Marital Homogamy, Maternal Empowerment, and Child Health in Ghana

Current research shows that marital homogamy, where spouses are similar in attributes, increases gender equality in marriage. Greater age and education homogamy within marriage is associated with greater gender equality between husbands and wives (Pyke & Adams). When women have equal status and are more empowered in the home, they are more able to invest in the health and development of their children. As women control earnings or home finances, funds are allocated for the health and nutrition of their children, rather than alcohol and status consumer goods (Hoddinott & Haddad, 1995). This is crucial as the nutrition and health care a child receives at an early age influences cognitive ability later in life (Berkman et. al, 2002; Pelletier et al., 1995). To further understand this relationship, I utilize the Demographic and Health Survey of Ghana, 2014 to examine how age and educational homogamy within marriage affect child nutrition and health. I hypothesize, based on previous literature, that greater parental age and educational homogamy will be associated with lower stunting or chronic child malnutrition, and that this effect will be mediated by maternal empowerment

Race-Gender Differences in Medicalization and Criminalization: The Consequences for Criminal Justice Involvement and Mental Health Treatment

This dissertation is composed of three studies that examine race and gender biases in criminalization and medicalization. Paper I examines how the relationships between personality traits and the likelihood of arrest vary across race-gender statuses. Findings indicate that race-gender status influences the interpretation of personality traits as "deviant" or "normative," as personality does not equally predict arrest across all race gender statuses. Paper 2 explores whether race-gender status influences the likelihood of arrest and the likelihood of mental health treatment for those with mental illness. Findings indicate that certain groups, such as Black women, are more criminalized but less medicalized for their mental illness. Paper 3 evaluates the role of county demographics on the medicalization of criminal justice policy. I specifically examine the use of treatment court programs, which redirect individuals from traditional sentencing into mandated medical care, as evidence of medicalization. Findings show that the racial, gender, education, and political makeup of counties influence the prevalence of treatment court programs. Taken together, these three proposed studies contribute to the knowledge of how race and gender shape the criminalization and medicalization of deviant behavior

33392 Investigating the relationship between placement instability, mental health, behavioral and justice-related outcomes among sex-trafficked youth

ABSTRACT IMPACT: This public health work contributes to the development and implementation of best practices for working with sex trafficked youth who experience placement instability and justice involvement. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Youth removed from their home into foster care or a group home (i.e., placement instability) are vulnerable to sex trafficking. This study examines whether placement instability predicts mental health, behavioral and justice-related outcomes among sex-trafficked girls. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Placement instability occurs when children are temporarily or permanently removed from their home and placed in foster care or a group home. Domestic minor sex trafficking is exploitation and abuse of children for commercial sexual purposes in exchange for money or other goods/services. We hypothesize that sex trafficked girls who experience placement instability will report more mental health challenges, substance use, abuse history and justice involvement than those without placement instability. Data came from participant files in a specialty court program from 2012-2014 (N=184). Multiple sources contribute to the information contained court files; all data extracted by the research team come solely from the court files. Descriptive, bivariate, and logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: All participants were (cis)female, 74% were African American, 96% US citizens, with average age of 16 years. Three-quarters of participants had a documented mental health challenge, such as depression and 88% reported substance use. Eighty-one percent of participants had been in a placement, with a group average of 4.5 placements. Girls with placement instability reported more mental health challenges (p&lt;.001), substance use (p&lt;.001), abuse (p&lt;.001), running away (p&lt;.001) and bench warrants (p&lt;.001) than girls without placement instability. Logistic regression estimated housing instability was positively associated with mental health challenge, substance use, running away, number of bench warrants, and number of citations. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: Among girls who have been trafficked, placement instability places them at greater risk for personal and behavioral challenges, including increased justice involvement. Comprehensive trauma-informed services should be provided to the family to help mitigate issues in the home.</jats:p

The social impacts of products: a review

Many agree that every product has economic, environmental, and social impacts on those who use and produce them. While environmental and economic impacts are well known and measures have been developed, our understanding of social impacts is still developing. While efforts have been made to identify social impacts, academics, and practitioners still disagree on which phenomena should be included, and few have focused on the impacts of products specifically compared with programs, policies, or other projects. The primary contribution of this review essay is to integrate scholarship from a wide array of social science and engineering disciplines that categorizes the social phenomena that are affected by products. Specifically, we identify social impacts and processes including population change, family, gender, education, stratification, employment, health and well-being, human rights, networks and communication, conflict and crime, and cultural identity/heritage. These categories are important because they can be used to inform academics and practitioners alike who are interested in creating products that generate positive social benefits for users