SN Social Sciences

The advance of evangelical congregations in the Latin American religious scene is one of the most significant cultural transformations of the last decades. It is so because of the speed with which it has occurred, because of the important number of people involved and because of the depth with which it challenges the Catholic Church, one of the most emblematic institutions of the continent since the conquest. In this paper, we analyze one of the areas in which this religious revolution is manifesting itself in three different countries. We address the changing relationships between evangelicals and politics in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and prove that, despite the enormous differences among these three countries, there are clear similarities in the political agendas that evangelicals support. Nevertheless, we also show the different articulations that Evangelicals have carried out in the political arena in each case. The Evangelical churches in Brazil have advanced much more in this sense than in Argentina, with Uruguay being the intermediate situation. For this, we will base ourselves on a bibliographic review of research, in statistical data from the Latinobarometer, together with specific in-depth interviews.

Limited information exists about the deplorable housing quality in urban local government areas in Nigeria and many developing countries. Hence, the specific objectives of this study were to examine the physical factors influencing the housing quality and housing/environmental condition—residents’ socio-economic characteristics relationship in a typical urban local government area in Nigeria. The study obtained records on the number of buildings, demographic and socio-economic of residents, housing, and environmental conditions, among others, using a set of questionnaires that was administered to 195 residents, following a multi-stage sampling procedure. Results showed that houses in the study area, Somolu local government area in southwestern Nigeria, were characterised by opened, poor-conditioned drainage system (Weighted index, WI = 2.62, mean deviation, MD = − 0.36), 82.1% houses lacking water supply source within them, inadequate ventilation (WI = 4.13, MD = − 0.06) and lighting (WI = 4.12, MD = − 0.07). Household heads are generally male (59.5%), educated (90.3%), and traders and artisans (53.8%), whose monthly income was at least 30,000 Naira (minimum wage in Nigeria) with more than five household size. Environmental/housing conditions—socio-economic characteristics showed ambiguous but significant patterns (P ≤ 0.05). The study concluded that housing quality in the study area was largely determined by differences in residents’ socio-economic status.

Voters hold governments to account through elections, but which criteria are most important to voter evaluations of incumbent performance? While (economic) outcomes have long been central to studies of retrospective voting, recent studies have considered the influence of policy output—the policies implemented by incumbents to achieve their goals. Building on this promising development, this study identifies three ways in which policy output is expected to affect voter evaluations of incumbent performance—the congruence between implemented policy and (1) individual preferences; (2) public opinion; and (3) election pledges. A discrete choice experiment was designed to assess the relative importance of these three aspects of policy output in comparison to each other; as well as to two important economic indicators. Overall, the findings support the notion that policy output matters to voters even beyond outcomes. The findings also show that voters value congruence between policy and their personal preferences considerably more than policy congruence with public opinion; and election pledge fulfillment. This indicates that voters are egotropic in their evaluation of implemented policy, and more policy-seeking than accounted for in much of the empirical retrospective voting literature. These results inform our understanding of how policy output matters to voters, as well as of how voters hold governments accountable for their performance.

In the U.S., relations between minorities and police are at an all-time low; with strong evidence suggesting that minority males are more likely to possess negative perceptions of the police. The current study examines whether gender, immigration generational status, and race/ethnicity impact how parents socialize their offspring to interact with the police. A survey was administered to gather retrospective information from participants about the factors influencing young adult’s perceptions and beliefs regarding police officers. The results suggest that third-generation immigrants received “the talk” more comprehensively than their first- generation counterparts. Further, third-generation immigrants and males were more likely to receive the youth culture component of “the talk.”

The Indigenous origins of restorative justice practices have been acknowledged and debated extensively in restorative justice literature. Few studies, however, have examined how sovereign Indigenous communities navigate restoring and creating restorative justice practices. Utilizing extensive interviews with Tribal members and officials, this study analyzes how contemporary restorative practices are framed in a cultural and historical context. The experiences of the tribes on the Southern Oregon coast, the ancestral home of the Coos, Coquille, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, have strong parallels to the larger processes of colonization that occurred throughout the United States. Faced with children being ‘lost’ to the mainstream justice system, and disruption to the recognition of their status as sovereign nations, these Tribes created a Peacegiving court. A specific cultural practice—potlatch—has come to symbolize for many Tribal members the underpinning philosophy of their own approach to justice. In a small, rural coastal town on the westernmost edge of the continental United States, an ethos of ‘potlatch justice’ is being used to both assert sovereignty and strengthen community bonds. Rather than simply describing yet another restorative practice, this article argues that restorative practices can be essential elements to restoring culture and sovereignty to Indigenous communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought dramatic changes to society, and many temporary changes, such as lockdowns and school closures, have had lasting effects on education and learning. School closures temporarily moved education to the home, where parents had to take responsibility for their children’s education, and technology became an essential tool for supporting learning. This study examines the impact of parental confidence in using technology on parental support for children’s education at home during the first COVID-19 lockdowns. Researchers and educational officers from 19 countries conducted an online survey from May to July 2020 and collected data from 4600 parents with children 6–16 years old. Participants were selected via snowball sampling. Data were analyzed quantitatively using simple tabulation, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression. The results showed a relationship between parental support for children’s education at home and parental confidence in using technology in all participating countries except for Pakistan. Furthermore, the data indicated that in almost all participating countries, parental confidence in using technology greatly impacted parental engagement in children’s education at home, even after controlling for socioeconomic status.

Nghiên cứu này khám phá trải nghiệm và thách thức của những người trưởng thành được nhận nuôi liên quan đến việc nhận nuôi, cũng như mức độ mà các vấn đề liên quan đến việc nhận nuôi được thảo luận công khai trong gia đình nuôi. Việc lắng nghe quan điểm của những người nhận nuôi là rất quan trọng, vì trải nghiệm và kỳ vọng của họ có thể ảnh hưởng đến sức khỏe tinh thần và sự thành công trong việc hòa nhập của họ. Bốn mươi người trưởng thành được nhận nuôi đã tham gia vào nghiên cứu này. Dữ liệu định tính được thu thập thông qua các cuộc phỏng vấn có cấu trúc bán mở. Các cuộc phỏng vấn diễn ra từ tháng 6 năm 2020 đến tháng 11 năm 2020. Phân tích bản sao được thực hiện theo hướng dẫn phân tích hiện tượng học diễn giải (IPA). Ba chủ đề liên quan đến mục tiêu của nghiên cứu hiện tại đã xuất hiện từ dữ liệu: (a) tính bí mật trong việc nhận nuôi, (b) kỳ vọng của những người nhận nuôi về sự cởi mở trong giao tiếp, và (c) sự kỳ thị trong việc nhận nuôi. Nghiên cứu này cung cấp cái nhìn quý giá về tính cởi mở trong giao tiếp về việc nhận nuôi, sự công nhận về kỳ thị trong việc nhận nuôi, và các microaggressions trong việc nhận nuôi.