Statistical studies often show public opinion strongly affecting public policy. But the studies may overestimate the effect because they focus on issues--those especially important to the public--on which governments are most likely to be responsive. This article considers what the opinion-policy linkage would be if less-important issues were also…

This paper proposes a theoretical framework to analyze global dimensions of contemporary social movements and attempts to answer the empirical question: why did the social movement for former comfort women emerge in the late 1980s after more than 40 years of silence? The theoretical framework integrates the world polity approach into social…

In this article, the author describes the content of an article by Samuel P. Huntington entitled "The Hispanic Challenge," which ignited a protest from the Hispanic community. Huntington posits in his article that the persistent flow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the US into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. He explains…

The effective utilization of Education in Environmental Chemistry (EEC) in addressing global and societal environmental problems requires integration between educational, technical, financial, ethical and societal considerations. An interdisciplinary approach is fundamental to efforts to achieve long-term solutions.

In this article I use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the contextual foundation from which to discuss issues concerning the unfortunate perpetuation of historical trauma through escalations in fear, miscommunication, resentment, and anger. I examine the concept of forgiveness in similar vein regarding its ability to redirect memory toward…

This presidential address focuses on a specific and daunting assumption about racism that many find disturbing--a belief that no one born and raised in the United States is free from inheriting the racial biases of their forebears. It states explicitly that it is impossible for anyone to not to have racist, sexist, and homophobic attitudes,…

Infertility affects many individuals and couples. This article begins with a case study of a couple who have experienced infertility yet do not identify infertility as their presenting problem. Clients and counselors alike often overlook infertility. This article offers an overview of the biology of infertility and its psychological and…

High school theatre productions can have broad beneficial effects. In addition to helping students, they can bring a sense of unity and focus to a school in ways most often associated with higher-profile athletics. The community in which the school resides often benefits from the entertainment and the visible expression of student achievement.…

Background: A limited number of mostly cross-sectional studies have examined the possible effects of power sports on aggressive and antisocial involvement in children and youth. The majority of these studies have serious methodological limitations, and results are partly contradictory. Longitudinal studies with representative, reasonably large…

How has sociology evolved over the last 40 years? In this paper, we examine networks built on thousands of sociology-relevant papers to map sociology's position in the wider social sciences and identify changes in the most prominent research fronts in the discipline. We find first that sociology seems to have traded centrality in the field of…

A social issues-related economics course is more crucial than ever for baccalaureate social work students. Understanding the economic system and its relationship to poverty, health care, crime, and other social issues can empower BSW students to more effectively assist and advocate for their clients. This article (1) examines the rationale for…

This article profiles South African author Dianne Case, whose works are herein recommended to American children to gain a sense of what life was and, in some respects, still is like for many people in that country. Themes surrounding apartheid that pervade Case's stories echo many of her own life experiences. Case asserts that although young…

Unrealistic as they may have been, television shows like Leave it to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet served important social purposes during an age of tumult and anxiety. The domestic sit-coms of the 1950s played an educative function by reinforcing and disseminating traditional values at a time when forces of change were becoming quite disruptive.…

A substantial body of literature considers excessive corruption an indicator of a weak state. However, in nondemocratic societies, corruption--whether informally approved, imposed, or regulated by public authorities--is often an indicator of a vertical power rather than an indicator of a weak state. This article explores the interrelations between…

The present paper provides an overview of child sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland and related issues. It focuses on Barnardo's response to the problem of sexual exploitation and sets it in both a historical and a contemporary context. The paper considers the importance of recognising exploitation as child abuse and addresses specific myths…