Further Mitigating the Academic-Law Enforcement Research Divide

Since the 1960s, there has been well-documented incidents of the scholar-practitioner tension within policing research. Though there has been maturation in the professional partnership over the years, hindrances persist. The current study aims to advance collaborative efforts between the academic and law enforcement communities. Data for the current study derived from written documents and interviews. Results indicate that one individual, who possesses the appreciative cultural and social capital, can successfully mobilize collaborative research agendas between academics and police officers. These forms of capital (i.e., cultural and social) offer a new outlook on negotiating the obstacles that inhibit successful research collaboration between both professions. For new policing scholars, who have minimal connections with law enforcement, findings in the current study may serve as a recipe of sorts to better understand the practitioners to identify in collaborative research endeavors.

Establishing Early Foundations to Promote Emotional Competence in Preschool Children

The primary objective of this paper is to design the framework for enhancing the emotional competence of preschool children by examining the perspective of parents’ involvement with children staying at home. The paper also discusses (1) the concept of social-emotional competence and its importance for preschool children; (2) the concept of emotional competence, happiness, home learning, and sharing among children; and (3) the role of parents in promoting emotional competence in preschool children. The paper examined the impact of home learning, happiness, and sharing habits on the emotional competence of preschool children by using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) 2.0. The respondents included 358 randomly selected parents in two districts of Punjab state of India who have children aged 3 to 6 years. The results showed that happiness and home learning had a significant positive impact on the emotional competence of preschool children. However, sharing habits did not impact emotional competence to a significant extent in the current study.

Modeling the Social Determinants of Official COVID-19 Reports in the Early Stages of the Pandemic

The goal of this paper is to examine the role of social factors in the formation of country reports related to COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic. To this end, a linked database of countries’ COVID-19 reports and five composite variables (which compress the information content of 162 preliminary selected socioeconomic indicators) is analyzed by using regression models with regional dummy interactions. The main findings not only reflect the importance of foreign travel restrictions and airport controls but also show that in Europe and Africa, more corrupt countries have reported significantly fewer cases and deaths than countries in other regions.

Determinants of COVID-19 Response Strategies in Selected African Countries

Using protection motivation theory as the theoretical framework, this study investigates the factors that motivate COVID-19 response in Ghana, Cameroon, Lesotho and Uganda. Through simple random and snowball sampling techniques, 651 participants were selected. The study collected data with the aid of a survey questionnaire, which was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show high perceived COVID-19 threats among the respondents. Consequently, response strategies, such as wearing of nose mask, hand sanitizer application and social distancing, which are perceived to be effective, have been adopted. It is evident that respondents’ demographics influence their COVID-19 threats and coping strategies. Nevertheless, the severity of COVID-19 impacts ( p = .00), efficacy of response strategies ( p = .00) and access to COVID-19 information ( p = .02) were the significant predictors of COVID-19 response, even though the efficacy of COVID-19 response strategies (beta = .55) emerged as the best predictor. It is imperative for African governments to prioritize COVID-19 education to control the spread of the pandemic and minimize its impact.

2020 Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology Membership Survey

The Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) was formed in 2005 by the merger of the Society for Applied Sociology and the Sociological Practice Association giving name recognition to both applied and clinical sociology, and a professional home for all sociological practitioners. In an effort to provide greater benefit and value to members, and to better meet the needs of its members, the AACS conducted a membership survey. On October 9, 2020, a membership survey was sent to AACS members to gather data. While the current survey results could have benefited from a greater response rate, the data gathered provides some degree of insight to members’ characteristics and attitudes toward the AACS. It is recommended that the AACS consider conducting future membership studies periodically to determine how to better meet member needs, and to estimate the value of AACS to its members.

Voices from the Street: What Homeless Youth Think We Need to Know

While social scientists have attempted to become informed about the needs and realities of marginalized youth, rarely do they include their voices in these discussions. Yet, research suggests that listening to young people results in the development of more successful programming. The authors examined 30 years of youth writing to understand what program participants think they need. Focusing on youth experiencing homelessness narratives regarding “leaving the street,” the article identifies three themes to guide government officials and program staff in program improvement: (1) the process of becoming ready to leave street life, (2) the factors that cause setbacks to occur, and (3) the recognition of young people’s need for independence and concerns that impact program effectiveness. Finally, using their words, we present suggestions for policy changes perceived to be most beneficial.

A Mixed-Methods Approach for Evaluating the Relationship between Sustainable Urban Renewal Projects and Environmental Perception and Action in Chengdu

This article draws from a mixed-methods approach to explore the relationship between sustainable urban renewal projects and the way Chinese urban residents perceive and act upon the environment. We examine sustainable urban renewal projects in the city of Chengdu, called Ecological Housing Estate projects. By collaborating with nongovernmental organizations and local officials, we used a two-step process, including collecting freelists and semi-structured interviews, to design a survey instrument used to interview 245 households in three Ecological Housing Estates and four Regular Housing Estates in Chengdu. Our findings demonstrate how recycling practices are reinforced by the Ecological Housing Estate projects but also explain why the rainwater collection aspect of the projects are not well matched with existing household water conservation practices. We argue that integrating mixed-methods research into the design of a sustainable urban renewal project will help mitigate the potential that projects will develop similar kinds of urban sustainable fixes.

Influence of Processes of Change on Stages of Change for Smoking Cessation

Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of death in the world, accounting for more than eight million casualties. To reduce the prevalence of smoking, government and nongovernment players use interventions to reduce smoking and/or incite smoking cessation. These interventions are based on behavior change models. Foremost among those models is the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change developed by Dr Prochaska. The transtheoretical model theorizes that smoking cessation is a stage-wise change. This change is enabled by a set of processes of change. The current study identifies the relationship between two basic constructs of the model: processes of change and stages of change. The study also identifies the relative importance of different processes of change in different stages of change. Data analysis from this study shows that different processes of change have a differing influence on various stages of change. Experiential processes have a significant influence on the precessation stages and lack significant influence on the postcessation stages. On the contrary, behavioral processes have a significant influence on the postcessation stages and lack significant influence on the precessation stages.

Does Neighborhood Cohesion Moderate the Association between Cancer and Psychological Distress?

The purpose of this study is to examine (a) the association between cancer diagnosis and psychological distress and (b) the extent to which this association is moderated by perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion. Data are drawn from the 2013 wave of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a nationally representative survey on broad health topics. We employ ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine the links between cancer, neighborhood cohesion, and distress. Findings reveal no statistically significant difference in psychological distress between women with breast and cervical cancer. However, neighborhood social cohesion does moderate the effect of cancer on distress. While perceptions of neighborhood cohesion do not affect levels of psychological distress among women with breast cancer, perceived connectedness with neighbors translates into significantly lower levels of mental distress among women diagnosed with cervical cancer.