Sociology Commons^™

Welfare Queens Or Courageous Survivors? Strengths Of Women In Poverty, Victoria L. Banyard

The University Dialogue

The number of people living in poverty in the United States is staggering and yet to most of us those people are just statistics. A growing body of social science research clearly documents the negative consequences for the physical and mental health of people struggling to meet their basic needs (e.g. Recker Rayburn, 2007). Absent critical analysis of the historical and social factors that contribute to poverty, negative stereotypes and victim blaming arguments flourish – further perpetuating the problem (e.g. Bullock & Lott, 2001). This proposed position paper confronts and discourages this trend by shedding light on one of the …

Situationist Torts, John D. Hanson, Michael Mccann

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article calls for a situationist approach to teaching law, particularly tort law. This new approach would begin by rejecting the dominant, common-sense account of human behavior (sometimes called dispositionism) and replacing it with the more accurate account being revealed by the social sciences, such as social psychology, social cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and other mind sciences. At its core, situationism is occupied with identifying and bridging the gap between what actually moves us, on one hand, and what we imagine moves us, on the other. Recognizing that gap is critical for understanding what roles tort law (among other areas of …

Review Essay: Janet Halley, Split Decisions: How And Why To Take A Break From Feminism, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] “My overarching reaction to Janet Halley's recent book, Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism, can be summarized with a one sentence cliché: The perfect is the enemy of the good.' She holds feminism to a standard of perfection no human endeavor could possibly meet, and then heartily criticizes it for falling short. Though Halley's myriad observations about feminism occasionally resonated with my own views and experiences, ultimately I remain unconvinced that taking a break from feminism would, for me, be either justified or productive. But I did (mostly) enjoy reading it. Halley is well …

Perspectives About Occupational Justice: Can Poverty And Occupational Deprivation Influence Child Development?, Barbara P. White Otr/L, Ph.D., Sajay Arthanat, Elizabeth L. Crepeau

The University Dialogue

In this paper we will explore the concept of occupational justice, a term that describes a basic human right to have the opportunities and rights to participate in those activities and occupations that define us as individuals, family and community members by providing meaning and purpose to our lives. Conditions of poverty preclude the ability to participate in a wide range of activities and occupations that support well-being. An anticipated outcome of our paper is to explore how poverty negatively influences engagement in those activities and occupations that support health, productivity and life satisfaction.

The Vicious Cycle: Poor Children, Risky Lives, Bruce L. Mallory

The University Dialogue

The proposed essay will address the question, "What are the short and long-term effects of poverty on the development, educational experiences, and life chances of young children?"

Poverty, Money, And Happiness, Nick Smith

The University Dialogue

In this paper I plan to ask some potentially disorienting questions about the relationship between poverty, money, and happiness.

Poverty And Community: Understanding Culture And Politics In Poor Places, Mil Duncan

The University Dialogue

This lack of participation, low trust and failure to invest in community wide institutions allows corrupt politics to emerge in poor inner cities and rural communities, and then that bad politics in turn becomes an obstacle to change and development. Those in charge see schools and local government as sources of patronage jobs and political power rather than as public institutions to serve the common good. Politics and political forces become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. Only investment and organizing can turn the poor community around and provide real opportunity for low income residents to …

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Stop No Evil: How Do We Uncover And Combat The Loss Of Educational Opportunity For American Poor?, Sarah M. Stitzlein

The University Dialogue

In my position paper, I will urge Americans to fulfill the promise of equal educational opportunity and to avoid further entrenchment of the cycle of poverty. Some residents of largely homogeneous New Hampshire tend to be less knowledgeable about issues of racial resegregation, because racial difference is rarely seen and cries of racial inequality are not heard. Additionally some view social class struggles as a problem of remote northern NH or of particular dilapidated cities in the south. My paper will combat these shortsighted views by foregrounding the pervasive lack of educational opportunity for local poor. This will initiate conversation …

The Changing Faces Of New Hampshire: Recent Demographic Trends In The Granite State, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

New Hampshire, with a total population of 1.3 million, gained 79,000 residents between 2000 and 2006. Most of this growth (51,000 residents) came from migration. The migration also brought economic gains: New Hampshire gained at least $1.4 billion in income from migration between 2001 and 2005, and households moving in earned nearly $9,000 more than those leaving.

Ski Areas, Weather And Climate: Time Series Models For New England Case Studies, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Cliff Brown, Barry D. Keim

Sociology

Wintertime warming trends experienced in recent decades, and predicted to increase in the future, present serious challenges for ski areas and whole regions that depend on winter tourism. Most research on this topic examines past or future climate-change impacts at yearly to decadal resolution, to obtain a perspective on climate-change impacts. We focus instead on local-scale impacts of climate variability, using detailed daily data from two individual ski areas. Our analysis fits ARMAX (autoregressive moving average with exogenous variables) time series models that predict day-to-day variations in skier attendance from a combination of mountain and urban weather, snow cover and …

Climate, Fishery And Society Interactions: Observations From The North Atlantic., Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

Interdisciplinary studies comparing fisheries-dependent regions across the North Atlantic find a number of broad patterns. Large ecological shifts, disastrous to historical fisheries, have resulted when unfavorable climatic events occur atop overfishing. The "teleconnections" linking fisheries crises across long distances include human technology and markets, as well as climate or migratory fish species. Overfishing and climate-driven changes have led to a shift downwards in trophic levels of fisheries takes in some ecosystems, from dominance by bony fish to crustaceans. Fishing societies adapt to new ecological conditions through social reorganization that have benefited some people and places, while leaving others behind. Characteristic …

The State Of Working New Hampshire 2007, Allison Churilla

Carsey Publications

The author of this annual update on the state's workforce finds that wage growth in the state has not kept up with the rising cost of living in New Hampshire. This negative impact exists despite the state's low unemployment rates and high labor force participation rates. This brief was prepared in cooperation with the Economic Policy Institute.

Toward Understanding The Human Dimensions Of The Rapidly Changing Arctic System: Insights And Approaches From Five Harc Projects, Henry P. Huntington, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Craig Nicolson, Ronald Brunner, Amanda Lynch, Astrid E. J. Oglivie, Alexey Voinov

Sociology

Human dimensions research focuses on the interrelationships between humans and the environment. To date, human dimensions research in arctic regions has concentrated primarily on local events and contexts. As such, it complements analysis elsewhere of adaptation and sustainable development within broad institutional, social, and environmental contexts. This paper reviews five projects from the Human Dimensions of the Arctic System (HARC) initiative, established by the US National Science Foundation in 1997. Common themes and findings are highlighted: climatic variations or change affect societies through interactions with human activities; population dynamics provide key quantitative indicators of social impacts and well being; and …

Which Sexual Abuse Victims Receive A Forensic Medical Examination? : The Impact Of Children's Advocacy Centers, Wendy A. Walsh, Theodore P. Cross, Lisa M. Jones, Monique Simone, David Kolko

Sociology

Abstract

Objective

This study examines the impact of Children's Advocacy Centers (CAC) and other factors, such as the child's age, alleged penetration, and injury on the use of forensic medical examinations as part of the response to reported child sexual abuse.

Methods

This analysis is part of a quasi-experimental study, the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children's Advocacy Centers, which evaluated four CACs relative to within-state non-CAC comparison communities. Case abstractors collected data on forensic medical exams in 1,220 child sexual abuse cases through review of case records.

Results

Suspected sexual abuse victims at CACs were two times more likely to have …

Eitc Is Vital For Working-Poor Families In Rural America, William P. Colnes, Elizabeth Kneebone

Carsey Publications

In the 2004 tax year, tax filers claimed almost $40 billion through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), making the EITC one of the largest federal programs that provides cash supports to low-income working families in the United States. The EITC is especially important to rural families throughout the United States. Among poor and near-poor families, those in rural areas are more likely to be working, and they are more likely to be working in low-wage jobs.

Employment Rates Higher Among Rural Mothers Than Urban Mothers, Kristin Smith

Carsey Publications

As men's jobs in traditional rural industries, such as agriculture, natural resource extraction, and manufacturing disappear due to restructuring of rural labor markets, the survival of the family increasingly depends on women's waged labor. Rural mothers with children under age 6 have higher employment rates than their urban counterparts but have higher poverty rates, lower wages, and lower family income, placing rural mothers and their children in a more economically vulnerable situation than urban mothers.

Rural America In The 21st Century: Perspectives From The Field , Andrea Colnes, Curt D. Grimm, Amy Seif Hattan, Nena F. Stracuzzi

Carsey Publications

Rural America in the twenty-first century must develop new relationships and new ways of doing things to ensure an economically prosperous, socially just, and environmentally healthy future. Tapping into the resourcefulness and creativity of rural people will be essential in addressing this challenge. However, they cannot do it alone. Rural communities need critical infrastructure, investment, capital, and services. The overlapping forces shaping rural America–demographic transitions, economic changes, the legacy of chronic underinvestment in community institutions, and environmental factors—present challenges and opportunities. With the voices and strategies of rural Americans in hand, the Rural Assembly can now move forward toward this …

New Faces At The Polls In The New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

New Hampshire prides itself on its first-in-the-nation status, but with changing demographics and significant migration in and out of the state, the winner of the New Hampshire Primary was anyone's guess.

Rural Soldiers Continue To Account For Disproportionately High Share Of U.S. Casualties In Iraq And Afghanistan, William P. O'Hare, Bill Bishop

Carsey Publications

When the nation goes to war, all Americans are expected to make sacrifices. Today's rural Americans, however, have fewer job opportunities within their communities, and are joining the military at higher rates. In turn, rural communities are facing military losses in disproportionate numbers to their urban counterparts.

Civil Disobedience And The Necessity Defense, John Alan Cohan

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “This article will first examine the nature of civil disobedience, and distinguish between direct and indirect civil disobedience. Part II highlights some historical examples of civil disobedience. Part IV then examines the principles of the necessity defense, analyzing each of the elements that make up the defense, illustrated with cases on point. Next, Part V will turn to an analysis of several abortion-protest cases that raise issues different from other types of civil disobedience cases. Part VI then will examine Viet Nam era civil disobedience cases. Following that, Part VIII will explore a unique defense known as the Nuremberg …

Child Poverty High In Rural America, William P. O'Hare, Sarah Savage

Carsey Publications

On August 28, 2007, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey show that 22 percent of rural children are living in poverty, up from 19 percent in 2000. On average, rates are highest in the nonmetropolitan South (27 percent) and have climbed the most in the nonmetropolitan Midwest (by 3.9 percentage points).

The Changing Spatial Concentration Of America's Rural Poor Population, Daniel T. Lichter, Kenneth M. Johnson

Sociology

This paper documents changing patterns of concentrated poverty in nonmetro areas. Data from the Decennial U.S. Census Summary Files show that poverty rates—both overall and for children—declined more rapidly in nonmetro than metro counties in the 1990s. The 1990s also brought large reductions in the number of high-poverty nonmetro counties and declines in the share of rural people, including rural poor people, who were living in them. This suggests that America's rural pockets of poverty may be “drying up” and that spatial inequality in nonmetro America declined over the 1990s, at least at the county level. On a less optimistic …

Food Stamp And School Lunch Programs Alleviate Food Insecurity In Rural America, Kristin Smith, Sarah Savage

Carsey Publications

The Food Stamp and the School Lunch Programs play a vital role in helping poor, rural Americans obtain a more nutritious diet and alleviate food insecurity and hunger. This fact sheet looks at the extent to which rural America depends on these programs and describes characteristics of beneficiaries of these federal nutrition assistance programs.

Low Wages Prevalent In Direct Care And Child Care Workforce, Kristin Smith, Reagan A. Baughman

Carsey Publications

The large-scale movement of women into the paid labor market has brought sweeping change into family life and also in who cares for the elderly and children. This brief studies workers in two low wage, predominantly female care-giving occupations plagued with high turnover, direct care workers and child care workers. It provides a better understanding of how they fare when compared with other female workers and discusses factors that contribute to their continued employment.

Rural Children Increasingly Rely On Medicaid And State Child Health Insurance Programs For Medical Care, William P. O'Hare

Carsey Publications

Despite a flurry of reports on health insurance coverage for children, virtually none of them have examined the unique situation of rural families where one-fifth of all the nation's poor children live. This brief takes an in-depth look at the health insurance programs, such as SCHIP and Medicaid, which rural children rely on for medical care.

Stress And Occupation: Summer Research On The Road, Lindsey Wetteland

Inquiry Journal 2007

No abstract provided.

New England Has The Highest Increase In Income Disparity In The Nation, Ross Gittell, Jason Rudokas

Carsey Publications

Income inequality in New England is rising at the highest rate in the nation, this brief finds. Between 1989 and 2004, the region experienced the largest increase in income inequality in the country, due to both growth among top earners and the hollowing out of the middle class caused by significant changes in the nation's economy.

Children's Health Insurance In New Hampshire: An Analysis Of New Hampshire Healthy Kids, Sally Ward, Sarah Savage, Nena F. Stracuzzi

Carsey Publications

New Hampshire has been successful in achieving one of the lowest uninsurance rates for children in the country - 6 percent in 2005 (U.S. Census Bureau). The extent to which New Hampshire Healthy Kids has contributed to the state's success in achieving this low rate is the focus of this brief.

The Changing Faces Of New England: Increasing Spatial And Racial Diversity, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

New England is growing more slowly than the rest of the nation. The region is becoming more racially diverse, and demographic trends contrast sharply between northern and southern New England and metropolitan and rural areas. New England's population stood at 14,270,000 in July 2006, marking a gain of just 2.5 percent since 2000, less than half the rate.

Rights And Health: Democracy's Dilemma In The United States, John W. Seavey, Robert J. Mcgrath

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.