bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Black‐White Differentials in Adult Homicide Mortality in the United States
Authors: Rogers Richard G. , Rosenblatt Rebecca , Hummer Robert A. , Krueger Patrick M.
Published: March 2003

Objective. This article examines individual level black‐white differences in adult homicide mortality. Homicide is a major social problem and a central cause of preventable death in the United States. A homicide not only claims one life prematurely but can also devastate a family, friends, and a neighboring community. Methods. We link eight consecutive years of the National Health Interview Survey (1987–94) to the Multiple Cause of Death file through the National Death Index (1987–97), and use Cox proportional hazard models to examine the role of social factors in black‐white homicide mortality in the United States. Results. We find that individual level sociodemographic characteristics—age, sex, marital status, education, employment status, and geographic factors—explain almost 35 percent of the racial differences in homicide mortality. Conclusions. These results demonstrate the contributions that National Center for Health Statistics data can make to criminological literature and reveal the mechanisms through which blacks experience higher homicide mortality than whites. Such illumination may lead to a reduction in the fourth leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
Judges' Race and Judicial Decision Making: Do Black Judges Sentence Differently?
Authors: Steffensmeier Darrell , Britt Chester L.
Published: March 2003

Objective. This study examines the effects of race of judge on sentencing decisions. Do black judges sentence offenders more severely/leniently than white judges, and do they use similar/different criteria in their decision making? Methods. Data are derived from two sources: (1) sentencing outcomes in Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1994 and (2) archival data on judge characteristics, such as race and time on the bench. Logit models were used to assess the effects of judges' race on the in/out or incarcerative decision, and ordinary least squares models were used to assess the effects on the length‐of‐term decision. Results. Results showed that black and white judges weighted case and offender information in similar ways when making punishment decisions, although black judges were more likely to sentence both black and white offenders to prison. Conclusions. The greater harshness of black judges suggests they may behave as “tokens” or that they have greater sensitivity to the costs of crime, in particular, within black communities. Although there were small race‐of‐judge effects, there also was much similarity in sentencing practices—suggesting that the job, not so much the individual, apparently makes the “judge.”
7. Latent Class Marginal Models for Cross-Classifications of Counts
Authors: Becker Mark P. , Yang Ilsoon
Published: March 2003

The standard latent class model is a finite mixture of indirectly observed multinomial distributions, each of which is assumed to exhibit statistical independence. Latent class analysis has been applied in a wide variety of research contexts, including studies of mobility, educational attainment, agreement, and diagnostic accuracy, and as measurement error models in social research. One of the attractive features of the latent class model in these settings is that the parameters defining the individual multinomials are readily interpretable marginal probabilities, conditional on the unobserved latent variable(s), that are often of substantive interest. There are, however, settings where the local-independence axiom is not supported, and hence it is useful to consider some form of local dependence. In this paper we consider a family of models defined in terms of finite mixtures of multinomial models where the multinomials are parameterized in terms of a set of models for the univariate marginal distributions and for marginal associations. Local dependence is introduced through the models for marginal associations, and the standard latent class model obtains as a special case. Three examples are analyzed with the models to illustrate their utility in analyzing complex cross-classifications.
2. Simulating the Micro-Macro Link: New Approaches to an Old Problem and an Application to Military Coups
Authors: Saam Nicole J.
Published: March 2003

The central issue of this paper is that one can develop emergent macro-dynamics from micro agent models and that the resulting models fall very much in the complexity-chaos line of the development of theory. The core theoretical contribution is a presentation of a clear, sensical, and potentially very powerful architecture for developing algorithms for the embedding of levels—the so-called master equation approach—and its comparison with alternative architectures. Finally, to illustrate the strategy and to demonstrate that the approach produces interesting and useful results, we give an application: a multilevel simulation model of military coups d'état, which is tested using data from Thailand between 1932 and 1992.
The Unity of Peace and Socialism? The World Peace Council on a Cold War Tightrope Between the Peace Struggle and Intrasystemic Communist Conflicts
Authors: Wernicke Günter
Published: March 2003

The paper explores the theoretical unity between socialism and peace that motivated the communist‐dominated World Peace Council (WPC) in the Cold War. Within the broad WPC spectrum, intrasystemic conflicts were tangibly expressed around the Hungarian events of 1956. With growing differentiation in world communism, especially Sino‐Soviet conflict, tensions escalated when Warsaw Treaty states marched into Czechoslovakia in 1968. Instrumentalization of peace councils to serve state and party interests provides a second analytical focus on the link between peace and socialism. As Third World states emerged and national liberation movements consolidated political ideologies, the concept of just war acquired new meaning within anti‐imperialist discourse. Examples are the Arab‐Israeli wars, unconditional advocacy of armed struggle, and Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. The World Peace Council danced a tightrope during the Cold War between Soviet security interests, systemic ambitions, and underlying communist postulates.
Probing Educational Management as Gendered: An Examination through Model and Metaphor
Authors: Enomoto Ernestine K.
Published: March 2003

This paper explores the proposition that educational management is a gendered construction. The author utilizes Scott's analytic model, which distinguishes gender as sexual difference, denoted by cultural symbols, signs, and representations; and gender as a signifier of power, identified by four different types of social relationships. Against this model, the author casts a gender-specific metaphor (“leader as mother”) and a gender-neutral one (“leader as visionary”). Applying model to metaphor offers a mechanism to expose gendered assumptions about educational management. Such an analytic device forces an examination of educational management with women at the center, rather than at the periphery, of the construction.
Twenty-Five Years after Rodriguez: What Have We Learned?
Authors: Koski William S. , Levin Henry M.
Published: March 2003

Twenty-five years ago, the landmark Supreme Court decision in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez effectively closed the door on educational finance equity litigation in the federal courts. In that case, the high court ruled that despite the glaring disparity in funding between school districts in the San Antonio metropolitan area, the United States Constitution does not require that funding among school districts be equalized. Rodriguez was hardly the last word in school finance litigation, however, as educational finance reform advocates have turned to state courts and constitutions to bring about reform under theories of equity and adequacy in school funding. Using the twenty-fifth anniversary of Rodriguez as a milestone for reflection, this article examines three central assumptions that undergird the Rodriguez decision and fuel the unabated litigation over educational finance schemes: that dollars make a difference in educational outcomes, that courts and policy makers can develop standards for what is an “adequate” education, and that litigation will lead to equity in educational finance.
Teacher Education and Knowledge in “the Knowledge Society”: The Need for Social Moorings in Our Multicultural Schools
Authors: Grant Carl A. , Wieczorek Kim
Published: March 2003

The idea of knowledge within the field of teacher education is constituted by certain arguments. Our concern is that the discussions of knowledge within teacher education do not include issues of race, class, gender, or power relations. Within this article, we examine pervasive ideas about knowledge, briefly addressing perceptions in popular media, and then move on to discuss the professional literature and especially the idea of a knowledge base for teacher candidates. We look at the idea of a knowledge base for the gaps and ideas that are missing, especially in the area of questioning the effects of social, cultural, and historical movements as well as power relationships. Questioning such discussions about knowledge for teacher educators requires a tool for making connections between such academic discussions and social movements and we present social mooring as such a tool.
Extending the Three‐ and Four‐Headed Eagles: The Foreign Policy Orientations of American Elites During the 80s and 90s
Authors: Rosati Jerel , Creed John
Published: March 2003

With the breakdown of the foreign policy consensus of the Cold War years, there has been a resurgence in examining the beliefs of the public and their role in U.S. foreign policy. The most extensive of these studies has been conducted by Holsti and Rosenau who have found first three and then four competing schools of thought. Our purpose is to build off Holsti and Rosenau's analyses and extend their argument. Research based on the content analysis of foreign policy and national opinion journals from 1980 to 1989 demonstrates that there is more diversity and complexity in the range and content of beliefs held by American leaders than Holsti and Rosenau have yet been able to capture through their “three‐” and “four‐headed eagles.” Although the three‐headed eagle serves as a useful scheme for categorizing the broad foreign policy perspectives of American leaders, it de‐emphasizes important differences in beliefs and ignores at least two foreign policy orientations that exist within their general categories. This is not a mere academic exercise, for it sheds light on the level of diversity and complexity of elite beliefs, which enriches an understanding of the politics of U.S. foreign policy since Vietnam. A preliminary examination of foreign policy and national opinion journals from 1990 to 1994 indicates that American elites are changing and adapting while at the same time, they are absorbing profound global changes into their prevailing belief systems, as predicted by the political psychological literature. This suggests that the diversity and complexity present in the 80s is likely to persist and grow throughout the 90s. Our research also suggests the importance of developing alternative methods to complement reliance on survey research in order to capture more fully the diversity and complexity of the foreign policy beliefs of Americans.
Authoritarianism and Economic Threat: Implications for Political Behavior
Authors: Rickert Edward J.
Published: March 2003

This study examined whether authoritarians experiencing economic threat are more likely than other authoritarians to support social policy and political agendas that restrict benefits or curtail rights for disadvantaged groups. A sample of 131 college students completed questionnaires that measured authoritarianism, degree of economic and societal insecurity, and attitudes toward eight political issues. Economic and social insecurity were indexed to perceptions of whether one's standard of livingg had declined, whether incom inequality had grown among social classes, and whether crime, race relations, environmental quality, and governmental services had worsened. The political scales reflected issues currently debated in public forums; they included funding mechanisms for social security and health care, the state's role in regulating abortion, government services for illegal immigrants, terminating welfare for unemployed women with children, and regulation of sexual conduct. A logistic model found that, relative to non‐threatened authoritarians or nonauthoritarians, threatened authoritarians were six times as likely to favor restricting benefits to powerless groups and eight times as likely to support the state's preventing women from securing anabortion. These results are discussed in terms of systemic changes in the economy that have resulted in declines in real income and increasing income inequality.
Revisiting Group Attachment: Ethnic and National Identity
Authors: Davis Thomas C.
Published: March 2003

The study of ethnic and national identity, owing to the complex interaction between individuals, groups, and systems, has not remained confined to traditional disciplinary boundaries. In particular, a branch of social‐psychological research has provided insight into the most fundamental aspect of this phenomenon, subjective bonds between individuals and groups. Here, data derived from a Q‐methodological study of Basque national identity are used to show that claims advanced within the existing literature appear to be restricted in their ability to explain subjective attachment to the nation; that is, they cannot adequately account for the types of bonds that emerged from the Basque case study. Primarily through Q methodology, an alternative explanation and method for uncovering the ties between individuals and groups is offered. In the place of previously vague and restrictive a priori categories of collective attachment, Q is shown to offer a means by which to explore the subjective nature of ethnic and national identification.
A Practical Guide to the Comparative Case Study Method in Political Psychology
Authors: Kaarbo Juliet , Beasley Ryan K.
Published: March 2003

The case study, as a method of inquiry, is particularly suited to the field of political psychology. Yet there is little training in political science, and even less in psychology, on how to do case study research. Furthermore, misconceptions about case studies contribute to the methodological barrier that exists within and between the two parent disciplines. This paper reviews the various definitions and uses of case studies and integrates a number of recent insights and advances into a practical guide for conducting case study research. To this end, the paper discusses various stereotypes of the case study and offers specific steps aimed at addressing these criticisms.
Cultural Expectations of One's Own and Other Nations' Foreign Policy Action Templates
Authors: Hudson Valerie M.
Published: March 2003

One useful conceptualization of culture is that of a preestablished set of behavioral competencies, which in turn form behavioral dispositions. According to this variant of culture theory, decision‐makers faced with new situations will rely on established behavioral competencies in forming an initial policy response. This assumption can also be applied at the nation‐state level, where established behavioral predispositions may lessen uncertainty and stress in ambiguous yet salient foreign policy situations. Likewise, observers in one nation‐state may be able to identify such behavioral dispositions in other nation‐states, lending greater transparency and predictability to international interactions. Do such culturally based action templates exist? Are they recognizable even to ordinary citizens? Citizens in Russia, Japan, and the United States were asked to posit the most likely and least likely behavioral responses to a variety of foreign policy situations by their own nation and by the other two nations in the sample. The results indicate that recognition of such templates takes place, and that recognition of one nation's template content by citizens of the other nations typically matches recognition of template content by the nation's own citizens. The research also shows that such action templates can be eroded and become unrecognizable over time, both to insiders and to outsiders.
Group Identity and Conflicting Expectations of the Future in Northern Ireland
Authors: Leach Colin Wayne , Williams Wendy R.
Published: March 2003

Much of the conflict in Northern Ireland is based on investments in one of three opposing political futures possible for the region: remaining part of Britain, joining Ireland, or becoming independent. Speculative scenarios describing each of these futures were randomly assigned to equal numbers of Protestant and Catholic undergraduates in Northern Ireland, and their expectations regarding material and civic improvement for their ingroup and peace and reconciliation between the groups were assessed. Two dimensions of religious identity, measured by the Identity and Public subscales of Luhtanen and Crocker's (1992) Collective Self‐Esteem Scale (CSES), moderated the differences between groups, but only for their expectations of peace and reconciliation. Stronger expectations of improvement for the ingroup were related to higher scores on the Public subscale, regardless of religion or the political future presented. Thus, group identity had a complex, context‐dependent relationship to intergroup conflict.
The Psychology of Terrorism: An Agenda for the 21st Century
Authors: Crenshaw Martha
Published: March 2003

Research on political terrorism, which began in the early 1970s, faces some persistent problems. These involve defining the concept, collecting empirical data, building integrative theory, and avoiding the attribution of terrorism to personality disorders or “irrationality.” Furthermore, analysis risks being driven by events or the concerns of policymakers. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that psychological explanations of terrorism must take multiple levels of analysis into account, linking the individual to the group and to society. Future research should critically examine the assumption that a “new terrorism” has appeared at the end of the 20th century. Analysts should also take advantage of 30 years of history to develop comparisons and developmental studies that look not only at the causes of terrorism but at changes in terrorist strategy, the termination of terrorist campaigns, government decision‐making, and policy effectiveness.
Religion and African American Political Life
Authors: Mattis Jacqueline S.
Published: March 2003

Religion is a central force in the lives of the overwhelming majority of African Americans. However, psychology has been conspicuously silent about the role of religion in African American political life. This work endeavors to challenge the longstanding argument that religiosity promotes an escapist, apolitical stance among African Americans. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which our understanding of the link between religion and African American political behavior is complicated by expanded definitions of what is political and by increased attention to various forms of religious participation. Future directions for research are discussed.
Self–Serving Perceptions of Terrorism Among Israelis and Palestinians
Authors: Shamir Jacob , Shikaki Khalil
Published: March 2003

Definitions of political violence as terrorism are often tainted by self–serving motivations. Groups in conflict in particular tend to justify the use of indiscriminate violent means by highly regarded political ends. This study explores such self–serving perceptions of terrorism in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In two surveys during December 2001, Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians were asked whether 11 local and international incidents were acts of terrorism in their view, and whether they were considered acts of terrorism by the international community. Self–serving judgments on both sides were expected, but their extent is striking, and they extend also to the international incidents. Israeli Arabs judge all acts of violence as terrorism in high percentages. Israeli Jews and Palestinians’ definitions present a mirror image; however, they do not project these definitions to the international community. Instead, they perceive an international norm largely divergent from their own point of view, inflating world judgment of their own acts of violence as terrorism and underestimating world judgment of the other side’s violence, in what amounts to a hostile–world phenomenon.
Model Building With Prospect Theory: A Cognitive Approach to International Relations
Authors: Berejikian Jeffrey D.
Published: March 2003

Despite the growing call for new models of politics grounded in the capacities of real–world decision–makers, much international relations theory still incorporates rationalist assumptions. Scholars defend such assumptions as the best way to produce parsimonious theoretical structures. Recent attempts to deploy prospect theory in the study of international politics are consistent with the call for empirically grounded models of political behavior. However, past attempts have often emphasized individualized comparisons of prospect theory with rational choice at the expense of building deductive theory. The analysis here demonstrates that prospect theory can produce deductive models for empirical comparison with those already manufactured under rational choice. The result is a new set of propositions concerning international politics securely anchored to the actual capacities of human actors.
Governors in the Legislative Arena: The Importance of Personality in Shaping Success
Authors: Ferguson Margaret R. , Barth Jay
Published: March 2003

Research on the leadership of executives in the United States typically follows one of two traditions, emphasizing either characteristics of the incumbent or features of the office. This article brings together these traditions. It draws upon the work of Winter to develop measures of three aspects of personality—the power, achievement, and affiliation drives—and hypothesizes that the power and achievement motives are exhibited in conjunction by successful chief executives. It then tests this hypothesis within the contexts of the American states, thus accounting for both the leaders as individuals and the features of the political and economic environments in which they lead. The primary hypothesis is affirmed. Governors who exhibit high levels of the power and achievement motives in tandem are substantially more likely to achieve their policy goals. In addition, governors who emphasize affiliation are less successful.
Risk Estimation and Value‐of‐Information Analysis for Three Proposed Genetic Screening Programs for Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention
Authors: Bartell Scott M. , Ponce Rafael A. , Takaro Timothy K. , Zerbe Richard O. , Omenn Gilbert S. , Faustman Elaine M.
Published: March 2003

Genetic differences (polymorphisms) among members of a population are thought to influence susceptibility to various environmental exposures. In practice, however, this information is rarely incorporated into quantitative risk assessment and risk management. We describe an analytic framework for predicting the risk reduction and value‐of‐information (VOI) resulting from specific risk management applications of genetic biomarkers, and we apply the framework to the example of occupational chronic beryllium disease (CBD), an immune‐mediated pulmonary granulomatous disease. One described Human Leukocyte Antigen gene variant, HLA‐DPβ1*0201, contains a substitution of glutamate for lysine at position 69 that appears to have high sensitivity (∼94%) but low specificity (∼70%) with respect to CBD among individuals occupationally exposed to respirable beryllium. The expected postintervention CBD prevalence rates for using the genetic variant (1) as a required job placement screen, (2) as a medical screen for semiannual in place of annual lymphocyte proliferation testing, or (3) as a voluntary job placement screen are 0.08%, 0.8%, and 0.6%, respectively, in a hypothetical cohort with 1% baseline CBD prevalence. VOI analysis is used to examine the reduction in total social cost, calculated as the net value of disease reduction and financial expenditures, expected for proposed CBD intervention programs based on the genetic susceptibility test. For the example cohort, the expected net VOI per beryllium worker for genetically based testing and intervention is $13,000, $1,800, and $5,100, respectively, based on a health valuation of $1.45 million per CBD case avoided. VOI results for alternative CBD valuations are also presented. Despite large parameter uncertainty, probabilistic analysis predicts generally positive utility for each of the three evaluated programs when avoidance of a CBD case is valued at $1 million or higher. Although the utility of a proposed risk management program may be evaluated solely in terms of risk reduction and financial costs, decisions about genetic testing and program implementation must also consider serious social, legal, and ethical factors.
Improving Cancer Dose–Response Characterization by Using Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling: An Analysis of Pooled Data for Acrylonitrile‐Induced Brain Tumors to Assess Cancer Potency in the Rat
Authors: Kirman Christopher R. , Hays Sean M. , Kedderis Gregory L. , Gargas Michael L. , Strother Dale E.
Published: March 2003

Historically, U.S. regulators have derived cancer slope factors by using applied dose and tumor response data from a single key bioassay or by averaging the cancer slope factors of several key bioassays. Recent changes in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for cancer risk assessment have acknowledged the value of better use of mechanistic data and better dose–response characterization. However, agency guidelines may benefit from additional considerations presented in this paper. An exploratory study was conducted by using rat brain tumor data for acrylonitrile (AN) to investigate the use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling along with pooling of dose–response data across routes of exposure as a means for improving carcinogen risk assessment methods. In this study, two contrasting assessments were conducted for AN‐induced brain tumors in the rat on the basis of (1) the EPA's approach, the dose–response relationship was characterized by using administered dose/concentration for each of the key studies assessed individually; and (2) an analysis of the pooled data, the dose–response relationship was characterized by using PBPK‐derived internal dose measures for a combined database of ten bioassays. The cancer potencies predicted for AN by the contrasting assessments are remarkably different (i.e., risk‐specific doses differ by as much as two to four orders of magnitude), with the pooled data assessments yielding lower values. This result suggests that current carcinogen risk assessment practices overestimate AN cancer potency. This methodology should be equally applicable to other data‐rich chemicals in identifying (1) a useful dose measure, (2) an appropriate dose–response model, (3) an acceptable point of departure, and (4) an appropriate method of extrapolation from the range of observation to the range of prediction when a chemical's mode of action remains uncertain.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) History and Conceptual Overview
Authors: Hulebak Karen L. , Schlosser Wayne
Published: March 2003

The concept of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a system that enables the production of safe meat and poultry products through the thorough analysis of production processes, identification of all hazards that are likely to occur in the production establishment, the identification of critical points in the process at which these hazards may be introduced into product and therefore should be controlled, the establishment of critical limits for control at those points, the verification of these prescribed steps, and the methods by which the processing establishment and the regulatory authority can monitor how well process control through the HACCP plan is working. The history of the development of HACCP is reviewed, and examples of practical applications of HACCP are described.
Sensitivity Analysis for Importance Assessment
Authors: Saltelli Andrea
Published: March 2003

We review briefly some examples that would support an extended role for quantitative sensitivity analysis in the context of model‐based analysis (Section 1). We then review what features a quantitative sensitivity analysis needs to have to play such a role (Section 2). The methods that meet these requirements are described in Section 3; an example is provided in Section 4. Some pointers to further research are set out in Section 5.
Illustration of Sampling‐Based Methods for Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis
Authors: Helton J. C. , Davis F. J.
Published: March 2003

A sequence of linear, monotonic, and nonmonotonic test problems is used to illustrate sampling‐based uncertainty and sensitivity analysis procedures. Uncertainty results obtained with replicated random and Latin hypercube samples are compared, with the Latin hypercube samples tending to produce more stable results than the random samples. Sensitivity results obtained with the following procedures and/or measures are illustrated and compared: correlation coefficients (CCs), rank correlation coefficients (RCCs), common means (CMNs), common locations (CLs), common medians (CMDs), statistical independence (SI), standardized regression coefficients (SRCs), partial correlation coefficients (PCCs), standardized rank regression coefficients (SRRCs), partial rank correlation coefficients (PRCCs), stepwise regression analysis with raw and rank‐transformed data, and examination of scatter plots. The effectiveness of a given procedure and/or measure depends on the characteristics of the individual test problems, with (1) linear measures (i.e., CCs, PCCs, SRCs) performing well on the linear test problems, (2) measures based on rank transforms (i.e., RCCs, PRCCs, SRRCs) performing well on the monotonic test problems, and (3) measures predicated on searches for nonrandom patterns (i.e., CMNs, CLs, CMDs, SI) performing well on the nonmonotonic test problems.
Gender and Race in Beliefs about Outdoor Air Pollution
Authors: Johnson Branden B.
Published: March 2003

Universal need for, or reactions to, risk communications should not be assumed; potential differences across demographic groups in environmental risk beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors could affect risk levels or opportunities for risk reduction. This article reports relevant findings from a survey experiment involving 1,100 potential jurors in Philadelphia concerning public responses to outdoor air pollution and air quality information. Flynn et al. (1994) and Finucane et al. (2000) found significant differences in risk ratings for multiple hazards, and in generic risk beliefs, between white men (or a subset) and all others (white women, nonwhite men, and nonwhite women). This study examined whether white men had significantly different responses to air pollution and air pollution information. An opportunity sample of volunteers from those awaiting potential jury duty in city courts (matching census estimates for white versus nonwhite proportions, but more female than the city's adult population and more likely to have children) filled out questionnaires distributed quasi‐randomly. On most measures there were no statistically significant differences among white men (N = 192), white women (N = 269), nonwhite men (N = 165), and nonwhite women (N = 272). Nonwhites overall (particularly women) reported more concern about and sensitivity to air pollution than whites, and were more concerned by (even overly sensitive to) air pollution information provided as part of the experiment. Nonwhites also were more likely (within‐gender comparisons) to report being active outdoors for at least four hours a day, a measure of potential exposure to air pollution, and to report intentions to reduce such outdoor activity after reading air pollution information. Differences between men and women were less frequent than between whites and nonwhites; the most distinctive group was nonwhite women, followed by white men. Flynn et al. (1994) and Finucane et al. (2000) found a far larger proportion of significant differences, with white men as most distinctive, probably due to use of different measures, study design, and population samples. However, all three studies broadly confirm the existence of gender and race interactions in risk beliefs and attitudes (particularly for white men and nonwhite women) that deserve more attention from researchers.
Air Toxics and Health Risks in California: The Public Health Implications of Outdoor Concentrations
Authors: Morello‐Frosch Rachel A. , Woodruff Tracey J. , Axelrad Daniel A. , Caldwell Jane C.
Published: March 2003

Of the 188 hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) listed in the Clean Air Act, only a handful have information on human health effects, derived primarily from animal and occupational studies. Lack of consistent monitoring data on ambient air toxics makes it difficult to assess the extent of low‐level, chronic, ambient exposures to HAPs that could affect human health, and limits attempts to prioritize and evaluate policy initiatives for emissions reduction. Modeled outdoor HAP concentration estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Cumulative Exposure Project were used to characterize the extent of the air toxics problem in California for the base year of 1990. These air toxics concentration estimates were used with chronic toxicity data to estimate cancer and noncancer hazards for individual HAPs and the risks posed by multiple pollutants. Although hazardous air pollutants are ubiquitous in the environment, potential cancer and noncancer health hazards posed by ambient exposures are geographically concentrated in three urbanized areas and in a few rural counties. This analysis estimated a median excess individual cancer risk of 2.7E−4 for all air toxics concentrations and 8600 excess lifetime cancer cases, 70% of which were attributable to four pollutants: polycyclic organic matter, 1,3 butadiene, formaldehyde, and benzene. For noncancer effects, the analysis estimated a total hazard index representing the combined effect of all HAPs considered. Each pollutant contributes to the index a ratio of estimated concentration to reference concentration. The median value of the index across census tracts was 17, due primarily to acrolein and chromium concentration estimates. On average, HAP concentrations and cancer and noncancer health risks originate mostly from area and mobile source emissions, although there are several locations in the state where point sources account for a large portion of estimated concentrations and health risks. Risk estimates from this study can provide guidance for prioritizing research, monitoring, and regulatory intervention activities to reduce potential hazards to the general population. Improved ambient monitoring efforts can help clarify uncertainties inherent in this analysis.
Discounting Compensation for Injuries
Authors: Price Colin
Published: March 2003

The reasons commonly given for discounting future costs and benefits are doubtfully applicable to future injuries: in particular, time preference justifies neither inter‐ nor intragenerational discounting. The cost of future injuries could be discounted on grounds that a smaller sum, invested at interest, is needed to pay a given level of ex post monetary compensation the further in the future the injury occurs. This effect is offset, however, by the diminishing marginal utility of compensation, if consumption is otherwise increasing. Depending on the elasticity of marginal utility of consumption, on whether consumption is growing at an optimal rate, and on the time period considered, the implicit discount rate may be positive, zero, or negative (even indefinitely so). There is no prospect of conventional discounting dealing appropriately with the cost of injuries to either future or present generations.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Risk‐Reduction Strategies for Consumer Chemical Products
Authors: Riley Donna M. , Fischhoff Baruch , Small Mitchell J. , Fischbeck Paul
Published: March 2003

Communication about risks offers a voluntary approach to reducing exposure to pollutants. Its adequacy depends on its impact on behavior. Estimating those impacts first requires characterizing current activities and their associated risk levels, and then predicting the effectiveness of risk‐reduction strategies. Characterizing the risks from chemical consumer products requires knowledge of both the physical and the behavioral processes that influence exposures. This article presents an integrated approach that combines consumer interviews, users' beliefs and behaviors, and quantitative exposure modeling. This model was demonstrated in the context of consumer exposure to a methylene chloride‐based paint stripper, showing how it could be used to evaluate current levels of risk and predict the effectiveness of proposed voluntary risk‐reduction strategies.
Estimation of Tuberculosis Risk and Incidence under Upper Room Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation in a Waiting Room in a Hypothetical Scenario
Authors: Ko Gwangpyo , Burge Harriet A. , Nardell Edward A. , Thompson Kimberly M.
Published: March 2003

Environmental control measures (ventilation, high‐efficiency particulate air filtration, and upper room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation [UVGI]) are recommended to effectively control tuberculosis (TB) transmission from unsuspected TB patients in high‐risk settings, but the effectiveness of their use is not often clear. This study presents a simulation model for a hypothetical hospital waiting room, in which the number of susceptible immunocompetent people in the waiting room follows a Poisson distribution (M= 5) in either low (annual number of TB patients = 5) or high TB risk settings (annual number of TB patients = 50), and used the model to evaluate the reduction of TB transmission risk by upper room UVGI. An exponential dose‐response model was used for TB transmission and a two‐zone model was used for evaluating the effect of upper room UVGI. Upper room UVGI reduced TB risk by 1.6‐fold at 3 μW/cm2 UV irradiance in the upper room in the low TB risk setting and by 4.1‐fold at 15 μW/cm2 UV irradiance in the upper room in the high TB risk setting. Use of upper room UVGI also reduced the mean annual new infection rate from 2.2 to 1.3 infections per year at 3 μW/cm2 and to 0.6 infections per year at 15 μW/cm2 in our hypothetical high‐risk settings. The effect of upper room UVGI was sensitive to both vertical air velocity (air mixing) and UV irradiance level. Results from partitioning variability indicate that most variability of TB transmission risk came from waiting time in our hypothetical hospital.
Sexual Risk Compensation and HIV/STD Transmission: Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Considerations
Authors: Pinkerton Steven D.
Published: March 2003

This study was conducted to answer the question, “Are sexual risk behaviors subject to compensation?” For example, do people who increase their use of condoms compensate for this reduction in human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted disease (HIV/STD) risk by engaging in more overall acts of intercourse or by having sex with more partners than before? Utilizing the HIV prevention literature, studies in which participants demonstrated sexual risk compensation were identified. A simple HIV/STD transmission model was applied to these data to determine whether compensation produced a net increase in HIV/STD risk, despite positive changes in one or more aspects of sexual behavior. Although a number of studies were found in which there were simultaneous increases in condom use and the overall number of acts of intercourse, in none of these instances was there an overall increase in HIV/STD risk. Moreover, none of these studies reported concomitant increases in the number of sex partners. Extensive modeling exercises also were conducted to determine the theoretical conditions under which compensation would produce a net increase in risk. The results of the modeling exercise indicated that relatively small increases in overall sexual activity could be sufficient to offset risk‐reduction gains due to increased condom use in populations in which baseline condom use is very low. In sum, although sexual risk compensation occurs, no empirical evidence was found that this compensation is sufficient to offset reductions in risk due to greater condom use, despite the theoretical plausibility of this scenario.
Changes in the Usage of Enterprise Funds by Large City Governments
Authors: Bunch Beverly S.
Published: March 2003

Using a nationwide sample of large cities, this article analyzes changes in the use of enterprise funds during the past decade. The major findings are that (1) the aggregate number of enterprise funds increased, with the largest increases occurring in solid waste and drainage; (2) part of the increase was offset by the elimination of some enterprise funds, particularly in the area of recreational services; (3) 60 percent of the cities experienced one or more changes in the types of enterprise funds they used; (4) the revenues associated with most types of enterprise funds have increased at a faster rate than general fund revenues; and (5) some cities are using alternative fiscal structures (e.g., special revenue funds and discrete component units) to account for services that are reported as enterprise funds in other cities. A continuum of fiscal structures is presented as a framework for addressing why cities might choose one structure over another and what the possible implications of a particular fiscal structure might be.
What's So Magical about Five Percent? A Nationwide Look at Factors That Influence the Optimal Size of State Rainy Day Funds
Authors: Joyce Philip G.
Published: March 2003

State rainy day funds have increased in popularity as countercyclical planning devices over the past 15 years. The view is widely held that all states need a rainy day fund balance of five percent in order to guard themselves against the threat of budgetary dislocation. This article compares the actual balances in state rainy day funds in 1997 to several factors affecting budgetary volatility. Little relationship is found between rainy day fund balances and the actual level of volatility in a given state. The article finds no justification for a “one size fits all” approach; each state should design policies based on its own peculiar needs.
What's in a List?:A Rule of Interpretation for Hindu Dharma Offered in Response to Maria Hibbets
Authors: Glucklich Ariel
Published: March 2003

The study of South Asian ethics presents a variety of problems for the comparative ethicist. This response focuses on one such problem relating to Hinduism: the pervasive use of nonsystematic lists as a source of ethical injunctions and guidelines. The author demonstrates how an indigenous hermeneutic may unpack a list that contains the gift of fearlessness among other gifts. The source of this interpretation is Purva Mimamsa, an ancient Indian school of philosophy that specialized in language and the application of sacrificial logic to law and ethics. The same principles that allowed ritual specialists to sort out a huge array of rules into proper injunctions also allow us to make sense of ethical principles embodied in puzzling lists of concrete items.
Redeeming Love:Rousseau and Eighteenth‐Century Moral Philosophy
Authors: Cladis Mark S.
Published: March 2003

This essay employs Jean‐Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) as a vehicle to explore love in eighteenth‐century French moral philosophy and theological ethics. The relation between love of self and love of God was understood variously and produced contrasting models of the relation between the public and the private. Rousseau, perhaps more than any other figure in the eighteenth century, wrestled with the complex, competing traditions of love, and in doing so he probed and articulated the tension between and the harmony of life alone and life together. Using as ideal types a set of historical models of private and public vice and virtue, the author describes Rousseau's three contradictory proposals for dealing with the corruption of social institutions and the human heart and discloses their underlying cohesion.
Comment by James Turner Johnson
Authors: Johnson James Turner
Published: March 2003

Comments on:

“Just War Theory in Comparative Perspective: AReview Essay” by Simeon O. Ilesanmi Journal of Religious Ethics 28.1 (Spring 2000)
Chinese Cosmology and Recent Studies in Confucian Ethics: A Review Essay
Authors: Geaney Jane
Published: March 2003

Scholars of early Chinese philosophy frequently point to the non transcendent, organismic conception of the cosmos in early China as the source of China's unique perspective and distinctive values. One would expect recent works in Confucian ethics to capitalize on this idea. Reviewing recent works in Confucian ethics by P. J. Ivanhoe, David Nivison, R. P. Peerenboom, Henry Rosemont, and Tu Wei‐Ming, the author analyzes these new studies in termsof the extent to which their representation of Confucian ethics reflects and is consistent with the view that in early China the cosmos was conceived to be organismic, nontranscendent, and nondualistic.
Comment by John R. Bowlin
Authors: Bowlin John R.
Published: March 2003

Comments on:

Charles T. Mathewes, Agency, Nature, Transcendence, and Moralism: A Review of Recent Work in Moral Psychology
Physicalism Without Reductionism: Toward a Scientifically, Philosophically, and Theologically Sound Portrait of Human Nature
Authors: Murphy Nancey
Published: March 2003

This essay addresses three problems facing a physicalist (as opposed to dualist) account of the person. First, how can such an account fail to be reductive if mental events are neurological events and such events are governed by natural laws? Answering this question requires a reexamination of the concept of supervenience. Second, what is the epistemological status of nonreductive physicalism? Recent philosophy of science can be used to argue that there is reasonable scientific evidence for physicalism. Third, the soul has traditionally been seen as that which enables human beings to relate to God. What accounts for this capacity in a physicalist theory of the person? This essay argues that the same faculties that enable higher cognitive and emotional experience also account for the capacity for religious experience.
“Body-As-World”: Kenneth Burke's Answer to the Postmodernist Charges against Sociology
Authors: Bentz Valerie Malhotra , Kenny Wade
Published: March 2003

Postmodernism charges that sociological methods project ways of thinking and being from the past onto the future, and that sociological forms of presentation are rhetorical defenses of ideologies. Postmodernism contends that sociological theory presents reified constructs no more based in reality than are fictional accounts. Kenneth Burke's logology predates and adequately addresses postmodernism's valid charges against sociology. At the same time, logology avoids the idealistic tendencies and ethical pitfalls of radical forms of postmodernist deconstruction, which acknowledge neither pre-textual and extratextual worlds nor the ways in which experience is embodied. While not fully articulated, Burke's logology gives primacy to an embodied, social world prior to text (Body-as-World). Sociology can strengthen both its theoretical arsenal and its response to postmodernism by reacknowledging and reclaiming Burke's logology.