Social Justice Commons^™

Human Rights Have No Borders, St Mary's University

President's Peace Commission - Programs

The President’s Peace Commission existed from 1984 to 2013 at St. Mary's University. The Commission fostered an ethical commitment to participate in the establishment of world peace and social justice.

This program is about community responsibility and human rights.

Politics, Pedagogy, And Shaping Public Policy, Jill Dolan

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

We never exactly know when history is going to catch up with us, when we'll be in the midst of a crucial moment to which posterity will refer as key, as significant, as a lynchpin on which other moments, other decisions, other understandings were founded. The impeachment hearings recently conducted in the House of Representatives dragged us all, unwilling and amazed, into a dark hour of American politics, one in which partisan fury and ideological hatred are translated into strategies of power that disregard and reverse electoral politics. There's much to say about the disappointing performance of Bill Clinton as …

Global Competition And Community: The Struggle For Social Justice, Donna Chollett

Anthropology Publications

The above two quotations embody disparate worldviews with regard to the neoliberal project that has enveloped much of Latin America in the past decade. Globalization intensifies the region's integration into the world economy through neoliberal reforms such as market opening, privatizations, and rationalization of production. These reforms are transforming rural societies, raising important questions concerning policies that selectively favor new strategies for capital investment and production oriented toward market expansion, as they marginalize surplus workers and "inefficient" forms of production. This paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the contradictions brought about by globalization and local people's struggles to …

Juvenile Justice Professionals And The Goal Of Rehabilitation, Heather Bruch

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Numerous studies conducted over the past 20 years have suggested that support for rehabilitation in the criminal justice system has decreased. As a result of these findings, an increase in the examination of support for rehabilitation has occurred. According to much of the research on this issue, an important factor in the support of rehabilitation is the attitudes of criminal justice workers. The increasing prison populations are partially responsible for the heightened interest in this issue. It is believed by many that the attitudes of the workers in the criminal justice system have an effect on the success of the …

Academics, Advocacy, And Activism, Jill Dolan

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

One of the ways in which CLAGS distinguishes itself from other academically based research centers is through our firm commitment to bridging the academic and activist spheres within the larger lesbian and gay social and political communities. This Spring, we sponsored a roundtable discussion addressing arts censorship that included twenty-five academics and activists concerned about the ways in which the decrease in public arts funding on national and local levels around the country is meant to further disenfranchise lesbians, gay men, and people of color (whether or not they're lesbian or gay).

Rape Law Reform: The Law And Its Perceived Imp Act, Jennifer D'Ette St. Pierre

Masters Theses

The research examines "model" rape reform legislation in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Interviews were conducted with area judges, attorneys, victim advocates, and law enforcement officers to assess the variety of perceptions regarding the problems that remain for rape victims in the past two decades since reforms have been implemented. Discussion details the perceived successes, failures, and overall impact of reforms. The research identifies problem areas which affect both victims and practitioners within the legal processing of sexual assault cases. The study concludes with recommendations for possible courses of action for abating the difficulties surrounding the crime of rape in the 1990s.

Rural And Urban Police Officer Attitudes Toward Psychologists And Psychological Services, Kara Gettman

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Psychologists are frequently called upon to work with law enforcement personnel, yet little research has been conducted to examine the attitudes of police officers toward psychologists and psychological services. The purpose of this study was to survey police officers in both urban and rural settings in an attempt to gauge their attitudes toward psychologists and psychological services. The researcher designed the questionnaire that was used because no single assessment instrument currently exists which measures all of the potentially relevant variables The attitudes assessed included the perceived need for psychologists and psychological services, the preferred roles for psychologists in law enforcement …

Adolescent Attitudes Toward Violent Behavior, Scott J. Gaugler

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In this study, a sample of 126 high school students in a large Appalachian high school were surveyed about their use of alcohol and other illegal drugs, involvement in delinquent and violent acts, association with peers who committed delinquent and violent acts, and attitudes toward violence. Attitudes toward violence were conceptualized according to Techniques of Neutralization (Sykes & Matza, 1957).

The Great Plains Sit-In Movement, 1958-60, Ronald Walters

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

In 1960, black youths conducted a "sit-in" in Greensboro, North Carolina to obtain the right to eat at a segregated lunch counter. Others quickly replicated sit-ins throughout the South and, just as quickly, the press labeled Greensboro the "first" sit-in. Historian David Levering Lewis, for instance, said: "There were not a few white southerners, and probably a majority of white northerners, who would have wished to say to the first sit-in students, as did the woman in the Greensboro Woolworth's, 'you should have done this ten years ago.'" Even data-oriented social scientists such as Doug McAdams portray the sit-ins as …

Farmers And Merchants: Background To Structural Adjustment In Egypt, Sohair Mehanna, Nicholas S. Hopkins, Bahgat Abdelmaksoud

Faculty Books

With the support of the Ford Foundation, research was carried out on "Primary Agricultural Marketing in Egypt" from November 1989 to March 1991. The research team was led by Mrs. Sohair Mehanna of the Social Research Center, American University in Cairo, Dr. Nicholas S. Hopkins, Department of Sociology-Anthropology, American University in Cairo, and Dr. Bahgat Abdelmaksoud, Department of Rural Sociology, Asyut University. Other members of the team were Zeinab Gamal, Laila Fares, and Esmat Kheir from the Social Research Center, and Dr. Ahmed Abdelhafidh, Dr. Mustafa Hamdi, Ahmed Hassanein, Mohammed Hassan, and Mohammed Murad from the University of Asyut. There …

Racism More Than Private Belief, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This letter to the editor of the St. John’s University student newspaper, The Record, points out that racism is multifaceted, constituting more than simply a personal belief. Racist attitudes comprise a cognitive component (stereotypes), an affective component (prejudice), and a behavioral component (discrimination).

The Vanguard (Vol. 36 [37], No. 6 [1]), Nov-Dec [Jan-Feb] 1990, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

During the mid-1980s, the Rural Crisis Issue Team of the National Council of churches worked with several Inner-City Church Groups on the loss of land experienced by farmers, especially black farmers, and the changing food system and Rural-Urban Connection Conferences across the country. It was evident by the attendance at those events that urban dwellers were not too concerned that farmers were being forced from the land but some participants registered concern over the quality and price of food stuffs.

Spindrift Gazes, Ronald Charles Kurtenbach

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Spindrift Gazes is a collection of short stories that thematically relate to how human dignity is engendered and how that sense of dignity is challenged, undercut, and regained. These fictional constructions are particularly concerned with issues of transformation, how and why change takes place. Of particular emphasis is how differing kinds of human relationships are instrumental in the nature of those changes. Of fundamental concern is to give fictional form to human rights issues.

Advisor: Judith Slater

The Vanguard (Vol. 36, No. 6), Nov-Dec 1989, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

When an ecumenical gathering of 30 clergy arid lay persons circled Jorge, a Guatemalan refugee, on Sept 15, 1983, in front of the altar at Cross Church, Milwaukee, and an ecumenical congregation of 250 stood in solidarity with them to prayerfully inaugurate sanctuary at Cross Church, we at Cross Church knew we had done the right thing. We were convinced that the Spirit had been leading. We felt confident that our action was part of the coming of Christ's Kingdom of justice and peace.

The Vanguard (Vol. 36, No. 5), Sep-Oct 1989, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, is Director of Program and Associate General Director of Church Women United. Born and educated in Cuba, she has lived in the United Stares since 1960. A Roman Catholic, Ms. Isasi-Diaz is an accomplished linguist and has written extensively in both Spanish and English. The following is the text from her keynote speech at the LHRAA Summer Institute "Andando Juntos."

I am most grateful for the invitation to be here with you. It has given me the opportunity to reflect on the issue of ministry among Hispanics and to put in writing some of the understandings and …

The Vanguard (Vol. 36, No. 3), May-Jun 1989, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

AMERICA'S LARGEST RELIGION IS more often blamed for creating our environmental problems than credited with helping to solve them. Indeed, ever since historian Lynn White, Jr., published "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis" (Science magazine in 1967), the anti-earth nature of Christianity has become standard doctrine in environmental circles. (Mother Earth News, Nov/Dec issue, repeated this truism in their "Open Road" column.)

The quote above from the first chapter of Genesis forms the backbone of White's-and others'-arguments that Christianity is an anti-ecological religion. And certainly, the notion of subduing the earth and taking dominion over its creatures does sound …

The Vanguard (Vol. 35, No. 4), Jul-Aug 1989, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Armies of both liberation and occupation have incited fear throughout history in the lands through which they marched or in which they were posted. Since World War II, an increasingly militarized world has continued to suffer under the power of this military presence.

Strong cries of protest are now not only being raised, but are also finally being heard. Not surprisingly, they are women's voices. Women worldwide, struggling for their own human rights, are also expressing the rage and horror of their people who witness the ravishment of their culture, their land, and their lives.

The Vanguard (Vol. 35, No. 1), Jan-Feb 1988, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Capital, along with labor, is a fundamental building block of American society. Together they help create the industry services, and information we need to live in the present and to build for the future.

But what kind of future? The purpose of this article is to help you shape a healthy future through socially responsible investing.

You can help influence the way our economy uses capital, regardless of your financial position - whether you are just beginning to accumulate capital, whether you have substantial wealth in a multitude of investments, or even if you have no money to invest.

The Vanguard (Vol. 34, No. 1), Jan-Feb 1987, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

About 110 Christians from across the U.S. recently gathered on Chicago's South Side for a three day conference to examine and reflect on the Kairos Document of South Africa. They were joined by dozens of southern Africans, including several who were at the heart of that document's genesis, and who shared with participants some story of the document's unique evolution as 'Challenge to the Church: A Theological Comment on the Political Crisis m South Africa.'

The Vanguard (Vol. 34, No. 5), Sep-Oct 1987, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Participants at the 1987 Human Relations Institute meeting Waukesha, WI, July 17-19 were challenged to respond to the suffering of the world while being renewed by the promise of Jubilee and hope proclaimed in the scriptures.

In a keynote address Friday afternoon, the Rev. Barbara Lundblad, pastor of Our Saviours Atonement Lutheran Church in New York City, urged participants to reclaim the whole of the Bible both Old and New Testaments to help understand the Jubilee tradition.

The Vanguard (Vol. 33, No. 7), Nov-Dec 1986, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Allegations by Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations that body-bug-packing undercover agents of the United States government violated their constitutional rights were dismissed in mid October by a federal judge in Phoenix, AZ.

What it means, commented the Rev. James A. Oines, pastor of Alzona Lutheran Church, Phoenix, one of the congregations that was infiltrated, is that the federal government "can come into any church, any time, with a tape recorder, and without a warrant. And they have said they would do it."

The Vanguard (Vol. 33, No. 6), Sep-Oct 1986, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

When Rev. Brian (Red) Burchfield went to South Africa, he believed he and his co-pastor/wife Susan were missionaries to that racially-divided nation. Now, however, he understands that he was meant all along to be a missionary to the U.S.

Arriving in Cape Town last January to serve several, small congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa (ELCSA), Burchfield said they were met with two responses: "a warm and gracious reception and ... an attitude that took for granted that we would be going back to the United States and beginning our real work."

The Vanguard (Vol. 33, No. 5), July 1986, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Church leaders in El Salvador, the U.S. and Europe have firmly denied accusations by a member of the non-governmental Human Rights Commission that the leader of the Lutheran Synod of El Salvador is a member of the Communist Party.

In a May 30 press conference, Luz Yaneth Alfaro Pena linked humanitarian and church-based organizations to the Faribundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a guerrilla federation aiming to overthrow the Salvadoran government.

The Vanguard (Vol. 33, No. 4), June 1986, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Sanctuary activists around the country have vowed to continue to provide assistance to refugees of Central American war despite the conviction of six Sanctuary workers May 1 in Tucson, Ariz.

After a six-month trial, the verdict returned by the jury convicted six defendants of conspiracy plus lesser charges. convicted two others on lesser charges only, and acquitted three defendants. The lesser charges included harboring. transporting and encouraging the illegal entry of aliens.

The Vanguard (Vol. 33, No. 3), May 1986, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Lutherans Concerned/North America has recently distributed '' A Call for Dialog,'' a theological document offered as a resource for gay and lesbian Christians and for the churches.

Approved by the LC/NA board last fall, the Call for Dialog is the result of more than two years of study, writing and redrafting by a Task Force on 1beology. The task force included several ordained people, and the redrafting was based on comments by LC/NA members, theologians and church leaders.

The Vanguard (Vol. 33, No. 2), Mar-Apr 1986, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Many minority ethnic/racial groups in the United States experience higher-than-average unemployment rates, but none approaches the level of unemployment among Native Americans. A report prepared last fall by the Full Employment Action Council, the Lutheran Council U.S. A. and other sponsors documents the ''horrendous" and "devastating" rates of joblessness among both reservation and urban Indians.

In addition, the report, "American Indian Unemployment: Confronting a Distressing Reality, notes that federal assistance programs have been drastically reduced in recent years, leaving Native Americans with income and education levels far below national averages.

The Vanguard (Vol. 33, No. 1), Feb 1986, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

In Tucson, the trial of the 11 Sanctuary workers continued in January, one year after a grand jury returned indictments against them.

Defense attorneys have repeatedly challenged the government's key informant, Jesus Cruz, in an attempt to discredit him.

The Vanguard (Vol. 32, No. 5), July 1985, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Lutheran synods and districts from all parts of the United States have expressed commitment to and support of justice concerns as a central priority of the new Lutheran Church.

Meeting in conventions over the past two months, synods of the Lutheran Church in America and districts of the American Lutheran Church have considered and adopted resolutions prepared by the Working Group on Justice Agendas and the New Lutheran Church.

The Vanguard (Vol. 32, No. 7), Nov 1985, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Several important actions by the Commission for a New Lutheran Church have helped keep justice central to the purpose of the new Lutheran church.

At its meeting Sept. 23-27 in Kansas City, the CNLC included commissions for women and for multicultural ministries in the design of the church, included a social responsibility clause in a resolution on pension fund investments, and set a goal of 10 percent minority membership in the new church within 10 years.

The Vanguard (Vol. 32, No. 8), Dec 1985, Lutheran Human Relations Association Of America

The Vanguard

Defense lawyers in the trial of 11 Sanctuary church workers who were indicted by the U.S. government for their work in sheltering refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador are pressing motions to dismiss the case on the basis of selective prosecution.

The trial began in mid-November in Tucson, Ariz., after a lengthy period of pre-trial hearings which focused on jury selection and on various motions for dismissal by the defense. Defense arguments were largely turned down by Judge Earl Carroll.