Sociology Commons^™

Moving To Diversity, Richelle L. Winkler, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Richelle Winkler and Kenneth Johnson, using new data and techniques, find that net migration between U.S. counties increased racial diversity in each of the last two decades. However, migration’s influence on diversity was far from uniform: it varied by race, age group, and location, sometimes starkly. Overall, net migration of the population under age 40 increased diversity, while net migration of people over age 60 diminished diversity. Blacks and Hispanics are migrating to predominantly white counties, while white young adults are moving to urban core counties with relatively high proportions of blacks and Hispanics. The movement …

Preference Organization, Danielle M. Pillet-Shore

Communication

Conversation analytic research on “preference organization” investigates recorded episodes of naturally occurring social interaction to elucidate how people systematically design their actions to either support or undermine social solidarity. This line of work examines public forms of conduct that are highly generalized and institutionalized, not the private desires, subjective feelings or psychological preferences of individuals. This article provides a detailed and accessible overview of classic and contemporary conversation analytic findings about preference, which collectively demonstrate that human interaction is organized to favor actions that promote social affiliation (through face-preservation) at the expense of conflict (resulting from face-threat). While other overviews …

A Profile Of Youth Poverty And Opportunity In Southwestern Minnesota, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Andrew P. Schaefer, Douglas J. Gagnon

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer, and Douglas Gagnon explore challenges and opportunities for youth in Southwestern (SW) Minnesota. They analyze data on various demographic, economic, educational, and social indicators to gain a better understanding of the circumstances youth face and the opportunity available in SW Minnesota. They report that more than 1 in 6, or roughly 11,000 children in SW Minnesota are poor and that, as in the United States as a whole, the income gap between high- and low-income families has grown in SW Minnesota over the past 15 years. The authors compare important indicators of …

Engagement In A Public Forum: Knowledge, Action, And Cosmopolitanism, Jennifer F. Brewer, Natalie Springuel, James Wilson, Robin Alden, Dana Morse, Catherine Schmitt, Chris Bartlett, Teresa Joihnson, Carla Guenther, Damian Brady

Geography

Facing challenges to the civic purpose of higher education, some scholars and administrators turn to the rhetoric of engagement. Simultaneously, the political philosophy of cosmopolitanism has gained intellectual favor, advocating openness to the lived experiences of distant others. We articulate linkages between these two discourses in an extended case study, finding that a cosmopolitan ethos of engagement in a rural context can improve (1) understanding among people ordinarily separated by spatialized social-ecological differences, (2) prospects for longer term environmental sustainability, and (3) the visionary potential of collaborative inquiry. Despite globalization of food systems and neoliberal shifts in fishery management, an …

Christians’ Cut: Popular Religion And The Global Health Campaign For Medical Male Circumcision In Swaziland, Casey Golomski, Sonene Nyawo

Anthropology

Swaziland faces one of the worst HIV epidemics in the world and is a site for the current global health campaign in sub-Saharan Africa to medically circumcise the majority of the male population. Given that Swaziland is also majority Christian, how does the most popular religion influence acceptance, rejection or understandings of medical male circumcision? This article considers interpretive differences by Christians across the Kingdom’s three ecumenical organisations, showing how a diverse group people singly glossed as ‘Christian’ in most public health acceptability studies critically rejected the procedure in unity, but not uniformly. Participants saw medical male circumcision’s promotion and …

Pircnews, Winter 2017, Prevention Innovations Research Center

PIRC Newsletter

No abstract provided.

White Deaths Exceed Births In One-Third Of U.S. States, Rogelio Saenz, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Rogelio Sáenz and Kenneth Johnson report that there were more white deaths than births in seventeen states in 2014, compared to just four states in 2004. This is the highest number of states with white natural decrease (more deaths than births) in U.S. history. Several of these states are among the nation’s most populous and urbanized. The rising number of older adults, the falling number of women of childbearing age, and lower fertility rates diminished the number of white births and increased the number of white deaths. The authors conclude with a discussion of the major …

Child Care Costs Exceed 10 Percent Of Family Income For One In Four Families, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Andrew P. Schaefer, Jess Carson

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer, and Jessica Carson analyze families’ child care expenses and identify, among families with young children who pay for child care, the share that are “cost burdened,” defined in this context as spending more than 10 percent of their gross income on child care. Using data from the 2012–2016 Current Population Survey, they present their findings by number of children; age of youngest child; parental characteristics; family income measures; and U.S. region, metropolitan status, and state. They report that about one in four families with young children who have child care costs are …

Unconventional Methods For A Traditional Setting: The Use Of Virtual Reality To Reduce Implicit Racial Bias In The Courtroom, Natalie Salmanowitz

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

The presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial lie at the core of the United States justice system. While existing rules and practices serve to uphold these principles, the administration of justice is significantly compromised by a covert but influential factor: namely, implicit racial biases. These biases can lead to automatic associations between race and guilt, as well as impact the way in which judges and jurors interpret information throughout a trial. Despite the well-documented presence of implicit racial biases, few steps have been taken to ameliorate the problem in the courtroom setting. This Article discusses the …

Flood Realities, Perceptions, And The Depth Of Divisions On Climate, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Cameron P. Wake, Joel N. Hartter, Thomas G. Safford, Alli J. Puchlopek

Sociology

Research has led to broad agreement among scientists that anthropogenic climate change is happening now and likely to worsen. In contrast to scientific agreement, US public views remain deeply divided, largely along ideological lines. Science communication has been neutralised in some arenas by intense counter-messaging, but as adverse climate impacts become manifest they might intervene more persuasively in local perceptions. We look for evidence of this occurring with regard to realities and perceptions of flooding in the northeastern US state of New Hampshire. Although precipitation and flood damage have increased, with ample news coverage, most residents do not see a …

Public Awareness Of The Scientific Consensus On Climate, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

Questions about climate change elicit some of the widest political divisions of any items on recent U.S. surveys. Severe polarization affects even basic questions about the reality of anthropogenic climate change (ACC), or whether most scientists agree that humans are changing the Earth’s climate. Statements about scientific consensus have been contentious among social scientists, with some arguing for consensus awareness as a “gateway cognition” that leads to greater public acceptance of ACC, but others characterizing consensus messaging (deliberate communication about the level of scientific agreement) as a counterproductive tactic that exacerbates polarization. A series of statewide surveys, with nationwide benchmarks, …

400 Predictions: The Search Sea Ice Outlook 2008–2015, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Julienne Stroeve

Sociology

Each Arctic summer since 2008, the Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) has invited researchers and the engaged public to contribute predictions regarding the September extent of Arctic sea ice. The public character of SIO, focused on a number whose true value soon becomes known, brings elements of constructive gamification and transparency to the science process. We analyze the performance of more than 400 predictions from SIO’s first eight years, testing for differences in ensemble skill across years, months and five types of method: heuristic, statistical, mixed, and ice-ocean or ice-ocean-atmosphere modeling. Results highlight a pattern of easy and difficult years, corresponding …

Paid Family And Medical Leave In New Hampshire: Who Has It? Who Takes It?, Kristin Smith, Nicholas Adams

Carsey Publications

This brief uses data collected by the Granite State Poll in 2016 to examine New Hampshire workers’ access to paid family and medical leave and the use of paid or unpaid leave for family and medical reasons. Understanding who lacks access to paid family and medical leave benefits and the underlying factors contributing to differences in those who take time away from work for family caregiving is important. Without access to paid family and medical leave, New Hampshire’s working families may face barriers to financial stability, employment, and future opportunities.

Author Kristin Smith reports that about one-third of New Hampshire …

Overall Declines In Child Poverty Mask Relatively Stable Rates Across States, Andrew P. Schaefer, Jess Carson, Marybeth J. Mattingly

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Andrew Schaefer, Jessica Carson, and Marybeth Mattingly use Census data released on September 15, 2016, from the American Community Survey--the only regular source for estimating yearly child poverty rates at, and below, the state level--to examine child poverty rates across the United States by place type, region, and state. They report that between 2014 and 2015, child poverty declined nationwide across rural areas, suburbs, and cities. As before, cities had the highest child poverty, followed closely by rural areas. Suburbs had the lowest rates. In thirteen states, child poverty declined since 2014; only Mississippi saw an …

Over 80 Percent Of New Hampshire Residents Support Paid Family And Medical Leave Insurance, Kristin Smith

Carsey Publications

Paid family and medical leave helps workers manage their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take extended time away from work while receiving some wage replacement and without the threat of being fired. Although New Hampshire currently does not have a paid family and medical leave law or program, these policies are gaining momentum across the United States. In this brief, author Kristin Smith discusses the results of a winter 2016 Granite State Poll in which New Hampshire residents were asked if they would support or oppose a paid family and medical leave law in New Hampshire providing …

Outliving Love: Marital Estrangement In An African Insurance Market, Casey Golomski

Anthropology

Marital estrangement and formal divorce are vital conjunctures for married women’s kinship relations and life course, where a horizon of future possibilities are revalued and negotiated at the interstices of custom, law, and social and ritual obligations. In this article, after delineating the forms of customary and civil marriage and the possibilities for divorce or estrangement from each, I describe how some married women in Swaziland and South Africa mediate this complex social field for their children and families through pensions and continuing to pay for their partners’ insurance coverage. This was not solely out of avarice to reap future …

Wildfire, Climate, And Perceptions In Northeast Oregon, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Joel N. Hartter, Barry D. Keim, Angela E. Boag, Michael W. Palace, Forrest R. Stevens, Mark J. Ducey

Sociology

Wildfire poses a rising threat in the western USA, fueled by synergies between historical fire suppression, changing land use, insects and disease, and shifts toward a drier, warmer climate. The rugged landscapes of northeast Oregon, with their historically forest- and resource-based economies, have been one of the areas affected. A 2011 survey found area residents highly concerned about fire and insect threats, but not about climate change. In 2014 we conducted a second survey that, to explore this apparent disconnect, included questions about past and future summertime (fire season) temperatures. Although regional temperatures have warmed in recent decades at twice …

Fewer Than Half Of Wic-Eligible Families Receive Wic Benefits, Kristin Smith

Carsey Publications

Research has shown that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a successful and cost-effective program. Numerous studies find that WIC participation improves pre- and postnatal health outcomes; families’ overall nutrition; access to prenatal care, health care for children, and immunizations; and children’s cognitive development and academic achievement. Despite these important benefits, author Kristin Smith--using data from the 2015 Current Population Survey---reports that fewer than half of WIC income-eligible families with young children received WIC nutrition benefits in 2014. Among eligible families, receipt of WIC benefits was more likely among families in which the head …

Science, Scientists, And Local Weather: Understanding Mass Perceptions Of Global Warming, Wanyun Shao, James C. Garand, Barry D. Keim, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

Objective: To explore the effects of long-term climate trends and short-term weather fluctuations, evaluations of scientists and science, political predispositions, religious affiliation, the information environment, and demographic attributes on individuals’ views about whether global warming exists and, if so, whether it is a result of natural cycles or human activity.

Methods: We use data from the 2009 Pew General Public Science Survey, along with data on long- and short-term patterns of temperature and precipitation in individuals’ home communities.

Results: We find that long-term trends in summer temperatures influence perceptions of global warming. Individuals who reside in communities with long-term warming …

Climigration? Population And Climate Change In Arctic Alaska, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Kei Saito, Philip A. Loring, Richard B. Lammers, Henry P. Huntington

Sociology

Residents of towns and villages in Arctic Alaska live on “the front line of climate change.” Some communities face immediate threats from erosion and flooding associated with thawing permafrost, increasing river flows, and reduced sea ice protection of shorelines. The term climigration, referring to migration caused by climate change, originally was coined for these places. Although initial applications emphasized the need for government relocation policies, it has elsewhere been applied more broadly to encompass unplanned migration as well. Some historical movements have been attributed to climate change, but closer study tends to find multiple causes, making it difficult to quantify …

Hispanic Children Least Likely To Have Health Insurance: Citizenship, Ethnicity, And Language Barriers To Coverage, Jess Carson, Michael J. Staley

Carsey Publications

This policy brief examines health insurance coverage of Hispanic children and its relationship to their citizenship status, their parents’ citizenship status, parents’ insurance coverage, language spoken at home, and their state’s Medicaid expansion policies. Using the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey collected in 2014, authors Michael Staley and Jessica Carson report that Hispanic children are less likely to have health insurance than black or white children, a gap that is explained by differences in citizenship status between Hispanic and non-Hispanic children. Noncitizen Hispanic children are nearly three times more likely to be uninsured than …

U.S. Births Remain Low As The Great Recession Wanes; More Than Three Million Fewer Births And Still Counting, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

In this fact sheet, author Ken Johnson discusses how since the onset of the Great Recession, there have been 3.4 million fewer U.S. births than expected. National Center for Health Statistics data for 2015 show the lowest general fertility rate on record and only 3,978,000 births last year. There were 338,000 fewer births in 2015 than in 2007, just before the Recession began to influence fertility. This decline in births is entirely due to reduced fertility rates. In 2015, the shortfall of births was nearly 600,000, and recent data provide no evidence of any upturn in birth rates. It is …

Carsey Perspective: Is The Poverty Rate 1.1 Percent?, Michael P. Ettlinger, Andrew P. Schaefer

Carsey Publications

In this Carsey Perspective, authors Michael Ettlinger and Andrew Schaefer show that while close to 15 percent of the U.S. population lives in poverty, they only fall short of the poverty line by about 1 percent of national income--suggesting that the scale of the problem shouldn't be a reason for failing to address it.
In our "Carsey Perspectives" series, we present new, innovative ideas and ways of looking at issues affecting our society and the world.

Lockdown In Manchester Is A Slippery Slope, Risa Evans

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Liberty. Security. Both are essential to a good life. But of course, neither is absolute, and at times circumstances demand that a society trade some measure of liberty for security. The tricky part is deciding when and how to draw the line."

Pircnews, Spring 2016, Prevention Innovations Research Center

PIRC Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Exclusionary Discipline Highest In New Hampshire’S Urban Schools Suspension And Expulsion Found To Disproportionately Affect Disadvantaged Students, Douglas J. Gagnon, Eleanor M. Jaffee, Reeve Kennedy

Carsey Publications

This research brief follows up on a joint Carsey/NH Kids Count publication from 2009. The 2009 study focused on larger disciplinary trends in New Hampshire schools and contextualized them in the policies, laws, and procedures that may have resulted in increased use of exclusionary discipline. The present study reports on rates of exclusionary discipline from 2010 through 2014 by school and student characteristics to better understand how and to what extent exclusionary discipline has been applied across the state in recent years.

Authors Douglas Gagnon, Eleanor Jaffee, and Reeve Kennedy report that although rates of out-of-school suspension among secondary school …

Child Poverty Higher And More Persistent In Rural America, Andrew P. Schaefer, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Andrew Schaefer, Marybeth Mattingly, and Kenneth Johnson look at both the incidence of high child poverty and at the places where such high child poverty has persisted for decades. Their analysis documents that high child poverty is growing nationwide and that rural America includes a disproportionate share of children living in counties with persistently high child poverty. Counties with persistent high child poverty are clustered in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, much of the Southeast, parts of the Southwest, and in scattered areas of the Great Plains. More than three-quarters of counties with persistent high child poverty …

After Years Of Decline, Private Health Insurance Rates Among Children Grew In 2014, Michael J. Staley

Carsey Publications

In this fact sheet, author Michael Staley reports that rates of private health insurance coverage for children increased between 2013 and 2014 for the first time since 2008, the first year in which the American Community Survey collected data on health insurance. Between 2008 and 2014 (the most recent data), rates of children’s coverage grew nearly 4 percentage points; to 94 percent. Growth in public insurance, such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), was largely responsible for these gains (up 10.8 percentage points since 2008), while rates of private insurance coverage fell concurrently (down 5.6 percentage points).

First In The Nation: New Hampshire's Changing Electorate, Kenneth M. Johnson, Dante J. Scala, Andrew Smith

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Ken Johnson, Dante Scala, and Andrew Smith discuss demographic forces that are reshaping the New Hampshire landscape. They report that the voting population of New Hampshire is among the most mobile in the United States. More than 30 percent of the potential voters are new to the state’s electoral process since 2008. These younger voters and recent migrants have the potential to change the political landscape of the state in the coming presidential primary and November election. The new young voters tend to be more liberal than their older contemporaries. These younger voters also identify less …

2016 New Hampshire Early Care And Education Market Rate Survey Final Report, Nh Department Of Health And Human Services

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

This final report provides selected findings of the current and eight previous New Hampshire Early Care and Education Market Rate Survey (MR#9) among licensed providers in the state of New Hampshire.