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This study examines the significance of the world views and life experiences of preservice Latino teachers in the United States as they uncover their untapped potential to address the social, cultural, and political needs of a racially and ethnically diverse student population. Using a qualitative approach that includes in-depth individual interviews, we explore the relationships, goals, and insights of five Latino men studying teacher education. Specifically, we investigate their experiences, costs, and barriers as they constructed their biographies and developed pedagogical knowledge as burgeoning teachers. The participants share their relationships, commitments, and responsibilities in and out of school. They also spoke of multiple barriers that prevented them from entering the profession, including credentialing, low expectations for learning, and financial and familial obligations, among other concerns. Results are discussed with recommendations for reimagining teacher education programs in the United States to better support young men of color entering the teaching profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement of Afrocentrism and investigation of Afrocentricity's significance in the lives of Black Americans has gained momentum, given the current evidence suggesting that cultural factors matter in the lives of diverse populations. In particular, factors associated with African philosophical constructs may have significant relationships with improved mental health and overall well-being among African and African diaspora populations. However, the prior conceptual literature suggests that Afrocentrism is a heterogenous concept with a multitude of domains associated with its measurement. The present study was envisioned given the relative absence of studies evaluating the availability and psychometric properties of Afrocentric measures within social work. Utilizing systematic analysis methodology and PRISMA guidelines, a search for Afrocentric measures was undertaken using four key databases. Spanning the literature between 1980 and 2021, this review identified a total of seven instruments that fully met the study's inclusion-specific criteria. In accordance with the call for continued research and practice emphasizing resilience and protective factors within the lives of Black populations, the present study provides accessible knowledge to researchers and practitioners on the currently available instruments to evaluate Afrocentrism in the lives of populations of African descent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, in the United States in particular, there has been an increasingly acute awareness of historic and ongoing social, racial, gender, and other disparities, and the frequent deployment of categories (for example BIPOC, LGBTQQIA2SP+, Latinx) and concepts (for example 'cultural appropriation', 'white privilege', 'intersectionality') that centre thinking and conversations around various axes of difference. For some critics, the hyper-focus on questions of difference is dismissed as 'wokeness', and its seeming ascendency across elite spaces—academic, cultural, and corporate—is viewed with alarm, particularly insofar as its advocates are seen to champion a type of illiberalism. Others have raised concerns that hyper-identitarianism may diminish possibilities for worker and class solidarity, or that it represents only an attenuated form of social justice. This article adds to this conversation by asking whether the energetic foregrounding of difference typical of 'wokeness' does not also pose a spiritual conundrum. To explore this question, it outlines what is here called the 'connective worldview', which draws from deep ecology, spiritual practices, and mystical insights common to many religious traditions to understand humans and their identities as interdependent, ephemeral and, ultimately, subject to transcendence. The article contrasts this with the 'particularistic worldview', which tends to set both individual and group identities in sharp relief, emphasizing the need to honour and manage difference. It argues that an 'integrated' perspective—one that strikes a balance between both worldviews—will be key for activists looking to foment social change while forging a larger 'we' in diverse, pluralistic societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although stereotypes and misunderstandings of Native American worldviews abound, historians can look to the pan-Indian movement known as the Ghost Dance for a clear example of the role religious devotion played in many of these communities post1870.1 introduce the concept of fugitive religion here as a new lens for understanding how displaced Indigenous groups in what is today the United States fought for their existence in an era characterized by acute racial violence. 1 argue that fugitive religion created zones of protection for self and community that allowed Native nations to persist beyond the racial terror that defined the American West in the last half of the nineteenth century. This article is part of a special issue of Pacific Historical Review, "Religion in the Nineteenth-Century American West." KEYWORDS Ghost Dance, fugitive religion, Native American history, Indigenous religious traditions American West." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postsecondary education students are positioned to contribute to solving complex environmental problems present in the world today. This convergent mixed methods study aimed to explore environmental worldviews for undergraduate and graduate students at a public four-year university in the Southwest United States. The revised New Ecological Paradigm (NEP-R) Scale, demographic questions, and three open-ended questions were implemented in an online survey to explore participants' environmental worldviews. Using descriptive and non-parametric statistical analyses, the results of an online survey revealed that overall participants (N = 513) reported pro-environmental worldviews, and factors such as age and gender influenced environmental worldview scores. Moreover, identifying major and minor themes after coding responses to open-ended questions broadened the understanding of students' environmental worldviews in the context of experiencing higher education. Although the present study had limitations, the findings can assist postsecondary educational leaders, faculty, and practitioners in developing and implementing pro-environmental or sustainability-oriented policies, practices, and programs on higher education campuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Leviathan: Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft (Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Western democracies have lost their compass. They are cold and with no appeal; not looked upon as an efficient and effective model of governance. The Biden Doctrine might be defined as Joe Biden’s worldview divided between democracy and authoritarianism, as well as his attempt to make democracy attractive by having it deliver effectively on people’s concerns and needs. The Doctrine is also characterized by a commitment to the respect of human rights: its concern is not spreading democracy but showing that liberal democracy can effectively deliver at home and abroad more efficiently than authoritarian systems. The Biden Doctrine must not only focus on the revival of democracy but also face the challenge posed by authoritarianism’s appeal. The Doctrine must stand up against authoritarian rule, to promote liberal democratic government and respect for human rights as a solution to the distrust of democracy, in the era of cold democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study explored the associations between relationship stigma, Racial-ethnic Worldview (REW; a construct developed as a comprehensive assessment of individual’s perceptions of race and ethnicity), and relationship quality among those in interracial relationships (i. e., participants indicated their race was different than the race of their partner). One type of REW (Color-blind Achieved) was especially susceptible to the negative consequences of stigma from family members. Other significant differences in relationship quality and relationship stigma were found based on REW. Most notable is that individuals who acknowledge institutional racism, have positive intergroup attitudes, and a positive ethnic identity reported better relationship quality than those who denied institutional racism and/or had less positive attitudes toward their own ethnic group. These results demonstrate the utility of REW in contextualizing the experiences of individuals in interracial relationships as it relates to perceived stigma and relationship quality. The study offers a critical account of how individuals understanding of the racial and ethnic social context shapes relationship outcomes for those in interracial relationships in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United States implemented two pedagogical practices, real talks and alternative lessons (together called the pedagogy of real talk), and investigated students' sense of belonging in classrooms using these practices. Real talks are planned interactions wherein faculty share human stories from their lives on a universal theme and invite students to share their own stories on that theme. Alternative lessons are faculty-designed learning experiences that build upon understandings of students' worldviews and experiences. Survey data from over 30 student classes across two semesters in 2021 were compared with university-wide climate survey data to posit that sense of belonging in these classes was higher than that in the university as a whole. Case study data selected from a repository of faculty descriptions written between 2020 and 2021 further fleshed out examples of specific real talks and alternative lessons. The authors found these practices are particularly significant in their impact on typically underrepresented students, who often contend with feelings of exclusion in their pursuit of higher education. Practitioner Notes 1. The faculty practice of crafting and sharing stories from their lives and giving students space to share their own stories on the same universal theme (real talks) supports students' sense of belonging. 2. Designing lessons that combine content objectives with students' worldviews or with social and cultural issues important to students (alternative lessons) supports students' sense of belonging. 3. When faculty use their diverse lived experiences and the experiences of their students to increase the relatability of course content, students feel a greater investment in their education, which supports engagement and persistence. 4. Typically underrepresented college students especially benefit from real talks and alternative lessons. 5. An increased sense of belonging motivates students to attend class more consistently, participate in class assignments and activities, and trust their professors enough to communicate with them when they need additional support, either within the academic class or from other support services at the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police officers are subjected, daily, to critical incidents and work-related stressors that negatively impact nearly every aspect of their personal and professional lives. They have resisted openly acknowledging this for fear of being labeled. This research examined the deleterious outcomes on the mental health of police officers, specifically on the correlation between years of service and change in worldviews, perception of others, and the correlation between repeated exposure to critical events and experiencing Post-Traumatic Symptoms. The Cumulative Career Traumatic Stress Questionnaire- Revised (Marshall in J Police Crim Psychol 21(1):62−71, 2006) was administered to 408 current and prior law enforcement officers across the United States. Significant correlations were found between years of service and traumatic events; traumatic events and post-traumatic stress symptoms; and traumatic events and worldview/perception of others. The findings from this study support the literature that perpetual long-term exposure to critical incidents and traumatic events, within the scope of the duties of a law enforcement officer, have negative implications that can impact both their physical and mental wellbeing. These symptoms become exacerbated when the officer perceives that receiving any type of service to address these issues would not be supported by law enforcement hierarchy and could, in fact, lead to the officer being declared unfit for duty. Finally, this research discusses early findings associated with the 2017 Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act and other proactive measures being implemented within law enforcement agencies who are actively working to remove the stigma associated with mental health in law enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studies about Language / Kalbu Studijos is the property of Studies about Language / Kalbu Studijos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Today, Christianity is often described as a 'worldview', especially among Reformed evangelicals in the USA. In this article I return to the 1890 lectures where Scottish theologian James Orr adapted the concept of Weltanschauung for Christian purposes. Although it was coined by Immanuel Kant in 1790, and primarily used in subsequent decades to theorise cultural difference and evaluate aesthetic expression, Orr nevertheless claims that the idea of a worldview is 'as old as the dawn of reflection' and thus appropriate to articulating Christianity. I examine Orr's engagement with the Kantian and emerging historicist context, paying particular attention to his epistemological and aesthetic citations and showing how Orr both adopts and departs from the characteristic features of the Kantian subject. I conclude by assessing the philosophical and theological costs of this project that, among other things, positions Christianity for perpetual culture war within secular societies similarly shaped by the post-Kantian subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key challenge for international students in the United States is a readiness to study and live in a culture that is vastly different from their own. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the lived experiences of Brazilian students studying in the United States six months after returning home. Thirty-three Brazilian students responded to an open-ended, self-reflective online questionnaire focusing on their lived experience in the U.S. Three major themes emerged from the data based on the interactions between the multiple systems Brazilian students lived in the U.S.: personal growth and development, perspective transformation, and change in worldview. Participants claimed that they perceived their experiences influenced their perceptions about their own country and culture and gave them a new perspective expanding their horizons about themselves and their role in the world. The article concludes with practical implications, study limitations, and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic climate change remains divisive in the United States, where skepticism of the scientific consensus is associated with conservative worldviews, resulting in political polarization. This study considers three hypotheses regarding U.S. polarization over climate change that have emerged from social psychology research and applies them to science education by showing how these hypotheses could relate to adolescents' science learning. We then test each hypothesis within an experimental educational intervention designed to study the influence of worldview, mechanistic knowledge, and quantitative reasoning on students' written arguments about climate change. We used mixed methods to analyze the results of this individually randomized trial with clustering involving 357 participants in grades 9–11 from 5 U.S. sites. Findings show that: (a) exposure to mechanistic knowledge about climate change increased odds of receptivity toward climate change; (b) increasingly conservative worldviews were associated with decreased odds of receptivity; (c) worldview and quantitative reasoning interacted, resulting in an amplified effect of worldview for students with greater quantitative reasoning. Results also suggest that the influence of worldview and mechanistic knowledge on receptivity work independently from one another in our dataset. This study demonstrates the value of teaching mechanistic understandings of climate change, yet also demonstrates the influence of worldview on receptivity to climate change for adolescents, as well as complex interactions between quantitative reasoning (something school science aims to develop) and worldview. It shows that moving the U.S. public toward the scientific consensus is complex and involves confronting ideologically motivated reasoning within science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This phenomenological study sought to reveal the meaning for and experience of individuals who navigate two often-disparate ideological and experiential "worlds" within the culture of the United States. These two worlds can be described, respectively, as animistic—being embedded in and giving priority to relationship and nature—and Western mainstream—being embedded in and giving priority to materialism and rationalism. The phenomenon examined was—functioning within the mainstream culture while experiencing an animistic lifeworld. The animistic worldview is at odds in significant ways with the belief systems underlying the prevailing worldview, and is often misunderstood and demeaned. Six participants and the researcher participated in this qualitative study. The interviews were semistructured and open-ended. Through analysis, the underlying constituents and essential structure of the experience emerged. Constituents were (a) the experience of social stigma, (b) a deeply relational way of being-in-the-world, and (c) an expansive sense of identity. An experience of both belonging and alienation emerged—the true self-world remains concealed behind a "veil" or "mask" for the person's protection in mainstream culture. Further research, particularly to benefit clinicians and clients, is needed to expand understanding of these dynamics which so affect people who walk in two worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine whether specific religious coping styles and cultural worldview would be associated with thoughts of suicide given higher levels of stress in a community-based sample of African American adults. African American men and women (n = 134) completed measures of religious coping, cultural worldview, stressful life events, depression symptoms, and suicide ideation. Higher ratings of suicide ideation were observed for African Americans who endorsed a more self-directing religious coping style. The self-directing religious coping was more frequently endorsed by participants who identified with a more Eurocentric cultural worldview that espouses an individualist philosophy. Together, these findings provide some insight to how religious coping and culture are related to suicide vulnerability for African Americans who are not in clinical care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What drives affective polarization in American politics? One common argument is that Democrats and Republicans are deeply polarized today because they are psychologically different--motivated by diametrically opposed and clashing worldviews. This paper argues that the same psychological motivation--authoritarianism--is positively related to partisan extremism among both Republicans and Democrats. Across four studies, this paper shows that authoritarianism is associated with strong partisanship and heightened affective polarization among both Republicans and Democrats. Thus, strong Republicans and Democrats are psychologically similar, at least with respect to authoritarianism. As authoritarianism provides an indicator of underlying needs to belong, these findings support a view of mass polarization as nonsubstantive and group-centric, not driven by competing ideological values or clashing psychological worldviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined sociopolitical worldviews (just world beliefs, racial stigma consciousness), political self-efficacy, and campus racial climate as influences on civic engagement behaviors among Black college students (N = 322) attending selective predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Findings highlight varied patterns across college men and women. Endorsing just world beliefs related to more civic engagement over time, and this relationship was stronger for more politically efficacious Black men. Among Black women, perceiving negative campus racial climate (racial tension and mistrust) promoted civic engagement, especially among those higher in political efficacy. Results highlight the importance of considering individual and contextual-level factors in studying Black college students' civic engagement. The authors discuss ways to provide support for students given the current sociopolitical climates on many college campuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Oceánide is the property of Spanish Society for the Study of Popular Culture (SELICUP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This essay examines Ronald Reagan's fırst inaugural address. In this speech, Reagan used a strategy of "ultimate defınition," consisting of three components. First, the inaugural articulated a broad ideological worldview that prescribed a very limited role for government as the solution to the economic crisis. Second, it appealed to a value system that co-opted the progressive values of contemporary liberalism. Finally, it contained a powerful narration of that worldview in the form of an individualist story of the American Dream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research exploring urban youths’ value orientations toward the human–nature relationship was conducted with 59 students from a school in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) and 51 students from a school in Guangzhou, Guangdong (China). Quantitative findings suggest that the majority of participants in both groups shared a similar value orientation, harmony with nature. Qualitative findings, however, suggest youth had somewhat different value orientations toward the human–nature relationship (interdependence most frequently for the Guangzhou school participants and stewardship for the Minneapolis school participants). Similarities and differences between the groups are discussed, and implications for environmental education are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the face of the reemerging threat of preventable diseases and the simultaneous vaccine risk controversy, what explains variations in Americans' policy preferences regarding childhood vaccinations? Using original data from a recent nationwide Internet survey of 1,213 American adults, this research seeks to explain differing public opinions on childhood vaccination policies and related issues of governance. As Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky's grid-group cultural theory of policy preference formation suggests, cultural biases have a significant impact on the formation of preferences toward various vaccination policies. Hierarchs are in support of mandatory vaccination, oppose religious and philosophical exemption, and believe the government should preside over vaccination-related decisions. Fatalists strike a bold contrast in their opposition to mandatory vaccination policy and support for religious and philosophical exemptions and the role of parents in deciding on vaccinations. Falling between hierarchs and fatalists, egalitarian support for vaccinations is stronger than individualists'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the time that he endured a brutal beating by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers on March 3, 1991, Rodney Glen King instantly became the face of police brutality in America. Given his recent death (April 2, 1965 - June 17, 2012), we are aware of no studies that have critically examined his words and placed them within a broader social context. The primary goal of this study was to examine the public quotes made Rodney King, as well as what these quotes revealed about the world paradigm of King, as well as how he perceived himself and his place in the world. This qualitative study used Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as tools to meet this goal. We examined 20 quotes that were offered by King from the Search Quotes (2012) website. Given King's notoriety in directly influencing how the public generally perceive the police, the following question was foundational to this study: What do Rodney King's words reveal about his world view, especially as it relates to the police, himself, and others? Implications regarding the words that King used to describe his feelings and world view will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student veterans are arriving at university and college campuses and many counselors may not be prepared. Multiple and intersecting identities complicate the student's integration and matriculation into higher education. We review literature on first-generation college students and issues pertinent to student veterans. Using the revised Social Class Worldview Model, this article offers a case example to illustrate how counselors may best work with student veterans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the collegiate religious, spiritual, and ideological climate and worldview commitment. As part of this process, 1,071 students responded to the Collegiate Religious and Spiritual Climate Survey, an empirically validated and reliable measure designed to assess dimensions of a campus' religious, spiritual, and ideological climate. Results indicated that aspects of the psychological and behavioral climate were related to worldview commitment and these relationships were often conditioned upon students' self-identified religious worldview. Implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the U.S. and Iraq's perceptions of each other as well as biases, intelligence failures, and mistakes that are the causes of and effects from conflict between the two countries from 1990-2003. The concept of chronic misperception that is caused by incomplete information is mentioned. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's misperception of U.S. hostility and overconfidence concerning the two countries' shared interests and U.S. decisionmakers' failure to understand Saddam's worldview are discussed. The causes of misperception and the influence of international political decisionmaking on perception processes are also discussed.

This article provides an analysis of the current relationship between Politics, Culture and Worldviews in the USA under Barack Obama. The present "great Obama divide" of US domestic politics consists in the division between institutional and contextual (cultural and worldview) politics. Obama has induced their current opposition when he ran for the US Presidency by profiling himself as a "cultural" candidate "against the system". One result is that by becoming part of the system after being elected, Obama has lost some of his initial "revolutionary" appeal; a second effect is that the opposition is now trying to turn the tables by mobilizing the contextual political sphere against Obama's control of the institutional power. In fact, the Republicans, rather than concentrating on traditional ways of regaining power focus on launching a new "worldview" battle against Obama in the hope to use the pre-political sphere to eventually regain the institutional political majority. The overall result is a general climate of "worldview mobilization" in the USA, and an increased influence of cultural and worldview philosophies onto the institutionalized mechanisms of politics. Pre-political movements like the conservative "inverting the myth - inverting the paradigm" movement or the "tea party" movement are the expression of attempts towards a new "cultural battle" for "the soul of the USA," which has to be understood in its basic mechanisms, if the "Obama constellation" shall be understood. This article sketches some core elements of Obama's worldview that are in play in this game, and it argues that many actions of Obama on the field of foreign politics are (and will be) to a noticeable extent co-oriented toward influencing the domestic "worldview battle." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a dialogue between three authors discussing the conditions of the U.S. university system and its dominant institutional and student cultures. The influence of neoliberalism within the curricula of schools and the worldviews of the students is particularly highlighted and discussed. The authors each provide anecdotes and criticism from their own experiences in the academy as theater scholars and teachers, debating between themselves whether such neoliberalism should be pursued or resisted.

Many of the proverbs current in the United States have their origin in classical times, the Bible, and the Middle Ages. As such, they were translated into many languages over the centuries, making up a common stock of proverbial wisdom in large parts of the world. But new proverbs were also coined in the United States with some, of them having only a regional distribution while others belong to the basic set of commonly known American proverbs with a national dissemination. With the important political and cultural role of the United Slates and its version of the English language in the world today, both sets of proverbs, the international and national texts, have now a significant global influence. With English being the lingua franca of the modern age, Anglo-American proverbs are being disseminated throughout the world in English or as loan translations. In fact, English-language proverbs are now playing the role that Latin proverbs did in former times. In addition, the new American proverbs with their worldview of a democratic and future-oriented society also have a considerable influence on the sociopolitical discourse on the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Have you ever felt like you are completely alone, or stuck between worlds? In this age of globalization, there is an increasing number of students who were raised in multiple countries and cultures. Why do these students find it so difficult to answer the question, "Where are you from?" How do childhood experiences influence one's sense of identity, social interaction patterns, relationship attachment styles, and worldview? This moral conversation explores the characteristics of transnational students, identifies benefits of their experiences, examines their unique challenges, and uncovers their associated life patterns from straddling cultures. Through my personal narrative as a selfdefined "cosmopolite," (koz-mop-uh-lahyt) I will shine light onto the silent struggles of this often invisible student population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study, based on five national telephone surveys, extends the knowledge gap hypothesis by employing beliefs, rather than knowledge, as the dependent variable, and by comparing education with ideology as independent variables. These changes address epistemological and micro-level critiques of the knowledge gap hypothesis while extending it in new directions. Evidence supported the hypotheses that ideology would be a better predictor than education of beliefs about the existence of global warming, but not its causes, and that the "belief gap" between conservatives and liberals would grow over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-temporal meta-analysis examined 6,120 American college students’ scores on the Belief in a Just World Scale (BJW; Rubin and Peplau, J Soc Issues 31(3):65–90, ) across the last three and a half decades. Drawing on models of belief threat, we examined whether the causal relationship between perceived injustice and increases in BJW could extend from the laboratory to society by using macro-economic injustice trends to predict changes in BJW across these decades. Specifically, we hypothesized that perceptions of inequality, operationalized as rising income disparities, would result in a greater need to justify this inequality and that this would be evidenced by increased commitment to just world beliefs over time. Consistent with this prediction, BJW scores increased significantly over time and this increase was positively related to increasing income disparities in society. Income inequality remained a significant predictor of BJW scores even after controlling for additional factors of general income and political ideology. Implications of increasing just world beliefs are discussed in terms of psychological and policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research investigates the possible relationships between religion and mental health. After developing a series of arguments linking various aspects of religion with anxiety and tranquility, we test relevant hypotheses using data from the 1996 General Social Survey. Results show that frequency of religious attendance and the belief in an afterlife are inversely associated with feelings of anxiety and positively associated with feelings of tranquility. However, frequency of prayer has no direct association with either outcome. Strong beliefs in the pervasiveness of sin are positively linked with anxiety but unrelated to tranquility. Finally, belief in an afterlife and frequency of prayer buffer the adverse effects of poor health and financial decline on anxiety. Implications of these findings are discussed along with study limitations and promising directions for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lewis Mumford was one of the most important forerunners of human ecology and environmental studies in the 20th century. He was not a specialist; he defined himself as a generalist who was interested in the whole spectrum of the problems for human existence. He investigated the relations of human communities and their environment from a historical perspective. According to Mumford's starting point human communities are in an organic adaptive relationship with their environment. This is an active adaptation through which they form their environment while they are being shaped by it as well. The values of a civilization are determined by the mode of this adaptation. Mumford strongly suggested that modern civilization based on nature-devastating technology has run into a deadlock but he was convinced about the chance of developing a new way of thought which is able to synthesize the results of the science based technology and organic worldview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on worldview in the U.S. As stated, a worldview is an understanding of the world built by an individual through data obtained through people's interaction with the environment, other people, social interaction and personal experience. It is defined to be personal and shared sets of beliefs and understandings of the world that establishes identity. In addition, worldview is composed of category created to offer reference of experience and events and reactions to incidents including referenced by the dichotomy of the human drama where conflict is the reality expressed as good or evil in life and death, truth and lies and justice and injustice.

The article discusses the disturbing issues of the "obsession" campaign's massive scale. First, it points to the ease having which foreign groups established organizations in the U.S. which are non-profitable. It states that all their ideologies, wealth and influence are marginal. Thus, the author stresses that this "Obsession Project" has also highlighted the poisonous political climate in the country in which demonizing a whole ethnic community seems to become more a commonplace. It is also noted that related campaigns that aim to lower the bar is acceptable speech as opposed to "hate speech."

While the "Global War on Terror" has succeeded in constricting al Qaeda's ability to operate, it has not eliminated the threat. Al Qaeda is stronger and more resilient than at any time since 2001 due to its ability to adapt, innovate, and reconfigure its resources in response to a hostile counterterrorism environment. This article presents a new framework for considering the war against al Qaeda. Policy makers must recognize that the current conflict is not a single conflict, but rather three conflicts: a war of action, a war of networks, and a war of ideas. Viewing al Qaeda in this manner will facilitate the integration of counterterrorism policy and strategy from the tactical to the strategic level. Furthermore, the failure to understand why al Qaeda has survived and prospered precludes the development and deployment of a cogent counterterrorism strategy. Finally, the authors present a set of policy recommendations structured around this framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the analysis of intelligence in the U.S. since the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks. The author considers whether there is a pervasive mindset bias, in which intelligence analysts' interpretation of information is colored by their worldview. The article discusses the Red and Blue classification of political views used in television coverage of elections as a model for classifying intelligence agents' worldview.