bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Use of a Peer Leader Intervention Model to Reduce Needle-Related Risk Behaviors among Drug Injectors in Ukraine
Authors: Booth Robert E. , Lehman Wayne E.K. , Latkin Carl A. , Brewster John T. , Sinitsyna Larisa , Dvoryak Sergey
Published: March 2012

This study was designed to assess change in needle-related risks following interventions with injection drug users (IDUs) in the Crimea. Participants were recruited through street outreach by former IDUs in the cities of Simferopol and Nikolayev, Ukraine. The intervention was based on a social network model in which peer leaders were recruited and asked to bring in up to three members of their injecting network. Findings supported the feasibility of the intervention: peer leaders recruited an average of 2.4 network members; two-thirds attended at least four of the five training sessions; and a positive relationship was observed between greater session attendance by peer leaders and increased communication with network members about HIV prevention. Moreover, leaders who did not engage in high-risk behaviors at follow-up were much more likely to have had network members who did not engage in high-risk activities compared to leaders who continued high-risk behaviors.
A Typology of Drug-Related Offending among Young Homeless Injection Drug Users
Authors: Sanders Bill , Lankenau Stephen E. , Bloom Jennifer Jackson , Hathaz Dodi S.
Published: March 2012

Research indicates a link between drug use and offending, particularly amongst high-risk individuals, such as homeless youth. The extent to which such youth interpret their offending as being related to their drug use, though, is understudied. This manuscript investigates the interpretations of drug-related offenses offered by 151 primarily white, male, homeless IDUs aged 16–29 years. Youth were asked specific questions about their drug-related offenses during in-depth interviews as part of a larger study investigating health risks surrounding drug injection between 2004 and 2006. The first section of the manuscript outlines offenses youth revealed committing either in pursuit of or after using a variety of substances. The second part of the manuscript examines the overall context (motivation, environment), and provides a seven-tiered typology of drug-related offending based on youth's interpretations, linking certain drugs to specific offenses within particular contexts. From here, some theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Drug Abusing Women in the Community: The Impact of Drug Court Involvement on Recidivism
Authors: Shaffer Deborah Koetzle , Hartman Jennifer L. , Listwan Shelley Johnson
Published: March 2012

Developing community-based options for drug abusing women is important for a variety of reasons. One option that shows promise is the treatment-oriented drug court. Although drug courts enjoy considerable empirical support, relatively few studies have examined the efficacy of this model for women. The current study uses a quasi-experimental design to compare outcomes between a sample of moderate to high-risk drug court participants (n=91) and probationers (n=80). Over the course of an average two year follow-up period, female drug court participants were found to have significantly lower rates of recidivism than their probation counterparts. The results of an event history analysis confirmed that drug court participants were significantly less likely to recidivate even after controlling for differences in length of follow-up. These findings provide support for the ability of drug court programs to successfully treat drug-involved women.
Investigating Stability and Change in Substance Use and Criminal Activity Using a Synthesized Longitudinal Modeling Approach
Authors: Sullivan Christopher J. , Piquero Alex R.
Published: March 2012

The application of career perspectives in substance use and crime research has emphasized both stability and change. Curran and Bollen (2001) recently developed an analytic approach, the autoregressive latent trajectory model (ALT), which permits the analysis of both persistent individual differences in behavioral trends and stage-specific direct relationships. The present study utilizes this modeling approach with a sample of 524 offenders released from the California Youth Authority followed over seven years in early adulthood. The results of the analytic process suggest that the ALT model fit the data well. Comparatively, that model fit better than the autoregressive or LGC specifications and provides more information. The ALT model provides estimates that are relevant in understanding key parameters of the substance use and criminal career frameworks—both singly and jointly. The results of this investigation are then considered from the standpoint of future methodological development and substantive theoretical considerations of longitudinal patterns of substance use and crime.
Differences in Mortality among Heroin, Cocaine, and Methamphetamine Users: A Hierarchical Bayesian Approach
Authors: Liang Li-Jung , Huang David , Brecht Mary-Lynn , Hser Yih-Ing
Published: March 2012

Studies examining differences in mortality among long-term drug users have been limited. In this paper, we introduce a Bayesian framework that jointly models survival data using a Weibull proportional hazard model with frailty, and substance and alcohol data using mixed-effects models, to examine differences in mortality among heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine users from five long-term follow-up studies. The traditional approach to analyzing combined survival data from numerous studies assumes that the studies are homogeneous, thus the estimates may be biased due to unobserved heterogeneity among studies. Our approach allows us to structurally combine the data from different studies while accounting for correlation among subjects within each study. Markov chain Monte Carlo facilitates the implementation of Bayesian analyses. Despite the complexity of the model, our approach is relatively straightforward to implement using WinBUGS. We demonstrate our joint modeling approach to the combined data and discuss the results from both approaches.
Initial Status in Growth Curve Modeling for Randomized Trials
Authors: Chou Chih-Ping , Chi Felicia , Weisner Constance , Pentz MaryAnn , Hser Yih-Ing
Published: March 2012

The growth curve modeling (GCM) technique has been widely adopted in longitudinal studies to investigate progression over time. The simplest growth profile involves two growth factors, initial status (intercept) and growth trajectory (slope). Conventionally, all repeated measures of outcome are included as components of the growth profile, and the first measure is used to reflect the initial status. Selection of the initial status, however, can greatly influence study findings, especially for randomized trials. In this article, we propose an alternative GCM approach involving only post-intervention measures in the growth profile and treating the first wave after intervention as the initial status. We discuss and empirically illustrate how choices of initial status may influence study conclusions in addressing research questions in randomized trials using two longitudinal studies. Data from two randomized trials are used to illustrate that the alternative GCM approach proposed in this article offers better model fitting and more meaningful results.
Understanding Random Effects in Group-Based Trajectory Modeling: An Application of Moffitt's Developmental Taxonomy
Authors: Saunders Jessica M.
Published: March 2012

The group-based trajectory modeling approach is a systematic way of categorizing subjects into different groups based on their developmental trajectories using formal and objective statistical criteria. With the recent advancement in methods and statistical software, modeling possibilities are almost limitless; however, parallel advances in theory development have not kept pace. This paper examines some of the modeling options that are becoming more widespread and how they impact both empirical and theoretical findings. The key issue that is explored is the impact of adding random effects to the latent growth factors and how this alters the meaning of a group. The paper argues that technical specification should be guided by theory, and Moffitt's developmental taxonomy is used as an illustration of how modeling decisions can be matched to theory.
A Marginal Structural Modeling Approach to Assess the Cumulative Effect of Drug Treatment on Later Drug Use Abstinence
Authors: Li Libo , Evans Elizabeth , Hser Yih-Ing
Published: March 2012

In this article, we applied a marginal structural model (MSM) to estimate the effect on later drug use of drug treatments occurring over 10 years following first use of the primary drug. The study was based on the longitudinal data that were collected in three projects among 421 subjects and covered 15 years since first use of their primary drug. The cumulative treatment effect was estimated by the inverse-probability of treatment weighted estimators of MSM as well as the traditional regression analysis. Contrary to the traditional regression analysis, results of the MSM showed that the cumulative treatment occurring over the 10 years significantly increased the likelihood of drug use abstinence in the subsequent 5-year period. From both the statistical and empirical point of view, MSM is a better approach to assessing cumulative treatment effects, considering its advantage of controlling for self-selection bias over time.
The First Injection Event: Differences among Heroin, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, and Ketamine Initiates
Authors: Lankenau Stephen E. , Wagner Karla D. , Bloom Jennifer Jackson , Sanders Bill , Hathazi Dodi , Shin Charles
Published: March 2012

This article describes how the drug type injected at the first injection event is related to characteristics of the initiate, risk behaviors at initiation, and future drug-using trajectories. A diverse sample (n=222) of young injection drug users (IDUs) were recruited from public settings in New York, New Orleans, and Los Angeles during 2004 and 2005. The sample was between 16 and 29 years old, and had injected ketamine at least once in the preceding two years. Interview data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Young IDUs initiated with four primary drug types: heroin (48.6%), methamphetamine (20.3%), ketamine (17.1%), and cocaine (14%). Several variables evidenced statistically significant relationships with drug type: age at injection initiation, level of education, region of initiation, setting, mode of administration, patterns of self-injection, number of drugs ever injected, current housing status, and their hepatitis C virus (HCV) status. Qualitative analyses revealed that rationale for injection initiation and subjective experiences at first injection differed by drug type.
Heavy Episodic Alcohol Use in Emerging Adulthood: The Role of Early Risk Factors and Young Adult Social Roles
Authors: Eitle David , Taylor John , Eitle Tamela McNulty
Published: March 2012

In this paper we examine the potential interdependence between early adolescent alcohol use and later role occupancy of such social roles as higher education attendance, parenthood, level of work intensity, and marriage. Data from a ten-year prospective study (1990–1993 & 2000–2003) were employed to examine these relationships among a sample of 523 young adult males who had previously attended a Miami-Dade County (Florida) middle or high school. Among the adult social roles considered, only being currently married was shown to be a significant predictor of having an inverse association with heavy alcohol use. However, an important conditional relationship was also observed: among those respondents who have a history of high early alcohol use, there is an association between work intensity and heavy alcohol use such that work intensity has a social amplification effect on young adult heavy alcohol use. The results presented here demonstrate that early risk factors need to be considered in conjunction with later social role occupancy when examining young problem drinking. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
Pathways to Adult Alcohol Abuse across Racial/Ethnic Groups: An Application of General Strain and Social Learning Theories
Authors: Akins Scott , Smith Chad L. , Mosher Clayton
Published: March 2012

There is considerable variation in the prevalence, etiology and consequences of alcohol and other drug use across racial/ethnic groups, but studies examining these issues among adult populations remain scarce. This is an important oversight as exposure to many of the risk factors associated with substance use and abuse has been shown to vary by race/ethnicity as well as age. This study examines the causes and correlates of adult alcohol abuse across the three largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States—Whites, Blacks and Hispanics—and provides a theoretically grounded examination of substance abuse by applying two general theories of deviance, Agnew's general strain theory and Akers' social learning theory. Results indicate unconditional support for both theories when applied to White alcohol abuse but more conditional support when applied to patterns of adult alcohol abuse among Hispanics and Blacks. These results suggest that these three racial/ethnic groups experience somewhat different pathways to alcohol disorder.
Mother-Daughter Attachment and Drug Abuse among Latinas in the United States
Authors: De La Rosa Mario , Dillon Frank R. , Ganapati N. Emel , Rojas Patria , Pinto Elsa , Prado Guillermo
Published: March 2012

Although the risks and protective processes influencing substance use behaviors of adult Latinos have been increasingly examined in the literature, substance abuse among adult Latinas remains a relatively understudied area. This study examined associations between mother-daughter attachment and substance abuse among 158 Latina mothers and their adult daughters (N = 316). Dyads of mothers and daughters were categorized into four groups: (a) mother/daughter both drug or alcohol abusers (Dyad 1), (b) mother abuser and daughter non-abuser (Dyad 2), (c) mother non-abuser and daughter abuser (Dyad 3), and (d) mother/daughter both non-abusers (Dyad 4). Dyad 1 participants reported lower levels of attachment to each other than all other types of dyads. Participants born in the U.S. reported more substance abuse than their non-U.S. born counterparts. Future longitudinal research is recommended to determine the presence of a mother-daughter attachment threshold that, if established early and maintained, may act as a protective mechanism against the intergenerational co-occurrence of substance abuse among adult Latinas.
Gender, Sexuality, and Ethnicity as Factors of Club-Drug Use among Asian Americans
Authors: Fazio Adam , Joe-Laidler Karen , Moloney Molly , Hunt Geoffrey
Published: March 2012

This article examines the relationship between substance use and gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and nativity among 250 Asian American youths involved in the dance club/rave scene. We find distinct patterns of drug use differing by country of origin and ethnicity. However, contrary to some literature we do not find significant differences corresponding to immigration status, or number of years in the U.S. The most significant differences between subgroups are related to gender and sexuality: male respondents consume more drugs, more frequently than female respondents, and non-heterosexual respondents consume more than heterosexual respondents, with differing patterns for men's' and women's sexual subgroups. There were also significant gender and sexuality differences with respect to the contexts in which respondents consume drugs, with the most significant differences being between heterosexual and non-heterosexual men. As we discuss, these findings illustrate the need for further investigation of drug-use patterns of gender and sexuality within Asian American communities.
Research Note: Perspectives on the Hierarchy of HIV and Hepatitis C Disease: Consequences for Drug Treatment Program Patients
Authors: Munoz-Plaza Corrine , Strauss Shiela M. , Tiburcio Nelson , Astone-Twerell Janetta M. , Des Jarlais Don C. , Gwadz Marya , Hagan Holly , Osborne Andrew , Rosenblum Andrew
Published: March 2012

Injection drug users (IDUs) face an increased risk of acquiring blood borne viral infections, including HIV and the hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, the discrepancy in funding for services to address these two diseases has implications. Although drug treatment programs have played an important role in fighting HIV/AIDS, the HCV-related services offered at these programs remain limited. Research from other countries suggests that drug users view HCV as less important than HIV, yet little is known about the extent to which our society's focus on HIV has been adopted within the drug treatment program culture. This qualitative study examines the perceptions of both staff (n = 165) and clients (n = 215) at these programs with regard to HIV and HCV and presents data on how staffs' attitudes toward HCV changed after participating in an HCV training. Clients described a services landscape at drug treatment programs that favors HIV services over those targeting HCV.
A New Trick for an Old Dog: Applying Developmental Trajectories to Inform Drug Use Progression
Authors: Ward Jeffrey T. , Stogner John , Gibson Chris L. , Akers Ronald L.
Published: March 2012

The frequent criticisms of the “gateway hypothesis” have led scholars to note the importance of considering the role of intra-individual change for drug use progression. While studies employing drug use trajectories have added considerably to our understanding of drug use comorbidity, the extent to which trajectories inform drug use progression remains largely unknown despite the fact that there are several theoretical reasons to suspect that intra-individual change is important to the gateway phenomenon. The current study employs latent class growth models using a sample from the Boys Town study of adolescent drug and drinking behavior. The results demonstrate that knowing how gateway drug use changes over time provides important information above and beyond knowing frequency of gateway use for predicting harder drug use trajectories. Implications of the empirical findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Barriers to Implementing Individualized Substance Abuse Treatment: Qualitative Findings from the CASPAR Replication Studies
Authors: Mericle Amy A. , Casaletto Kathryn , Knoblach Dan , Brooks Adam C. , Carise Deni
Published: March 2012

Problem-to-services matching is critical to patient-centered care. Further, the extent to which substance abuse treatment is individualized to meet specific client needs is a key predictor of success and represents “best practice” in substance abuse treatment. The CASPAR Resource Guide, an electronic database of local free and low-cost services, is an evidence-based tool designed to help counselors easily and quickly provide off-site referrals to services not available in most community treatment programs to increase problem-to-service matching. This paper examines system-level barriers to using the CASPAR Resource Guide among 30 counselors and 21 site directors across 16 sites in two different studies. Results from qualitative implementation analyses found that key program components needed to support the implementation of this evidence-based practice (e.g., individualized treatment planning, individual treatment sessions, and individual counselor supervision) were lacking, which jeopardized successful adoption of the CASPAR research interventions and prompted a redesign of the studies in order to enhance each program's ability to support individualized care.
“I Always Kept a Job”: Income Generation, Heroin Use and Economic Uncertainty in 21st Century Detroit
Authors: Draus Paul J. , Roddy Juliette , Greenwald Mark
Published: March 2012

This qualitative study, based on a series of 30 in-depth interviews and 109 economic surveys conducted with active heroin users residing in and around Detroit, Michigan, describes reported patterns of heroin use and income generation activities. In spite of lack of access to regular, legal employment, we found that many participants displayed a dedication to regular daily routine and a sense of risk management or control. These findings are discussed relative to past research on heroin addiction as well as recent research on the changing nature of employment. We argue that this sample fits somewhere in between the controlled or working addict, and the “junkie” or “righteous dope fiend” of urban lore. We draw a connection between these stable patterns of addiction and income generation and the demands of informal and insecure labor markets. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for further research, interventions, and public policy.
Stakeholder Consensus and Circumvention in Drug Diversion Programs: Findings from California's Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (Proposition 36)
Authors: Urada Darren , Gardiner Christine , Anglin M. Douglas
Published: March 2012

Nearly 50,000 drug offenders are annually offered treatment in lieu of traditional sentencing as a result of California's voter-approved Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA). The challenges SACPA currently faces and their potential solutions may be similar to those faced by diversion programs in other regions. Stakeholders responsible for SACPA implementation were surveyed about the impact of recent budget cuts and were asked for suggestions on how to improve SACPA. Budget cuts undermined portions of the law that stakeholders agreed with and stakeholders themselves sought to circumvent portions of the law that they disagreed with. However, two areas of broad stakeholder agreement emerged: 1) funding should be increased, and 2) the option of brief jail sanctions for noncompliant participants should be made available. To address current challenges, key stakeholder groups should collectively draft and propose a revised version of the law using these areas of agreement as a foundation.
“There's what's on Paper and then there's What Happens, out on the Sidewalk”: Cannabis Users Knowledge and Opinions of Canadian Drug Laws
Authors: Brochu Serge , Duff Cameron , Asbridge Mark , Erickson Patricia Gail
Published: March 2012

This paper explores the knowledge and opinions of cannabis users regarding Canadian laws regulating possession of cannabis. Our study is based on data from 165 in-depth interviews with adult cannabis users from four Canadian cities. Our participants revealed a limited awareness of cannabis policy in Canada. When researchers informed them about actual Canadian laws, the majority of participants regarded the specified laws as “harsh,” “excessive,” “absurd” and/or “ridiculous.” In practice, the common experience of participants suggests the existence of two sets of enforcement practice in Canada—“there's what's on paper and then there's what happens, out on the sidewalk.” We situate our analysis of these practices in the context of broader debates regarding the putative normalization of drugs like cannabis in Canada. We conclude that greater consideration of the character of local law enforcement practices has the capacity to add further conceptual and analytical clarity to existing theories of normalization.
Response Bias in Screening County Jail Inmates for Addictions
Authors: Proctor Steven L. , Hoffmann Norman G. , Corwin Caleb J.
Published: March 2012

Despite the value of accurately identifying inmates with substance use disorders, little attention has been given to response bias in routine screening. Although individuals with likely substance use disorders are contributing to overcrowding and increased incarceration costs in correctional systems, a lack of accurate routine screening precludes the efficient implementation of programs to address these conditions and thereby reduce criminal recidivism. This study explored the accuracy of inmates' responses on an addiction screen used during standard classification procedures in a county jail. The UNCOPE screen for addictions, validated on arrestee and prison populations, was used to determine risk for substance dependence. Results indicated that inmates significantly underreported their substance use issues on the addiction screen when administered by a correctional officer, but were much more candid when interviewed by an individual not identified as a law enforcement or correctional officer. Recommendations for accurate routine screening are provided.
Differences in Substance Abuse Counselors' Knowledge of Tobacco Cessation Medication Effectiveness: 2002–2008
Authors: Rothrauff Tanja C. , Abraham Amanda J. , Roman Paul M.
Published: March 2012

Counselors play a supportive role in patients' substance abuse treatment, including tobacco cessation. Thus, counselors should be knowledgeable about tobacco cessation medications (TCMs). This study examined differences in counselors' knowledge of and familiarity with (i.e., diffusion) bupropion and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) between 2002 and 2008 and identified predictors of diffusion. Repeated cross-sectional questionnaire data were obtained in 2002/04 from 992 counselors and in 2007/08 from 1,226 counselors working in private treatment programs. Results indicated that more counselors in 2007/08 did not know about bupropion to rate its effectiveness than in 2002/04; no differences were found for NRT. Among both samples of counselors who were familiar with TCMs, effectiveness was rated higher in 2007/08 than in 2002/04. Findings suggest that educated and trained counselors are important in diffusing TCMs. Knowledgeable counselors may be able to educate patients interested in tobacco cessation about available treatments and encourage compliance with TCMs.
Leaving No Stone Unturned: Exploring Responses to and Consequences of Failed Crack-for-Car Transactions
Authors: Copes Heith , Brunson Rod K. , Forsyth Craig J. , White Heather
Published: March 2012

A sizeable number of crack cocaine users trade temporary use of their vehicles for small amounts of the drug. While the majority of these crack-for-car contracts are fulfilled without police intervention, many are not. These failed arrangements have the potential to cause a wide range of problems for police and the community. Using semi-structured interviews with police officers and active crack cocaine users, we examine how crack-for-car transactions come to law enforcement officers' attention and how police respond to and perceive the practice. Findings reveal that police believe that these incidents: artificially increase motor vehicle theft rates, waste police resources, perpetuate the drug market, and contribute to tenuous police-citizen relations. Findings have important implications for understanding police-citizen interactions and for developing effective policies.
Marijuana Price Gradients
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Bond Brittany M.
Published: March 2012

California nearly legalized commercial marijuana production in 2010; in coming years, other states and California are expected to entertain similar proposals. This raises the question of whether marijuana diverted from legal production could displace current sources of marijuana in other states. Combining prior estimates of legal production cost with new estimates of the cost of smuggling within the United States suggests that in most states, diverted legal production would substantially undercut current prices. So, if one state legalized, then (illegal) interstate “exports” could depress marijuana prices throughout the United States, even if taxes are collected before diversion and export. The authors proxy smuggling costs by the current gradient in prices observed for Mexican or commercial-grade marijuana; based on seven different data sets, it appears to be roughly US$325 to US$475 per pound per 1,000 miles as one moves north from the Mexican border.
The Roles of Family, Peer, School, and Attitudinal Factors in Cannabis Use Across Immigrant Generations of Youth
Authors: Hamilton Hayley A. , Danielson Anna Marie , Mann Robert E. , Paglia-Boak Angela
Published: March 2012

The objective of this study was to examine the associations of family, school, peer, and attitudinal factors with cannabis use among three immigrant generations of youth. The sample consisted of 3,134 students from the 2009 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, a provincewide survey of 7th- to 12th-grade students. Results indicate that the odds of using cannabis were lower among first-generation immigrant youth than among second as well as third and later generations. The immigrant generations were more similar than different in the significance of family, school, peers, and attitudinal factors on cannabis use. Parental education, however, was found to differ in its effect on cannabis use across generations. Findings suggest that factors that influence cannabis use may be similar across immigrant generations and that further research is needed on the effects of parental education and the mechanisms through which protection and risk to immigrant generations occur.
Trajectories of Body Mass and Self-Concept in Black and White Girls
Authors: Mustillo Sarah A. , Hendrix Kimber L. , Schafer Markus H.
Published: March 2012

As a stigmatizing condition, obesity may lead to the internalization of devalued labels and threats to self-concept. Modified labeling theory suggests that the effects of stigma may outlive direct manifestations of the discredited characteristic itself. This article considers whether obesity’s effects on self-concept linger when obese youth enter the normal body mass range. Using longitudinal data from the National Growth and Health Study on 2,206 black and white girls, we estimated a parallel-process growth mixture model of body mass linked to growth models of body image discrepancy and self-esteem. We found that discrepancy was higher and self-esteem lower in formerly obese girls compared to girls always in the normal range and comparable to chronically obese girls. Neither body image discrepancy nor self-esteem rebounded in white girls despite reduction in body mass, suggesting that the effects of stigma linger. Self-esteem, but not discrepancy, did rebound in black girls.
Prediction and Stability of Mathematics Skill and Difficulty
Authors: Martin Rebecca B. , Cirino Paul T. , Barnes Marcia A. , Ewing-Cobbs Linda , Fuchs Lynn S. , Stuebing Karla K. , Fletcher Jack M.
Published: March 2012

The present study evaluated the stability of math learning difficulties over a 2-year period and investigated several factors that might influence this stability (categorical vs. continuous change, liberal vs. conservative cut point, broad vs. specific math assessment); the prediction of math performance over time and by performance level was also evaluated. Participants were 144 students initially identified as having a math difficulty (MD) or no learning difficulty according to low achievement criteria in the spring of Grade 3 or Grade 4. Students were reassessed 2 years later. For both measure types, a similar proportion of students changed whether assessed categorically or continuously. However, categorical change was heavily dependent on distance from the cut point and so more common for MD, who started closer to the cut point; reliable change index change was more similar across groups. There were few differences with regard to severity level of MD on continuous metrics or in terms of prediction. Final math performance on a broad computation measure was predicted by behavioral inattention and working memory while considering initial performance; for a specific fluency measure, working memory was not uniquely related, and behavioral inattention more variably related to final performance, again while considering initial performance.
A Response to Michael Mayerfeld Bell's “In the River: A Socio-Historical Account of Dialogue and Diaspora”
Authors: Nickell David
Published: March 2012

I respond to Michael Bell's account of how the people of Grenadier Island fended off the threat of dislocation by the St. Lawrence Islands National Park project and instead established a working partnership with Parks Canada. This was contrasted with the far-from- desirable outcome of the Between the Rivers people in our attempts to gain recognition of our cultural heritage that was transformed forever by forced dislocation for the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. I attempt to compare and contrast the context and efforts of the Grenadier and the Between the Rivers people and examine our current situation in light of the hope that the Grenadier case exemplifies. I conclude with a suggestion for further research and analysis.
Relating Animals: Feminism and Our Connections with Nonhumans
Authors: Birke Lynda
Published: March 2012

In this paper, I explore the intersections between feminism and thinking about (nonhuman) animals. My premise is that animals matter to our politics, not only for themselves, but also for how we think about our own world. I consider three aspects of such intersecting: first, considering animals is important in terms of global environmental concerns because oppression of animals is linked profoundly to how we treat nature in general. Second, although animals seldom enter feminist thought, I argue that how animals are figured matters a great deal to feminism, not least because how we think about them is so mired in problematic dualities of nature/culture and body/mind. Third, I emphasise relationships and relationality—in this case, between humans and our nonhuman kin. This offers, I believe, not only a better way of understanding how embedded in our society are many animals, but also a route to a more inclusive ethics and politics.
Blue-Collar Aristocrats? General Motors Autoworkers and Oppositional Class Consciousness
Authors: Roth Reuben N.
Published: March 2012

Postwar social theorists (Goldthorpe, Lipset, Giddens, Hout, Brooks and Manza) have typically portrayed members of the Western industrial working-class as accommodative and suggest that an affluent proletariat has seen its oppositional working-class consciousness subverted and transformed by the ‘cash nexus’ into various forms of social integration. With reference to Mann's (1973) measures of class-consciousness I explore expressions of proletarian consciousness among organized workers at one of Canada's largest industrial union locals, the Canadian Auto Workers Local 222 of General Motors, Oshawa, Canada. Here I tested for the existence and degree of working-class imagery, proletarian identity and oppositional working-class consciousness using a survey questionnaire (N=102), in-depth interviews and participant observation. I found a shared view of class relations as primarily characterized by conflict, a clear working-class self-identification and measurable forms of oppositional working-class consciousness among this group. My findings confirm the hypothesis that Oshawa autoworkers' relative material advantage is insufficient to completely transform their proletarian consciousness. In this context I discuss the 1996 Oshawa plant occupation as an example of elevated oppositional class consciousness among Oshawa autoworkers.
“They Never Did Me Any Good”: Welfare-to-Work Programs from the Vantage Point of Poor Women
Authors: Kissane Rebecca Joyce
Published: March 2012

Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with poor women living in Philadelphia, I explore welfare recipients' experiences with and assessments of welfare-to-work programs provided by labor market intermediaries. Overall, the women argued that the programs often failed to offer meaningful skills that could result in good paying jobs, complicated their already difficult lives, and forced them to interact with sometimes disrespectful, hypocritical, and indifferent staff. The women also felt they were under-compensated for the work that they did in transitional jobs programs. While the women had problems with many of the programs they entered, they especially disliked those that focused on soft skills training. These findings suggest that such programs act as mechanisms of social reproduction, as from the vantage point of poor women, they typically fail to enhance and may actually restrict their labor market opportunities.
Solidarity on the Job: Resisting Dehumanization and Fighting for Democracy in the Diverse Workplace
Authors: Rader Victoria
Published: March 2012

Challenging the dominant sociological framework suggesting that U.S. workers have bought into capitalist structures and internalized work cultures, this exploratory study uses the illustrative case study method to explore aspects of solidarity in the diverse workplace. In particular, it examines workers' actions to rectify imbalanced power relations and unjust treatment of those in marginalized statuses of class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and physical ability. The focus is on a variety of roles taken on by “privileged allies,” such as inside agitators, creative bureaucrats and coalition builders, who use their organizational clout to stand with marginalized group members. Especially instructive are accounts of those in the “helping professions,” who challenge norms of specialized expertise and professional detachment and return control back to their clients. More research is needed to compare the experience of privileged allies who are themselves members of marginalized groups with those who are dominant group members. More data are also needed to explore conditions in which a single solidarity campaign evolves into an ongoing “culture of solidarity” in the workplace.
Socio-Psychological Processes in Racial Identity Formation: A Case Study of the Autobiographies of African American and Latino/a Activists
Authors: White Monica M.
Published: March 2012

This essay explores the social-psychological processes of racial identity formation. As a result of an analysis of the autobiographies of African American and Latino/a activists, a distinct trajectory in the development of racial identity around three sources of racial knowledge is proposed: (1) kinship networks; (2) hegemonic influences; and (3) direct experience. These findings suggest a fluid, complex process of racial identity formation contrary to assumptions that racial formation is fixed, static and formulaic.
Laughing Matters: Economies of Hyper-Irony and Manic-Satire in South Park & Family Guy
Authors: Hughey Matthew W. , Muradi Sahara
Published: March 2012

The so called “Arab,” “Middle Eastern,” and “South Asian” (hereinafter “AMESA”) worlds are oft-described as barbaric, untrustworthy, anti-democratic, violent, and filled with religious militants. Many claim that animated cartoons propagate this bigoted point of view, and that engagement with progressive and antiracist systems of representation are rarely combined in mainstream media formats. Using episodes from the animated series Family Guy and South Park culled from 2001 through 2007, we highlight the presence of a new cultural moment in post-9/11 culture that we call the “economy of hyper-irony and manic-satire.” Through this framework, we find that animated cartoons simultaneously reproduce and confound racist and essentialist representations of AMESA people.
Four Narratives of Anti-Poverty Community Mobilization: Lower East Side Collective, Housing Works, the New York City AIDS Housing Network Human Rights Watch, and the More Gardens! Coalition
Authors: Shepard Benjamin
Published: March 2012

The impact of major political and economic transformations was felt first in urban neighborhoods. Yet the ways community organizations respond suggests a future global city that is open, egalitarian, safe, just, and joyous. Neighborhoods and their members sometimes manage to thrive as innovative community organizers fight displacement, organize immigrants, build syringe exchanges, plant gardens, and ride bikes through streets in an example of what a healthy neighborhood can be. This article describes how four distinct groups—The Lower East Side Collective, Housing Works, the New York City AIDS Housing Network, and the More Gardens! Coalition—struggled against social and economic threats to build effective coalitions, caring communities and create wins. The Four Narratives serve as best practice examples of contemporary community organizing practices.
Stew of Discontent: “Middle Class” Americans' Economic Populism in the 1990s and Beyond
Authors: Martin Jonathan
Published: March 2012

This article highlights the hidden subtlety of ordinary Americans' economic populist sentiment, a longstanding and politically pivotal form of popular resentment concerning class inequalities. Based on my research in the late 1990s, I describe how economic populist attitudes in the United States can be much more complex than suggested in the relevant literature. I use data from interviews with a small number of “ordinary middle class” Americans to illustrate little known nuances in these attitudes and to highlight how such subtleties are overlooked in prevailing characterizations of public opinion. I suggest that the oversight is the result of the fragmentary nature of the study of U.S. class consciousness. I call for critical reflection on underlying biases that may obstruct a more integrated approach, and I explain how a more holistic perspective on economic populist attitudes may be used to mobilize subordinate class discontent in the United States more effectively.
Barack Obama as a Human Rights President: A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) Analysis
Authors: Finley Laura L. , Esposito Luigi
Published: March 2012

This paper examines Barack Obama's potential to be a transformative leader for human rights, as many suggested he would be. Specifically, it utilizes a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis conducted from January to the beginning of October of 2009 to identify Obama's personal strengths and weaknesses relevant to human rights as well as the social, political and cultural opportunities and threats he faces. We examine Obama's background, his senate record, and his progress to date as president. Gleaning information from news reports, Obama's own writing, speeches, and website, books, reports by human rights organizations, scholarly articles, and conversations with human rights activists, we determine that messages are mixed to date. While Obama has great potential, his personal style, political ambition, and the threats he inherited will make it difficult to take progressive human rights action, at least during his first term. We end the paper with a call to action for sociologists, organizers, and activists.
The Crisis and a Way Forward
Authors: Brucato Ben
Published: March 2012

The financial crisis of 2007 has generated ubiquitous commentary; it also spurred a global grassroots uprising that began with Occupy Wall Street. This movement provided a unique analysis of the crisis as well as a practical example of a way forward. Occupy Wall Street possesses a unique analysis of and response to the financial crisis. Here we see facilitation of political action by heterogeneous partisans that both demand and exemplify increased transparency and participation in decision making. Further, this movement relies upon both human-scaled and participatory technologies. Occupy Wall Street is a microcommunity that embodies a vision for a pluralistic, direct democratic society and demonstrates it through practice. This uprising provides a potential democratic solution for a way beyond crisis to new horizons.
Repairing credibility: Repositioning nuclear weapons knowledge after the Cold War
Authors: Sims Benjamin , Henke Christopher R.
Published: March 2012

During the Cold War, the credibility of US nuclear weapons scientists was backed up by an integrated system for designing, testing, and manufacturing nuclear weapons. As the Cold War drew to a close in the 1990s, weapons scientists warned that their knowledge was so deeply embedded in the design and testing of nuclear weapons that it might not survive if this system were disrupted. Sociologists Donald MacKenzie and Graham Spinardi used this as evidence for the role of tacit knowledge in weapons design, suggesting that a halt to weapons design and testing could bring on a crisis of credibility, and possibly the ‘uninvention’ of nuclear weapons. In this paper, we examine how the weapons community has avoided such a crisis of credibility. Our analysis turns on the concept of sociotechnical repair – the processes communities and institutions engage in to sustain their existence, identity, and boundaries, particularly when faced with disruptive change. We examine two post-Cold War repair efforts that demonstrate how actors carefully balance discursive, institutional, and material change in the repair of complex sociotechnical systems. The Stockpile Stewardship Program positions weapons expertise as an abstract body of knowledge, and seeks to repair the credibility of weapons scientists by embedding their knowledge in a new sociotechnical context of computer simulation and experimental science. The Reliable Replacement Warhead concept emphasizes the close relationship between weapons knowledge and the design features of stockpile warheads, and seeks to repair credibility by introducing weapons designs optimized for long-term stockpile storage. These repair efforts show that weapons scientists’ views of their own knowledge continued to evolve after the end of the Cold War. In particular, weapons scientists maintained credibility with key constituencies by treating tacit knowledge as a flexible resource that can be successfully integrated into new sociotechnical arrangements.
The Effect of Dynamic Femoroacetabular Impingement on Pubic Symphysis Motion
Authors: Birmingham Patrick M. , Kelly Bryan T. , Jacobs Robert , McGrady Linda , Wang Mei
Published: March 2012

Background: A link between femoroacetabular impingement and athletic pubalgia has been reported clinically. One proposed origin of athletic pubalgia is secondary to repetitive loading of the pubic symphysis, leading to instability and parasymphyseal tendon and ligament injury.

Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of simulated femoral-based femoroacetabular impingement on rotational motion at the pubic symphysis. The authors hypothesize that the presence of a cam lesion leads to increased relative symphyseal motion.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Methods: Twelve hips from 6 fresh-frozen human cadaveric pelvises were used to simulate cam-type femoroacetabular impingement. The hips were held in a custom jig and maximally internally rotated at 90° of flexion and neutral adduction. Three-dimensional motion of the pubic symphysis was measured by a motion-tracking system for 2 states: native and simulated cam. Load-displacement plots were generated between the internal rotational torque applied to the hip and the responding motion in 3 anatomic planes of the pubic symphysis.

Results: As the hip was internally rotated, the motion at the pubic symphysis increased proportionally with the degrees of the rotation as well as the applied torque measured at the distal femur for both states. The primary rotation of the symphysis was in the transverse plane and on average accounted for more than 60% of the total rotation. This primary motion caused the anterior aspect of the symphyseal joint to open or widen, whereas the posterior aspect narrowed. At the torque level of 18.0 N·m, the mean transverse rotation in degrees was 0.89° ± 0.35° for the native state and 1.20° ± 0.41° for cam state. The difference between cam and the native groups was statistically significant ( P < .03).

Conclusion: Dynamic femoroacetabular impingement as caused by the presence of a cam lesion causes increased rotational motion at the pubic symphysis.

Clinical Relevance: Repetitive loading of the symphysis by cam impingement is thought to lead to increased symphyseal motion, which is one possible precursor to athletic pubalgia.