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2009

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Articles 10441 - 10470 of 11929

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

2009 January Newsletter, Nancy Rockey Jan 2009

2009 January Newsletter, Nancy Rockey

Human Subject Research Archive

No abstract provided.

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Sediment Records Of Modern And Prehistoric Hurricane Strikes In Weeks Bay, Alabama, Yun Huang Jan 2009

Sediment Records Of Modern And Prehistoric Hurricane Strikes In Weeks Bay, Alabama, Yun Huang

LSU Master's Theses

This study aims to find modern and prehistoric hurricane records in sediment from marsh and swamp forest surrounding Weeks. Hurricane Ivan made landfall in this area at category 3 intensity in 2004. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Frederic also seriously affected this region in 2005 and 1979, respectively. Seventy two cores were taken from marshes, swamps, and bay bottom. The cores, taken from baymouth marsh, contain a prominent Ivan sand layer, and possibly a prominent Frederic sand layer as well. For those cores taken from the marshes and swamps around the eastern, western, and northern Weeks Bay, there is no distinct …

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An Exploratory Study Of Financial Remittances Among Non-Resident Indians In The United States, Rupayan Gupta, S Aaron Hegde Jan 2009

An Exploratory Study Of Financial Remittances Among Non-Resident Indians In The United States, Rupayan Gupta, S Aaron Hegde

Business Faculty Publications

Remittances by immigrants and temporary workers of Indian origin in industrialized countries are a growing part of India’s economy. In this exploratory study we examine the social and economic characteristics affecting the remittance pattern of working households (or families) of Indian origin residing in the United States. As most previous studies have been undertaken at the macroeconomic level, our main contribution lies in identifying the household level factors that may influence remittances. Using an online and a mail-in survey of 39 households we find some of the significant factors affecting remittances. We also validate some of the remittance related policies …

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Parallel Cloth Simulation Using Openmp And Cuda, Gillian David Sims Jan 2009

Parallel Cloth Simulation Using Openmp And Cuda, Gillian David Sims

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The widespread availability of parallel computing architectures has lead to research regarding algorithms and techniques that best exploit available parallelism. In addition to the CPU parallelism available; the GPU has emerged as a parallel computational device. The goal of this study was to explore the combined use of CPU and GPU parallelism by developing a hybrid parallel CPU/GPU cloth simulation application. In order to evaluate the benefits of the hybrid approach, the application was first developed in sequential CPU form, followed by a parallel CPU form. The application uses Backward Euler implicit time integration to solve the differential equations of …

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Apolipoprotein Status And Cognitive Functioning In Adulthood: Role Of Physical Health And Social Network Characteristics, Jennifer Lee Silva Jan 2009

Apolipoprotein Status And Cognitive Functioning In Adulthood: Role Of Physical Health And Social Network Characteristics, Jennifer Lee Silva

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the relationships among cognitive function, physical health, social network characteristics, and apolipoprotein (APOE) genotype in participants from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study. Prior literature has shown that the ε4 allele of APOE is associated with cognitive deficits (Wisdom, Callahan, & Hawkins, 2009). This study failed to find any relation between APOE genotype (ε4 carrier vs. non-carrier) and cognitive ability after controlling for age and education level. Tests for physical health mediation and social network moderation did not alter the ε4/cognition null results. This finding conflicts with prior research suggesting that physical activity and health modify the association …

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Predicting Performance On High Stakes Testing: Validity And Accuracy Of Curriculum-Based Measurement Of Reading And Writing, Marie Young Henderson Jan 2009

Predicting Performance On High Stakes Testing: Validity And Accuracy Of Curriculum-Based Measurement Of Reading And Writing, Marie Young Henderson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the current investigation was to determine which curriculum-based measures of written expression demonstrated adequate technical characteristics and provided useful information towards predicting performance on a state-standardized assessment. Data collected from 124 third grade students was used for the study. Curriculum-based measures of reading and writing collected three times within the school year were utilized as the independent variables for predicting the dependent variables. Writing samples were scored using 9 indices of writing. Results from a state standardized assessment (iLEAP) were used as the dependent variables. The study found reliability coefficients for writing indices to be consistent with …

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Analysis Of Progessive Lag Reinforcement Schedules And Environmental Cues On Verbal Response Variability, Brian Esteve Jan 2009

Analysis Of Progessive Lag Reinforcement Schedules And Environmental Cues On Verbal Response Variability, Brian Esteve

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of progressive lag reinforcement schedules to increase novel and appropriate verbal responses to academic skills for three children with language delays. The effect of visual cues on verbal responses was evaluated in conjunction with progressive lag reinforcement schedules using a multiple baseline with an embedded alternating treatments design. Basic research utilizing lag reinforcement schedules have shown to increase variable behavior in both animal and human participants; however, little research has been conducted to evaluate lag reinforcement schedules in applied settings. The results of this study preliminarily indicate that progressive lag reinforcement schedules are an effective …

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Evalutaion Of Embedded Malingering Indices In A Non-Litigating, Relief Seeking Sample: A Partial Cross-Validation Using Control, Clinical, And Derived Groups, Russell D. Pella Jan 2009

Evalutaion Of Embedded Malingering Indices In A Non-Litigating, Relief Seeking Sample: A Partial Cross-Validation Using Control, Clinical, And Derived Groups, Russell D. Pella

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have recently noted college students fail validity measures and base rate data are needed for students meeting Slick et al.’s criteria (1999) for malingering. The association between meeting Slick Criteria and subsequent recommendations (i.e., to receive external gain) is unknown as is the diagnostic utility of embedded validity indices in this population. The authors utilized archival data from: 1) a university psychological clinic (n = 986) and 2) a university student control sample (n = 182). Measures included the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III, Wechsler Memory Scale-III, and Personality Assessment Inventory. Empirically supported embedded validity indices were utilized to retrospectively …

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Developing A Review Rubric For Learning Resources In Digital Libraries, Heather Leary, Sarah Giersch, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker Jan 2009

Developing A Review Rubric For Learning Resources In Digital Libraries, Heather Leary, Sarah Giersch, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes the development of a review rubric for learning resources in the context of the Instructional Architect (IA), a web-based authoring tool. We describe the motivation for developing a review rubric, the process for creating it by synthesizing the rubrics of other education-related digital libraries, and the results of testing the rubric with teachers. Analysis of usability and reliability indicates that the review rubric influences how teachers design online learning resources.

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What Do Students Gain From A Week At Science Camp? Youth Perceptions And The Design Of An Immersive Research-Oriented Astronomy Camp, Deborah A. Fields Jan 2009

What Do Students Gain From A Week At Science Camp? Youth Perceptions And The Design Of An Immersive Research-Oriented Astronomy Camp, Deborah A. Fields

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study explored American high school students’ perceptions of the benefits of a summer astronomy camp, emphasizing a full cycle of the research process and how the organization of the camp contributed to those perceptions. Semi-structured interviews with students and staff were used to elicit the specific benefits that campers perceived from their experiences and examine them in relation to the stated goals and strategies of camp staff. Among the perceived benefits that students described were peer relationships, personal autonomy, positive relationships with staff, and deepened science knowledge. These perceived benefits appear to influence the kinds of identities students constructed …

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The Canadian Legal Information Institute - Ten Years On, Yemisi Dina, Louise Hamel Jan 2009

The Canadian Legal Information Institute - Ten Years On, Yemisi Dina, Louise Hamel

Articles & Book Chapters

CanLII, the free virtual law library for Canada, has its roots in three separate developments. The first was the launch of the Legal Information Institute movement, with Cornell and Australia as the first models of these efforts. Second, in Canada, LexUM (Centre for Research at the Universit6 de Montreal's Faculty of Law) had a long history of supporting open access to law since it started publishing the case law of the Supreme Court of Canada. Third, the Director of the Law Society of Upper Canada at the time was advocating to the National Virtual Library Group of the Federation of …

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Irrigating The Famished Fields: The Impact Of Labour-Led Struggles On Policy And Action In Nigeria (1999-2007), Obiora Chinedu Okafor Jan 2009

Irrigating The Famished Fields: The Impact Of Labour-Led Struggles On Policy And Action In Nigeria (1999-2007), Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Articles & Book Chapters

Between 1999 and 2007, a broad-based labour-led movement which focused most of its energies on its struggle against unpopular fuel price hikes in Nigeria was able to exert considerable, though limited, influence on an Obasanjo-led executive arm of government that was at best quasidemocratic in its orientation. This article argues that, despite the very important roles played by other factors (notably the presence of more democratic space in Nigeria post-1999), the movement's adoption of a mass social movement approach facilitated its ability to exert such influence.

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Method Against Method: Swarm And Interdisciplinary Research Methodology, Dylan E. Wittkower Jan 2009

Method Against Method: Swarm And Interdisciplinary Research Methodology, Dylan E. Wittkower

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Part of a special issue on “swarm methodology,” this paper, written by a swarm participant, reflects upon the purpose and value of this kind of interdisciplinary research methodology. First, by way of a recognition of the interdisciplinary status of this paper itself, the question of what we hope to accomplish when we engage in conversations across disciplinary boundaries is broached. Second, a discussion of the practice of peer-review provides an approximate view of one paradigmatic understanding of how we produce a “conversation” within a given established research methodology. We are then, third, able to consider a number of possible related …

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Why We Failed: The Rise Of Islamic Extremism And America’S Failure To Stop It 1979-2003, Brad Michael Negulescu Jan 2009

Why We Failed: The Rise Of Islamic Extremism And America’S Failure To Stop It 1979-2003, Brad Michael Negulescu

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the rise of Islamic terrorism from 1979-2003. It begins with how the Soviet-Afghan war during the 1980’s gave birth to a movement of young Islamic radicals that became known as al Qaeda. The paper then discusses how the organization, led by wealthy Saudi financier Osama bin Ladin, became a principle antagonist of the Clinton Administration throughout the 1990’s. Moreover, it goes on to talk about the numerous successful terrorist acts al Qaeda was able to plan and implement around the world during the 1990’s and how the administration attempted to deal them. It also discusses how the …

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A Connective Ethnography Of Peer Knowledge Sharing And Diffusion In A Tween Virtual World, Deborah A. Fields, Y. B. Kafai Jan 2009

A Connective Ethnography Of Peer Knowledge Sharing And Diffusion In A Tween Virtual World, Deborah A. Fields, Y. B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Prior studies have shown how knowledge diffusion occurs in classrooms and structured small groups around assigned tasks yet have not begun to account for widespread knowledge sharing in more native, unstructured group settings found in online games and virtual worlds. In this paper, we describe and analyze how an insider gaming practice spread across a group of tween players ages 9–12 years in an after-school gaming club that simultaneously participated in a virtual world called Whyville.net. In order to understand how this practice proliferated, we followed the club members as they interacted with each other and members of the virtual …

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Encyclopedic History Of Utah State University, Robert Parson Jan 2009

Encyclopedic History Of Utah State University, Robert Parson

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

From "A-day" to "Women's Athletics", this encyclopedic history of Utah State University by USU University Archivist Robert Parson covers people, buildings, programs, events, organizations, songs, school colors, traditions, and more.

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Mathematical Aids Epidemic Model: Preferential Anti-Retroviral Therapy Distribution In Resource Constrained Countries, Nadia Abuelezam Jan 2009

Mathematical Aids Epidemic Model: Preferential Anti-Retroviral Therapy Distribution In Resource Constrained Countries, Nadia Abuelezam

HMC Senior Theses

HIV/AIDS is one of the largest health problems the world is currently facing. Even with anti-retroviral therapies (ART), many resource-constrained countries are unable to meet the treatment needs of their infected populations. ART-distribution methods need to be created that prevent the largest number of future HIV infections. We have developed a compartment model that tracks the spread of HIV in multiple two-sex populations over time in the presence of limited treatment. The model has been fit to represent the HIV epidemic in rural and urban areas in Uganda. With the model we examine the spread of HIV among urban and …

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Rabelais Unsheathes The Book: The Linguistic Critique Offered By The Catalog Of Saint-Victor's, Brett Bodemer Jan 2009

Rabelais Unsheathes The Book: The Linguistic Critique Offered By The Catalog Of Saint-Victor's, Brett Bodemer

Library Scholarship

In the seventh chapter of Pantagruel, written in 1532, François Rabelais seized on the relationship between titles and books to pose a serious linguistic challenge to the stability of the book and its tenuous role in supporting an architectonic system of knowledge. The chapter consists primarily of a disordered catalog of invented titles, and the author assures us elsewhere that if we wish to grasp his deeper meaning we should examine these titles closely. A first look shows us that he is mocking particular authors and titling conventions, while further exploration reveals the catalog as a whole to serve as …

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Religion, Rhetoric, And Running For Office: Public Reason On The Us Campaign Trail, Brian Stiltner, Steven Michels Jan 2009

Religion, Rhetoric, And Running For Office: Public Reason On The Us Campaign Trail, Brian Stiltner, Steven Michels

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

It is common, almost expected, for candidates for office in the United States to affirm their religious identity and to employ broad religious themes in support of their political agendas. It is the rare candidate, especially for the Senate or the presidency, who completely eschews religious language due to the pressure and scrutiny of church leaders and advocacy groups with religous and moral agendas.

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Blood Culture And The Problem Of Decadence, Jeffrey P. Cain Jan 2009

Blood Culture And The Problem Of Decadence, Jeffrey P. Cain

English Faculty Publications

This paper examines the commodification of hunting practices via the deterritorializing function of capitalism described by Deleuze and Guattari. It also studies counter trends-- predicted by or consistent with Deleuzean theory--that indicate a subtending authenticity displayed by certain hunting practices apparently resistant to commercial exploitation. "Blood culture" is my term for inauthentic hunting activity--a distinction drawn directly by Deleuze in his televised interviews with Claire Parnet. Aspects of "becoming-animal" and other transversal and cross-disciplinary flows of thought are also of course in play. As in some of my former work, I again argue for a Deleuzean cultural mechanics of the …

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Gubernatorial Reputation And Vertical Tax Externalities: All Smoke, No Fire?, Per G. Fredriksson, Khawaja Mamun Jan 2009

Gubernatorial Reputation And Vertical Tax Externalities: All Smoke, No Fire?, Per G. Fredriksson, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Working Papers

This paper investigates whether reputation-building strategies guide U.S. governors’ responses to changes in federal cigarette taxes (i.e. vertical tax interactions). Using 1975-2000 state cigarette tax data, we find that reputation-building strategies affect the nature of vertical tax externalities. Lame duck governors exhibit a more negative response to changes in the federal cigarette tax. Thus, by reducing the state tax base and by causing a decline in the state tax, an increase in the federal tax rate reduces state tax revenues in states headed by lame ducks.

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Tobacco Politics And Electoral Accountability In The United States, Per G. Fredriksson, Khawaja Mamun Jan 2009

Tobacco Politics And Electoral Accountability In The United States, Per G. Fredriksson, Khawaja Mamun

WCBT Working Papers

This paper investigates whether reputation-building strategies guide U.S. governors’ state cigarette tax choices, and whether the federal cigarette tax influences such behavior. Using 1975-2000 data, we find evidence that governors in states with relatively important agricultural tobacco production and tobacco manufacturing, and which are densely populated by smokers, appear prone to reputation-building. Moreover, lame ducks are more prone to raise the state cigarette tax the lower the federal tax.

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An Empirical Analysis Of The Link Between Entrepreneurship And Economic Growth In West Virginia, Maribel N. Mojica, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Peter V. Schaeffer Jan 2009

An Empirical Analysis Of The Link Between Entrepreneurship And Economic Growth In West Virginia, Maribel N. Mojica, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Peter V. Schaeffer

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Entrepreneurship variables constructed from county-level proprietorship and firm birth data were included in an endogenous growth model to determine the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth in West Virginia. The empirical estimates using weighted least squares (WLS) and 2-stage least squares (2SLS) regressions generally show empirical evidence regarding the positive contribution of entrepreneurial activity to economic growth. Counties with more proprietors and business start ups exhibited higher growths in population and employment growth compared to less entrepreneurial counties. However, none of the entrepreneurship variables used in the study is statistically significant in determining per capita income growth.

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A County-Level Assessment Of Entrepreneurship And Economic Growth In Appalachia Using Simultaneous Equations, Maribel N. Mojica, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Peter V. Schaeffer Jan 2009

A County-Level Assessment Of Entrepreneurship And Economic Growth In Appalachia Using Simultaneous Equations, Maribel N. Mojica, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Peter V. Schaeffer

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

This study provides evidence of the contribution of entrepreneurship to economic development in Appalachia. Using data on Appalachian counties, a system of simultaneous equations is empirically estimated to measure the effects of entrepreneurship on economic growth and development. We present an expanded Carlino-Mills growth model using changes in population, employment, and per capita income to represent growth. The goal of the investigation is to increase the understanding of entrepreneurship’s contributions to economic growth, and its potential as a development strategy for a region, such as Appalachia, that is characterized by poverty and underdevelopment. The results show that start-up businesses contribute …

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Linking Tourism Resources And Local Economic Benefits: A Spatial Analysis In West Virginia, Jinyang Deng, David Dyre Jan 2009

Linking Tourism Resources And Local Economic Benefits: A Spatial Analysis In West Virginia, Jinyang Deng, David Dyre

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Tourism has been playing an increasingly important role in the economic development and promotion for the state of West Virginia. However, how tourism resources are spatially distributed across all the state’s 55 counties has not received much attention. This study could be among the first in West Virginia to create a tourism resource inventory database at the county level, and to spatially examine tourism resource distribution patterns across all counties, based on the tourism resource quantity measured by size, length, or number, as well as on the quality determined by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) through surveys of 191 visitors. …

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Who Creates Waste? Different Perspectives On Waste Attribution In A Regional Economy, Christa D. Jensen, Stuart Mcintyre, Max Munday, Karen Turner Jan 2009

Who Creates Waste? Different Perspectives On Waste Attribution In A Regional Economy, Christa D. Jensen, Stuart Mcintyre, Max Munday, Karen Turner

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

We use a regional input output (IO) framework and data derived on waste generation by industry to examine regional accountability. In addition to estimating a series of industry waste-output coefficients, the paper considers a series of methods for waste attribution, and practical use for policymakers. The paper first considers perspectives on attribution of domestic waste generation using basic Type I and Type II industry multipliers, and also compares these with multipliers derived from a trade endogenised linear attribution system (TELAS) which permits a greater focus on private and public final consumption as the main exogenous driver of waste generation in …

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Constructing A Baseline Input-Output Model With Environmental Accounts (Ioea), Taelim Choi, Randall Jackson, Nancey Green Leigh Jan 2009

Constructing A Baseline Input-Output Model With Environmental Accounts (Ioea), Taelim Choi, Randall Jackson, Nancey Green Leigh

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

This paper reports our efforts to construct a baseline input-output model with environmental accounts for use in modeling geographically specific e-waste recycling systems. We address conceptual and practical issues that arise when recyclable end-of-life commodities and related activities are incorporated in the traditional input-output model including: 1) shortcomings of existing industry and commodity accounts that do not represent recycling activities and recyclable end-of-life products explicitly; 2) accounting challenges related to flows of end-of-life products observed mainly in physical volumes; and 3) valuing end-of-life products whose transactions prices vary widely. These three issues complicate the incorporation of end-of-life commodities within the …

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The Claremont Foodshed: A Historical Analysis, Allie Comet Jan 2009

The Claremont Foodshed: A Historical Analysis, Allie Comet

Pomona Senior Theses

On the southeast corner of the Pomona College campus a small community farm and lush oasis is nestled in the suburban jungle of Claremont, California. ‘The Farm’ is a two-acre food forest that produces a wide variety of annual vegetable crops, fruits, and perennial herbs and berries in a landscape otherwise covered largely in asphalt and lawn.From my experiences on the Farm and in the classroom studying environmental analysis , I have developed a great interest in sustainable food and farming. The failures of the modern food system, destructive to the natural environment and inadequate in providing the world’s population …

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The Promise And Responsibility Of Community Finance, Ellen Seidman, Mark Huelsman Jan 2009

The Promise And Responsibility Of Community Finance, Ellen Seidman, Mark Huelsman

Carsey Publications

Community development finance has played an important role in community revitalization over the past 30 years and may be even more important in the current financial climate. But today community development finance institutions (CDFIs), as well as many community banks and credit unions face significant funding stress. This brief highlights the importance of refocusing support of CDFIs to sustain and rebuild health communities across the United States.

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Religious Roots Of Punitive Attitudes, Jessica Marie Millares Jan 2009

Religious Roots Of Punitive Attitudes, Jessica Marie Millares

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses - Archive

Considerable research has been conducted on the causes of punitive attitudes towards criminal offenders. This study focuses on the possible effects religion may have when influencing opinions on correctional practices. Researchers have primarily focused on Christian fundamentalists and have come to the conclusion that fundamentalist affiliations and belief in biblical literalism has been related to punitive attitudes towards criminals. Religious individuals have been found to support harsher punishments for offenders such as mandatory sentencing and capital punishment.In this study, the relationship between religion and punitive attitudes was examined. It was found that those who believed in the literal interpretation of …

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