The 9/11 effect: Toward a social science of the terrorist threat

After 9/11, public attitudes on numerous social issues changed. While many studies have examined post-9/11 attitude trends on specific topics, such as civil liberties or war, few have investigated the scope and variety of these effects. Did the events of 9/11 have a brief effect on a limited number of attitudes, or did they produce numerous, long-term changes in the way Americans think, feel and act? Drawing on a broad range of pre-post-9/11 studies, this review essay begins to answer this question by developing a framework for categorizing these effects and distinguishing short-term changes from long-term ones. The framework is intended to help facilitate an interdisciplinary social scientific research agenda on the effects of 9/11 and other terrorist acts. The essay concludes by explaining the social importance of the public's response to terrorism and the need for further research on this topic.     

Expanding the Scope of Conflict: Interest Groups and Interstate Compacts*

This study looks at how the characteristics of states' interest group environments affect state participation in interstate compacts. Drawing on prominent theories of interest system characteristics, we hypothesize that interest group density and concentration will influence a state's propensity to join compacts. Method. Using pooled cross‐sectional time‐series event‐count models, we test our hypotheses for 48 states over a 30‐year period. Results. We find that states with denser interest group systems are more likely to join interstate compacts, but that greater concentration of organized interests in a few economic sectors impedes compact formation. Additional analyses show that the effects of state interest group systems vary across types of interest groups and compacts. In particular, the effects of interest group density appear to be driven primarily by not‐for‐profit groups generating increased state participation in noneconomic compacts. Conclusion. Interstate cooperation is influenced in important ways by characteristics of interest group environments.     

Public health policy and gay bathhouses

Public health policy on bathhouses has been limited and poorly documented. This volume is intended to expand policy-makers' and prevention-professionals' knowledge and awareness about gay bathhouses. The present paper provides a context and an overview for the volume by describing the bathhouse environment and how it differs from other public sex environments, and by describing public policies that have been implemented.     

On diversity in the terminology concerning inhibitory stimulus control: Implications for practitioners of applied behavior analysis

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - The multiplicity of terms employed in the literature of behavior analysis to tact stimuli associated with inhibition effects is considered. It is submitted that...     

A theoretical approach to bathhouse environments

HIV prevention guidelines have aimed primarily at the individual level, although recently the field of public health has begun to focus more on structural level interventions. This paper explores an application of Rudolf Moos' person-environment theory as one model that helps to provide an understanding of the dynamic relationship between bathhouse patrons and the environment within which they engage in sexual activities. Understanding how different dimensions of the environment affect behavior could be instrumental in revealing not just that a bathhouse intervention works, but how it works. Knowing more about how an intervention works would facilitate its application in other settings.