College of Liberal Arts
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Browsing College of Liberal Arts by Department "Sociology"
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Item Assessing the Factors Associated with the Possession of an Academic Ethic in College(Pennsylvania Sociological Society, 2014-09) Chee, Kyong Hee; Pino, Nathan W.; Smith, William L.Possession of an academic ethic in college is known to result in a higher likelihood of college success, but less is known about the factors associated with the development of an academic ethic in the first place. Based on an analysis of data collected from two U.S. universities we find that in addition to race and gender, college preparatory course enrollment and high school type (public or private), as mediated by social class, are associated with the extent to which one possesses an academic ethic in high school, which in turn predicts the possession of an academic ethic in college. In addition, the results show support for the positive influence of academic mentors on the level of one's academic ethic in college, particularly for nonwhite and female students. High schools and colleges can make use of this information to better socialize students for the transition experience and college success.Item Association Between Prior Insurance and Health Service Utilization Among the Long-Term Uninsured in South Carolina(2019-08) Shi, Lu; Francis, Ellen C.; Feng, Chaoling; Pan, Xi; Truong, KhoaPurpose: Strong evidence supports the relationship between health coverage and improved health status. Little is known about the lasting impact of prior health insurance on the prior insured's use of health services. We aimed to examine the association between prior insurance status and health service utilization (HSU) among the long-term uninsured (LTU) in South Carolina. Methods: The current study used data from in-person interviews of the LTU collected in a 2014 cross-sectional South Carolina survey. Men and women between 18-64 years of age who reported not having health insurance for at least 24 months at the time of data collection were included. Propensity score analysis was used to examine the associations between prior insurance status and three outcome variables: (1) having a usual source of care, (2) HSU, and (3) delaying health care needs. Results: Prior health insurance significantly predicted a greater likelihood of having a usual source of care (effect size: 9.2%, p=0.004) and having had at least one preventive visit during the past 2 years (effect size: 6.4%, p=0.035). Prior insurance coverage was positively associated with delayed health care utilization, but the result was not statistically significant (p=0.703). Conclusions: Among the LTU, ever having insurance coverage was positively associated with having a usual source of care and HSU. The lasting impact of insurance coverage on HSU behavior extends beyond the period of insurance coverage, which provides a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of the long-term implications of national and local efforts in expanding insurance coverage.Item Collaborating with the Community: The Extra-Territorial Translational Research Team(JSciMed Central, 2014-12) Kotarba, Joseph A.; Croisant, Sharon A.; Elferink, Cornelis; Scott, Lauren E.The purpose of the present study is to suggest a revision of the team science concept to the more inclusive extra-territorial research team (ETRT). Translational thinking is largely marked by the perception of the team as a thing-like structure at the center of the scientific activity. Collaboration accordingly involves bringing external others (e.g., scientists, community members, and clinicians) into the team through limited or dependent participation. We suggest that a promising and innovative way to see the team is as an idea: a schema for assembling and managing relationships among otherwise disparate individuals with vested interests in the problem at hand. Thus, the ETRT can be seen as a process as well as an object. We provide a case study derived from a qualitative analysis of the impact of the logic of translational science on a team assessment of environmental health following an off-coast oil disaster. The ETRT in question displayed the following principles of constructive relationship management: a high sense of adventure given the quick pace and timeliness given the relevance of the oil spill to all team members; regular meetings in the community to avoid the appearance of academic hegemony; open access by lay as well as institutional scientists; integration of emergency management coordinators into the group; and the languages of public health, environmental pharmacology/toxicology and coastal culture seamlessly interwoven in discussion. The ETRT model is an appropriate strategy for mobilizing and integrating the knowledge and skills needed for comprehensive science and service responses, especially during crisis.Item College Students and Alcohol Use: A Test of Social Learning, Strain, and Acculturation Theories(Wiley, 2014-09) DeSoto, William; Tajalli, Hassan; Smith, Chad L.; Pino, Nathan W.This article uses an original data set to explore the utility of three classic sociological theories to test patterns of college student alcohol consumption: social learning, strain, and acculturation. The survey data indicate that the first two theories are supported. Acculturation, however, does not appear to explain variations in drinking habits of Latino students in our sample.Item COVID-19 Impacts on First-Gen Students: Findings from the COVID-19 First-Gen Survey(2020-08) Black, Victoria; Martinez, Gloria P.; Gonzales, SylviaDue to the COVID-19 pandemic which began in the Spring of 2020, the entire TXST community needed to transition to remote learning. As a result, first-gen students faced many challenges in their academic and personal lives. In response, the First-Gen Proud committee sought to understand those obstacles to identify immediate and long-term solutions for first-gen students. The committee decided to conduct an assessment to evaluate how our undergraduate first-gen students were experiencing the unanticipated and rapid move to remote learning. The purpose of this assessment survey is to understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on first-gen students remote learning needs and experiences at Texas State University.Item Dementia at the End of Life and Family Partners: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on Communication(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2017-07) Johnson, Christopher; Kelch, Jordan; Johnson, RoxannaPeople with dementia are not dying; they are experiencing changes in the brain. This paper utilizes a symbolic interaction theoretical perspective to outline communicative alternatives to polypharmacy. There is a growing interest in sociological interventions to untangle the "disordered discourses" associated with dementia. Such practices challenge common stigmas attached to dementia as an "ongoing funeral" or "death certificate." Changing the expectations, attitudes and communication patterns of family care partners can positively impact them and the person living with dementia at the end of life. This paper delineates multiple non-verbal communication interventions (e.g., the trip back in time, dementia citizenship and sensory engagement modalities) to explore techniques to engage persons with advanced dementia.Item Developing Democratic Policing in the Caribbean: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago(Institute of Criminal Justice and Security, 2009-01) Pino, Nathan W.The article discusses a study concerning the application of democratic policing concept in Trinidad and Tobago. It analyzes the assessment of the state of policing and police reform efforts which will be necessary in order for democratic policing to be sustainably implemented. It also contemplates on the role of the country's economy, political and social conditions as determining factors for the enforcement of the policy.Item Development as a Historical Component of the UN Crime Policy Agenda: From Social Defence to the Millennium Development Goals(SAGE Publications, 2019-08) Blaustein, Jarrett; Chodor, Tom; Pino, Nathan W.This article presents a historical analysis of the intellectual and institutional origins of the international community’s interest in the link between crime and development leading up to the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000. Drawing on a combination of documentary sources and interviews with long-time international crime policy insiders, it traces this interest back to the United Nations’ (UN) social defence agenda which emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War. We situate this agenda in relation to the Western aspiration to advance the Modernization project and reflect on how its shortcomings together with ideological, economic, and geopolitical shifts at the international level contributed to the diversification of the UN’s crime policy agenda during the 1970s. These conditions collectively influenced the international community’s growing concern with crime as an existential threat to economic development during the 1980s. Our analysis highlights how this framing was reinforced by the rise of transnational organized crime as a threat to global capitalism following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was against this historical backdrop that the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UN-ODCCP) was established to lead the international community’s fight against ‘uncivil society’. We conclude by reflecting on UN-ODCCP’s tumultuous early years along with the omission of ‘crime’ from the Millennium Development Goals and suggest that these conditions, along with the adoption of the United Nations Conventions Against Transnational Organized Crime and Corruption, set the stage for the organisation’s future advocacy for the inclusion of crime in the Sustainable Development Goals.Item Does Gender Climate Influence Climate Change? The Multidimensionality of Gender Equality and Its Countervailing Effects on the Carbon Intensity of Well-Being(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2021-04-02) Ergas, Christina; Greiner, Patrick; McGee, Julius Alexander; Clement, Matthew ThomasThe carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB) (a ratio measuring the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of life expectancy at birth) is an increasingly popular way to measure the ecological efficiency of nations. Although research demonstrates that economic development typically reduces this efficiency, little research has explored the extent to which social equality improves it. This study uses panel data for 70 nations between 1995 and 2013 to assess how various aspects of gender equality affect the ecological efficiency of nations. We estimate a series of Prais-Winsten regression models with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) to assess how increases in the percentage of women in parliament, expected years of education for women, and the percentage of women in the labor force independently affect CIWB. Our findings indicate that across all nations, increases in the percentage of women in parliament and expected years of schooling reduce CIWB; however, increases in the percentage of women in the labor force increase CIWB. Our results further show that the relationship between different dimensions of gender equality and CIWB differs between more developed and less developed nations. Finally, we find that increases in the number of women in parliament and women’s education attenuate the relationship between women’s labor force participation and CIWB. We discuss the variation in our results by reviewing relevant eco-gender literatures and feminist economics.Item Does Gender Climate Influence Climate Change? The Multidimensionality of Gender Equality and Its Countervailing Effects on the Carbon Intensity of Well-Being(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2021-04-02) Ergas, Christina; Greiner, Patrick; McGee, Julius Alexander; Clement, Matthew ThomasThe carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB) (a ratio measuring the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of life expectancy at birth) is an increasingly popular way to measure the ecological efficiency of nations. Although research demonstrates that economic development typically reduces this efficiency, little research has explored the extent to which social equality improves it. This study uses panel data for 70 nations between 1995 and 2013 to assess how various aspects of gender equality affect the ecological efficiency of nations. We estimate a series of Prais-Winsten regression models with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) to assess how increases in the percentage of women in parliament, expected years of education for women, and the percentage of women in the labor force independently affect CIWB. Our findings indicate that across all nations, increases in the percentage of women in parliament and expected years of schooling reduce CIWB; however, increases in the percentage of women in the labor force increase CIWB. Our results further show that the relationship between different dimensions of gender equality and CIWB differs between more developed and less developed nations. Finally, we find that increases in the number of women in parliament and women’s education attenuate the relationship between women’s labor force participation and CIWB. We discuss the variation in our results by reviewing relevant eco-gender literatures and feminist economics.Item Homicide Rates and the Multiple Dimensions of Urbanization: A Longitudinal, Cross-National Analysis(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2019-10) Clement, Matthew Thomas; Pino, Nathan W.; Blaustein, JarrettSustainability scholars frame urbanization as a multidimensional concept with divergent environmental impacts. Through synthesizing recent quantitative studies of urbanization in criminology, we evaluated this multidimensional framework in a longitudinal, cross-national analysis of homicide rates for 217 countries between 2000 and 2015. For the analysis, we also highlighted the issue of missing data, a common concern for cross-national scholars in a variety of disciplines. While controlling for other relevant factors, we compared results from panel models that use the common technique of listwise deletion (n = 113) and from structural equation models (SEM) that handle missing values with full information maximum likelihood (n = 216). While the estimates for the control variables are non-significant in the SEM approach, the findings for the urbanization variables were robust and multidimensional. In particular, while the proportion of the population that is urban is positively related to homicide, the proportion of the population living in large cities of at least one million inhabitants is significantly and negatively related to homicide in all models. Given our focus on urbanization, we outline our contribution not only in the context of criminology but also the cross-national sustainability literature, which often uses similar variables with missing values.Item How do slums change the relationship between urbanization and the carbon intensity of well-being?(Public Library of Science, 2017-12-08) McGee, Julius Alexander; Ergas, Christina; Greiner, Patrick; Clement, Matthew ThomasThis study examines how the relationship between urbanization (measured as the percentage of total population living in urban areas) and the carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB) (measured as a ratio of carbon dioxide emissions and life expectancy) in most nations from 1960–2013 varies based on the economic context and whereabouts of a substantial portion of a nation’s urban population. To accomplish this, we use the United Nations’ (UN) definition of slum households to identify developing countries that have substantial slum populations, and estimate a Prais-Winsten regression model with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE), allowing for disturbances that are heteroskedastic and contemporaneously correlated across panels. Our findings indicate that the rate of increase in CIWB for countries without substantial slum populations begins to slow down at higher levels of urbanization, however, the association between urbanization and CIWB is much smaller in countries with substantial slum populations. Overall, while urbanization is associated with increases in CIWB, the relationship between urban development and CIWB is vastly different in developed nations without slums than in under-developed nations with slums.Item How do Slums Change the Relationship between Urbanization and the Carbon Intensity of Well-being?(Public Library of Science, 2017-12) McGee, Julius Alexander; Ergas, Christina; Greiner, Patrick; Clement, Matthew ThomasThis study examines how the relationship between urbanization (measured as the percentage of total population living in urban areas) and the carbon intensity of well-being (CIWB) (measured as a ratio of carbon dioxide emissions and life expectancy) in most nations from 1960-2013 varies based on the economic context and whereabouts of a substantial portion of a nation's urban population. To accomplish this, we use the United Nations' (UN) definition of slum households to identify developing countries that have substantial slum populations, and estimate a Prais-Winsten regression model with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE), allowing for disturbances that are heteroskedastic and contemporaneously correlated across panels. Our findings indicate that the rate of increase in CIWB for countries without substantial slum populations begins to slow down at higher levels of urbanization, however, the association between urbanization and CIWB is much smaller in countries with substantial slum populations. Overall, while urbanization is associated with increases in CIWB, the relationship between urban development and CIWB is vastly different in developed nations without slums than in under-developed nations with slums.Item "I Had to Jump through a Lot of Hoops": How Working Mothers in Student Affairs Navigate Institutional Policies and Student Affairs Norms(Taylor & Francis, 2021-11-08) McKinnon-Crowley, Saralyn; Bukoski, Beth; Black, Victoria; Burmicky, Jorge; Molina, Veronica; Chacon, KrystaIn this instrumental case study, we explored the experiences of working mothers in student affairs and how their situated realities are shaped by institutional and professional norms, including commonly understood written and unwritten practices. We conducted interviews and focus groups with 21 mothers working full-time at a research-intensive university in the South. We crafted themes to illustrate how ideal worker norms, inequality regimes, and the maternal wall were persistent concerns for the mothers in our study (Acker, 1990; Acker, 2006; J. C. Williams, 2004). Mothers had to make decisions based on inadequate institutional policies while the institution simultaneously benefited from skills they imported from motherhood to student affairs work. Given the condition of federal and state policies, we offer implications for institutional and unit changes to better meet mothers where they are, accommodate their unique needs, and provide pathways for them to continue contributing meaningfully to the field.Item Music as Evil: Deviance and Metaculture in Classical Music(University of Exeter, 2009-03-29) Pino, Nathan W.This paper aims to apply the sociology of deviance and the concept of metaculture to the sociology of high-art and music. Examples of classical music criticisms over time are presented and discussed. Music critics have engaged in metaculture and norm promotion by labeling certain composers or styles of music as negatively deviant in a number of ways. Composers or styles of classical music have been labeled as not music, not worthy of being considered the future of music, a threat to culture, politically unacceptable, evil, and even criminal. Critics have linked composers they are critical of with other deviant categories, and ethnocentrism, racism, and other biases play a role in critics’ attempts to engage in norm promotion and affect the public temper. As society changes, musical norms and therefore deviant labels concerning music also change. Maverick composers push musical ideas forward, and those music critics who resist these changes are unable to successfully promote their dated, more traditional norms. Implications of the findings for the sociology of deviance and the sociology of music are discussed.Item Quality of Life of Latina Breast Cancer Survivors: From Silence to Empowerment(Indiana University School of Social Work, 2013-09) Martinez, Gloria; Biggs, Mary Jo Garcia; Lozano, YvonneBreast cancer is the most common form of cancer among Latinas living in the United States. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study aimed at understanding the experiences of 25 Latinas between the ages of 28 and 83 who are long-term (at least five years post diagnosis) breast cancer survivors. The findings show three key issues and concerns: (a) fear of being stigmatized and being treated differently if they talked about their breast cancer experience; (b) overcoming the perceived negative effects that breast cancer has on their femininity; (c) the effects of breast cancer recovery and survivorship on social relationships of family and community. Family support and peer advocacy helped survivors in several areas: (a) to cope with the fear of recurrence; (b) to combat the fear of social stigma; (c) to become stronger as they dealt with the permanent life changes as a Latina breast cancer survivor; (d) to support them in the struggle for the provision of culturally sensitive health care; and (e) to provide social support in the form of advocacy for other Latina breast cancer survivors.Item Rationalizing the Decision to Cheat: An Empirical Analysis to Determine Whether Social Rational Orientation Can Predict Academic Dishonesty(NASPA, 2019-02) Krou, Megan R.; Acee, Taylor W.; Pino, Nathan W.; Hoff, MeaganAcademic dishonesty is a wide-spread issue in educational institutions, including higher education. This study determined if there was a correlation between social rational action orientations and the likelihood of engaging in academically dishonest acts. The relationship between course value and academic dishonesty was also examined. The researchers obtained data from 357 undergraduate students at a large public university in the Southwest. The instrument included a scale that was created to determine student social rational orientation membership. To measure potential academic dishonesty behaviors, vignettes were created and manipulated to portray either low or high perceived course value. Overall, this study found that social rational orientation and perceived course value predicted the likelihood of engaging in academically dishonest acts. This study uncovered new variables that can be used to predict academic dishonesty by elucidating how students rationalize their decision to cheat.Item Supporting Families of Children with Disabilities: What’s Missing?(2014-12) Selber, Katherine; Tijerina, Mary S.; Heyman, Cathryn; Hernandez, Virginia RonderoThis article presents findings from a web-based survey in which advocates and primary caregivers of children with disabilities were asked to indicate their level of satisfaction with various services and service providers, and their perceptions about how closely these services centered on family needs. A total of 68 valid responses to this pilot survey were obtained from subscribers of electronic mailing groups. The survey included questions about accessibility and affordability of services, satisfaction with services, degree of family involvement allowed by service providers, and information relating to the family-centered principles of treating and educating children with different types of disabilities. Eighty percent (80%) of respondents described a frustrating and invalidating process for acquiring services. However, once families were in the health care, educational, and social services systems, they reported finding the services received helpful. Implications for disability and health care policy derived from this research are offered.Item The Culture of Translational Science Research: Participants' Stories(University of California Press, 2013-05) Kotarba, Joseph A.; Wooten, Kevin; Freeman, Jean; Brasier, Allan R.We apply a symbolic interactionist framework and a qualitative methodology to the examination of the everyday reality of translational science research (TSR). This is a growing scientific movement that aims to facilitate the efficient application of basic research to clinical service design and delivery. We describe the emerging culture of translational research at a mid-size medical center that received a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. The stories related by scientists, clinicians, and students in interviews indicate that they make sense of the emerging inter- and cross-disciplinary, team-oriented culture of TSR through the refinement and redefinition of the significant symbols that inform their work while they attempt to master translational research by addressing the dilemmas it produces for them and their work. We see the strength, currency, adaptability, and energy of the core self-definition of "scientist" to be significant in shaping the emerging culture of translational research. We conclude by celebrating the value of interpretive ethnography for evaluation research.Item The Innovation Scorecard for Continuous Improvement Applied to Translational Science(Association for Clinical and Translational Science, 2017-11) Kotarba, Joseph A.; Wooten, KevinIntroduction: This paper reports on the baseline stage of a qualitative evaluation of the application of the Innovative Scorecard (ISC) to the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. The ISC is adopted from the established Balanced Scorecard system for strategic planning and performance management. In formulating the evaluation, we focused on the organizational identity literature. Methods: The initial evaluation consisted of a series of semi-structured interviews with 22 participants of the ISC Boot Camp conducted in July 2015. Results: The logic of grounded theory pointed to the clustering of perceptions of the ISC around respondents' occupational locations at UTMB. Administrators anticipate the expansion of planning activities to include a wider range of participants under the current CTSA award period (2015-2020) than under our first CTSA approval period (2009-2014). A common viewpoint among the senior scientists was that the scientific value of their work will continue to speak for itself without requiring the language of business. Junior scientists looked forward to the ISC's emphasis on increasingly horizontal leadership that will give them more access to and more control over their work and resources. Postdocs and senior staff welcomed increased involvement in the total research process at UTMB. Conclusion: The report concludes with strategies for future follow-up.