Research and Public Policy

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 821-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard D. Eron
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
The Status ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Television Violence

Professor Hyman has reviewed for us all the research that has been done on the effects of corporal punishment in the schools.1 It is actually a meager record because of the reasons he has mentioned, many of them ethical, demographic, and religious. Whatever research has been published on the effects of corporal punishment, however, would indicate that although the practice is widespread in the United States, corporal punishment is not an effective means of discipline and has many harmful effects on the recipient of the punishment, both physical and psychological. Certainly there are enough data, which Dr Hyman has assembled over 20 years, to warrant the measures he advocates to get the message out to the public as well as to concerned professionals, and to formulate public policy aimed at eliminating corporal punishment in our schools as well as all other settings, including the home. And to those cynics who are skeptical about what influence psychological research findings can have on public policy, my own personal experience over 40 years with research on the effects of viewing television violence on aggressive behavior of children indicates that psychological and sociological research findings can have a profound influence. But changing behavior takes persistence and time. There are too many vested interests who favor the status quo and are threatened by change. There are also many professionals who very often have not done any research in the area, but consider themselves authorities, as well as lay persons who are convinced that the old way of doing things is the only right way.

The status of the profession: the role of PhD and masters programs in public policy education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Rubaii
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
The Status ◽  
Similarities And Differences

This chapter traces the evolution of graduate level public affairs education in the United States in terms of focus, mission, curriculum, institutional locus, and enrollments, with attention to similarities and differences at the masters and doctoral levels. It highlights the role of two key professional associations in the evolution of the field, NASPAA and APPAM. It also examines some persistent challenges regarding how broadly or narrowly to define the field, how clearly to differentiate among the related fields of study, and how to define and ensure quality.

scholarly journals Reactance or Rationalization? Predicting Public Responses to Government Policy

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 256-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devon Proudfoot ◽  
Aaron C. Kay
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Public Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
The Status ◽  
Social Psychological Research

The public’s attitudes toward new governmental laws and regulations are frequently at the forefront of public policy debates. Will the public react negatively to a newly implemented public safety regulation or embrace the change? Does the public’s initial favorability toward a proposed environmental policy indicate public opinion and compliance if such a law passed? Social psychological research directly explores these questions and provides insight into how specific policy designs and implementations can shape public response to new regulations. People may exhibit one of two contrasting responses to policies: reactance or rationalization. When a rule is imposed, individuals often display reactance—exaggerating the value of the behavior being banned or restricted. However, individuals also frequently show an opposite, perhaps less conspicuous, tendency—They rationalize government policy; that is, they diminish alternatives and actively justify why the imposed regulations are favorable. In experiments, two factors—individuals’ attentional focus and a policy’s apparent absoluteness—determine whether people react against or rationalize policies that seek to restrict their behavior. In other evidence, people’s motivation to defend the status quo may hinder—but also facilitate—support for public policy changes. The implications can guide public policy design and implementation.

The Abundant Society and World Order: Alternative Life-Style in the US

1979 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-252
Author(s):  
Steven H. Arnold ◽  
Denis Goulet
Keyword(s):  
Life Style ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
World Order ◽  
High Standard ◽  
The United States ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Life Styles ◽  
The Us ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
The Status

Since the present world order has been shaped and is being sustained by nation-state actors to preserve their domestic social structures and ensure a high standard of life to their peoples, a structural transformation of this world order will inevitably involve a reordering of these societies and the adoption of a different life-style by their peoples. This paper examines the possibility of such a transition happening in the most important and the most powerful of the actors, the United States of America. It examines the various domestic movements that challenge, both on the plane of thinking and on the plane of action, the myths, the value systems and the meaning systems from which the organizing principles and sanctions of the social institutions are derived. It finds that although the various groups projecting, and also living, alternative life-styles project certain values that resonate well with the American public at large, other vested interests tap these values to buttress the status quo, thereby pushing these groups to the fringes of society. It comes to the conclusion that certain events in the international arena may exert greater influence on the US society than domestic groups which plead for alternative life-styles.

Transboundary Environmental Disputes along the Canada-US Frontier: Revisiting the Efficacy of Applying the Rules of State Responsibility

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 333-391
Author(s):  
Kevin R. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Harm ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Environmental Disputes ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
The Status ◽  
No Harm Principle

SummaryThe efficacy of the rules of state responsibility for transboundary environmental harm can be questioned in light of recent disputes between Canada and the United States. Stemming from the “no-harm” principle, the obligation to prevent transboundary damage represents an integral part of international environmental law. It is reflected in a wide body of international treaties, mirroring state practice. It also forms the basis for international cooperation on transboundary and global environmental issues. This article examines how the rules of state responsibility regarding transboundary environmental damage are applied by two states that share a long contiguous border and a legacy of amicable relations. Upon examination, the limits of such rules are increasingly becoming evident in light of some recent disputes. Attempts to overlook the rules of state responsibility, paralleled with the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction, have undermined the status of the rules of state responsibility. Moreover, these phenomena highlight the difficulty of applying loosely defined international legal principles to practical situations where vested interests beyond those of the states involved are at play.

Child Sexual Abuse Hysteria

2020 ◽  
pp. 120-131
Author(s):  
Matthew Barry Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Day Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Care Child ◽  
Research Findings

This chapter reviews the phenomenon of “child sexual abuse hysteria” and the series of day care child sexual abuse prosecutions that occurred in the United States from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. The charges often involved highly implausible accusations. Suggestive questioning of children, prosecutorial overcharging, and a prevailing social hysteria contributed to a substantial number of innocent defendants being convicted. Psychological research findings informed legal appeals that contributed to the exoneration of more than 50 defendants. The cases presented highlight common features among many child sexual abuse hysteria prosecutions. Considered together, the manufactured and sociogenic nature of the prosecution’s evidence is apparent.

Real-World Applications of Attachment Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Rosabal-Coto ◽  
Naomi Quinn ◽  
Heidi Keller ◽  
Marga Vicedo ◽  
Nandita Chaudhary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Therapy Education

Attachment theory has its roots in an ethnocentric complex of ideas, longstanding in the United States, under the rubric of “intensive mothering.” Among these various approaches and programs, attachment theory has had an inordinate and wide-ranging influence on a wide range of professions concerned with children (family therapy, education, the legal system, and public policy, the medical profession, etc.) inside and outside the United States. This chapter looks critically at how attachment theory has been applied in a variety of contexts and discusses its influence on parenting. It examines the tension distortion that often results when research findings are translated into actual applications or programs, ignoring any particularities of cultural context. It describes how attachment theory has been used as the basis for child-rearing manuals and has influenced programs and policies more directly, to form legal decisions that affect families, as well as to develop public policy and programs. Specific attachment applications are reviewed and their validity questioned. Because child-rearing practices vary among cultures, the value systems that motivate these different practices must be recognized and accounted for when applications are developed and implemented. It concludes with a call for researchers to become proactive in rectifying misuses of attachment theory.

Multicultural Assessment of Personality and Psychopathology in the United States: Still Art, Not Yet Science, and Controversial

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Dana
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Therapeutic Assessment ◽  
Culturally Competent ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
The Status ◽  
Training Research ◽  
Multicultural Assessment ◽  
Personality Description

This paper describes the status of multicultural assessment training, research, and practice in the United States. Racism, politicization of issues, and demands for equity in assessment of psychopathology and personality description have created a climate of controversy. Some sources of bias provide an introduction to major assessment issues including service delivery, moderator variables, modifications of standard tests, development of culture-specific tests, personality theory and cultural/racial identity description, cultural formulations for psychiatric diagnosis, and use of findings, particularly in therapeutic assessment. An assessment-intervention model summarizes this paper and suggests dimensions that compel practitioners to ask questions meriting research attention and providing avenues for developments of culturally competent practice.

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