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The objective of this study was to investigate the influences on the degree of involvement in organizations, agencies, and churches by Latino immigrants in Eastern Tennessee. An interview study was conducted to identify the most/least effective service delivery methods, whether language remains a barrier to obtaining services, and reveal any unmet needs relative to the Latino population. Also, Latino participants provided personal perspectives of the service delivery system. From analysis of the interviews, the following themes emerged: limited access to transportation, fair treatment when seeking assistance, need for bilingual staff available to more effectively determine needs, and Latino reactions to law enforcement and government agencies. With the results of this study, service providers will learn more effective methods of delivering services to the Latino population in Hamblen, Grainger, Jefferson, and Cocke Counties of East Tennessee. Conversely, appropriate and well-delivered services will assist Latino immigrants in achieving a better quality of life.

The Swedish Midsummer event has been organized and celebrated for several years in Tobetsu inJ apan, especially since the establishment of a sister city relationship with Leksand in Sweden. Yet, there is little to no data or literature on the event as to why Japanese residents chooses to involve the culture of Sweden by organizing such an event annually and what the residents actually perceive of the event This research explores the Swedish Midsummer event in Tobetsu more closely in the formof a case study which involves the organizers and residents. By conducting semi-structured interviews it was clear that the organizers want to highlight the relationship with Sweden, to enable cultural interaction as well as attracting more people to the town due to its decreasing and aging residents. However, some of the residents find the event disturbing while others enjoy it to some degree. As a case study on Tobetsu, this research demonstrates the utilization of a sister city relationship in order to differentiate the town and to nurture the relationship with the other town, in this case being Leksand, on a local level by contextualizing it in a yearly cultural event. The findings of this case study along with the theoretical framework highlights the importance of involving the residents in the organization of the event in order to succeed and reach the goals of Midsummer. In the future, there exists an interesting notion of following up this research, in order to investigate whether the goals of organizing Midsummer in Tobetsu have been fulfilled or not and if and/or how the residents have been involved in the organization process.

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No / The central concern of this article is to advocate an inclusive and pluralistic notion of a public sphere similar to those advocated by feminist writers such as Iris Marion Young and Nancy Fraser. These ideas complement the plethora of initiatives from statutory and voluntary agencies to take on board the participation and voices of children and young people. This reflects a movement away from simplistic top¿down governance through the State towards a co-production of governance through partnerships and community involvement. However, children's participation in this public sphere is constrained through the inhibition of children's voices. These inhibitions, it is argued, pervade the private and intermediary as well as public spheres of children's lives. Thus it is unrealistic to expect children to adjust to an undifferentiated and often hostile public arena.

As a method of building relationships with the public, some police forces have integrated community members into the candidate assessment and selection process. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine the effect of integrating community evaluators as a new method in the assessment and selection process for police officers in a city police force. Media richness theory and general mental ability were used as a framework, and archival data from a large Midwest department of public safety were collected by filing two public records requests. Data from 2,510 police candidates were included. Quantitative data analysis was conducted using correlational and regression tests to examine rater agreement, subgroup differences (gender or race/ethnicity) in selection outcomes, and the predictive validity of a testing method as measured by academy performance with and without the integration of community evaluators. There was no evidence to suggest that integrating community evaluators into the assessment and selection process for entry-level police officers affected rater agreement or subgroup differences in selection outcomes. The findings from this study support positive social change by indicating that integrating the community into a structured assessment process did not impact selection outcomes as measured by gender, race/ethnicity, or academy performance, which may encourage public safety departments to build community relationships by inviting local residents to participate in the assessment and selection process for police officers. Other social change may include the effect that the integration of community members could have on applicant and community perceptions of the assessment and selection process for police officers.

Language brokers are children of immigrants who use their skills as bilinguals to interpret or translate for their family and/or community members. Although language brokering may begin in childhood or preadolescence, language brokering may continue until adulthood. While there are a small number of studies that have touched upon change over time, this study’s primary focus is on language brokers’ experiences relating to change over time. This was accomplished through semi-structured in depth retrospective interviews among Latina/o young adults attending small liberal arts colleges. Three aspects of language brokering were examined, the practice of language brokering, feeling towards language brokering, and family dynamics. Three new aspects of language brokering emerged, brokering for parent’s business, brokering for the community, and brokering technology. Siblings played the role of the language broker at different points in time and to different extents. Parents’ English language developed, and they were able to navigate some tasks due to their language development and their experience completing typical forms. Feelings of joy and frustration, in deed, coexist. Feelings towards language brokering also changed from embarrassment and nervousness to confidence and satisfaction. The patterns and experiences found in this study highlight the complexity and dynamic nature of language brokering.

This report explores example models from nine different operational areas found in the arts schools movement, examines the positive and negative impact of each, and attempts to draw cursory conclusions that could be applied to those seeking to evaluate an existing, or establish a new, arts school. The operational areas included in this report are the purpose of the school, size and scope, finances, governance and administration, faculty and staff, facilities, recruitment/auditions/retention, community involvement, and learning and information resources. Over the past four decades, arts-focused primary and secondary schools have been established to provide students with an alternative to traditional campuses across the country using a variety of operational models and tactics for success but there has been limited documentation of their effectiveness. This report seeks to begin the establishment of such documentation. / text

The primary goal of this study was to construct and test a Community Relations Model (CRM) that may be implemented by policy makers, tourism planners, tourism managers and tourism developers as they develop tourism policies and manage the social impacts of tourism. Five objectives were derived from the primary research goal. The first objective was to analyse the social impacts of tourism by means of a literature study. This was achieved by examining the theoretical perspectives, framework and models for assessing host community perceptions of social impacts of tourism. In this regard, it was found that the social impacts of tourism are an integral part of sociology. Therefore, the social impacts of tourism may not be successfully addressed without drawing on the methods and perspectives of sociology. This indicates clearly that there is a relationship between sociology and other social science disciplines, particularly tourism management. The host communities' perceptions of tourism may be positive or negative and are critical in policy planning and management because they affect the behaviour of the residents toward the tourists. The second objective was to analyse the role of the community by means of a literature study. This objective was achieved by examining the role of the government, the private sector and the community in managing the social impacts of tourism. It was found that the main roles of the government are to facilitate, coordinate, plan and promote development of the nations and tourists products. The private sector's roles are to invest and promote tourism as well as the country. The community should actively participate in tourism management by seeking partnership opportunities with the stablished private tourism sector, voluntary groups and NGO's. Although the community is expected to playa vital role in the management of tourism, it was found that their actual involvement depends on their awareness of tourism activities, on how they perceive tourism developments and their involvement in tourism related issues. The third objective was to determine the components to be used in order to develop and test the Community Relations Model (CRM). This objective was achieved through both literature and qualitative analysis. Evidence from the literature and qualitative analysis indicates that the Katse community is unquestionably affected both positively and negatively by tourism developments. It was also clear that effective management of social impacts of tourism may be achieved through collaboration and partnership with the government, the private sector and the community. The stakeholders should work together in order to encourage the positive impacts and ameliorate the negative impacts. The community should be involved and made aware of tourism developments in their respective areas. Both the literature and qualitative study revealed the six community relations components: namely, the positive impacts, negative impacts, the role of government, the role of private sector, community awareness and community involvement that, were used to develop a measuring instrument for Katse residents. The fourth objective was to construct and test the CRM based on an empirical investigations. The CRM is intended to guide tourism planners, managers and policy-makers in managing the social impacts of tourism. To achieve this objective, nine research hypotheses were proposed and tested. The sample of 500 Katse residents was drawn from the household population of four villages: namely, Ha-Lejone, Ha-Poli, Ha-Mikia and Mphorosane. A combination of stratified and convenience sampling approaches were used for sample selection. Data was analysed with the aid of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). SPSS with AMOS 16 software was used to construct and test the SEM model. In constructing and testing model A, a two stage process was followed. Firstly, factors were calculated through the use of confirmatory factor analysis for the six community relations components. Secondly, the factors were used for SEM. Due to unsatisfactory data fit in model A, model B was constructed and tested. In constructing and testing model B factor analyses were not performed; instead all the items of each community relations component were used for SEM. In the resulting structural equation model for both model A and B, eight hypotheses were supported and one was not supported (H7). The results of the two models provided similar results; however, model B fitted the collected data reasonably while model A fitted the data poorly. The fifth objective was to make recommendations and suggestions on how the model may be implemented with regard to the management of the social impacts of tourism. It was recommended that the model should be implemented in the area of tourism management. In order to implement the model effectively the role players should know, understand and perform their roles and duties in managing the social impacts of tourism. The successful implementation of the CRM depends on a positive relationship between and among the role players in tourism management. Specifically, it depends on a positive relationship between the role of government, the role of private sector, community awareness, community involvement, positive impacts and negative impacts of tourism. The proposed model needs to be implemented through the partnership and collaboration of the role players in tourism management. which will lead to sustainable tourism. The most important contribution of this study is the construction of a model through which the positive and negative impacts of tourism may be effectively managed. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Business Administration))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.