Rubén O. Martinez

Precursors and Consequences of Membership in Youth Gangs

Explanations of gang membership were studied in a population of 11,000 secondary school students. Lower self-esteem, perceived academic ability, psychosocial health, and bonds with institutions appeared to precede gang membership (selection model). Greater drug use, greater delinquency, greater fear of harm, and being armed were precursors and consequences of gang membership (facilitation and selection models). “Wannabes” were partway between nonmembers and members. Findings were consistent with gang membership as a result of lack of social integration.

Race, Gender and Self-Esteem among Youth.

This study examines the impact of race and gender on self-esteem among youth. Comparisons of the different groups on private (satisfaction with self) and public (intelligence) domain aspects of self-esteem indicate that patterns differ across race and gender. In general, minorities tend to have lower levels of self-esteem than whites on public domain traits, but this pattern does not hold for private domain traits, with blacks and Chicanos having levels greater than those of whites. The impact of gender also differs across the groups, with black, Native American, and Asian women having higher levels of self-esteem on public domain traits than their male counterparts.

MAJORITY AND MINORITY FACULTY PERCEPTIONS IN ACADEME

This paper examines majority (white) and minority faculty perceptions in academe. It focuses on two general areas of institutional activity: employment and workplace issues, and minority affairs. The data examined in this paper are from a study of faculty at the University of Colorado (CU) system. The faculty sample in this study consisted of 73 minority faculty and 122 majority faculty. The findings reported in this paper show that minority faculty are dissatisfied with certain contexts within the post-secondary education institution, and minority faculty feel excluded from others. Discussion in this paper examines the interaction of status (majority vs. minority) and gender with perceptions of the postsecondary education institution.

Assessing cultural competence at a local hospital system in the United States.

Cultural competence in health care has come to the forefront with the changing demographics in the United States. Standards have been created by the Office of Minority Health for culturally appropriate health care. This article presents the findings of one hospital systems cultural competency assessment. Employee surveys and patient and physician focus groups were conducted to gain insight into cultural differences and challenges encountered in this system. Statistically significant effects of ethnicity and gender on language skills and awareness, as well as differences in awareness and knowledge by the respondents employment position, were found. Patient concerns included access to care and respect from staff. The need for cross-cultural education and training for all health care delivery personnel was reinforced. Cultural competency will not be achieved if education, attention to diversity, trained interpreters, and the understanding that social factors have a profound influence on health and health outcomes are not considered.

Herd management and social variables associated with bulk tank somatic cell count in dairy herds in the eastern United States

The ability to reduce somatic cell counts (SCC) and improve milk quality depends on the effective and consistent application of established mastitis control practices. The US dairy industry continues to rely more on nonfamily labor to perform critical tasks to maintain milk quality. Thus, it is important to understand dairy producer attitudes and beliefs relative to management practices, as well as employee performance, to advance milk quality within the changing structure of the dairy industry. To assess the adoption rate of mastitis control practices in United States dairy herds, as well as assess social variables, including attitudes toward employees relative to mastitis control, a survey was sent to 1,700 dairy farms in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida in January and February of 2013. The survey included questions related to 7 major areas: sociodemographics and farm characteristics, milking proficiency, milking systems, cow environment, infected cow monitoring and treatment, farm labor, and attitudes toward mastitis and related antimicrobial use. The overall response rate was 41% (21% in Florida, 39% in Michigan, and 45% in Pennsylvania). Herd size ranged from 9 to 5,800 cows. Self-reported 3-mo geometric mean bulk tank SCC (BTSCC) for all states was 194,000 cells/mL. Multivariate analysis determined that proven mastitis control practices such as the use of internal teat sealants and blanket dry cow therapy, and not using water during udder preparation before milking, were associated with lower BTSCC. Additionally, farmer and manager beliefs and attitudes, including the perception of mastitis problems and the threshold of concern if BTSCC is above 300,000 cells/mL, were associated with BTSCC. Ensuring strict compliance with milking protocols, giving employees a financial or other penalty if BTSCC increased, and a perceived importance of reducing labor costs were negatively associated with BTSCC in farms with nonfamily employees. These findings highlight the need for a comprehensive approach to managing mastitis, one that includes the human dimensions of management to maintain the practice of scientifically validated mastitis control practices.

Globalization and the social sciences

Continuing the critique of Western social scientific thought set in motion in the 1960s postmodem thinkers of this decade have promoted descriptions of the uniqueness and complexity of human life by focusing on identities and group affiliations (See Bolough and Mell, 1994; Mato, 1996; Seidman, 1991; Sztompka, 1979; Zavarazdeh and Morton, 1994). The critique of logical positivism in the social sciences, which sought general truths about the social world, ultimately resulted in a discourse that rejected, to use the language of postmodem thinkers, ton&zing and essentializing master narratives of the dominant canon (Martinez, 1991). Recently, Daniel Bell, one of the earliest students of postindustrial society, characterized the situation in this way:

Cultural lag: A new challenge for mastitis control on dairy farms in the United States

Recent changes in the US dairy industry include increases in herd size and the proportion of milk that is produced by large herds. These changes have been accompanied by an increased reliance on hired employees and an increasing role of immigrant labor to perform critical tasks such as milking cows. Thus, there is a growing need for training and education programs for dairy employees because many employees lack previous dairy experience and employee turnover rates are problematic on many farms. Although extension programs have played an important role in the education and support of dairy producers and allied professionals in attaining improved milk quality, dairy employees have limited access to educational programs. Additionally, metrics to assess employee learning are not validated and the ability to sustain work-related behavioral change has not been well described. In this article, we propose a model that may further our understanding of communication and cultural barriers between dairy managers and employees, based on a demonstration project in 12 Michigan dairy herds. As part of this demonstration, a pilot survey was tested to assess the management culture on dairy farms. Results from this survey found that only 23% of employees across all herds were able to meet with farm management on a regular basis, 36% of employees did not know somatic cell count goals for the farm for which they worked, and 71% of employees stated they primarily received training on milking protocols by other employees or that they learned on their own. Latino employees were more likely to not know farm goals or receive primary training on milking protocols from other employees or on their own compared with their English-speaking counterparts. The survey information, along with input from focus group discussions with participating dairy producers, veterinarians, and employees, suggests that extension needs to build capacity for on-farm training and education for employees to support their engagement within dairy operations.

Physician-assisted suicide attitudes of older Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white adults: does ethnicity make a difference?

Little is known about attitudes toward physician‐assisted suicide (PAS) in various ethnic groups. This study compares attitudes held by older Mexican Americans and non‐Hispanic whites and examines subject characteristics that may influence their responses. A convenience sample of 100 older Mexican Americans and 108 non‐Hispanic whites (n=208) aged 60 to 89 were recruited from four primary care community‐based practice sites in San Antonio, Texas. Interview items measured attitudes toward PAS, cognitive status, functional status, and religiosity.

A Latino Scorecard for Higher Education: A Focus on Texas Universities

A Latino scorecard is presented for higher education institutions using an index of eight measures for resources, effectiveness, diversity, equity, affordability, and access. It is applied to public 4-year institutions in Texas and shows that institutions located in South Texas and those with higher resources do better relative to Latino students. The scorecard can inform Latino parents on how institutions perform relative to Latinos and provide objective information on performance to colleges and universities to institutions.

Ethics Review and the Minority Ethnographer

This article examines some of the implications of the current human subjects regulatory landscape for conducting “high-risk” ethnographic research. We synthesize a classical Weberian framework with recent sociological literature on bureaucratic hybridization to theorize on this aspect of the academy. This perspective frames an autoethnographic case study on administrative dynamics at a large, public university to illustrate how certain racialized biases can hinder a research agenda. Broader issues in the current institutional review board (IRB) reform process contextualize this study on the potential for the invalidation of certain forms of criminological ethnography by pretenured minority scholars. To the extent that such experiences are common among untenured minority ethnographers, this article addresses racialized bias at the institutional, ideological, and individual levels. These forces can stratify even the most egalitarian of institutions along race–ethnic lines, impacting the production and legitimation of knowledge. We make recommendations to young academics engaging in high-risk research with human subjects and call for a more systematic investigation of researchers’ experiences with the IRB.