Bodily Autonomy and Trauma: Understanding the Nature of the Association Between Sexual Trauma, an External Locus of Control, and Depressive Symptoms.

There is growing evidence suggesting an increased perception of control is associated with reduced psychological distress among survivors of sexual trauma. The current study advances the extant literature by investigating the association between depressive symptoms, sexual trauma, and an external locus of control or the perception life events are outside one's own control. To do so, we analyze data from the New Family Structures Study, a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults ages 18-39. Results from ordinary least square regression analyses suggest sexual trauma and an external locus of control are associated with significantly greater depressive symptoms and that external control exacerbates the association between sexual trauma and depression. Such findings suggest future research should investigate environmental control for sexual trauma survivors in areas such as prenatal care and the justice system.

Excess clustering on large scales in the MegaZ DR7 photometric redshift survey.

We observe a large excess of power in the statistical clustering of luminous red galaxies in the photometric SDSS galaxy sample called MegaZ DR7. This is seen over the lowest multipoles in the angular power spectra C_{ℓ} in four equally spaced redshift bins between 0.45≤z≤0.65. However, it is most prominent in the highest redshift band at ∼4σ and it emerges at an effective scale k≲0.01 h Mpc(-1). Given that MegaZ DR7 is the largest cosmic volume galaxy survey to date (3.3(Gpch(-1))(3)) this implies an anomaly on the largest physical scales probed by galaxies. Alternatively, this signature could be a consequence of it appearing at the most systematically susceptible redshift. There are several explanations for this excess power that range from systematics to new physics. We test the survey, data, and excess power, as well as possible origins.

Street Culture and Gun Violence: Exploring the Reputation-Victimization Paradox.

Anderson's thesis of a code of the street has been broadly applied to the study of violence, but race- and gender-specific multilevel analyses of gun violence are scant within the literature. An unresolved debate also surrounds the link between violent victimization and adherence to street culture; underscored by an apparent reputation-victimization paradox among those who engage in street behaviors. The current study contributes to the literature by assessing the direct influence of incident setting and victim-offender familiarity on the likelihood of gun use by Black males in the course of aggravated assaults; and the degree to which the confluence of these factors is conditioned by levels of disadvantage and violence in the community. To accomplish this, we apply hierarchical generalized linear modeling to incident-level data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System in conjunction with contextual-level data from the counties in which the incidents are nested. Our findings suggest victim-offender familiarity and public settings are negatively associated with gun violence and the confluence of these factors further reduces the probability of gun use. This relationship, however, is conditioned by levels of disadvantage and violence in the community, providing preliminary evidence of both the violence increasing and decreasing effects of street culture hypothesized by Anderson.

Upper bound of 0.28 eV on neutrino masses from the largest photometric redshift survey.

We present a new limit of ∑m(v) ≤ 0.28 (95% CL) on the sum of the neutrino masses assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmology. This relaxes slightly to ∑m(ν) ≤ 0.34 and ∑m(v) ≤ 0.47 when quasinonlinear scales are removed and w≠ -1, respectively. These are derived from a new photometric catalogue of over 700,000 luminous red galaxies (MegaZ DR7) with a volume of 3.3 (Gpc h(-1))(3) and redshift range 0.45 < z < 0.65. The data are combined with WMAP 5-year CMB, baryon acoustic oscillations, supernovae, and a Hubble Space Telescope prior on h. When combined with WMAP these data are as constraining as adding all supernovae and baryon oscillation data available. The upper limit is one of the tightest constraints on the neutrino from cosmology or particle physics. Further, if these bounds hold, they all predict that current-to-next generation neutrino experiments, such as KATRIN, are unlikely to obtain a detection.

How COVID-19's Disruption of the U.S. Correctional System Provides an Opportunity for Decarceration.

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified decades of vulnerabilities, disparities, and injustices within the U.S. correctional system. The spread of the coronavirus poses a particularly serious threat to those that comprise the system, including personnel, attorneys, prisoners, their families and extends into the communities in which facilities are located. These correctional facilities and communities were especially underprepared for the sudden onset of a highly contagious virus, which has resulted in an exceedingly high number of infections among those who work and are held in the facilities. Rampant overcrowding in the U.S. correctional system, an aging population, and a population exhibiting high rates of underlying health conditions are highly likely to exacerbate the spread of this highly contagious virus. This potentially dire set of interrelated circumstances necessitates rapid decarceration measures that effectively balance public safety and public health. Unfortunately, there has been unclear guidance as well as changing and even contradictory information coming from the federal government concerning rapid measures to mitigate the spread of infection to justice system personnel and federal prisoners. In this paper we summarize the federal response and how it has impacted those responsible for implementation. Furthermore, we discuss how systemic deleterious conditions of the U.S. correctional system serve as both accelerants to as well as effects of the pandemic. We end highlighting critical issues relating to early release due to COVID-19 that will necessitate future research.

The nature of violence: a multilevel analysis of gun use and victim injury in violent interpersonal encounters.

A large number of studies have examined predictors of crime quantities yet considerably less attention has been directed toward exploring patterns in the nature or quality of violence within and across communities. The current study adds to the literature on qualitative variations in violence by assessing the incident and contextual-level predictors of offender gun use and physical injuries sustained by victims of robbery and aggravated assault. Specifically, we examine incident-level data from the National Incident Based Reporting System in conjunction with contextual-level data on the cities in which the incidents occurred. We use hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling techniques to explore variations in predictors of offender gun use and extent of victim injury. Supporting cultural effects explicated by Anderson, results reveal certain individual-level predictors are conditioned by community characteristics.

Institutional isolation and crime: The mediating effect of disengaged youth on levels of crime.

We propose that structural resource deprivation and a weak civic participatory culture foster institutional isolation among youth, which, in turn, elevates rates of crime. Robust institutional attachments are essential to mainstream cultural learning, the internalization of mainstream values, the development of local network ties, and pro-social behavior. Communities that fail to embed residents, particularly youth, within a conventional institutional framework are ill-equipped for concerted action and unable to defend community interest and solve common problems, including crime. Using county-level census data we identify a group of youth who are simultaneously disengaged from a wide swath of mainstream social institutions, those we term "floaters." Analyses of aggregate levels of homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and burglary around 2000 offer strong support for a mediation model indicating that structural deprivation and a weak civic participatory culture increase the presence of floaters which, in turn, raises levels of violent and property crime. We discuss the implications of our findings.