Sociology Commons^™

On Thin Ice? Domestic Violence Advocacy And Law Enforcement-Immigration Collaborations, Diana Rempe

Dissertations and Theses

The public focus on domestic violence has been one of the most successful campaigns of the modern women's movement. This success was achieved in part through the creation of strategic alliances among agencies and organizations responding to partner violence. One of the most contested of these alliances involved partnering with the criminal justice system. While representing an advance in holding police accountable in protecting all citizens (Coker, 2006), this alliance has had problematic consequences, particularly as it has extended state power into the lives of women of color (e.g. Richie, 2005). This problem is exacerbated by new collaborations between law …

Promoting The Study Of Wrongful Convictions In Criminal Justice Curricula, Jessica S. Henry

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Criminal justice education promotes interdisciplinary learning, critical thinking skills, and ethical decision making. A course on wrongful convictions falls squarely within that paradigm, as it draws upon criminology, criminal justice, law, psychology, and forensic science to examine basic assumptions about the criminal justice system and the actors within it. In a wrongful convictions course, students learn to think critically about the criminal justice system, and what happens when it fails to function as it should. Students identify practice and policy reforms that improve the accuracy and reliability of the system. This article first considers the broad objectives of criminal justice …

Selected Publications In Sociological Practice And Health Sociology, Sociological Practice Editors

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Teaching Social Epidemiology: An Applied Assignment For Undergraduate Instruction, Suzanne M. Selig, Harry Perlstadt, Robin D. Gorsky

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Translating Social Science Concepts Into Medical Education: A Model And A Curriculum, Patricia P. Rieker, James W. Begun

Sociological Practice

Most serious efforts aimed at linking social and behavioral sciences knowledge tomedical practice have included "models" which integrate social and behavioral scienceconcepts. We argue that such an integration is intellectually problematic due toan important analytic distinction between "social" sciences and "psychological" sciences.If the social explanation of illness is to become useful in medical education, adistinctly social model is necessary for conceptual clarity and for guidance of which isuseful for explicating the link between social science knowledge and medical practiceand for organizing the knowledge for teaching in medical schools.

Section: Teaching Health Sociology, Sociological Practice Editors

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Influencing Test Ordering In Primary Care Using Influential Physicians, James G. Anderson, Stephen J. Jay, John B. Zimmerer, Reza S. Farid, Marilyn M. Anderson

Sociological Practice

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of influential physicians to influencetest ordering in a primary care setting. Structured order forms for three commonly orderedtests were developed in conjunction with the chief residents in internal medicineand family practice at Methodist Hospital of Indiana, a 1120 bed private teachinghospital. After data were collected for a nine month baseline period, the forms wereintroduced by the chief residents to the house staff in the Adult Ambulatory Care Centerand the Family Practice Center. After two months, the study was discontinued. Thedata were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance with repeated …

Assessment Of Health Needs In Rural America: A Comparison Of Amish And Non-Amish Families, Kathy K. Trier

Sociological Practice

This study examines a state-sponsored initiative to identify the primary health needsin rural areas so that the appropriateness of existing programs and services could bedetermined, and the development of new ones could be planned. Data were collectedthrough a survey of 200 families, 50 of whom were Amish. Relatively few differencesexisted between Amish and non-Amish families on health status and use of biomedicalservices; however, Amish families reported more behavioral risk factors and usedmore alternative therapies. Benefits from this assessment and planning process wereincreased public awareness about county health problems, and increased cooperationbetween the formal biomedical care system and the Amish community.

Evaluation Of A Commodity Supplemental Food Program Among The Aged Poor In Detroit, David J. Kallen, Chris Reimann, Andrea Doughty

Sociological Practice

This article reports on the evaluation of a demonstration program in which elderly residentsof the Detroit area were provided foods through the Commodity SupplementalFood Program. Organized in a short period of time, the evaluation of this demonstrationprogram had to take into account the realities of program needs, and lack offunding for the evaluation. Elderly participants in the Focus:Hope Food for Seniors

Employee Health Benefits: Corporate Strategies For Cost Containment, Judith K. Barr

Sociological Practice

With health care costs increasing and a major portion of employee benefits attributableto health care, employers have turned their attention to a range of strategies for controllingcosts. A typology of the employer role in employee health care is presentedwhich suggests that cost containment strategies may bring increasing influence by theemployer in the health care decisions of employees. Four roles for employers havebeen identified: (1) the Enabler, providing traditional health benefits, with increasinguse of deductibles and copayments; (2) the Advocate, providing benefit and alternativedelivery options (e.g., HMOs) with incentives for less costly choices; (3) the Mediator,providing programs which intervene in health …

Predicting The Organizational Response To Employee Tobacco Use: An Environmental Model, Susan Penner, Maurice Penner

Sociological Practice

The control of risk behaviors to reduce morbidity and mortality is a leading concernin public health, as is the protection of the public from hazardous exposure to tobaccosmoke and fires caused by smoking. Measures to restrict tobacco use are increasinglypopular in society and in the workplace as a result. This paper discusses cultural,economic, legal, and ethical factors in the external environment and the organization'sinstitutional and technical environment to predict organizational responses toemployee tobacco use.

Opportunities flourish to test this environmental model, as organizations ban tobaccouse or institute policies such as discrimination in hiring, cessation programs,and differential health benefits. Organizational responses …

Black/White Differences In Cancer: A Framework For Intervention Linking Social Structure And Survival, C. Allen Haney, Elizabeth Gear

Sociological Practice

Black/White differences in cancer survival persist. Factors shown to be differentiallyrelated to survival, and to differ by race, include the extent of disease present at diagnosis,disease classification or tumor histology, and host vulnerability. It is suggestedthat efforts to reduce this survival differential generally have been unsuccessful due toa failure to accurately identify the sources of this differential. Differences in the extentof disease present at diagnosis, for example, may not be a function of failure to seekphysicians or dollars spent on health care, but may be due to differences in the natureof health care provided. Similarly, differences in socioeconomic status, lifestyle …

Aids And The Challenge Of A Plague, Alice Cullinan

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Drug And Alcohol Abuse Prevention: Defining The Need In Organizations, W. David Watts

Sociological Practice

This paper outlines initial interventions to prevent drug and alcohol abuse in organizations.Grounded in sociological theory, the first intervention is to define the natureof the problem through data gathering and analysis, particularly self-reports of drugand alcohol use by the organization's members. The self-report data, when comparedwith national data, provide a base of information from which direct interventions canbe designed. Student, faculty, administration, and staff survey results from a universityand their applications are reported as a case study. Interventions which centeron peer prevention are briefly discussed. Self-report survey data of drug and alcoholabuse define the problem and the types of interventions …

The Clinical Sociologist As Health Broker, John G. Bruhn

Sociological Practice

One of the key aspects that distinguish clinical sociologists from other sociologistsis the former's more active role in intervention and change. The clinical sociologistperforms several functions as a broker. This paper discusses the role of healthbroker and the opportunities it provides for clinical sociologists, especially in largeorganizations.

Section: The Practice Of Health Sociology, Sociological Practice Editors, John G. Bruhn, W. David Watts, Alice Cullinan, C. Allen Haney, Elizabeth Gear, Susan Penner, Maurice Penner, Judith K. Barr, David J. Kallen, Chris Reimann, Andrea Doughty, Kathy K. Trier, James G. Anderson, Stephen J. Jay, John B. Zimmerer, Reza S. Farid, Marilyn M. Anderson

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Toward A Sociology Of Medicine, Bernhard J. Stern

Sociological Practice

This paper, first presented in 1951, promotes the emergence of a sociology of medicine.

The Importance Of The Study Of Medical Sociology, Charles Mcintire

Sociological Practice

This 1894 article by a physician discusses the relationshp between the medical profession and the general field of sociology.

The Contributions Of Clinical Sociology In Health Care Settings, Jan M. Fritz

Sociological Practice

This paper focuses on the emergence and promise of clinical sociology. Particular attention is paid to certified practitioners' contributions (theoretical analysis, social systems perspective, levels of analysis, methodological sophistication, intervention skills and specialized body of knowledge) in health care settings.

Section: Historical Overview, Sociological Practice Editors, Jan M. Fritz, Charles Mcintire, Bernhard J. Stern

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Elizabeth J. Clark

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Appendix Iii: Readings In Contemporary Sociological Practice, Sociological Practice Editors

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Appendix Ii: Sociological Practice: Defining The Field, Elizabeth Clark, Jan M. Fritz

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Section: Apendices, Sociological Practice Editors, Elizabeth Clark

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Are International Private Voluntary Organizations Preaching What They Practice?, G. David Miller

Sociological Practice

The concept of community development organizations providing assistance to communitiesin furthering the goals of community participation and self-help is conflictive.Providing institutionalized assistance often fosters dependency rather than advancingparticipation and self-help. The author examines goal statements of twenty leadingAmerican private voluntary organizations (PVOs) carrying out international communitydevelopment. Eighteen of the twenty espouse self-help, yet concentrate more on deliveringassistance than promoting empowerment. Their idea of self-help consists of supportingcommunity level administration of resources rather than advocating actualcommunity control. Most PVOs are donor-driven and transfer that dependency to thecommunities they serve. This raises the question of who is the client of the PVO, …

Methodological Issues In The Evaluation Of International Community Participation Projects, Michael Bamberger

Sociological Practice

International donor agencies and governments of developing countries are seeking waysto increase the involvement of project beneficiaries in the design and management ofdevelopment projects. However, very little systematic evidence is available on thepotential costs and benefits of community participation (CP). The evaluation of CP iscomplicated by a division between advocates of efficiency and empowerment objectives.Achieving consensus on evaluation strategies is further complicated by the closeassociation between empowerment objectives and qualitative evaluation methods on theone hand and efficiency objectives and quantitative evaluation methods on the other. Anumber of methodological issues are discussed with respect to the application ofcost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, …

Section: International Dimensions, Sociological Practice Editors, Michael Bamberger, G. David Miller

Sociological Practice

No abstract provided.

Developing Entrepreneurial Rural Communities, Cornelia Butler Flora, Jan L. Flora

Sociological Practice

Rural communities in the United States have diversified and their dependence onagriculture has decreased substantially. In the 1980s, rural deindustrialization occurredand rural areas continued to become more service oriented: employment opportunitiesdeclined because of shifts in the world and U.S. economies, and anti-rural publicpolicies. In response, some rural communities have become entrepreneurial communities,whose characteristics include: healthy acceptance of controversy; a degree ofeconomic surplus to allow for risk-taking; willingness of community to tax itself tomaintain infrastructure and schools; the ability to define community broadly and tonetwork both vertically and horizontally to obtain resources; and dispersed communityleadership. Entrepreneurial behavior in the context of …

How Rural Counties Can Generate Jobs, Kurt Finsterbusch, Cecelia Formichella, Meredith S. Ramsay, Daniel Kuennen

Sociological Practice

The findings are presented from a study of the job generating activities of fifteen ruralcounties in southern Maryland and the Delaware Peninsula. Nine specified informants,who were knowledgeable about economic developments, were interviewed ineach county to learn what actions their counties are taking to develop economicallyand how much each activity contributes to jobs. The activities that impacted the moston jobs were industrial parks, economic developments units, and tourism promotion.Other major job generators were a county group for recruiting businesses, specialcapital arrangements, development bonds, location in county of state or federal governmentactivities, and commercial sites. An analysis of county characteristics andactivities related …

Coal Severance Taxes: A New Social Justice And Community/ Economic Development Tool For Coal-Producing Areas, Raymond C. Lenzi

Sociological Practice

One hundred eight-eight coal-producing counties in fifteen states were examined todetermine the relationship of coal severance tax allocations to community economicdevelopment and change in socio-economic conditions. The one hundred countiesreceiving coal severance taxes were identified as an "experimental group'' and theeighty-eight counties not receiving these funds were used as a "control group'' and theeighty-eight counties not receiving these funds were used as a "control group" in aquasi-experimental model. The five key socio-economic variables examined were (1)per capita income, (2) poverty rate, (3) employment growth, (4) unemployment rate,and (5) bank deposits. Coal counties which received coal severance tax allocationsand community economic …