Sociology Commons^™

The Last Thing We Need Is Another Shelter, Jessica Segré

New England Journal of Public Policy

Segre suggests that family homelessness is merely the latest and most devastating example of America's lack of commitment to children and families. The history of human services for children is presented to show that, both at the community and at the policy levels, this population and its needs have been neglected, subjected to fragmentation, and consistently downgraded on our lists of priorities. The societal values that have led to this situation are discussed and revealed as still reflecting an individualistic, frontier outlook, which is, however, becoming an anachronism. The need for a child/family policy is stressed, as is the urgency …

The Kindred Bonds Of Mentally Ill Homeless Persons, Richard C. Tessler, Gail M. Gamache, Peter H. Rossi, Anthony F. Lehman, Howard H. Goldman

New England Journal of Public Policy

While the unraveling of the kinship bond has long been suspected to play a role in the epidemiology of homelessness, the connection between kinship and homelessness has been little studied. Based on a normative analysis of the role of family structure in response to adversity, this article explores the impact of the amount and quality of kinship ties on episodes of homelessness experienced by discharged psychiatric patients in Ohio. Survey data derived from personal interviews with both former patients and their kin indicate more strain in relations with kin of the homeless than the nonhomeless. The strain in the kinship …

It'll Take More Than A Miracle: Income In Single-Mother Families In Massachusetts, 1979-1987, Chris Tilly, Randy Albelda

McCormack Graduate School General Publications (active until 2013)

Through the 1980s, the Massachusetts economy grew rapidly. Most Massachusetts families benefited from this economic boom, and saw their incomes rise much more rapidly than the U.S. average. But Massachusetts single mothers and their children, who started out with lower incomes than other families, experienced only minimal income growth, and fell further behind other families in the Bay State. In this paper, we analyze income differences among family types in Massachusetts. We pay special attention to the problems of single mothers, and offer a set of policy recommendations to address these problems.

In order to undertake this analysis, we classify …

Medicare Supplemental Insurance: Today's Crisis, Health Care For All, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

The purpose of health insurance is to spread risk. The system works under the assumption that, at any given point in time, only a percentage of the people in a given group will be sick. Regardless of health status, all members of the group will be paying premiums in order to cover the cost of care for those who need it.

As a group, however, seniors represent a high-risk population. They are more likely than younger people to need health care services and tend to require longer hospital stays. Yet, while their expenses are greater, their financial resources are generally …

Du Bois And The Boys' Club Of The 'Great Books', Bill Farrell

Trotter Review

During the autumn of 1990 the Encyclopedia Britannica published the Great Books of the Western World, its selection of Western civilization's sixty best works. Newspapers respectfully reported the event. Commentators acclaimed the set's affirmation of Western culture. A scholarly symposium at the Library of Congress celebrated the collection's publication. The National Press Club, usually concerned with major politicians and famous journalists, invited Mortimer Adler, the series editor in chief, to address it.

In his interviews and public appearances connected with the publication of the series, Adler stressed that to be a great book a work must discuss a large …

Are Today's Teachers Being Prepared For Diversity? An Analysis Of School Catalogues, James Jennings, Illene Carver

Trotter Review

A recent content analysis study shows that while leading educators in Massachusetts stress the importance of preparing teachers for an increasingly diverse world, most teacher preparation schools virtually ignore the issue of racial and ethnic diversity in catalogues recruiting new students. This not only discourages people from diverse backgrounds from becoming teachers, but could also create a lack of understanding in the classroom of the black, Latino, and Asian students being taught.

A summary of A Content Analysis of Racial and Ethnic Themes in Catalogues Distributed by Teacher Preparation Schools in Massachusetts, 1989 and 1990, a report issued by …

Introduction, James Jennings

Trotter Review

This issue of the Trotter Institute Review is devoted to a two-part proposition. The first is that institutions, agencies, businesses, and schools must begin to reflect the increasingly diverse ethnic and racial characteristics of American society. America is in the midst of a demographic revolution. It is unfortunate that some educators have chosen to ignore the social, economic, and intellectual implications of this change and that others have even become angry and attacked efforts to create an appreciation of multiculturalism.

This unfortunate resistance to the implications of America's unfolding demography leads to the second proposition reflected in this issue of …

Latinos In Lynn, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Cambridge, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Framingham, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Chelsea, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Holyoke, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Lawrence, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In New Bedford, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Somerville, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Springfield, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Worcester, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Waltham, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Leominster, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinos In Lowell, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gastón Institute Publications

The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established at the University of Massachusetts Boston in December of 1989. The creation of the Gaston Institute responds to the need for better understanding of the experience and conditions of life of Latinos in the Commonwealth. In an effort to facilitate access to vital information about Latinos to various audiences, and with support from the Boston Foundation, the Gaston Institute has produced a series of basic demographic profiles for selected cities in the Commonwealth based on the 1990 United States Census. These profiles are but one part of …

Latinas And The Massachusetts Employment And Training (Et) Choices Program: Factors Associated With Participation And Outcomes For Boston Latinas In Et, Miren Uriarte

Gastón Institute Publications

This report presents the results of an assessment of the participation and outcomes of Latinos in the Massachusetts Employment and Training (ET) Choices Program. From the start of the ET program, there has been evidence that Latinos participate at rates comparable to that of other groups, but that their outcomes in terms of job placements and wages fall well below the outcome rates of any other group of participants. The main goal of this report is to ascertain the experience of Latino participants in ET and the individual and program factors that present barriers to their successful participation in this …

Family Resemblance: A Study Of Linguistic Conformity Within Family Systems, Rebecca L. Garnett

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This thesis reports the results of an empirical study designed to test two hypotheses from the early psychiatric work of C. G. Jung: first, the existence of a "family disposition" toward the word association test (WAT), and second, the theory that there is interference between the "thinking" and the "feeling" functions in an individual's cognitive processing. The experiment involved 52 normal subjects from 15 families, ranging in age from 12 to 65. Subjects were tested using an association instrument adapted from the WAT developed by Jung (Jung, 1973). Response commonalty was examined along several dimensions: identical verbal response, identical category …

The Meaning Of The Browning Of America, Miren Uriarte

Gastón Institute Publications

Many of you are in the same position that many of us are in the academy or at the community level. We have two jobs. That of doing the work we are paid to do - be it research or anything else - as well as developing the awareness of those around us of the particular needs of Latinos in the hopes of having the community receive a more equitable treatment.

In my experience, there is no other way to accomplish both jobs and remain sane without getting together with others in the same situation and discussing strategies and action. …

Poverty And Health Outcomes Among Hispanics In Massachusetts, Christopher Christian

Gastón Institute Publications

The Hispanic population of Massachusetts is now close to becoming the largest ethnic minority group in the state. The 1990 statewide Census count found that the Hispanic population doubled in the past ten years and now comprises 4.8% of the total state population (287,349 residents) as compared to 2.5% in 1980.

Growth in the Hispanic population has not been coupled with advancements in health status. Hispanic residents are disproportionately affected by many adverse health outcomes, such as high infant mortality, a high incidence of substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, homicides, AIDS, and other chronic illnesses. This paper highlights some of …

Blacks In Bridge, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

Two events in the spring of 1991 brought to mind the long battle to integrate the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), which barely beat out the Boston Red Sox in integrating its membership. One was the closing of the famous Cavendish Bridge Club in New York City; the other was a bridge tournament that combined the efforts of ACBL and ABA (American Bridge Association) clubs in the Washington, D.C. area. The ABA is the national association of black bridge players. Both events appear to have been precipitated by a decline in the number of bridge players as the baby boomer …

Trends In Homicide Among African-Americans, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

Homicide is a particularly significant phenomenon for African Americans because it is the leading cause of death for young black men and women. Blacks, who make up some 12% of the population in the country, account for 44% of all murder victims. Thus, reducing homicide deaths among American population groups, particularly among young black males, is a growing public concern. The term homicide refers to any killing of one person by another. In this chapter the phenomenon and the changing trends of homicide among African Americans over the past 30 to 40 years will be examined.

Crime, Drugs, And Race, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

The crime and criminal record statistics of black Americans are frightening; and they keep getting worse. These figures, of course, give us pause. Yet, it must be kept in mind that none of these figures demonstrates that blacks as a race are more prone to crime. Rather, the figures show that the average black person in the United States is more likely than the average white person to be so situated in the social structure that he or she is more likely to be involved in crime, with an even higher likelihood of being arrested, convicted, and imprisoned.

African-Americans And The Administration Of Justice, E. Yvonne Moss, Roy Austin, Nolan Jones, Barry A. Krisberg, Hubert G. Locke, Michael L. Radelet, Susan Welch

Trotter Review

The status of African Americans in relationship to the administration of justice has improved since the 1940s. Significantly, however, researchers continue to find racial discrimination and racial disadvantage operating in various aspects of the criminal justice process in numerous jurisdictions. Such findings are unacceptable in a society that claims to honor equal justice under law.

This article is reprinted from Summary, Volume 1 of the Assessment of the Status of African-Americans series, published in 1990 by the William Monroe Trotter Institute, University of Massachusetts at Boston, and edited by Wornie L. Reed. Materials included in the article were adapted …

The Status Of Black And Hispanic Faculty In Massachusetts Colleges And Universities, Sandra E. Elman

New England Resource Center for Higher Education Publications

To implement policies and programs that facilitate recruitment and retention of minority faculty, educators and policymakers must first determine the status of Blacks and Hispanics in the Commonwealth's colleges and universities. The principal objective of this report is to provide that knowledge.

The study has a dual purpose: to develop a data base on the availability of and demand for Black and Hispanic faculty in Massachusetts institutions of higher education, and to enhance our understanding of the strategies and programs required to foster recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty. Furthermore, it seeks to identify hiring trends in different types of …

Tax To Grind: Unequal Personal Income Taxation Of Massachusetts Single-Parent Families And Options For Reform, Randy Albelda

New England Journal of Public Policy

While Massachusetts households headed by single parents have, on average, less income than other types of families, they are subject to the same effective income tax rate as the population as a whole. Consequently, such head-of-household families are victims of inequitable tax treatment in two ways. First, their current personal exemptions result in a higher tax burden on these families than on families of the same size and income who file joint income tax returns. Second, head-of-household families, defined as single filers, must apply a lower no-tax threshold than joint filers, even though the former are also composed of two …