Introduction to the JPIC Issue: Social Inequality: Impact on School, Youth, and Families.

In the current paper, we introduce a special issue on Social Inequalities, and the papers which contribute to our understanding of social inequalities and the role of communities in further addressing or preventing said inequalities. The papers in the issue show that to effectively address and prevent inequalities, it is important to understand the complex community factors, such as economic, access to resources, and the nature of disadvantaged groups, particularly within the context of youth, families, and education.

Social inequality: Challenges, consequences, and action; introduction to the issue.

In the current paper, we introduce the third edition in a series on Social Inequalities, and highlight the impact of social inequalities and provide evidence-based research to support effective programs for change. One of the primary foci of the current issue is on the reduction of inequalities through targeted interventions and community involvement. The collection of articles spans diverse communities and varying placements within the evaluation of interventions, from pointing to potential areas of intervention to the formative or summative evaluation of multiyear programs.

Gender and sex inequalities: Implications and resistance.

Despite gains in some regions and countries for justice and equality, people around the world are still constrained by patriarchal hetero orthodoxy and resultant inequality, discrimination, oppression, and violence. For women in the U.S.

Risk, resilience, and natural recovery: a model of recovery from alcohol abuse for Alaska Natives.

Aim: The People Awakening (PA) study explored an Alaska Native (AN) understanding of the recovery process from alcohol abuse and consequent sobriety.

Design: PA utilized a cross-sectional, qualitative research design and community-based participatory research methods.

Setting And Participants: The study included a state-wide convenience sample of 57 participants representing all five major AN groups: Aleut/Alutiiq, Athabascan, Inupiaq, Yup'ik/Cup'ik and Tlingit/Haida/Tsimshian.

The tools to understand: community as co-researcher on culture-specific protective factors for Alaska Natives.

A collaborative research process engaging Alaska Native communities in the study of protective factors in Alaska Native sobriety and the design of a preventative intervention using its findings is described. Study 1 was discovery oriented qualitative research whose objectives were identification of protective factors and development of a heuristic model. Study 2 involved quantitative survey methods to develop and test ameasure of protective factors identified by the qualitative study.

"Tied together like a woven hat:" Protective pathways to Alaska native sobriety.

BACKGROUND: The People Awakening Project (1RO1 AA 11446-03) had two purposes, completed in Phase I and Phase II of the project. The purpose of Phase I was to complete a qualitative study; the research objective was discovery oriented with the specific aim of identification of protective and recovery factors in Alaska Native sobriety. Results were used to develop a heuristic model of protective and recovery factors, and measures based on these factors.

Unheard Alaska: culturally anchored participatory action research on sobriety with Alaska Natives.

Alcohol research in Alaska Native communities has a contentious history. This project has attempted to address a critical need for research to guide alcohol abuse prevention and treatment with Alaska Natives using culturally anchored participatory action research. The process of grounding the research methodology in the culture and community is described, along with its contribution to community psychology's understanding of the importance of cultural factors.

Experimental social innovation and dissemination: the promise and its delivery.

This paper describes the origin of the Experimental Social Innovation and Dissemination model and its contribution to and intersection with community psychology. It also discusses the challenges presented to ESID by community psychology's growing emphasis on cultural diversity and participatory approaches to research and intervention. It concludes with an overview of the papers presented in the special issue.