Center for Social Research

Social Sciences Lunch Seminar Series for Fall 2011

The Social Sciences Lunch Seminar Series kicks off Friday September 23 with a talk by Martin Hughes, Assistant Professor of Sociology and movie buff. Dr. Hughes will discuss "Children Are Our Future: Changing Visions of Youth in Movies about the Future, 1950-2009."

All of the 2011-12 seminars take place at Calvin College, in the Alumni Association Board Room, 12:30 p.m. with lunch tickets free and available starting at 12:15 p.m.

Please join us for this and future Seminar Series Lunches.

Sponsored by the Center for Social Research, the Dean for Social Sciences and Contextual Studies, and the Gary and Henrietta Byker Chair in Christian Perspectives on Political, Social and Economic Thought.

Report on 2009 Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Survey

Since 2004, CSR has been supporting the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) in its Sustaining Pastoral Excellence project, which has been funded by grants from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Three waves of surveys have been conducted on an approximately biennial bases, in 2004/2005 (which we're now labeling "2005" for simplicity's sake), 2007 and 2009. A full report is now available comparing all three survey waves and including statistical models of pastors' self-reported pastoral health (vocational satisfaction and sustainability), leadership skills, and congregational fulfillment of the CRC's mission statement. The report finds statistical stability across all three waves--excellence is indeed being sustained. But we also identify many areas of concern with room for improvement, especially council support through systematic feedback on preaching. The statistical models suggest that programmatic interventions per se have mixed effects, but targeting leadership skill development could stimulate improvements in pastoral health. The following resources are available from CSR; also see the SPE project's survey page. Full report (11.2MB; 78-page color PDF, with extensive bookmarks and hypertext cross-referencing) Printable PDF questionnaires for pastors and clerks of council. Online web-based questionnaires for pastors and clerks of council (shown in preview mode; data is not collected). Charts and frequencies of multiple choice items for pastors (56-page PDF) and clerks of council (26-page PDF). Comments and critiques are welcome! Click "read more" below to see a sample finding from the 2009 survey. UPDATE 12/20: The CRC Newsroom has a story about the survey. UPDATE 1/15: The Grand Rapids Press has written a story about the survey.

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April 8 CSR Presentation: Data visualization with KCCS

Using data from the Kent County Congregations Study, CSR staff will showcase emerging tools and methods for visual data analysis.

Please join us:

Thursday April 8, 2010 3:30 p.m., Meeter Center Lecture Hall Calvin College

See the entire poster!

UPDATE: See the presentation (PowerPoint 2007)!

Subdivided by Faith? Mulder and Smith publish historical review

Congratulations to Drs. Mark Mulder of Sociology and James K.A. Smith of Philosophy, whose recently published article, "Subdivided by Faith? An Historical Account of Evangelicals and the City" (PDF) in Christian Scholar's Review, considers the role of culture, and religion in particular, as factors that influence the discussions of anti-urban bias in American society.

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The CSR and FTAP

Recently, the city of Grand Rapids and the Center for Social Research have been working together to evaluate the effectiveness of the Fast Track Accountability Program.

FTAP is a diversion program for people charged with non-violent misdemeanors like shoplifting or vandalism; by admitting guilt, apologizing, paying some restitution to the victim, and working at least 20 hours of community service, those who have been charged can be diverted from the traditional criminal justice system and avoid having charges reflected on their permanent record.

This program centers on the idea of restorative justice: attempting to balance the needs of the offender, the victim, and the community. The current system treats crime as something committed against the state.  Restorative justice recognizes that crimes have victims, and believes that those victims should have a voice in proceedings. Instead of a court case ending with a “winner” and a “loser,” restorative justice engages both sides of a crime and works to find a mutually beneficial solution.

Restorative justice aims at assisting victims and healing community. Having more than 2.3 million people incarcerated in America does very little to restore losses to victims or bring communities together. Empowering victims to seek restitution instead of leaving the offenders with jail time leaves everyone better off, and the U.S. could cut back on the $68 billion that it spends on corrections every year.

In fact, America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, so the success of a program like this could have far-reaching effects. It could be that fewer people will have the specter of a conviction hanging over them as they go on with life and search for jobs, and fewer families will be left in need by an incarcerated parent. Add to that the possible benefits of growing trust in the criminal justice system and you’ll understand why many people are excited about FTAP.

On the other hand, there are significant risks and expenses associated with any such experiment, including the possibility that the program has unintended negative consequences on crime rates or for victims. The city wants to be sure that reforms are effective and efficient before committing to any long-term reform.

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