1,738 research outputs found
Empowering settings and voices for social change
No full textedited by Mark S. Aber, Kenneth I. Maton, and Edward Seidman.xv, 244 p. : ill. ; 25 cm
Special Issue on Community Psychology and Social Policy
No full textCommunity psychologists working in the policy arena are uniquely situated to improve the quality of life for individuals, communities and nations. Unfortunately, we know relatively little about the policy-related work community psychologists conduct in different parts of the world. This special issue represents a beginning foray into this area, encompassing six articles, one information brief, one commentary, and two book reviews describing the policy-related work of community psychologists in multiple nations across four continents. The articles in the special issue are based on presentations in two separate symposia conducted at the Fourth International Conference of Community Psychology (Barcelona, Spain, June 2012). The two symposia were “Psicología comunitaria y políticas sociales: Antecedentes, límites y posibilidades” (Jaime Alfaro, coordinator), and “Influencing social policy: Community psychology perspectives from four continents” (Ken Maton, coordinator)
An examination of health disparities legislation: The relationship of research language and legislator characteristics to bill progression and legislative behaviors
No full textHealth disparities are a serious public health issue that disproportionately affect individuals from traditionally marginalized and oppressed populations, such as racial/ minorities. For instance, African Americans disproportionately have chronic health conditions that decrease their overall quality of life and increase mortality (CDC, 2013). Legislation is one of the key mechanisms through which social change can occur and is an integral part of addressing racial health disparities (Maton, 2017; Shah, 2011; Young et al., 2015). It is important to be aware of and understand the various factors that can influence bill progression, both at the bill-level and the legislator-level, respectively. Two such factors that the literature suggests impact bill progression are 1) the use of research evidence in legislation and 2) legislator characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity). However, little is known about if and how these factors impact legislation specifically related to racial health disparities. This study examined U.S. federal health legislation using Quorum, a legislative data collection tool. Specifically, federal legislation introduced between the 101st and 116th Congress (1989-2020) was analyzed, in part through the use of Boolean searches for keywords and phrases. Analyses focused on: 1) whether presence of research keywords predicts bill progression, and 2) whether legislator factors such as race and racial composition of constituents influence their legislative behavior such as voting and bill sponsorship. At the bill-level, I conducted a keyword search of references to research on health-related bills in general, and racial/ethnic health disparities bills in particular. On the legislator level, I examined the legislative activities (voting record; bill sponsorship) of legislators concerning racial/ethnic health disparities bills.
Bill-level findings revealed that research keywords (total number as well as individual research keyword categories) significantly predicted bill progression to out of committee and enactment in both samples (i.e., racial health disparities focused bills, non-racial health disparities focused bills). Legislator-level findings revealed that legislator race/ethnicity and the proportion of racial/ethnic minority constituents significantly predicted legislator sponsorship, but not voting. This study, like prior research, illustrates the importance and potential impact of using research in policy. The study also highlights the impact of legislator characteristics on legislative behavior like sponsorship
Cwbr Author Interview: Reluctant Rebels: The Confederates Who Joined The Army After 1861
No full textInterview with Dr. Kenneth W. Noe, Professor of History at Auburn University Interviewed by Nathan Buman Civil War Book Review (CWBR): I\u27m here today with Kenneth Noe, author of Reluctant Rebels: The Confederates Who Joined the Army after 1861. Professor Noe, thank you for joining me. Kenneth Noe (KN): I\u27m happy to be here Nathan
Nya perspektiv på det romerska myntväsendet i det östra Medelhavsområdet under senrepublikansk och kejsartid
No full textThe Ph.D. thesis discusses the monetary development in Roman Syria and Judaea in the Late Republican and the Early Imperial Period, from a numismatic, archaeological and historical point of view. In effect, the work focuses on the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D., that is, the assumed time of introduction of Roman denarii to the region.
The work benefits from the silver coin hoards of Khirbet Qumran recently published by the author. Though discovered as early as 1955 at Qumran, where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls had been found prior to that in 1947, most hoards remained unpublished until 2007. A second important source utilized is the so-called Tax Law from Palmyra in Syria. Its significance lies in the fact that Palmyra used to be one of the most important cities on the Silk Road, along which luxury goods were transported into the Roman Empire and Rome itself.
During the research conducted, studies of the provincial coinage of Judaea (A.D. 6-66) shed new light on the authority of the Roman governors in economic and monetary matters in eastern Mediterranean regions. Furthermore, a new suggestion as to the length of the mandate period of Pontius Pilate is made. The extent of Emperor Augustus monetary reforms as well as the military history of Judaea are discussed in the light of new analytical studies, which show that the production of Roman base metal coins appears to have been a highly controlled process, contrary to popular opinion. Statistical calculations related to the coin alloy revealed striking similarities with Roman and other local metalwork found in Israel; a fact previously unknown. Results indicate that both Roman and local metalwork consisted of outstandingly systematized practises and may have exploited the same metal sources.
Information: Kenneth Lönnqvist (*25.7.1962) has studied at the University of Helsinki since 1981. Furthermore, Lönnqvist has lived in the Mediterranean countries and the Near East, and made research there at various scientific institutions and universities for ca. 7 years. Contact and sales of thesis: [email protected] perspektiv på det romerska myntväsendet i det östra Medelhavsområdet under senrepublikansk och kejsartid Avhandlingen diskuterar den monetära utvecklingen i romerska Syrien och Judéen från senrepublikansk till tidig kejsartid ur en numismatisk, arkeologisk och historisk synvinkel. I praktiken fokuserar arbetet på emissionen av romerska mynt till Syria-Palestina, d.v.s. tiden från första århundradet f.Kr. till första århundradet e.Kr. Arbetet baserar sig på det av författaren 2007 publicerat myntmaterial eller silverskatterna från Khirbet Qumran. Skatterna hittades 1955 i Qumran, där de berömda Dödahavsrullarna upptäcktes redan 1947, men förblev opublicerade fram till 2007. En annan viktig källa utgörs av den romerska inskriften, den s.k. Tulltariffen från Palmyra (Syrien), som var en inkörsport för lyxvaror till Rom längs Sidenvägen.
Myntsystemet i romerska Judéen belyser på ett nytt sätt ämbetsmännens befogenheter i monetära angelägenheter i östra Medelhavsområdet. Vidare diskuteras tjänstemännens ämbetsperioder (bl.a. omdateras Pontius Pilatus mandatstid) samt omfattningen av kejsar Augustus myntreformer, och Judéens militärhistoria under första århundradet e.Kr. Metallanalyser visar att produktionen av kopparbaserade mynt var en noga kontrollerad process, i motsats till vad man tidigare antagit. Analyser av myntens spårämnessammansättning visar häpnadsväckande likheter med andra romerska och lokala materialgrupper funna på arkeologiska utgrävningar i Israel. Resultatet tyder delvis på att en del råvaror för tillverkningen kom till Mellanöstern från Europa, delvis också på att romerska mynt, romerskt metallverk, men också lokala metallhantverkare uttnyttjade samma råvarokällor
Mapping Interfaith Engagement: Interfaith Activities, Sources of Influence, and Motivations for Involvement
No full textInterfaith engagement involves contact and interventions between people of different religions, encompassing dialogues, activism, service, education, and more. This qualitative study on interfaith engagement in the United States utilized semi-structured interviews (N = 34) to examine participant experiences in interfaith activities, sources of influence, and motivations for their interfaith engagement, using an ecological lens. Additional research questions explored how minoritized religious identity status impacts interfaith involvement, plus if and how the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, the "Muslim bans,” and recent antisemitic attacks influenced participants’ interfaith engagement. Over half of participants (n = 19; 56%) identified with minoritized religious identities, while slightly under half (n = 15; 44%) were Christian. Thematic analysis was used to explore the interview data. Interviewees spoke about involvement in a vast array of interfaith activities, categorized into 24 distinct activities and grouped into five domains: developing relationships across religious difference, experiencing other religious traditions and interfaith settings, building knowledge about religious traditions and identities, engaging social issues and doing service, and participating in interfaith organizations and groups. The initial involvement scenarios of interviewees were described and categorized by age and life stage, formal or informal involvement, trajectory of involvement, and ecological factors of influence.
Sources of influence on interfaith engagement included formative experiences, relationships, and setting-level influences, and were found across all ecological levels. Motivations for interfaith involvement included 1) addressing divisions and hostility, 2) proactively building interfaith understanding, 3) coping as a minoritized religion, 4) living out values and beliefs, and 5) pursuing interests and issues. Motivations for interfaith engagement were primarily at macrosystemic and individual levels.
The study findings extend our understanding of the wide variety and nature of interfaith activities, sources of influence, and the motivations that lead to interfaith involvement, with insight as to the influence of various ecological levels and recent political and historical events. The relation of the findings to previous research and theory are discussed, along with strengths and limitations of the study, directions for future research, and implications for interfaith practitioners seeking to enhance the extent and impact of interfaith engagement in our communities and nation
THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR INSOMNIA ON POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS IN TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED PILOT PROJECT
No full textTraumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are highly comorbid disorders and significant public health burdens. Notably, PTSS are highly prevalent in TBI, particularly among military personnel. Insomnia is highly prevalent in both TBI (97% prevalence) and posttraumatic stress (70%-91% prevalence). Due to its chronic nature, insomnia is associated with negative health-related outcomes, poor neuropsychiatric outcomes, greater refractory to TBI/PTSS treatment, and increased risk for all-cause mortality. A small body of research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), the recommended first-line treatment for chronic insomnia, may be effective in improving not only sleep difficulties but also PTSS in those with diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, despite the high degree of comorbidity between TBI and PTSS, there are no studies that have examined whether CBT-I is effective in improving both sleep and PTSS in persons with TBI. To address this gap in the literature, the current study analyzed data from a randomized controlled trial to examine whether CBT-I is more effective than sleep education in improving sleep and reducing PTSS severity in individuals with TBI and comorbid insomnia. The results demonstrated a significant positive association between insomnia symptom severity and PTSS. Furthermore, the CBT-I group showed a significant improvement in insomnia symptom severity compared to the sleep education group. The findings, however, did not support the hypothesis that CBT-I would also reduce PTSS severity. Study implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed
ASIAN AMERICAN/EUROPEAN AMERICAN AND LATINO/A/EUROPEAN AMERICAN MULTIRACIAL PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: ACADEMIC BARRIERS, ACADEMIC SUPPORTS, PERCEPTIONS OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY, AND EXPERIENCES
No full textDemographic trends suggest increasing numbers of multiple racial heritage students attending US campuses and universities, a change reflected within psychology. However, there is little empirical investigation into the educational needs of multiracials. The current project addressed this gap by utilizing quantitative survey and qualitative interview data from a recently conducted national study to explore the perceptions of multiracial undergraduate and graduate students within psychology. The focus of the current study was the comparison of Asian American/European American and Latino/a/European American multiracial students to their single heritage counterparts on several variables of interest - academic supports and barriers; linkage between barriers faced and ethnicity; perceived cultural diversity; and perceptions of the extent of cultural diversity related to satisfaction. Furthermore, exploratory differences in these variables related to multiracial self-identification and the variables of satisfaction, specialness and representation in psychology were examined. Both multiracial groups reported more of a link between academic barriers experienced and their ethnicity than European American students, but less of a link than their monoracial minority peers. Also, both multiracial groups were more likely to report that their ethnic group was not represented in psychology than fairly represented, compared to European American peers, but less likely to report this compared to their monoracial minority counterparts. The same pattern of findings existed for student's perceptions that psychology had something special to offer their ethnic group. In other cases, differences were not found between the multiracial groups and their monoracial counterparts, or between the two multiracial groups
Membership vs. Being of the Community: A Qualitative Study of the Go-Go Music-Cultural Community
No full textCommunity membership is an important element of McMillan and Chavis' (1986) classic sense of community framework, which has been a staple in community psychology research. The present study explored the extent to which the McMillan and Chavis five-attribute definition of community membership matched how membership is defined by members of the Go-Go music-cultural community that is highly localized to the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. This qualitative case study also explored the possibility that other membership attributes exist for the Go-Go community besides the five McMillan and Chavis attributes of boundaries, emotional safety, sense of belonging and identification, personal investment, and common symbol system. Results suggest that the membership construct may not be relevant for all types of communities, as boundaries, emotional safety, sense of belonging and identification, and personal investment do not operate in the Go-Go community the way that McMillan and Chavis defined them. A different construct called being of the community is offered for the Go-Go community as a better fit than membership. Attributes for this alternative concept, being of the community, include permeable levels, personal knowledge and experience, and recognition, as well as common symbol system. This construct takes into account the Go-Go community's contextual intersection of: geographical location, the Washington, D.C. area; the historical era in which Washington, D.C. was majority-Black, 1970s through early 2000s; the perceived older age of the community; the perceived Blackness of the community; and the community's connection to the entertainment industry. Being of the community is also offered as a better fit than membership because of the Go-Go community's unbounded structure, in contrast to the bounded structure of the communities that exemplify McMillan and Chavis' (1986) attributes of membership. Noting scholarly critiques of the sense of community construct as an assumption of homogeneity and social equality (e.g., Wiesenfeld, 1996), and critiques of music scene studies as prioritizing the male voice (e.g., Hill, 2014), the present study imparts alternative findings regarding race, age, socioeconomic status, and gender. Implications of this study include the need for researchers to consider issues of power and cultural marginalization as they study communities and the role of Western dominant culture in how community theory is constructed and applied to all types of communities (i.e., without addressing contextual variation, including culturally and historically specific variation). This work speaks to academic audiences interested in moving toward more contextualized approaches to community study. This study also has significance for the Go-Go community beyond the present participants, as the community has been consistently stereotyped and marginalized in its local sociopolitical context, primarily in relation to the go-go music scene of Washington, D.C. and Prince George's County, Maryland. Participants' experiences and perspectives illuminate the cultural significance of Go-Go to the people who are of the community
PREDICTORS AND OUTCOMES OF ADOLESCENT SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS: AN ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL, PEER, FAMILY, AND NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL VARIABLES
No full textAdolescence is a period when young individuals face many challenging tasks. These include becoming resilient in the face of adversities, establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, achieving in school, and preparing for adult life. Self-efficacy beliefs are important to youth's success in accomplishing these tasks. Specifically, consistent with the premises of Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory, ample evidence suggests that self-efficacy beliefs are highly critical in task selection, persistence, and successful completion. Nevertheless, few studies to date have examined the predictors of self-efficacy beliefs, or the role of efficacy beliefs in mediating the relationship between contextual factors and positive developmental outcomes. Three interrelated studies were conducted to examine 1) the structure of a multidimensional self-efficacy measure (Study I), 2) the individual, family, peer, and neighborhood predictors of adolescents' domain specific self-efficacy beliefs (Study II), and 3) the mediating role of domain specific self-efficacy beliefs in predicting adolescents' developmental outcomes (Study III). All three studies relied on a secondary analysis of the Project in Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) data set. Specifically, surveys of youth aged 10-19, and systematic social observations conducted to measure neighborhood physical and social disorganization were examined. The findings of Study I (N = 1,487) provided evidence for the multidimensional structure of the self-efficacy measure, consistent with the original premises of Self-Efficacy Theory. The findings of Study II (N = 1,015) suggested that family environment and peer relations are the most consistent predictors of adolescents' domain-specific self-efficacy beliefs, while individual characteristics and neighborhood context exerted influence on specific domains only. The pattern of different predictors being linked to different self-efficacy domains underscores the importance of the multidimensional structure of self-efficacy beliefs, and the complexity of relationships between sources of influence, across levels and domains of self-efficacy beliefs. The findings of Study III provided evidence for the mediating role of domain specific self-efficacy beliefs. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of examining predictors and outcomes of self-efficacy beliefs in multiple domains using a multidimensional measure of efficacy beliefs
- …
