SUICIDE, SOCIAL CAPITAL, AND HATE GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES

World Affairs ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004382002110538
Author(s):  
Brendan Szendro
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Hate Groups ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Enduring Power

In recent years, hate groups have increasingly attracted public attention while at the same time escaping the purview of scholars. Although overt prejudiced attitudes have lost public support in recent decades, hate group and hate-group activity has remained relatively consistent. What, then, explains the enduring power of hate? I argue that hate groups have arisen in reaction to the loss of social capital, particularly in regard to rural and exurban communities. Using county-level suicide rates as a proxy for the loss of social capital, I test this theory using data from the lower 48 states from 2010 to 2019. I find that each 5.38 percent increase in suicide rates is associated with 1 additional hate group forming. These findings highlight the importance of examining quality-of-life in understanding far-right activity, and challenge previous findings with regard to rurality and hate.

The Death Penalty for Juveniles: An Assessment of Public Support

1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Evans Skovron ◽  
Joseph E. Scott ◽  
Francis T. Cullen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Telephone Survey ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Using Data

The United States is one of the few nations that permits the execution of offenders for murders committed while under the age of 18. The juvenile death penalty has received considerable media and public attention both nationally and internationally. Yet despite the extensive literature on public attitudes toward the death penalty, little research exists on public attitudes toward the juvenile death penalty. This article examines attitudes toward this penalty, using data collected in a telephone survey of two midwestern cities. A substantial majority of those surveyed opposed the death penalty for juveniles above the age of 14 convicted of murder. The implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals The Association between Social Capital and Voting Participation in Three Developing Democracies in Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Jack Chola Bwalya ◽  
Prasanth Sukumar
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Developing Democracies ◽  
Voting Participation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Western Democracies

Numerous empirical research studies posit that social capital has a positive influence on peoples’ political participation. Studies conducted in developed western democracies have revealed that social capital strengthens democratic institutions by impacting both the quantity and quality of citizens’ political participation. However, in the developing democracies of Africa, the effects of social capital on political participation remain under-researched. This paper aims to empirically examine whether the interrelation between social capital and political participation holds true in the developing democracies of Africa. By operationalising the concept of social capital as membership in civic associations, this paper examines the influence of social capital on peoples’ voting participation in three Southern African countries, viz. Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. Using data from the sixth round of the Afrobarometer Survey, this study found that social capital was strongly linked to voting participation in these countries.

scholarly journals Nurturing Practitioner-Researcher Partnerships to Improve Adoption and Delivery of Research-Based Social and Public Health Services Worldwide

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogério Pinto ◽  
Anya Spector ◽  
Rahbel Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Partnership Development ◽  
Research Cycle ◽  
Tailored Approach ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Research Based Interventions ◽  
Research Based Practices

Research-based practices—psychosocial, behavioral, and public health interventions—have been demonstrated to be effective and often cost-saving treatments, but they can take up to two decades to reach practitioners within the health and human services workforce worldwide. Practitioners often rely on anecdotal evidence and their “practice wisdom” rather than on research, and may thus unintentionally provide less effective or ineffective services. Worldwide, community engagement in research is recommended, particularly in low-resource contexts. However, practitioner involvement has not been adequately explored in its own right as an innovative community-engaged practice that requires a tailored approach. The involvement of practitioners in research has been shown to improve their use of research-based interventions, and thus the quality of care and client outcomes. Nevertheless, the literature is lacking specificity about when and how (that is, using which tasks and procedures) to nurture and develop practitioner–researcher partnerships. This paper offers theoretical and empirical evidence on practitioner–researcher partnerships as an innovation with potential to enhance each phase of the research cycle and improve services, using data from the United States, Brazil, and Spain. Recommendations for partnership development and sustainability are offered, and a case is made for involving practitioners in research in order to advance social justice by amplifying the local relevance of research, increasing the likelihood of dissemination to community settings, and securing the sustainability of research-based interventions in practice settings.

scholarly journals Early roots of adult competence

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 490-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Englund ◽  
Sally I-Chun Kuo ◽  
Jennifer Puig ◽  
W. Andrew Collins
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Path Modeling ◽  
Global Functioning ◽  
Developmental Models ◽  
Using Data

Social capital has traditionally been defined in terms of the amount of resources that one derives as a result of a diversity of interpersonal relationships. However, the quality of these relationships across development has not been examined as a contributor to social capital and few studies have examined the significance of various age-salient relationships in predicting adaptive functioning, especially testing for cumulative effects over time. Using data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, developmental models spanning from infancy to adulthood were tested via path modeling, linking quality of various age-salient relationships (e.g., infant–caregiver attachment, peer competence, friendship security, and effectiveness in romantic relationships) to global adaptive functioning at age 28. As hypothesized, quality of age-salient relationships during different developmental periods predicted the quality of subsequent relationships, but also showed links with adaptive functioning in early adulthood. Results also showed that the quality of infant attachment relationships not only was linked with more proximal relationships, but also had direct effects on global functioning, suggesting the potential significance of early relationship quality in adaption and well-being in adulthood.

College Quality and Wages in the United States

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Black ◽  
Kermit Daniel ◽  
Jeffrey Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Cost ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
College Quality ◽  
Using Data ◽  
As Effects ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Identification Strategy

Abstract We estimate the effects of the quality of the college a student attends on their later earnings using data from a cohort of US college students from the late 1970s and early 1980s. We rely on a linear selection on observables identification strategy, which is justified in our context by a very rich set of conditioning variables. We find economically important earnings effects of college quality for men and women, as well as effects on educational attainment, spousal earnings and other demographic variables. These effects remain roughly constant over time and result primarily from effects on wages, rather than from effects on hours or labor force participation. We find that, over the lower part of the range of college quality, increases in college quality (which entail higher expenditures per student) pass a simple social cost-benefit test.

scholarly journals LOSS, SLEEP, AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY: GENDER DIFFERENCES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S915-S916
Author(s):  
Hye Won Chai ◽  
Dylan J Jester ◽  
Soomi Lee ◽  
Susanna Joo
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physiological Adaptation ◽  
Significant Other ◽  
Quality Of Sleep ◽  
Quality Scale ◽  
Quality Sleep ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Death of a significant other is consistently found to have a detrimental effect on cardiovascular functioning, and such relationship may be stronger when loss is accompanied by low-quality sleep. Using data from the Biomarker project of Midlife in the United States study (n=1,310), we examined whether quality-of-sleep has an additive effect on the relationship between loss and heart rate variability (HRV). Loss was measured as losing someone close within a year of data collection, and was categorized based on the respondents’ relationship with the deceased. Relationship was categorized as: immediate family, relative, and friend. Quality-of-sleep was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality scale. Results showed that the associations among loss, sleep, and HRV differed by gender. For women, losing an immediate family was associated with worse HRV and this did not differ by quality-of-sleep. For men, death of an immediate family was associated with worse HRV only among those with poorer quality sleep. These results suggest that low-quality sleep may indicate psychophysical vulnerability for men who experienced loss, which may relate to their lower capacity for physiological adaptation.

The effect of time volunteering and charitable donations in later life on psychological wellbeing

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 590-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
NAMKEE G. CHOI ◽  
JINSEOK KIM
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Moderate Amount ◽  
Charitable Donations ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Positive Direct

ABSTRACTAlthough accumulated research findings point to both short- and long-term salutary effects of time volunteering on older adults' physical and mental health, little research has been done on the effect of older adults' making charitable donations on their wellbeing. Guided by activity theory and the theory of volunteering and using data from the first and second waves of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS, 1995–1996 and MIDUS II, 2004–2006), this study examined the question of whether time volunteering and charitable donations nine years earlier had a positive direct effect on psychological wellbeing among individuals age 55 and above. Controlling for time 1 (T1) psychological wellbeing and T1 human, cultural, and social capital resources, a moderate amount (up to ten hours monthly) of T1 time volunteering and any amount of T1 charitable donations had a direct positive effect on time 2 (T2; nine years later) psychological wellbeing. The findings also show a greater effect on psychological wellbeing of any amount of charitable donations than of any amount of time volunteering, although the extent of the effect of both time volunteering and charitable donations was small. With regard to human, cultural, and social capital resources, T1 self-rated health and generative quality were significant predictors of T2 psychological wellbeing, but T1 social capital had no significant effect on T2 psychological wellbeing.

scholarly journals Consumer Support and Willingness to Pay for Electricity from Solar, Wind, and Cow Manure in the United States: Evidence from a Survey in Vermont

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 4467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang ◽  
Valchuis ◽  
Thompson ◽  
Conner ◽  
Parsons
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Using Data

Information on public support and willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy from alternative sources is critically important for the development and evaluation of renewable energy policies and programs. This study assesses consumer support and WTP for electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and on-farm anaerobic digester systems (ADS) in the United States, using data collected from a household survey in the state of Vermont. Empirical results suggest that solar power was the respondents’ top choice for public investment, and cow power (electricity generated from ADS) was the least-favored choice. Also, the variations in the likelihood of being willing to pay a premium for each renewable electricity across respondents were closely associated with factors such as education, political affiliation, homeownership, and local agricultural engagement. The relatively low level of public support and WTP for cow power is likely the result of unfamiliarity with this renewable source of electricity, and more educational efforts are highly needed to promote this renewable energy with many environmental benefits for a dairy state.

State- and County-Level Social Capital as Predictors of County-Level Suicide Rates in the United States: A Lagged Multilevel Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 003335492097655
Author(s):  
Saloni Dev ◽  
Daniel Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Black People ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Suicide Mortality ◽  
County Level ◽  
Standard Deviation Increase ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression

From 1999 through 2017, age-adjusted suicide rates in the United States rose by 33% (from 10.5 to 14.0 per 100 000 population). Social capital, a key social determinant of health, could protect against suicide, but empirical evidence on this association is limited. Using multilevel data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we explored state- and county-level social capital as predictors of age-adjusted suicide rates pooled from 2010 through 2017 across 2112 US counties. In addition, we tested for causal mediation of these associations by state-level prevalence of depression. A 1-standard deviation increase in state-level social capital predicted lower county-level suicide mortality rates almost 2 decades later (0.87 fewer suicides per 100 000 population; P = .04). This association was present among non-Hispanic Black people and among men but not among non-Hispanic White people and women. We also found evidence of partial mediation by prevalence of depression. Our findings suggest that elevating state- and county-level social capital, such as through policy and local initiatives, may help to reverse the trend of rising suicide rates in the United States.

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