Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: Counting the homeless in Jacksonville, Florida has become a routine practice. This census attempts to produce an accurate population count of people living on the street, staying in shelters or participating in housing programs for the homeless. Over two thousand people in Duval county currently meet this criteria. Major cities across this wealthy nation systematically repeat this process for two main reasons: raising awareness and raising funds. This year also represents a tradition spanning eighteen years of partnership between 50 plus community based organizations collectively represented by The Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Jacksonville.
This census analysis is fundamentally evaluation research investigating the effectiveness of homelessness intervention services in Jacksonville. Comparing the data gathered from surveys with participants with the preceding years we can see the benefits and pitfalls of the implementation taken by service providers. In addition, we can demonstrate the shortcomings and suffering due to suspended projects, budget cuts and lack of funding. We can systematically assess the quality of life for the forgotten people in our society. A key factor of the awareness that this analysis hopes to generate in how this information is disseminated throughout the media. The typical working resident of the community with a high school education does not read journals or attend conferences so they rely on local television news and newspapers to report on the state of homelessness. Considering the relationship between awareness and advocacy is important in soliciting support from the community.

Publication Type: Poster Paper
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This qualitative study examines the experiences of parents whose children are involved with the juvenile court through interviews of parents of juveniles charged with committing delinquent acts in Boston, MA. Parents are often required to attend court hearings regarding their children in the juvenile justice system. Yet little research has been conducted examining the expectations, roles, interactions, and reactions of these parents in relation to the juvenile justice system.

This research explores how parents develop attitudes about the law and legal systems, how they interact with courtroom actors, and subsequently how their experiences with the juvenile court system may affect these legal attitudes. Research questions include how parents understand their role in the juvenile system, how these perceptions fit with juveniles’ guaranteed constitutional rights, and what factors impact the parents’ assessment of the juvenile system. This study also examines how juvenile court can affect the relationship between parents and their children as well as whether parents’ notions of the courts and the legitimacy of law change through the process of participating in their child’s juvenile case. Gaining a fuller understanding of the development of parents’ attitudes toward the legal system is important because parents may transmit these attitudes to their children which could lead to more (or possibly less) delinquent acts by the child.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: According to many political analysts, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were a violent means of expressing criticism against U.S. hegemony. Clearly, in levelling this criticism, the terrorists were essentially aiming to affect the collective psyche of the American people in order to modify their behaviour. And they achieved their goal in a significant way. In fact, it is clear that the terrorist attacks of September 11 have brought about major changes in the American position on security issues. From that day on, the United States would be very sensitive to any types of threats to its territory. Among the many new threats the U.S. Government now takes into consideration are cyberthreats. In fact, according to various reports issued by government organizations, such as the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC), cyberattacks could very well destabilize the United States. In the light of analyses conducted on the subject, the looming spectre of large-scale cyberattacks, ranging from cybercrime to cyberwar and cyberterrorism, needs to be dealt with. In short, the U.S. Government has a lot to worry about. But not only could the threat of cyberattacks destabilize the United States, the Internet itself has become the primary forum for expressing this form of criticism against U.S. hegemony. Cyberspace has now become the arena of choice for engaging in hacktivism–a cross between activism and hacking–and expressing, in increasingly violent ways, displeasure with U.S. imperialism. One cannot help but notice that in the wake of September 11, this form of anti-hegemonic criticism is becoming more and more extensive, frequent, virulent, and even downright dangerous. For all these reasons, the U.S. Government has laid the groundwork for a true cyberstrategy. However, this cyberstrategy has been strongly criticized. The following question therefore needs to be asked: is the U.S. Government capable of dealing with cyberthreats? The thesis of this text is that the cyberstrategy the U.S. Government is pursuing is ineffective for dealing with cyberthreats. In fact, upon examination of the measures the government has adopted to address the issue of cyberthreats, two major weaknesses come to light: 1. They do not take into account the reality of modern computer technology; 2. They demonstrate an obvious lack of political will on the government's part to keep such threats in check. We must face the facts: very few solutions have been proposed to protect computer networks. Are we on the verge of going through a cyber-9/11?

Publication Type: Informal Discussion Roundtable
Abstract: Summary of the discussion topic: I propose a discussion that would focus on the social implications (including public health, economic factors and micro-level ramifications) of how vaccines for sexually tranmitted diseases (STDs) have been socially constructed via marketing campaigns, public health campaigns, and media coverage. This topic is relevant due to the recent successful, if controversial, FDA-approval and mass marketing campaing for GARDASIL (the “cervical cancer” vaccine). The case of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, including the popular “I want to be one less” commercials, underscores the argument that the de-stigmatization of all STDs is truly needed to achieve improved public health in the U.S. [The attached summary includes nine key questions that roundtable participants might wish to explore.]

Publication Type: Informal Discussion Roundtable
Abstract: The American Community Survey (ACS) measures recent or annual fertility by asking a question whether a woman has had a birth in the last 12 months. This was done as an indirect way of measuring recent fertility—tabulating the number of children under age 1 in the household—may lead to an underestimate of fertility if differences in the proportion of mothers coresiding with their infants are related to socioeconomic characteristics. An examination of the differences in the direct fertility item and the household roster of children also permit one to measure how many women are not currently living with their infants. By developing criteria to define coresident living arrangements, I find that 87 percent of women are coresiding with their biological child. This percentage varies when looking at different demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Relatively large percent differences in coresidency are found by age, disability status, educational attainment, marital status, poverty status, relationship to householder, and school enrollment. The multivariate model shows that these same variables persist in being associated with women not coresiding with their infant after controlling for other variables. These results strongly suggest that the direct fertility question asked in the ACS provides a significant improvement in the estimation of fertility differences over the indirect measure of using the presence of infants in the household.

Supporting Publications:
Supporting Document