‘It was about claiming space’: exposure to Asian American studies,ethnic organization participation,and the negotiation of self among southeast Asian Americans

Despite the growing number of Asian American Studies (AAS) programs and Asian ethnic organizations across colleges and universities since the 1970s, surprisingly little empirical research examines the role of these aspects of higher education on Asian American identity. How do the roles of AAS curriculum and Asian American student organizations (Asian American activities) influence southeast Asian American college students’ ethnic and panethnic identity formation? Drawing on 50 in-depth interviews of 1.5 and second-generation college-educated Asian Americans, this study finds that the exposure to Asian American activities shapes respondents’ racial and ethnic identity construction. Specifically, the exposure to Asian American activities: (1) evokes an informed assertion of a contextual panethnic identity; (2) serves to trigger an assertion of a hyphenated American identity; and lastly, (3) plays a direct, but differing, instrumental role on identity construction among different Asian American sub-ethnic groups.     

"There Must Be a Reason": Osama, Saddam, and Inferred Justification

One of the most curious aspects of the 2004 presidential election was the strength and resilience of the belief among many Americans that Saddam Hussein was linked to the terrorist attacks of September 11. Scholars have suggested that this belief was the result of a campaign of false information and innuendo from the Bush administration. We call this the information environment explanation. Using a technique of "challenge interviews" on a sample of voters who reported believing in a link between Saddam and 9/11, we propose instead a social psychological explanation for the belief in this link. We identify a number of social psychological mechanisms voters use to maintain false beliefs in the face of disconfirming information, and we show that for a subset of voters the main reason to believe in the link was that it made sense of the administration's decision to go to war against Iraq. We call this inferred justification : for these voters, the fact of the war led to a search for a justification for it, which led them to infer the existence of ties between Iraq and 9/11.     

The Undeserving Rich: “Moral Values” and the White Working Class1

White working‐class citizens who vote for the Republican Party have been fodder for much political discussion and speculation recently, and a debate has arisen about the role that “moral values” played in the political decision making of this segment of voters. In this article, we defend a version of the moral values claim. We show that although the Republicans’ policies are unpopular, they are bundled with an overarching moral framework that is extremely resonant to this set of voters, and we use in‐depth interviews to uncover this framework. A key feature of this framework, on which in the 2004 presidential election George W. Bush scored high and John Kerry scored low, is the appropriate attitude to wealth, which serves as an indicator for a candidate’s general moral philosophy and as a heuristic about whether the candidate will govern with working‐class voters’ interests in mind. National Election Studies data support the argument that this was a key influence on the voting decision in 2004, even controlling for voters’ partisan identification.     

Who runs away from home and why? How families,schools, and bullying influence youth runaways

While prior research establishes that youth who experience family problems are more likely to leave home before reaching adulthood, we know less regarding how peer victimization in the form of bullying may influence youths' likelihood of becoming runaways. Youth often run away from home to escape family conflict or abusive home environments. Mental illness, behavioral problems, and delinquent peers are also powerful forces predicting the likelihood of running away from home. Additionally, recent literature suggests that negative experiences at school may increase youths' decisions to leave home prematurely. In this article, I review literature that addresses who runs away from home, including variations by age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, family structure, mental health, problem behaviors, and peer networks. I also suggest directions for future research, including an approach that considers how families and schools individually and collectively affect youths' likelihood of running away from home. Finally, I recommend a focus on bully victimization to better understand how victimization outside of the family affects the likelihood that youth will become runaways.     

Understanding the Influence of Traditional Cultural Values on Indonesian Parenting

The aim of this conceptual article is to consider the available literature regarding associations between cultural values and parenting in Indonesian society. Research focusing on parenting in the Indonesian context is limited, although there are extensive studies regarding parenting and its implications for child development in Western cultures. Indonesia is one of the most heavily populated and culturally diverse countries in the world, with more than 200 ethnicities represented. Because cultural values are likely to influence Indonesian parenting and, therefore, child development, there is a need to understand the ways in which Indonesian traditional cultural values influence parenting style. In this article the small amount of literature regarding parenting specifically in Indonesian culture is overviewed. The key outcome of this article is to highlight the need to better understand how cultural values influence parenting in Indonesia and, in turn, how these influence child outcomes, particularly under conditions of some cultural change. Recommendations for future research regarding associations between Indonesian cultural values and parenting are provided to stimulate more empirical attention to this area to support Indonesia’s adaptation to the modern global environment.     

A Flexible Bayesian Model for Estimating Subnational Mortality

Reliable subnational mortality estimates are essential in the study of health inequalities within a country. One of the difficulties in producing such estimates is the presence of small populations among which the stochastic variation in death counts is relatively high, and thus the underlying mortality levels are unclear. We present a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate mortality at the subnational level. The model builds on characteristic age patterns in mortality curves, which are constructed using principal components from a set of reference mortality curves. Information on mortality rates are pooled across geographic space and are smoothed over time. Testing of the model shows reasonable estimates and uncertainty levels when it is applied both to simulated data that mimic U.S. counties and to real data for French départements. The model estimates have direct applications to the study of subregional health patterns and disparities.     

Assessing the value of family safety networks in child protective services: Early findings from Minnesota

The considerable number of families served continues to place systemic challenges on the child welfare system. Jurisdictions are turning to new strategies to increase family engagement in services and to leverage taxed or limited resources. Signs of Safety® is a strengths‐based and safety‐focused approach to child protection work that is grounded in partnership and collaboration. This exploratory pilot study with a referred participant sample used interviews with 26 parents and 32 safety network members to explore respondents' perceptions and use of a safety plan and safety network, core components of the Signs of Safety framework. Findings from this pilot investigation include insights about how safety plans and safety networks are established, how they function, and opportunities for enhancing their use with families with the goal of providing supports that increase the likelihood of continued safety for children after case closure. Preliminary results also suggest these tools may contribute to reduced re‐reports to child protection.     

A Study of Individual‐Level Social Capital and Health Outcomes: Testing for Variance between Rural and Urban Respondents

This study examines associations between social capital and health outcomes with data from the 2010 Brazos Valley Health Survey (Texas) (N = 3,176). Multivariate adjusted logistic regression analysis demonstrated that poor and fair health status was inversely predicted by both high trust (adjusted OR = .67 [CI = .50–.92]) and high informal social ties (adjusted OR = .68 [CI = .49–.94]), as well as being predicted by the interaction of urban‐rural and community participation (adjusted OR = 1.20 [CI = 1.02–1.40]). Mental distress was inversely predicted by high trust (adjusted OR = .51 [CI = .29–.89]) and the interaction of urban/rural and informal social ties (adjusted OR = .77 [CI = .61–.97]). Thus, whereas social capital poses general benefits in regard to improving health status and mental distress, the former benefits are greater for rural respondents, while the latter benefits are greater for urban respondents.     

The Problem of Pseudoscience in Social Work Continuing Education

The National Association of Social Workers requires social workers to obtain continuing education (CE) after they receive their social work degrees. A large and profitable industry that has emerged catering to this need for CE that is particularly focused on the needs of licensed social workers. Quality control mechanisms in place to monitor the content and delivery of CE approved by the field of social work is relatively lax, and as a result a considerable number of social work CE programs convey content that can be labeled as pseudoscientific. We provide illustrations of currently approved social work CE courses that provide training in a variety of bizarre and unsupported assessment methods and treatments that are pseudoscientific.     

Differences in the prevalence of risk behaviors between heterosexual and lesbian,gay, bisexual,and questioning (LGBQ) female adolescents in the juvenile justice system

Little is known about the behavioral risk factors for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female youths who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ) and who are involved in the juvenile justice system. We examined the sexual and drug use risk profiles of heterosexual and LGBQ female adolescents in the justice system. Greater prevalence of alcohol and substance use was found among female LGBQ adolescents compared to their female heterosexual counterparts. Conversely, female LGBQ youths reported more consistent condom use for both vaginal and anal sex compared to heterosexual females. These data may be useful in tailoring interventions for justice-involved LGBQ youths.