Open Access Publications

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Open access publications by faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice.

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Are LARC Users Less Likely to Use Condoms? An Analysis of U.S. Women Initiating LARC in 2008–2018
(Women's Health Issues, 2022-06-21) Eeckhaut, Mieke C. W.; Fitzpatrick, Katie
Introduction: Public health professionals have raised concern that increased use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) could raise women's risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), because LARC's superior pregnancy protection may decrease women's motivation to use a barrier method for supplemental pregnancy prevention. This study uses population-based data to examine whether condom use is lower, particularly among young women who are at increased STI risk, after initiating LARC versus moderately effective methods. Methods: With the 2011–2019 data files of the National Survey of Family Growth, we examine the percent of sexually active months with condom use in the year after LARC or moderately effective method initiation for a nationally representative sample of 2,018 women aged 15–44 years. Multinomial logistic models regressed condom use on method type and age group, as well as their interaction, while adjusting for key confounders. Results: The unadjusted likelihood of any condom use is substantially lower among women who initiated LARC versus moderately effective methods (12% vs. 37%), and this difference is greater among younger versus older women. After accounting for differences in women's reproductive and sociodemographic profiles, however, a statistically significant difference in condom use by method initiated remains only for those aged 20–34 years. Conclusions: Crude estimates suggest that condom use is lower after initiating LARC versus moderately effective methods, especially among young women. After accounting for the confounding effects of LARC users’ distinct profiles—particularly in terms of parity and teenage childbearing—the difference is decreased overall and no longer significant for adolescent women. Overall results indicate a need for new STI prevention strategies and policies that emphasize the importance of dual prevention for LARC users at risk of STIs.
Building a home for the social and interdisciplinary sciences and public health at Science Advances
(Science Advances, 2024-04-24) Earl, Jennifer
The imperative for rigorous and ground-breaking social science and interdisciplinary research becomes clearer every day. COVID-19 made ever more manifest the importance of understanding the social processes and inequalities involved in health and disease, not just the technical capacity to create, test, and deliver treatments and vaccines. Deeply understanding the processes involved in the spread of disinformation and misinformation as well as scientifically vetted ways to counter these scourges is essential for maintaining at least shreds of a shared social and political reality. Identifying with precision the direct and collateral consequences of public policies and, more generally, better understanding issues of the day (e.g., abortion access) by rigorously analyzing the scope and consequences of different forms of inequality, from poverty to racial/ethnic inequalities, to gender inequalities (including inside of the academy), among other inequalities, are crucial to truly and deeply understanding, and improving, our world. See Box 1 for published papers related to these areas.
Characterizing the impacts of public health control measures on domestic violence services: qualitative interviews with domestic violence coalition leaders
(BMC Public Health, 2023-09-05) Horney, Jennifer A.; Fleury‑Steiner, Ruth; Camphausen, Lauren C.; Wells, Sarah A.; Miller, Susan L.
Background Prior to the availability of pharmaceutical control measures, non-pharmaceutical control measures, including travel restrictions, physical distancing, isolation and quarantine, closure of schools and workplaces, and the use of personal protective equipment were the only tools available to public health authorities to control the spread of COVID-19. The implementation of these non-pharmaceutical control measures had unintended impacts on the ability of state and territorial domestic violence coalitions to provide services to victims. Methods A semi-structured interview guide to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted service provision and advocacy generally, and how COVID-19 control measures specifically, created barriers to services and advocacy, was developed, pilot tested, and revised based on feedback. Interviews with state and territorial domestic violence coalition executive directors were conducted between November 2021 and March 2022. Transcripts were inductively and deductively coded using both hand-coding and qualitative software. Results Forty-five percent (25 of 56) of state and territorial domestic violence coalition executive directors representing all 8 National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) regions were interviewed. Five themes related to the use of non-pharmaceutical pandemic control measures with impacts on the provision of services and advocacy were identified. Conclusions The use of non-pharmaceutical control measures early in the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impacts on the health and safety of some vulnerable groups, including domestic violence victims. Organizations that provide services and advocacy to victims faced many unique challenges in carrying out their missions while adhering to required public health control measures. Policy and preparedness plan changes are needed to prevent unintended consequences of control measure implementation among vulnerable groups as well as to identify lessons learned that should be applied in future disasters and emergencies.
COVID-19 and U.S. Disputes Over Authority, 2020–2021: Implications for the Constructionist Analysis of Social Problems
(Sociological Forum, 2022-09-25) Best, Joel; Monahan, Brian
COVID-19 is very different from the cases typically studied by constructionist analysts of social problems: it emerged quickly, spread widely, and affected many aspects of social life. As such, it offers important opportunities to reconsider the constructionist model. We focus on three issues—metrics, masks, and vaccines—where COVID-19 disputes about authority led to different alliances among several categories of claimsmakers. Our point is that COVID-19 discourse seems far messier than most of the narratives presented by constructionist analysts, and we identify several lessons from this unusual contemporary case that might help us strengthen existing social problems theory.
Decide Your Time A Randomized Trial of a Drug Testing and Graduated Sanctions Program for Probationers
(Wiley, 2016-11-11) O'Connell, Daniel J.; Brent, John J.; Visher, Christy A.; Daniel J. O'Connell, John J. Brent, Christy A. Visher; O'Connell, Daniel J.; Visher, Christy A.
RESEARCH SUMMARY This study used a randomized controlled trial approach with a sample of 400 high-risk probationers to test the hypothesis that a program incorporating principles of deterrence, graduated sanctions, and coerced abstinence would reduce recidivism rates among drug-using offenders. Bivariate and multilevel modeling strategies were implemented. Findings revealed no discernable difference across multiple drug use, probationary, and recidivism measures between those randomized into the treatment condition and those receiving standard probation. In multivariate models, probationer age, employment status, and treatment participation improved some recidivism outcomes. Programmatic and sample characteristics are discussed regarding the lack of experimental effect. POLICY IMPLICATIONS These ﬁndings suggest that in designing and implementing deterrence-informed com- munity supervision approaches, policy makers and practitioners should consider offender attributes, the addition of employment and treatment-based programs and supports, and local justice system structures. The ﬁndings of this study ﬁt well with other emerging models of offender supervision, in particular, those that match services and programs based on offender risks and needs and those that recognize and address the heterogeneity of the offender population in developing supervision and service plans. Swift, certain, and fair supervision approaches for individuals under community supervision do not seem to be a “one-size-ﬁts-all” strategy. Understanding for whom they work and under what conditions has not yet been determined. In the meantime, policy makers and practitioners should endeavor to understand the risks and needs of their local offender population and the community supports that are available to improve offender outcomes and increase public safety.
Elevations in Blood Pressure Associated with Exposure to Violence are Mitigated by Pro-gun-Carrying Attitudes among Street-Identified Black Males and Females
(Journal of Urban Health, 2023-10-13) Payne, Yasser Arafat; Sadeh, Naomi; Hitchens, Brooklynn K.; Bounoua, Nadia
Living in neighborhoods with elevated rates of violent crime, such as in many poor Black American communities, is a risk factor for a range of physical and mental health challenges. However, the individual different factors that influence health outcomes in these stressful environments remain poorly understood. This study examined relations between exposure to violence, gun-carrying attitudes, and blood pressure in a community sample of street-identified Black American boys/men and girls/women. Survey data and blood pressure were collected from 329 participants (ages 16–54; 57.1% male) recruited from two small urban neighborhoods with high rates of violence using street participatory action research methodology. Results revealed that systolic blood pressure was elevated in the sample as was exposure to severe forms of direct and vicarious violence (e.g., shootings, assault). Attitudes about carrying guns moderated associations between the degree of violence exposure endorsed by participants and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Specifically, the positive association between exposure to violence and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure at low levels of pro-gun-carrying attitudes was no longer apparent at high levels of pro-gun attitudes. Furthermore, pro-gun attitudes appeared to moderate the association between exposure to violence and systolic pressure for older participants but not younger participants. Results suggest that positive attitudes about carrying guns (presumably indicative of pro-gun-carrying behavior) weakened the link between violence exposure and blood pressure. These novel findings suggest that carrying a gun may protect against the harmful effects of chronic stress from violence exposure on physical health outcomes (i.e., hypertension) among street-identified Black Americans.
Examining the Prevalence and Risk Factors of School Bullying Perpetration Among Chinese Children and Adolescents
(Frontiers in Psychology, 2022-03-14) Xue, Jia; Hu, Ran; Chai, Lei; Han, Ziqiang; Sun, Ivan Y.
Background and Objectives: School bullying threatens the health of children and adolescents, such as mental health disorders, social deviant behaviors, suicidal behaviors, and coping difficulties. The present study aims to address (1) prevalence rates of both traditional and cyber school bullying perpetration, and (2) the associations between self-control, parental involvement, experiencing conflicts with parents, experiencing interparental conflict, and risk behaviors, and school bullying perpetration among Chinese children and adolescents. Method: This study used data from a national representative school bullying survey (n = 3,675) among children and adolescents from all grades (primary school 4th grade to high school 12th grade) in seven cities in China. Negative binomial regression was used to estimate the effects of these predictive factors on traditional and cyber school bullying perpetration, respectively. Seven control variables were included, such as gender, boarding school, family socioeconomic status, and parents’ education levels. Results: The sample comprised 52% female, 18% at boarding school, 70% of the participants’ academic performance was average or above. Approximately 17.3% of the participants reported participating in traditional school bullying against their peers, and 7.8% perpetrated cyberbullying behaviors. Also, after controlling sociodemographic characteristics and high self-control, parental involvement reduced the likelihood of traditional and cyberbullying perpetrating. Experiencing interparental conflict and risk behavior was significantly associated with increased perpetration of traditional and cyber school bullying. We found that having a conflict with parents was significantly associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Implications: Findings have implications for practice. Anti-bullying intervention programs targeting this population should consider these factors. For example, school administrators may develop school programs involving parents in the efforts and interventions workshops improving children and adolescents’ levels of self-control. Limitations are also discussed.
Firearms, policy, and intimate partner homicide: A structural and disaggregated examination of Black, Latina, and White female victimization
(Criminology, 2024-06-28) Gray, Andrew C.; Kafonek, Katherine; Parker, Karen F.
Intimate partner homicide (IPH) continues to be a form of violence disproportionately affecting women in the United States, and access to firearms can greatly increase the likelihood that intimate partner violence becomes lethal. In response to concerns about firearms violence and their prevalence in IPH incidents specifically, states have passed restrictive firearms laws and policies. In this study, we provide an analysis of female IPH victimization disaggregated by race/ethnicity that incorporates state-level firearms legislation. Our analytical approach is informed by intersectionality and accounts for other key intimate partner violence policies and structural predictors. We find that the relationship between firearms legislation and IPH varies in magnitude and direction across specific race/ethnicity female victimization groups. As such, our findings provide support for an intersectional framework in that restrictive firearms laws are not consistently associated with lower levels of IPH when incidents are disaggregated by gender and race/ethnicity.
Greening, Revitalization, and Health in South Wilmington, Delaware
(Delaware Journal of Public Health, 2022-08) Perez, Victor W.; Swiatek, William
We highlight the potential for paradoxical impacts of green infrastructure integrated with urban redevelopment. Absent directly addressing social inequalities in parallel efforts, green infrastructure may lead to negative health outcomes of disadvantaged residents, including eventual displacement. We present the research literature and reviews on this topic. We next highlight the case of recent in-migration of higher-income Whites and others in South Wilmington, Delaware, spurred on by high-end Riverfront redevelopment at Christina Landing. This migration may obscure how greening efforts—such as a new wetlands park to control area flooding—influence health outcomes in Southbridge, a low-income, African American neighborhood also within South Wilmington. The area’s Census tract boundary, often used in both health and equity assessments, is shared by these distinctive communities. When viewed through the lens of inequality, greening can have multi-faceted impacts that structure health outcomes. We underscore the importance of the mitigation of its potentially harmful effects.
Halloween Sadism: the evidence
(Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, 2008) Best, Joel
Identifying the helpfulness of school climate: Skipping school, cheating on tests, and elements of school climate
(Psychology in the Schools, 2022-04-06) Kupchik, Aaron; Highberger, James; Bear, George
Prior research demonstrates the importance of school climate in shaping student behavior but tells us less about which aspects of school climate matter. In this paper we consider how distinct elements of school climate relate to skipping school and cheating on tests. Using survey and administrative data from several statewide Delaware sources, we perform a series of random-intercept logistic regression models. We find that students in schools perceived to have a climate with high levels of structure and support are less likely to report cheating on tests. Yet we do not find a robust relationship between most climate measures and skipping school. School climate relates strongly to in-school deviant behavior but much less to school-related deviant behavior occurring outside of schools. By specifying what measures of climate do and do not relate to problematic student behaviors, our results sharpen our understandings of how school climate shapes student behaviors.
Institutional Betrayal in the Criminal and Civil Legal Systems: Exploratory Factor Analysis with a Sample of Black and Hispanic Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
(Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2024-05-18) Freetly Porter, Emma; Mendoza, Maria Paula; Deng, Miaomiao; Kiss, Marissa; Mirance, Katie; Foltz, Katelyn; Hattery, Angela J.
Institutional betrayal (IB) is well-documented among survivors of gender-based violence seeking help and/or reporting incidents of violence in various settings, including college campuses and health care settings. Two of the most common institutions from which survivors seek help are the criminal and civil legal systems; however, less is known about the experiences of IB among survivors interfacing with those systems. Previous studies exploring IB have implemented the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire (IBQ) and its various adaptations, but this scale has not yet been analyzed in the criminal or civil legal context, nor has it been analyzed among racially marginalized survivors. This paper explores the potential for utilizing the IBQ-Health among a sample of 199 Black and Hispanic survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) who sought help from the criminal and/or civil legal system(s). An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to explore the fit of the measure to the data. Results suggest that the measure as it has previously been used does not demonstrate strong reliability or fit with this population or institution. Possible explanations and future directions are explored, including support for developing and piloting a new measure to assess IB among Black and Hispanic survivors of interpersonal violence who are seeking help from criminal and civil legal institutions.
Inter-Generational Transmission of Violence in Latino Families: The Role of Mothers in Navigating the Cycle of Abuse
(Sociology between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics, 2023-09-26) Quiroga, Zarah Zurita
Latino children and youth are the fastest-growing ethnic minority in the United States. They are also unique in the sense that they experience mixed-status families in which one, or more, of their family members lack the proper authorization to live and work in the United States. Because of this mixed status, they face a distinctive form of family violence in which fear of deportation silences victims. This article explores the roles of mothers in experiencing and interrupting the inter-generational transmission of violence in Latino families in the United States. Based on interviews with eleven Latina women, the author discusses cases in which the roles of mothers either interrupt or contribute to the continuation of the inter-generational transmission of the cycle of violence. This piece explores the tensions between personal experiences with witnessing violence and the actions Latina mothers took in order to stop cycles of abuse and its outcomes for their own children. The author concludes with suggestions for future research that centers on the experiences of Latinos in order to reduce inter-generational trauma and transmission of violence in Latino communities.
‘I’m Gonna Speak for Me’ I-Poems and the Situated Knowledges of Sex Workers
(Ethics and Social Welfare, 2022-03-13) Buckridge, Maggie; Lowman, Jules; Leon, Chrysanthi S.
In academic and political spaces, as well as in the dominant culture in the United States, sex workers are granted little authority, and their lived experiences are not privileged as a form of valuable knowledge. As feminist scholars, we seek to counter this pattern by highlighting the situated knowledges and agency of sex workers in the United States. To do so, we share the words of sex workers through I-poems. I-poems are a form of poetic inquiry and a method for qualitative research analysis. As a form of found poetry, these poems are constructed using only the words of the participants. Unlike prior scholars, we use focus groups that capture conversation about people involved in street-based sex work rather than individual interviews. By centering the participants’ own words, we hope to moderate our influence as researchers on the presentation of data.
‘I’m Scared to Death to Try It on My Own’: I-Poems and the complexities of religious housing support for people on the US sex offender registry
(Anti-Trafficking Review, 2023-04-26) Leon, Chrysanthi S.; Buckridge, Maggie; Herdoíza, Michaela
In the US, street-based sex workers and people convicted of sex offences are both ‘special populations’, often with additional conditions of community supervision. People convicted of sex offences experience a complicated mix of assistance and surveillance as they re-enter society post-conviction, including numerous restrictions on housing and employment. As a result, they are especially likely to experience homelessness upon release. This article uses I-Poems drawn from interviews with volunteers and professionals who navigate the obstacles to re-entry that govern people on the sex offender registry. We focus on people with religious affiliations (n=38) who provide urgent support during the re-entry process. I-poems are a feminist technique for analysing qualitative data that forefronts the voices of people not often heard and distils complex experiences into accessible narratives. While few in our study overtly exploited re-entering persons on the registry, most support was problematic in subtler ways: we found that re-entering registrants are asked to accept constrained choices involving labour, religious participation, and romantic and other personal relationships in order to receive assistance. Given the secondary stigma attached to work with people convicted of sex offences, and the obscurity within in which many of these religiously-affiliated programmes operate, I-Poems both humanise and reveal the complexities of coercion, religious calling, and supportive housing.
Maternal stress and social support during Hurricane Florence
(Health Care for Women International, 2022-05-26) DeYoung, Sarah E.
In theoretical research on disaster vulnerability, access to resources is critical for optimal outcomes. Studying the impact of a hurricane on maternal stress can expand theories of disaster vulnerability. This is a cross-sectional mixed-methods prospective study of maternal stress during Hurricane Florence in the United States. Results from chi-squares compared the proportion of respondents who reported having support for a financial emergency were significant, specifically that higher income respondents indicated the ability to rely on someone in case of an emergency. A regression analysis indicated that social support was significant and negatively related to stress as a dependent variable, while evacuation status and pregnancy status were not significant predictors of stress. Five themes emerged from the overall qualitative data: concerns about infant feeding, evacuation logistics, general stress, family roles, and ‘other’ issues.
Neighborhoods, Criminal Incidents, Race, and Sentencing: Exploring the Racial and Social Context of Disparities in Incarceration Sentences
(The British Journal of Criminology: An International Review of Crime and Society, 2021-06-01) Donnelly, Ellen A.
As an extra-legal factor, social context is a key contributor to racial/ethnic disparities in incarceration sentences. Neighborhoods may have important, yet underexplored influences on sentencing. This study evaluates whether the social conditions and racial characteristics of communities where defendants allegedly offend affect Black-White sentencing disparities. Three-level multilevel model results suggest larger Black populations in neighborhoods of criminal incident increase the odds of incarceration and, to a lesser extent, lengthen sentences for all defendants. Offending outside one’s residential community increases the probability and length of a prison sentence. Neighbourhood effects differ by race, however. Unlike Whites, Blacks receive more punitive sentences for committing offences in disadvantaged areas and less proportionally Black communities. Neighbourhoods thus contribute to racial differences in sentencing outcomes.
Opioid-stimulant trends in overdose toxicology by race, ethnicity, & gender: An analysis in Delaware, 2013–2019
(Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 2022-08-16) Gray, Andrew C.; Neitzke-Spruill, Logan; Hughes, Cresean; O’Connell, Daniel J.; Anderson, Tammy L.
Recent upticks of stimulant presence in overdose deaths suggest the opioid epidemic is morphing, which raises questions about what drugs are involved and who is impacted. We investigate annual and growth rate trends in combined opioid-stimulant overdose toxicology between 2013 and 2019 for White, Black, and Hispanic male and female decedents in Delaware. During these years, toxicology shifted to illegal drugs for all with fentanyl leading the increase and opioid-cocaine combinations rising substantially. While combined opioid-cocaine toxicology grew among Black and Hispanic Delawareans, White males continue to report the highest rates overall. These findings depart from historical patterns and may challenge existing opioid epidemic policies.
Organizational Justice, Technology Utilization, and Well-Beings Among Chinese Police Officers
(Police Quarterly, 2024-08-18) Chen, Yunan; Sun, Ivan Y.; Wu, Yuning; Ha, Stephanie V.; Zheng, Xi
The widespread use of digital technologies, such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet, has led to significant changes in policing. Nonetheless, little research has examined how organizational factors are linked to police officers’ job satisfaction and occupational stress through the effectiveness and difficulty of applying digital technology in policing. Based on survey data collected from Chinese police officers, we assessed the direct correlations between organizational support and supervisor justice and job satisfaction and occupational stress, and the mediating role of technology efficacy and technology difficulty. We found that organizational support was positively related to police officers’ job satisfaction, and both technology efficacy and technology difficulty were negatively connected to occupational stress. Supervisor justice was positively related to job satisfaction and negatively associated with digital technology difficulty and occupational stress. The indirect relationships between organizational support and supervisor justice and job satisfaction and stress were mainly through technology difficulty.
Police legitimacy and procedural justice for children and youth: a scoping review of definitions, determinants, and consequences
(Frontiers in Sociology, 2024-09-24) Li, Jessica C. M.; Zhang, Serena Y.; Sun, Ivan Y.; Ho, Albert S. K.
Introduction: Understanding police legitimacy among children and youth is important for building a just and democratic society. Although the volume of studies on police legitimacy among underaged persons has grown in recent decades, the findings on the relationships between police legitimacy and procedural justice and their definitions, associated determinants, and consequences remain heterogeneous across studies and across political and legal contexts. Given these heterogeneities, the conclusions and implications generated by this research are far from comprehensive. Method: This scoping review offers readers a comprehensive and comparative understanding of this topic by answering the following questions. (1) How can we define police legitimacy and procedural justice for children and youth? (2) What are the determinants of police procedural justice and legitimacy for children and youth? (3) What are the consequences of police procedural (in)justice and (il)legitimacy for children and youth? (4) Among children and youth, who are the vulnerable groups receiving less legitimate and unjust treatment from the police? A scoping review of the literature published between January 1, 1990 and May 31, 2022 was conducted based on four databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest. Guided by the scoping review screening framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley, that is, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines, and the checklist provided by the Joanna Briggs Institute for quality assessment, 47 publications, consisting of 38 quantitative studies and 9 qualitative studies, were retained in the final sample. Results: The results synthesize the operational and subjective interpretations of police legitimacy offered by the respondents in the studies reviewed which is followed by the discussion of conceptual and measurement issues. The key correlates of police legitimacy identified in these studies were police procedural justice and behavior, followed by experience and contact with the police, relationships with other authority figures, and personal competence in moral reasoning and self-control. In addition to compliance and cooperation, cynicism, trust, and health were related to police (il)legitimacy. Discussion: We argue that in addition to building and maintaining police legitimacy, it is vital to remedy the negative consequences of injustice in police–youth encounters. Systematic Review Registration: https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2024-9-0064/, INPLASY202490064.

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