Probing the Opposition to Affirmative Action

People's attitudes toward affirmative action are explored by means of a survey instrument that presents respondents with a scenario of a firm that has several hundred well-paying jobs that only require skills learned on the job. The instrument comes in two versions: one that explores people's reaction to a history of the complete exclusion of blacks, and the other to the complete exclusion of women. Respondents are given a menu of possible actions the firm might take, and asked which they favor. In addition they are asked to react to a number of statements that explore their thoughts as to the reasons for the exclusions, how fair the company's decision processes seem, and how much importance should be attached to remedying the situation. By an overwhelming margin, a group of mainly white college students refused to endorse the idea that the exclusion of blacks or women was explained by their inability or unwillingness to do the jobs in question. Respondents split about evenly on the desirability of taking special hiring actions to repair exclusions. Those rejecting such actions tended to reject also the idea that the country would be better off if occupational segregation by race and sex were eased.     

Sexually Abused Children's Opposition to Psychotherapy

As children enter therapy, they form beliefs (conceptualizations) about the reasons for their attendance. Some of these conceptualizations may lead to premature termination of therapy or impede its progress. Four of these conceptualizations are explored in this paper: therapy as an indication of illness, therapy as punishment, therapy as an accusation, and therapy as another form of abuse. The process of the formation of these conceptualizations is outlined. The ways in which sexually abused children's experiences may make them particularly prone to form these conceptualizations are discussed. The benefits of exploring the child's resulting opposition to therapy are also explored.     

Civil Society Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in Guatemala

Drawing on a range of fieldwork interviews, this paper discusses the opposition of civil society to nonferrous metals mining in Guatemala. Guatemala’s mineral resources, and government efforts to encourage their extraction, are discussed, as is the emergent civil society of that nation. Guatemalan civil society has opposed mining due to the impacts of its environmental effects upon the poor engaged in subsistence agriculture. This opposition has involved protests, community consultations against mining, and networking with the forces of global civil society. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this opposition to mining is a manifestation of the opposition to neoliberalism currently underway in Latin America.

Civil Society Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in Montana

This paper discusses the opposition of civil society to nonferrous metals mining in Montana. The mineral resources and mining history of Montana are discussed, as is the vibrant civil society of that state. Montana’s civil society has opposed mining due to its environmental effects, particularly upon areas of high conservation value. This opposition has involved litigation and the implementation of a ban on the use of cyanide by the mining industry. The paper concludes with a discussion of whether this opposition to mining has damaged the economy of the state and Montana’s future as an example of the “New West,” wherein amenities based growth act as the principal agent of economic activity.     

Civil Society Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in the Philippines

Abstact Drawing on a range of fieldwork interviews, this paper discusses the opposition of civil society to nonferrous metals mining in the Philippines. The efforts of the Philippine government to enhance development by encouraging the extraction of the nation's mineral resources by foreign corporations is discussed, as is the opposition of Philippine civil society to these efforts. This opposition to nonferrous metals mining has involved protests, litigation, administrative proceedings, and implementation of mining moratoriums by local governments. The paper concludes with an examination of the respective costs and benefits of a mining-based development paradigm in the context of the way in which many Filipinos view foreign extraction of their nation's resources.     

The Origins of Popular Opposition to Palestinian Resettlement in Lebanon

Using original public opinion data, this study addresses the reasons behind the growing popular opposition to Palestinian resettlement in Lebanon. It argues that the origins of this opposition are correlated to the religious composition of the population and to the degree of social distance displayed by the Lebanese towards the Palestinians as members of a distinct community. The results revealed that Lebanese respondents are much less likely to support Palestinian resettlement in Lebanon if they display prejudice and hostility toward Palestinians. In addition, sectarian affiliation is a major predictor of attitude toward resettlement. Specifically, Christian and Shii respondents expressed unfavorable views toward resettlement, in contrast to Sunni and Druze respondents who manifested positive support for resettlement. Hence, for most Lebanese the question of Palestinian resettlement extends to their own political survival. If the existing attitudes hold, resettlement threatens to undermine Lebanon's pluralist character and consensus political arrangement, with implications for the entire region.     

Crusading for Moral Authority: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Science

Numerous studies show biblicist Christianity, religiosity, and conservative political identity are strong predictors of Americans holding skeptical attitudes toward publicly controversial aspects of science, such as human evolution. We show that Christian nationalism—meaning the desire to see particularistic and exclusivist versions of Christian symbols, values, and policies enshrined as the established religion of the United States—is a strong and consistent predictor of Americans’ attitudes about science above and beyond other religious and political characteristics. Further, a majority of the overall effect of political ideology on skepticism about the moral authority of science is mediated through Christian nationalism, indicating that political conservatives are more likely to be concerned with particular aspects of science primarily because they are more likely to be Christian nationalists. Likewise, substantial proportions of the well-documented associations between religiosity and biblical “literalism” with views of science are mediated through Christian nationalism. Because Christian nationalism seeks to establish a particular and exclusivist vision of Christianity as the dominant moral order, adherents feel threatened by challenges to the epistemic authority undergirding that order, including by aspects of science perceived as challenging the supremacy of biblicist authority.     

Opposition to multiculturalism among Québécois and English-Canadians*

Ceci est le compte rendu d'une analyse de données déjà recueillies résultant d'une étude nationale sur la qualité de la vie (Quality of life study, 1977) qui compare les attitudes des Canadiens anglais et des Québécois face au multiculturalisme. Nous avons mis à l'épreuve 5 prédictions basées sur l'hypothèse de la classe ethnique; 4 se sont avérées sans fondement. La question du revenu par exemple, avail les mêmes types de rapports avec les attitudes multiculturelles chez les groupes des deux langues; et ces rapports n'étaient pas moins marqués parmi les Québécois, tel que prédit par l'hypothèse de la classe ethnique. Cependant l'attitude des Québécois a été plus négative envers les cultures minoritaires et la valeur de la contribution qu'apportent les immigrants à la société canadienne. Ils ont étéégalement plus enclins à l'idée de limiter l'immigration en général, et en particulier l'immigration des pays de langue anglaise et de l'Italie. D'autre part, les résultats ont démontré une plus grande opposition parmi les Canadiens anglophones aux immigrants venant de l'Inde, du Pakistan, et des Antilles. Nous terminons avec quelques observations sur les orientations différentielles face au multiculturalisme dans les deux communautés. We report on a secondary analysis of national survey data (Quality of Life Study, 1977) comparing the multicultural attitudes of English-Canadians (N = 1593) and Québécois (N = 674). We tested five predictions based on the ethnic-class hypothesis and found no support for four of them. For example, income had similar types of relationships with multicultural attitudes in each language group; these relationships were not less marked among the Québécois, as predicted by the ethnic-class hypothesis. The Québécois were, however, more negative toward minority cultures and the value of immigrants' contributions to Canadian society. They were also more disposed to limit immigration in general, and more specifically, immigration from English-speaking nations and Italy. Set against these results were the findings of greater opposition among English-speaking Canadians to immigrants from India, Pakistan and the West Indies. We conclude with some observations on the alternative orientations to multiculturalism in the two communities.     

Race,Wealth and the Masking of Opposition to Immigrants in the Netherlands

This work uses a list experiment to directly test for differences in attitudes towards poor, racially different and racially similar immigrants to the Netherlands in terms of (1) overt support and (2) covert support and (3) the difference between the two (i.e., social desirability bias). Results show that the expression of opposition to immigrants is significantly masked, suggesting that anonymous acts (e.g., voting) could capture greater opposition. Racially similar immigrants are subject to greater opposition relative to racially different or poorer immigrants, but only when anonymity is offered to respondents. The implication is that overt estimates (i.e., openly expressed) are misleading as levels of support appear consistent across immigrant groups. Going forward, we suggest the utility of the list experiment to better account for observable downward bias in estimates at least on the aggregate level or in contexts with clear normative pressure to appear tolerant.     

Opposition to Pro‐Immigrant Public Policy: Symbolic Racism and Group Threat

This study examines the relationship between symbolic racism and native‐born citizens’ policy opinions toward legal and undocumented immigration. With data from the 1994 General Social Survey and the NPR/Kaiser Foundation/Kennedy School of Government 2004 Immigration Survey, the results from logit regression models indicate that symbolic racism significantly predicts opposition to legal immigration, immigrant access to federal aid, and standard costs for college, citizenship for U.S.‐born children, and work permits for undocumented immigrants. The effects are independent of group threat and other factors. Symbolic racism explained more variation in policy opinions toward government assistance, while group threat explained more variation toward immigration levels and citizenship status. Depending on the issue, native‐born citizens likely derive their immigration policy opinions from moral ideologies in addition to intergroup competition.     

Learning to Care

Practice simulation exercises involve interaction with people who portray standardized clients in typical social work practice contexts. They are followed by feedback from these “clients” and from peers and instructors. This article delineates the conceptual background and previous use of this educational methodology and illustrates its application within a graduate health social work practice class. A preliminary evaluation found enthusiastic endorsement of this approach among students, with very strong agreement that all three components of the project-interaction with simulated clients, receipt of feedback, and participation as observers-prove useful. Practice simulations can allow transformative learning for participants and provide a useful classroom method for incorporating conceptual foundations into practice behaviors.     

Learning to respect

In this article, "learning to respect" is considered both as a condition for the creation of a safe learning environment and as a condition for "learning to live together" in a democratic society. Learning to respect is not a subject like mathematics or history. As far as the school is concerned, pupils learn to respect through experiences with interactions within the classroom and the school. This paper explores some of the consequences for school policy and teachers' skills.