Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Umass Boston – Brazilian Immigrant Center Partnership, Tim Sieber, C. Eduardo Siqueira, Natalicia Tracy

Timothy Sieber

The Brazilian Immigrant Center (BIC) does organizing, advocacy and training to reduce marginalization of Brazilian immigrants, promoting their engagement as workers & civic participants. A worker’s center, BIC supports and defends workers’ rights under current state & US labor laws. BIC helps workers mediate complaints with employers, and refers others for class action suits, or intervention by the Mass. Attorney General or US Dept. of Labor. A special focus at present is organizing mostly women domestic workers, and BIC has a new Law and Policy Clinic, a Domestic Worker Mediation Program, and an Immigration Justice Project staffed by two full-time …

Dementia And Friendship: The Quality And Nature Of The Relationships That Remain., Phyllis Harris

Phyllis Braudy Harris

Friendships are an integral part of the human experience. Yet, dementia often takes a toll on social relationships, and many friends withdraw. This research, however, focuses on friendships that remain, despite a diagnosis of dementia. It examines the quality of the friendships of people with dementia and long-term friendships. Data were collected through focus group interviews with people with early stage dementia and their care partners, and through interviews with designated friends. The findings show that people with dementia do have friends that remain and they have a wide variety of friendships, from those based on one shared activity to …

But Where Is God?, Kenneth Doka

Kenneth J. Doka

Hungry Capital: The Financialization Of Food, Luigi Russi

Luigi Russi

Over the past thirty years, the ability of global finance to affect aspects of everyday life has been increasing at an unprecedented rate. The world of food bears vivid testimony to this tendency, through the scars opened by the 2008 world food price crisis, the iron fist of retailing giants that occupy the supply chain and the unsustainable ecological footprint left behind by global production networks. Hungry Capital offers a rigorous analysis of the influence that financial imperatives exert on the food economy at different levels: from the direct use of edible commodities as an object of speculation to the …

When Couples Become Parents: The Creation Of Gender In The Transition To Prenthood, Medora Barnes

Medora W. Barnes

No abstract provided.

Consumer Tactics As "Weapons": Black Lists, Union Labels, And The American Federation Of Labor, Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy

Wendy A. Wiedenhoft Murphy

This article examines the role consumer tactics played in the American Federation of Labor's (AFL) strategy of business unionism. In particular, it explains how the AFL used its consumer tactics to try to mobilize the purchasing power of union members and their families to fight for higher wages and shorter working hours. The historical data collected for this article demonstrates that the AFL was not ignorant of the relationship between production and consumption, or the worker and the consumer. I discuss how the AFL used its consumer tactics to try to build solidarity across its affiliated trade unions and provide …

Testing Theories Of Doctoral Student Persistence At A Hispanic Serving Institution, Gloria Vaquera

Gloria S. Vaquera

Little empirical work exists which tests theories of doctoral student persistence. Among these studies, there is limited representation of minority students. To counter this state of affairs, this study uses a sample of four doctoral cohorts enrolled at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Focusing on the earlier stages of graduate study, I adapt theories of persistence previously employed for undergraduate students (Hurtado, 1992; Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Tinto, 1993). Testing the impact of student background characteristics, departmental context, and student social and academic integration on persistence, findings are mixed. Strongest support is found for the effect of academic integration, father's education, …

Pre-College Factors Impacting Persistence In A Diverse University: An Exploration Of High School Racial Composition And Experiences With Diversity, Gloria Vaquera

Gloria S. Vaquera

No abstract provided.

Do We Invest Less Time In Children? Trends In Parental Time In Selected Industrialized Countries Since The 1960'S, Anne Gauthier, Timothy Smeeding, Frank Furstenberg

Frank F. Furstenberg

This paper examines trends in parental time in selected industrialized countries since the 1960s using time-use survey data. Despite the time pressures to which today’s families are confronted, parents appear to be devoting more time to children than they did some 40 years ago. Results also suggest a decrease in the differences between fathers and mothers in time devoted to children. Mothers continue to devote more time to childcare than fathers, but the gender gap has been reduced. These results are observed in several countries and therefore suggest a large global trend towards an increase in parental time investment with …

Divorce In Research Vs. Divorce In Media, Virginia Rutter

Virginia Rutter

What is the case for divorce? Researchers in the sociology of family tend to find that divorce's impact depends on what the comparison is: compared to a distressed marriage, divorce has its benefits. Meanwhile, policy makers and general audiences alike get much of their information about divorce research via the news media, where the negative consequences of divorce tend to be exaggerated, especially when comparisons, selection bias, or other research issues are neglected. Over the past 20 years, U.S. news coverage of divorce illustrates two key, intertwined topics: moral entrepreneurship using divorce as an issue and divorce research using (or …

Labor Unions, Corporations And Right-To-Work Laws: Impacts On The American Economy, Cara Robinson

Cara Robinson

The labor movement of the U. S. continues to bring the issue of worker rights to the forefront of American policy debates. As the American economy again has shifted from one based on manufacturing and the production of hard goods to one reliant upon human, financial and informational services, the labor movement faces new challenges. Labor unions and business leaders continue to disagree on the proper role of collective action and the effectiveness of policies aimed at the workplace sector. Today, one of the largest debates is the continued role and expansion of Right-to-Work (RTW) legislation. The debate is often …

Moscatel Morisco: The Role Of Wine In The Formation Of Morisco Identity, Carolyn Nadeau

Carolyn A Nadeau

Revolutions And Rebellions And Syria's Paths To War And Peace, Ahmed Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

In less than a month, peaceful Tunisian and Egyptian protesters ousted two of the most authoritarian rulers of the Arab world. The human and economic costs: a total of about 1100 people dead (300 in Tunisia and 800 in Egypt) and some decline in economic growth. These were the dignity revolutions. In contrast, the Syrian peaceful uprising quickly turning into armed rebellion is now 22 months old with over 60,000 people (civilians, rebels, security and military officers, women and children) dead, more than 4,000,000 persons displaced from their homes, and destruction estimated at $70 billion. This is now, without doubt, …

'Dicks Are For Chicks': Latino Boys, Masculinity, And The Abjection Of Hiomosexuality, Richard Mora, Mary Christianakis

Richard Mora

Employing social constructivist theories and the concept of abjection from gender studies, this article examines how and why a group of low-income, USA-born Dominican and Puerto Rican middle-school boys constructed masculine identities by invoking and repudiating homosexuality. Ethnographic data from a 2.5-year study indicate that the abjection of homosexuality was a place of performativity wherein the boys utilised their bodies, cultural referents, and bilingualism to delineate masculinity, reiterate heteronormativity, and distance themselves from homosexuals, who they perceived as a threat to their sexuality, personal safety, and physical dominance. At school, the boys enacted a hypermasculine, heteronormative variant of their ethno-racial …

E-Mails, Statutes, And Personality Disorders: A Contextual Examination Of The Processes, Interventions, And Perspectives Of Parenting Coordinators, Sherrill Hayes, Melissa Grady, Helen Brantley

Sherrill W. Hayes

The current study uses a survey instrument to examine parenting coordination through the lens of Bronfenbrenner's Person, Process, Context, Time (PPCT) model. The survey focused on contextual factors such as statutes, local rules, interpersonal characteristics, dynamics of the clients, and background characteristics of parenting coordinators. Responses from a sample of PCs were obtained using list serves and a snowball sampling procedure. Results included the extent to which the parenting coordination process occurs through email and other technology rather than in-person sessions. Mental health disorders and inability to pay were primary barriers to the PC process.

Another Wrinkle In The Debate About Successful Aging: The Undervalued Concept Of Resilience And The Lived Experience Of Dementia, Phyllis Harris

Phyllis Braudy Harris

The concept of "successful aging" is a contested discourse in gerontology. Two conflicting paradigms dominate the discussion: a health promotion activity model, and a model critical of the concept of successful aging. However, this study takes a different perspective and proposes that perhaps we have been striving for the wrong goal. The true quest as we age should not be for successful aging, but our goal should be for resilience, an undervalued and not fully examined concept in aging. Developing resilience is possible for many older adults regardless of social and cultural backgrounds or physical and cognitive impairments, unlike successful …

The Impact Of Co-Active Coaching On Physically Inactive 12 To 14 Year Olds In Ontario, Paul Gorczynski, Don Morrow, Jennifer Irwin

Donald Morrow

This study assessed the impact of life coaching on physical activity participation, self-efficacy, social support, and perceived behavioural control among physically inactive youth between the ages of 12 and 14 years in London, Ontario. The multiple-baseline across participants single case-experimental design study consisted of five 12 to 14 year olds. Six coaching sessions were conducted over two months by a certified professional Co-active coach. Physical activity increased for one participant while the other participants’ physical activity remained unchanged. No significant changes occurred in self-efficacy, social support, and perceived behavioural control with specific regard to becoming more physically active. Results indicted …

When Birds Of A Feather Don’T Flock Together: Different Scientists And The Roles They Play In Biotech R&D Alliances, Annapoornima Subramaniam, Kwanghui Lim, Pek-Hooi Soh

Kwanghui Lim

A firm's ability to produce high-impact innovations depends upon the nature of its R&D alliances as well as its composition of scientific human capital. The firm's scientific human capital is made up of its scientists, who produce valuable research outputs and who engage with the broader scientific community, thus helping the firm to integrate new knowledge from universities and other firms. In this paper, we examine heterogeneity within the firm's scientific human capital, emphasizing the distinct role of ‘bridging scientists’ who engage in two related but dissimilar scientific activities: patenting and publishing. Using a panel dataset of 222 firms in …

Women’S Participation In A Jail-Based Treatment Program In A Large Urban Setting: A Process Evaluation, Arthur Lurigio

Arthur J. Lurigio

No abstract provided.

Elements Of Public Trust In The American Food System: Experts, Organizations, And Genetically Modified Food, John Lang

John T. Lang

The increasing scientific and technical complexity in the American system of food production, exemplified in this article by genetically modified food (GMF), provides a useful case with which to understand public trust in experts and organizations involved in an emerging technology. Stating that the public will judge claims about GMF based on trust in their sources brings about the question of how the public decides to trust particular sources. I use data from a mail survey to evaluate the elements of trust for a range of groups connected to the U.S. food industry. The results point to organizationally variable and …

Reflexivity In External Religious Leaders' Summit Communication Sequences (2005-2012) To G8 Political Leaders, Sherrie Steiner

Sherrie M Steiner

Using reflexivity as primary governance indicator, this case study examines the external communication sequences of the only multifaith summits whose purpose is communication to, and dialogue with, G8 and G20 political leaders about global responsibilities to empirically discern, independent of religious leaders' self-identification, whether the quality of dialogue is indicative of governance behavior or unreflexive acts of international value struggle. Findings indicate that religious leaders use cultural capital to blur (not reify) social boundaries that inhibit international collaboration, and offer no evidence of unreflexive dialogue. These particular leaders use social capital to socially reconstruct boundaries for cosmopolitan responsibility to include …

Polscy Przedsiębiorcy W Dolinie Krzemowej, Dominika Latusek

Dominika Latusek

No abstract provided.

Constructing A Moderate Multiracial Coalition In "America's Most Diverse City": Kevin Johnson And Coalition Politics In Sacramento, Corey Cook

Corey Cook

Purpose - The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to the growing academic literature on "post-racial" African American leadership by exploring the election and reelection of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. Johnson is emblematic of the current generation of young African American leaders: politically moderate, less likely to employ overt racial appeals, and able to assemble a multiethnic political coalition. Design/methodology/approach - This chapter utilizes a combination of semi-structured interviews and multivariate quantitative analysis of an original dataset to reveal both the diversity of the Johnson coalition and the high support for Johnson's candidacy in Sacramento's African American community. Findings …

Educational Differences In Healthy Behavior Changes And Adherence Among Middle-Aged Americans, Rachel Margolis

Rachel Margolis

Although the better-educated are more likely to practice healthy behaviors when measured at one point in time, there is no clear evidence regarding whether more educated people are more likely to initiate healthy behavior changes in the face of new chronic conditions and whether they are better able to adhere to these healthy changes, once made. I use data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (1992-2010) to examine smoking cessation and starting physical activity by educational attainment over an 18-year period among 16,606 respondents ages 50 to 75. The more-educated are the least likely to smoke and most likely …

Leading From Behind The Gap: Post-Racial Politics And The Pedagogy Of Black Studies, Seneca Vaught

Seneca Vaught

An Associated Press Poll released on the eve of the 2012 presidential election revealed that more Americans are overtly racist today than four years ago.

Drawn To The Land: Women’S Life Course Consequences Of Frontier Settlement Over Two North Dakotan Land Booms, 1878–1910, Cheryl Elman, Kathryn Feltey, Barbara Wittman, Daniela Jauk

Cheryl Elman

We introduce a life course, multimethod approach to examine the living arrangements of middle-aged and older American Indian and European women living on the rugged North Dakotan settlement frontier around 1910. Our model suggests that women’s later life circumstances reflect the long arm of institutional forces and their ethnicity/nativity, which anchors resource advantages and disadvantages (access to land, rail, and markets) and confers gender socialization (norms and practices) that reproduce gendered social roles. Drawing from primary and secondary sources, we find that European and American Indian women were selectively drawn to or (re)located on frontier spaces unevenly by ethnicity/nativity via …

Reflexive Governance Dynamics Operative Within Round One Of The World Religious Leaders' Dialogue With The G8 (2005-2013), Sherrie Steiner

Sherrie M Steiner

No abstract provided.

Family, Money, And Health: Regional Differences In The Determinants Of Life Satisfaction Over The Life Course, Rachel Margolis, Mikko Myrskyla

Rachel Margolis

We examine how family, money, and health explain variation in life satisfaction over the life cycle across seven global regions using data from the World Values Survey. With a life domain approach, we study whether the importance of the life domains varies by region and age groups and whether the variation explained by each factor is due to the magnitude or prevalence of each factor. Globally, family, money, and health explain a substantial fraction of life satisfaction, increasing from 12 percent in young adulthood to 15 percent in mature adulthood. Health is the most important factor, and its importance increases …

The Politics Of Rights-Based Approaches In Conservation, Prakash Kashwan

Prakash Kashwan

Scholars and advocates increasingly favor rights-based approaches over traditional exclusionary policies in conservation. Yet, national and international conservation policies and programs have often led to the exclusion of forest-dependent peoples. This article proposes and tests the hypothesis that the failures of rights-based approaches in conservation can be attributed in significant measure to the political economic interest of the state in the tropics. To this end, the article presents findings from the empirical analysis of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 in India. Two key recommendations emerge from this analysis. One, the proposals for operationalizing rights-based approaches will likely be far …

A Field Guide To Making Food Good: An Interactive Tool For Participatory Research Supporting Difficult Conversations, K. Valentine Cadieux

K. Valentine Cadieux