Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Researchers and policymakers alike have focused attention on the recent increase in unauthorized prescription drug use by adolescents. Likewise, attention has been focused on the link between drug use and delinquent behavior. Most prescription drug use, however, is lumped together simply as illicit or unauthorized. In fact, adolescents use unauthorized prescription drugs for a multitude of reasons; some to get high, others to concentrate better or “bulk up.” It is unclear how using drugs for reasons other that “getting high” relates to delinquency. Some researchers claim that drug use itself increases the likelihood of delinquency, while others maintain that the relation is either spurious or results from social learning factors. This paper utilizes data from a 2006 survey of Delaware Public School students to investigate the reasons given by students for using unauthorized prescription drugs. The analysis describes what types of students use prescription drugs for different reasons and tests whether different motivations for use predict other drug use and delinquency equally, net of other factors.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: James Harrington's The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656) has predominantly been interpreted as a work of republican opposition to Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. This paper makes the case for understanding it as an act of counsel, offering the Lord Protector a prescription for the fulfillment of his own primary stated political ambitions.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In a wide array of policy issue areas, scientists are called upon to interpret less-than-certain scientific findings and inform policy makers' choices. Two particularly difficult policy cases concern global climate change and low-dose radiation protection. We use data from a unique multi-nation survey of scientists to analyze the ways in which scientists’ views about what is scientifically correct are translated into judgments about appropriate policy. The surveys asked scientists, randomly drawn from subscribers to the journal Science, to indicate the “most likely” relationships between greenhouse gas emissions and average global temperatures and between radiation dose and incidence of cancer in humans. Follow-up questions asked for their judgments about appropriate policy targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emission and safety standards for radiation exposure. The surveys were administered in four languages (English, German, Italian and French), and obtained response rates of 34% in the US and 36% in the EU. (A summary of the survey implementation and results are available at http://bush.tamu.edu/pubman/nsp/). The data permit analysis of the effects of variations in levels of scientific certainty on policy judgments, and on the degree to which scientists reach precautionary policy conclusions. Moreover, we look at the systematic differences in such views and judgments across the US and EU countries. The implications for the role of scientists in the policy process are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Over the last 25 years, Black feminist-influenced theorists and researchers have been questioning the meaning of strength relative to lay and social science discussions of Black womanhood. In this paper, I argue that ‘strong Black womanhood’ is the dominant gender role among African American women, and seek to flesh out the contours of this role in terms of its lived experience for Black women and its relationship to their subordinated social status. Drawing on an exploratory interview study with 25 Black women, I maintain that two forms of strength exist in Black women’s lives. The first, prescriptive strength, essentially recognizes Black women for a selflessness that reinforces their social status as subordinates. In contrast, descriptive strength views Black women as human, with complimentary (rather than mutually exclusive) emotional states and needs. With its focus on empowering Black women rather than promoting their continued marginalization, descriptive strength contains the seeds of social critique and change. In line with the conference’s theme on “comparative perspectives, competing explanations,” this paper demonstrates how Black feminist thought can productively bring the sociological imagination to an area that is in the blindspot of mainstream sociology.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: It has been five years since the government separated prescription and dispensation of drugs on July 1, 2000. Has the System made a success or failed? It is not important now whether the period of 5 years is enough to make any conclusion. Evaluation on the System is inconsistent among Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs, academic worlds, and civil groups. In fact, it is the natural result. The System has an aspect of "culture" with which not only the people but also the concerned authorities are related, in that it changes the existing behaviors related with prescription of drugs, and in order for the System to have reasonable results and influences to the full, we will have to wait some more time. If a system, a policy and its operation have an aspect of culture, it is no doubt that understanding and participation of the concerned authorities is important for success of the system and policy. However, unfortunately, the situation is not so good and in this respect, it can be said that separation of prescription and dispensation of drugs is in progress. It is necessary and natural to evaluate the System by period, but the general and objective evaluation on the System can be possibly made after all the transient problems are solved. Therefore, evaluation in this paper is temporary, but it is inevitable too which is necessary to cope with the problems in question.