Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

“Holla If You Hear Me”: A Conversation With Black, Inner-City Youth On Career Preparedness Programs, Theressa N. Cooper

Doctoral Dissertations

This research study specifically addressed; how vocational preparedness programs effect the career aspirations of Black youth, within the context of the Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts of America’s Exploring program. The goal of this research is to represent Black youth participating in a vocational preparedness program. Interviews, journals, and rich, thick descriptions are utilized in this work.

Using the lens of narrative inquiry and cultural studies, I hoped to further the field of career development through the experiences of some of its key players, African American youth. Within the context of their stories five major themes surfaced around the ideas: …

El Futuro De La Inmigración En España - (“Future Of Immigration In Spain”), Joshua Bruno

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following argument is about the highly disputed theme of Immigration. Like all countries around the world, Spain manages a population of foreigners that have turned up in search of a new opportunity. If these migrants are able to enter the European Union, they still face many obstacles, including racism and extreme poverty. Yet, their contributions to a struggling European economy are undeniable. The following paper attempts to highlight these important contributions and demonstrate how in a liberal democratic society, such as Spain’s, a more accepting immigration policy where more sanitary conditions provided to immigrants could work. Furthermore, these arguments …

Invernaderos: La Búsqueda Por El Trabajo Estable Y Seguro Y Un Medioambiente En Peligro, Elli Matkin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research is intended to discuss the rapid development of the “invernaderos” (greenhouses) on the coast of Spain and to expose both the social and environmental repercussions of such a massive agricultural project. The data was gathered through the use of both secondary sources and primary research. The author conducted a number of interviews both on the coast, in Motril and Carchuna, and inland in Granada city -- discussing the subject with owners of “invernaderos”, pesticide sellers, and cooperative workers.

The main conclusion of this research is that while the work of “invernaderos” is a security for many agricultural families …

Developing The Sacred: Local & Global Bikas In The Nepali Bhotkhola, Clayton Andrew Roger Hawkins Lewis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of bikas on community and culture. Research was conducted from 9-30 November 2010 in the Bhotia village Chyamtang in the Sankhuwasabha district of Northeastern Nepal. The forms of development observed at the site are separated into local bikas and global bikas, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Research focused on a two-year old development project initiated by The Mountain Institute (TMI) using medicinal plant cultivation and community participation. Methods for studying Bhotia culture and development took the form of interviews with local healers, religious figures, farmers, and TMI …

Sticks And Stones: The Strategic Use Of Development By The Maoists In The Mobilization Of Nepal‘S Rural Population, Iyla Shornstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nepal is a country with a brutal history of endemic domestic conflict and economic inequality. With the majority of the population living below the poverty line, development discourse has been crucial to political discussions for the past 20 years. The advent of the People‘s War marked a highly significant turn in the history of Nepali politics as the formation of the United Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-M) and the subsequent insurgency that followed brought issues of socio-economic equality and empowerment of marginalized peoples to the forefront of the national agenda. The CPN-M rapidly gained support predominantly in the rural countryside …

La Integración De Los Inmigrantes: Una Sociedad Que Acoge, Weddy Worjroh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The first truth that I stumbled across upon arriving in Granada is that immigration has and continues to have a great impact on the society as a whole. I have always been intrigued by immigration because both of my parents were immigrants. Coming from a country that was built by the hands of immigrants, I get irritated when people say offensive things about the immigrants of today. Ever since I was a child my parents have told me many stories about the struggles and adversities they overcame in order to obtain a better life. For this reason, when I look …

The State-In-Society Approach To Democratization With Examples From Japan, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How does an undemocratic country create democratic institutions and transform its polity in such a way that democratic values and practices become integral parts of its political culture? This article uses the case of Japan to advocate for a new theoretical approach to the study of democratization. In particular, it examines how theoretical models based on the European and North American experiences have difficulty explaining the process of democratization in Japan, and argues that a state-in-society approach is better suited to explaining the democratization process diverse cultural contexts. Taking a bottom-up view of recent developments in Japanese civil society through …

Professor Emeritus Speech, August 26, 2010, Grady Johnson

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Dr. Grady Johnson's speech accepting professor emeritus on behalf of the Late Dr. Edna Saffy.

Family Characteristics, Public Program Participation, & Civic Engagement, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study tested for differences on the type and extent of civic engagement between use of visible programs such as Food Stamps and Medicaid and less visible programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit while accounting for family and socio demographic characteristics. Policy feedback theory guided the study which used data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys. Challenging prior research, means-tested Food Stamps, Medicaid, or EITC program participants were as likely as non-participants to devote time to activities aimed at changing social conditions. What social service agencies can do to enhance civic engagement is discussed.

Alma Del Vino Benefit Wine To A Fund For The Farm Workers Of San Luis Obispo County, Shane Christensen Hastings

Social Sciences

"Alma Del Vino" is a benefit that gives back 100% of the proceeds to a fund for the farm workers of San Luis Obispo County. Hard work and a dedicated work ethic has provided a bounty of fruits and vegetables grown from this fertile land, and has been the backbone in establishing a reputation for producing high quality wine fruit from this growing region. This wine is an opportunity to give back to those who work so hard, and are most in need.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Social Survey 2010 Highlights, Robert Futrell, Christie D. Batson, Barbara G. Brents, Andrea Dassopoulos, Chrissy Nicholas, Mark J. Salvaggio, Candace Griffith

Reports (USI)

UNLV sociologists conducted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Social Survey (LVMASS) to identify the socio-spatial distribution of attitudes and attributes relevant to urban sustainability in the Las Vegas Valley. The project goal is to understand how Las Vegas residents think about urban sustainability issues across three dimensions: 1) natural environment; 2) community and quality of life; 3) economy.

Newman, Oscar: Defensible Space Theory, Patrick G. Donnelly

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

The concept of “defensible space” was first explicated by Oscar Newman in a 1972 book by the same title. The concept, which contains elements of a theory of crime as well as a set of urban design principles, became popular in the 1970s as urban crime problems continued to rise. Defensible space was discussed, utilized, and critiqued widely by criminologists and other social scientists, as well as urban planners, law enforcement officials, and architects.

The design concepts have also been implemented in numerous communities in the United States and around the world. Later works by Newman, including Community of Interest …

Rural Community Longevity: Capitalizing On Diversity For Immigrant Residential Stability, Rochelle L. Dalla, Tammy R. Stuhmer, Jennifer G. Deleón, Maria Isabel León Carreño

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The premise of this research is that rural immigrants comprise a significant source of untapped human and social capital necessary for community development. However, to capitalize on the growing ethnic diversity in rural America, immigrant newcomers must want to stay in their new rural communities. This investigation was designed to identify factors necessary to enhance rural Latino immigrants’ long-term residential stability. Thus, we sought to: (1) identify perceptions of rural residence, with particular attention to employment opportunities and challenges; (2) assess formal support availability and community issues of greatest concern to rural Latinas; and (3) identify strategies for creating bi-cultural …

Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In India, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This policy brief documents the participation of youth in India in civil society, the extent to which they uphold secular attitudes, and their perceptions about and participation in political processes. Findings from six states call for actions to promote youth participation, particularly the participation of young women, in civil society and political life. Programs are needed at the school, college, and community levels—through national service programs, sports, and other nonformal mechanisms—that encourage civic participation, incorporate value-building components, and reinforce secular attitudes and values that espouse responsible citizenship. Findings that many youth are disillusioned with the commitment of political parties to …

Communalism Predicts Prenatal Affect, Stress, And Physiology Better Than Ethnicity And Socioeconomic Status, Cleopatra M. Abdou, Christine Dunkel Schetter, Belinda Campos, Clayton J. Hilmert, Tyan Parker Dominguez, Calvin J. Hobel, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The authors examined the relevance of communalism, operationalized as a cultural orientation emphasizing interdependence, to maternal prenatal emotional health and physiology and distinguished its effects from those of ethnicity and childhood and adult socioeconomic status (SES). African American and European American women (N = 297) were recruited early in pregnancy and followed through 32 weeks gestation using interviews and medical chart review. Overall, African American women and women of lower socioeconomic backgrounds had higher levels of negative affect, stress, and blood pressure, but these ethnic and socioeconomic disparities were not observed among women higher in communalism. Hierarchical multivariate regression analyses …

Youth Participation In Civil Society And Political Life In Andhra Pradesh, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This policy brief documents the participation of youth in Andhra Pradesh, India in civil society, the extent to which they uphold secular attitudes, and their perceptions about and participation in political processes. Data drawn from the Youth in India: Situation and Needs study call for actions to promote youth participation, particularly the participation of young women, in civil society and political life. Special attention must be paid to developing community-level programs for young women, large proportions of whom had not participated in civil society. Findings that many youth are disillusioned with the commitment of political parties to work for change …

Place For Personhood: Individual And Local Character In Lifestyle Migration, Brian A. Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

While drawing on literature of narrative interpretations of the construction of self and place-based, embodied identity, this article will explore the impact of invasive market forces on intertwined processes of person, self, and place-making. It considers how resources for these projects have changed in the face of translocal market forces and neoliberal ideals. Despite numerous proclamations of an essential placelessness to contemporary American society, place continues to be a basic part of the construction of the person. In fact, a variety of place-making practices are increasingly pursued as ways of negotiating tension between personal experience with material demands in pursuit …