Do individual factors and neighborhood context explain ethnic differences in juvenile delinquency?

Individually measured factors and neighborhood context were related to juvenile delinquency in a community sample of 506 urban, public-school boys. Neighborhood context was measured with an objective, census-based score that classified neighborhoods as underclass or not underclass. When African American youths and white youths were compared without regard to neighborhood context, African American youths were more frequently and more seriously delinquent than white youths. When African American youths didnot live in underclass neighborhoods, their delinquent behavior was similar to that of the white youths. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that boys' hyperactivity and parental supervision were the strongest correlates of delinquency. Single-parent status and poverty/welfare use were not related to delinquent behavior. Once individually measured factors were accounted for, residence in underclass neighborhoods was significantly related to delinquent behavior while ethnicity was not. This study points to the importance of including the neighborhood context when addressing the social problems of African American youths.     

Developmental trends of delinquent attitudes and behaviors: replications and synthesis across domains, time, and samples

Inconsistent findings of attitude-behavior relations are commonly attributed to uncontrolled domain, time, or situational factors. Without integrative work, studies accounting for these factors may further complicate research by introducing potentially numerous third variables and render a coherent understanding of the attitude-behavior relationship even more difficult to achieve. In this paper, a developmental perspective is taken and the attitude-behavior relationship in delinquency is examined using three modes of investigation: multivariate patterns of attitude-behavior associations, their mutual predictability, and their developmental trajectories. Three grade cohorts of public school boys (n=1517 of the first, seventh, and tenth grades, initially) were followed over a period of 4 years, with an average age span of 7–16 years. Correspondence analyses suggested that adolescent boys with a tolerant attitude toward theft or violence were more deviant than those who had actual behavior of theft or violence. Stronger attitude effect on subsequent behavior, relative to behavior effect on subsequent attitudes, was found among boys aged 10–12 years. While mean scores of tolerant attitudes to serious theft and violence increased linearly with their behavior counterparts between 6 and 17 years of age, ages 11 and 14 were two turning points at which most delinquent attitudes and behaviors escalated at a higher speed. In general, delinquent attitudes and behaviors were related to each other in various patterns, and age was a defining factor that provided much of the explanation for the inconsistencies in research findings.     

MI Implementation in Juvenile Justice: A Case Report

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a communication style focused on enhancing clients’ own motivation towards change. In the justice system MI has evidence to support that it enhances communication and change behaviors in youth. As most MI training is designed for healthcare settings training and implementation of MI must be adapted to fit the juvenile justice model. This includes both rehabilitation and restorative justice. Here we describe the details that allowed one county small county in Pennsylvania to roll out MI training and initial skills review in less than 6 months. The case reviews the details of planning, trainings, and timing of activities. We then discuss what elements of those details fit into a greater implementation plan that may be applied elsewhere. Four key elements were instrumental to implementation: 1) appreciation of JPO time constraints, 2) cost containment 3) using blending to enhance JPO flexibility with MI use, and 4) policies that normalize use of MI. This outline may assist other courts in their own implementation efforts.     

A kinetic model describing the pharmacokinetics of ethyl glucuronide in humans

The glucuronide conjugation is a minor pathway of ethanol metabolism. The determination of ethyl glucuronide (EG) in serum and urine has gained importance in forensic and other legal decisions. To prospectively calculate the serum concentration of this non-oxidative ethanol metabolite, the computer program developed includes a parameter fitting routine. Multiple ethanol doses can be handled.The mathematical modeling was based on the following assumptions and simplifications, respectively. A single enzyme system is responsible for ethanol conjugation at one distinct site; the distribution of EG into the systemic circulation is delayed; the elimination of EG follows first-order kinetics.The concentration of EG was calculated using three kinetic parameters: a rate constant for the first-order formation of EG from serum ethanol, a transfer constant for an obstructed transfer of EG from the formation site (FS) into the central compartment (CC) and an exponential elimination constant.The program was applied to the data collected from 21 drinking experiments. The fitting algorithm optimized the three kinetic parameters, until the sum of concentration error squares of the data points was minimized. The means+/-standard deviation of the rate constant for the first-order formation of EG from serum ethanol was 0.0011+/-0.0006 h(-1), the transfer constant for an obstructed transfer of EG from the FS into the CC was 0.43+/-0.1996 h(-1) and the exponential elimination constant was 3.0+/-1.45 h(-1).Using the range of these parameters, it is now possible to calculate minimum and maximum serum concentrations of EG based on ethanol doses and drinking times. The comparison of calculated and measured concentrations can prove the plausibility of an alleged ethanol consumption. This can be crucial when the serum ethanol concentration (SEC) itself is not meaningful.     

Factors Associated with Physician Discussion of Health Behaviors with Adolescents

Behaviors developed in adolescence influence health later in life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of health care provider's discussion of health behaviors with overweight and non-overweight adolescents and identify demographic and health behaviors related to exercise, hours of television viewing, and weight issues associated with these discussions. A Cross sectional survey of urban adolescents was conducted. Trained interviewers administered surveys over a three month period in 2001 at an urban academic pediatric and adolescent clinic. The 252 adolescents surveyed had a mean age of 15 with 49% categorized as being at risk for overweight/overweight and 51% as normal weight using the CDC percentiles for BMI. While 16% of the adolescents reported that their physician or nurse discussed the amount of television they watched, rates of discussion related to exercise (58%), and weight (54%) were much higher. In multivariate analyses, health care provider discussions with adolescents regarding exercise were more common for overweight (O.R.=2.42, 95% C.I. [1.28–4.57]) and at risk for overweight (O.R.=1.98, 95% C.I. [1.03–3.81]) adolescents, whereas physician discussion of television viewing was not associated with weight. Discussions of weight were more common for female (O.R.=2.18, 95% C.I. [1.21–3.95]), African-American (O.R.=2.53, 95% C.I. [1.40–4.57]), and overweight (O.R.=3.92, 95% C.I. [1.97–7.81]) adolescents. Even after adjusting for weight, race and gender strongly influenced the frequency of discussions about weight in physician offices. Although health care providers frequently address weight and exercise with adolescents, more discussions related to sedentary behaviors such as television viewing may be warranted to address adolescent obesity.Received PhD in Epidemiology from University of California, San Diego. Research interests include smoking prevention and cessation among adolescents and health promotion interventions.Received MD from University of Missouri-Kansas City and MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include health services research and research in support of measurable, systematic improvements in the quality of medical care.Received medical degree from Christian Medical College, Punjab, India and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include diet and physical activity behaviors, role of the environment in obesity and obesity prevention, especially among children and adolescents.Received MBBS from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan and MPH from University of Kansas Medical Center. Research interests include smoking cessation, database design, implementation, data management and analysis, and use of information technology in health care settings.Director, Cancer Prevention, Control, and Population Sciences, Kansas Cancer Institute. Received MD/MPH from Tulane University and MS from Harvard School of Public Health. Research interests include disparities in healthcare; smoking cessation among underserved populations, specifically African Americans; diet, nutrition, obesity, and physical activity.     

Not bad stuff. Robert E. Park als literarischer Held

Robert Ezra Park, der „Kopf“ der Chicago School of Sociology, hat seine Laufbahn bekanntlich als Reporter und Redakteur begonnen, sich an literarischen Werken versucht und sich literarischer Werke als Quelle bedient. Weniger bekannt ist, dass er selber zur Figur einer literarischen Darstellung geworden ist. In „Organized Crimes“ (1984), einem Roman von Nicholas von Hoffman, spielt Robert Park eine tragende Rolle als Soziologieprofessor. Der Artikel geht der Frage nach, woher der Autor seine detaillierten Kenntnisse hat, die bis hin zu Parks Vorliebe für Anzüge aus schwarz-grünem Plaid („…attributed around the department to an allegedly gamey youth spent as an newspaper reporter“) reichen. Die Story des Romans und die Biografie des Autors führen uns auf die Spur. Saul Alinsky, radikaler Community-Organizer in Chicago und Mentor von Nicholas von Hoffman, hatte Ende der 1920er Jahre am Chicagoer Department studiert. „Organized Crimes“ kann also durchaus auch als eine Quelle für die Geschichte des Departments zur Hochzeit der Chicago School gelesen werden.     

Death due to unusual position of the body--an explanationfor the consequence of reduced venous reflux to the heart

The article describes the case of a 29-year-old woman who was found dead in her apartment on a bar stool with the body being maximally retroflected in the lumbar region, the head hanging down and the feet and hands barely touching the floor. On external inspection of the body the cuff-like distribution of hypostasis on the forearms and lower legs was consistent with the position in which the body was found. There were no signs of foreign intervention. At autopsy massive congestion was found in the internal organs as well as pulmonary and cerebral edema. In the ventral region of the lumbar intervertebral discs superficial hemorrhages were detected. The alcohol content was 3.40 per thousand in the blood and 4.43 per thousand in the urine. As the essential pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for death reduced venous reflux to the heart in combination with postural asphyxia and the influence of alcohol are discussed.