Parental perceptions of neighborhood effects in Latino comunas: the script of "the delinquent" in understanding drug use, violence, and social disorganization

OBJECTIVES: To obtain rich information about how adult Latinos living in high-poverty/high-drug use neighborhoods perceive and negotiate their environment. METHODS: In 2008, thirteen adult caregivers in Santiago, Chile were interviewed with open-ended questions to ascertain beliefs about neighborhood effects and drug use. ANALYSIS: Inductive analysis was used to develop the codebook/identify trends. DISCUSSION: Residents externalized their understanding of drug use and misuse by invoking the concept of delinquent youth. A typology of their perceptions is offered. Learning more about residents’ circumstances may help focus on needs-based interventions. More research with Latino neighborhoods is needed for culturally-competent models of interventions.The present study received support from National Hispanic Science Network Fellows Summer grant awarded to the lead author. The study was also partially supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01:DA021181) and the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Research and Training Center, University of Michigan. (National Hispanic Science Network; R01:DA021181 - National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse; Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Research and Training Center, University of Michigan

Weaving Sustainability, Carving Identity: An Exploration of Artisan Livelihood in Oaxaca, Mexico

The southwestern region of Mexico is world known for its beautiful folk art that is high in quality and variety, and which derives from ancient indigenous traditions. Weaving and woodcarving are such pre-Hispanic traditions that have taught artesanos to care for the gifts that nature can provide. However amidst a global environmental crisis and a rise in socioeconomic barriers to indigenous community development, artesanos have had to find ways to uplift their families from poverty resulting in the exploitation of primary resources. This ethnographic exploration of two aspects of folk art production in Oaxaca, Mexico uncovers the ways in which artesanos understand the cultural and environmental sustainability surrounding artisan livelihood in a growing globalized neoliberal market. I focused on analyzing how these artisans view themselves and their role in preserving this threatened way of life; this includes finding a market for their craft, balancing tradition and innovation, utilizing traditional community systems of organizing, and maintaining indigenous spiritual values of coexistance with their surrounding environment. Overall, this projects hopes to illuminate how indigenous artisanal practices have developed in relationship to their rural environmental contexts

Seven views on approximate convexity and the geometry of K-spaces

As in Hokusai's series of paintings "Thirty six views of mount Fuji" in which mount Fuji's is sometimes scarcely visible, the central topic of this paper is the geometry of $K$-spaces although in some of the seven views presented $K$-spaces are not easily visible. We study the interplay between the behaviour of approximately convex (and approximately affine) functions on the unit ball of a Banach space and the geometry of Banach K-spaces.Comment: 2 figure

A study of cross cultural and communication barriers that exist when trying to conduct business between U.S. based companies and South America

In today\u27s business environment, companies face difficulty growing their market share due to a highly competitive business environment. This competitive environment is attributed to globalization, which has reduced borders and allowed free flow of merchandise from one country to another. Globalization creates more competition for companies making it difficult to continuously grow and compete at a high level. Therefore, companies looking to achieve the desired growth have been forced to devise different strategies. These strategies include expansions abroad into international markets. An example can be seen with companies based in the United States looking to South America in hopes of gaining a competitive edge. Companies that choose South America can see the numerous advantages to operating in the region, appearing as an attractive destination for their international endeavors. Amongst the many advantages to operating in the region, some of the most apparent include a highly skilled population, reduced labor costs, favorable tax regulations, and overall reduction in operating costs. From a financial standpoint, favorable numbers is one of the primary determinants for companies that select South America for their expansion. Although it is important that the financials makes sense, another aspect that should be looked at with equal importance is the culture. Culture can have a large impact on employees and companies when trying to expand into a region like South America, this is heavily driven by deep rooted traditions and culture. This study took a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews to gain a better understanding of best practices taken by South American companies when conducting business with foreign, United States based companies. The result from the interviews are intended to raise awareness for the need to improve cross cultural awareness for companies based in the United States, as they attempt to become multinational corporations. Furthermore, this study is intended to raise the concern for the improvement of cross cultural training, and the findings considered during development of cross cultural training, development, and coaching programs. Collectively, the strategies and tools developed using this study will enhance cultural knowledge and assist in successful completion of employees sent on international assignments

Sexual intercourse among adolescents in Santiago, Chile: a study of individual and parenting factors

OBJECTIVE: To examine a range of individual, parenting, and family factors associated with sexual intercourse among a community sample of youth and their families in Santiago, Chile. METHODS: Data were taken from the first wave of the Santiago Longitudinal Study conducted in January 2008–November 2009. Participants were 766 youth (mean age = 14.03 years, 51% male) from municipalities of low-to mid-socioeconomic status. Variables included emotional and behavioral subscales from the Child Behavior Checklist’s Youth Self Report, parental monitoring, family involvement, parental control and autonomy, relationship with each parent, and sexual activity. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine the odds of sexual intercourse initiation. RESULTS: Seventy (9.14%) youth reported having had sex in their lifetime; the average age of first sexual intercourse among this group was 13.5 years (Standard Deviation [SD] = 1.74) for males and 14.08 (SD = 1.40) for females. Having sex was inversely associated with withdrawn-depressed symptoms (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.84, Confidence Interval [CI] = 0.72–0.97), but positively associated with somatic complaints (OR = 1.20, CI = 1.04–1.38) and rule breaking behavior (OR = 1.21, CI = 1.08–1.36), after adjusting for demographic and other individual and parenting variables. The majority (80%) of the youth who had had sex reported using protection at the time of last intercourse. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the role that mental health problems—some of them not commonly associated with onset of sexual activity—may play in a youth’s decision to have sex. The potential protective effects of several parenting and family characteristics disappeared with youth age and youth behavioral problems.R01 HD033487 - NICHD NIH HHS; R01 DA021181 - NIDA NIH HHS; DA021181 - NIDA NIH HH