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Since the 1990s, gender quotas have been celebrated for improving women's equality. Yet their cross-national and longitudinal impact on attitudes toward female politicians and the mechanism through which this process occurs are not well understood. Using multilevel modeling on 87 nations, we examine how different types of quotas, with varied features and levels of strength, shape beliefs about women in politics. We give particular attention to the mechanism of visibility created by quotas in impacting attitudes. Results suggest that unlike quotas with features facilitating low visibility (i.e., weak quotas), those producing high visibility (i.e., robust quotas) significantly impact public approval of women in politics. However, the direction of this effect varies by quota type. Social context also matters. Robust quota effects—both positive and negative—are especially pronounced in democracies but are insignificant in nondemocracies. Limited differences by gender (men versus women) emerge. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counselors and lesbian and gay clients experience parallel values conflicts between religious beliefs/spirituality and sexual orientation. This article uses critical thinking to assist counselors to integrate religious/spiritual beliefs with professional ethical codes. Clients are assisted to integrate religious/spiritual beliefs with sexual orientation. (Contains 1 figure.)

Research shows that premarital counseling programs help engaged couples develop interpersonal and problem-solving skills that enhance their marital relationships. Yet, there are limited services for same-sex couples. This article assumes an integrated humanistic and social justice advocacy stance to explore the needs of lesbian, gay, and bisexual partners and develop recommendations for providing affirmative premarital counseling, with implications for counseling practice, training, and research.

With the rise in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), activists and scholars debate their effect on social movement inclusivity. Those in favor argue ICTs improve access to and voice within movements. Those against argue that the digital divide exacerbates existing inequalities. Yet, these debates often hinge on basic access to ICTs and do not consider the usefulness of their application. Drawing on over three years of fieldwork and 24 in-depth interviews among activists within the women's movement of Ghana, West Africa, our findings complicate a binary notion of access. We highlight how a more effective, as opposed to formal, access to ICTs is needed for inclusion within social movements. We further demonstrate how organizations facing ICT restrictions often choose not to use them. This is not because activists lack motivation or understanding of ICT potential, but because they make pragmatic decisions to advance their priorities using more reliable means. This study demonstrates the enduring relevance of the digital divide, the importance of access quality for ICTs to increase social movement inclusion, and how movement culture can compound or challenge the exclusionary effects of ICTs. We conclude with suggestions to reduce inequalities within social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rip currents are fast moving, offshore flows that have the ability to move even the strongest swimmers into deeper waters. Miami Beach, Florida is one of the most visited beaches in the USA and a sought after destination for citizens and international tourists alike. It is also known to be a rip current 'hot spot.' These factors greatly increase the risk of drowning; however, no previous research has focused on beachgoer perception of rip-related risks in South Florida. Over a 12-month period, 203 public surveys were collected to determine the rip current knowledge of beachgoers at Miami Beach based on factors such as swimming ability and frequency of beach visits. The responses were analyzed by constructing a normalized component factor to determine the respondent's comprehensive knowledge of rips, and multiple regression models were used to assess the net influences of sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics on the responses. A significant proportion of the survey respondents showed insufficient knowledge, indicating they are at risk of drowning in a rip current. Frequent beachgoer's exposure to the beach environment, maturation, and nativity is identified as the main contributors to knowledge net of other sociodemographic compositions. The most at-risk groups were determined to be young adults, foreign tourists, poor swimmers, and those who infrequently visited the beach. Miami Beach needs to initiate a rip current safety campaign to target these at-risk beachgoers, where interventions beyond familial and educational institutions should be introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electoral quotas are a key factor in increasing women's political representation in parliaments globally. Despite the strong effects of quotas, less attention has been paid to the factors that prompt countries to adopt electoral quotas across developing countries. This article employs event history modeling to analyze quota adoption in 134 developing countries from 1987 to 2012, focusing on quota type, transnational activism, and norm cascades. The article asks the following questions: (1) How might quota adoption differ according to quota type—nonparty versus party quotas? (2) How has the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China (Beijing 95), contributed to quota diffusion? (3) Do global, regional, or neighboring country effects contribute more to quota adoption? Results provide new evidence of how quota adoption processes differ according to quota type, the central role played by participation in Beijing 95, and how increased global counts contribute to faster nonparty quota adoption while increased neighboring country counts lead to faster to party quota adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The influential work of Tilly and Tarrow on social movement repertoire transitions--moving from older, local, and episodic tactics to newer, national, and sustained tactics--has contributed significantly to the development of social movements theory. This article expands Tilly and Tarrow's theoretical framework by drawing on examples from Nigeria and Kenya. First, we examine the causal factors contributing to repertoire transitions in these postcolonial African countries, highlighting the importance of colonial state formation and social networks in changing repertoires. Second, we consider how the gravity and effectiveness of women's nakedness, used by mothers as a collective action tactic to shame those targeted, persisted and maintained its significance across tactical repertoire transitions, despite colonial repression. We argue that the continuance of tactics across repertoire transitions lies in their ability to maintain symbolic resonance, which simultaneously restricts the transmission of tactics to other locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the career and work life challenges faced by traditionally marginalized populations (e.g., women; historically oppressed racial/ethnic groups; people who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and/or queer; immigrants; individuals with mental or physical disabilities; older individuals; and those of lower socioeconomic status) in the United States during the troubled and lagging economy that began with the economic crisis in 2008. Further, this study was designed to explore action steps that could be used to address these challenges. The results of this study suggested that although marginalized populations face many significant challenges, there are actions that career development professionals can take in the near future to address these challenges. Implications for practice, training, theory, research, social justice and advocacy are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the mobilization of women in Latin America prior to and during the transition to democracy has been well-studied, the mobilization of women in sub-Saharan Africa during this transition has received little attention. Yet, the study of women's mobilization within an emerging democratic state of sub-Saharan Africa would provide insight into how women may renegotiate their position in relation to transforming political structures, and how they may work to redefine their own rights. This article analyzes the case of Ghana to examine the mobilization of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, multivariate analyses of a survey of 621 women and in-depth interviews with thirty-three members of women's organizations are used to explore whether women's organizations are attempting to mobilize women to participate in the formal political process during the transition to democracy, and, if so, whether their efforts are successful. The results indicate that women's organizations view the electoral process as a means to mobilize women, that they have attempted to mobilize women to participate in elections, and that their mobilization efforts influenced the political behavior of women. Implications of these findings for our understanding of women's mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa in comparison to those in Latin America are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]