Internship on Poverty and Adolescent Behavior--University of Alabama

Additional information about the internship and application
instructions are available at www.ches.ua.edu/mys

Note: housing, meals and gas allowance provided.

The University of Alabama is offering a summer research internship for
students interested in studying neighborhood poverty and its impact on
adolescent behavior. Students who participate in the internship, which
is in its 14th year, will conduct a survey of adolescents living in
public housing and other very low-income neighborhoods in Mobile and
Prichard, Alabama.


This longitudinal survey, which has been
administered annually since 1998 and has been funded by the National
Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National
Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), addresses challenges that young people face as
they grow up in impoverished neighborhoods, including violence, alcohol
and drug use, sexual behavior, psychosocial development, and family
dynamics. We are soliciting applications from students who would like
to participate in this unique learning experience. Interns, who may be
either undergraduate or graduate students, will be required to live in
Mobile between May 23, 2011 and July 29, 2011.


The first week, they
will receive rigorous training for the project, including recruiting
research participants, interviewing, and the general conduct of field
research. Following training, interns will go out in the field; their
work will involve door-to-door recruitment of survey participants (to
obtain parental permission and informed consent and to schedule a
survey time), documentation of the recruitment efforts, and data
collection (through administration of the survey in both group and
individual settings). Interns will receive housing; a meal allowance (¡Ö
$140 per week); and a gas allowance (¡Ö $35
per week) if they bring a car. General work hours are between 9:00 AM
and 6:00 PM, with some limited weekend work required. We will accept 20-
30 student interns into the program. In the past, we have accepted
students from a variety of social science and related disciplines,
including Public Health, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Political
Science, Criminal Justice, Human Development, African American Studies,
Women's Studies, Education, and Biology. All interns will have access
to the data for academic purposes. A number of students have completed
master¡¯s theses using these data, and 11 have completed doctoral
dissertations using the data. Internship applicants should have good
communication skills, be able to work well in a team setting, and be
sensitive to issues of race and poverty. Our preference is for interns
who can spend the entire ten week period in Mobile. However, during
past years we have accommodated some students who have not been able to
join us until early June. Also, we understand that many students have
prior commitments and will have to be gone for a week or two during the
summer; we can accommodate this as well. For more information, please
contact John Bolland (telephone number, e-mail address, and mailing
address are listed below). Interested students should send a statement
indicating their interest and a resume, and have two references send
letters of support, by March 21, 2011, although we will continue
accepting applications through the end of April.

Additional information about the internship and application
instructions are available at www.ches.ua.edu/mys