From the war-torn foothills of the Little Bighorns to the tragedy that is modern ranch life, this spellbinding collection of short fiction celebrates ordinary people struggling to do what's right. A cavalry trooper dismisses his premonitions of disaster for the fort, but as winter deepens, he can hardly deny the grisly precision of his dreams. Two brothers separated by circumstance must reconcile the ways they have grown apart. A young bull rider-turned-burglar searches for the courage to face his weaknesses, and earn the respect of a good man...

"James D. Wright is extremely adept at creating characters and worlds for them to live in."--Tara Wray, "Land-Grant College Review""James Wright's stories are compelling--his vision and imagination fresh."--Gordon Kessler, author of "Jezebel" and "Dead Reckoning.""Great stuff!"--W. Steven Hathaway, Past National Endowment for the Arts Fellow"James D. Wright provides wonderful images in his narrative and paints the scene superbly. His characters are real and the reader is right there with them. I anticipate great things from this author."--Steven Law, "ReadWest" Online Magazine (www.readwest.com)

"The Handbook of Survey Research, Second Edition" builds on its widely-recognized 1983 predecessor by updating its previous historical account of the development of survey research and the evolution of social science before going on to examine new and expanded usages of survey research during the past half century. Editors Peter Marsden (Harvard University) and James D. Wright (University of Central Florida), long-time editor of Elsevier's Social Science Research, have created an authoritative reference book and an excellent starting point for anyone requiring a broad examination of the field. Detailed chapters include: sampling; measurement; questionnaire construction and question writing; survey implementation and management; survey data analysis; special types of surveys; and integrating surveys with other data collection methods. This handbook is distinguished from other texts by its greater comprehensiveness and depth of coverage including topics such as measurement models, the role of cognitive psychology, surveying networks, and cross-national/cross-cultural surveys. Timely and relevant it includes materials that are only now becoming highly influential topics.

The research reported in this volume was designed to provide estimates of the extent of damages and injuries from certain natu ral hazards inflicted on households in the United States. In addi tion, it reports on sources of aid proffered to households and the extent to which there are differences among households in the receipt of help. This volume represents the latest installment in a series of monographs stemming from the Social and Demographic Re search Institute's (SADRI) program of research on the effects of natural hazard events in the United States. The first volume in our series (Wright, Rossi, Wright, & Weber-Burdin, 1979) reported on the long-range effects of natural hazards on the population and housing stocks of neighborhoods and communities. The second volume (Rossi et aI., 1982) assessed the support for hazard mitiga tion policies existing among local and state political elites in a sample of states and local communities in the United States. The main findings of these two monographs can be summarized as follows. First, long-range effects (up to 10 years postevent) of nat ural hazard events are minimal: Local communities and neighbor hoods that have been impacted by floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes appear to be no different in their population and housing growth patterns over the period 1960 to 1970 than comparable commu nities that went unscathed. Apparently, household and communi ty resources plus outside aid were sufficient ordinarily to restore impacted areas to normal growth patterns."

From the war-torn foothills of the Little Bighorns to the tragedy that is modern ranch life, this spellbinding collection of short fiction celebrates ordinary people struggling to do what's right. A cavalry trooper dismisses his premonitions of disaster for the fort, but as winter deepens, he can hardly deny the grisly precision of his dreams. Two brothers separated by circumstance must reconcile the ways they have grown apart. A young bull rider-turned-burglar searches for the courage to face his weaknesses, and earn the respect of a good man...

"James D. Wright is extremely adept at creating characters and worlds for them to live in."--Tara Wray, "Land-Grant College Review""James Wright's stories are compelling--his vision and imagination fresh."--Gordon Kessler, author of "Jezebel" and "Dead Reckoning.""Great stuff!"--W. Steven Hathaway, Past National Endowment for the Arts Fellow"James D. Wright provides wonderful images in his narrative and paints the scene superbly. His characters are real and the reader is right there with them. I anticipate great things from this author."--Steven Law, "ReadWest" Online Magazine (www.readwest.com)

"Homelessness is not one problem, but many different kinds of problems involving many different kinds of people, each of them homeless for different reasons or who have become homeless in different ways... Among the homeless of today are men, women, children, and whole families; victims of domestic violence and male abandonment; young, middle-aged, and elderly; veterans; illegal immigrants; persons of every ethnic description; people who are homeless for strictly economic reasons; others who are homeless because they drink and drug too much; the lucid and the deranged; and on through a long list...." James Wright University of Central Florida Bringing together international perspectives from sociology, political science, public policy, criminology, urban studies, adolescent research, and social work, this fascinating April 2005 issue of American Behavioral Scientist (ABS), entitled Homelessness and the Politics of Social Exclusion focuses on pioneering research about how the homeless are marginalized in societies around the world and the consequences of this social exclusion. Based on presentations at the American Sociological Association's 2003 Annual Meeting, the authors of this unique volume discuss: Why the characteristics of both Los Angeles and Berlin homeless populations are similar despite different welfare systems and public policies (von Mahs) How staff create, sustain, and escalate conflict in a drop-in center for street kids (Joniak) Structural changes in Japanese society and the recent growth of homelessness (Hasegawa) The risks and conditions of semipermanent makeshift housing such as RVs (Wakin) Whether the presence of homeless persons near or in residential areas is a mark of encroaching urban disorder that undermines neighborhood quality and engenders fear among neighborhood residents (Farrell) Marginality and criminal victimization among homeless people (Lee and Schreck) The complex relationships between homeless women and their intimate partners (Wesley and Wright) How peer networks affect substance abuse among newly homeless adolescents (Rice, Milburn, Rotherham-Borus, Mallett, and Rosenthal) Negotiating rules, power and social control within an emergency youth shelter (Armaline) Whether the original cause of a person's homelessness is economic, social, cultural or political, homelessness carries a stigma This absorbing issue of American Behavioral Scientist offers new ways of observing this global social problem and should be included in every sociology, social work, and political science library!

Although homelessness is a serious social problem in the United States, there is little direct information about the actual experiences of violence, past and current, among homeless people. This volume, based on the Florida Four-City Study, brings together interview material from 737 women, including structured quantitative interviews as well as in-depth qualitative interviews. The authors investigate how many homeless women have experienced violence in their lives, either as children or as adults, and then examine factors associated with experiences of violence, the consequences of violence, and types of interactions of homeless people with the justice system. The volume concludes with pragmatic and compassionate policy recommendations.