MRPI Recent Publications Page

Aims. To examine the effects of gender and acculturation on illicit drug use among the Mexican-origin population in California. Findings. Men had higher rates of use than women for every drug (men=46.3%, women=23.2%). Urban rates were higher than rural rates, for both women (urban 32.8% vs. rural=16.6%) and men (urban 57.0% vs. rural 36.8%). However, the combined effect of United States nativity and acculturation, on drug use, was greater among women (adjusted OR=29.3) than among men (adjusted OR=7.4). The effect of acculturation was stronger among urban, than among town or rural residents.

Acculturation and United States nativity are risk factors for illicit drug use among Mexican origin men and women. However, women have increased vulnerability compared with men. Findings reinforce the need for culturally based public health interventions.

This paper presents an integrative framework for etiological research about Hispanic adolescents drug use.
The integrative framework provides a logical, theoretically grounded approach for parents to social environments, and describes the contingencies of social psychological adaptation that occur within these environments.

The Mexican American Prevalence and Services Survey presents lifetime prevalence rates for 12 DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in a sample of 3012 adults of Mexican origin by place of residence and nativity, and compares these results with those of populations surveys conducted in the United States and Mexico.

Despite very low education and income levels, Mexican Americans had lower rates of lifetime psychiatric disorders compared with rates reported for the US population by the National Comorbidity Survey.

William A. Vega, Ph. D., Bohdan Kolody, Ph. D., Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M. D. Ph. D., Ethel Alderete, Ph. D., Ralph Catalano, Ph. D., Jorge Caraveo-Anduaga, M.D. 1998. "Lifetime Prevalence of DSM-III-R Psychiatric Disorders Among Urban and Rural Mexican Americans in California." Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 55:771-778.

Ralph Catalano, Ph. D., William A. Vega, Ph. D., Bohdan Kolody, Ph. D., Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M. D. Ph. D. (forthcoming). "Unemployment and Major Depression among Mexican-Americans." Social Science Quarterly.

Lambert, L. C. and Firestone, J. M. 1999. "Economic Context and Multiple Abuse Techniques" Violence Against Women: forthcoming.

Abstract

We use Ordinary Least Squares Regression to determine the factors associated with the use of multiple abuse techniques against targets who reported abuse. The data for this analysis come from the 1985 Physical Violence in American Families, Third ICPSR Release. Our findings suggest that assaults on women occur within a context of unequal power relationships. The different types of assault appear to occur in a context of unequal means of economic survival. Women who are able to at least equalize their occupational prestige with their partner suffer fewer types of abuse than women whose prestige is lower than their partner's and women from lower socioeconomic households.

By Prindeville Diane-M; New Mexico State University
Bretting John G; University of Texas at San Antonio, Downtown; "Environmental Justice and the Role of Indigenous Women Organizing their Communities.

Latina Gender Consciousness and the Environmental Movement in New Mexico.
A Publication of the Hispanic Research Center Working Papers Series; WP-10; February 1999

In recent years, a body of literature has developed around the concepts of environmental injustice and the emergence of a burgeoning social justice movement.

During the 1980s, community-based grassroots environmental organizations formed in opposition to the problem of pollution caused by local businesses. These new organizations, which are smaller in size than national ones, tend to represent lower-status and lower-educated individuals. It is estimated that between 6,000 and 10,000 local groups now exist in the United States. This grassroots mobilization has grown in response to local environmental threats and to the marginalization of working-class, indigenous community interests by the largely white, middle-class environmental movement.

Studies of the political behavior of women and working-class people in indigenous communities provide a rich source of information and reinforce the legitimacy of grassroots activism as a valid form of political expression. We present findings from our study of indigenous Chicana and Native American women who have mobilized their communities to promote environmental justice in New Mexico.

Prindeville Diane-M, Bretting John G; Indigeonus Women Activists and Political Participation: The Case of Environmental Justice Abstract

This article examines the political identity, demographics, and experience of 16 Latina and Native American women activists in environmental justice organizations in New Mexico. Based on qualitative interview data, a model of indigenous women's grassroots activism is developed. Additionally, alternative conceptualizations of feminism and environmentalism are presented from the perspective of indigenous women leaders. The findings are discussed and compared with similar studies in the literature of ethnic/race and gender politics. We conclude that there are important similarities between women active in grassroots community organizing. Differences in their ideologies and motivation for participating in politics, however, warrant the development of new conceptions of political activism, feminism, and environmentalism. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworth.com

Merrifield, J., ("The School Choice Wars,") (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education Press, 2001): endorsed by premier scholars Milton Friedman, Myron Lieberman, Seymour Sarason, Joe Bast, and John Pisciotta.

Merrifield, J., (Fall 2000). "The School Choice Choices," The Independent Review 5, #2. 189-207

Merrifield, J., (Spring 2000). "Groundwater Resources: The Transition from Capture to Allocation," Policy Studies Review 17, #1. 105-204

Allocation practices become deeply entrenched. Unless transition issues are carefully addressed, inefficient practices can survive far beyond the time they become obsolete. The key transition issues, and appropriate policies for each, are identified and discussed

Merrifield, J., (2000). "State Tax Revenue Determinants Revisited and Expenditure Determinants," Public Choice (Jan. 2000); 102:25-50.

A surprisingly large number of political and institutional variables explain a large amount of the variation in per capita state government expenditure and tax burden. Most of the political and institutional variables were largely ignored by previous studies.

The number of school districts per teacher labor market directly affects teacher salaries. By correcting the serious mistakes of previous studies, the econometric model produced a statistically significant estimate of additional districts' (more competition) impact on salaries.

Merrifield, J., (1999). "Implementation Issues: The Political Economy of Efficient Fishing," EcologicalEconomics.
Efficient fishing policies are not politically feasible until fisher homogeneity is increased significantly. Policies that will increase homogeneity are identified and discussed.

Merrifield, J., (1999). "Monopsony Power in the Market for Teachers," Journal of Labor Research 20. #3: 377-391.

Merrifield, J., (September, 1998). "Regional Policies for Gross Emitting Vehicles," Planning and Markets 1, #1: electronic, no page numbers.

A general discussion of policy options that formed the basis for the San Antonio Air Quality Policy Recommendations published by MRPI in May, 1999.

Shoho, A. R. (1999). Preface to "Twenty-five Years after Rodriguez: What have we learned?" By William S. Koski and Henry M. Levin). San Antonio, TX.

In 1973, the United States Supreme Court in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez handed down a landmark decision on public school financing that shaped the policy debate surrounding educational funding in Texas and around the nation. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court Justices found the Texas public school funding system based heavily on local property taxes was constitutional since it provided a minimum level of education to all students. Furthermore, the Court’s actions determined that education was not a fundamental right of the United States Constitution and that the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment was not applicable since wealth (or lack of it) was not found to be a sufficient justification worthy of protection under the Federal Constitution. As a result of this decision, an overwhelming majority of subsequent school finance cases have been referred to state courts where education under state constitutions is a fundamental right.

Shoho, A. R., Katims, D., Meza, P. (1998). "The Alienation of Special Education Teachers. ERS Spectrum, 16, 18-23.

Shoho, A. R., Katims, D., Wilks, D. (1997) "Perceptions of Alienation Among Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive and Resource Settings." The High School Journal, 81, 28-36.

Recent Publications of the METROPOLITAN RESEARCH AND POLICY INSTITUTE

Recent Publications of the
METROPOLITAN RESEARCH AND POLICY INSTITUTE