The residential preferences of blacks and whites: A four‐metropolis analysis

Abstract

Three hypotheses seek to explain the persistence of residential segregation between blacks and whites in the United States: economic differentials, discrimination in housing and lending markets, and neighborhood preferences. The preferences hypothesis posits that both races wish to live in racially homogeneous neighborhoods. This article examines the preferences hypothesis by using recent interview data from metropolitan Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Los Angeles.

Race continues to be significant in the residential decision‐making process. Whites’ willingness to move into a neighborhood is inversely related to the density of blacks living there. Blacks prefer integrated neighborhoods, but ones with a substantial representation of blacks. Preferences differ significantly from one metropolis to another, with Detroit representing the extreme. In the other three metropolises, the preferences of blacks and whites do overlap sufficiently to offer hope for a decline in segregation, provided that the influence of other forces, particularly discrimination, also declines.     

The Characterization of 3,4-Dimethylmethcathinone (3,4-DMMC)

Analogs and derivatives of traditional illicit drugs are ever increasing in variety and creativity. Staying abreast of the new developments is a constant challenge for every forensic laboratory. Recently, a seizure from Australian Customs Service presented our laboratory with the designer cathinone 3,4-dimethylmethcathinone (3,4-DMMC). Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry were employed to analyze the spectroscopic characteristics of this cathinone. As an analog, 3,4-DMMC exhibits similar if not identical IR and UV profiles to mephedrone (4-MMC) and methcathinone; however, the retention time from GC is unique as expected, and the electron impact fragmentation pattern is consistent with the fragmentation pattern of other cathinones. The chemical shifts of the carbons and hydrogens were assigned by both one- and two-dimensional NMR techniques, while the molecular weight was confirmed by LC/MS.     

From child maltreatment to violent offending: an examination of mixed-gender and gender-specific models

Research suggests that child maltreatment predicts juvenile violence, but it is uncertain whether the effects of victimization persist into adulthood or differ across gender. Furthermore, we know little about the mechanisms underlying the victim-perpetrator cycle for males and females. Consequently, this study analyzed associations between child maltreatment and a number of adult measures of violent offending within mixed-gender and gender-specific models. Along with main effects, the study directly tested the moderating effects of gender on the maltreatment-violence link and analyzed theory-informed gender-specific mediators. Data were derived from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, a panel investigation of 1,539 low-income minority participants born in 1979 or 1980. Child welfare, juvenile court, and criminal court records informed the study's explanatory and outcome measures. Prospectively collected covariate and mediator measures originated with parent, teacher, and self-reports along with several administrative sources. Results indicated that child maltreatment, ages 0 to 11, significantly predicted all study indicators of violence in the full sample and most study outcomes in the male and female subsamples. In no instance did gender moderate the maltreatment-violence association. Late childhood/early adolescence environmental instability, childhood externalizing behaviors, and adolescent peer social skills fully mediated the maltreatment-violence nexus among males. Adolescent externalizing behavior partially mediated the relationship of interest among females. Evidence also indicated that internalizing processes protected females who had been maltreated in childhood against perpetrating violence later in life. Implications of results are discussed.     

Nano-scale composition of commercial white powders for development of latent fingerprints on adhesives

Titanium dioxide based powders are regularly used in the development of latent fingerprints on dark surfaces. For analysis of prints on adhesive tapes, the titanium dioxide can be suspended in a surfactant and used in the form of a powder suspension. Commercially available products, whilst having nominally similar composition, show varying levels of effectiveness of print development, with some powders adhering to the background as well as the print.X-ray fluorescence (XRF), analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and laser particle sizing of the fingerprint powders show TiO₂ particles with a surrounding coating, tens of nanometres thick, consisting of Al and Si rich material, with traces of sodium and sulphur. Such aluminosilicates are commonly used as anti-caking agents and to aid adhesion or functionality of some fingerprint powders; however, the morphology, thickness, coverage and composition of the aluminosilicates are the primary differences between the white powder formulations and could be related to variation in the efficacy of print development.     

Training indigenous workers in mental-health care

This article develops issues raised in H`ans Buwalda's article, ‘Children of war in the Philippines?s. It considers the training of indigenous workers in mental-health care in areas of recent or continuing armed conflict. It explores the possibilities of combining Western therapeutic techniques with local and culturally appropriate ways of working. It stresses the need to acknowledge and address the emotional impact of the work and participants' own concerns, and discusses the kind of support which workers need. It looks at teaching methods and course content, with a view to creating a safe atmosphere and an interesting programme, taking into account cultural considerations. Finally it suggests ways of developing models of training for the future.     

Gender Differences in Rates of Depressive Symptoms Among Low-Income,Urban, African American Youth: A Test of Two Mediational Hypotheses

The present study tested for gender differences in depressive symptoms in a sample of 622 low-income, urban, African American adolescents. Results indicate that adolescent girls in this sample were significantly more likely to endorse depressive symptoms than were boys. To examine possible explanations for this gender difference, 2 variables were tested as mediators of the relation between gender and depressive symptoms: (1) interpersonal stressors and (2) ruminative coping. Results indicate that ruminative coping, but not interpersonal stressors, mediated the relation between gender and depressive symptoms in this sample. Possible explanations for these findings, in light of the common and unique experiences of low-income, urban youth of color, are explored.