journal content through three separate lenses: faculty perception, citation analysis, and journal use. Each lens perceives journal value differently. Once these pictures are assembled, the challenge begins, attempting to understand what they compose. Like the disagreements these blind men had on what they were feeling, the data produced from these three lenses does not appear to coincide. It did …