Stress and Somatic Complaints in Low-Income Urban Adolescents

The present study examined (1) rates of somatic complaints and (2) the association between stress and somatic complaints in low-income urban youth. Participants were 1030 low-income urban 6th–8th grade adolescents. Results indicate that, for both boys and girls, somatization was the most commonly reported internalizing symptom in this sample, and that heightened rates of urban stress predicted heightened rates of somatic complaints. In addition, a significantly higher percentage of youth in this sample reported clinically elevated levels of somatic complaints (17%) relative to that reported by normative samples (5%). The 2 most common somatic complaints were stomachaches and headaches, and females reported higher rates of somatic complaints than males. These findings suggest that somatic complaints are the most common expression of internalizing symptoms among low-income urban youth, and that exposure to heightened rates of stress places low-income urban adolescents at heightened risk for somatization. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Special Edition: Special Issues on Children,Families, and the Law

Law and Human Behavior -     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Children,Families, and the Law

Law and Human Behavior -     

The Impact of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapon Ban on Gun Violence Outcomes: An Assessment of Multiple Outcome Measures and Some Lessons for Policy Evaluation

The Federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 bans a group of military-style semiautomatic firearms (i.e., assault weapons) and ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. Ban advocates argue that these weapons are particularly dangerous because they facilitate the rapid firing of high numbers of shots. Though the banned guns and magazines were used in only a modest fraction of gun crimes before the law, it was hypothesized that a decrease in their use might reduce gunshot victimizations, particularly those involving multiple wounds and/or victims. In response to a Congressional mandate for an impact assessment of the law, this study utilized national and local data sources and a variety of analytical techniques to examine the ban's short-term impact on gun violence. The ban may have contributed to a reduction in gun homicides, but a statistical power analysis of our model indicated that any likely impact from the ban will be very difficult to detect statistically for several more years. We found no evidence of reductions in multiple-victim gun homicides or multiple-gunshot wound victimizations. The findings should be treated cautiously due to the methodological difficulties of making a short-term assessment of the ban and because the ban's long-term effects could differ from the short-term impacts revealed by this study.     

In other journals

Historical Foundations of the Common Law, Second Edition. S.F.C. Milson . London 1981. Butterworths. pp xii &; 475 (incl. Index). £18 cased, £11.95 limp.?

Marriage Settlements 1601–1740. Lloyd Bonfield. Cambridge 1983. Cambridge University Press, xviii &; 136 pp. (incl. index). £19.50.

The English and Colonial Bars in the 19th Century, Daniel Duman, London, 1983. Croom Helm, xv + 228 pp. (incl. index). £13.95.     

Review essay / the scope and limits of police ethics

John Kleinig, The Ethics of Policing Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. viii + 335pp.