THE FEMA TRAILER PARKS: NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF AVOIDANCE

In recent years, negative media attention has fostered the impression that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) parks are social wastelands filled with criminal elements and other undesirables. FEMA parks have subsequently come to be viewed by some as a major threat to the safety and quality of life of the local communities in which they are situated. This analysis addresses attitudes toward FEMA trailer parks in Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina among Baton Rouge residents. Drawing on the Locally Undesirable Land Use/Not in My Backyard (LULU/NIMBY) literature, the contact hypothesis, and a broad paradigm of social status and social control, we hypothesize that spatial proximity, contact, and social status will influence negative perceptions of the parks, while these same factors along with the negative perceptions will influence avoidance behaviors. The results indicate that living near a FEMA park is associated with less negative perceptions, while actually seeing trailer park residents is associated with more negative perceptions and a greater odds of avoidance, particularly changing driving routes. Whites are particularly concerned about crime associated with the parks, but interracial trust reduces negative perceptions of the parks and the likelihood of avoidance. Those who are likely to end up in a FEMA park if they were in the same situation are more friendly toward the parks and less likely to use avoidance techniques, and negative perceptions themselves are strong predictors of avoidance behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of directions for future research.     

The Enduring Significance of Racism: Discrimination and Delinquency Among Black American Youth

Prominent explanations of the overrepresentation of Black Americans in criminal justice statistics focus on the effects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, racial isolation, and social disorganization. We suggest that perceived personal discrimination is an important but frequently neglected complement to these factors. We test this hypothesis with longitudinal data on involvement in general and violent juvenile delinquency in a sample of Black youth from a variety of communities in 2 states. We examine the direct effects of concentrated disadvantage and racial isolation and the direct and mediating effects of social organization, support for violence, and personal discrimination. Consistent with our hypothesis, perceived personal discrimination has notable direct effects on both general and violent delinquency and is an important mediator between neighborhood structural conditions and offending; moreover, its effects exceed those associated with neighborhood conditions.     

Linking Community Context to Quality of Parenting: A Study of Rural Families1

Abstract Virtually all past studies of the effect of community context on families and children have focused on large metropolitan communities. Using a sample of divorced women living in small, Midwestern communities, the present study tests a model of the processes whereby community structure influences parenting practices. Results obtained through structural equation modeling supported the hypotheses. High concentrations of disadvantaged people within a community were indirectly related to parenting through community social disorganization. Community social disorganization had a direct effect on quality of parenting, as well as indirect effects through negative events, access to social support, and depressed mood. The various methodological and theoretical implications of these findings are considered.     

Business Ethics in the curriculum: A stranger in a strange land

An analysis of the place of Business Ethics in the curriculum.