bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Residential Mobility and Public Programs: Current Gaps Between Theory and Practice
Authors: Clark W. A. V. , Moore Eric G.
Published: April 2010

While residential mobility (the relocation of a household from one dwelling to another) is a fundamental element of the urban system at both individual and aggregate levels, and although there is a voluminous literature on mobility, the contribution of this literature to planning and public policy has been quite minimal. In earlier papers we examined some of the reasons for the poor links between academic research and public policy and outlined general approaches which might be taken to provide the kinds of information which would be useful to policy‐makers. In this paper we examine the effects of public programs on mobility and the ways in which mobility affects public programs. Public programs or policy are categorized as those having direct effects on mobility (the housing programs) and those with indirect effects (rent control and busing). Even though a significant proportion of the mobility that occurs in cities is simply not related to any government program, there is evidence that mobility may not be insensitive to policy manipulation. The provision of housing subsidies in Holland and local context variation (such as rent control) from city to city may have important effects on the levels of mobility. The results of this review and analysis emphasize that mobility is not a simple choice of moving or staying but one of a large number of options for achieving a change in individual status and therefore in the urban system.
Black Residential Mobility: Trends and Characteristics
Authors: Fairchild Halford H. , Tucker M. Belinda
Published: April 2010

This analysis of trends in Black residential mobility uses a multi‐disciplinary approach that incorporates contributions from sociology, psychology, economics, demography, and social geography, among others. It examines population migrations from Africa during the slave trade, mobility patterns during the internal slave trade within the United States, and the large population shifts during the industrialization of the urban North and West. Contemporary patterns of segregated urban environments are viewed from the perspective of external constraints on Black residential mobility opportunities. These constraints, operating at both individual and institutional levels, include the actions of individual homeowners, realtors, local and federal legislators, and lending institutions. The attitudes of Blacks are viewed as “internal factors” which also serve to maintain segregated living arrangements. The processes and consequences associated with urban ghettoization are identified. Recent trends of Black suburbanization, “gentrification,” and Latino/Black residential integration, are identified and discussed. The article concludes with an examination of potential future scenarios, provides suggestions for future research, and addresses a number of policy and practical issues.
Desired Residential Mobility in a Low Income Ethnic Community: A Case Study of Chinatown
Authors: Loo Chalsa , Mar Don
Published: April 2010

This article examines the social and economic underpinnings of desired residential mobility in an ethnic community. Using interview survey data, desired residential mobility in Chinatown was examined using social theories of urban location regarding ethnic settlement and neighborhood homogeneity. Residents want to stay not because it is an ideal place of residence, but because of social, economic, and language disadvantages relative to white American society. Residents who want to leave are those with fewer disadvantages, who thus have the opportunity to search for belter housing and a better life. Although Warner and Srole's thesis of the ethnic settlement process and Burgess and Wirth's theories of neighborhood homogeneity were largely confirmed, the salient environmental stressor of crowding was found to contribute significantly to the desire to move. This points to the importance of social and environmental contributors to the desire to move. This study also offers evidence that desired residential mobility is determined by age as well as by class, perceptions of crowding, and attitudes regarding ethnic homogeneity, and that neighborhood homogeneity occurs along these lines as well. Both class and ethnicity are determinants of residential location. This article highlights the particular conditions of stability and mobility in ethnic immigrant‐entry communities.
Individual Differences Underlying the Dwelling Satisfaction of the Elderly
Authors: Golant Stephen M.
Published: April 2010

Dwelling satisfaction is identified often as a subjective indicator of a population's quality of life and as a predictor of residential relocation plans and preferences. In old age, the dwelling is an especially important part of the individual's total life situation. Because objective indicators of housing quality incompletely and misleadingly explain the variations in older persons' reported dwelling satisfaction, a set of individual characteristics are proposed as antecedents. Structured interview data were collected from a random sample of 400 persons aged 60 and over living in a midwestern, middle class community. It was found that old people who were more satisfied with their dwellings were less favorably disposed toward stimulating or novel environments, were happier with their lives, traveled less frequently outside their dwellings, lived longer in their present residences, were home owners, and were less likely to report financial difficulties. The findings emphasize the difficulties of interpreting subjective indicators of housing quality for policy and planning purposes.
Residential Displacement: Extent, Nature, and Effects
Authors: Newman Sandra J. , Owen Michael S.
Published: April 2010

Each year, a small fraction of families move for reasons beyond their control. Among these involuntary movers are the displaced: those who are forced to move due to conditions affecting their dwelling or its immediate environments that make continued occupancy impossible. The average annual rate of displacement moves out of urban areas during the 1970s is estimated at roughly 1.0 percent. Families most susceptible to displacement were those with high housing cost burdens, short durations of occupancy, living in or close to the central city of the SMSA, receiving welfare, and headed by persons who are young and have low levels of eduction. Three findings concerning the effects of displacement are most noteworthy. First, the effects of displacement are not pervasive across three sets of outcomes: housing, income, and employment. Second, displacement appears to have some positive effects on material well‐being. Third, where detrimental effects do exist, they do not always support the assumption that the least well‐off suffer the greatest decline in material well‐being.
The Psychological Context of Residential Mobility and Weil‐Being
Authors: Stokols Daniel , Shumaker Sally Ann
Published: April 2010

This article examines earlier research on residential mobility and health, and offers a theoretical framework that addresses certain issues neglected in that research. In general, previous analyses have characterized relocation as an acute and short‐term life event that imposes considerable strains on the individual at the time of moving. This perspective minimizes the dynamic quality of mobility and ignores the longer‐term health consequences of relocation which unfold gradually as the individual adjusts to the diverse life changes associated with moving. Alternatively, the proposed analysis assumes that the health effects of relocation depend not only on the immediate circumstances surrounding a move, but also on the broader context of the individual's residential history, current life situation, and aspirations for the future. Hypotheses concerning several psychological mediators of mobility and health are derived. These hypotheses are assessed in light of the findings from a longitudinal survey of residential experience and health.
Responses to Sexual Harassment on the Job: Legal, Organizational, and Individual Actions
Authors: Livingston Joy A.
Published: April 2010

Remedial actions to curtail and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace have focused on providing victims with legal redress, establishing employers' responsibilities, and encouraging employees to resist harassment. This paper discusses these various forms of response to sexual harassment. First, the development of judicial and legal criteria defining harassment as illegal behavior and establishing parameters of employer responsibilities are reviewed. Then, the discussion examines actions employers have taken to meet their responsibilities (e.g., issuing policy statements). Secondary analyses of data collected from 3139 women who reported experiences of sexual harassment are used to explore individual responses to harassment, and potential determinants of those responses. Finally, support services provided by women's organizations are discussed, and some conclusions are drawn about the impact of remedial actions on the prevention of sexual harassment on the job.
Sexual Harassment in Academe: Legal Issues and Definitions
Authors: Somers Amy
Published: April 2010

This paper summarizes legal and institutional definitions as well as policies that have been formulated to address the problem of sexual harassment in academic settings. To determine the level of information regarding the extent and nature of this problem, the paper also reviews and assesses current research on sexual harassment in academic institutions. It is concluded that, although legal, institutional, and operational definitions and conclusions regarding the frequency of this problem vary, there is documentation that sexual harassment is a serious problem in many academic institutions. Further research employing more consistent sampling and definitional procedures is needed to clarify the phenomenon and to provide a more effective framework for evaluating policies and procedures designed to deal with sexual harassment.
Defining Sexual Harassment on Campus: A Replication and Extension
Authors: Weber‐Burdin Eleanor , Rossi Peter H.
Published: April 2010

A factorial survey, designed to parallel a study conducted at the University of California (Reilly, Carpenter, Dull, & Bartlett, 1982), was used to assess judgments of the nature of sexual harassment among undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts. The factors determining ratings of harassment proved to be very consistent across student populations and across different judgment tasks. However, there was some indication that the factors that influence defining an incident as sexual harassment are not entirely the same as the determinants of perceived seriousness of an incident.
Attributions and Assignment of Responsibility in Sexual Harassment
Authors: Jensen Inger W. , Gutek Barbara A.
Published: April 2010

Although research has investigated the extent to which sexual harassment exists and what people are or are not doing about it, little has been written about the personal attributions made for these behaviors by either those who have or those who have not been sexually harassed. Research on rape and the assignment of responsiblity for a rape may be useful as a base from which to generalize about sexual harassment and the various ways in which victims and viewers respond to it. This study consists of data from an initial survey investigating the occurrence of sexual harassment at the workplace and follow‐up interviews with female workers who reported in the initial survey having been sexually harassed. The research focused on the application of attribution theory in four areas: 1) sex differences in assignment of responsibility for sexual harassment, 2) effects of having experienced sexual harassment on assignment of responsibility, 3) self‐blame in cases of sexual harassment and its affective and work‐related effects, 4) the role of sex‐role beliefs on assignment of responsibility to self and others. One of the stronger findings of the study concerned the role of sex‐role beliefs. Women who have traditional sex‐role beliefs are more likely to blame themselves and other victims for being sexually harassed.
Strategic Policy Preferences: A Behavioral Decision Theory Perspective
Authors: Fischhoff Baruch
Published: April 2010

A decision theory perspective is used to analyze how individuals form preferences among competing strategic defense policies. It is argued that these preferences can be usefully conceptualized as the product of deliberative logical thinking. There are, however, a number of obstacles that may prevent people from making decisions in their own best interests or from reaching agreement with others who share those interests. Some of these obstacles are internal or psychological (e.g., difficulties in understanding probabilistic processes); some are external or institutional (e.g., limited access to relevant information). Some are encountered with even mundane problems (e.g., being overconfident in one's knowledge); some are particular to novel and consequential decisions (e.g., not knowing how to make tradeoffs among those consequences). Some seem restricted to the lay public (e.g., failure to understand technical terms); some may afflict technical experts (e.g., failure to acknowledge or question widely shared assumptions). The possibilities for research into the extent of these problems is discussed, along with the possibilities for action to alleviate them.
The Evaluation of Prevention Programs
Authors: Bickman Leonard
Published: April 2010

Throughout the past decade I have been involved in various preventionoriented programs. These projects have ranged from research and evaluation on crime prevention, to projects dealing with preventing illness, to ones dealing with home fire prevention. I have maintained a strong belief in the efficacy of a prevention approach to dealing with social problems, as opposed to more traditional treatment approaches. However, we do not really have good evidence that such prevention programs are effective (Kelly, Snowden, & Munoz, 1977; Heller, Price, & Sher, 1980). We need to create bodies of knowledge that help us understand the workings of and the theories behind prevention programs. But there are many barriers to doing so. This paper is about those barriers, and about ways we might cope with them.
A Theoretical Perspective for Understanding Reactions to Victimization
Authors: Janoff‐Bulman Ronnie , Frieze Irene Hanson
Published: April 2010

Although specific victimizations may differ, there appear to be common psychological responses across a wide variety of victims. It is proposed that victims' psychological distress is largely due to the shattering of basic assumptions held about themselves and their world. Three assumptions that change as a result of victimization are: 1) the belief in personal invulnerability; 2) the perception of the world as meaningful; and 3) the view of the self as positive. Coping with victimization is presented as a process that involves rebuilding one's assumptive world. Introductions to the papers that follow in this issue are incorporated into a discussion of specific coping strategies adopted by victims.
Through Women's Eyes: Defining Danger in the Wake of Sexual Assault
Authors: Scheppele Kim Lane , Bart Pauline B.
Published: April 2010

Most women who have been sexually assaulted see at least some situations in the world as being more dangerous following their assault experiences. Based on in‐depth interviews with 94 women who were either raped or avoided being raped during an attack, this study examines the effect of the events that occurred during the attack and the circumstances surrounding the attack as factors that determine later perceptions of danger. Women who have been raped are more likely to change their perceptions of the safety of the world in radical ways than women who have avoided being raped, although women who avoid being raped often make substantial reassessments as well. For both raped women and avoiders, one's likelihood of making a radical change in one's perceptions of dangerousness depended to a large degree on the sort of situation in which the attack took place. Women were less likely to change their perceptions of dangerousness if the attack took place in a situation where they believed they were in some danger before the attack. If the attack took place in circumstances which the women defined as safe, however, a much more extreme reaction was likely to occur.
Coping with Victimization by Technological Disaster
Authors: Baum Andrew , Fleming Raymond , Singer Jerome E.
Published: April 2010

Technological catastrophes, defined as mishaps involving breakdown in human‐made systems, appear to differ in the nature of threats that they pose. Coping with chronic stress associated with these events was examined by considering response to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Using the Ways of Coping Inventory (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980), use of emotional regulation, problem‐oriented coping, and the assumption of responsibility or blame for problems associated with living near the damaged plant were considered. Patterns of response at TMI were compared to those of a control group, consisting of people living near an undamaged nuclear plant more than 100 miles from TMI. Stress was assessed by making simultaneous measurements of symptom reporting, task performance, and urinary catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine). Findings suggested that both emotionally‐focused coping and self‐blame were associated with less stress than were problem‐focused coping and denial. Further, emotional regulation and assumption of responsibility for encountered difficulty were related to one another and to perceived control as well. This suggested that a control‐oriented coping style, in which the perception of control is actively created or maintained, can be effective in reducing distress associated with technological catastrophes.
Rights Consciousness and Victimization Prevention: Personal Defense and Assertiveness Training
Authors: Kidder Louise H. , Boell Joanne L. , Moyer Marilyn M.
Published: April 2010

In personal defense and assertiveness training women learn how to avoid being victimized. The actual behaviors the students learn are not very novel. What is novel for them is engaging in those behaviors in situations where they previously felt afraid or felt they had no right to resist someone else's requests or demands. As they practice the new behaviors, they also reassess their rights and learn to identify intrusions, potential assaults, or violations of their will. They develop an awareness of rights they had not previously felt were theirs—rights of refusal in particular.
Counteracting the Deviance of Depression: Peer Support Groups for Victims
Authors: Coates Dan , Winston Tina
Published: April 2010

Early laboratory research has shown that when people are faced with a stressfull situation they prefer the company of those facing the same unpleasant event. In this paper we extend this work by examining the impact that peer support group membership has on the mental health of participants, individuals who have sought the help of similarly afflicted others. We present a theoretical argument which proposes that needs for evaluating the appropriateness of one's emotional reactions to victimization are not likely to be met through normal social interactions, leading to feelings of perceived self deviance which could contribute to depression. We suggest that needs for validation, however, could be fulfilled when a victim is able to share emotional reactions with those having similar experiences in peer support groups. Indirect evidence from other research and relevant data from our pilot study on peer support for rape victims indicates that feelings of deviance do tend to decline after group participation. The findings on the reduction of negative affect of group members are rather limited, but positive outcomes generally have been obtained in groups facilitated by professionals. We conclude by suggesting some of the functions that peer support groups may serve for participants in the hopes of increasing their general effectiveness as vehicles for depression reduction.
Coping with Victimization: Conclusions and Implications for Future Research
Authors: Wortman Camille B.
Published: April 2010

The papers in this issue reflect an exciting new direction in social psychology that has been emerging for the past decade. Since the 1960's, social psychologists have devoted a great deal of attention to understanding reactions to outcomes that are stressful or uncontrollable. Until recently, the majority of these studies were conducted in laboratory settings. Subjects have been exposed to a variety of aversive outcomes such as electric shocks, noise bursts, or failure at problem‐solving tasks. Some of these studies were designed to determine whether certain factors, such as predictability or control, minimize a person's subjective distress when an aversive event is experienced (see Thompson 1981, for a review). Others have focused on the aftereffects of stress–that is, whether people continue to show deficits in their performance and motivation once the stress has terminated (see, e.g., Glass & Singer, 1972; Hiroto & Seligman, 1975).
Black Women in Black and White College Environments: The Making of a Matriarch
Authors: Fleming Jacqueline
Published: April 2010

The social science literature portrays conflicting images of black women: as dominant and assertive, and as the victims of the “double jeopardy” of being both black and female. This paper discusses how predominantly black or predominantly white college environments differentially encourage characteristics associated with each image. Samples of over 500 black females who were freshman or seniors, in one of two all black or four predominantly white colleges, were given a large battery of questionnaires to assess the impact of college. The results show that the adverse conditions of predominantly white colleges were more likely to encourage self reliance and assertiveness, characteristics reminiscent of the “matriarchal” image in social science literature. In contrast, the supportive conditions of predominantly black schools were more likely to encourage a social passivity that may undercut the simultaneous greater academic gains at black colleges. This suggests a dilemma that is characteristic for white women, and perhaps also suggests the image of black women as the victims of double discrimination.
Discrimination and Coping in the Lives of Black Women: Analyses of Oral History Data
Authors: Lykes M. Brinton
Published: April 2010

The present study was designed to explore the multiple effects of institutional discrimination on individuals by examining the distinctive and interactive effects of racial and sexual prejudice and/or institutional discrimination on the coping styles of a small sample of older black women. The existence of the Black Women Oral History Project provided a unique opportunity to examine the perceptions and experiences of discrimination among a set of American black women 70 years of age and older who have made a significant contribution to the improvement of the lives of black people, especially in the 1940s and the 1950s. Examples from these accounts are presented and analyses discussed which suggest that direct instrumental coping may not be the strategy of choice in coping with experiences of discrimination. Rather, selected situational variables (the racial composition of the workplace and the type of discrimination identified) and personal factors (perceptions of the control of the outcome and of the source of the problem) interact and differentially predict either direct instrumental coping or flexibility in coping styles. The findings suggest further that in some contexts a less direct coping strategy may be more effective than a direct instrumental strategy in creatively confronting discrimination.
Factors Affecting Social Change: A Social‐Psychological Interpretation
Authors: Katz Daniel
Published: April 2010

The concern of the psychologist with person‐blame attribution has meant a failure to analyze types of change and social causes of societal changes. Social change can be radically structural (revolutionary), incrementally structural, or cultural. Sources of change can be found in internal contradictions within a society as in Marxian analysis, in uneven rates of growth of various parts of the system, in contact and clash with other systems, and in generational differences. Ongoing social systems are based upon a number of mechanisms designed to insure a continuing input so that effective forces of change need some accumulation and mobilization of social disaffection along group lines rather than the alienation of scattered individuals or transient subgroupings. The basic contradictions in our society have led to incremental rather than radical change. Generational differences have produced cultural rather than structural change. Thus, the divisiveness and rebellion stemming from differences in social class, age, sex and race has not resulted in sharp deep lines of cleavage facilitative of revolutionary movements, but have been contained within the society. They may assume more significance, however, as the American system comes into increasing competition and conflict with other systems for resources, markets, and power.
Time, Aging, and the Continuity of Social Structure: Themes and Issues in Generational Analysis
Authors: Bengtson Vern L. , Furlong Michael J. , Laufer Robert S.
Published: April 2010

Generational analysis has developed rapidly in recent years. Three progressive stages of theory and research can be traced: (a) a “classic” period during which competing perspectives were developed regarding the impact of youth groups on social structure (Mannheim, Parsons and Eisenstadt, Davis and others); (b) a phase focused on interpretations of the youth protest movement or on processes in old age, and characterized by the development of new conceptual and methodological tools to examine change over time; (c) a period of consolidation and reformulation, with more precise specification of competing theoretical frameworks and the analysis of a growing body of empirical data. From this effort five issues emerge which summarize the perspective of generational analysis: (a) definition and dimensions of “generation” as a construct; (b) assessment of continuity or discontinuity between age groups; (c) exploration of the persistence of generation units over time; (d) analysis of within‐generation solidarity; (e) articulation between generations and other dimensions of social structure. A feedback model appears useful in assessing the relationship between generations and social stability or change.
Studying Women in a Changing World: An Introduction
Authors: Stewart Abigail J. , Platt Marjorie B.
Published: April 2010

General issues involved in disentangling historical, cohort, developmental and other factors in change are discussed, with special reference to the study of women in a changing world. The advantages and disadvantages of the two major methods of study–panel or longitudinal studies and cross‐sectional (or successive cross‐sectional) studies–are presented, along with the opportunities and problems associated with secondary analysis of data collected in previous studies. This introduction concludes with design and method notes about the other papers in this issue.
The Environmental Crisis in Human Dignity
Authors: Proshansky Harold M.
Published: April 2010

The environmental crisis in human dignity lies not just in the overuse, the misuse, and the decay of physical settings, but far more significantly in how we conceive of the individual in relation to any such setting. In the design and organization of physical settings, the human properties of the individual are ignored, oversimplified, or implicitly assumed, because of the influence of such socioenvironmental values as scientific‐technological progress, urbanism, pseudoprogress (novelty and change), and the value placed on an ever increasing acceleration of technological change. Spaces and places are improperly designed not only in physical terms; designs overlook human needs for privacy, territoriality, freedom of choice, etc., and the conceiving of the individual as a simple “machine man.” Unintended consequences are often ignored and no attempt is made to evaluate just how well the setting actually works. The danger is that the person will adjust and at the price of a continuing erosion of the properties that make him distinctively human. It is imperative that as behavioral scientists turn to the systematic study of man/environment problems they recognize the need to maintain the contextual reality and integrity of any such problem as it evolves, develops, and becomes modified in the time framework of a complex society.
Computers, Prophecy, and Experience: A Historical Perspective
Authors: Caporael Linnda R.
Published: April 2010

Although the opportunity for empirical investigation of the influence of computers on social norms, roles, and expectations in specific settings is relatively recent, the potential social impacts of the computer have been debated for 30 years. The foundations of discussions of the social effects of computers were founded on prophecies. These prophecies were influenced by an unrealistic perception of the computer as a “thinking machine,” value judgments about computing, and concurrent sociocultural concerns. Experience, meaning both the collective experience of participants in computing as well as a sprinkling of empirical studies, tended to disconfirm prophecies and to expose other issues related to the social context in which computers were used. Privacy, education, and employment issues are discussed as examples demonstrating this pattern. Informed choices about the use of computers in social contexts involve increasing the number and diversity of people participating in computer use and discussions about computing, developing criteria for making choices about how computers should be used, and undertaking systematic research.
Mapping Ordinary Morals onto the Computer Society: A Philosophical Perspective
Authors: Johnson Deborah G.
Published: April 2010

The use of computers changes the way that individuals relate to one another and to organizations, and it may appear to change rights and responsibilities in these relationships. There is a sharp distinction between the empirical questions and the normative questions that might be raised about the use of computers. It is argued that philosophical, ethical analysis is needed when the moral rules relevant to a situation are not obvious, or when several moral principles come into conflict. Three such areas center around rules regarding property, privacy, and power. Issues surrounding rights of ownership of computer programs are explored; the effects of increasing use of computers on personal privacy and organizational power are examined; and effects on the distribution of power are considered.
Computing as an Occasion for Social Control
Authors: Kling Rob , Iacono Suzanne
Published: April 2010

This paper examines three models of social control processes in computerized work settings. Two models, the management control model and the professional negotiations model, are derived from other analysts' conceptions. The third model, the institutional control model, is new. The models differ in their conception of the flexibility of norms, the proximity of social control agents to other participants, and the patterns of information flow in a system. We examine the explanatory value of these models in light of an intensive study of one complex organization. A set of episodes concerning one recurrent dilemma reported by information system users, the maintenance of accurate data, illustrates the usefulness of the institutional negotiations model. Control is exercised by many actors in a complex social fabric rather than simply through vertical management control or through lateral work relationships. Participation in a larger, institutionalized world of computer use defines work activities, and it subjects users, regardless of their position in the hierarchy, to tighter social controls than is suggested by the other models.
Recursive Adaptation, Stopping Rules, and Ironies of Computing
Authors: Thorngate Warren
Published: April 2010

Computers, like all other tools, inevitably create new problems as they are applied to solve existing ones. At least three of these problems are germane to psychology: the use of computers for ulterior purposes, the proliferation of informational waste, and the erosion of ignorance as an excuse for misconduct. Such problems created by computer solutions can explain the difference between optimistic prophecies about computing and recent computing experience. They cannot be solved by further applications of computers–indeed, they will limit the utility of further applications and eventually halt the growth of computing. The role of psychology in addressing these problems is discussed.
The Role of Bystanders in Crime Control
Authors: Shotland R. Lance , Goodstein Lynne I.
Published: April 2010

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and explain the role bystanders play in crime control. We describe the range of bystanders' reactions to crime including nonintervention, indirect intervention, direct intervention, and spontaneous vigilantism, and cite illustrations of each from mass media accounts. Using evidence from social psychological research, we discuss conditions under which each type of reaction would be expected to occur. Evidence is then presented that the mere presence of bystanders capable of surveillance may inhibit the commission of crime. A cyclical model is then discussed in which fear of crime reduces the number of bystanders available for surveillance, decreasing the risks of crime and potentially increasing its occurrence. This model suggests that under certain circumstances crime causes crime and implies that an important factor in the social control of crime is the relative balance between the offender's fear of surveillance and the bystander's fear of crime.
Why Do Victims Fail to Report? The Psychology of Criminal Victimization
Authors: Kidd Robert F. , Chayet Ellen F.
Published: April 2010

This article reviews emotional and cognitive reactions to criminal victimization. It draws connections between the contents of these reactions and victims' reluctance to report the crime to authorities. Since between one half and two thirds of all crimes are not so reported, understanding these connections is critical. We argue that nonreporting is the result of three factors acting singly or in concert: (a) victim fear, (b) feelings of helplessness and the perceived powerlessness of police, and (c) the threat of further victimization from authorities. We believe victims react in relatively rational ways. Despite the apparent loss of control and the strong fear engendered by the experience, the victimization does not lead people to report it to authorities. Instead, reporting to police is often realistically viewed by victims as ineffective and potentially costly.
The Victim in Historical Perspective: Some Aspects of the English Experience
Authors: Greenberg Janelle
Published: April 2010

This paper attempts to place the relationship between the victim, the harmdoer, and the state in historical perspective by concentrating on a formative period in English law—the 11th through the 13th centuries. Major focus is on the transition from one system, in which victims were seen as deserving of compensation, to a very different system, in which compensation was gradually supplanted by the support of the state. Two related themes—the emerging distinction between crime and tort, and the state's attempts to monopolize the prosecution of serious offenses—are also treated. The paper concludes that, while victims eventually lost the right to compensation, they gained the valuable advantage of being represented by the might and power of the state, a development that relieved them of the heavy burdens that were inherent in the compensatory system of justice.
Alienating the Victim: Compensation and Victim Attitudes
Authors: Elias Robert
Published: April 2010

Criminal victimization and postvictimization experiences often affect victim attitudes negatively toward criminal justice and government. Victim‐compensation programs seek to improve those attitudes as well as to curb crime and repay victim losses. A few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of compensation plans in achieving their goals, and special attention is given herein to the programs' effects on attitudes. The research, done mostly in Florida, New York, and New Jersey, shows considerable victim disenchantment and even some evidence of greater discontent among applicants to such plans than among nonapplicants. Two primary causes of dissatisfaction are administrative inconvenience and receipt of an inadequate (or no) award. Thus, the effect of compensation plans seems to be more symbolic than tangible.
A Phenomenological Study of Being Criminally Victimized: Contributions and Constraints of Qualitative Research
Authors: Fischer Constance T.
Published: April 2010

Phenomenological analyses of 50 victims' experiences are presented. The format of the results preserves what it was like to live through being victimized, including the temporal flow and the vicissitudes of the experience. This presentation tries to put readers in touch with existential meanings of being criminally victimized, especially the radical threat to the victims' sense of social order and of community. It also draws out implications for strengthening citizens' sense of mutuality. Concrete suggestions include advice to police officers and to designers of victim brochures. Theoretical integration of representative research studies is offered. The article provides clarifications about qualitative methods, including their advantages and constraints.
Face‐Recognition Memory: Implications for Children's Eyewitness Testimony
Authors: Chance June E. , Goldstein Alvin G.
Published: April 2010

In this paper we review studies pertaining to face‐recognition memory and attempt to derive implications for assessing the dependability of children's performances as eyewitnesses. The small amount of data concerning children's performances in either identification parades or in laboratory face memory studies is reviewed; a somewhat more extensive, but still modest, literature concerning the performance of adults in these same contexts is examined in an attempt to draw useful generalizations about face recognition applicable to children. Throughout, we identify important developmental questions for future research.
Child Witnesses and the First Amendment: A Psycholegal Dilemma
Authors: Melton Gary B.
Published: April 2010

There have been a number of recent proposals for procedural reforms to protect child victims in their role as witnesses. The Supreme Court's decision in Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court suggests both the constitutional limits of these reforms and some circumstances in which social‐science evidence in unlikely to be given weight by the judiciary. Globe is particularly interesting with respect to the latter issue because its judgment appeared to turn on perceptions of empirical data. The Court's use of these data is analyzed, and suggestions are made for future research about children's involvement as witnesses. It is argued that attention might be better paid to making the present system more responsive to the needs of child witnesses than to attempting major procedural changes.
The Testimony of the Child Victim of Sexual Assault
Authors: Berliner Lucy , Barbieri Mary Kay
Published: April 2010

Sexual abuse of children, though widely condemned, is nevertheless more prevalent than has been previously realized. When the accused offender does not admit guilt, the testimony of the child victim is likely to be the only or the main evidence. Members of the criminal‐justice system often share general societal beliefs that children are not as credible as adults and that children cannot participate in such legal proceedings without serious trauma. In this article, we address some of the social and legal barriers to successful prosecution of child sexual abuse cases, and to the child's effective participation in such cases. Then, we discuss some steps that can be taken to help reduce, eliminate, or overcome these barriers.
Toward a Theory of Social Support: Closing Conceptual Gaps
Authors: Shumaker Sally A. , Brownell Arlene
Published: April 2010

We define social support as “an exchange of resources between two individuals perceived by the provider or the recipient to be intended to enhance the well‐being of the recipient.” We then discuss the assumptions and implications of this definition and address several gaps in the support literature. Specifically, we consider the costs and benefits of supportive exchanges for both participants, the dual and possibly incongruent perceptions of support held by the provider and the recipient, and the importance of non‐network sources of support. In addition, we distinguish between the health‐sustaining versus health‐compensating functions of support and how these functions link with the resources provided in supportive exchanges. We next address the factors that can influence support effects and suggest a broad range of outcomes for both the provider and the recipient. Finally, we distinguish the dimensions of support from the contextual variables that can influence its quality and effectiveness.
Social Interaction and Social Support
Authors: Shinn Marybeth , Lehmann Stanley , Wong Nora W.
Published: April 2010

Typical research models of social support are overly simple on two grounds. First, they treat social support as exogenous to the model. That is, models incorporate the effects of social support on stressors and on psychological distress, but typically ignore the influences of stressors, psychological distress, personal characteristics of recipients, and environmental constraints on support. Second, the models typically consider only positive consequences of social interactions, although these interactions may also have negative consequences. Further, actions that are perceived as helpful by the donor, the recipient, or both can have harmful effects if they do not fit individual circumstances. Five dimensions of fit between the characteristics of the recipient and those of the supportive act are proposed: amount, timing, source, structure, and function. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.
Social Support and Cancer: Findings Based on Patient Interviews and Their Implications
Authors: Dunkel‐Schetter Christine
Published: April 2010

Past research indicates that social support is beneficial to cancer patients in adjusting to the stress of the disease. In this article, a brief review of research on social support is provided as a framework within which support among cancer patients can be examined. Research on cancer is then reviewed, and selected results from an investigation of 79 cancer patients are reported. The findings indicate that: health care providers are particularly important sources of support to cancer patients; of several types, emotional support is seen as especially helpful; and the types of support seen as most helpful by those with cancer depends on who provides them. In addition, variability in stress among cancer patients mediated the frequency of interpersonal problems, and the association between support and various indices of adjustment. Implications of these results for future research on social support in stressed populations, especially cancer patients, are discussed.
The Multifaceted Nature of Social Support in a Community Sample of Elderly Women
Authors: Heller Kenneth , Mansbach William E.
Published: April 2010

Forty‐three elderly women at two low‐income city nutrition sites participated in a study of social ties and social support. As predicted, discrete facets of support were differentiated from among a variety of social network and support variables. Age was negatively related to network size, amount of emotional support, and time spent with confidantes and relatives. With age controlled, the best predictors of life satisfaction were network size, frequency of church attendance, and proportion of network members considered intimates. Results are discussed with regard to the multidimensionality of the social support construct.
Difficulties of Providing Help in a Crisis: Relationships Between Parents of Children with Cancer and Their Friends
Authors: Chesler Mark A. , Barbarin Oscar A.
Published: April 2010

Parents of children with cancer experience substantial stress over a long period of time. One way that parents cope with such stress is to seek social support from various sources, especially from close friends. Interviews with a sample of these parents, as well as with some of their close friends or informal “helpers,” illustrate the difficulties involved in both seeking and providing help in the midst of a crisis. Among the major difficulties parents and their close friends report are managing the emotional impact of the illness, intrusions into privacy or the prior boundaries of relationships, the creation of a stigma or an aura of “non‐normality,” finding methods for being useful and feeling effective, and dealing with sex‐role barriers to a full range of helping interactions. These difficulties are discussed and analyzed primarily in a qualitative framework; special attention is paid to deriving an understanding of their meaning from the actual experiences and reflections of parents and friends engaged in the helping process.
Predicting Outcomes in Divorce Mediation: The Influence of People and Process
Authors: Thoennes Nancy A. , Pearson Jessica
Published: April 2010

This paper explores the relative importance of perceived dispute characteristics and mediator skills for predicting the settlement of child custody cases. The cases studied were child custody and visitation disputes mediated in three different legal jurisdictions: The Los Angeles Conciliation Court; the Hennepin County, Minnesota, Superior Court; and the Connecticut Superior Court. Although the ability to predict mediation outcomes was limited, several significant predictors were found: the duration and intensity of the dispute, the quality of the ex‐spouses' relationship, and the perceived ability of mediators to promote inter spouse communication and to provide disputants with interpersonal insights. Dispute characteristics and perceptions of the mediators' behavior were about equally useful for predicting mediation outcomes.
Variations in Social Support Associated with Gender, Ethnicity, and Age
Authors: Vaux Alan
Published: April 2010

Much of the research conducted on social support over the last decade has focused on specific population groups. Until recently, very little work compared social support across groups. The importance of this type of research is discussed, including the potential role of social support in explaining subpopulation differences in psychological distress. Studies are reviewed that compare support and support effects across sex, ethnic, and age groups. In general, the findings suggest that levels of some aspects of support and the effectiveness of support components vary across these subgroups. Even the stress‐buffering versus direct‐effect functions of social support may vary across subgroups, as illustrated by one study focusing on social class. The implications of these studies and directions for future research are discussed.
Where Do We Go from Here? The Policy Implications of Social Support
Authors: Brownell Arlene , Shumaker Sally A.
Published: April 2010

This article draws together the themes appearing in the articles included in the two numbers of the Journal of Social Issues devoted to social support. The social‐issue aspects of support are examined, several limitations of support interventions are discussed, and the advantages of a multicausal intervention approach are assessed. Finally, the implications for federal, state and local, and individual level health policies are presented.