Hearing Latin American Voices in International Relations Studies

This article offers a general account of international relations studies (IR) in Latin America through an examination of IR thinking in the region, an inventory of IR theory courses in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago), and an analysis of journal articles selected from five specialized IR journals in Latin America. Although considerable U.S. influence upon the ways in which IR is approached in Latin America is made apparent through this narrative, the specific context in which IR studies have evolved in the region has substantially altered the content of U.S. IR discourse. Therefore, the article concludes with a discussion of the possible contributions of Latin American IR to Anglo-American perspectives in the field.     

Combining autoethnography and multimodal social semiotics: potentials for theory and method

Different methodological approaches allow varying access to the objects of inquiry and enable one to ask different kinds of questions. This paper explores the possibilities that emerge through the combination of multimodal social semiotics and autoethnography. We discuss the epistemological and methodological bases for each approach and show the potentials in combining them. Drawing on an autoethnographic study in civil engineering, we argue that three aspects of research inquiry are enhanced through the combination of these approaches. These three aspects include a greater understanding of social context and its impact on meaning-making; an awareness of the multimodal nature of meaning-making; and an understanding of the ways in which the “interest” of the researcher (as participant) manifests in texts. Overall, we argue that these approaches augment each other in generative ways and allow for an in-depth look at how texts are embedded in particular practices and communities.     

Solving for the X: Aspirations and Expectations of College Students

We questioned if there is a set of values and goals that distinguish Generation X individuals by asking 462 college students in four institutions to think ahead ten years, and rate the importance of success in various life domains to their future satisfaction. We also asked them to indicate obstacles, if any, that might prove to be barriers as they sought their life goals. As predicted, there was considerable value consensus across race, gender, and social class categories, and little to suggest that Generation X college students differ from preceding generations in their core concerns; for example, women students attached greater importance than men to attaining family goals, but men and women students did not differ in the importance they attached to economic success. Unexpectedly, we found that students of color rated economic success as more important than did white students. Women students of both races, and minority students of both genders, anticipated discrimination as a likely future obstacle. Contrary to the popular assumption of Generation X alienation, most students thought it likely that they would achieve their life goals, although students whose parents were less well-educated expressed concern that difficulties with connections, money, and getting the right education might impede their future success. Despite the general optimism of the youths we studied, we found no correlation between college academic performance as measured by grade point average, and the importance attached to future material success, suggesting that their hopes for the future may not be founded on present effort and accomplishment.     

An Ecological Study of Nonresidential Services for Battered Women Within a Comprehensive Community Protocol for Domestic Violence

This paper is an ecological study of services provided to 392 battered women under a comprehensive domestic violence protocol. It focuses on microsystemic interactions between battered women and battered women's services and legal systems. We examine the relationships between women's receipt of services from a battered women's agency, receipt of protective orders, and completion of prosecution of batterers. We also explore the associations between women's receipt of services and protective orders and their partners' subsequent arrests and police contacts. We use open-ended interviews with battered women and with staff of the battered women's agency to expand and illustrate the quantitative data. The analysis shows that when a woman received battered women's services or had a protective order, a completed court case was more likely and numbers of arrests rose. We found that these associations were strongest when women received both battered women's services and at least one protective order.     

Clinical case management: a strategy to coordinate detection, reporting, and prosecution of elder abuse

Despite civil and criminal sanctions, elder abuse is a prevalent, underreported, and underprosecuted event in the United States. Traditional reporting legislation and common law remedies have had minimal effect on the incidence and prevalence of elder abuse. The epidemic nature of elder abuse is projected to increase exponentially as the elderly population grows disproportionately over the next several decades. The fragmented system of detecting, reporting, and prosecuting this abuse across a wide range of medical and legal settings creates a poor structure to effectively allow a potentially abused patient to have his/her abuse circumstance communicated to the relevant parties to protect the patient, have his/her situation reported and investigated, and, if necessary, have the perpetrator brought to justice. Emergency rooms and other facilities where elders present for care should be staffed by clinically trained persons who have familiarity interacting with patients and providers across settings of care, and who are trained to detect and report abuse. Nursing case managers fill this role well because they are able to coordinate efforts among acute and long-term care facilities while also being able to supply patients with legal and clinical information about elder abuse. In addition they may support prosecution efforts through their clinical observations and expertise. Hence, clinical case managers are able to coordinate efforts lacking in the current system to effectively evaluate, report, protect, and arrange for relevant services for the patient. Through clinical and special training in elder abuse, nursing case managers can provide support to prosecution efforts against the perpetrators of this most egregious crime.     

Adolescent sexual activity and pregnancy: Socioenvironmental problems,physical health,and mental health

This paper examines the association between adolescent pregnancy and socioenvironmental, physical, and mental health problems in 1590 inner-city females aged 13–18 who use health clinics. Adolescents who have become pregnant, those who are sexually active but never have been pregnant, and those who are sexually inactive are compared. The sexually active youngsters come from more psychosocially disadvantaged backgrounds than their sexually inactive peers; the sexually active girls who become pregnant come from more psychosocially disadvantaged backgrounds than those who have never been pregnant. Despite this, the youths who have become pregnant do not have more current relationship problems, more stressful life events, or worse physical health than the never-pregnant sexually active youths. Although sexually inactive youths have the lowest rates of mental health problems, adolescents who have been pregnant have lower rates of anxiety and conduct disorder symptoms than those who are sexually active but never pregnant.Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Fieldwork conducted by Survey Research Associates.Research interests include adolescents and children, parenting, and families.Research interests include epidemiology of child and adolescent psychiatric disorder.Research interests include psychiatric epidemiology/deviant behavior.Research interests include mental health and statistical issues.Research interests include health behavior and mental health issues.     

Emphasising the Problem or the Solution in Charitable Fundraising for International Development

We conduct a laboratory experiment to test the effect on charitable donations to international development NGOs (INGOs) of emphasising current deprivation in a developing country, versus emphasising the potential good a donation can achieve. Using a double-blind dictator experiment with earned endowments, we find that varying the information/emphasis has no significant effect on total donations, nor on the probability of donating. We find suggestive evidence that an emphasis on current deprivation may raise the variance of donations, and thus the size of donations conditional on donating, but the effect is not significant in hurdle models that explicitly recognise this.