Dealing in Toxins on the Wrong Side of the Tracks: Lessons from a Hazardous Waste Controversy in Phoenix*

Objective. The controversial expansion of a hazardous waste facility in a poor, minority neighborhood in Phoenix illustrates the unanticipated consequences of siting hazardous facilities in vulnerable communities, and the need to recognize neighborhood health/safety issues such as drug‐related crime as environmental justice struggles. Methods. Qualitative methods include participant observation, document analysis, Census data, GIS mapping, and interviews. Results. South Central Phoenix's history reveals a disproportionate share of poverty, pollution, and drug crimes. Most commercial hazardous waste facilities in Phoenix were sited in minority areas. Residents contended that the siting, permitting process, and expansion of the facility and the drug crimes that later occurred there were all due to environmental racism. Conclusions. The expansion of the facility exacerbated environmental injustice in Phoenix through distributional and participative injustice, and was criminogenic. The dual impact on the community of hazardous waste and drug crime argues for a more holistic understanding of environmental justice.     

Coping Strategies for Victims of Crime: Effects of the Use of Emotion-Focused,Problem-Focused,and Avoidance-Oriented Coping

Assessment of coping strategies of crime victims is an integral function of the ensuing well-being for those victims. This study examines the relationship between coping strategies and levels of distress, social support, and subjective well-being among victims of crime. Interviews were conducted with 175 crime victims. Findings indicate a complex relationship between and among variables. A positive relationship was found between emotion-focused coping and well-being. Additionally, an inverse relationship between avoidance-oriented coping and well-being, social support, and levels of distress was found.     

Gap-ratio goodness of fit tests for weibull or extreme value distribution assumptions with left or right censored data

With data collection in environmental science and bioassay, left censoring because of nondetects is a problem. Similarly in reliability and life data analysis right censoring frequently occurs. There is a need for goodness of fit tests that can adapt to left or right censored data and be used to check important distributional assumptions without becoming too difficult to regularly implement in practice. A new test statistic is derived from a plot of the standardized spacings between the order statistics versus their ranks. Any linear or curvilinear pattern is evidence against the null distribution. When testing the Weibull or extreme value null hypothesis this statistic has a null distribution that is approximately F for most combinations of sample size and censoring of practical interest. Our statistic is compared to the Mann-Scheuer-Fertig statistic which also uses the standardized spacings between the order statistics. The results of a simulation study show the two tests are competitive in terms of power. Although the Mann-Scheuer-Fertig statistic is somewhat easier to compute, our test enjoys advantages in the accuracy of the F approximation and the availability of a graphical diagnostic.     

Author's Response

This paper presents an overview of the content on women from the social science and social work literature that needs to be incorporated into the social work curriculum to eliminate sexist content and to provide a substantive and nonsexist knowledge base concerning women. The body of knowledge reviewed includes the literature that identifies the influence of sexism on established theory and research. Also, the paper highlights literature concerning the effects of sexism on social workers, on social welfare policy and services, and on social work practice.     

Mugabe’s fall from grace: satire and fictional narratives as silent forms of resistance in/on Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean state media has been known to portray the long-serving President as a superhuman who has remained unscathed by the ravages of age. Rumours of his failing health have often been downplayed by narratives of him being as “fit as a fiddle.” This myth of the indefatigable Mugabe was dealt a blow when in February 2015 he fell to the ground in full public view upon his return from an African Union meeting in Ethiopia where he had been named chair of the continental organisation. This paper sets out to analyse the satirical memes that flooded social media after the falling of Mugabe. Bringing into conversation Goffman’s dramaturgical model, Scott’s weapons of the weak thesis as well as Mbembe’s theories of sovereign power, the paper contends that these “memes” led to the emergence of competing narratives that cracked the armour of Mugabe’s invincibility in Zimbabwean political and social discourses. The paper further argues that the memes constitute vital avenues of resisting, contesting, rewriting and availing a different “truth” about Zimbabwe and powerful myths around the fetishisation of Mugabe’s person and power.     

What Adolescents Can Tell Us: Technology and the Future of Social Work Education

The use and usefulness of Information Technology (IT) is rapidly growing around the world, especially among the youth. IT has been shown to impact learning styles, communication, and social relationships in many ways. Recently, significant discussion has arisen around the importance of IT in higher education and more specifically, social work education. This study qualitatively assesses 128 youth aged 13–14 years to understand their access to and use of IT as well as the way it impacts their psychosocial development to provide clues that will help inform the design of social work education for the future. Youth in four school districts reported unanimous access to computers and television and a majority of students used other technologies. Adolescents reported increased ease of communication and ability to get information as well as enhanced social relationships connected to their use of IT. Discussion and implications suggest that in the future, social work education will have to implement IT into its curriculum in order to attract students and provide the best possible learning environment for the next generation, which has included technology in every aspect of their lives.     

Enhancing Learning and Learner Satisfaction Through the Use of WebCT in Social Work Education

Emerging technology has produced changes in the ways that social workers learn, practice, and interact. As communication and educational innovations have increasingly involved the use of ever-improving technologies for social work practice, so too has social work education evolved to incorporate these advances in the classroom setting. This article describes and evaluates various aspects of one particular type of web-based learning environment, WebCT, and its incorporation into five face-to-face foundation courses in a bachelor's and master's level social work program. The authors utilized an online survey to assess frequency of access of the web-based course management system and perceptions of the features. Results of this online survey assessing student use and perception of hybrid courses are shared along with implications and recommendations.     

A THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD SEX EDUCATION

Rates of teen pregnancy in the United States are significantly higher than those in most other industrialized nations. This is troubling in light of the consequences to teen mothers, their children, and society. Some suggest that teen pregnancies can be decreased by providing sex education in the public school system, while others believe that sex education is inappropriate for public school. Little research exists, however, on predictors of attitudes toward sex education, and most existing research is dated and lacks a theoretical framework. Guided by the seminal work of Ira L. Reiss, we examine the impact of labor shortages, religiosity, militarism, gender egalitarianism, regulation of sexuality, and a naturalistic view of sexuality on attitudes toward sex education. Results suggest that Hispanics, those with high levels of religiosity, and those who supported regulation of sexuality were significantly less likely to support sex education in public schools. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

American College Health Association

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this cross-sectional investigation was to examine (1) gender differences in osteoporosis-related knowledge and beliefs and (2) if these beliefs could predict vigorous physical activity behavior in university students. Participants: Male (n = 176) and female (n = 351) university students participated in the study. Methods: Participants completed self-report measures of osteoporosis knowledge and health beliefs and vigorous physical activity. Results: Regardless of gender, osteoporosis knowledge was relatively poor. Women reported higher knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and calcium barriers, and lower exercise self-efficacy than men. Regression analyses showed that for women, perceived susceptibility, health motivation, and exercise self-efficacy predicted vigorous physical activity, whereas for men, exercise barriers was the only predictor. Conclusions: Gender differences in osteoporosis health beliefs appear to be greater in older adults than college-aged students. Interventions designed to increase vigorous physical activity may want to target different beliefs for men and women.