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"his book probes the action-adventure heroine character in eighteenth and nineteenth-century American literature. Smith analyzes captivity narratives, war narratives, stories of manifest destiny, dime novels, and tales of seduction to reveal a long literary history of female heroes who step into more male-associated roles to win the day. Along the way, Smith examines such authors as Herman Mann, Emerson Bennett, Catherine Maria Sedgewick, Mercy Otis Warren, and Eden Southworth, among others"--

Longlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize and selected as a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book and an iTunes Store Best Book Globe and Mail columnist Sandra Martin honours the lives of Canada's famous, infamous, and unsung heroes in this unique collection of obituaries of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Here are Canadian icons such as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, social activist June Callwood, and urban theorist Jane Jacobs. Here are builders such as feminist and editor Doris Anderson, and businessman and famed art collector Ken Thomson. Here are our rogues, rascals, and romantics; our service men and women; and here are those private citizens whose lives have had an undeniable public impact. Finally, Martin interweaves these elegant and eloquent biographies with the autobiography of the obit writer, offering an exclusive and intimate view of life on the dead beat. Beautifully written, compelling, and vivid, Working the Dead Beat is a tribute to those individuals who, each on their own and as a collective, tell the story of our country, and to the life of the obit writer who chronicles their extraordinary lives.

Unemployment among black Americans is twice that of whites. Myriad theories have been put forward to explain the persistent employment gap between blacks and whites in the U.S. Structural theorists point to factors such as employer discrimination and the decline of urban manufacturing. Other researchers argue that African-American residents living in urban neighborhoods of concentrated poverty lack social networks that can connect them to employers. Still others believe that African-American culture fosters attitudes of defeatism and resistance to work. In Lone Pursuit, sociologist Sandra Susan Smith cuts through this thicket of competing explanations to examine the actual process of job searching in depth. Lone Pursuit reveals that unemployed African Americans living in the inner city are being let down by jobholding peers and government agencies who could help them find work, but choose not to. Lone Pursuit is a pioneering ethnographic study of the experiences of low-skilled, black urban residents in Michigan as both jobseekers and jobholders. Smith surveyed 105 African-American men and women between the ages of 20 and 40, each of whom had no more than a high school diploma. She finds that mutual distrust thwarts cooperation between jobseekers and jobholders. Jobseekers do not lack social capital per se, but are often unable to make use of the network ties they have. Most jobholders express reluctance about referring their friends and relatives for jobs, fearful of jeopardizing their own reputations with employers. Rather than finding a culture of dependency, Smith discovered that her underprivileged subjects engage in a discourse of individualism. To justify denying assistance to their friends and relatives, jobholders characterize their unemployed peers as lacking in motivation and stress the importance of individual responsibility. As a result, many jobseekers, wary of being demeaned for their needy condition, hesitate to seek referrals from their peers. In a low-skill labor market where employers rely heavily on personal referrals, this go-it-alone approach is profoundly self-defeating. In her observations of a state job center, Smith finds similar distrust and non-cooperation between jobseekers and center staff members, who assume that young black men are unwilling to make an effort to find work. As private contractors hired by the state, the job center also seeks to meet performance quotas by screening out the riskiest prospects—black male and female jobseekers who face the biggest obstacles to employment and thus need the most help. The problem of chronic black joblessness has resisted both the concerted efforts of policymakers and the proliferation of theories offered by researchers. By examining the roots of the African-American unemployment crisis from the vantage point of the everyday job-searching experiences of the urban poor, Lone Pursuit provides a novel answer to this decades-old puzzle.

`I used McIntire and Miller′s book on testing in my research course two years ago. Students loved this book for its clarity and personality. It is hard to imagine how the authors could have improved on the First Edition. Nevertheless, this new edition of the Foundations of Psychological Testing is better than any of its competitors. The authors should be congratulated for making a topic that has been formidable to students in the past much more accessible to today′s students′ - Douglas Herrmann, Emeritus Professor, Indiana State University, Director of Research, Practical Memory Institute The Second Edition of Foundations of Psychological Testingis a scholarly, yet pragmatic and easy to understand text for undergraduate students new to the field of psychological testing. Using an engaging, conversational format, the authors aim to prepare students to be informed consumers as test users or test takers not to teach students to administer or interpret individual psychological tests. New to the Second Edition: Incorporates new content: This edition includes a new chapter on computerized testing and is updated throughout to reflect new research, tests, and examples. Offers new learning strategies: To further promote student comprehension, new and enhanced learning aids include a `blueprint′ of text material, `In the News′ and `On the Web` boxes, `Test Spotlights`, and an `Engaging in the Learning Process` section at the end of each chapter with learning activities, study tips, and practice test questions. Encourages instruction through conversation: In response to students′ requests to simplify complex concepts, the authors use an easy-to-read, conversational style. This format clearly and concisely communicates the basics of psychological testing and relates these basics to practical situations that students can recognize and embrace. Instructor Resources on CD are available to qualified adopters including chapter outlines, discussion questions, teaching tips, review questions, and more!

This book takes a down to earth look at Gang Gun Violence and what we can do as American citizens to eliminate it. Every household, school, church, community center, and organization who is working to stop or eliminate Gang Gun Violence should have a copy of this book. There is no book on Gang Gun Violence which contains more information on the subject than this one. Once you start reading it you will find it very hard to put it down. The information in the book just seemed to jump out and capture your attention and cause you to see gang culture for what it really is. Your eyes will be opened in many new ways, and your mind will sing triumphantly, "This is it, this is it." This is the kind of book I been looking for. Your life will never be the same after reading this book. People who especially work with youths need this book, and every Police Department or Gang Task Force should have this information ready to enlighten, as a form of prevention, for any would be gang member. You can not put a price on a book that help's as much as this book does.

The Third Edition of this text offers a straight forward and clear introduction to the basics of psychological testing as well as to psychometrics and statistics for students new to the field. The authors focus on relating core ideas to practical situations that students will recognize and relate to. They provide a variety of pedagogical tools that promote student understanding of the underlying concepts required to interpret and to use test scores. Primarily concerned with preparing students to become informed consumers and users of tests, the text also features a final section focusing on how tests are utilized in three important settings: education, clinical and counseling practice, and organizations. Intended Audience: This is a scholarly, informative, applicable, and appropriate undergraduate and graduate textbook ideal for introductory courses such as Psychological Testing, Psychological Tests & Measures, and Testing & Measurement in departments of psychology and education; and graduate programs in psychology, industrial / organizational psychology, and counseling.

This book provides a timely and novel contribution to understanding and enhancing evidence use. It builds on and complements the popular and best-selling What Works?: Evidence-based policy and practice in public services (Davies, Nutley and Smith, Policy Press, 2000), by drawing together current knowledge about how research gets used and how this can be encouraged and improved. In particular, the authors explore various multidiscipliary frameworks for understanding the research use agenda; consider how research use and the impact of research can be assessed; summarise the empirical evidence from the education, health care, social care and criminal justice fields about how research is used and how this can be improved and draw out practical issues that need to be addressed if research is to have greater impact on public services. Using evidence is important reading for university and government researchers, research funding bodies, public service managers and professionals, and students of public policy and management. It will also prove an invaluable guide for anyone involved in the implementation of evidence-based policy and practice.

This title offers an intriguing examination of 16 representative black megachurches and explores some of their motivations and subsequent programmatic efforts in light of prosperity or 'health and wealth' theology.

From plantation performances to minstrel shows of the late nineteenth century, the roots of black theatre in Texas reflect the history of a state where black Texans have continually created powerful cultural emblems that defy the clichés of horses, cattle, and bravado. Drawing on troves of archival materials from numerous statewide sources, Stages of Struggle and Celebration captures the important legacies of the dramatic arts in a historical field that has paid most of its attention to black musicians. Setting the stage, the authors retrace the path of the cakewalk and African-inspired dance as forerunners to formalized productions at theaters in the major metropolitan areas. From Houston’s Ensemble and Encore Theaters to the Jubilee in Fort Worth, gospel stage plays of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, as well as San Antonio’s Hornsby Entertainment Theater Company and Renaissance Guild, concluding with ProArts Collective in Austin, Stages of Struggle and Celebration features founding narratives, descriptions of key players and memorable productions, and enlightening discussions of community reception and the business challenges faced by each theatre. The role of drama departments in historically black colleges in training the companies’ founding members is also explored, as is the role the support of national figures such as Tyler Perry plays in ensuring viability. A canon of Texas playwrights completes the tour. The result is a diverse tribute to the artistic legacies that continue to inspire new generations of producers and audiences.

The Decades of Modern American Playwriting series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1930s to 2009 in eight volumes. Each volume equips readers with a detailed understanding of the context from which work emerged: an introduction considers life in the decade with a focus on domestic life and conditions, social changes, culture, media, technology, industry and political events; while a chapter on the theatre of the decade offers a wide-ranging and thorough survey of theatres, companies, dramatists, new movements and developments in response to the economic and political conditions of the day. The work of the four most prominent playwrights from the decade receives in-depth analysis and re-evaluation by a team of experts, together with commentary on their subsequent work and legacy. A final section brings together original documents such as interviews with the playwrights and with directors, drafts of play scenes, and other previously unpublished material. The major playwrights and their plays to receive in-depth coverage in this volume include: David Mamet: Edmond (1982), Glengarry Glen Ross (1984), Speed-the-Plow (1988) and Oleanna (1992); David Henry Hwang: Family Devotions (1981), The Sound of a Voice (1983) and M. Butterfly (1988); Maria Irene Fornès: The Danube (1982), Mud (1983) and The Conduct of Life (1985); August Wilson: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1984) and Fences (1987).