Assimilation and discriminatory perceptions and experiences: The case of Hispanics in the United States

This paper examines the relationship between assimilation and discriminatory practices encountered by Hispanic-Americans. Theories of intergroup relations have typically assumed that as members of minority ethnic groups assimilate to a dominant group, they perceive and experience lower degrees of discrimination directed against them. In reviewing theories of majority–minority relations, we have called this the “assimilationist” model. This view has been opposed by some scholars who argue that as minority ethnics assimilate and become more knowledgeable of the larger society, they perceive and experience higher levels of discrimination against them and their group. We have termed this the “conflict model” of interethnic relations. Using data from the 2002 National Survey of Latinos, conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, we test opposing hypotheses based on these two models. Our findings, while exploratory, largely support the assimilationist model, with a few contradictory results. We discuss these findings and their implications for understanding the current situation of Hispanics in the United States.     

Suicide prevention and intervention with young people in foster care in Canada

Given the history of turmoil in their lives, foster children and young people coming into care are particularly at risk of suicide. Whether a crisis is successfully prevented, or treated and transcended, depends upon the ability of foster parents and agency staff members to understand the nature of the situation and to work together in dealing with it.     

Vocal signs of confidence

This study examined whether two paralinguistic variables, vocal loudness and response latency, were associated with confidence in answers to trivia questions. Audience presence and size were manipulated and subjects' assertiveness was measured. Subjects verbally responded to trivia questions by indicating their choice and how confident they were in each answer. Tapes of these responses were later analyzed for latency of response and loudness of speech. As expected, the more confident individuals were in their answers, the faster and louder they responded. Assertive subjects spoke louder. The presence of an audience had no effects on vocal responding. Apparently, the confidence of a speaker can be inferred from the speed and loudness of the speaker's responses.This study was a Master's thesis project conducted by the second author under the supervision of the first author.     

Normative population theory

Conclusion We have shown, contrary to the claims of Cowen, that average and critical-level utilitarianism, which do not suffer from the repugnant conclusion, do not recommend the killing of people with low but positive utilities. We have shown, in addition, that Methuselah's paradox and the repugnant conclusion do not stem from preferences that are represented by additive utility functions. Further, we have shown that Cowen's ideal participant method suffers from the repugnant conclusion.We believe that Parfit's [4] criticism of classical utilitarianism — that it satisfies the repugnant conclusion — should be taken seriously. That suggests that the ideal participant method should be rejected (along with classical utilitarianism) as a reasonable solution to the optimal population problem.We have benefited from private correspondence with T. Cowen, and the remarks of T. Hurka and an anonymous referee.     

Institutional Shaping of Interagency Working: Managing Tensions between Collaborative Working and Client Confidentiality

Tensions between imperatives for sharing of information aboutclients, patients, and offenders and those for confidentialityand privacy have become a prominent but unresolved issue inBritish public policy in the context of greater pressures towardinteragency collaboration. This article analyses empirical datafrom a major Economic and Social Research Council–fundedresearch project designed to provide the first systematic evidenceabout the ways in which local partnerships working in sensitivepolicy fields in England and Scotland attempt to strike settlementsbetween sharing and confidentiality and discusses the impactof national government's attempts to increase formal regulationof their information-sharing practices. To do this, the projecthas developed a methodology to operationalize neo-Durkheimianinstitutional theory and demonstrates that theory in this traditionhas the power to identify and explain patterns of information-sharingstyles adopted in local collaborative working. The overall conclusionis that the stronger assertion of formal regulation by nationalgovernment may well be leading to the greater prominence ofhierarchical institutional forms but it may also be associatedwith the counterassertion of other institutional forms, too,and in ways that may reinforce problems that greater regulationis intended to address. In particular, we show that neitherdoes increased formal regulation always lead frontline staffto be more confident about local information-sharing practicesnor should it lead observers to be more confident that data-sharingpractices will be more transparent or consistent from localityto locality.     

Using Remote Sensing to Evaluate Environmental Institutional Designs: A Habitat Conservation Planning Example

Objective. Satellite-based remote-sensing analysis is a beneficial, yet underused, tool for environmental policy, planning, and evaluation. We identify its benefits and costs to encourage social scientists to consider the use of remote sensing as a tool for planning and evaluating environmental institutions. Methods. We analyze two multispectral Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images to evaluate a habitat conservation plan (HCP) implemented pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. Results. Image analysis provides useful broad spatial scale information on HCP performance that is not discernible to the naked eye or through other methodologies. Conclusions. Satellite image analysis should be considered as a tool for planning and evaluating environmental institutional designs—despite the financial costs and requisite technical training. These images provide ecological and land cover change information that may not be available elsewhere. We provide lessons learned to help make analysts cognizant of some important issues surrounding the use of satellite-based imagery for environmental institutional analysis.