Tavern proximity,tavern density and socio-economic status as predictors of assault occurrence within New Zealand: a temporal comparison

This paper investigates how the associations between tavern proximity, tavern density and area unit socio-economic status with assault occurrence vary in a temporal sense. Using New Zealand Police data specifying the day, time and location of assaults in 2016 and Ministry of Justice data specifying the location of on-licenced taverns, we construct logistic regression models to determine how well tavern proximity, tavern density and socio-economic status predict the occurrence of assaults at peak (Fri 22:00–Sat 03:00 and Sat 22:00–Sun 03:00) and off-peak times. An equal-sized sample of traffic generators (public venues whose primary function is not the sale of alcohol) is constructed and similar procedures applied. We find that tavern proximity and tavern density are stronger predictors of assault occurrence at peak, compared to off-peak, times. Conversely, socio-economic status is a better predictor of assault occurrence at off-peak times. We also find that whilst tavern proximity and density are stronger predictors of assault occurrence relative to traffic generator proximity and density at peak times, the opposite is true at off-peak times. These results suggest that in order to minimise alcohol-related harm, there is a need for policy-makers to take into account the temporal nature of these relationships.     

Extrapolative simulation of neighborhood networks based on population spatial distribution: Do they predict crime?

Objectives

Previous criminological scholarship has posited that network ties among neighborhood residents may impact crime rates, but has done little to consider the specific ways in which network structure may enhance or inhibit criminal activity. A lack of data on social ties has arguably led to this state of affairs. We propose to avoid this limitation by demonstrating a novel approach of extrapolatively simulating network ties and constructing structural network measures to assess their effect on neighborhood crime rates.

Methods

We first spatially locate the households of a city into their constituent blocks. Then, we employ spatial interaction functions based on prior empirical work and simulate a network of social ties among these residents. From this simulated network, we compute network statistics that more appropriately capture the notions of cohesion and information diffusion that underlie theories of networks and crime.

Results

We show that these network statistics are robust predictors of the levels of crime in five separate cities (above standard controls) at the very micro geographic level of blocks and block groups.

Conclusions

We conclude by considering extensions of the approach that account for homophily in the formation of network ties.     

How College Students Conceptualize and Practice Responsible Drinking

Abstract

Objective: This study sought to employ a mixed-methods approach to (a) qualitatively explore responsible drinking beliefs and behaviors among a sample of college students, and (b) quantitatively assess the prevalence of those behaviors. Participants: Convenience samples, drawn from currently enrolled students attending a large public university in Texas, comprised 13 participants in the qualitative phase and a random sample of 729 students for the quantitative phase. Methods: A partially mixed sequential dominant status design (qual → QUAN) was employed. Results: Participants associated 7 distinct themes with drinking responsibly; however, embedded inside these themes were numerous potentially harmful elements. Quantitative findings supported the qualitative themes, also highlighting gender and ethnic differences. Males believed responsible drinking behaviors should occur with significantly less frequency than females, whereas Whites attached less relative necessity to certain responsible drinking behaviors. Conclusion: This study represents an initial attempt to determine specific, evidence-based characteristics of responsible drinking.     

Self-reported Barriers to Professional Help Seeking Among College Students at Elevated Risk for Suicide

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to describe self-reported barriers to professional help seeking among college students who are at elevated suicide risk and determine if these barriers vary by demographic and clinical characteristics. Participants: Participants were 165 non–treatment seekers recruited as part of a Web-based treatment linkage intervention for college students at elevated suicide risk (from September 2010 through December 2011). Methods: Data were collected using Web-based questionnaires. Two coders coded students’ responses to an open-ended question about reasons for not seeking professional help. Results: The most commonly reported barriers included perception that treatment is not needed (66%), lack of time (26.8%), and preference for self-management (18%). Stigma was mentioned by only 12% of students. There were notable differences based on gender, race, and severity of depression and alcohol abuse. Conclusions: Efforts aimed at reaching students at elevated risk for suicidal behavior should be particularly sensitive to these commonly described barriers.     

The internal death of Japanoise

Japanese noise music (Japanoise) has strong associations with death. In the early stages of Japanoise’s development, practitioners would often make reference to eroticism, violence and death in their performances and album artwork to help visualise the “excess” of their sound. The discourse of Japanoise also draws on these associations, through concepts such as disembodiment, to help frame this transgressive enterprise. Death becomes a way of visualising and conceptualising a subversive style of music that attempts to leave the world of limits and meaning. Paul Hegarty and Eugene Thacker both account for Japanoise in these terms. Although death is only implicit in their writing, it will be argued that this understanding of death is essential to what Hegarty means by failure and what Thacker means by disembodiment. This paper will show how, for both theorists, death names a paradoxical yet extreme form of possibility that enables Japanoise to test limits. However, the problem with this understanding is that it holds Japanoise to a limited framework. It essentialises the concepts of negativity and subversion to the economy of Japanoise. This paper will argue that Japanoise cannot be limited to these concepts if it hopes to be more than an oppositional form of music and a tired form of transgression. This requires that its relationship with death not be reduced to a form of production or act of will. By arguing that Hegarty and Thacker’s accounts of noise can be read as Heideggerian, this essay will critique this understanding by drawing on Maurice Blanchot’s account of death. This critique will show how a different understanding of death enables a more nuanced understanding of Japanoise.     

RIESMAN'S CHARACTER TYPOLOGY AND MUSICAL PREFERENCES

Researchers analyzed YUM(!) Brand/Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC's) response to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (PETA's) KFC cruelty campaign in order to add a new component to the current organizational deviance literature related to how corporations defend themselves against attacks. KFC's reaction to PETA's attempts to label it deviant is a unique pattern of response we dub strategic interaction, in which each tactic used by PETA is met with a new and adaptive response by KFC. After an extensive campaign, PETA was still unable to succeed at changing KFC's policies. We attempt to explain PETA's lack of success in terms of superficial appeasement and appropriation. Superficial appeasement is a newly identified stalling tactic, which may provide organizations with the time they need to create a history of corporate responsibility in response to accusations of deviance. Appropriation involved KFC's co-optation of a joint panel that was intended to facilitate dialogue between the two organizations, but instead became almost entirely filled with panelists sympathetic to KFC's existing corporate policies, a technique that may facilitate other corporations attempting to defend themselves.     

Early Cultural Dialogues in Cross-Cultural Clinical Practice

This article examines the quality of cultural dialogues between clients and therapists when they initiate and integrate verbal references to culture in the beginning process of therapy. Six cross-cultural dyads in short-term–oriented community mental health services participated in the study. The initial three sessions of actual clinical encounters were taped, and conversation analysis was used for an intensive analysis of the treatment sessions. Despite the presence of a wide range of affectively charged cultural content raised by the clients, the therapists showed only minimal responses to these topics. The potential of therapeutically germane cultural dialogue was lost, and the discussion of material involving cultural differences regressed to monologues expressed by clients. In this sample, there was little talk that focused on cultural differences or similarities between clients and therapists. Implications and limitations of the study in cross-cultural clinical practice are discussed.     

Lone Parents and Welfare‐to‐Work in England: A Spatial Analysis of Outcomes and Drivers

Mirroring changes across nations of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, recent UK governments have redrawn lone parents' entitlement to social assistance benefits ever tighter around participation in the labour market. A radical shift since 2008 has been the gradual transfer of most non‐employed lone parents into the ‘activating’ Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) regime. The enhanced conditionality requirements of this JSA regime have been justified by both paternalistic and contractualist arguments but, however justified, are built on the premise that behavioural factors drive lone parent employment outcomes, a view made increasingly forcefully under the current Coalition government. This article uses up‐to‐date administrative data at local authority level across England to provide a geographical perspective into the sub‐national changes in lone parent employment outcomes since the transfer to JSA from 2008, as well as the relevant importance of the alternative structural and behavioural accounts to these outcomes. The findings suggest that the JSA transfer has increased lone parent employment, that structural rather than behavioural drivers are more relevant causal factors and that there is good reason to be concerned about the effect of the reforms on the well‐being of lone parents and their children.     

Community and drug use among gay men: the role of neighborhoods and networks

Gay neighborhoods serve as vital places for gay men's socializing, yet few studies have examined their contributions to gay men's health-either directly or indirectly via residents' social networks. Drawing from theoretical perspectives on community and networks, we test hypotheses concerning whether gay neighborhoods and social network factors are associated with patterns of recent illicit drug use among a sample of 740 urban gay men from New York City. Higher odds of drug use were observed among individuals who resided in gay neighborhoods, had networks composed predominantly of other gay men, and had increased socialization with gay men. Network factors did not mediate associations between gay neighborhoods and drug use. These findings highlight the need to better contextualize the health risks faced by gay men by accounting for both neighborhood and network structures.