Criminality Among Rural Stimulant Users in the United States

Despite the increase in media attention on "meth cooking" in rural areas of the United States, little is known about rural stimulant use, particularly the criminality associated with stimulant use. Data were collected from community stimulant users in rural Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky (N=709). Findings from three logistic regression models indicate that younger stimulant users (x =32.55, SD = 10.35), those with more convictions, and those who used crack frequently were significantly more likely to have been arrested for committing a substance-related crime, a property crime, or another crime in the 6-months before entering the study. Implications include the need for longitudinal studies to further understand rural stimulant use as well as increasing community and corrections-based drug abuse prevention and treatment interventions for stimulant users who live in rural areas.     

Potential lessons from public health and health promotion for the prevention of child abuse

Two successful public health efforts of the last third of the twentieth century-tobacco control and automobile injury control-are reviewed for relevance to the problem of child abuse. Potential lessons for child abuse prevention are identified and the following approaches are suggested: Investigate varied logic models or conceptual frameworks to identify new opportunities for effective intervention. Use a multidisciplinary, multi-sector approach. Normalize desired behaviors and denormalize undesirable behaviors. Balance efficacy, feasibility, and cultural appropriateness. Develop strategies for effective policy advocacy based upon who benefits and who shoulders most of the burden.     

Attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence: results of a public opinion survey: II. Beliefs about causes

This report presents findings from a public opinion survey designed to measure beliefs about the causes of domestic violence (DV) based on telephone interviews with 1,200 residents across six New York State communities. Findings reveal substantial diversity and complexity among beliefs and interesting similarities and differences across open- and close-ended questions regarding explanations for partner abuse. Most respondents think about the causes of violence in the context of individual problems, relationships, and families, not as a problem with roots in our society or culture. Few believe that women are the cause of their own abuse, one fourth still believe that some women want to be abused, and most believe that women can end abusive relationships. Secondhand experiences with DV were associated with some beliefs about causes of abuse, and gender, age, education, and race were associated with certain beliefs in predictable ways.     

Finding Partisanship Where We Least Expect it: Evidence of Partisan Bias in a New African Democracy

Much of the literature on political behavior in Africa’s new semi-democracies has treated partisan affiliation as weak, purely pragmatic, or a proxy for other, more meaningful identities such as ethnicity. In this article, I dispute these conceptions by demonstrating that partisanship in an African context, like partisanship in established democracies, is a psychologically meaningful identity that can inspire voters to engage in motivated reasoning. By combining survey data with an original dataset of objective indicators of local public goods quality in Uganda, I show that supporters of the incumbent president systematically overestimate what they have received from government, while opposition supporters systematically underestimate. Partisan support precedes, rather than results from, this mis-estimation. I also show that partisans of the incumbent (opposition) are significantly more (less) likely to attribute any bad outcomes they observe to private actors rather than the government. I argue that these findings are consistent with the predictions of social identity theory: the conflict that marked many African political transitions, and the mapping of African parties onto existing social cleavages, are sufficient conditions for the creation of strong political-social identities like those that characterize partisanship in the West. My findings indicate that Africanists should take partisanship seriously as a predictor of political behavior and attitudes.     

Current Funding Practices in Academic Science Stifle Creativity

Money is trumping creativity in academic science. This statement was previously given substance in an article I published, along with a companion paper by Mark Roulston in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ( Carlson, 2006a ; Roulston, 2006 ) and in a subsequent address I gave to the Heads and Chairs meeting in Boulder, Colorado ( Carlson, 2006b ). Here, I expand further on the issues treated in these papers, and make a plea for changing the way funding is administered in academic science. Using examples I show that the present worsening situation places a dead hand on the spirit and creative output of academic scientists, especially junior faculty. I suggest a possible solution, which would enable academic scientists to function in a stable environment, free from spurious financial pressures and dictates from university administration and funding agencies.