Violence and the perception of risk associated with hosting refugees

Public Choice - How do individuals’ experiences with political violence affect their perceptions regarding the risk associated with hosting refugees? This is an important question given that...     

Tattoo frequency and types among homicides and other deaths, 2007-2008: a matched case-control study

An estimated 25% of the US population aged 18 to 50 years has a tattoo, which have been associated with markers of high-risk behaviors including alcohol and drug use, violence, carrying weapons, sexual activity, eating disorders, and suicide. This study compares tattoo prevalence and type in a homicide population to those of an age-, race-, and sex-matched control group of nonhomicide deaths. The data for this study were abstracted from autopsy records maintained by the Jefferson County Alabama Coroner/Medical Examiner's Office for the years 2007 and 2008. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between homicide and tattoo presence and characteristics were calculated using conditional logistic regression. There was no association between tattoo presence and death by homicide; however, among blacks, memorial tattoos were significantly more common among homicides compared with other types of deaths (odds ratio, 2.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-5.68). The results of the current study suggest that specific types of tattoos, but not all tattoos, may be risk factors for homicide. Other factors, such as race and lifestyle, along with tattoos may need to be considered.     

Stress and coping: the roles of ethnicity and gender in substance abuse recovery

This study investigated ethnic and gender differences in reported resource losses and gains for recovering substance abusers living in Oxford Houses (OH). Participants (n = 829) completed a version of Hobfoll's (1998) Conservation of Resources (COR) Evaluation. Results indicated significant individual differences in resources, based on gender, ethnicity, and the length of OH residential stay. Men reported fewer resource gains and losses than women. With respect to ethnicity, African-Americans reported greater gains and losses in resources than European-Americans. Individuals with less time in an OH also reported having experienced more losses in the past 3 months.     

Determinants of states' allocations of the master settlement agreement payments

To determine which factors influence states' allocation decisions for the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and the four individual settlements' annual payments, including the decision to securitize, we analyzed the effects of voter characteristics, political parties, interest groups, prior spending on public tobacco control programs, and state fiscal health on per capita settlement funds allocated to tobacco-control, health, and other programs. Tobacco-producing states and those with high proportions of conservative Democrats or elderly, black, Hispanic, or wealthy people tended to spend less on tobacco control. Education and medical lobbies had strong positive influences on per capita allocations for tobacco-control and health-related programs. State fiscal crises affected amounts spent by states from settlement funds as well as the probability of securitizing future cash flows from the settlements.     

Professionalism and the Millbank Tendency: The Political Sociology of New Labour's Employees

This article analyses party employees, one of the most under-researched subjects in the study of British political parties. We draw on a blend of quantitative and qualitative data in order to shed light on the social and political profiles of Labour Party staff, and on the question of their professionalisation. The latter theme is developed through a model derived from the sociology of professions. While a relatively limited proportion of party employees conform to the pure ideal-type of professionalism, a considerably greater number manifest enough of the core characteristics of specialisation, commitment, mobility, autonomy and self-regulation to be reasonably described as 'professionals in pursuit of political outcomes'.