This thesis will assess the relationship between race and perceptions of incarceration through responses gathered from interviews administered to men incarcerated at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, Arizona. The interviews were conducted by incarcerated men through a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project to enhance the prison environment. Critically, men who were interviewed answered the question “What would you do if you were the Director of the Department of Corrections?” The purpose of this thesis is twofold. First, what are the major themes provided to this question? Second, did these themes differ depending on the race or ethnicity of the respondent? The results from this survey can provide a more informed future for corrections that acknowledges the unique criminal justice system experiences held by members of different racial and ethnic groups.
Human exposure to excessively warm weather, especially in cities, is an increasingly important public health problem. This study examined heat-related health inequalities within one city in order to understand the relationships between the microclimates of urban neighborhoods, population characteristics, thermal environments that regulate microclimates, and the resources people possess to cope with climatic conditions. A simulation model was used to estimate an outdoor human thermal comfort index (HTCI) as a function of local climate variables collected in 8 diverse city neighborhoods during the summer of 2003 in Phoenix, USA. HTCI is an indicator of heat stress, a condition that can cause illness and death. There were statistically significant differences in temperatures and HTCI between the neighborhoods during the entire summer, which increased during a heat wave period. Lower socioeconomic and ethnic minority groups were more likely to live in warmer neighborhoods with greater exposure to heat stress. High settlement density, sparse vegetation, and having no open space in the neighborhood were significantly correlated with higher temperatures and HTCI. People in warmer neighborhoods were more vulnerable to heat exposure because they had fewer social and material resources to cope with extreme heat. Urban heat island reduction policies should specifically target vulnerable residential areas and take into account equitable distribution and preservation of environmental resources.
This paper uses March CPS data to decompose the Gini coefficient by source of income. The sources of income, divided by labor income, capital income, and public transfer income, include earnings; interest, dividends, and net rentals; public assistance and welfare; retirement funds; self-employment; farm or non incorporated self-employment; nonfarm self-employment; Social Security or railroad retirement; supplemental security; wages and salaries; and unearned sources. The decomposition yields the share of a source in total income, the source Gini corresponding to the distribution of income from a source, the Gini correlation of income from a source with the distribution of total income, and the impact of a marginal change in a source on overall income inequality. Labor income had the largest negative impact on income inequality (resulting from wages and salaries mostly), while capital income did worsen it but on a much smaller scale. Public transfers that favor bottom income groups helped to alleviate income inequality for both individuals and households.
This paper will introduce UBI as a concept and a program to better understand its implementation around the world and the underlying theory of how to afford its sustained use. The paper examines several different implementation and funding mechanisms that are all focused on economic growth as the sole measure of success. It displays how UBI's program costs make it insufficient for further use under those metrics. This paper introduces the need to change the narrative to focus less on GDP-growth and more about the positive benefits of income distribution to raise the poverty line, decrease income inequality, and increase the overall well-being of each citizen in the United States.