Thinking Critically About Rural Gender Relations: Toward a Rural Masculinity Crisis/Male Peer Support Model of Separation/Divorce Sexual Assault

After decades of neglect, a growing number of scholars have turned their attention to issues of crime and criminal justice in the rural context. Despite this improvement, rural crime research is underdeveloped theoretically, and is little informed by critical criminological perspectives. In this article, we introduce the broad tenets of a multi-level theory that links social and economic change to the reinforcement of rural patriarchy and male peer support, and in turn, how they are linked to separation/divorce sexual assault. We begin by addressing a series of misconceptions about what is rural, rural homogeneity and commonly held presumptions about the relationship of rurality, collective efficacy (and related concepts) and crime. We conclude by recommending more focused research, both qualitative and quantitative, to uncover specific link between the rural transformation and violence against women. This paper was presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Los Angeles, California. Some of the research reported here was supported by National Institute of Justice Grant 2002-WG-BX-0004 and financial assistance provided by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Vice President for Research at Ohio University. Arguments and findings included in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the US Department of Justice or Ohio University. Please send all correspondence to Walter S. DeKeseredy, e-mail: walter.dekeseredy@uoit.ca. All of the names of the women who participated in DeKeseredy and colleagues’ rural Ohio study and who are quoted have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

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Housing Choice Voucher Location Patterns a Decade Later

In 2003, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) prepared a study of the location patterns of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. This study became an important baseline for the evaluation of the HCV program and its ability to serve the goal of poverty deconcentration. The study examined the ability of HCV households in the 50 largest metropolitan areas to make entry to a broad array of neighborhoods and to locate in high-opportunity neighborhoods with low levels of poverty.

New data from HUD and the American Community Survey permit the study to be replicated. We find that vouchers continue to consume only a small portion of the housing stock, with relatively small amounts of spatial concentration. Unfortunately, only about one in five voucher households locate in low-poverty neighborhoods, and this share is rising only very slowly. If the nation wants to pursue poverty deconcentration through the HCV program, we cannot rely on the program, as it is now structured, to accomplish this goal. Additional incentives and constraints will be needed, similar to those that were part of the Gautreaux and Moving to Opportunity programs.     

The Regional Location of Knowledge Based Economy Activities in Israel

The article analyzes the spatial location behavior of economic activity that is knowledge based, by decomposing the Knowledge-based Economy Index developed by the OECD (1999) and elaborated by Cooke and Schwartz (2003) into major components that represent groups with different characteristics. The spatial behavior is analyzed in Israel in the years 1995–2002. We find that business services and high tech services tend to concentrate in metropolitan areas. Business services are found in the main city and high tech services in the satellite urban ring, with the outer-cities becoming stronger over time. Public services supporting the knowledge-based economy are concentrated in the center of the country, though not necessarily in the principal city, and they can represent an important tool in regional policy. The high tech manufacturing is concentrated around the big cities, mainly around the main metropolis. The other knowledge-based manufacturing activities tend to leave for the periphery.     

Transforming academic research findings into economically profitable technologies

The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) operates on the principle that pooling investment in basic, pre-competitive research permits members to target a larger percentage of their research and development dollars towards devising technologies that will yield a competitive edge. This benefit is mot effectively realized, however, when the research “product” is expeditiously transferred from the research lab into the commercial environment. The product, in this case, may be knowledge, a design or manufacturing tool, personnel who are trained in the use of the tool, or information about a research approach that should be avoided. At the SRC, technology transfer is essential to the success of its cooperative research effort, and consequently, during 15 years of managing this transfer across the university/industry interface, the not-for-profit consortiun has developed and refined structures and methodologies to overcome transfer barriers. The paper written by Lynn Burnett, Gail Massari and Richard LaScala discusses administrative and managerial barriers to technology conversion and transfer and the solutions developed and practiced by the SRC to transcend those barriers.     

Laboratory investigation of deaths due to anaphylaxis.

To establish a useful laboratory protocol to investigate possible cases of fatal anaphylaxis, we measured mast-cell-derived tryptase levels and allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody levels in sera obtained prior to or within 24 h after death from 19 anaphylaxis victims. Elevated serum tryptase levels (range = 12 ng/mL to 150 micrograms/mL) were found in nine of nine Hymenoptera sting fatalities, six of eight food-induced fatalities, and two of two reactions to diagnostic therapeutic agents. Tryptase levels were normal (less than 10 ng/mL) in 57 sequential sera obtained postmortem from six control patients. Tryptase could not be measured in pleural or pericardial fluids for technical reasons. Serum IgE antibodies were elevated in five of the nine Hymenoptera sting fatalities and in eight of the eight fatal food reactions; assays were unavailable for the two diagnostic/therapeutic agents. If elevated, the victim's serum IgE antibodies to food could be used to identify allergens in uneaten portions of foods consumed shortly before the anaphylactic event. IgE antibodies were moderately stable during storage in a variety of anticoagulants at room temperature for up to 11 weeks. Elevated mast-cell-derived tryptase levels in postmortem sera reflect antemortem mast cell activation and may be used as a marker for fatal anaphylaxis. If assays are available for IgE antibodies to relevant allergens, such assays provide evidence for antemortem sensitization; these assays may be modified to identify allergens in foods consumed by victims of food-induced anaphylaxis.