Attitudes toward homosexuality among U.S. residents of Mexican descent

This study examined attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in a sample of northern California residents of Mexican descent (N = 616), using 3-item versions of the Attitudes Toward Gay Men (ATG) and Attitudes Toward Lesbians (ATL) scales presented simultaneously in Spanish and English. Males attitudes toward homosexual men were significantly more negative than females attitudes, whereas females expressed relatively negative attitudes toward lesbians. Overall, respondents expressing negative attitudes endorsed more traditional gender attitudes than respondents with positive attitudes, tended to be older and less educated, had more children, were more likely to belong to a fundamentalist religious denomination and to attend religious services frequently, were more conservative politically, and were less likely to have personal contact with gay people. Further analyses revealed that associations between attitudes and education, number of children, personal contact, and religious attendance occurred mainly among respondents who spoke and read English (rather than Spanish) or identified with U.S. culture (rather than Mexican culture).     

Attitudes toward homosexuality among U.S. residents of Mexican descent

This study examined attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in a sample of northern California residents of Mexican descent (N = 616), using 3‐item versions of the Attitudes Toward Gay Men (ATG) and Attitudes Toward Lesbians (ATL) scales presented simultaneously in Spanish and English. Males’ attitudes toward homosexual men were significantly more negative than females’ attitudes, whereas females expressed relatively negative attitudes toward lesbians. Overall, respondents expressing negative attitudes endorsed more traditional gender attitudes than respondents with positive attitudes, tended to be older and less educated, had more children, were more likely to belong to a fundamentalist religious denomination and to attend religious services frequently, were more conservative politically, and were less likely to have personal contact with gay people. Further analyses revealed that associations between attitudes and education, number of children, personal contact, and religious attendance occurred mainly among respondents who spoke and read English (rather than Spanish) or identified with U.S. culture (rather than Mexican culture).     

Intermarriage of Mexican Americans

No abstract available for this article.     

Mexican immigration and the port-of-entry school

The results of an immigrant student census in a California port-of-entry school district are used to describe the educational backgrounds of Mexican immigrant students and to distinguish types of Mexican immigrant students by school entry patterns. Interviews with recently arrived Mexican immigrant parents reveal the educational and occupational expectations they hold for their children in the US. The study findings are used as a basis for raising policy questions and generating research issues. The most notable observation from the study is that the children of Mexican immigrants in La Entrada do not migrate once they are in school. Parents may be migrating back and forth between the US and Mexico, but children once in La Entrada do not leave the school to return to school in Mexico. The study suggests that the parents of immigrant students do not know how the US educational system works but they are interested in helping teachers educate their children.     

Attitudes of Muslim Americans toward Homosexuality and Marriage Equality: Moving Beyond Simply Understanding Christian Public Opinions

A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked—Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jewish (n = 475) and Muslim (n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.     

Divorce Likelihood Among Anglos and Mexican Americans

In this paper, we examine ethnic differences in divorce likelihood for a sample of 900 divorce petitions filed in San Antonio, Texas, during 1985. The present study explores ethnic differences in the nature of the divorce process and examines the extent to which observed ethnic differences in divorce likelihood are accounted for by differences between groups in dimensions such as socioeconomic status, marital history, and nature of complaints. Divorce likelihood is viewed from the perspective of Levinger's (1965) exchange model of marital instability, as recently applied to the phenomenon of divorce petition withdrawal by Kitson et al. (1983). Observed differences between Spanish surname and non-Spanish surname petitions in divorce likelihood and divorce delay are largely explained by controls for background and exchange model variables. Significant interaction effects with ethnicity suggest the complexity of the divorce process.     

Attitudes toward gambling among adolescents

It is well documented that attitudes toward gambling are a good predictor of problem gambling during adolescence. However, so far, little is known about what factors are associated with adolescents' gambling attitudes. This study used cross-sectional data (N = 2055, response rate 70.4%) from a representative sample of 17-year-olds in Norway to investigate the relationship between demographic, personality, motivational and social variables and gambling attitudes. Overall, adolescents' attitudes toward gambling were slightly negative. A multivariate analysis revealed that more favourable attitudes toward gambling were most strongly associated with family/peer approval of gambling. In addition, significant associations were found for gender (males more favourable); Sensation Seeking (positive association); Agreeableness (negative association); and family/peer gambling history (positive association for lifetime gambling, negative association for problematic gambling). Although a variety of individual-level and social factors are associated with more favourable attitudes toward gambling, it appears that family and peer approval of gambling are most important.     

Mexican immigration and health care: a political economy perspective.

This paper examines the case of Mexican immigrants in the United States and their access to medical services within a political economy of health framework. Such an approach stresses that the provision of health care is independent of health factors per se and that access to health care is not equally distributed throughout a population. The first section reviews the three major concepts influencing medical anthropologists working within a political economy framework: the social origins of illness; the allocation of health resources; and fieldwork in Third World countries. The analysis then focuses upon the reasons for limiting immigrants' access to health care, followed by an examination of the socioeconomic characteristics of Mexican immigrants, including an undocumented immigration status, which limit their access to health care. Finally, the consequences of limited access to health services are suggested, including a low utilization of preventive health services resulting from the high cost of care combined with the immigrants' generally low income, lack of medical insurance and fear of using U.S. health services.     

Attitudes toward Poverty during Undergraduate Education

Abstract

The commitment of social workers to serving economically disadvantaged clients has been questioned in an era of growing political conservatism. This empirical study examines perceptions of the causes of poverty of three groups of undergraduate social work students. Results confirm that students appear to develop beliefs about poverty that are consistent with desired professional values. Beginning, intermediate, and advanced BSW students rated structural explanations as the most salient and accorded the least importance to factors related to personal client deficiencies. However, a rise in fatalistic interpretations of poverty along with an increasingly external locus of control orientation characterized students who had completed their social welfare policy course. Strategies for enhancing curricula are suggested.     

Energy Conservation and Attitudes toward Technology

An exploratory survey of a small suburban community near LosAngeles investigated the attitudes and values underlying acceptanceof technological applications, examined the relationship ofgeneral attitudes toward technology to conservation attitudesand behavior during the energy crisis of 1973–1974, andcontrasted college students with the surrounding community intheir regard for technology and energy conservation. Two distinctdimensions of attitudes toward technology utility and affect–weredefined and found to relate to belief in the reality of theenergy crisis and preferred solutions, but not to reported conservationbehavior. Moreover, in contrast to popular images, no strongantitechnology sentiment was found among the college sample     

Contemporary American attitudes toward U.S. immigration

"This article aims to contribute to an understanding of contemporary American attitudes toward immigration.... The paper uses data from a CBS News/New York Times poll conducted in June 1993. Respondents were asked whether they would like to see the level of immigration to the United States increased, decreased or kept the same. We test several hypotheses about factors influencing respondents' attitudes, including the importance of previously unexamined predictors. These new hypotheses relate to views about the health of the U.S. economy, feelings of social and political alienation, and isolationist sentiments concerning international economic issues and foreign relations. One important discovery is the close connection between possessing restrictionist immigration attitudes and having an isolationist perspective along a broader array of international issues."     

American Attitudes toward Guest Worker Policies

In this study we use data from a 2004 New York Times/CBS News national survey to analyze public opinion toward a guest worker program and to compare predictors of support for guest worker and general immigration policies. In general, Americans tend to be divided in their attitudes toward a guest worker program, although support for temporary worker policies is stronger when legalization for unauthorized immigrants is conditioned on certain requirements, and when the program is coupled with enhanced border security. The results of the bivariate probit analysis indicate that individuals who favor reducing the immigration level also tend to oppose instituting a guest worker program. Perceptions of the “costs” of immigration emerged as the most important determinant of individuals’ attitudes toward immigration policies; such beliefs contributed to opposition to a guest worker policy and support for reducing the immigration level. We also found that residents of high‐immigration states and Latinos were more likely to support a temporary worker program. However, these characteristics do not appear to influence individuals’ judgments about the number of immigrants who should be admitted to the United States. Findings regarding the impact of political partisanship and ideology on attitudes toward the two policies were more ambiguous.     

Gender, acculturation, and health among Mexican Americans

This study examines whether the relationship between acculturation and physical health varies by gender among Mexican Americans, and if the mechanisms that mediate the acculturation-health relationship operate differently by gender. Using the 1998-2007 National Health Interview Study, we construct a composite measure of acculturation and estimate regression models for the total number of health conditions, hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes. Immigrants with the lowest levels of acculturation are the healthiest, but this association is stronger for men. Medical care plays a central role in accounting for gender and acculturation differences across health outcomes-increased access to and utilization of medical care is associated with worse health, which suggests that better health among recent arrivals (particularly men) partially results from their lack of knowledge about their own poor health.     

Attitudes of street kids toward foster care

Forty-seven kids who frequented drop-in centers in three Western cities were interviewed to determine their attitudes toward statements related to foster care. While the teams indicated that they believed foster parents care about children and want to help them, many did not want to risk foster care. The major reason for remaining on the street is their perceptions that conflict within their family cannot be resolved. These teens have chosen to develop their own family from other street people rather than risk further rejection. The need for early family intervention is stressed.