Showing papers in "Journal of Social Issues in 1987"

How Minorities Continue to Be Excluded from Equal Employment Opportunities: Research on Labor Market and Institutional Barriers

Abstract: Barriers to equal occupational opportunities for minorities are examined at three stages of the employment process: the job candidate stage, the job entry stage, and the job promotion stage. Using the authors' recent survey of 4078 employers covering a nationally representative sample of jobs, four types of exclusionary barriers are investigated: “segregated networks” at the candidate stage, “information bias” and “statistical discrimination” at the entry stage, and “closed internal markets” at the promotion stage. Practical implications are drawn for equal employment opportunity policies directed toward occupational processes and employment outcomes.

Shaping the organizational context for Black American inclusion.

Abstract: Recent gains in black occupational status, importantly aided by such programs as affirmative action, have created new interracial job situations throughout American society. This paper reviews the problems that arise at the recruitment, entry, and promotional stages for black Americans. The problems arise from two interrelated sources: the structure of the situations themselves and the operation of antiblack prejudice in both its traditional and modern forms. A social psychological analysis is advanced that emphasizes the biases introduced by the “triple jeopardy” these new workers often endure: (1) negative racial stereotypes, (2) the solo role—when the worker is the only black in the work group, and (3) the token role—when new black workers are viewed by white co-workers as incompetent simply because they received their jobs through affirmative action. The barriers to black inclusion created by this triple jeopardy are discussed at several levels: biased and stressful recruitment practices; assumed dissimilarity and exaggerated expectations on entry; and later polarized, biased evaluations of performance. These processes often deny the new black employee needed realistic feedback and informal social support. The results, then, can involve not only biased evaluations but actual decrements in black job performance. The analysis is illustrated by several suggested micro-remedies. But these micro-remedies alone are unlikely to be sufficient unless administered in the larger context of structural, macro-remedies. Two illustrative macro-remedies are advanced, both of which aim to prevent solo situations and enlarge the black pool of qualified workers.

The Epidemiology and Causes of Childhood Injuries.

Abstract: Injuries are the leading cause of death in children and adolescents after the first year of life. For individuals of all ages, the costs from motor vehicle injuries alone, when compared to other leading causes of death, are second only to the costs of cancer. Injuries are discussed within the conceptual framework of the events surrounding the injury and the classic epidemiological parameters of host, agent, and environment. Important host factors for childhood injuries include age, sex, behavioral characteristics of the child, family background, and use of drugs and alcohol. The environment encompasses the socioeconomic environment of the child, the physical environment, and the legislative environment. Specific agents or vectors of injury are discussed, including fireworks, poisoning, flammable fabrics, hot tapwater, farm equipment, and firearms. Approaches to injury prevention are suggested, both for research investigation and child advocacy.

Process Analysis of Injury Situations: A Complement to Epidemiological Methods

Abstract: Process analysis provides a way to analyze the antecedents, stages of response, and consequences of injury-risk situations. It may aid scientists in conceptualizing these situations and provide additional methods of assessing intervention strategies. Examples of such an assessment system and a discussion of its advantages are presented. Language: en

Psychological Characteristics of Childhood Accidents

Abstract: Research on children injured inadvertently has generally led to the notion of accident proneness. This does not lead to the creation of preventive strategies. Longitudinal research is proposed for studying the behaviors of children in conjunction with their injury history. Developmental psychological characteristics are important considerations in the injury equation. Language: en

The Role of Health Education in the Prevention of Injuries to Children

Abstract: This literature review contrasts those studies that emphasize changes in knowledge or behavior to prevent childhood injuries with studies that report actual reductions in injuries. The most successful programs are those based on social learning principles and those that combine education with legislative change or modifications in regulations. Language: en

Covert Facilitation and Crime: Restoring Balance to the Entrapment Debate

Abstract: Covert facilitation of crime by or on behalf of government agents has always been viewed with suspicion, but the recent use of this technique of enforcement against power elites has resulted in a storm of protest from civil libertarians. The argument of this paper is that, although there is virtue in the standard libertarian objections, the use of covert facilitation is essential to ensure that the law is applied effectively against crime in high places. Covert facilitation should be subject to probable cause and other safeguards that would prohibit most of the covert facilitation presently undertaken by police. The greater concern, however, is that the technique will not be used frequently enough to combat the offenses of the powerful. Given this concern, enforcement agencies should be placed under a responsibility to use covert facilitation against white-collar offenders to even up the scales of justice. The use of covert facilitation for this purpose is advocated because of the low visibility of much white-collar crime and the principle of noblesse oblige. Concrete suggestions are set out for implementing this egalitarian policy, together with proposals for safeguarding persons against unjustifiable interference and abuse.

Behavioral Approaches to Prevention of Childhood Injuries.

Abstract: Behavioral science has contributed many types of interventions for preventing injury to children. Child safety in four areas is reviewed using the following behavioral approaches: (1) rewards and punishments; (2) modeling; (3) prompting and feedback; (4) skills development; and (5) guided practice. Ways to maintain the changed behavior must be developed. Language: en

Children's Injuries: Issues in Prevention and Public Policy

Abstract: This introduction to a special issue describes children's injuries in statistical, historical, and social terms. The following key concepts are presented: (1) Childhood injuries are neither random, unavoidable, nor inexplicable; (2) various disciplines suggest different interventions; (3) individuals or populations may be targeted for prevention interventions; and (4) the injury issue is a complex one. Language: en

Structural Approach to Injury Control

Abstract: The reduction of disability and death from childhood injury can be achieved through structural modifications which make environments less permissive. The structural approach suggests preventive strategies, but the strategies must be used, must not require frequent individual action, and must not depend on the behavior of the children.

Policy Research and Child Passenger Safety Legislation: A Case Study and Experimental Evaluation

Abstract: Research findings have been used by states to formulate legislation to increase child passenger safety. Case studies from Kansas and Illinois are presented. The process is most successful when researchers are sensitive to the policy making process. The implications for the use of psychological research findings are discussed. Language: en

Process Structure of Parent-Child-Environment Relations and the Prevention of Children's Injuries

Abstract: The reasoning of caregivers is discussed in the context of preventing childhood accidents. This reasoning process, which uses knowledge about children's behavior in an environment, leads to appropriate preventive actions on the part of the caregiver. Illustrative examples of parents interacting with children are presented. Language: en

Kurt Lewin and the Invisible Bird on the Flagpole: A Reply to Graebner

Abstract: Our conceptual understanding of democratic leadership in small group or organizational settings is inadequate. The differences between legitimate democratic leadership, manipulative pseudo-democratic leadership, and laissez-faire leadership are poorly understood, even by scholars. Recent criticisms by Graebner (1986), “The Small Group and Democratic Social Engineering, 19001950,” Journal of Social Issues, 42(1), 137–154) of Kurt Lewin's research on leadership are assessed in the context of Lewin's ideas about democracy, and are rejected.