David Pettinicchio

Seeks to address those factors which have made describing, predicting, and examining the work experience of a person with a disability both different and difficult. Examines less frequently analyzed aspects of employment for persons with disabilities, and offer a variety of approaches to the conceptualization of work, how they differ across cultures, organizations, and types of disability.

Compares participation in different forms of political action between natives, immigrants and non-citizen immigrants using data from thirteen European countries across six waves of the European Social Survey. Highlights problems associated with previous categorizations of political action, and finds that when political action is disaggregated and relative participation between groups is examined, that immigrants' patterns of participation are not substantially different.

Discusses how, although Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to address, in large part, the declining economic well-being of people with disabilities – twenty years later – the trend has not reversed. Examines the continual gaps in employment and earnings by disability status connected to the enactment of state-level antidiscrimination legislation, the number of ADA charges brought to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the results of ADA court settlements and decisions. Suggests a complex relationship between legislative intent and policy outcomes, showcasing the multilayered institutional aspects behind the implementation of disability antidiscrimination legislation.

Argues that employed workers with disabilities experience occupational segregation that limits their earnings potential. Discusses that while people with disabilities tend to work in lower-skilled jobs with limited educational and experience requirements, disparities also vary by the nature of a person's disability, which perpetuates inequality by disability status. Argues that occupational segregation is one of the fundamental causes of persistent labor market inequality despite policy interventions like the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Narrates how, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, disability rights found a place on the U.S. policy agenda. Discusses how political entrepreneurs pursued a new policy image of rights within a context of increasing committee involvement, issue complexity, and space on the policy agenda having important consequences on policy.

Focuses on the history of, and recent developments in, the study of institutional activism, situating the concept within existing social movement theory and providing examples of the varying roles of institutional activists in mobilization.

Discusses the shift from classic culture of poverty arguments to more contemporary uses of cultural variables in explaining criminal justice practices in Western industrialized countries. Uses “cultures of inequality” to refer to the increasing taste or tolerance for inequality in the general population across nations. Argues that countries with higher than average tastes for inequality also have higher income inequality, more population heterogeneity, and higher percentages of others in prison.