Lynn M. Hempel

Scripture, Sin and Salvation: Theological Conservatism Reconsidered

Using insights from ethnographic studies of conservative Protestant congregations, the authors propose and test a refined conceptual model of theological conservatism that accounts for three key components of a theologically conservative worldview: (1. epistemology, a belief in the Bible as the inspired word of God, (2. ontology, assumptions about the pervasiveness of human sinfulness, and (3. soteriology, the conviction that salvation is made possible through a commitment to Jesus Christ. Structural equation modeling is used to examine the reliability and validity of this model across data sets and relativity to current approaches used in the study of religion. The proposed measure exhibits a substantial improvement for defining and interpreting the influence of religious conservatism across and within sociodemographic groups in contemporary American society.

Economics of disaster risk, social vulnerability, and mental health resilience.

We investigate the relationship between exposure to Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita and mental health resilience by vulnerability status, with particular focus on the mental health outcomes of single mothers versus the general public. We advance a measurable notion of mental health resilience to disaster events. We also calculate the economic costs of poor mental health days added by natural disaster exposure. Negative binomial analyses show that hurricane exposure increases the expected count of poor mental health days for all persons by 18.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.44-31.14%), and by 71.88% (95% CI, 39.48-211.82%) for single females with children. Monthly time-series show that single mothers have lower event resilience, experiencing higher added mental stress. Results also show that the count of poor mental health days is sensitive to hurricane intensity, increasing by a factor of 1.06 (95% CI, 1.02-1.10) for every billion (U.S.

Gender Differences in Environmental Concern: Reevaluating Gender Socialization

) dollars of damage added for all exposed persons, and by a factor of 1.08 (95% CI, 1.03-1.14) for single mothers. We estimate that single mothers, as a group, suffered over

Associations between standardized school performance tests and mixtures of Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Mn, Cu, Cr, Co, and V in community soils of New Orleans.

130 million in productivity loss from added postdisaster stress and disability. Results illustrate the measurability of mental health resilience as a two-dimensional concept of resistance capacity and recovery time. Overall, we show that natural disasters regressively tax disadvantaged population strata.

Racial Threat and White Opposition to Bilingual Education in Texas.

ABSTRACT We examine the direct effects of social roles and value orientations believed to be derived from gender socialization on environmental concern. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) and Wave 2 of the Baylor Religion Survey (BRS), we find that among U.S. adults, value orientations about social roles, but not social roles themselves, influence environmental concern. Gender traditionalism is found to have a significant negative relationship with environmental concern for women, and no effect for men. Conversely, an ethic of care is found positively related to environmental concern for both men and women. The results suggest that observed differences between genders in environmental concern are related to gender socialization; however (1) different forms of socialized value orientations influence environmentalism in opposing ways, and (2) the effects of an ethic of care may be gender neutral. We conclude with a discussion of potential directions for future research on gender differences in environmental concern.

Parole Reentry and Social Capital: The Centrality of Homelessness

In New Orleans a strong inverse association was previously identified between community soil lead and 4th grade school performance. This study extends the association to zinc, cadmium, nickel, manganese, copper, chromium, cobalt, and vanadium in community soil and their comparative effects on 4th grade school performance. Adjusting for poverty, food security, racial composition, and teacher-student ratios, regression results show that soil metals variously reduce and compress student scores. Soil metals account for 22%-24% while food insecurity accounts for 29%-37% of variation in school performance. The impact on grade point averages were Ni > Co > Mn > Cu ~ Cr ~ Cd > Zn > Pb, but metals are mixtures in soils. The quantities of soil metal mixtures vary widely across the city with the largest totals in the inner city and smallest totals in the outer city. School grade point averages are lowest where the soil metal mixtures and food insecurity are highest.

Abnormal labor outcomes as a function of maternal exposure to a catastrophic hurricane event during pregnancy

This study examines local contextual conditions that influence opposition to bilingual education among non-Hispanic Whites, net of individual-level characteristics. Data from the Texas Poll (N = 615) are used in conjunction with U.S. Census data to test five competing hypotheses using binomial and multinomial logistic regression models. Our results support a “racial threat” hypothesis, suggesting that increasing opposition to bilingual education among Whites corresponds to changes in the Hispanic population. We find opposition to bilingual education among non-Hispanic Whites to be most pronounced in areas with substantial growth in an already sizeable Hispanic population, and least pronounced in areas of high growth rates and historically low proportions of Hispanics. Importantly, our results highlight the relevance of the interaction between minority group size and minority growth rates in generating majority opposition to bilingual education programs in the United States.

What’s ‘evangelical’ got to do with it? Disentangling the impact of evangelical Protestantism on environmental outcomes

Why are some parolees more successful in reentering society compared to others? Using a social capital theoretical perspective, we explore the central role housing plays in reentry. Seventy-three semistructured personal interviews were conducted with parolees reentering the community. The authors compared and contrasted the experiences of individuals who were released to secure housing with those who were homeless. Having access to housing facilitates successful reentry by enabling the acquisition, accumulation, and deployment of social capital among ex-offenders. Social capital allows parolees’ to navigate social interactions and access jobs, transportation, and finances. The authors make a case for policies designed to secure housing for parolees following release.

Sex and Gender Traditionalism Among Conservative Protestants: Does the Difference Make a Difference?

Hurricane Andrew, which made landfall on August 24, 1992, was one of the most destructive hurricanes in American history, causing atypically high levels of psychological and physical health impairment among the resident population and especially among vulnerable groups. This article investigates whether maternal exposure to Hurricane Andrew during pregnancy increased the risk of dystocia (or dysfunctional labor) and infant delivery by cesarean section, the standard medical response to abnormal labor progression. We analyze 297,996 birth events in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida from 1992 to 1993 using propensity score methodology with stratification and nearest-neighbor matching algorithms. Results show that hurricane-exposed pregnant women were significantly more likely to experience stress-induced abnormal labor and cesarean delivery outcomes as compared to statistically matched comparison groups. The conclusion details the policy implications of our results, with particular attention to the importance of maternal prenatal care in the aftermath of disasters.

Trust in a “Fallen World”: The Case of Protestant Theological Conservatism

ABSTRACT Empirical research on the relationship between evangelical Protestants and the environment has generated a range of divergent findings. Measurements of evangelical Protestants vary greatly, as do the dependent environmental outcomes they are used to predict. Serious questions remain concerning when and how ‘evangelicals’ diverge from others in their environmental views and behaviors. Here, two foundational questions concerning the relationship between evangelical Protestants and the environment are explored. First, do religious effects differ based on how evangelicals are defined and measured? Second, does the relationship vary with the outcome variable used? Utilizing 14 dependent variables from two nationally representative data sets, among the measures of evangelical Protestantism, biblical literalism is the most important predictor of environmental outcomes. Negative religious effects are more pronounced when questions concern future environmental outcomes, but not current environmental concerns, and when outcomes are related to collective actions rather than individual ones.