Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper explores the complex relationship between South and its neighbors in the quest for deeper economic integration in Southern Africa. South Africa, as the regional hegemon, will play a unique role in SADC attempts to create a free trade area and currency union for Southern Africa. Through interviews with regional decisionmakers, this paper questions the popular assumption that there is something to be feared in South African hegemony

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: Previous research documented that the immediate social response to natural disasters (both rapid-onset and slow-motion) is “an emergent altruistic community,” whereby disaster victims support each other until resources become overtaxed. In contrast, evidence indicates that rapid-onset technological disasters result in “community conflict.” (In technological disasters, human culpability is invoked.) We were unable to locate any previous research that addressed social support in the context of a slow-motion technological disaster. This study investigated social support processes in the Libby, Montana community in the context of the ongoing asbestos-exposure disaster. Using transcripts from focus groups and individual interviews, 6,504 thought units related to social support were coded into 70 categories: social support barriers, failures, and asbestos- and non-asbestos-related social support, and support functions (e.g., emotional, informational, instrumental). Results indicate that prior to awareness of the disaster, Libby was an altruistic community. “Taking care of our own” appears to have been a cultural value. Widespread awareness of the disaster, resulting largely from news media coverage, yielded rampant and consensually-acknowledged conflict among friends, family members, and the community, regarding nearly every aspect of the disaster (including whether a disaster was ongoing, the nature of the disaster, and seriousness and susceptibility issues). Results indicate numerous barriers to and failures of social support in asbestos-related contexts, particularly relative to people with ARD. Thus, a significant social impact of the disaster in Libby appears to be a phenomenon not previously described in the disaster literature: the deterioration of a previously altruistic community. Community conflict and social support failures resulted from competing social constructions of the disaster: a health/medical versus an economic disaster. Conflict resulting from these competing constructions fueled stigmatization of people with ARD. Discussions of “the asbestos problem” were heavily-laced with evidence of ARD-associated stigma, mirroring theory and research findings on stigmatizing diseases, including: negatively characterizing people with ARD; blaming the victim; interpersonal distancing; minimizing ARD’s seriousness/magnitude; courtesy stigma (interpersonal and community stigma by association); posing alternative explanations/diagnoses; and self-stigma (e.g., embarrassment, unwillingness to be diagnosed). That stigmatization had important effects on prevention, medical and health-seeking behavior, and on social support responses.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: ALtruistic Punishment induces cooperation by changing the payoff structure of the decision environment. Sustained punishment means that defectors no longer enjoy the benefits of free riding. However punishment itself is a pubic good when it is costly and repeated interactions are scarce. Strictly speaking, altruistic punishment is irrational. However lab experiments and evidence from the field show that humans ordinarily punish defectors at a personal cost. _x000d__x000d_In this essay I explore the psychology of this punishing behavior. I theorize that altruistic punishment is a manifestation of our species adaptations for social exchange and part of a larger adaptive toolbox. In a series of experiments I show that defection is perceived as a norm violation and an increased tendency to obey norms (norm-conformity) also increases the propensity to punish. Altruistic punishment appears to be a conformist reaction towards norm violators.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Social, political, and economic paradigms affect policy design and influence of public undertakings as exemplified in the U.S. organ procurement system. Because of an extraordinary mix of policy and technology in transplantation, a tremendous disparity exists in donor organ need and availability. The transplant system struggles with the challenge of an officially sanctioned and distinctively personal choice in organ donation._x000d__x000d_Conventional wisdom holds that altruism is central to donor intent, and, thus, a focal point in donor awareness education. Altruism, however, does not explain all behavior regarding donor intent as many individuals decide against becoming an organ donor while others remain undecided. This paper introduces a rational choice approach to exploring perceptual justification in a decision regarding donor choice for the purpose of augmenting efforts in public education in the donor/transplant arena. _x000d__x000d_This perspective is applied within a policy paradigm that includes both voluntary organ donation and a system of public education that expounds altruism as the center point in commitment. The rational choice perspective is a counterpoint to altruism in this look at public opinion, policy making and process.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Having as case-study the current U.N.-sponsored Brazil?s peacekeeping mission in Haiti, established in 2004, the paper will examine two opposing hypotheses which try to explain why states decide to participate in such peacekeeping operations. One hypothesis suggests that humanitarian concerns play a determinant role in a state decision to take part in peacekeeping missions; another hypothesis focuses on national interests, implying that when a state decides to deploy peacekeeping forces in conflicts elsewhere, the state actors? motivations, rather than purely humanitarian reasons, are above all based on the state international and diplomatic ambitions. The analysis of two independent variables - one internationalist in essence, and another more self-interested - will shed a light on the determinants of states? participation in international conflict management operations. On one hand, the ideological leanings of Brazil?s current administration - essentially leftist in the spectrum of Brazilian politics - could indicate that the assistance to another country is just a logical gesture of international solidarity, which has been traditionally supported by left-wing parties; and in fact, since taking office in 2003, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has publicly, in numerous occasions, championed the interests of the world?s poorest nations. However, on the other hand, and considering the panoply of Brazilian political and economic interests, Brazil?s intervention in Haiti, could reflect a more self-centered stance to enhance the country?s position on the world stage. The paper will examine these claims through an analysis of Brazil?s foreign policies with regard to international conflict resolution. Ivani VassolerAssistant Professor, Political ScienceE-368 Thompson HallState University of New YorkFredonia, New York, 14063 USAPhone: (716) 673-3887