Perceptions of drinking among Hispanic college students: how qualitative research can inform the development of collegiate alcohol abuse prevention programs

Alcohol abuse on college campuses continues to be a significant public health issue and health promotion strategies are being directed at changing the culture of collegiate drinking. From a qualitative research perspective such efforts remain uniformed since this area of research is currently dominated by large-scale surveys that illuminate little regarding undergraduate perceptions of alcohol use. This study describes results conducted on perceptions of drinking among college students, and discusses the implications these results may have for developing collegiate alcohol abuse prevention programs.     

Developing a game plan for good sportsmanship

It is widely believed in the United States that competition is beneficial for youngsters. However, the media are full of examples of players, fans, and coaches whose behavior veers out of control. There have been well-documented examples of youth in livestock competitions illegally medicating show animals to make them appear calmer, officials biasing their rulings toward a team that will take the most fans to a playoff game, and team rivalries that have become so caustic as to be dangerous for competitors and fans. A university extension and its partners created a program called "Great Fans. Great Sports." in order to teach the kinds of behaviors we wish to instill among all who are involved in competitions. It requires entire communities to develop and implement plans for enhancing sportsmanship in music, debate, drama, 4-H, and other arenas, as well as sports. The goal is to make good sportsmanship not the exception but the norm. The authors provide anecdotal evidence that "Great Fans. Great Sports." is having a positive impact on the attitudes and behaviors of competitors, fans, and communities.     

Parental divorce and subsequent disadvantage: A cross-cohort comparison

Although many studies have examined the link between parental divorce and subsequent well-being, some theories of the effects of divorce suggest that the negative associations should have declined over time. However, few studies have examined the extent to which the associations have remained stable over time. Using data from two British cohorts, we analyzed both shorter- and longer-term outcomes of children who experienced parental divorce and the extent to which the associations have changed over time. Estimating similar models for both cohorts, we found little evidence of any change in the size of the relationship as divorce became more commonplace.     

Relative Deprivation and Social Movements: A Critical Look at Twenty Years of Theory and Research*

The relative deprivation perspective was widely employed in the social movement literature of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In spite of the growing popularity of some newer approaches which criticize the relative deprivation perspective (resource mobilization or resource management perspectives), there have been no attempts to analyze and evaluate the relative deprivation perspective in any systematic fashion. The purpose of this paper is to review some of the “classic” relative deprivation literature in order to critically assess the perspective on the basis of its theoretical coherence and clarity and its empirical validity. The general conclusion reached is that while the relative deprivation perspective was an advance over earlier approaches which viewed social movements as resulting from the expression of irrational impulses, the relative deprivation perspective is itself affected by too many serious conceptual, theoretical, and empirical weaknesses to be useful in accounting for the emergence and development of social movements.     

Stratification, Ideology, and Opportunity Beliefs among Black Soldiers

While many social observers feel that the military offers blacksbetter opportunities than do civilian institutions, the overwhelmingmajority of the 454 black soldiers sampled in this study eitherequate the two sectors or rate civilian institutions as superior.Both position in the military hierarchy (rank) and ideologicalorientation (separatist, pluralist, or assimilationist) providesome assistance in differentiating those soldiers more likelyto cite the military as comparatively advantageous for blacks.     

Russian perspectives on elder abuse: an exploratory study

The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze Russian perceptions of elder abuse as reflected in their examples of abusive behavior from an adult child to an aging parent. Also of interest was the possibility of gender differences in the Russian perspectives on elder abuse. The convenience sample consisted of 21 Russian participants (10 males, 10 females, and one without gender identified), who provided examples of extreme, moderate, and mild abuse from an adult child towards an aging parent. Most examples of extreme abuse were forms of physical violence. Typical examples of moderate abuse were instances of psychological aggression-particularly verbal aggression-and neglect. The most common examples of mild abuse were verbal aggression and neglect. One-way analyses of variance revealed statistically significant gender differences in the number of references to psychological aggression in general and to verbal aggression in particular in the examples of moderate abuse, with females giving more examples than males.     

Stimulant medication use, misuse, and abuse in an undergraduate and graduate student sample

In this study, the authors investigated the characteristics of use, misuse, and abuse of stimulant medication (primarily methylphenidate and variants) among students at a northeastern US university. Researchers sent an invitation to take an Internet survey to student e-mail addresses and passed 150 paper surveys in undergraduate classes, analyzing 1,025 (975 electronically) returned surveys. Sixteen percent of respondents reported abusing or misusing stimulant medication. Ninety-six percent of respondents who specified a medication preferred to abuse or misuse Ritalin. Men and women reported similar use patterns. Most respondents who abused or misused stimulant medication swallowed pills; 40% used intranasally. Reasons for abusing or misusing stimulant medication included improving attention, partying, reducing hyperactivity, and improving grades. Consistent with previous studies, results suggest that abuse of stimulant medication is a concern on college campuses. The results point to various reasons for and methods of abusing and misusing stimulant medication that may direct future research, prevention, and intervention.     

A Boy’s Journey: Public Sociology for in and Out of the Classroom

This essay is a response to Stein (2019; 2020) and his use of lived experience to tell the story of violence and the Holocaust. I discuss these works’ contributions to public sociology and teaching.     

Coworker support as a moderator in the relationship between daily experience of workload and an individual’s experience of same-day WFC: a buffer or an intensifier?

ABSTRACT

The present study looks at the interaction between daily experiences in the workplace – daily workload and daily coworker support – and examines its influence on negative affect and its subsequent impact on same-day work–family conflict (WFC). It proposes two competing moderation hypotheses (buffering vs. intensifying). According to the COR theory, support received from coworkers represents a resource that should buffer the relationship between daily workload and same-day WFC, because it should prevent individuals from experiencing negative affect triggered by high workload episodes which represents a threatening or stressful situation. In contrast, the threat to self-esteem model posits that receiving social support may engender feelings of indebtedness or helplessness at the time such support is provided, thereby amplifying the impact of workload experience on same-day WFC via an increased negative affect. Data collected from 130 pharmacists over 5 consecutive days were analyzed through multilevel structural equation modeling. The results support the hypothesis of the intensifying conditional indirect effect, and show that when individuals are provided with coworker support while experiencing high workload, negative affect is aggravated and hence, in turn, same-day WFC increases. This challenges the mainstream hypothesis that views social support as an important resource in protecting people from stressful events.