Alan J Tomkins
Biographic Data
| ID | 1488348 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alan J Tomkins |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alan J |
| FAMILY NAME | Tomkins |
| SIGNATURE | TOMKINS A J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Nebraska–Lincoln |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 94 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Prompting Deliberation about Nanotechnology
Deliberative (and educational) theories typically predict knowledge gains will be enhanced by information structure and discussion. In two studies, we experimentally manipulated key features of deliberative public engagement (information, instructions, and discussion) and measured impacts on cognitive-affective engagement and knowledge about nanotechnology. We also examined the direct and moderating impacts of individual differences in need for c…
The dimensionality of trust-relevant constructs in four institutional domains
Using confirmatory factor analyses and multiple indicators per construct, we examined a number of theoretically derived factor structures pertaining to numerous trust-relevant constructs (from 9 to 12) across four institutional contexts (police, local governance, natural resources, state governance) and multiple participant-types (college students via an online survey, community residents as part of a city's budget engagement activity, a random s…
On the influence of trust in predicting rural land owner cooperation with natural resource management institutions
Contemporary natural resource management (NRM) emphasises the role of the public in general and land owners in particular as voluntary participants in the process. Understanding the role of trust in voluntary cooperation is therefore critical, but the current state of the relevant literature is such that it fails to systematically address a few important issues. This inquiry sought to address these issues by presenting and testing a model of land…
Understanding Participant Representativeness in Deliberative Events
Deliberative event participants often differ in meaningful ways from the population they are intended to represent; however, less is known about whether various recruitment methods influence participant representativeness. Furthermore, a better understanding of where in the recruitment process lack of representation occurs is needed. We present a framework for understanding why event attendees might not represent the target population and then co…
Exploring Reactions to Hacktivism Among STEM College Students
This study investigated the predictors of support for and resistance to hacktivism in a sample of 78 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors at a Midwestern university. Results from surveys about real-world instances of hacktivism indicate different preexisting global attitudes predict specific situational hacktivism support (predicted by admiration) versus resistance (predicted by willingness to report). Also, participants gave …
The Varieties of Individual Engagement (VIE) Scales
The field of public engagement, participation and deliberation is fraught with conflicting results that are difficult to interpret due to the very different methods and measures used. Theory advancement and consistent operationalization and assessment of key public deliberation and engagement variables will benefit considerably from standardized measures of constructs and the ability to compare across studies. In this article, drawing from social…
Deconstructing public confidence in state courts
Although researchers have consistently demonstrated the importance of confidence in public institutions like the courts, relatively little attention has been paid to understanding what confidence itself really is. This article presents data from two samples of community members, thereby building on and extending a preliminary investigation that sought to understand constructs related to confidence in state courts with student samples. Structural …
Reducing courts' failure-to-appear rate by written reminders
For the law to be effective, people must obey it (Caldeira, 1986; Tyler, 2006b). Although the law frequently involves el-ements of coercion, in practical terms the legal system has, at best, a limited ability to compel people to obey the law (e.g., Rottman, 2007; Tyler, 2006b). Voluntary acceptance minimizes the need for authorities to explain and justify each decision, re-duces the need to monitor implementation, and limits the ex-penditure of s…
Trust and Intention to Comply with a Water Allocation Decision
Hamm, J. A., L. M. PytlikZillig, M. N. Herian, A. J. Tomkins, H. Dietrich, and S. Michaels. 2013. Trust and intention to comply with a water allocation decision: the moderating roles of knowledge and consistency. Ecology and Society 18(4): 49. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05849-180449
Public Participation, Procedural Fairness, and Evaluations of Local Governance
The purpose of this article is to test whether the use of public participation by a local government increases perceptions of procedural fairness among the public and to propose an explanation for why fairness is a strong predictor of satisfaction with governmental decisions. To do this, we draw on the uncertainty management model to hypothesize that indications of procedural fairness can increase public support for government and its decisions a…
Faith-Based Organizations in a System of Behavioral Health Care
Through community service activities, and ministries to members within their congregations, faith communities will encounter individuals with behavioral health needs. This article suggests that faith communities have inherent resources that can enhance the reach and effectiveness of behavioral health systems. A framework is presented that will create a bridge of understanding about how behavioral health can leverage faith organization assets and …
Public Engagement for Informing Science and Technology Policy
This article examines social science relevant to public engagements and identifies the challenges to the goal of meaningful public input into science and technology policy. Specifically, when considering "which forms, features, and conditions of public engagement are optimal for what purposes, and why?" we find social science has not clarified matters. We offer a model to guide systematic research that defines and empirically connects variations …
Citizen Satisfaction Survey Data
The purpose of this article is to provide evidence regarding the comparability of results provided by two survey methods—a random phone survey and a nonrandom online survey—using the derived importance–performance approach to examine service satisfaction data at the local level. Specifically, we measure whether nonprobability opt-in online survey results produce results that are convergent or divergent to random phone survey results. The findings…
Behavioral Health Services in the New Decade
United Way and University Partnerships in Community-Wide Human Services Planning and Plan Implementation
Given the similar interests of United Way organizations and universities in planning, implementation, and evaluation of human services, the two social institutions could be extensively and effectively partnering with one another. However, there is little documentation that such cooperative efforts are taking place. This article describes one such collaboration in Lincoln, Nebraska. The purpose of the article is to show the potential of such colla…
Communicating violence risk assessments
Editor's note."Current Issues" appears intermittently and features topics in psychology that are controversial.Articles that reflect different points of view are published; none are considered comprehensive treatments of the topic, as the section is designed to facilitate debate.Alan J. Tomkins served as action editor for the section in this issue, which examines recent advances in violence risk assessment, especially communications about risks o…
The right to a family environment for children with disabilities
W hat is a right to a family environment?What would be the result if such a right were taken seriously in policy planning for children?The recognition of a right to a family environment would provide guidance for planning even for children who do not have families who can care for them (e.g., a policy preference for foster families rather than institutions for children of abusive families).For children who do have families, the recognition of suc…
Communicating violence risk assessments
Recent developments in the law have made the assess-ment of risk of violence a required professional abil-ity for every clinical psychologist. About 30 years ago, laws controlling involuntary civil commitment evolved to require more than merely a finding of mental illness. They also required evidence that patients, if not committed, would be dangerous to themselves or to others. During that era, states also developed laws that made it mandatory f…
The right to a family environment for children with disabilities
To access services for children with disabilities, the children often have been required to leave their families of origin. However, social science evidence indicates that there are substantial psychological benefits for children to remain with their families whenever possible. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (U.N. General Assembly, 1989) supports policies and programs that enable children with disabilities to receive services with…
Children Who Witness Woman Battering
This article argues that many children who witness their mother's battering are neglected by the child welfare system. Children who witness domestic violence are at risk for significant psychosocial deficits and direct abuse. Fifty‐nine social service professionals from Lincoln, Nebraska, who work with domestic violence were interviewed. Results indicated that while service providers were clinically sensitive to the problems experienced by childr…
Public Participation, Procedural Fairness, and Evaluations of Local Governance
The purpose of this article is to test whether the use of public participation by a local government increases perceptions of procedural fairness among the public and to propose an explanation for why fairness is a strong predictor of satisfaction with governmental decisions. To do this, we draw on the uncertainty management model to hypothesize that indications of procedural fairness can increase public support for government and its decisions a…
The dimensionality of trust-relevant constructs in four institutional domains
Using confirmatory factor analyses and multiple indicators per construct, we examined a number of theoretically derived factor structures pertaining to numerous trust-relevant constructs (from 9 to 12) across four institutional contexts (police, local governance, natural resources, state governance) and multiple participant-types (college students via an online survey, community residents as part of a city's budget engagement activity, a random s…
Deconstructing public confidence in state courts
Although researchers have consistently demonstrated the importance of confidence in public institutions like the courts, relatively little attention has been paid to understanding what confidence itself really is. This article presents data from two samples of community members, thereby building on and extending a preliminary investigation that sought to understand constructs related to confidence in state courts with student samples. Structural …
Citizen Satisfaction Survey Data
The purpose of this article is to provide evidence regarding the comparability of results provided by two survey methods—a random phone survey and a nonrandom online survey—using the derived importance–performance approach to examine service satisfaction data at the local level. Specifically, we measure whether nonprobability opt-in online survey results produce results that are convergent or divergent to random phone survey results. The findings…
Public Engagement for Informing Science and Technology Policy
This article examines social science relevant to public engagements and identifies the challenges to the goal of meaningful public input into science and technology policy. Specifically, when considering "which forms, features, and conditions of public engagement are optimal for what purposes, and why?" we find social science has not clarified matters. We offer a model to guide systematic research that defines and empirically connects variations …
On the influence of trust in predicting rural land owner cooperation with natural resource management institutions
Contemporary natural resource management (NRM) emphasises the role of the public in general and land owners in particular as voluntary participants in the process. Understanding the role of trust in voluntary cooperation is therefore critical, but the current state of the relevant literature is such that it fails to systematically address a few important issues. This inquiry sought to address these issues by presenting and testing a model of land…
Exploring Reactions to Hacktivism Among STEM College Students
This study investigated the predictors of support for and resistance to hacktivism in a sample of 78 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors at a Midwestern university. Results from surveys about real-world instances of hacktivism indicate different preexisting global attitudes predict specific situational hacktivism support (predicted by admiration) versus resistance (predicted by willingness to report). Also, participants gave …
Trust and Intention to Comply with a Water Allocation Decision
Hamm, J. A., L. M. PytlikZillig, M. N. Herian, A. J. Tomkins, H. Dietrich, and S. Michaels. 2013. Trust and intention to comply with a water allocation decision: the moderating roles of knowledge and consistency. Ecology and Society 18(4): 49. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05849-180449
Reducing courts' failure-to-appear rate by written reminders
For the law to be effective, people must obey it (Caldeira, 1986; Tyler, 2006b). Although the law frequently involves el-ements of coercion, in practical terms the legal system has, at best, a limited ability to compel people to obey the law (e.g., Rottman, 2007; Tyler, 2006b). Voluntary acceptance minimizes the need for authorities to explain and justify each decision, re-duces the need to monitor implementation, and limits the ex-penditure of s…
Children Who Witness Woman Battering
This article argues that many children who witness their mother's battering are neglected by the child welfare system. Children who witness domestic violence are at risk for significant psychosocial deficits and direct abuse. Fifty‐nine social service professionals from Lincoln, Nebraska, who work with domestic violence were interviewed. Results indicated that while service providers were clinically sensitive to the problems experienced by childr…
Children Who Witness Woman Battering
This article argues that many children who witness their mother's battering are neglected by the child welfare system. Children who witness domestic violence are at risk for significant psychosocial deficits and direct abuse. Fifty‐nine social service professionals from Lincoln, Nebraska, who work with domestic violence were interviewed. Results indicated that while service providers were clinically sensitive to the problems experienced by childr…
Communicating violence risk assessments
Editor's note."Current Issues" appears intermittently and features topics in psychology that are controversial.Articles that reflect different points of view are published; none are considered comprehensive treatments of the topic, as the section is designed to facilitate debate.Alan J. Tomkins served as action editor for the section in this issue, which examines recent advances in violence risk assessment, especially communications about risks o…
The right to a family environment for children with disabilities
W hat is a right to a family environment?What would be the result if such a right were taken seriously in policy planning for children?The recognition of a right to a family environment would provide guidance for planning even for children who do not have families who can care for them (e.g., a policy preference for foster families rather than institutions for children of abusive families).For children who do have families, the recognition of suc…
Communicating violence risk assessments
Recent developments in the law have made the assess-ment of risk of violence a required professional abil-ity for every clinical psychologist. About 30 years ago, laws controlling involuntary civil commitment evolved to require more than merely a finding of mental illness. They also required evidence that patients, if not committed, would be dangerous to themselves or to others. During that era, states also developed laws that made it mandatory f…
The right to a family environment for children with disabilities
To access services for children with disabilities, the children often have been required to leave their families of origin. However, social science evidence indicates that there are substantial psychological benefits for children to remain with their families whenever possible. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (U.N. General Assembly, 1989) supports policies and programs that enable children with disabilities to receive services with…
United Way and University Partnerships in Community-Wide Human Services Planning and Plan Implementation
Given the similar interests of United Way organizations and universities in planning, implementation, and evaluation of human services, the two social institutions could be extensively and effectively partnering with one another. However, there is little documentation that such cooperative efforts are taking place. This article describes one such collaboration in Lincoln, Nebraska. The purpose of the article is to show the potential of such colla…
Citizen Satisfaction Survey Data
The purpose of this article is to provide evidence regarding the comparability of results provided by two survey methods—a random phone survey and a nonrandom online survey—using the derived importance–performance approach to examine service satisfaction data at the local level. Specifically, we measure whether nonprobability opt-in online survey results produce results that are convergent or divergent to random phone survey results. The findings…
Behavioral Health Services in the New Decade
Faith-Based Organizations in a System of Behavioral Health Care
Through community service activities, and ministries to members within their congregations, faith communities will encounter individuals with behavioral health needs. This article suggests that faith communities have inherent resources that can enhance the reach and effectiveness of behavioral health systems. A framework is presented that will create a bridge of understanding about how behavioral health can leverage faith organization assets and …
Public Engagement for Informing Science and Technology Policy
This article examines social science relevant to public engagements and identifies the challenges to the goal of meaningful public input into science and technology policy. Specifically, when considering "which forms, features, and conditions of public engagement are optimal for what purposes, and why?" we find social science has not clarified matters. We offer a model to guide systematic research that defines and empirically connects variations …
Public Participation, Procedural Fairness, and Evaluations of Local Governance
The purpose of this article is to test whether the use of public participation by a local government increases perceptions of procedural fairness among the public and to propose an explanation for why fairness is a strong predictor of satisfaction with governmental decisions. To do this, we draw on the uncertainty management model to hypothesize that indications of procedural fairness can increase public support for government and its decisions a…
The Varieties of Individual Engagement (VIE) Scales
The field of public engagement, participation and deliberation is fraught with conflicting results that are difficult to interpret due to the very different methods and measures used. Theory advancement and consistent operationalization and assessment of key public deliberation and engagement variables will benefit considerably from standardized measures of constructs and the ability to compare across studies. In this article, drawing from social…
Deconstructing public confidence in state courts
Although researchers have consistently demonstrated the importance of confidence in public institutions like the courts, relatively little attention has been paid to understanding what confidence itself really is. This article presents data from two samples of community members, thereby building on and extending a preliminary investigation that sought to understand constructs related to confidence in state courts with student samples. Structural …
Reducing courts' failure-to-appear rate by written reminders
For the law to be effective, people must obey it (Caldeira, 1986; Tyler, 2006b). Although the law frequently involves el-ements of coercion, in practical terms the legal system has, at best, a limited ability to compel people to obey the law (e.g., Rottman, 2007; Tyler, 2006b). Voluntary acceptance minimizes the need for authorities to explain and justify each decision, re-duces the need to monitor implementation, and limits the ex-penditure of s…
Trust and Intention to Comply with a Water Allocation Decision
Hamm, J. A., L. M. PytlikZillig, M. N. Herian, A. J. Tomkins, H. Dietrich, and S. Michaels. 2013. Trust and intention to comply with a water allocation decision: the moderating roles of knowledge and consistency. Ecology and Society 18(4): 49. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05849-180449
Exploring Reactions to Hacktivism Among STEM College Students
This study investigated the predictors of support for and resistance to hacktivism in a sample of 78 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors at a Midwestern university. Results from surveys about real-world instances of hacktivism indicate different preexisting global attitudes predict specific situational hacktivism support (predicted by admiration) versus resistance (predicted by willingness to report). Also, participants gave …
Understanding Participant Representativeness in Deliberative Events
Deliberative event participants often differ in meaningful ways from the population they are intended to represent; however, less is known about whether various recruitment methods influence participant representativeness. Furthermore, a better understanding of where in the recruitment process lack of representation occurs is needed. We present a framework for understanding why event attendees might not represent the target population and then co…
The dimensionality of trust-relevant constructs in four institutional domains
Using confirmatory factor analyses and multiple indicators per construct, we examined a number of theoretically derived factor structures pertaining to numerous trust-relevant constructs (from 9 to 12) across four institutional contexts (police, local governance, natural resources, state governance) and multiple participant-types (college students via an online survey, community residents as part of a city's budget engagement activity, a random s…
On the influence of trust in predicting rural land owner cooperation with natural resource management institutions
Contemporary natural resource management (NRM) emphasises the role of the public in general and land owners in particular as voluntary participants in the process. Understanding the role of trust in voluntary cooperation is therefore critical, but the current state of the relevant literature is such that it fails to systematically address a few important issues. This inquiry sought to address these issues by presenting and testing a model of land…
Prompting Deliberation about Nanotechnology
Deliberative (and educational) theories typically predict knowledge gains will be enhanced by information structure and discussion. In two studies, we experimentally manipulated key features of deliberative public engagement (information, instructions, and discussion) and measured impacts on cognitive-affective engagement and knowledge about nanotechnology. We also examined the direct and moderating impacts of individual differences in need for c…
Psychology (18 works) · Political science (12 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Public relations (7 works) · Law (5 works) · Business (4 works) · Mathematics (4 works) · Medicine (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works)