Publication Type: Informal Discussion Roundtable
Abstract: While the raping of women has been a constant in virtually all wars, some of the most intense and brutal violence against women has been documented in today's civil wars. Although there are a number of factors that contribute to the viciousness and pervasiveness of sexual violence in these armed conflicts, one of the more pernicious is the massive uprootings of civilians that characterize them. I propose a discussion of the way in which flight facilitates and interacts with other variables to increase the risk of violence against uprooted civilian women. I encourage discussion of both patterns across and variations between conflicts, as well as case studies of particular conflicts.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: Previous literature has shown that the stage a family is at can influence pet ownership. Previous research has also show that the symbolic interaction concept of mattering can influence self-esteem in adolescents. The goal of this study is to combine these to ideas to determine if stage of family life can predict dog ownership and determine if dog ownership can influence self-esteem.
Using the maximum likelihood method in AMOS, this study utilizes 2,794 respondents from the second wave of the Americans Changing Lives Survey to examine the following research questions: (1) are older people more or less likely to own a dog, (2) people of which type of marital status are more likely to own a dog, and (3) do dog owners have higher self-esteem than individuals that do not own a dog?
Findings from this study show that older people are less likely to own a dog than younger people and that married people are more likely to own a dog than people of any other marital status. However, dog ownership did not significantly predict self-esteem. Limitations of the study are examined along with directions for future research. This study contributes to previous literature on pet ownership, which is lacking in the area of sociology.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: Abstract
In 2004, more than 5.6 million grandparents in the United States were living with their grandchildren. Forty-two percent of them reported that they were responsible for their grandchildren. This poster describes the characteristics of these intergenerational families and explores the meaning of “responsible” in the lives of these grandparents and grandchildren. Specifically, this analysis creates a portrait of co-resident grandparent caregivers who live with no parent of the grandchild present in the household based on five years of data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2000 to 2004.
About 35 percent (863,000) of grandparents living with grandchildren were householders living without the presence of the middle generation, the parents of the grandchildren. Describing these grandparent caregivers, this poster highlights their age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, nativity, and English language ability. Plus, to determine the extent to which grandparent caregivers with no parent present have and need a support network the poster will show marital status and disability status. Economic conditions will be characterized by showing labor force status, poverty status, and receipt of government assistance. Housing issues, such as: type of home (single-family, apartment or mobile home), age of the building, home ownership and metropolitan status, will also be shown. Finally, this poster will show geographic patterns of co-resident grandparents and grandchildren living with no parent present in the United States by state. Maps detailing the race, Hispanic origin, poverty status and receipt of government assistance for grandparent maintained households will be shown.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: We examine US-Cuba policy during the first three years of the Bush presidency and examine the relative importance of electoral interests and other domestic political factors affecting foreign policy making toward the island. We argue that, while focusing on electoral interests behind Cuba policy is important, especially given the importance of Florida in the 2000 election and its assumed significance in 2004, concentrating narrowly on electoral interests produces an incomplete picture of an increasingly complex and multi-factored policy making process. Having reviewed Cuba policy under Bush, we try to offer a broad explanation of the policy making process that goes beyond Cuban American voters to include a wide range of Congressional activism, the activities of economic interest groups, and regional or even global interests.

Publication Type: Poster Paper
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Electronic monitoring (EM) technology was introduced into the criminal justice system as an alternative to incarceration in the mid 1980s. Over the last 20 years, the use of EM as a sentencing option has increased at a rate faster than scholarly research has been able to keep pace with. This widespread implementation of EM programming has proceeded despite a lack of empirical demonstration of its effectiveness. One possible explanation for this discrepancy is that policy adoption of EM sentencing is influenced by factors other than empirical evidence; perceived effectiveness is potentially one such factor. EM projects often garner great public and political support, especially given the fact that it is politically strategic to implement criminal justice programming which appeals to the general public. Technological advances, such as the addition of global positioning system (GPS) equipment to facilitate EM, have made it particularly attractive.

In April 2008, the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATTS) implemented a one-year GPS ankle bracelet monitoring pilot for high-risk youth auto-theft offenders. This research project explores perceived effectiveness of the WATTS EM pilot program; interviews will be conducted with individuals involved with the criminal justice system. These include young offenders incarcerated at the Manitoba Youth Center, Judges, Crown attorneys prosecuting auto-crime, defense lawyers working with youth clientele with auto-theft related charges, and probation officers. The perceptions of criminal justice professionals are especially important because the success of a program depends not only on the objective evaluation of its efficacy, but also on those implementing it.