One of the most consistent and widely discussed findings in research on citizens' attitudes toward the police is that African‐American citizens view the police less favorably than…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the most consistent and widely discussed findings in research on citizens' attitudes toward the police is that African‐American citizens view the police less favorably than do white citizens. Frank and his colleagues, however, found that in Detroit African‐American residents held more favorable views of the police than did white residents. They suggested that as a result of “ethno‐racial political transitions” occurring in large cities attitudes toward the police of both African‐American and white residents may have changed. The current study seeks to examine this issue in Washington, DC which has undergone similar demographic and political changes.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for the current study were taken from a 1998 survey of households in 12 US cities conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Findings
The results suggest that, although Washington, DC has undergone an “ethno‐racial political transition”, African‐American residents reported less satisfaction with the police than did white residents.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited by cross‐sectional data and the unique nature of politics and policing in Washington, DC. Future research using longitudinal data should consider these issues in other “transitioned” cities.
Originality/value
Examines African‐American and white citizens' attitudes toward police in Washington, DC.
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Emily Walton and Denise L. Anthony
Racial and ethnic minorities utilize less healthcare than their similarly situated white counterparts in the United States, resulting in speculation that these actions may stem in…
Abstract
Racial and ethnic minorities utilize less healthcare than their similarly situated white counterparts in the United States, resulting in speculation that these actions may stem in part from less desire for care. In order to adequately understand the role of care-seeking for racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, we must fully and systematically consider the complex set of social factors that influence healthcare seeking and use.
Data for this study come from a 2005 national survey of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries (N = 2,138). We examine racial and ethnic variation in intentions to seek care, grounding our analyses in the behavioral model of healthcare utilization. Our analysis consists of a series of nested multivariate logistic regression models that follow the sequencing of the behavioral model while including additional social factors.
We find that Latino, Black, and Native American older adults express greater preferences for seeking healthcare compared to whites. Worrying about one’s health, having skepticism toward doctors in general, and living in a small city rather than a Metropolitan Area, but not health need, socioeconomic status, or healthcare system characteristics, explain some of the racial and ethnic variation in care-seeking preferences. Overall, we show that even after comprehensively accounting for factors known to influence disparities in utilization, elderly racial and ethnic minorities express greater desire to seek care than whites.
We suggest that future research examine social factors such as unmeasured wealth differences, cultural frameworks, and role identities in healthcare interactions in order to understand differences in care-seeking and, importantly, the relationship between care-seeking and disparities in utilization.
This study represents a systematic analysis of the ways individual, social, and structural context may account for racial and ethnic differences in seeking medical care. We build on healthcare seeking literature by including more comprehensive measures of social relationships, healthcare and system-level characteristics, and exploring a wide variety of health beliefs and expectations. Further, our study investigates care seeking among multiple understudied racial and ethnic groups. We find that racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to say they would seek healthcare than whites, suggesting that guidelines promoting the elicitation and understanding of patient preferences in the context of the clinical interaction is an important step toward reducing utilization disparities. These findings also underscore the notion that health policy should go further to address the broader social factors relating to care-seeking in the first place.
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The purpose of this article is to examine whether officer uniform color influences impressions the public forms about the character of police officers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to examine whether officer uniform color influences impressions the public forms about the character of police officers.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey using digitally manipulated photographic prompts was used to examine how various levels of officer race, posture, and uniform color as well as a number of other experiential, attitudinal and demographic variables influenced subjects' impressions of officers' character on factor scores constructed from a set of semantic differential scales.
Findings
Officer uniform color influences impression formation, but not in the expected manner. Black uniforms elicited more positive impressions of officers than did lighter uniforms.
Research limitations/implications
Convenience sample was drawn from university undergraduates.
Practical implications
Darker uniforms for police may enhance favorable character impressions formed by some sectors of the public.
Originality/value
The research instrument improves measurement validity over prior methods while maintaining a precise experimental control. Findings contradict the conclusions of prior research on public perceptions of darker vs lighter police uniforms.
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Joshua L. Kenna and Dennis Mathew Stevenson
Geography is an exciting discipline involving the interrogation of place, space, and mobility. Film is too powerful and assessable tool that engages audiences. Therefore, this…
Abstract
Purpose
Geography is an exciting discipline involving the interrogation of place, space, and mobility. Film is too powerful and assessable tool that engages audiences. Therefore, this article builds a rationale for utilizing film in the teaching of geography. Particularly geographic mobility, which is the study of spatial patterns of movement and viewing them with positive or negative social meaning and as embedded within structures of power.
Design/methodology/approach
This is not a research paper so there is no methodology to detail.
Findings
This is not a research paper so there are no findings to detail.
Originality/value
The article introduces three films (Selma, Hidden Figures, and The Green Book) and describes how they can be used to enrich the teaching of geographic mobility.
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Citizens' opinions of the police are important indicators of how well the police are performing their duties and can help to shape police practice as well as public policy…
Abstract
Purpose
Citizens' opinions of the police are important indicators of how well the police are performing their duties and can help to shape police practice as well as public policy. However, little research exists in Canada on people's opinions of the police. This paper aims to provide a more robust understanding of citizen attitudes toward the police in Canada by examining a variety of factors that have been deemed important in shaping people's attitudes in other countries (predominantly from research conducted in the USA).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilizes path analysis to decompose and better understand the relationships between sociodemographic/non‐sociodemographic variables and attitudes toward the police. Data were drawn from the 1999 General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada. A random sample of Canadians was surveyed regarding victimization, personal safety and attitudes toward the criminal justice system.
Findings
Several distinct groups of people (i.e. young people, visible minorities, males, those who have experienced criminal victimization, those dissatisfied with their safety and those who perceive their neighborhoods as being high in crime) emerged as having negative views toward the police, which is consistent with much of the research conducted in the USA.
Originality/value
Police practice should more closely resemble the principles inherent in community policing if certain groups' negative views of the police are to be improved. This can be partly accomplished by the police being more inclusive of diverse opinions in the community and actively seeking out this opinion in order to better inform policing practices and strategies.
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Allison Janeice Morgan and Eileen M. Trauth
The purpose of this paper is to consider the effect of demographic differences on the motivations and abilities of individuals with diabetes in their search for health information…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the effect of demographic differences on the motivations and abilities of individuals with diabetes in their search for health information online. Using data gathered from a qualitative study of 30 individuals, the paper examined instances of user-based health motivation and abilities using the lens of demographic differences to identify the influence on health information searching and potential health outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilized an interpretive, mixed methodology research design. The paper was composed of a user “experience” that served as a critical incident to the paper, where each participant was prompted to do online searching for health and nutrition information. This was followed by open-ended interviews to gain a deeper understanding of each participants’ online searching experience.
Findings
The theoretical model used was the Integrated Model of E-Health Use by Dutta-Bergman (2006) which frames the influence of group and individual-level differences on health information search and e-health use and subsequently health outcomes. The paper found that experiences among diabetic patients who have an assumed intrinsic motivation to search have differential searching behaviors due to a number of factors including access to health care provider or resources, searching success, and significant people in the individuals’ lives. Assumptions about race and socio-economic status are challenged because of the geographic location in which people live and work.
Research limitations/implications
This research on intersectionality and the health information consumer contributes to a better understanding of health information searching behavior. Implications from this research for practice are that search technology in the domain of health should be made customizable, that a variety of user perspectives should be incorporated in the e-health systems development process, and that a comprehensive view of the user in system development should be utilized. In addition, those with diabetes or other chronic illnesses should seek out a variety of resources to enhance their health outcomes.
Originality/value
The examination constitutes one of the few investigations into health information consumer characteristics that might influence the person-technology-information interaction in the context of health care provision. This type of examination into health care consumer characteristics and information behavior is necessary because it has bearing on the success of health care information systems implementation and impact.
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Fariss‐Terry Mousa and David J. Lemak
This paper aims to discuss the work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and how it is still a fundamental part of business in the twenty‐first century. It is also proposed that the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and how it is still a fundamental part of business in the twenty‐first century. It is also proposed that the system developed by the Gilbreths could be added as a supplement, or even considered as a replacement to certain modern process management systems.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology is used and the Gilbreths' system as described in their original works are compared and contrasted with modern process management systems appearing in contemporary literature.
Findings
It is found that most modern process management systems are based on the work of the Gilbreths and other seminal thinkers. However, it is suggested that by paying more attention to the human element, the Gilbreths might have developed a more comprehensive system in comparison with current ones.
Originality/value
This paper attempts to reemphasize the role and importance of Frank and Lillian's work as foundational to modern process management systems and to suggest that more attention needs to be given to the human interface in such systems.
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Frank S. Perri and Richard G. Brody
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a financial fraud practice, known as affinity fraud, relies on building trust with victims based on shared affiliations or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a financial fraud practice, known as affinity fraud, relies on building trust with victims based on shared affiliations or characteristics such as age, race, religion, ethnicity or professional designations, for the purpose of exploiting the trust factor for financial advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
Sources of information consisted of scholarly articles and articles retrieved from the web.
Findings
Findings suggest that these fraud offenders rely on a myriad of persuasion techniques to overcome offender skepticism coupled with victims engaging in a psychological concept known as projection bias to evaluate the credibility of these offenders. These factors create a negative synergy that dilutes the perceived need for due diligence normally required prior to engaging in securities transactions. In addition, these offenders display a predatory quality, debunking the myth that fraud offenders exhibit a homogenous crime group behavioral profile.
Practical implications
Social institutions that include both for profit and not for profit should consider evaluating their interactions with those who share similar characteristics and affiliations that attempt to offer goods or services by considering some of the factors contained within this article that may dilute due diligence protocol.
Originality/value
This paper serves to alert and educate anti‐fraud professionals, law enforcement and policy makers of a predatory fraud practice that targets organizations exploiting the inherent trust that these organizations rely upon.
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Frank S. Perri and Richard G. Brody
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a financial fraud practice, known as affinity fraud, relies on building trust with victims based on shared affiliations or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a financial fraud practice, known as affinity fraud, relies on building trust with victims based on shared affiliations or characteristics such as age, race, religion, ethnicity or professional designations, for the purpose of exploiting the trust factor for financial advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
Sources of information consisted of scholarly articles and articles retrieved from the web.
Findings
Findings suggest that these fraud offenders rely on myriad persuasion techniques to overcome offender skepticism coupled with victims engaging in a psychological concept known as projection bias to evaluate the credibility of these offenders. These factors create a negative synergy that dilutes the perceived need for due diligence normally required prior to engaging in securities transactions. In addition, these offenders display a predatory quality. debunking the myth that fraud offenders exhibit a homogenous crime group behavioral profile.
Practical implications
Social institutions that include both for profit and not for profit should consider evaluating their interactions with those who share similar characteristics and affiliations that attempt to offer goods or services by considering some of the factors contained within this paper that may dilute due diligence protocol.
Originality/value
This paper serves to alert and educate anti‐fraud professionals, law enforcement and policy makers of a predatory fraud practice that targets organizations exploiting the inherent trust upon which these organizations rely.
Details
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether indirect police contacts through observational learning models impact students’ trust in the police and their perceptions of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether indirect police contacts through observational learning models impact students’ trust in the police and their perceptions of police bias.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey at two public universities in the mid-western and southern regions of the USA (921 out of 1,089 responses were retained for this study). The empirical analysis relied on a principle component factor analysis and a multivariate regression analysis.
Findings
Results show that three observational learning models (live, verbal, and symbolic) significantly influence perceptions of the police. In particular, the symbolic model is significant regardless of students’ direct and indirect contact experiences with the police.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine the modeling effects on attitudes toward the police applying the classic social learning theory developed by Albert Bandura. The results highlight the importance of indirect police contact experiences in shaping young citizens’ perceptions of the police.