Risk factors for sexual victimization among male and female homeless and runaway youth

Risk factors associated with the likelihood of being sexually victimized by a stranger or friend/acquaintance since being on the street was examined among 372 homeless and runaway youth. Young people were interviewed on the streets and in shelters by outreach workers using a systematic sampling strategy. Youth who engaged in more high-risk behaviors were expected to be at greater risk for sexual victimization by both known and unknown assailants. Results indicated that for females, running from home for the first time at an earlier age was associated with sexual victimization by both a stranger and friend/acquaintance. However, engaging in deviant subsistence strategies, survival sex, and grooming predicted being sexually victimized by a friend/acquaintance. For males, survival sex and grooming predicted stranger sexual victimization, whereas sexual orientation was associated with sexual victimization by a friend/acquaintance. Overall, 35% of the sample had been sexually victimized.     

Cold War Pioneers in Combined Intelligence and Analysis

From its inception in 1947 until the late 1970s the primary missions of the United States Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) involved maintaining a presence in East Germany for confidence building measures and reporting on items related to indicators and warnings of hostilities initiated by the Soviet Army. While not abandoning its traditional missions, the unit underwent a major transformation in the early 1980s and became the first Humint integrated collection, analysis and production center. Through a combination of factors, USMLM was able to link targeting, single-source collection and analysis while providing insights in a wide range of areas, from nuclear weapons, troop morale, equipment production, technical data, health and ethnic issues and literacy. Most significantly, USMLM confirmed severely reduced manning levels in GSFG combat arms units.

‘Intelligence is best done by a minimum number of men and women of the greatest possible ability.’ (R.V. Jones, the ‘father’ of modern scientific and technical intelligence)     

Politics,proximity and paranoia: the evolution of Kashmir as a nuclear flashpoint

This article traces the evolution of Kashmir as a “nuclear flashpoint,” and the relationship between Kashmir, nuclear weapons, and regional security. The first section discusses the concept of a geopolitical flashpoint, providing a definition and a series of historical examples. The Kashmir issue and its role in the broader Indo-Pakistani conflict fit reasonably neatly into this definition. A second section briefly traces the history of nuclear weapons programs in the region, as the potential for nuclear escalation by competing powers or their allies is a key factor in defining nuclear flashpoints (a post-1945 phenomenon). The third section examines the evolution of the Kashmir issue and successive Indo-Pakistani crises within a nuclearized regional environment from 1984 to 2003. The final section assesses the prospects for Kashmir in the near future, and concludes that due to underlying political factors, Kashmir will remain a nuclear flashpoint for the foreseeable future.     

Can White Guilt Motivate Action? The Role of Civic Beliefs

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Limited research has investigated factors that shape White youth’s civic action aimed at social change. Investigating the relation between Whiteness and...     

Onset of conduct disorder, use of delinquent subsistence strategies, and street victimization among homeless and runaway adolescents in the Midwest

This study examines the effects of childhood-onset conduct disorder on later antisocial behavior and street victimization among a group of homeless and runaway adolescents. Four hundred twenty-eight homeless and runaway youth were interviewed directly on the streets and in shelters from four Midwestern states. Key findings include the following. First, compared with those who exhibit adolescent-onset conduct disorder, youth with childhood onset are more likely to engage in a series of antisocial behaviors such as use of sexual and nonsexual survival strategies. Second, youth with childhood-onset conduct disorder are more likely to experience violent victimization; this association, however, is mostly through an intervening process such as engagement in deviant survival strategies.     

Fatal positional asphyxia associated with rollover crashes

Motor vehicle rollover crashes result in complex occupant kinematics with the potential for severe injury. Five cases of fatal asphyxia in occupants suspended from their safety belt upside down after a rollover crash are presented. These fatalities accounted for 13.5% of all motor vehicle related asphyxia deaths in San Diego County over a 10-year period. This study supports previous research noting that incapacitation due to other injuries, alcohol, or obesity may be associated with fatal positional asphyxia due to inversion during rollovers. Safety belts are proven to prevent serious injury in motor vehicle crashes and should always be worn. However, redesign of the buckle could be considered to permit easier release by an occupant. We also suggest that pre-existing heart disease may contribute to the possibility of a fatal asphyxia outcome. Although this is a rare cause of motor vehicle related death, our results suggest that these are potentially preventable deaths.     

Female Juvenile Delinquency: Misunderstood by the Juvenile Justice System,Neglected by Social Science

The study of juvenile delinquency has focused primarily on conduct disorder and aggression in males, while relatively little attention has been paid to females who commit delinquent acts. This article offers a critical review of the existing theories of and research on female delinquency and the juvenile justice system's response to female delinquency. The inadequacies and persistence of historical theories and the conceptual and methodological strengths and weaknesses of contemporary perspectives in female delinquency are reviewed. Understanding and treatment of female and male delinquency could be enhanced through the adoption of a gender-integrated theory of delinquency that is informed by the comprehensive study of developmental, psychological, and social-ecological determinants.     

Propensity for Violence among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents: An Event History Analysis*

Little is known about the prevalence of violent behaviors among homeless and runaway adolescents or the specific behavioral factors that influence violent behaviors across time. In this longitudinal study of 300 homeless and runaway adolescents aged 16-19 years at baseline, we use event history analysis to assess the factors associated with acts of violence over three years, controlling for individual propensities and time-varying behaviors. The results indicate that females, non-minorities, and non-heterosexuals were less likely to engage in violence across time. Those who met criteria for substance abuse disorders (i.e. alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, drug abuse) were more likely to engage in violence. A history of caretaker abuse was associated with violent behaviors, as were street survival strategies such as selling drugs, participating in gang activity, and associating with deviant peers. Simply having spent time directly on the streets at any specific time point also increased the likelihood for violence.