Peter J. Leahy

Contextual and ideological dimensions of attitudes toward discretionary abortion.

This study examines the contextual and ideological dimensions of attitudes toward discretionary abortion using two national surveys. The abortion attitudes are dichotomized in terms of consistent opposition versus consistent support. Discriminant analysis, partial correlations, and stepwise regression procedures are used in the analysis. Findings indicate that education and attendance at religious services are the two most significant contextual dimensions and sexual permissiveness and fertility ideology are the two most significant ideological dimensions for explaining attitudes toward discretionary abortion. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Capacity-building needs of minority health nonprofits

This article reports on the results of a statewide assessment of the capacity-building needs of organizations that provide health services to ethnic minority groups in Ohio. The research addressed gaps in knowledge about the specific needs of these organizations for improved effectiveness and long-term sustainability. A telephone survey of 659 organizations, supplemented by focus groups with 37 participants in the states largest cities, indicated substantial need and interest in capacity-building technical assistance in areas such as revenue-generating activities, marketing and public relations, information technology training, program evaluation, and board leadership development. The limited ability of these organizations to pay for the needed assistance creates challenges for planning approaches to meet these vital needs.

The antiabortion movement and symbolic crusades: Reappraisal of a popular theory

The purpose of this paper is threefold: to shed empirical light on the nature and dynamics of the antiabortion movement, to extend or refine the theory of status movements or symbolic crusades, and to thereby contribute to our understanding of the genre of movements that seek disinterested reform. Three propositions central to the status politics/symbolic crusade thesis are examined: first, that “disinterested” reform movements or moral crusades are the outgrowth of conflict between the divergent lifestyles of antithetical cultural groups; second, that participants in such movements are status discontents seeking to defend the prestige of their lifestyle; and third, that the orientation and activity of such movements are primarily symbolic rather than instrumental. Data are derived from telephone interviews with leaders of the antiabortion movement, from participant observation, and from a variety of documents and secondary sources. The findings provide only partial support for the status politics/symbolic crusade thesis. It is concluded that disinterested reform movements, such as the antiabortion movement, can be best understood not so much as attempts to recoup lost prestige or status but as collective action aimed at controlling the nature and production of culture.

Social Interaction in a Heterogeneous Apartment: An Investigation of the Effects of Environment upon Behavior

Abstract This paper examines the relationship of propinquity (spatial proximity) to social interaction in a heterogeneous apartment, specifically, whether spatial propinquity or social homogeneity is the better explanation for resident interaction. We also examine the effects of other characteristics of the apartment design upon interaction patterns among apartment residents. Data are derived from in-depth structured personal interviews with residents of the apartment complex and are analyzed with standard sociometric techniques. Findings indicate that while propinquity and other design features may precipitate initial contact and interaction, this contact will remain superficial unless it is reinforced by shared social and demographic characteristics. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the literature about the effects of the man-made environment upon behavior.

The Making of a Black Slum-Ghetto: A Case Study of Neighborhood Transition:

This paper attempts to advance understanding of neighborhood transition by describing and analyzing the transformation of Clevelands Hough district from a white, middle-class neighborhood into a black slum-ghetto. The findings indicate that of the various factors precipitating the change, none was more important than several urban renewal programs and the profiteering activities of a number of realty companies and investors. These and other findings are discussed and analyzed in terms of their correspondence with the human ecological and power-conflict approaches to neighborhood and community transition. The analysis finds considerable support for the power-conflict approach and raises several questions regarding the assumptions and methodology of human ecology. Several policy implications of the findings and of applying the power-conflict approach are discussed.

Assessing the impact of a local housing intervention program

Little reported research exists on the assessment of net impact of the large variety of housing intervention programs which have proliferated in the last twenty years. This paper evaluates one such program, which constructs new housing in inner-city neighborhoods of a Midwestern city, using a quasi-experimental a-posteriori design. Data were collected by survey technique from four types of homeowners, three of which served as constructed control groups for the program treatment. Regression analyses indicate that the program had an effect upon neighborhood satisfaction and satisfaction with the home, but no effect upon desire to move or spending for remodelling. Since the design was weak on internal validity, a number of threats to the validity of the results are systematically tested and, for the most part, rejected. The results are also found to be comparable in direction to those of a national evaluation of the Urban Homestead Demonstration Program.