Hantavirus and criminality: disease and family / Hantavírus e criminalidade: doença e família / Hantavirus y criminalidad: enfermedad y la familia

Background and objectives: Hantavirus is a pathogen that causes a viral disease with an acute and severe presentation, and a high mortality rate. In face of a sudden loss, some families may not conceive the complete absence of the deceased relative. Thus, we sought to understand the changes that took place in a family after the death of the provider by Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). Methods: A descriptive exploratory study with a qualitative approach of the type case report. Data collection took place between October and December 2016 through recorded individual interviews and using questions about family dynamics after family provider's death of HPS, which were assessed by content analysis in the light of Roy's theory. Results: It was observed that the illness and death of the family patriarch weakened the family's strengths and resources, leading to a period of mourning and despair. In addition, unemployment among other family members worsened socioeconomic conditions, seeing drugs as an alternative for support as it became a commercial activity, and the rise of a command in the region that culminated in the arrest of the wife, two daughters and a son of the deceased. Conclusions: In this case, it was evidenced that the family was weakened due to the illness and death of their loved one by HPS, and because of the lack of support and welcome from the reference social services, they chose to act in criminality and it ended up with the arrest of four members.(AU)

Justificativa e objetivos: O hantavírus é um patógeno que causa uma doença viral com caráter agudo e grave e alta taxa de mortalidade. Em face da perda súbita, algumas famílias podem não conceber a completa ausência do parente falecido. Assim, procuramos entender as mudanças que ocorrem em uma família após a morte do provedor pela Síndrome Pulmonar por Hantavírus (SPH). Métodos: Estudo descritivo-exploratório com abordagem qualitativa do tipo estudo de caso. A coleta de dados ocorreu entre outubro e dezembro de 2016 por meio de entrevistas individuais gravadas e com o uso de perguntas sobre a dinâmica familiar após a morte por SPH, sendo analisadas por análise de conteúdo sob a luz da teoria de Roy. Resultados: Observou-se que a doença e a morte do patriarca fragilizaram as forças e recursos da família, levando a um período de luto e desespero. Além disso, o desemprego entre os demais membros da família agravou as condições socioeconômicas, vendo as drogas como uma alternativa para o apoio, o que assumiu o caráter de comércio e a ascensão de um comando na região que culminou com a prisão da esposa, duas filhas e um filho do falecido. Conclusão: Neste caso descrito foi evidenciado que a família ficou fragilizada diante da enfermidade e óbito do seu ente querido por SPH e, em decorrência da falta de apoio e acolhimento dos serviços de referência sociais, optou por atuar na criminalidade e findar com a prisão de quatro membros.(AU)

Justificación y objetivos: El hantavirus es un patógeno que causa una enfermedad viral con un carácter agudo y grave y alta tasa de mortalidad. Ante la pérdida repentina, algunas familias pueden no concebir la ausencia completa del familiar fallecido. Por lo tanto, tratamos de comprender los cambios que se produjeron en una familia después de la muerte del proveedor por Sindrome Pulmonar por Hantavirus (SPH). Métodos: Estudio descriptivo-exploratorio con enfoque cualitativo del tipo estudio de caso. La recopilación de datos ocurrió entre octubre y diciembre de 2016, a través de entrevistas individuales grabadas y con el uso de preguntas sobre la dinámica familiar después de la muerte por SPH, que se analizaron a través del análisis de contenido a la luz de la teoría de Roy. Resultados: Se observó que la enfermedad y la muerte del patriarca familiar debilitaron las fortalezas y los recursos de la familia, lo que llevó a un período de duelo y desesperación. Además, el desempleo entre otros miembros de la familia empeoró las condiciones socioeconómicas, haciéndolos ver a las drogas como una alternativa de renta, lo que asumió el carácter de un comercio y el surgimiento de un comando en la región que culminó con el arresto de la esposa, dos hijas y un hijo del difunto. Conclusiones: En este caso, se evidenció que la familia se debilitó debido a la enfermedad y la muerte de su ser querido por SPH y debido a la falta de apoyo y recepción de los servicios de referencia social, eligieron actuar con criminalidad y por fin terminaron com cuatro miembros detenidos.(AU)

How adolescents cope with food insecurity in Baltimore City: an exploratory study.

OBJECTIVE: To increase our understanding about food insecurity among urban adolescents, we conducted a qualitative study in Baltimore City with adolescents to: (i) explore how adolescents experience and cope with food insecurity; and (ii) identify community-based approaches or interventions for addressing food insecurity. DESIGN: A total of eight focus groups were conducted across six neighbourhoods. To gather sociodemographic characteristics and personal data on food insecurity, all consented adolescents completed a brief questionnaire. SETTING: Six purposively selected neighbourhoods in Baltimore City, USA. PARTICIPANTS: A total of fifty-three adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 years participated in the study. RESULTS: Although half of our sample was classified as food insecure, everyone in the focus groups was aware of adolescents who engaged in risky behaviours to get money for food. Among girls, prostituting was the most commonly mentioned behaviour, whereas for boys, it was selling drugs or stealing to get money for food. Adolescents also described tremendous stigma associated with food insecurity and agreed that food insecurity has to be viewed within a broader set of economic challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing food insecurity among adolescents in disadvantaged neighbourhoods should be a high priority for policy makers and practitioners. Current feeding programmes are not addressing the needs of adolescents; as a result, adolescents are at risk for a variety of harmful behaviours and outcomes, with long-term negative health and social consequences.

Prevalence and correlates of selling illicit cannabis among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A ten-year prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The illicit selling and use of cannabis is prevalent among marginalized people who use illicit drugs (PWUD). Given that participation in illicit drug markets has been previously associated with a range of health and social harms, we sought to examine the predictors of selling cannabis among PWUD in Vancouver, Canada, a setting with a de facto legalized cannabis market, on the eve of the planned implementation of legalized non-medical cannabis including measures to regulate the existing illicit market. METHODS: Multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEE) logistic regression was used to analyze longitudinal factors associated with selling illicit cannabis among three prospective cohorts of PWUD between September 2005 and May 2015. RESULTS: Among the 3258 participants included in this study, 328 (10.1%) reported selling illicit cannabis at baseline, and 46 (5.1%) initiated cannabis selling over the study period. In the multivariable analysis of the whole sample, factors significantly associated with selling cannabis included cannabis use (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 4.05), dealing other drugs (AOR = 3.87), being male (AOR = 1.83), experiencing violence (AOR = 1.40), non-medical prescription opioid use (AOR = 1.32), non-custodial involvement in the criminal justice system (AOR = 1.31), being stopped by police (AOR = 1.30), crack use (AOR = 1.25), homelessness (AOR = 1.23), age (AOR = 0.96 per year) and participation in sex work (AOR = 0.67) (all p < 0.05). The subanalyses indicated that dealing drugs other than cannabis, cannabis use, and non-custodial involvement in the criminal justice system were the only factors significantly associated with selling cannabis in all four subgroups. CONCLUSION: These findings support existing evidence indicating that selling illicit cannabis is often a survival-driven strategy to support the basic needs and substance use of some PWUD. Our findings suggest jurisdictions with planned or impending cannabis legalization and regulation should consider the vulnerability of PWUD when seeking to eradicate illicit cannabis markets, for example, in setting criminal penalties for selling cannabis outside of regulatory frameworks.

The burgeoning recognition and accommodation of the social supply of drugs in international criminal justice systems: An eleven-nation comparative overview.

BACKGROUND: It is now commonly accepted that there exists a form of drug supply, that involves the non-commercial supply of drugs to friends and acquaintances for little or no profit, which is qualitatively different from profit motivated 'drug dealing proper'. 'Social supply', as it has become known, has a strong conceptual footprint in the United Kingdom, shaped by empirical research, policy discussion and its accommodation in legal frameworks. Though scholarship has emerged in a number of contexts outside the UK, the extent to which social supply has developed as an internationally recognised concept in criminal justice contexts is still unclear. METHODS: Drawing on an established international social supply research network across eleven nations, this paper provides the first assessment of social supply as an internationally relevant concept. Data derives from individual and team research stemming from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, England and Wales, and the United States, supported by expert reflection on research evidence and analysis of sentencing and media reporting in each context. In situ social supply experts addressed a common set of questions regarding the nature of social supply for their particular context including: an overview of social supply research activity, reflection on the extent that differentiation is accommodated in drug supply sentencing frameworks; evaluating the extent to which social supply is recognised in legal discourse and in sentencing practices and more broadly by e.g. criminal justice professionals in the public sphere. A thematic analysis of these scripts was undertaken and emergent themes were developed. Whilst having an absence of local research, New Zealand is also included in the analysis as there exists a genuine discursive presence of social supply in the drug control and sentencing policy contexts in that country. RESULTS: Findings suggest that while social supply has been found to exist as a real and distinct behaviour, its acceptance and application in criminal justice systems ranges from explicit through to implicit. In the absence of dedicated guiding frameworks, strong use is made of discretion and mitigating circumstances in attempts to acknowledge supply differentiation. In some jurisdictions, there is no accommodation of social supply, and while aggravating factors can be applied to differentiate more serious offences, social suppliers remain subject to arbitrary deterrent sentencing apparatus. CONCLUSION: Due to the shifting sands of politics, mood, or geographical disparity, reliance on judicial discretion and the use of mitigating circumstances to implement commensurate sentences for social suppliers is no longer sufficient. Further research is required to strengthen the conceptual presence of social supply in policy and practice as a behaviour that extends beyond cannabis and is relevant to users of all drugs. Research informed guidelines and/or specific sentencing provisions for social suppliers would provide fewer possibilities for inconsistency and promote more proportionate outcomes for this fast-growing group.

Examining social supply among nonmedical prescription stimulant users in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the US, prescription stimulants are prescribed for a variety of conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. Over the last two decades, dramatic increases in stimulant prescriptions have led to greater availability and increased risk for diversion and nonmedical use. Our own and other investigators' findings indicate that many drug "suppliers" do not fit into the traditional image of drug "dealers." These suppliers typically do not identify themselves as "dealers," but instead understand their drug distribution as sharing with people they know. Coomber and colleagues' (2007; 2013) concept of "social supply" raises the question: When friends supply or facilitate supply of drugs to friends, is this really dealing? Further, if dealing and supplying are distinct kinds of social transactions, should different types of criminal justice approaches be applied? Social supply extends our understanding of drug dealing as a complex social activity. In this article, we examine the issue of social supply among nonmedical users of prescription stimulants. We conducted a 36-month National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded project to conduct a qualitative, mixed methods study of 150 adult nonmedical prescription stimulant users in the San Francisco Bay Area. We explore intersecting factors, including life stage and social location, that contribute to decisions to use prescription stimulants nonmedically, motivations to use, knowledge about risks and benefits of prescription stimulant use, any adverse health or social consequences experienced, availability, acquisition and diversion of prescription stimulants, and differences in attitudes and behaviours. For this analysis, we rely on participants' narratives concerning prescription stimulant acquisition practices and how they understood these interactions, purchases, and exchanges with the suppliers of prescription stimulants in their social networks. The authors argue that acknowledging the distinction between social supply and "proper" drug dealing would redress the disparity between drug sharing and profiteering particularly regarding criminal sentencing.

Motivations for Selling Ecstasy among Young Adults in the Electronic Dance Music Club Culture in Brazil.

This article describes data on the motivations for selling ecstasy among young adults in the electronic dance music (EDM) club culture in Brazil. Individual interviews were conducted with 20 individuals recruited for their involvement in the EDM club scene. Eligible participants were aged 18-39 and reported ecstasy and/or LSD use one or more times in the past 90 days. Exclusion criteria included current treatment for drug/alcohol problems and cognitive impairment or clinically evident psychiatric disorder. Mean age was 22.92 (SD 2.77), 60% were male, 45% reported 12 or more years of education, 50% did not have a primary partner, 50% were living alone, and all had friends who also used ecstasy. Three main themes emerged: (1) "easy" transition from ecstasy user to seller; (2) desire to achieve popularity and fame; and (3) need to sell ecstasy to maintain the high cost of EDM club scene participation. This is one of the first studies of ecstasy sellers in Brazil. The results demonstrate the ease with which the participants transition from ecstasy user to seller. Given the potential health and social dangers associated with ecstasy use, public health campaigns to prevent ecstasy use and policy initiatives to limit the ecstasy supply are warranted.

Social suppliers: Exploring the cultural contours of the performance and image enhancing drug (PIED) market among bodybuilders in the Netherlands and Belgium.

BACKGROUND: This paper explores the understudied phenomenon of performance and image enhancing drug (PIED) markets by examining the structure and formation of the market for PIEDs among bodybuilders in the Netherlands and Belgium. This article specifically seeks to account for individual reasons and motivations for dealing PIEDs within these bodybuilding subcultures. Understanding illicit PIED markets is important for policy decisions as knowledge on the production and distribution of these substances may assist in designing law enforcement efforts, harm reduction initiatives and treatment options. METHODS: This article draws on two years of fieldwork in various bodybuilding settings, 47 semi-structured interviews with individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in the PIED market and 64 PIED dealing cases initiated by criminal justice agencies in the Netherlands and Belgium. FINDINGS: The data indicates that PIED dealing groups and individuals are often driven by motivations stemming from their social and cultural embeddedness in the bodybuilding subculture. Specifically, these PIED dealers are 'over-socialized' into the structure and culture of bodybuilding and follow the cultural scripts that come with their group affiliation and organization. As a result of the cultural context in which these transactions occur, PIED dealing networks among bodybuilders in the Netherlands and Belgium are more likely to consist of friends or 'friends of friends' tied together by threads of collective meaning found within the bodybuilding subculture. CONCLUSION: We argue that efforts seeking to explain the structure, formation and motivations of illicit PIED dealing must learn to appreciate how culture mediates structural forces and thereby influences individual and collective action. Policy makers, health care professionals and other relevant parties should consider a plurality of factors (social, economic and cultural) when designing and evaluating PIED-related interventions such as law enforcement efforts, harm reduction initiatives and treatment options.

Fronteiras e pertenças: representações sociais e dinâmicas identitárias do tráfico de drogas na revista Veja (1968-2010) / Borders and belongings: social representations and identity dynamics of drug trafficking in Veja magazine (1968-2010)

Este trabalho buscou compreender o processo de construção de representações sociais do tráfico de drogas ao longo da história recente do país, acessando dinâmicas identitárias envolvidas. Nosso interesse recai sobre as produções da mídia de massa e seus impactos nas relações sociais e desigualdades tão marcantes em nossa sociedade. Este estudo documental reuniu matérias da revista Veja, do período entre 1968 e 2010, relativas ao tema tráfico de drogas. O corpus foi submetido à análise lexical desenvolvida com o auxílio do software ALCESTE. O procedimento de Classificação Hierárquica Descente apresentou sete classes, organizadas em dois grandes grupos, indicando uma dinâmica intergrupal, que sinaliza discursos de um endogrupo e de um exogrupo. Tanto no cenário internacional como no nacional, a necessidade de proteção da identidade social levou à construção de representações sociais do tráfico de drogas como algo que pertence ao estrangeiro ou ao grupo de fora. Assim, as periferias do globo ou das grandes cidades passam a ser vistas como reservatório do risco das drogas, o que se expressa de forma emblemática nas favelas e prisões. A maior parte das matérias se organiza em torno de argumentos técnico-científicos, que embasam estereótipos e preconceitos. A mídia apresenta-se, portanto, como importante instrumento da disseminação de uma versão dos fatos sociais, contribuindo para a construção do conjunto de significados atribuídos ao fenômeno, materializando personagens marginalizados e sem controle que assolam o imaginário social. (AU)

This study investigated the process of construction of social representations of drug trafficking along the country's recent history, accessing identity dynamics involved. Our interest is with the mass media productions and its impact on social relations and inequalities as striking in our society. This documental study has gathered materials from magazine Veja, in a period between 1968 and 2010, relating to the drug trafficking issue. The corpus was submitted to a lexical analysis developed with the support of the software ALCESTE. The descendent hierarchical classification procedure presented seven classes, organized in two groups, indicating an intergroup dynamics, that points out the discourses of an ingroup and an outgroup. Considering both national and international scenarios, the need for social identity protection led to the fabrication of drug trafficking social representations as something that belongs to the foreigner or to the outer group. Thus, the peripheries of the globe or the big cities, come to be seen as a risk to be a reservoir of drugs, which is expressed in symbolic form in the slums and prisons. Most of the material is organized around technical and scientific arguments that support stereotypes and prejudices. The media presents itself, therefore, as important means of disseminating a version of social factors contributing to the construction of the set of meanings attributed to the phenomenon, materializing marginalized characters and uncontrolled plaguing the social imaginary. (AU)

Four barriers and a set of values that prevent violence among cannabis growers.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis markets are often described as less violent than other drug markets. Domestic cannabis cultivation markets seem to be especially non-violent. However, few studies have investigated why this might be. METHODS: Two and half years of ethnographic fieldwork among indoor cannabis growers and interviews and conversations with 52 growers in Norway. RESULTS: This study identified four barriers and a set of values that prevent violence among growers. (1) Violence attracts increased attention from police and enemies, which inhibits 'business as usual' and reduces profits. (2) Careful attention to profits makes growers calculate and prepare for financial losses. (3) The prospect of covering debt by producing more cannabis makes it possible to choose non-violent sanctions. (4) Tight social ties and friendships prevent violence when conflicts erupt. However, the cannabis culture of the actors and the transactions stands out as the main reason why these four barriers are more important in cannabis markets than in other drug markets. CONCLUSION: This paper discusses how policymakers can benefit from the market changes that follow 'import substitution' to construct policies that prevent violence and facilitate peaceful drug markets and drug cultures.

Perceived neighborhood illicit drug selling, peer illicit drug disapproval and illicit drug use among U.S. high school seniors.

BACKGROUND: This study examined associations between perceived neighborhood illicit drug selling, peer illicit drug disapproval and illicit drug use among a large nationally representative sample of U.S. high school seniors. METHODS: Data come from Monitoring the Future (2007-2011), an annual cross-sectional survey of U.S. high school seniors. Students reported neighborhood illicit drug selling, friend drug disapproval towards marijuana and cocaine use, and past 12-month and past 30-day illicit drug use (N = 10,050). Multinomial logistic regression models were fit to explain use of 1) just marijuana, 2) one illicit drug other than marijuana, and 3) more than one illicit drug other than marijuana, compared to "no use". RESULTS: Report of neighborhood illicit drug selling was associated with lower friend disapproval of marijuana and cocaine; e.g., those who reported seeing neighborhood sales "almost every day" were less likely to report their friends strongly disapproved of marijuana (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.49) compared to those who reported never seeing neighborhood drug selling and reported no disapproval. Perception of neighborhood illicit drug selling was also associated with past-year drug use and past-month drug use; e.g., those who reported seeing neighborhood sales "almost every day" were more likely to report 30-day use of more than one illicit drug (AOR = 11.11, 95% CI: 7.47, 16.52) compared to those who reported never seeing neighborhood drug selling and reported no 30-day use of illicit drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived neighborhood drug selling was associated with lower peer disapproval and more illicit drug use among a population-based nationally representative sample of U.S. high school seniors. Policy interventions to reduce "open" (visible) neighborhood drug selling (e.g., problem-oriented policing and modifications to the physical environment such as installing and monitoring surveillance cameras) may reduce illicit drug use and peer disapproval of illicit drugs.

Correlates of prescription drug market involvement among young adults.

BACKGROUND: While a significant minority of prescription drug misusers report purchasing prescription drugs, little is known about prescription drug selling. We build upon past research on illicit drug markets, which increasingly recognizes networks and nightlife as influential, by examining prescription drug market involvement. METHODS: We use data from 404 young adult prescription drug misusers sampled from nightlife scenes. Using logistic regression, we examine recent selling of and being approached to sell prescription drugs, predicted using demographics, misuse, prescription access, and nightlife scene involvement. RESULTS: Those from the wealthiest parental class and heterosexuals had higher odds (OR=6.8) of selling. Higher sedative and stimulant misuse (OR=1.03), having a stimulant prescription (OR=4.14), and having sold other illegal drugs (OR=6.73) increased the odds of selling. College bar scene involvement increased the odds of selling (OR=2.73) and being approached to sell (OR=2.09). Males (OR=1.93), stimulant users (OR=1.03), and sedative prescription holders (OR=2.11) had higher odds of being approached. DISCUSSION: College bar scene involvement was the only site associated with selling and being approached; such participation may provide a network for prescription drug markets. There were also differences between actual selling and being approached. Males were more likely to be approached, but not more likely to sell than females, while the opposite held for those in the wealthiest parental class relative to lower socioeconomic statuses. Given that misuse and prescriptions of sedatives and stimulants were associated with prescription drug market involvement, painkiller misusers may be less likely to sell their drugs given the associated physiological dependence.

Applying the creating lasting family connections marriage enhancement program to marriages affected by prison reentry.

Divorce proportions are currently high in the US and they are even higher among those who are incarcerated with substance abuse problems. Although much research has examined marital interventions, only two studies have examined marital interventions with prison populations. There is some empirical evidence that incarcerated couples benefit from traditional marital therapy (O'Farrell and Fals-Stewart, 1999, Addictions: A comprehensive guidebook, New York, Oxford University Press). An adaptation of the evidence-based Creating Lasting Family Connections program was implemented with 144 married couples, where one spouse was incarcerated, in a southern state with particularly high divorce and incarceration proportions. Results suggested that married men exposed to the program had larger improvements in some relationship skills relative to a convenience sample of men not so exposed. Both husbands and wives exposed to the program exhibited similar and significant increases in relationship skills. The results were comparable to a Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program adaptation for inmates. The implications of the findings for prevention practitioners are discussed.

Injection drug users' involvement in drug dealing in the downtown eastside of Vancouver: social organization and systemic violence.

BACKGROUND: Illicit drug markets are a key component of the risk environment surrounding injection drug use. However, relatively few studies have explored how injection drug users' (IDUs) involvement in drug dealing shapes their experiences of drug market-related harm. This exploratory qualitative study aims to understand IDUs' dealing activities and roles, as well as the perceived benefits and risks related to participation in illicit drug markets, including experiences of drug market violence. METHODS: Ten IDUs with extensive involvement in drug dealing activities were recruited from the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study (VIDUS) and participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews, which elicited discussion of experiences dealing drugs, perceived benefits and hazards related to dealing, and understandings of drug market violence. RESULTS: Participant's involvement in drug market activities included corporate sales, freelance or independent sales, and opportunistic sales termed "middling" as well as drug market-related hustles entailing selling bogus drugs and robbing dealers. Participants primarily dealt drugs to support their own illicit drug use, and we found that arrest and criminal justice involvement, hazards stemming from drug debts, and drug market-related violence were key risks related to dealing activities. CONCLUSION: The challenges of managing personal consumption while selling drugs exacerbates the hazards associated with drug dealing. Efforts to address drug dealing among IDUs should consider both drug dependency and the material conditions that propel drug users towards dealing activities. Interventions should explore the potential of combining enhanced drug treatment programs with low threshold employment and alternative income generation opportunities.