Contemporary Music,Drug Attitudes and Drug Behaviour

Over 400 secondary school students and 50 contemporary musicians were interviewed or tested in a study of the relationship between ‘pop’ and drug attitudes and practices. In an analysis of students' musical preferences, ‘Blues’, ‘Folk’ and ‘Country’ factors were identifiable. Students—and also musicians—who preferred ‘Blues’ tended to be more attracted by such drugs as LSD, speed and tobacco than did the other students. There was little agreement between students as to the meaning of particular pop numbers.     

AIDS KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AMONG CANBERRA SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

This paper reports findings from a study of 1,014 Canberra secondary school students in 15 government and private schools. Open-ended responses concerning students' understanding of AIDS, and their views regarding prevention, are presented and discussed. Data on source of AIDS information are also investigated. In general, students understand AIDS as sex-linked, that it involves transmission through the blood, and that there is no cure for it. They espouse more research and education as the main preventive measures, although males also propose homophobic solutions. Teachers and television are the primary sources of AIDS information. Differences by sex of respondent and school type are reported and implications for school-based AIDS education policies are suggested.     

The Roles of Parenting Styles and Social Capital in the School Performance of Immigrant Asian and Hispanic Adolescents*

Objective. This study investigates the role of parenting styles and social capital (parental involvement, intergenerational closure, expectation, and trust) in accounting for school performance among ethnic groups and across immigrant generations. Methods. Using data from the Adolescent Health Survey, we estimate fixed‐effects models to analyze students' grade‐point averages. We compare three generations of Asian students and three generations of Hispanic students to the third‐generation (native born with native parents) white students. Results. We find significant differences by both race/ethnicity and generational status in parenting styles and forms of social capital. However, while family socioeconomic status (SES) accounts for the achievement gap between foreign‐born Hispanic and the third‐generation white students, parenting styles and forms of social capital do not moderate any ethnic‐generational differences. Conclusions. Family influences, apart from SES, cannot explain ethnicity‐generation differences in school grades among Hispanic and Asian adolescents. This study provides conceptual clarification and empirical evidence for the significant but independent association between students' school grades and parenting styles on the one hand, and social capital on the other.     

The Interplay Between Social and Cultural Determinants of School Effort and Success: An Investigation of Chinese‐Immigrant and Second‐Generation Chinese Students' Perceptions Toward School*

Objective. Educational research suggests that close‐knit, supportive immigrant communities can encourage students' school success; however, less agreement exists about why students outside of those communities—particularly in urban areas—do not always do as well in school, even when those students perceive themselves to be working as hard as their higher‐performing immigrant peers. This article explores the relationship between Chinese‐immigrant and second‐generation Chinese students' perceptions and social/cultural factors that influence their lives in a large urban school. Methods. Longitudinal interviews with students, as well as observations at the school, took place from September 2000 to May 2001. Results. Chinese immigrants in this study are motivated to work hard and value demanding teachers, difficult curriculum, and discipline more than their second‐generation Chinese peers; the second‐generation students talk of wanting more entertaining, knowledgeable teachers while not being willing or able to work as hard for school success. Conclusions. These findings indicate that differences in students' perceptions of their own effort and success in school may depend greatly on the social environment in which students find themselves, as well as the culturally‐driven actions available within those environments.     

Does multicultural education affect bachelor of social work students' attitudes? The Taiwanese case of female Southeast Asian marriage immigration

In the past two decades, intra‐Asia cross‐border marriage immigration has become a significant phenomenon. This study collected questionnaire data from Bachelor of Social Work students (n = 1,232) in Taiwan to explore the influences of multicultural education, intergroup contact experience, and demographic characteristics on students' attitudes toward female Southeast Asian marriage migrants. Regression analysis revealed that students' attitudes are improved by direct contact with female Southeast Asian marriage migrants but are not correlated with students' demographic characteristics. Although pre‐college multicultural education improves students' attitudes, college‐level multicultural education adversely affects the attitudes of students who perform poorly in multicultural courses. These findings have valuable implications for social work educators.     

Bystanders' Reactions to Bullying: A Cross‐cultural Analysis of Personal Correlates Among Italian and Singaporean Students

This study examined the role of attitudes against bullying and perceived peer pressure for intervention in explaining defending the victim and passive bystanding behavior in bullying. Participants were 1031 school‐age children from two culturally diverse settings, namely Italy and Singapore, which are similar on several dimensions (e.g., quality of life, child welfare) but dramatically differ on other aspects, such as individualism—collectivism orientation. Multilevel analyses showed that country and participants' gender moderated the relations between individual predictors and behavior during bullying episodes. In particular, although individual attitudes were a stronger predictor of Italian students'—especially girls'—behavior, perceived peer expectations were more strongly associated with behavior of Singaporean participants. This study contributes to the literature by being the first to provide data analyzing the association between defending and passive bystanding behavior and different correlates using a cross‐cultural approach.     

Religion and Abortion Attitudes Among U.S. Hispanics: Findings from the 1990 Latino National Political Survey*

Objective. The goal of this article is to examine the relationship between religious involvement, gauged mainly in terms of affiliation and frequency of attendance at services, and abortion attitudes among three major Hispanic subgroups: Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans. Method. The study analyzes data from the Latino National Political Survey, a sample of over 2,700 U.S. Hispanics completed in 1990. Results. Committed (i.e., regularly attending) Hispanic Protestants, most of whom belong to conservative groups, are more strongly pro‐life than any other segment of the Latino population, and are much more likely than others to support a total abortion ban. Committed Catholics also tend to hold pro‐life views, but they are relatively more likely to endorse an abortion ban that includes exceptions for rape, incest, and threats to the mother's life. Less devoted Catholics and Protestants generally do not differ from religiously unaffiliated Hispanics in their abortion views. There are also modest variations in the links between religious involvement and abortion attitudes across the three Latino subgroups. Conclusion. Religious factors are highly important predictors of Hispanics' preferences regarding abortion policies. Contrary to some previous discussions, it is committed Protestants, more so than Catholics, who are the staunchest opponents of abortion in the Latino population.     

Secondary School Transition and the Use of Different Sources of Information for the Construction of the Academic Self‐concept

This study focuses on processes involved in students' academic self‐concept constructions before, during, and after secondary school transition. The study is based on a four‐wave longitudinal dataset (N = 1953). Structural equation modeling showed that during school transition, the impact of grades on students' academic self‐concepts in Math and English decreased whereas the effects of maternal competence perceptions increased. After the transition, the effects of grades increased, while the effects maternal competence beliefs decreased again. The results are interpreted in terms of differential emphasizing of sources of information for students' self‐concept construction. During school transition, elementary school grades lost informational value for self‐evaluations due to the changed frame of reference. To secure stable and valid self‐assessments, students emphasized other sources than grades; in this, case information obtained through parental competence appraisals. After transition, when valid grades were available for the students' constructions again, the temporarily heightened parental influence decreased again.     

New Zealand perceptions of America: The teaching of American history/American studies in New Zealand universities

New Zealand perceptions of the United States and Americans come from several sources. World War II views of the United States as the savior of that country began to change in the Vietnam War era and have worsened in the 1980s over the Nuclear ship controversy. The author has probed the teaching og United States History/ American Studies for evidence of the current state of New Zealand perceptions among university professors and their students. He contends that the teaching of United States history in New Zealand both reflects and molds attitudes about America and Americans. Study of America is popular among students. Their media-dominated views are usually changed by academic study of the states. There is evidence of differing views of America among New Zealand generations. The author maintains that study of the United States is neglected in New Zealand.     

Personal values and support of welfare policy among undergraduate students in Israel

Sociological and socio‐psychological theories maintain that values play an essential role in predicting attitudes. Most research portraying the effect of a single value on various attitudes claims that the effect of values on attitudes increases if the attitudes and the specific values are related or if the attitudes involve objects or situations that reflect specific values. This exploratory study examined the relationship between personal values, considered as components of an individual's mindset or psychological structure, and attitudes supporting social welfare policy. The participants in the study were Israeli Bachelor of Arts students from four institutions of higher learning. The students' personal values were measured, and the effect of their values (beyond the students' socio‐demographic characteristics such as gender, religiosity etc.) on social support for welfare policy was tested.     

Disarmament, Arms Control, and Peace in the Nuclear Age: Political Objectives and Relevant Research

The present paper differentiates the political objectives of nuclear disarmament, nuclear arms control, and peace, and it selectively reviews psychological research relevant to each of these areas. The term nuclear disarmament—originally intended to indicate the complete elimination of nuclear weapons—is now commonly used to describe the reduction of any militarily operational nuclear weapons. Nuclear arms control, or the regulation of the nuclear arms race, includes attempts to (a) reduce the perceived probability that nuclear weapons will be used; (b) limit damage in the event that nuclear weapons are used, intentionally or unintentionally; (c) reduce the economic burden posed by various weapon systems; or (d) improve international relations through military restraint. In contrast to nuclear arms control and nuclear disarmament, there is no generally accepted definition of peace in the nuclear age. Peace has been defined variously as (a) the prevention or cessation of armed conflict, (b) a state of active cooperation, or (c) a condition resulting from the absence of unmet needs.     

Addressing the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Examining Micro- and Macro-Level Variables that Affect School Disengagement and Subsequent Felonies

Abstract

This study examines the School-to-Prison Pipeline (STPP) by identifying individual legal and extra-legal variables and school-level factors that predict juvenile/criminal justice involvement using 2006–2012 matched data from education and justice systems (n?=?21,457). The role of school disengagement is also assessed, measuring unexcused absences that follow suspensions in the previous academic year. For the court-involved subsample (n?=?7349), after controlling for student behavior, demographic, and school-level factors; extra-legal racial differences remain a significant factor in determining higher counts of felonies with African American and Multi-racial students at increased likelihood (1.65 and 1.86 times, respectively for the higher latent class) of juvenile/criminal justice involvement as compared with White students. And, although White students were found to either be more disengaged or equally disengaged when compared with students of color, sharp differences in criminal justice involvement and outcomes exist by race/ethnicity. These findings suggest that addressing the STPP will require future research and focus on more than individual-level behaviors (school disengagement and school-based offenses) and attention to the impact of extra-legal variables and systemic implicit bias.     

Adolescents' Time Use and Academic Achievement: A Test of the Reproduction and Mobility Models*

Objectives. Following up on Bourdieu's (1973) model of reproduction and DiMaggio's (1982) model of mobility, I determine whether there are socioeconomic differences in the academic benefits provided by adolescents' use of free time. Methods. I analyze the associations that students' uses of time have with mathematics achievement test scores and grade point averages, using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and OLS regression models. Results. Time spent on school‐sponsored activities is associated with improved math test scores, while time spent on social activities is negatively associated with them. School activities are more beneficial for students in the bottom SES quartile than in the top two SES quartiles. Conclusions. Limited support is found for the mobility model; however, lower‐SES students are more likely to engage in activities such as television watching and videogame playing that are associated with lower test scores and grades, and higher‐SES students are more likely to participate in beneficial school‐sponsored activities.     

Does anti-Semitism among African Americans simply reflect anti-White sentiment?

In his classic essay (1967) titled “Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They’re Anti-White,” writer James Baldwin argues that African American resentment of Jews reflects generalized anti-White sentiment. The current study examines levels of anti-Semitic attitudes in the United States among African Americans and other racial/ethnic groups. Using General Social Survey (2000) data for a nationally representative sample of adults (n = 1,118), this research investigates whether variation in anti-White attitudes explains variation in anti-Semitic attitudes. Multiple indicators are used to operationalize anti-Semitic and anti-White attitudes. One such indicator is the degree to which one opposed living in a Jewish (or White) neighborhood. Control variables include measures of perception of wealth for Jews and Whites. A series of logistic regression analyses offers mixed results. One analysis indicates that while some anti-Semitic attitudes are strongly associated with anti-White attitudes, African Americans are still significantly more likely than White, Latino, and Asian groups to express anti-Semitic views when the level of anti-White sentiment is held constant (p < .05). In a second analysis the respondent's race is not a significant effect on expressed anti-Semitism when controlling for anti-White attitudes.     

The Culture of Academic Disciplines and the Sociopolitical Attitudes of Students: A Test of Selection and Socialization Effects*

Objective. Using cross‐sectional and panel data, this article estimates to what extent the association between students' choice of academic discipline and their sociopolitical attitudes is due to socialization and selection effects. Methods. This is done on the basis of seven incoming cohorts of students and one panel of students. Changes in the panel are controlled for contextual influences by comparing them to a control group. Results. Both selection and socialization effects are observed. The first are, however, much stronger than the second. Conclusions. Although the literature, and particularly the more popular literature, highlights socialization effects, these turn out to be very modest. Future research should address the questions of how and why students select academic disciplines in a way that establishes strong relations between those disciplines and their sociopolitical attitudes.     

Indian student concerns about violence: exploring student perceptions

While considerable attention has been given to the spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia in 2009 and 2010, less attention has been paid to how the students who were at the centre of the furore perceived the violence. In this paper we explore the perceptions of Indian postgraduate and undergraduate male students studying in Melbourne, Australia, based on data gathered in focus groups. Analysis revealed four broad themes in students' explanations for the attacks: race hate versus opportunism, intercultural issues, systemic ineffectiveness, and media reporting. Students' perceptions of the reasons for the attacks were divided in some areas and aligned in others. There was divergence among students about whether the attacks were race hate crime or opportunistic, and about intercultural issues. Students' perceptions were aligned on issues of systemic ineffectiveness and media reporting. In the current context of decreased international enrolments from Indian students, in which we seek to better understand them, the findings provide implications for international student policy and planning priorities.     

Advocacy coalitions and policy change on nuclear power utilization in Taiwan

Before the mid-1980s, the development of nuclear power was regarded as essential to facilitate Taiwan's rapid economic growth. Since 1980s, the feasibility of utilizing nuclear power has been intensively challenged. The policy impact of rise of the anti-nuclear movement and environmental movement in conjunction with democratizing trends is especially evident in the controversy over constructing the Fourth nuclear power plant in Taiwan. Ongoing construction of the plant was halted after the anti-nuclear presidential candidate won in Taiwan's 2000 presidential election. However, the decision to scrap the project was abandoned and the project was resumed in less than four months. This article applies the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to explain and analyze the development of advocacy coalition and policy change on nuclear power utilization in Taiwan. Based on this study, it is argued that the ACF could be more useful for comparative applications if it takes both political context and international influences into account.     

Backing Barack Because He's Black: Racially Motivated Voting in the 2008 Election*

Objective. If racial considerations influenced the outcome of the 2008 presidential election, then how did they shape the campaign, why did race matter, and for whom were such considerations important? I hypothesize that various racial attitudes exert unique influences on voters' support of Obama and that the effects of these attitudes differ by race. Methods. Using a Time Magazine poll, I distinguish between “attitudes regarding Obama's ‘Blackness’” and “opinions about race relations,” and I examine such sentiments among White and African‐American respondents. Results. Regardless of race, Obama support was highest among voters who were “comfortable” with Black candidates. However, increased optimism with racial progress had no effect on Blacks' voting intentions, and it actually lowered Obama support among Whites. Conclusion. The conventional wisdom is that African Americans “backed Barack because he is Black”; I demonstrate that Obama's race mattered more to White voters than it did to Blacks.     

Low‐Income Students and College Attendance: An Exploration of Income Expectations*

Objectives. Some have hypothesized that unrealistic expectations regarding their futures may explain the weak link between expectations and realizations among low‐income (particularly minority) youth. Unfortunately, there is little evidence characterizing students' expectations around the time that they make college decisions that would allow one to study this hypothesis. Methods. In this exploratory article, I analyze data on income expectations from a small sample of low‐income minority high school seniors in Baltimore City, MD; and use data from Dominitz and Manski's sample of higher‐income white students in Madison, WI, and the NELS88 for comparisons. Results. I find little evidence that the income expectations of lower‐income minority students are so different from those of higher‐income students. Rather, the expected returns to postsecondary education appear similar between the two samples of high school seniors. Analysis of a nationally representative sample of high school seniors suggests that lower‐income students do not place less weight on expected economic returns to college when making their plans than do more advantaged students, although low‐income students are less able to translate their college plans into actual college attendance. Conclusions. These results suggest that differing income expectations do not explain the weaker relationship between expectations and educational attainment among low‐income students.     

Schools and Educational Outcomes: What Causes the “Race Gap” in Student Test Scores?*

Objective. African‐American and Hispanic students often have lower test scores than white students at all levels of education. In this article, we examine whether school factors impact racial groups differentially, helping reduce the test score gaps, and whether school policies benefit one racial group at the expense of another. Methods. The data is individual‐level data from a school district in California. Multivariate analysis (FGLS) is used to study the effect of school factors and race on test scores, after controlling for individual and school attributes. Results. School factors have a small differential effect by race on test scores. The school policies that have a positive influence on minorities' scores often involve an environment where closer attention is paid to the needs of students. Conclusion. Most school policies have a small effect on test scores, impacting all racial groups in a similar manner, without redistributing benefits across groups.