Inequality and Stratification Commons^™

How Demanding Should Equality Of Opportunity Be, And How Much Have We Achieved?, Valentino Dardanoni, Gary S. Fields, John E. Roemer, Maria Laura Sánchez Puerta

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This chapter proposes tests of various notions of equality of opportunity and applies them to intergenerational income data for the United States and Britain. Agreement is widespread that equality of opportunity holds in a society if the chances that individuals have to succeed depend only on their own efforts and not on extraneous circumstances that may inhibit or expand those chances. What is contentious, however, is what constitutes "effort" and "circumstances." Most people, we think, would say that the social connections of an individual's parents would be included among circumstances: equality of opportunity is incomplete if some individuals get …

Understanding The Determinants Of Police Identification Of Human Trafficking Cases, Amy Farrell

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

The passage of new laws criminalizing the trafficking of persons for labor and sexual services has raised public awareness about the problem of trafficking. In response, we expect local law enforcement to learn about the problem, identify trafficking victims and make arrests. The numbers of victims identified by the police, however, has paled in comparison to official estimates, leading some to question the existence of a trafficking problem. Missing from this debate is information about how frequently police encounter situations involving human trafficking and how well prepared officers are to deal with these cases. Analyzing survey responses from a national …

Halting The Race To The Bottom: Urgent Interventions For The Improvement Of The Education Of English Language Learners In Massachusetts And Selected Districts, English Language Learners Sub-Committee, Massachusetts Board Of Elementary And Secondary Education

Gastón Institute Publications

Massachusetts students of limited English proficiency do better academically than students of limited English proficiency in other states. But relative to other students in the state, students of limited English proficiency in Massachusetts face a disadvantage greater than that faced by their peers in most states. This suggests that while the overall higher levels of education in the state benefit LEPs in Massachusetts relative to LEPs who attend schools in states where the quality of education is lower, current policy and practice leads to significantly greater inequality in this state. As the state takes steps to improve performance for all …

Torch (December 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Educational Inequity, Erica Jade Lyons

Social Sciences

Our society’s public school education system is reproducing, if not enhancing, social stratification and inequality. The United States spends less on the schools that have the largest population of low-income and minority children than on schools with children from the more affluent families, typically White children. We are only further widening the gap between rich and poor when we give the children who come from the bottom end of class structure and give them even less when they leave their homes to come to class. In the United States, we spend approximately $900 less per year on each student from …

The Relationshiop Between Gender Inequality And Hiv/Aids In Africa, Nayree L. Sheldon

Social Sciences

This paper discusses the developmental and health issues of Eastern Africa in regards to the relationship between gender inequality and HIV/AIDS.

Communiqué For Elders On Reconciliation, Reunification And Peace In Cyprus: An Inter-Communal Civic Initiative, Nicos Trimikliniotis

Nicos Trimikliniotis

The visit of Elders in December 2009 is coinciding with a critical moment in the negotiation process, which is gradually entering into its final crucial phase. The two leaders appear determined to move forward with a settlement, despite the inherent difficulties; the Elders’ visit can assist the process by encouraging the leaders to show courage and boldness so as to press on with an agreement as soon as possible. Unlike in 2004, where both process and outcome were in the end delegitimized as ‘externally imposed’ and ‘not properly balanced’, this time the process is entirely owned and controlled by the …

The Relationship Between Classroom Interactions And Exclusionary Discipline As A Social Practice: A Critical Microethnography, Debra M. Pane Phd

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exclusionary school discipline results in students being removed from classrooms as a consequence of their disruptive behavior and may lead to subsequent suspension and/or expulsion. Literature documents that nondominant students, particularly Black males, are disproportionately impacted by exclusionary discipline, to the point that researchers from a variety of critical perspectives consider exclusionary school discipline an oppressive educational practice and condition. Little or no research examines specific teacher-student social interactions within classrooms that influence teachers’ decisions to use or not use exclusionary discipline. Therefore, this study set forth the central research question: In relation to classroom interactions in alternative education settings, …

When Personal Dreams Derail, Rural Cameroonian Women Aspire For Their Children, Akuri John, Susan Weinger, Barbara Barton

Social Work Faculty Publications

Data gathered from a convenience sample of 36 women who reside in rural villages lying on the outskirts of Buea, Cameroon is not consistent with the "culture of poverty" proposition which states that personal characteristics of the poor tie them to a life of poverty. These findings run counter to an assumed "culture of poverty" in which persons do not hold career aspirations and socialize their children with attitudes that assure the generational transmission of poverty. Respondents, as a case vignette illustrates, conveyed that besides marriage they had wanted a career in order to achieve a living wage. After their …

Torch (November 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Divided At The Margins: A Study Of Young Southern Sudanese Refugee Men In Cairo, Egypt, Natalie I. Forcier

Faculty Journal Articles

This report details a selection of findings on the situation of Southern Sudanese refugee youth at-risk for engaging in violence. Acknowledging that youth violence is not the problem but rather the symptom of underlying social and economic problems, the primary aim of this work was to explore the root causes for young Sudanese men to engage in violence.

Ethnographic data was collected through participant observation from 4 June 2008 to 17 December 2008. Using a series of community entry points, participant observation took place in public or semi-public settings with young men, adult men, young women, and the sisters, mothers …

Where Are The Victims? Perspectives On U.S. Anti-Trafficking Policy: Funding & Practice, Johnny Mcgaha

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

There is a major problem in the domestic sex trafficking of minors and sufficient funds should be reallocated to address this issue.

Barriers between funding for foreign victims and domestic victims need to be removed. A victim is a victim.

The current BJA/OVC/DHH grants should allowed to end until a sound TIP policy developed along with a sound implementation strategy based on real documented assessments with built in external accountability. We should not be leaving this to GAO/IG otherwise the whole movement will lose credibility along with funding.

Will the baby will be thrown out with the bath water unless …

Class And Categories: What Role Does Socioeconomic Status Play In Children's Lexical And Conceptual Development?, Jennifer Bloomquist

Africana Studies Faculty Publications

At one time, academic inquiries into the relationship between socioeconomic class and language acquisition were commonplace, but the past 20 years have seen a decrease in work that focuses on the intersection between class and early language learning. Recently, however, against the backdrop of the No Child Left Behind legislation in the United States (which has been criticized as a culturally biased education policy that, through highstakes testing and broad-based, uniform curricula, discounts the value of non-standard home language varieties largely spoken by working-class children), there has been renewed interest in the relationship between class, language use, and the assessment …

Latino Middle Class Income-Earners In New York City In 2006, Miriam Jiménez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in New York City in 2006 – particularly the income rates of the Latino population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: For this study, the middle class refers to those population sectors that fall between $35,000—$59,999 and $ 60,000—$100,000 in annual personal income. Middle-class income earners account for approximately 25.7% of …

A Profile Of Latina Women In New York City, 2007, Laura Limonic

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report provides an in-depth profile of Latinas of various national origins in 2007 New York City.

Methods: Data on Latinas and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: There was little difference in the sex breakdown between Latinos and non-Latinos in New York City (48% of all Latinos were women while 47.6% of non-Latinos were women). 37% of Latinas in 2007 were Puerto Rican while Dominican …

The Citizens Were Heard, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Unintended Consequences: Understanding Human Trafficking In The United States, Lyndsey Christoffersen

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

Human trafficking became a major issue in the United States in 2000 with passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. In 2001, border security was tightened in response to terrorism. While some efforts have been made to eradicate trafficking, the U.S. federal government has largely ignored the immigration aspect of trafficking. This paper aims to examine the intersection of U.S. human trafficking and immigration policy. The study of international illegal flows is still in the early stages. Thus, this paper is exploratory in nature. Information was obtained from government documents, nongovernmental organizations, and academic articles. What is trafficking? Is it …

Stories Of Sex Trafficking: Rescue, Victimization, And Silence, Donna M. Bickford

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

Human trafficking is a crime and human rights violation that has received increasing attention over the past 10-15 years. Of the hundreds of thousands of individuals trafficked across the globe each year, the vast majority are women and children forced or coerced into commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). In my home state of North Carolina, anti-trafficking activists continue to face disbelief in our broad attempts to educate and raise awareness, as well as resistance from law enforcement in our efforts to encourage increased identification and referral of potential survivors.

My presentation will discuss examples of news coverage, survivor narratives, and filmic …

A Social Ecological Framework For Addressing Social Issues, Alexis Jaclyn Hickman, Lyndsey Christoffersen, Mo Sami, Chitvan Trivedi

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

The School of Social Ecology at University of California, Irvine (UCI), teaches students to conduct research that is socially valid. This implies a problem-posing approach to global issues such as human trafficking. Applying a social ecological lens to such a multi-dimensional issue, allows us to systematically address the effective context of the problem. This framework assists in better targeting policies and programs that are not only aimed at the victims of trafficking, but also address the enabling environment (political, social, built) and demand side of trafficking. A social ecological framework for addressing social issues such as human trafficking was developed …

Victory In Rhode Island, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Michael Horowitz

Donna M. Hughes

Testimony On Prostitution Bill, Senate Judiciary Committee, Oct 2009, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Testimony For Trafficking Bill, Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee, Oct 2009, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

John Contracts Skin Disease At Spa, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq

Donna M. Hughes

Rehabilitation And Reintegration Of Trafficked Girls: The Laura Vicuna Foundation Experience, Maria Victoria Palomo Sta. Ana

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

This paper presents the Laura Vicuna Foundation, Inc. (LVFI) of the Daughters of Mary of Help of Christians’ Integrated Development Program for the disadvantaged children like those on the streets, the sexually abused, exploited, trafficked and working minors. It is a multi-staged comprehensive program known as the Journey of Hope approved by the academe in 1994. The Journey of Hope utilizes community-based and center-based programs as drop-in centers, technical-vocational centers, residential center for healing and recovery of abused, exploited and trafficked girls, group homes and LINK Center. The Preventive System of Education of St. John Bosco is the moving force …

Chab Dai Usa Mapping Project: U.S. Based Agencies Working Against Trafficking & Exploitation, Tania Docarmo

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

Trafficking in persons (TIP) and commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) are a growing global phenomenon, co-conspiring in the further development of modern day slavery. Though trafficking has traditionally been viewed as a problem “overseas”, the United States government acknowledges that the U.S. is no stranger to TIP, with tens of thousands believed to be trafficked into and within U.S. borders.

Though national efforts to fight TIP and CSE have increased in recent years, there remain several gaps and challenges if modern day slavery is to be brought to an end in the U.S. and across the globe. One such challenge is …

Human Trafficking Legislation Across The States: The Determinants Of Comprehensiveness, Vanessa Bouche, Dana Wittmer

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

To date, 40 U.S. states have passed human trafficking legislation; however, the comprehensiveness and stringency of the legislation significantly varies from state to state, and there remains significant ambiguity as to why this is the case. This study examines a number of factors that may impact the comprehensiveness of human trafficking legislation at the state level, focusing on the gender makeup of the legislature, the partisan makeup of the legislature, and policy diffusion based on geographic proximity. To test these hypotheses, we develop a comprehensive data set, including a uniquely designed dependent variable measuring legislative comprehensiveness for each state. We …

Religious Conviction And Human Trafficking: Motive Matters, Nathan Adams, Julia Bingman, Jared Littleton, Jeremy Scott

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

Individuals and groups acting primarily out of a sense of religious conviction form the backbone of a great deal of anti-human trafficking work being done today. Religious groups of many differing faiths have undertaken various projects both to free victims and to provide services to survivors. Funding and resources for these projects typically come from appeals to congregations, temples, and individuals using imagery and illusions to shared religious practice. This paper aims to analyze how these convictions affect the stated and practiced goals of religiously based groups, focusing on how such convictions and foci manifest in: gender issues, religious diversity, …

Integrating Modern-Day Slavery Into Interdisciplinary First-Year Seminars, Keisha L. Hoerrner, Ruth Goldfine

First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking, 2009

One of the contributing causes of trafficking is its seeming invisibility, especially in the United States. Traditional-age college students arrive on campus having been taught a pervasive cultural myth throughout their years of education. That myth is that slavery was abolished in the United States in the 1800s. It is no longer a social issue demanding concern or attention. It can't happen here -- for a myriad of issues. Yet, conservative estimates point to at least 200,000 individuals being enslaved in the United States at any moment in time. Part of the role of the academy is to make these …

Interview With Funeka Sihlali, Renell Schubert

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 92 minutes

Oral history interview of Funeka Sihlali by Renell Schubert

Ms. Sihlali begins by describing her childhood in King William’s Town when the Apartheid regime was instituted, living in government housing with her family in a single-room house with no bathroom, sharing a toilet with four other households. She explains having to learn the customs which were different from that in her home, for example, to look at African elders was a sign of disrespect, but outside of the home, she had to learn to make eye contact with white people to keep them from seeing her as …

Torch (October 2009), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.