Sex Differences in Violent Death During Incarceration and Legal Intervention.

INTRODUCTION: This study clarifies the differences in death during incarceration and legal intervention between males and females, delineating the differences in demographic features and the circumstances of the violent death including location, injury pattern, and perpetrator. METHODS: The data used are from the National Violent Death Reporting System database from 2003 to 2019. All victims were either in custody, in the process of custody, or in prison. Sex was coded as female or male and as assigned at birth. All analyses were conducted using SAS 9.4 software using chi-square tests, with an alpha of 0.05 to test significant differences in the circumstances of mortality and demographic characteristics for each group. RESULTS: Our findings show that suicide was the most common cause of death during incarceration for both females and males (89.8% versus 77.4%; P < 0.001). Homicide was less common in females (1.6% versus 14.8%; P < 0.001) and legal intervention only occurred in males (2.2%; P < 0.001). Male victims were more likely to be of non-White race/ethnicity compared to females, while females were more likely to be experiencing homelessness, have documented mental illness, and comorbid substance abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Victim sex is significantly associated with circumstances of violent death among the incarcerated and highlights the need for appropriate mental health and substance abuse treatment.

The Supreme Court Expands Second Amendment Rights as the Nation Experiences Historic Levels of Firearms Violence.

This Viewpoint discusses the recent Supreme Court decision declaring a broad right to carry firearms in public and offers a public health strategy for firearms safety laws.

Analysis of "Stand Your Ground" Self-defense Laws and Statewide Rates of Homicides and Firearm Homicides.

Importance: Most US states have amended self-defense laws to enhance legal immunities for individuals using deadly force in public. Despite concerns that "stand your ground" (SYG) laws unnecessarily encourage the use of deadly violence, their impact on violent deaths and how this varies across states and demographic groups remains unclear. Objective: To evaluate the association of SYG laws with homicide and firearm homicide, nationally and by state, while considering variation by the race, age, and sex of individuals who died by homicide. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used a controlled, multiple-baseline and -location interrupted time series design, using natural variation in the timings and locations of SYG laws to assess associations. Changes in homicide and firearm homicide were modeled using Poisson regression analyses within a generalized additive model framework. Analyses included all US states that enacted SYG laws between 2000 and 2016 and states that did not have SYG laws enacted during the full study period, 1999 to 2017. Data were analyzed from November 2019 to December 2020. Exposures: SYG self-defense laws enacted by statute between January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were statewide monthly rates of homicide and firearm-related homicide (per 100 000 persons) from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2017, grouped by characteristics (ie, race, age, sex) of individuals who died by homicide. Results: Forty-one states were analyzed, including 23 states that enacted SYG laws during the study period and 18 states that did not have SYG laws, with 248 358 homicides (43.7% individuals aged 20-34 years; 77.9% men and 22.1% women), including 170 659 firearm homicides. SYG laws were associated with a mean national increase of 7.8% in monthly homicide rates (incidence rate ratio [IRR],1.08; 95% CI, 1.04-1.12; P < .001) and 8.0% in monthly firearm homicide rates (IRR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03-1.13; P = .002). SYG laws were not associated with changes in the negative controls of suicide (IRR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.01) or firearm suicide (IRR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.98-1.02). Increases in violent deaths varied across states, with the largest increases (16.2% to 33.5%) clustering in the South (eg, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana). There were no differential associations of SYG laws by demographic group. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that adoption of SYG laws across the US was associated with increases in violent deaths, deaths that could potentially have been avoided.

Why we dehumanize illegal immigrants: A US mixed-methods study.

Dehumanization is a topic of significant interest for academia and society at large. Empirical studies often have people rate the evolved nature of outgroups and prior work suggests immigrants are common victims of less-than-human treatment. Despite existing work that suggests who dehumanizes particular outgroups and who is often dehumanized, the extant literature knows less about why people dehumanize outgroups such as immigrants. The current work takes up this opportunity by examining why people dehumanize immigrants said to be illegal and how measurement format affects dehumanization ratings. Participants (N = 672) dehumanized such immigrants more if their ratings were made on a slider versus clicking images of hominids, an effect most pronounced for Republicans. Dehumanization was negatively associated with warmth toward illegal immigrants and the perceived unhappiness felt by illegal immigrants from U.S. immigration policies. Finally, most dehumanization is not entirely blatant but instead, captured by virtuous violence and affect as well, suggesting the many ways that dehumanization can manifest as predicted by theory. This work offers a mechanistic account for why people dehumanize immigrants and addresses how survey measurement artifacts (e.g., clicking on images of hominids vs. using a slider) affect dehumanization rates. We discuss how these data extend dehumanization theory and inform empirical research.

Erasing violence: lesbian women asylum applicants in the United States.

Despite growing recognition of sexual orientation- and gender identity-based violence, scholars continue to identify barriers for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals seeking asylum protection. Lesbian women asylum applicants, in particular, encounter a system that is unsure how to classify their cases and that generally questions the credibility of women's experiences. In this way, lesbian women applicants are among the most vulnerable populations of asylum claimants, particularly in the U.S. context. In this research note, I examine U.S. appellate level Circuit Court cases initiated by lesbian women asylum applicants. I expand existing literature to include an examination of how the violence faced by lesbian women is interpreted and ultimately erased as Circuit Courts grapple with legal interpretations of persecution. Specifically, I find three mechanisms of erasure: ruling that the violence experienced was unextreme, finding that the applicants' accounts of violence were unsubstantiated, or arguing that the violence experienced was unrelated to the applicants' sexual orientation. When placed in historical context, these patterns are troubling. Unlike previous decades that have witnessed overt homophobia, racism, and ethnocentrism in the immigration system, these cases indicate a more subtle form of exclusion-finding technicalities in case law and formal legal definitions as grounds for denial.

Seeking Justice: How VAWA Reduced the Stronghold Over American Indian and Alaska Native Women.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), originally passed in 1994, was successfully reauthorized in 2000, 2005, and 2013. Over time, VAWA altered the environment for many victims who had previously suffered in silence. This article focuses on how VAWA impacted American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) victims of dating and domestic violence. AI and AN women experience these crimes at a rate higher than the national average, yet they are often denied justice due to the interplay of federal and state laws and tribal sovereignty. VAWA affirmed tribes' sovereign authority to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes against AI and AN victims on tribal lands. This article also discusses future steps to enhance justice reforms.

Risk of COVID-19-related bullying, harassment and stigma among healthcare workers: an analytical cross-sectional global study.

OBJECTIVES: Essential healthcare workers (HCW) uniquely serve as both COVID-19 healers and, potentially, as carriers of SARS-CoV-2. We assessed COVID-19-related stigma and bullying against HCW controlling for social, psychological, medical and community variables. DESIGN: We nested an analytical cross-sectional study of COVID-19-related stigma and bullying among HCW within a larger mixed-methods effort assessing COVID-19-related lived experience and impact. Adjusted OR (aOR) and 95% CIs evaluated the association between working in healthcare settings and experience of COVID-19-related bullying and stigma, controlling for confounders. Thematic qualitative analysis provided insight into lived experience of COVID-19-related bullying. SETTING: We recruited potential participants in four languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian) through Amazon Mechanical Turk's online workforce and Facebook. PARTICIPANTS: Our sample included 7411 people from 173 countries who were aged 18 years or over. FINDINGS: HCW significantly experienced more COVID-19-related bullying after controlling for the confounding effects of job-related, personal, geographic and sociocultural variables (aOR: 1.5; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.0). HCW more frequently believed that people gossip about others with COVID-19 (OR: 2.2; 95% CI 1.9 to 2.6) and that people with COVID-19 lose respect in the community (OR: 2.3; 95% CI 2.0 to 2.7), both which elevate bullying risk (OR: 2.7; 95% CI 2.3 to 3.2, and OR: 3.5; 95% CI 2.9 to 4.2, respectively). The lived experience of COVID-19-related bullying relates frequently to public identities as HCW traverse through the community, intersecting with other domains (eg, police, racism, violence). INTERPRETATION: After controlling for a range of confounding factors, HCW are significantly more likely to experience COVID-19-related stigma and bullying, often in the intersectional context of racism, violence and police involvement in community settings.

Gender differences in the prosecution of police assault: Evidence from a natural experiment in Sweden.

States often seek to regulate the use of police force though citizen complaint systems. This paper examines these systems, specifically, whether patterns of bias found in other juridical contexts are mirrored in the adjudication of police assault. The analysis focuses on prosecutors as the first instance of adjudication who determine whether to move forward with investigation, effectively deciding the majority of cases. We ask whether prosecutor sex is associated with the probability that a police assault claim will be investigated. We leverage a natural experiment in Sweden where prosecutors are assigned through a modified lottery system, effectively randomizing appointment. Our findings suggest that prosecutor gender plays a role in judicial outcomes: women prosecutors are 16 percentage points more likely to investigate claims of police assault than their male counterparts. These findings have implications for scholars interested in state human rights abuses, democratic institutions, and judicial inequality.

Lay theories of peace and their influence on policy preference during violent conflict.

We often talk about peace as if the concept is self-explanatory. Yet people can have various theories about what peace "is." In this study, we examine the lay theories of peace of citizens embroiled in a prolonged ethnonational conflict. We show that lay theories of peace 1) depend on whether one belongs to the high-power or low-power party and 2) explain citizens' fundamental approaches to conflict resolution. Specifically, we explore the link between power asymmetry, lay theories of peace, and preference for conflict resolution strategies within large-scale samples of Palestinian residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Jewish residents of Israel. Results reveal that members of the high-power group (in this case Jewish-Israelis) are more likely to associate peace with harmonious relationships (termed "positive peace") than with the attainment of justice (termed "structural peace"), while members of the low-power group (in this case Palestinians) exhibit an opposite pattern. Yet both groups firmly and equally interpret peace as the termination of war and bloodshed (termed "negative peace"). Importantly, across societies, associating peace with negative peace more than with positive or structural peace predicts citizens' desire for a solution that entails the partition of land (the Two-State Solution) whereas associating peace with structural or positive peace more than with negative peace predicts citizens' desire to solve the conflict by sharing the land (the One-State Solution). This study demonstrates the theoretical and policy-relevant utility of studying how those most affected by war understand the concept of peace.

Judicial perspectives on mental health courts: The role of psychiatric disorder and violence risk.

OBJECTIVE: The extent to which psychiatric diagnosis, treatment compliance, and violence risk influenced judges perceived benefits of Mental Health Court ("MHC") for defendants with psychiatric disorders was examined. METHOD: 81 judges completed one vignette in which psychiatric diagnosis (Schizophrenia, Major Depressive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), treatment compliance (yes/no), and violence risk (high/low) were randomized. The online survey was distributed via email and following the vignette, judges answered a question about the appropriateness of MHC. RESULTS: Judges assessed defendants with severe psychiatric disorders (Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder) - compared to defendants with PTSD - as more likely to benefit from MHCs. If deemed at low treatment compliance and/or high violence risk, judges were unlikely to appraise MHCs as beneficial, regardless of psychiatric diagnosis. IMPLICATIONS: Judges appear to consider relevant factors when determining whether MHC will benefit defendants with psychiatric disorders; however, future research should include more variables (e.g., addictions, history of violence) to examine the combined influence on judges' perception of MHC suitability.

Association of Prior Convictions for Driving Under the Influence With Risk of Subsequent Arrest for Violent Crimes Among Handgun Purchasers.

Importance: Alcohol use is a risk factor for firearm-related violence, and firearm owners are more likely than others to report risky drinking behaviors. Objective: To study the association between prior convictions for driving under the influence (DUI) and risk of subsequent arrest for violent crimes among handgun purchasers. Design: In this retrospective, longitudinal cohort study, 79 678 individuals were followed up from their first handgun purchase in 2001 through 2013. The study cohort included all legally authorized handgun purchasers in California aged 21 to 49 years at the time of purchase in 2001. Individuals were identified using the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) Dealer's Record of Sale (DROS) database, which retains information on all legal handgun transfers in the state. Exposures: The primary exposure was DUI conviction prior to the first handgun purchase in 2001, as recorded in the CA DOJ Criminal History Information System. Main Outcomes and Measures: Prespecified outcomes included arrests for violent crimes listed in the Crime Index published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), firearm-related violent crimes, and any violent crimes. Results: Of the study population (N=79 678), 91.0% were males and 68.9% were white individuals; the median age was 34 (range, 21-49) years. The analytic sample for multivariable models included 78 878 purchasers after exclusions. Compared with purchasers who had no prior criminal history, those with prior DUI convictions and no other criminal history were at increased risk of arrest for a Crime Index-listed violent crime (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 2.6; 95% CI, 1.7-4.1), a firearm-related violent crime (AHR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-6.4), and any violent crime (AHR, 3.3; 95% CI, 2.4-4.5). Among purchasers with a history of arrests or convictions for crimes other than DUI, associations specifically with DUI conviction remained. Conclusions and Relevance: This study's findings suggest that prior DUI convictions may be associated with the risk of subsequent violence, including firearm-related violence, among legal purchasers of handguns. Although the magnitude was diminished, the risk associated with DUI conviction remained elevated even among those with a history of arrests or convictions for crimes of other types.

"But the Law Won't Help Us": Challenges of Mobilizing Law 348 to Address Violence Against Women in Bolivia.

Drawing on findings of an original 12-month ethnographic study, this article presents the challenges that Bolivian women face in accessing a new law that has been designed to protect them, Law 348 to "Guarantee Women a Life Free from Violence." Data reveal that while the law creates opportunities for the (re)conceptualization of violence, mobilizing the law is fraught with difficulties and a culture of impunity prevails. The challenges of implementation are both nationally and internationally significant as other countries seek to enact similar legal strategies. In Bolivia, this article suggests, civil society organizations and women's voices are central to the full realization of the law.

Deinstitutionalization and other factors in the criminalization of persons with serious mental illness and how it is being addressed.

One of the major concerns in present-day psychiatry is the criminalization of persons with serious mental illness (SMI). This trend began in the late 1960s when deinstitutionalization was implemented throughout the United States. The intent was to release patients in state hospitals and place them into the community where they and other persons with SMI would be treated. Although community treatment was effective for many, there was a large minority who did not adapt successfully and who presented challenges in treatment. Consequently, some of these individuals' mental condition and behavior brought them to the attention of law enforcement personnel, whereupon they would be subsequently arrested and incarcerated. The failure of the mental health system to provide a sufficient range of treatment interventions, including an adequate number of psychiatric inpatient beds, has contributed greatly to persons with SMI entering the criminal justice system. A discussion of the many issues and factors related to the criminalization of persons with SMI as well as how the mental health and criminal justice systems are developing strategies and programs to address them is presented.

Skirting Around the Issue: Misdirection and Linguistic Avoidance in Parliamentary Discourses on Upskirting.

Discourses on men's violence against women have long been associated with linguistic avoidance and communicative strategies that obscure the responsibility of male perpetrators. Linguistic avoidance does not only obfuscate the responsibility of male perpetrators; such strategies also hide the norms and attitudes that underpin much of men's violence against women. Such techniques represent a form of misdirection: communicative strategies that draw attention away from the true causes or nature of an issue. To demonstrate misdirection in action, I conduct a feminist critical discourse analysis of Australian parliamentarians' speech acts during the criminalization of upskirting in Victoria in 2007.

Effectiveness of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in realization of the right to a remedy for Child victims of violence in Africa.

BACKGROUND: In spite of the progress achieved over the years since the adoption of the CRC, violence against children (VAC) is still widespread in the African continent. Although some progress has been made in addressing violence through the implementation of the CRC and its use in the courts, there are still gaps particularly in ensuring access to remedies for child victims of violence. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The strongest factors that impede measures to eliminate VAC in Africa are its broad societal acceptance and weak remedial tools to deal with the issue, including access to justice and assistance to child victims. The article analyses the CRC's implementation and influence on national courts' jurisprudence on VAC in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the article' is to provide evidence of the positive impact of the CRC on the right to a remedy for child victims of violence in selected African states, while highlighting existing gaps. METHODS: Evidence is provided through the CRC reporting process, and the impact of the CRC on national courts in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. RESULTS: Facts and cases of redress for child victims of violence in the three states, as well as roles and paths that the stakeholders undertake, reflect the strength, value, role and influence of the CRC on the recent progress in these states. The law and legal advocacy in the selected African states have proved to be a powerful tool for children. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for more evidence and more research on the topic in each African state, so that real impact of the CRC on national remedial activities, as well as its relatedness to the level and types of violence against children is properly evaluated.