Letter From the Editor

American Journal of Criminal Justice -     

The Intersectionality of Discrimination Attributes and Bullying Among Youth: An Applied Latent Class Analysis

Discrimination is commonly experienced among adolescents. However, little is known about the intersection of multiple attributes of discrimination and bullying. We used a latent class analysis (LCA) to illustrate the intersections of discrimination attributes and bullying, and to assess the associations of LCA membership to depressive symptoms, deliberate self harm and suicidal ideation among a sample of ethnically diverse adolescents. The data come from the 2006 Boston Youth Survey where students were asked whether they had experienced discrimination based on four attributes: race/ethnicity, immigration status, perceived sexual orientation and weight. They were also asked whether they had been bullied or assaulted for these attributes. A total of 965 (78 %) students contributed to the LCA analytic sample (45 % Non-Hispanic Black, 29 % Hispanic, 58 % Female). The LCA revealed that a 4-class solution had adequate relative and absolute fit. The 4-classes were characterized as: low discrimination (51 %); racial discrimination (33 %); sexual orientation discrimination (7 %); racial and weight discrimination with high bullying (intersectional class) (7 %). In multivariate models, compared to the low discrimination class, individuals in the sexual orientation discrimination class and the intersectional class had higher odds of engaging in deliberate self-harm. Students in the intersectional class also had higher odds of suicidal ideation. All three discrimination latent classes had significantly higher depressive symptoms compared to the low discrimination class. Multiple attributes of discrimination and bullying co-occur among adolescents. Research should consider the co-occurrence of bullying and discrimination.     

The role of complexity theory and network analysis for examining child welfare service delivery systems

Abstract

In response to the ongoing call for a complex systems approach for understanding and informing child welfare practice and policy, this article presents a context-specific conceptual framework that combines complexity theory and network analysis. The conceptual framework rests on the complementary nature of these theoretical and methodological concepts for inter-organizational child welfare practice. Potential applications of this framework are discussed to promote network-oriented research that informs effective collaboration among organizations serving children and families.     

The Effects of Childhood Physical Abuse or Childhood Sexual Abuse in Battered Women's Coping Mechanisms: Obsessive-Compulsive Tendencies and Severe Depression

What role does childhood abuse have on the coping choices made by a battered woman? Ancillary to a depression study (Bailey, 1996) in 79 battered women from a Houston area women's shelter were compared for past abuse experiences and how the women were coping with abuse in adulthood. This study compared coping styles between two groups of battered women: those who experienced childhood physically abuse (CPA) (n=35), and those who did not experience childhood physically abuse (NCPA) in childhood (n=44). All of the women filled out a battery of questionnaires including The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and a scale for learned helplessness. A t-test conducted on obsessive-compulsive tendencies (OCT) scale of the BSI found that women who were NPPA had significantly lower BSI-OCT scores t(77)=−2.05, p < .05 than women who were PPA. No statistically significant differences were found between groups for learned helplessness. Out of the 35 battered women who reported physical abuse in childhood were more likely to report sexual abuse as girls than battered women who were not physically abused, t(77)=−3.40, p < .001. Battered women who had been physically and sexually abused in childhood were more severely depressed. Battered women who were not abused in childhood had more obsessive compulsive tendencies. The ramifications of these findings for therapeutic treatment are discussed.     

Resource Wealth,Democracy and Mobilisation

The impact of resource wealth on society remains highly contested in the literature. Some perspectives suggest that resource wealth is associated with political apathy, while others indicate that resource wealth fosters violent civil conflicts. We leverage these seemingly contradictory impacts of natural resources on society by expanding the scope of inquiry to explore different types of resource wealth (oil and minerals) as well as other dimensions of political life (protest). Utilising a global dataset for the period 1950–2006, we test the impact of resource wealth on mobilisation. We find that while oil wealth demobilises citizens in all regime types, mineral wealth strongly correlates with higher levels of mobilisation in democracies, though not in autocracies. In addition, using survey data, we examine individual-level attitudes toward protest participation in two resource-rich states, Peru and Ecuador. The results indicate that an individual living in a mineral-rich country like Peru is more likely to participate in a protest compared to an individual living in an oil-rich country like Ecuador. Our findings highlight the contributions of the resource activism framework for understanding the connection between natural resources and mobilisation.     

GO AHEAD, GO AWAY: A Poem by Fatoumata Keita, Mali Translated by Judith G. Miller

Translator's Note: This poem originally appeared in French in May 1999, in the first issue of a new Malian poetry review: Kuma, the literary magazine of the Union of Young Malian Writers. My former New York University in Paris student, Laura Starecheski, helped launch the review while studying in Bamako. An activist, sensitive writer, and reader herself, Laura seeks out women's voices wherever they can be heard. She especially wants people to be aware of Fatoumata Keita, a 23-year-old poet. I think that Laura Starecheski and Fatoumata Keita are part of the linking chorus of women connecting us to each other across continents and oceans. To me, they are the “inheritors”: carrying on, with their distinctive vehement energy, the life-long intellectual and emotional commitment of feminists such as Claire Duchen. Those interested in supporting this Malian writers' project should write to: KUMA, BP E3026, Bamako, Mali, West Africa.