Religious affiliation and beliefs about racial inequality: White college students’ attitudes about Black-White and Native American-White inequality

Is religious affiliation associated with attitudes about racial inequality? While prior research has explored the relationship between religion and attitudes about Black-White inequality, studies exploring attitudes towards Native Americans are rare. Our study is the first to explore the association between religion and attitudes about Native American-White inequality. We find that religious subcultural differences do exist as Catholics, Protestants, and those with no religious affiliation tend to use different explanations for racial inequality, although the relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes is similar regardless of whether African Americans or Native Americans are the target. We also find that across religious groups there is a greater tendency to use person-centered or individual explanations for Native American-White inequality and structural explanations for Black-White inequality. We argue that consistent findings for the association of religious affiliation and attitudes for different racial groups provide support for the presence of religion specific cultural toolkits.     

Attitude Differences Between Paid Workers and Volunteers

This study addresses the extension of research on paid employees to volunteer workers. Pearce (1978, 1993b) has postulated that job attitudes are substantially different between volunteers and paid employees, based on her work studying fourteen organizations employing either entirely volunteer workgroups or entirely paid workgroups. Another interpretation of her data would be that the organizational culture of such workgroups is different, not the individual job attitudes.     

A crash course in implementation theory

This paper is meant to familiarize the audience with some of the fundamental results in the theory of implementation and provide a quick progression to some open questions in the literature. Received: 26 March 2001/Accepted: 21 May 2001     

The International Child Poverty Gap: Does Demography Matter?

According to the Luxembourg Income Study data, the U.S. child poverty rate is the second highest among 15 high-income nations. The present work reveals that 55% of all American children living in a household headed by a single female with no other adult present live in poverty-the highest rate for any of the five living arrangements in the 15 countries examined in this study. While previous analyses have focused on market forces and governmental redistribution across households, we question the contribution of demographic factors that place children in family structures with different poverty risks relative to other factors such as differential market opportunities and governmental benefits for adults caring for children in various living arrangements. Applying a classic demographic decomposition technique to the overall poverty gap, we find that the distributional effect of demographic behavior contributes little to the U.S. poverty gap with other nations (and none with respect to the United Kingdom). Overall differences in labor markets and welfare schemes best explain the U.S. child poverty gap, although for some countries, the gap is accentuated by the gradient of governmental transfers, and for most countries, by the gradient of market earnings across living arrangements.     

Health care issues among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) populations in the United States: Introduction

This supplemental issue of the Journal of Homosexuality presents research that explores a variety of health care issues encountered by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) population groups in the United States over the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002. Topics include access to health care, utilization of care, training of medical and mental health providers, and the appropriate preparation of clinical offices and waiting areas. Authors used a variety of community-based public health research methods, including participant and provider surveys and retrospective chart reviews of patients, to develop this body of research, providing a recent-historical perspective on the complex health care and health-related needs of sexual and gender minorities. Particularly for transgender and intersex populations, the state of research describing their health care needs is in its infancy, and much remains to be done to design effective medical and mental health programs and interventions.     

Reactions to Transgender Women and Men in Public Restrooms: Correlates and Gender Differences

This study examined reactions to transgender people in public restrooms. Participants (n = 158) completed measures of essentialism and trait aggression and read scenarios where they imagined sharing a restroom with a transwoman or a transman. Participants indicated which restroom targets should use and rated potential negative reactions. Results indicate that targets were assigned to restrooms corresponding to birth sex rather than chosen identity. Women’s reactions to transgender women were more negative than men’s; men were more negative in reactions toward transmen. Essentialism predicted some (but not all) reactions for all participants. Among women, trait aggression predicted negative reactions, but only to transmen. Among men, aggression predicted negative reactions, but only toward transwomen. This suggests that despite views that transgender people belong in birth-sex restrooms, men and women’s trait aggression predicts negative reactions toward them in such instances.     

Online Teaching in Social Work Education: Understanding the Challenges

There is a rapidly growing industry of online learning and distance education programs at the Master of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work levels both within Australia and globally. A number of best practices have emerged from the literature that warrant consideration when delivering social work programs in online learning and distance education modes. Given the significant advancements in technology that are likely to continue into the next decades, social work academic leaders and accrediting bodies must be prepared to address the changing landscape of higher education, including limited financial resources. Social work academics need to become aware and implement best practices in online learning and distance education e-teaching environments to ensure positive student outcomes, student retention, and student engagement to meet the flexibility needs of students in higher education settings. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the challenges and benefits of distance education and online learning for consideration when providing a social work program in these delivery models.

IMPLICATIONS

• Given the significant advancements in technology that are likely to continue into the next decades, social work academic leaders and accrediting bodies must be prepared to address the changing landscape of higher education.

• Social work academics need to become aware and implement best practices in the distance education and online teaching environment to ensure positive student outcomes, student retention, and student engagement to meet the flexibility needs of students in higher education settings.