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Drawing primarily on in-depth-interviews with 1.5-generation Brazilian immigrants who migrated to Massachusetts during the 1980s and 90s, this paper examines how race, class, and (il)legality shapes their post-schooling transitions and work experiences. While some scholars argue that illegality can become a master status during adulthood, I analyze how situational whiteness, middle class roots, and (il)legality work together to shape 1.5-generation Brazilians' post-schooling lives in important ways. I find that their positions of power in race and class hierarchies gives them access to important financial resources and networks that can help them overcome barriers to mobility due to illegality. Their networks and financial resources can also help them avoid downward trajectories when they face challenging life events, such as teen pregnancy, dropping out of high school, or deportation. Furthermore, although few 1.5- generation Brazilians identify as white, many can pass as white, at least in certain situations, leading them to report that their everyday interactions in white spaces, including work contexts, are easier for them than for their darker-skinned peers. Finally, many 1.5-generation Brazilians, who were only able to migrate on tourist visas and overstay because of their middle class roots, have been able to adjust their status to become lawful permanent residents and citizens - opening up important education and work opportunities for them in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature and quality of partnerships between university-based researchers and criminal justice practitioners (i.e., law enforcement) is a welcomed union theoretically, however in practice there is notable tension. The competing paradigms of education and research for the police as opposed to education and research on the police are examined using data from two studiesa sample of 192 Pennsylvania police officers and a Massachusetts police department needs assessment. Social policy implications for criminal justice education will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the centrality of families impacted by DACA to the ideals and practices of a sanctuary movement in Western Massachusetts. Movement members provids sanctuary to undocumented immigrants, advocate for immigration reform, manage an immigrant hotline, and partake in community aid and deportation resistance. This paper shows how the sanctuary movement offers a space for the articulation of family desires and mobilizes resources to materialize these desires. Existing literature emphasizes the historically transnational and divided nature of immigrant families. Building on this research, my paper shows that sanctuary movements revolutionize family arrangements among the DACA community by creating sanctuaries that allow families to stay together. Using meeting- and militant-ethnography and indepth interviews, I argue that for the DACA community the realms of family life and political life mediate each other profoundly. Having a (nuclear) family offers undocumented immigrants a measure of recognition as a political subject. Mixedstatus families (especially those with DACA and USborn children) occupy a central role in the realm of undocumented immigrant community activism, precisely because those families most closely approximate the ideal of the American nuclear family ensconced by a white picket fence. Movement participants collectively construct a shared imaginary of family life. It is through these real and imagined equivalences in the emotions around family life that the movement builds bonds of affinity between its DACA activists and citizen allies and makes demands for the equal treatment of immigrant populations by the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the influences of wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) on social interaction and community in coffee shops. Drawing on observations of users in four paid and free Wi-Fi cafés in Boston and Seattle, this paper addresses the question of whether Wi-Fi access affords sociability or isolation. We identify two distinct types of users and suggest that they self-select for free vs. paid access. While one user type is more likely to support public social interaction, Wi-Fi cafés employ strategies to reduce the affordance of public community. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EXHAUSTED: Nursing at Boston MedicalTom JuravichABSTRACTThis paper examines the changing work lives of operating room nurses in Boston after the merger of their public hospital with another facility. It is based on extensive in-depth interviews with nursing staff and union officials. To maximize revenue, the newly formed Boston Medical Center has a significantly higher utilization of their operating rooms, yet few if any adjustments have been made in the staffing schedules of nurses. This has led to tremendous pressure for overtime past normal shifts, and a demand for nurses that far exceeds supply. All of this is taking place in a context where nurses are already required to work weekend and off-shift hours. At the same time, the hospital has increasingly relied on surgical techs and traveling nurses in its operating rooms, which has only intensified the work for the remaining staff nurses. This paper explores the conflict between these changing demands and the culture of caring that is central to the nursing profession, and why some nurses are choosing to leave their profession. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes aspects of the conceptual context and the background for our current study of the identity perception Brazilian immigrant women in the Boston, MA area have of themselves. More specifically, the current, larger study will explore how, within the context of globalization, Brazilian women?s notions of gender, race, ethnicity, nation, class and immigrant status are negotiated, combined, and recombined and how the perception and negotiation of identity, as immigrants, affect Brazilian women?s ideas about their quality of life. In this paper, because of time and space constraints, we look at specific components of the conceptual context for our work, we highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the pioneering work on Brazilians in the Boston area, we describe several themes of globalization relevant to our research questions on identity and belonging and, finally, we report here on some preliminary findings from the interviews that we have begun to conduct with Brazilian women in the Boston area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the emergence of a local blue-green coalition in the Boston area around issues of environmental health. Using social movement theory, I argue that a frame analysis offers several key insights into the process of coalition formation. In particular, the process of forming a coalitional frame by seeking to bridge ideological divides is central to the development of this blue-green coalition, the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow. Based on a shared experience of exposure to health risks from toxic substances, labor and environmental groups have worked together to construct a collective identity frame based on preventing future health risks from hazardous substances. I present in this paper the results of a two-year qualitative study on the development of the Alliance and its efforts to involve labor organizations in the coalition. The Alliance has been successful in garnering support from several unions, including the state AFL-CIO. By examining the strategies used in forming this local coalition, these findings can provide a model for future efforts at building blue-green coalitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a paper highlighting the challenges of mobile access to online reviews and price comparison in Japan. The paper was presented at the 61st International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference, held at Boston, Massachusetts, on May 29, 2011. It explores the objective of the Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) project, which was launched in 2006, with a leading principle that customers must have freedom, and not be slaves to vendors.

This case study identifies the factors that promoted the mobilization and de-escalation of the paid family leave campaign in Massachusetts from 1998 - 2002. A second aim of this paper is to analyze the political process and conditions as it relates to social movement organizations. This research is significant to social movement studies and policy studies because it highlights the elements, processes, and resources that influence and foster meaningful and effective coalition building, and the relationships between mobilization groups and larger systems. This paper provides a unique exploration of paid family leave organizing and reveals the problems that are specific to mobilization for this issue. Applying social movement theory and aspects of Kingdon's multiple streams approach, this research merges the perspectives of policy studies and social movement theory in a holistic approach for understanding the emergence and decline of economic social policy campaigns. This case study applies interview, document and statistical data. Semi-structured interview participants include members of the legislature, advocacy groups, and opposition groups. Documents analyzed consist of internal memos from advocacy and opposition groups, meeting minutes, newspaper coverage, written legislative testimony and other media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that based on the state's constitution same-sex couples could not be denied the right to a civil marriage. To date, Massachusetts remains the only state in the nation to offer legal marriage to same-sex couples. This paper presents findings of a mixed-method study that seeks to understand the impact of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision in Goodridge on the attitudes and experiences of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) individuals in the greater Boston area. More specifically, it asks in what ways, if any, the courts decision and the legalization of same-sex marriage created a new legal consciousness among LGBT individuals. Through the use of surveys with over 200 individuals and in-depth interviews with 40 LGB individuals, this paper offers insight into LGB individuals perceptions of the impact of legalized marriage, and their motivations for political participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avenues to Organizing Undocumented Workers:Guatemalan Mayans in Fish Processing in New Bedford, MATom JuravichProfessor and DirectorLabor CenterUniversity of Massachusetts Amherstjuravich@lrrc.umass.eduABSTRACTThis paper explore avenues for union organizing of undocumented Guatemalan workers employed in the fish processing industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Based on ethnographic research this paper documents the abuses suffered by the almost 3,000 workers. Yet, despite these extremely difficult working conditions, there has been little interest in forming unions, despite the high level of organizing among some immigrant populations. This paper explores both the life cycle of immigrant workers and other obstacles to union organizing among these workers in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It also lays out a long-term strategy for organizing these workers, and suggests that immigrant workers are not a homogeneous group and face very different circumstances in terms of organizing. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Re-entry services for offenders with mental illness returning to the community from correctional custody are receiving more attention. Discharge planning services, community outreach, specialized probation and parole, and transitional support programs are in place in many states. In Massachusetts, the Department of Mental Health's Forensic Transition Team program eases the transition of offenders with major mental illness from correctional custody to community living. The Forensic Transition Team was centrally administrated and has been in operation since 1998. In 2001, Forensic Transition Team activities were regionalized. This paper examines the impact of regionalization using both staff and client data from the three years prior to and three years post regionalization. Preliminary analysis suggests the shift to localized/regionalized activities influenced clients' experiences in interesting and largely beneficial ways. For instance, it appears that regionalized services are more likely to be receptive to particular re-entry patterns that vary according to variables including gender and substance abuse histories. Nevertheless, since regionalization, standardized data collection has become problematic and data collected from stakeholders in two regions suggests that regionalizing the Forensic Transition has diluted its core mission and objectives. These finding should prove useful to states considering or implementing statewide regionalized of centralized discharge planning models. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From about 1900 until 1920, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) engaged in a series of successful strikes beginning in the West and continuing in the East. This project analyzes why in the East some strikes were successful while others failed. This second paper in the study compares the IWW victory in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 to the defeat in Patterson, New Jersey in 1913. The analysis focuses on the unstable nature of conflict between non-violent protestors and violent authorities and on the linkage between collective action and repression. These two factors are considered by examining the children's campaigns in these two cities. These campaigns represent turning points in strike trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing theories of multiculturalism in higher education propose that racial equity can be achieved through a collection of activities to transform or create access, curriculum, institutional diversity and support programs and services for students, faculty and staff of color. Scholars and practitioners have advanced these initiatives through a vast body of literature demonstrating the need for, benefits of, and steps necessary for achieving multiculturalism on campus. Much of this work has depended upon individual level analyses, and has emphasized educational interventions as sufficient for transforming campus culture and achieving racial equity. This paper investigates these claims at the macro-level, using data collected by the National Center for Educational Statistics that annually administers the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to all post-secondary degree granting institutions in the U.S. The results of a series of OLS regression models are reported which challenge some of the claims of multiculturalism and suggest that more systemic analyses and initiatives are necessary to achieve racial equity in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists often go into their field hoping to conduct research that will have an impact in their communities, and the study of occupations is one area of research that is particularly relevant to policymakers and industry professionals. Researchers have documented substantial gender inequality in several fields, including science and technology. These findings are then utilized by practitioners to propose and create programs that will promote greater gender equality. This paper utilizes surveys administered to 432 IT professionals in 2000-2001 to examine the current state of gender equity in a segment of the IT workforce in Massachusetts and the impact of women?s participation in a career-change program on their IT careers. Information gathered from the surveys regarding men?s and women?s salary and position, their job satisfaction & job tasks, and their education and training histories revealed few gender differences, though some significant differences remain in salary and position in the organization. Additionally, significant differences were found between women who had participated in the program and women who had not. The authors argue that it is possible to create gender equity in the IT workforce and to create a program to address gender equity that has a positive impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From about 1900 until 1920, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) engaged in a series of successful strikes begining in the West and continuing in the East. This project analyzes why in the East some strikes were successful while others failed. As a starting point this paper investigates arguably the most famous IWW strike, the Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912, as a case study. It uses a contentious politics approach as its theoretical framework and event strucutre analysis (ESA) as its methodological technique. Previous research argues that failed repression by employers and government was the key determinants of strike success. While this factor is critical, this explanation is lacking. The relationship between mobilization, collective action, and repression is more complicated than past work suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decoupling is an emerging area of empirical work in organization theory. To date, however, it is been difficult to establish how decoupling may be conducted both consciously and strategically by organizational leaders. To study this phenomenon, this paper develops a case study of remedial education policy in Massachusetts during the late 1990s. Extended interviews and analysis of both confidential and public archival data found that policymakers engaged in strategic decoupling behavior in order to gain legitimacy with important external constituents. The following years have revealed this effort to be largely successful. The implications for studying policymaking and organizational theory are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social problems researchers have documented the role of science in identifying, typifying and shaping policy responses with respect to a variety of new social problems. Researcher have given less attention, however, to the role of science in ongoing debates over problems that are well established and contentious. This paper examines the influence of mainstream scientific knowledge concerning the deterrent effects of the death penalty on a death penalty debate in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Mainstream scientific opposition to the deterrence hypothesis is found to influence the claims making strategies of death-penalty proponents, leading them to prefer "just punishment" to "crime control" arguments, to advance relatively modest claims on the issue of deterrence, and to prefer common sense to scientific rhetoric when addressing the topic. These effects are attributed to the cultural rules that structure debate in a legislative decision making body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States are preparing to begin the implementation of a new round of welfare reforms. In this paper I look back at the implementation of 1996 reforms in Massachusetts and Washington state for insight into the implementation process. I focus on the effects the formal goals of welfare agencies and the individual goals of welfare workers had on that process. Welfare systems were most successful in meeting the most clearly measured goals. Over time workers became more successful at meeting their mutliplicity of sometimes contradictory goals. Workers wanted to meet agency goals, help clients, and exercise control over their work, but handling all this required extensive work to re-interpret and prioritize these goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]