Beyond the Low-Hanging Fruit: Reducing Racial Inequality by Rethinking School Safety Efforts

In this essay, I examine the problem of excessive and racially disproportionate school discipline. I begin by considering how each of the four most popular Democratic candidates in the presidential primary race as of January 2020 addresses this issue. Excessive and racially disproportionate school discipline harms students, schools, and communities, and it deepens existing racial inequalities. Each candidate promises some remedy, and all represent a step in the right direction. However, all of their proposals are shallow. To fruitfully address these issues, policymakers must consider the cultural embeddedness of school discipline, how it is implemented within complex school bureaucracies, and the underlying racial inequality that shapes school discipline. Policymakers must also draw attention to the fact that schools are, overall, safe and do not require the massive investments in security personnel and technology that draw funds away from more effective supports for students.     

Analyzing equity impacts of transit fare changes: Case study of Alameda–Contra Costa Transit,California

Many public transit agencies consider increasing fares when faced with budget shortfalls. This paper analyzes the Alameda–Contra Costa (AC) Transit District's five alternative fare proposals introduced for public discussion in March 2005. The proposals combined fare hikes, base fare reductions, eliminations of free transfers, and discontinuation of periodic passes. Using the agency's 2002 on-board survey data, the study assessed the impacts of individual fare proposals on different subsets of riders and evaluated if they were equitable; and estimated potential fare revenues, using alternative price elasticities to estimate changes in ridership due to changes in price. The analysis revealed that proposals that increased the cost of transfers or eliminated unlimited-use passes produced dramatically unequal impacts on certain riders. Proposals for flat fares per ride were found to be least equitable, even when the base fare was lowered, because lower income riders, youth, and minorities made more trips and transferred more frequently than their more affluent counterparts. Proposals that maintained existing pass instruments and allowed transfers for small fees were the most favorable. The paper demonstrates the utility of on-board surveys and details an approach that could be widely used for evaluation of equity in public transit and other areas.     

Stressful neighborhoods and depression: a prospective study of the impact of neighborhood disorder

Quantitative and qualitative research suggests that urban disadvantaged environments may be highly stressful to their inhabitants. Social disorganization may be deleterious to both physical and mental health. The relationships among perceptions of one's neighborhood, measures of social support and social integration, and level of subsequent depressive symptoms was examined with a community sample of 818 individuals screened for an HIV prevention intervention, most of whom were current or former drug users. After adjusting for baseline levels of depressive symptoms, perceptions of neighborhood characteristics (vandalism, litter or trash, vacant housing, teenagers hanging out, burglary, drug selling, and robbery) predicted depressive symptoms at a 9-month follow-up interview. Measures of social support and social integration, entered as interactions with neighborhood perceptions, did not buffer the effect of neighborhood perceptions. However, CES-D scores at follow-up for frequent church attendees were lower. The data support theories of social disorganization and social stress and suggest the need for structural intervention.     

Conflict of Interest Mitigation Procedures May Have Little Influence on the Perceived Procedural Fairness of Risk‐Related Research

Two between‐subject experiments explored perceived conflict of interest (COI)—operationalized as perceived procedural unfairness—in a hypothetical public–private research partnership to study the health risks of trans fats. Perceived fairness was measured as subjects’ perceptions that health researchers would be willing to listen to a range of voices and minimize bias (i.e., COI) in the context of a research project. Experiment 1 (n = 1,263) randomly assigned research subjects to a partnership that included (1) a combination of an industry partner, a university partner, and a nongovernmental organization (NGO) partner; and (2) one of three processes aimed at mitigating the potential for COI to harm the quality of the research. The procedures included an arm's‐length process meant to keep the university‐based research team from being influenced by the other partners, an independent advisory board to oversee the project, and a commitment to making all data and analyses openly available. The results suggest that having an industry partner has substantial negative effects on perceived fairness and that the benefit of employing a single COI‐mitigation process may be relatively small. Experiment 2 (n = 1,076) assessed a partnership of (1) a university and either an NGO or industry partner and (b) zero, one, two, or three of the three COI‐mitigation procedures. Results suggest there is little value in combining COI‐mitigation procedures. The study has implications for those who aim to foster confidence in scientific findings for which the underlying research may benefit from industry funding.     

Domain Specificity in Adolescents’ Concepts of Laws: Associations Among Beliefs and Behavior

Using detailed vignettes and scale measures, concepts of laws regulating domain‐specific issues and engagement in delinquency were assessed among 340 9th through 12th graders (M_age = 16.64, SD = 1.37). Adolescents distinguished between laws that regulate moral, drug‐related prudential, conventional, personal, and multifaceted issues in their criterion judgments and justifications. Youths’ ratings of the importance of laws, obligation to obey laws, and deserved punishment for breaking different laws also followed domain‐consistent patterns. Adolescents’ engagement in moral, drug‐related prudential, and multifaceted forms of delinquency was associated with less supportive judgments about laws within the same domain. Findings contribute to civic development research by demonstrating domain specificity in adolescents’ beliefs about laws and suggest that these beliefs are linked with engagement in similar types of delinquency.     

Investigation of Change in Adolescent Perceptions of Mothers' and Fathers' Contributions to Interparental Discord From 7th to 9th Grades

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether adolescent perceptions of mothers' and fathers' contributions to interparental discord changed from early to middle adolescence and if the changes were related to adolescent negative mood. Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Adolescents who were in 7th grade at the Wave 1 assessment and lived with both biological parents during Waves 1–4 were included in this research (n=812; 55% boys; 69% White). Findings indicated that adolescents' perceptions of their mothers' and their fathers' contributions to interparental discord increased at similar rates from early to middle adolescence. The largest increases in adolescent perceptions of mothers' and fathers' contributions to interparental discord from 7th to 9th grades were associated with the largest increases in adolescent negative mood from 7th to 10th grades. Girls' perceptions of their fathers' contributions to interparental relationship problems increased at a steeper rate compared with boys. Findings are discussed in the context of the sensitization hypothesis.     

Antisociality and intimate partner violence: the facilitating role of shame

Numerous theories classify distinct subtypes of men who perpetrate violence against female partners. These theories contend that a large portion of these men possess antisocial characteristics that may increase risk for violence. Affectively, these men have been found to externalize their emotions, including shame and guilt, and it has been suggested that this process contributes to the perpetration of partner violence. Therefore, this study sought to examine the role of shame and guilt in the association between antisociality and partner violence perpetration (i.e., psychological, physical, and sexual). Based on a sample of 423 undergraduate men, this study found that shame moderated the association between antisociality and partner violence perpetration such that as shame increases, the associations between antisociality and all three types of partner violence perpetration increase. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of typological models of partner violence and have clinical implications for batterer intervention programs.     

Attachment-based family therapy: adherence and differentiation

This study examined the fidelity of attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) for depressed adolescents. Trained observers used the therapist behavior rating scale (3rd version) to code therapist behaviors in 45 sessions of ABFT and 45 sessions each from two empirically based treatments for adolescent substance abusers: multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Results indicate that ABFT therapists employed essential ABFT interventions, such as focusing on vulnerable affect, highlighting attachment-related themes, and promoting adolescent-parent reattachment through in-session enactments. In accordance with the sequential nature of the treatment, these interventions were used more extensively during the early stage of treatment, when there is a greater focus on reattachment. ABFT was perfectly discriminable from CBT, with ABFT therapists using more restructuring and reattachment interventions and CBT therapists using more signature CBT interventions, such as cognitive monitoring and homework. ABFT was also discriminable from MDFT, with ABFT therapists placing a greater emphasis on reattachment. These results suggest that ABFT is a viable and differentiated treatment. Together with prior findings supporting its efficacy, ABFT should be considered a promising new approach for working with depressed adolescents and their families.     

Spatial and temporal aspects of alcohol-related crime in a college town

OBJECTIVE: The authors aimed to clarify crime "movement" through the city of Madison to focus efforts to address consequences of student drinking. The authors examined all crime reported by police during the 2003 year. METHODS: Using geographical information system (GIS) mapping and 2003 crime data from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the city of Madison, the authors investigated the relationships among high-density alcohol outlets and various city neighborhoods. RESULTS: Different categories of crime showed different temporal and spatial patterns: Serious crimes peaked between 2 and 3AM, coinciding with bar closing time. Less serious crimes peaked between 11PM and midnight. Reports of vandalism peaked in the morning and afternoon. "Hotspots" for different crimes moved throughout the downtown. Results were consistent with problems associated with high-risk student drinking in college communities. CONCLUSION: These results and maps generated by GIS led directly to changes made by city and university officials to address high-risk drinking.