Adult youth workers’ conceptions of their work in an under-resourced community in the United States

This study examined adult workers’ conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, urban region in the northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 youth workers from various organizations, affiliated with a community coalition focused on substance abuse prevention, we explored how adults viewed their role of working with youth. We were particularly interested in whether these workers saw youth empowerment and collaboration with youth for community change as part of their role. Our data suggested that while workers in this study were very supportive of youth, the support and actions they provided were on behalf of rather than with them and that, in general, partnering with youth for community change was not a part of what they envisioned their work to be. While a few of the adults attempted to work more collaboratively with youth, they were clearly in the minority.     

Young people in a city of culture: ‘Ultimate beneficiaries’ or ‘Economic migrants’?

There is burgeoning literature on cities that host major cultural events. However, there is surprisingly very little empirical research focusing specifically on young people and cities of culture, so we have limited knowledge in terms of how young people actually experience and interpret cultural events. Given this, we offer an important and timely contribution to such debates. Our spatial focus is Derry/Londonderry (D/L) in Northern Ireland. During 2013 D/L was the UK’s inaugural City of Culture (CoC). The bid document and legacy plans for CoC stated that young people would be ‘cultural assets’ during 2013 and the ‘ultimate beneficiaries’ of the CoC legacy [Derry City Council 2010. Cracking the Code. City of Culture 2013. Derry: Derry City Council, 2013a. Our Legacy Promise. Building on the Success of 2013. Derry: Derry City Council, 2013b. Legacy Plan 2013–2023. Derry: Derry City Council]. This paper unpacks and analyses the extent to which young people in D/L related to and engaged with CoC and, arguably more importantly, how CoC affected their plans and aspirations for the future. Our research problematises the claim that young people were the ‘ultimate beneficiaries’ of CoC; most strikingly, it shows that young people, despite offering very positive views, both expect and desire to live in cities other than D/L. As such, the debilitating long-standing trend of economic migration of young people will continue raising important issues for local stakeholders.     

Comorbidity of Alcohol and Gambling Problems in Emerging Adults: A Bifactor Model Conceptualization

Addictive disorders, such as pathological gambling and alcohol use disorders, frequently co-occur at greater than chance levels. Substantive questions stem from this comorbidity regarding the extent to which shared variance between gambling and alcohol use reflects a psychological core of addictive tendencies, and whether this differs as a function of gender. The aims of this study were to differentiate both common and unique variance in alcohol and gambling problems in a bifactor model, examine measurement invariance of this model by gender, and identify substantive correlates of the final bifactor model. Undergraduates (N = 4475) from a large northwestern university completed an online screening questionnaire which included demographics, quantity of money lost and won when gambling, the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the AUDIT, gambling motives, drinking motives, personality, and the Brief Symptom Inventory. Results suggest that the bifactor model fit the data well in the full sample. Although the data suggest configural invariance across gender, factor loadings could not be constrained to be equal between men and women. As such, general and specific factors were examined separately by gender with a more intensive subsample of females and males (n = 264). Correlations with motivational tendencies, personality traits, and mental health symptoms indicated support for the validity of the bifactor model, as well as gender-specific patterns of association. Results suggest informative distinctions between shared and unique attributes related to problematic drinking and gambling.     

Challenging the techno-politics of anonymity: the case of cryptomarket users

Anonymity is treated as a problem of governance that can be subject to technical resolution. We use the example of the darknet to critically examine this approach. We explore the background assumptions that have been made about anonymity as a quality of social life. We conceive of anonymity as a way of engaging and maintaining social relationships in an anonymous mode. We draw on a study of darknet ‘cryptomarket’ users who mainly use the darknet to buy and sell illicit drugs, discuss drug quality and share information on safe and effective use. We identify the personal satisfaction that comes from interacting anonymously online, the challenges this represents for maintaining trusted interactions and how they are overcome, and the combination of technology and action involved in maintaining anonymity. We argue that attempts to promote de-anonymising norms and technology are based on an erroneous understanding of what anonymity is.     

Depression,emotional states,and the experience of binge-watching narrative television

Terms like “binge-watching” and the “showhole” suggest a relationship between binge-watching and emotional health. This study sought to understand the relationship between binge-watching, unhealthy emotional traits, and regular emotional states such as sadness. The study found that emotional states experienced after binge-watching had implications for entertainment gratifications. However, the study did not find a conclusive connection between binge-watching and unhealthy emotional traits.     

The immigration–crime relationship: Evidence across US metropolitan areas

Despite popular commentary claiming a link between immigration and crime, empirical research exploring this relationship is sparse. Especially missing from the literature on immigration and crime is a consideration of how immigration affects rates of crime at the macro-level. Although individual-level studies of immigrant criminality and victimization tend to demonstrate that immigrants typically engage in less crime than their native-born counterparts, the effect of immigration on aggregate criminal offending is less clear. In this research, we attempt to address this weakness in the literature by examining the effects of aspects of immigration on crime rates in metropolitan areas. We combine 2000 US Census data and 2000 Uniform Crime Report data to explore how the foreign-born population influences criminal offending across a sample of metropolitan areas. After controlling for a host of demographic and economic characteristics, we find that immigration does not increase crime rates, and some aspects of immigration lessen crime in metropolitan areas.     

Children's Interaction With Commercials*

Public policy attention to numerous issues arising from children's television commercials has resulted in considerable research interest in this area. Most studies have been based on 1) cognitive developmental approaches; 2) survey methods based on parental reports of child viewing; 3) a view of the child as an atomized entity in the viewing environment. This study focuses on interactive episodes of child viewing. Behavior specimens of interactive viewing collected by naturalistic methods are presented illustrating children and parents actively shaping the commercial viewing situation.