Intimate Partner Abuse among African American Lesbians: Prevalence, Risk Factors, Theory, and Resilience

The purpose of this article is to present an intersectionality-based model for conceptualizing the risk factors associated with intimate partner abuse (IPA) among African American lesbians. The available literature on prevalence and risk factors associated with IPA suggests that: (a) estimates of prevalence rates for African American lesbian IPA could range from 25?% to 40?%, with the higher end of the range representing the inclusion of nonphysical forms of abuse (i.e., verbal abuse, intimidation, and coercion); and (b) the risk factors most likely to be associated with IPA for this population include poverty, history of trauma and mental health symptoms (including substance abuse), in addition to distress caused by multiple and intersecting forms of oppression (i.e., racialized, classist sexism and heterosexism). The model demonstrates the manner in which all of these risk factors intersect to create disproportionately high risk for this underresearched and underserved population. A psychodynamically based model is also presented that illustrates the cycle of abuse within an African American lesbian relationship. Finally, a model depicting the most likely protective factors segues into a brief concluding discussion about the implications for intervention, prevention, policy, education, and future research.     

Comparative Metropolitan Organization: Service Production and Governance Structures in St. Louis (MO) and Allegheny County (PA)

For many observers, a large number of governments in a metropolitanarea is thought to equate to "fragmentation," and fragmentation,to ineffective organization and poor performance. Other observersfind a large number of local governments to mean competitionand consequent pressures for efficiency. The number of localgovernments, however, is only one dimension of the structureof a metropolitan area. We identify and measure key structuralcharacteristics of "fragmented " metropolitan areas, employinga comparative study of two metropolitan city-counties: St. LouisCityand County, Missouri, and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh),Pennsylvania. We argue that these areas, with their many unitsof local government, "work" by means of integrating structuresbuilt by local governments together with county and state governments.Counties, in particular, are a useful focus for study of metropolitanrelationships because they often provide the institutional framewithin which integrating structures are built.     

Escaping Poverty and Securing Middle Class Status: How Race and Socioeconomic Status Shape Mobility Prospects for African Americans During the Transition to Adulthood

This article draws on extant research from the disciplines of psychology, sociology, and economics to identify linkages between individual, family, community, and structural factors related to social mobility for African Americans during the transition to adulthood. It considers how race and class together affect opportunities for social mobility through where African Americans live, whom they associate with, and how they are impacted by racial and class-related stigma. Of particular interest is social mobility as accomplished through academic achievement, educational attainment, employment, economic independence, and homeownership. Research on five issues is reviewed and discussed: (a) the unique vulnerabilities of newly upwardly mobile African Americans, (b) wealth as a source of inequality, (c) racism and discrimination, (d) the stigma associated with lower-class status, and (e) social and cultural capital. The article concludes with a summary and directions for future research.

Sudden death due to streptococcal infection

Sudden unexpected deaths form a large population of medical examiner caseloads. Presented are the clinical, pathologic, and virulence features of sudden death due to Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus. Emphasis is placed on the importance of post-mortem cultures. Case histories are included to illustrate the sometimes unusual presentation of this disease. Recent publicity has led to a heightened public awareness of this unusually virulent entity.     

Accuracy Rates of Sex Estimation by Forensic Anthropologists through Comparison with DNA Typing Results in Forensic Casework

A common task in forensic anthropology involves the estimation of the biological sex of a decedent by exploiting the sexual dimorphism between males and females. Estimation methods are often based on analysis of skeletal collections of known sex and most include a research‐based accuracy rate. However, the accuracy rates of sex estimation methods in actual forensic casework have rarely been studied. This article uses sex determinations based on DNA results from 360 forensic cases to develop accuracy rates for sex estimations conducted by forensic anthropologists. The overall rate of correct sex estimation from these cases is 94.7% with increasing accuracy rates as more skeletal material is available for analysis and as the education level and certification of the examiner increases. Nine of 19 incorrect assessments resulted from cases in which one skeletal element was available, suggesting that the use of an “undetermined” result may be more appropriate for these cases.     

Citizen Voice and Public Entrepreneurship: The Organizational Dynamic of a Complex Metropolitan County

Recent empirical research points toward a reassessment of theeffects of complex patterns of local government in metropolitanareas. As research increasingly discloses positive relationshipsbetween (1) indicators of jurisdictional fragmentation and complexityand (2) indicators of efficiency in service provision and production,it becomes more important to explain, in a functional sense,how a complex metropolitan order is able to produce relativelygood results. This article first considers two broad approachesto understanding metropolitan complexity—exit and voice—andargues that citizen voice must be the principal mechanism ofcomplex metropolitan governance A case study of St. Louis County,Missouri, is then used to explore the various processes by whichcitizen voice may contribute to the organization and governanceof a metropolitan county. Citizen voice is linked to publicentrepreneurship and, thereby, to various efficiency-inducingproperties that emerge within a complex metropolitan order.     

The epidemiology of fatal burn injuries

The paper retrospectively reviews 80 burn fatalities from accidents or attempted suicides with patients admitted to the LAC-USC Medical Center from 1983 to 1987 to determine demographic factors, etiology of the burn injury, and existence of predisposing risk factors. The average age of fatal burn victims was 44 years; 74% were males, 39% were Caucasian, 35% were black, 21% were Hispanic, and 5% were of Asian descent. Blacks and Caucasians were overrepresented and Hispanics underrepresented in relation to all autopsy cases. Major etiologic factors included suicide, falling asleep while smoking, accidents while working with volatile solvents, housefires, scalds, cooking accidents, and accidents involving motor vehicles. Gasoline was the commonest solvent involved with burn fatalities. Significant risk factors for burn fatality were substance abuse (25% of cases) and impaired mental function (19% of cases).     

The impact of police reform on communities of Trinidad and Tobago

Objectives  

Reforms were implemented at five selected police stations in Trinidad and Tobago. The reforms were designed to improve the services delivered by police stations, to reduce crime, and to increase public confidence in the police. The intervention involved improving police facilities, vehicles, and equipment, and enhancing station staffing, training, and technical assistance to improve basic police work and station management/supervision. It introduced service-oriented, problem-solving approaches to replace the traditional colonial and post-colonial models of policing.