Dealing in Toxins on the Wrong Side of the Tracks: Lessons from a Hazardous Waste Controversy in Phoenix*

Objective. The controversial expansion of a hazardous waste facility in a poor, minority neighborhood in Phoenix illustrates the unanticipated consequences of siting hazardous facilities in vulnerable communities, and the need to recognize neighborhood health/safety issues such as drug‐related crime as environmental justice struggles. Methods. Qualitative methods include participant observation, document analysis, Census data, GIS mapping, and interviews. Results. South Central Phoenix's history reveals a disproportionate share of poverty, pollution, and drug crimes. Most commercial hazardous waste facilities in Phoenix were sited in minority areas. Residents contended that the siting, permitting process, and expansion of the facility and the drug crimes that later occurred there were all due to environmental racism. Conclusions. The expansion of the facility exacerbated environmental injustice in Phoenix through distributional and participative injustice, and was criminogenic. The dual impact on the community of hazardous waste and drug crime argues for a more holistic understanding of environmental justice.     

Measuring the Precision of Statistical Cost Allocations

This article examines the use of regression analysis for allocating indirect costs. When multiple regression is used to estimate the weights of several allocation factors, conventional standard errors and correlation coefficients can be misleading with respect to the statistical precision of the cost allocations. This article develops alternative allocation approaches and measures of precision that use linear prediction theory and Bayesian inference. The proposed methods are illustrated using a university indirect cost study.     

Review and Assessment of Poliovirus Immunity and Transmission: Synthesis of Knowledge Gaps and Identification of Research Needs

With the intensifying global efforts to eradicate wild polioviruses, policymakers face complex decisions related to achieving eradication and managing posteradication risks. These decisions and the expanding use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) trigger renewed interest in poliovirus immunity, particularly the role of mucosal immunity in the transmission of polioviruses. Sustained high population immunity to poliovirus transmission represents a key prerequisite to eradication, but poliovirus immunity and transmission remain poorly understood despite decades of studies. In April 2010, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened an international group of experts on poliovirus immunology and virology to review the literature relevant for modeling poliovirus transmission, develop a consensus about related uncertainties, and identify research needs. This article synthesizes the quantitative assessments and research needs identified during the process. Limitations in the evidence from oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) challenge studies and other relevant data led to differences in expert assessments, indicating the need for additional data, particularly in several priority areas for research: (1) the ability of IPV‐induced immunity to prevent or reduce excretion and affect transmission, (2) the impact of waning immunity on the probability and extent of poliovirus excretion, (3) the relationship between the concentration of poliovirus excreted and infectiousness to others in different settings, and (4) the relative role of fecal‐oral versus oropharyngeal transmission. This assessment of current knowledge supports the immediate conduct of additional studies to address the gaps.     

Health Alive!

Abstract

“Preventable Sudden Death: The Long Q-T Syndrome,” E. U. NEEL, M.D. The syndrome of long Q-T interval (LQTS) must be included in the differential diagnosis of an adolescent with syncope. A case of cardiac arrest in a patient with LQTS is presented and discussed. The method for identifying these patients through using Bazett's formula is included. Treatment with beta blockers (propranolol) appears to be indicated in patients with prolonged QTc interval and syncope if the high mortality from ventricular arrhythmias is the be prevented. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher from “Preventable Sudden Death: The ‘Long Q-T Syndrome’,” by E. U. Neel, Journal of Adolescent Health Care 2, 49–51, Copyright 1981 by Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc.)     

The significance of uprightness: parents’ reflections on children’s responses to a hands-free walker for children

The benefits and drawbacks of facilitating independent walking in children with physical mobility impairments, such as cerebral palsy, remain to be determined. This knowledge gap creates decision dilemmas about which mobility practices parents and children should adopt and rehabilitation professionals should foster. These dilemmas are reflected in continuing debates about allocation of time, effort and resources to optimize walking versus encouraging use of manual or powered wheelchairs. Recent studies have reported only modest measurable walking progress for severely disabled children using hands-free walkers. Despite these seemingly disappointing results, parents remained highly motivated to encourage their children to use these walking devices and appraised them very positively. In the present paper, we suggest that parents’ symbolic value of their children assuming upright comportment may explain why they perceive hands-free walkers positively and why they are so motivated to devote much time and effort to improving independent, walking-based mobility of their children.     

Coping Strategies for Victims of Crime: Effects of the Use of Emotion-Focused,Problem-Focused,and Avoidance-Oriented Coping

Assessment of coping strategies of crime victims is an integral function of the ensuing well-being for those victims. This study examines the relationship between coping strategies and levels of distress, social support, and subjective well-being among victims of crime. Interviews were conducted with 175 crime victims. Findings indicate a complex relationship between and among variables. A positive relationship was found between emotion-focused coping and well-being. Additionally, an inverse relationship between avoidance-oriented coping and well-being, social support, and levels of distress was found.     

Author's Response

This paper presents an overview of the content on women from the social science and social work literature that needs to be incorporated into the social work curriculum to eliminate sexist content and to provide a substantive and nonsexist knowledge base concerning women. The body of knowledge reviewed includes the literature that identifies the influence of sexism on established theory and research. Also, the paper highlights literature concerning the effects of sexism on social workers, on social welfare policy and services, and on social work practice.