In this study, the arguments surrounding the drug legalization debate are synthesized into a proposal for future research. Such a proposal illustrates that the core elements surrounding drug legalization are not only testable, but that the time may be right to consider such an empirical effort. (Author)

Describes an ethics case conference, examining its structure and the major topics addressed including, competency, informed consent, placement decisions, right to die issues, ageist biases, hospitalization, quality of life, and entitlement issues. Concludes that the care of older patients, the education of students and trainees interested in aging…

Applies schema theory to explore how undergraduate students respond to brand ads that incorporate social issues. Finds that placing an issue in an ad offers important advantages for advertisers and that congruent issue information elicits more positive affective and conative responses than incongruent issue information. Finds placing an issue in…

Investigates the third-person effect of pornography on the Internet. Notes that congruent with the third-person effect, students from a major Singapore university judged pornographic material on the Internet to have a greater impact on others than on themselves. Reveals evidence for a perceived social distance corollary with children to be more…

Objective: According to mandatory reporting laws for professionals, the relationship between initial recognition that a child may have been abused and the subsequent reporting of that suspected case of child abuse to the responsible agency would, at first glance, appear to be clear. However, this relationship has developed into one of the major…

Youth crime is a serious social problem, as is the high proportion of young offenders in the juvenile justice system who have mental disorders. A recent policy innovation applies the theory of therapeutic jurisprudence and diverts youth with mental disorders to treatment in lieu of further court processing. The expansion of mental health diversion…

In this article, the author argues that visual culture is an essential direction for contemporary art educators who are committed to examining social justice issues and fostering democratic principles through their teaching. The study explores how visual culture education can empower students to perceive and meaningfully engage in the ideological…

Because music can evoke deep personal meanings, social studies educators often use songs to emphasize larger historical moments. Since music is a vital component of youth popular culture, preferred over even movies and television (Rideout, Roberts, and Foehr 2005), a teacher's understanding and application of popular music can be a powerful tool…

The paper's main argument is that the rates of distributive injustice in industrial societies are significantly influenced by labor markets' institutional properties. Markets characterized by institutional properties that heavily favor capital at the expense of labor are expected to produce more distributive injustice--as well as more income…

Scholars have argued that the Internet could bring about the realization of an electronic global village, with no race, gender, infirmities, or the social problems that often accompany these physical indicators of difference. In this study, we explored this issue by conducting content and discourse analyses of online conversations about race and…

It would seem that in spite of the influx of Native literatures that evidence vibrant Native identities and perspectives, there are still those who would claim that Natives have vanished. The "vanishing Native" in current scholarship emerges from the idea that there is no such thing as a "pure" Indian identity, or the surprisingly widely accepted…

The cycle of employment and unemployment among Indians living on the Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR), a two-million-acre reservation in west central Wyoming, is examined. Five areas of inquiry are analyzed quantitatively: the structure of employment and unemployment, contributing factors to unemployment, obstacles to re-employment,…

The emerging controversy over nanotechnology is redolent of the pattern of past disputes over new technological fields, which the author describes as the "novelty trap." In each case, ambitious claims for revolutionary innovation are met by sceptical concerns about unintended consequences and new risks, to which advocates respond with reassurances…

Do educators know what children need? Most of the school curriculum is supported by the assumption that educators and policymakers do indeed know what children need, and the curriculum is designed to satisfy these inferred needs. In trying to meet inferred needs, however, we often neglect the expressed needs of our students. Sometimes, of course,…

Uses a case study of an international service-learning program (ISLP) in Ecuador to assess how effectively these programs contribute to fostering a sense of justice in students. Finds that the ISLP experience helps students to acquire a deeper understanding of their world and reassure their commitment to service. (CAK)