Rural‐Urban Differences in Environmental Concern in Canada

Abstract Distinctions between rural and urban populations are well documented in environmental sociology literature. Rural and urban places may exert different influences on participation in environmentally supportive behavior (ESB) as well as on other forms of environmental concern (EC). The influence of these distinct geographies may be due to present circumstances or because of childhood socialization in these places. Using data from a national survey in Canada (n=51 664), we use cognitive (basic values, environmental worldview, and environmental attitude) and behavioral indicators (public and private sphere) of EC to explore differences among rural and urban populations and we include analyses accounting for place of socialization. We extend the conventional private sphere category of ESB by including stewardship behaviors. Results showed few differences between rural and urban residents on indicators of EC. Rural residents, however, scored higher on altruistic values, placed a higher priority on the environment, and reported higher participation in recycling and stewardship behaviors. Analysis that included place of socialization showed differences on environmental worldview, basic values, and some ESB. In terms of ESB, we conclude that residence and place of socialization may be less of a factor than opportunity and highlight the importance of providing services and facilities. We recommend future research on residence and ESB include a variety of behaviors that reflect opportunities for both rural and urban residents.     

Skin color,sex, and educational attainment in the post-civil rights era

We assess the relationship between skin color and educational attainment for native-born non-Hispanic Black and White men and women, using data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. CARDIA is a medical cohort study with twenty years of social background data and a continuous measure of skin color, recorded as the percent of light reflected off skin. For Black men and women, we find a one-standard-deviation increase in skin lightness to be associated with a quarter-year increase in educational attainment. For White women, we find an association approximately equal in magnitude to that found for Black respondents, and the pattern of significance across educational transitions suggests that skin color for White women is not simply a proxy for family background. For White men, any relationship between skin color and attainment is not robust and, analyses suggest, might primarily reflect differences in family background. Findings suggest that discrimination on the basis of skin color may be less specific to race than previously thought.     

A review and synthesis of demand management, capacity management and performance in health-care services

Responses to demand uncertainty in the field of health-care services is a very timely research issue because of ongoing changes in demand patterns that are driven by demographics and recent changes in the delivery of these services. Despite its importance to researchers, the literature on demand management, capacity management and performance in health care has not been extensively reviewed. The present paper addresses this need by analyzing and synthesizing 463 articles published between 1986 and 2006. The key contributions of this work are the analysis and synthesis of research on demand management, capacity management and performance, along with an agenda to guide future research in this important area.     

Emerging credits

Fifty years ago Edwin Hollander argued that to emerge as a credible leader, a group member must first develop credits with potential followers before followers can be led in a new direction. His idiosyncrasy credit theory of leadership emerged in the 1950s, gathered support in the 1960s, was questioned in the 1970s, stagnated since the 1980s and has now become a passing reference. We reexamine the theory and argue that it should be revived to span a gap in current thinking about leadership. We identify its key constructs, examine the mixed support, describe a revised model, suggest some testable research propositions and illustrate its application to the life of one prominent transformational leader.     

A Model for Distance Education Delivery

Distance education, which has existed for many years, has become even more popular as a result of recent technological advances. This article proposes a model for distance education as a means for schools of social work to deliver curricula to students who face problems enrolling in campus-based or off-campus sites. The components of the model—videotapes, an on-site discussion leader/field instructor, computers, and direct observation by field instructors—fit well within the general requirements of group interaction in the delivery of a social work curriculum. Problems that may arise using the model include the extra time and training required for faculty to produce videotapes, the recruitment of discussion leaders/field instructors, and how to structure the delivery system so students can practice interviewing, assessment, and other abstract concepts. The author also suggests means for evaluating the model as well as policy changes universities and schools of social work may need to effect to successfully implement distance education programming.     

New Identities

The transformation of a segment of the Hamilton working class in the space of a couple of decades—from lifestyles supported by good jobs that, given the global demand for steel, seemed certain to last forever, to week-to-week insecurity and shattered gender expectations—came about not only through structural shifts in the global economy, but through the agency of the members of steelworker families as well, all mediated by local cultural ideas and practices. This article considers how we might think about the apparently mundane, everyday actions of women as contributing to—rather than simply responding to—broader shifts. I suggest this means thinking about women's lives as entailing meaningful acts that, through continuous and combined application, gradually alter structural conditions. Sensitivity to the forms of agency that women employ requires a notion of agency that can account for different experiences and, thus, different meanings, which arise from unequal access to wealth and power. Human agency involves a cognitive process of remembering the past, engaging the present, and imagining the future as people reflect on ideas and events, make judgements, and evaluate imagined alternatives. In the distinctively human ability to incorporate imagined futures into decisions over which path to take, we can see a particularly gendered expression of agency. As women reflect on their own experiences of the past and the present, they can rarely avoid confronting gendered forms of inequality. Action rests on a capacity to imagine a future free of (the effects of) gendered inequalities. Imagination thus spurs gendered action.     

Guest editorial

Statistics and Computing -