Framing the Problem of Sex Trafficking

News media play an important role in explaining the issue of sex trafficking and may influence discourse among the public and policymakers. Understanding the ways that mass media address sex trafficking has implications for the news industry and the global status of women. This study, a quantitative content analysis, analyzed news coverage of sex trafficking in major US newspapers to understand how the issue was framed during a year of coverage. Using Entman's typology to classify the function of frames, the study focused on how news coverage defined the problem of sex trafficking and identified the remedy. The study found that news coverage of trafficking was overwhelmingly framed as a crime issue (episodic not thematic) and proposed no remedies. Most news coverage favored official sources. Survivors of trafficking and their advocates were the least heard-from sources. The authors argue ultimately that if media are to fulfill their watchdog role where trafficking is concerned, a wider range of news frames and sources is needed.     

Persistence and desistance in heavy cannabis use: the role of identity,agency, and life events

Many cannabis users ‘mature out’ of their drug use, and factors of cannabis use cessation have been identified. However, very little in-depth knowledge is available about the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. Criminological studies have gained interesting insights in desistance from crime, yet these perspectives are rarely used in drug research. This qualitative, three-year longitudinal study explored the processes involved in desistance from frequent cannabis use for young adults. Using a narrative approach, desisters (frequent users who successfully quit their cannabis use) and persisters (frequent users with a persistent desire and unsuccessful attempts to quit) were compared. In the course of the study, desisters mainly exhibited increasing agency and goal setting, established strategies to achieve these goals, and could envision another self. Desistance was generally induced by life events that became turning points. Persisters experienced largely similar events, but lacked goals and strategies and held external factors responsible for their life course and failed quit attempts. Identity change is at the core of desistance from frequent cannabis use, and the meaning-giving to life events and experiences is essential. Agency is a necessary ingredient for desistance, develops over time and through action, and leads to a new drug-free identity with desistance in turn increasing agency.     

A Descriptive Study of Home Modifications for People with Dementia and Barriers to Implementation

This study describes home environmental features, safety issues, and health-related modifications in a community dwelling sample of 82 elderly people with dementia. Main barriers to the accessibility of the homes were steps both inside and outside the home. The majority of the caregivers had made home modifications that pertained mainly to physical limitations. Home modifications to support cognitive deficits were made to a lesser extent. The main barrier to the implementation of home modifications to accommodate the care recipient's memory loss was skepticism about their usefulness. Regarding the removal of physical barriers, financial constraints were most frequently mentioned.     

Gambling Behavior and Pathology in Relation to Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, and Risky Behavior in Male College Students

Sensation seeking and impulsivity are two constructs of personality that are generally believed to be associated with risky behavior, including gambling. Despite the fact that pathological gambling is classified as an Impulsive Control Disorder in the DSM-IV, relatively little empirical research has investigated the relationship between gambling and impulsivity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sensation seeking, impulsivity, risky behaviors and gambling. One hundred and forty-four male undergraduate university students completed several inventories measuring sensation seeking, impulsivity, gambling, and risky behaviors. Statistical analyses revealed a very high percentage of participants were classified in the pathological gambler range of scores. In addition, a significant difference was found between the relationships of sensation seeking, impulsivity, and risky behaviors with gambling scores in the pathological versus non-pathological groups. Pathological gambler's scores on measures of sensation seeking and impulsivity did not correlate with their degree of gambling pathology. In contrast, the sensation seeking and impulsivity scores of non-pathological gamblers did correlate with their scores of gambling pathology. These results have implications on Jacob's General Theory of Addiction. The findings of this study also suggest that the classification of gambling as an impulse control disorder rather than an addictive disorder needs to be reevaluated.     

A generalized ordered Probit model

Abstract

The ordered probit and logit models, based on the normal and logistic distributions, can yield biased and inconsistent estimators when the distributions are misspecified. A generalized ordered response model is introduced which can reduce the impact of distributional misspecification. An empirical exploration of various determinants of life satisfaction suggests possible benefits of allowing for diverse distributional characteristics. These improvements are confirmed using a Monte Carlo study to contrast the performance of the flexible parametric specifications to the probit and logit specifications.     

Nexus analysis: Refocusing ethnography on action

Nexus analysis takes human action rather than language or culture as its unit of analysis. We take one specific case to illustrate the methodology as well as its continuity with the project of Hymes, and of Boas before him, to take action against racism. A nexus analysis takes the constitution of human social groups and languages as a problem to be examined, shifting the focus away from groups toward action as the prime unit of analysis. This shift disrupts power relations between ethnographer as participant and observer and those observed who are now participants and observers in partnership, with consequences concerning when, where, and with whom ethnography can be done, consequences for the security of subjects as well as national security. We begin where inequality is perceived and analyze the actions that bring that about, our analysis itself being a form of action.