Where is the fruit? Multidimensional inequalities in food retail environments around public elementary schools.

BACKGROUND: The increasing number of convenience and small food stores may be contributing to the rising childhood obesity rate in the United States; however, the literature assessing food environments surrounding elementary schools in this country is relatively limited. This study determines (a) whether the food environments around public elementary schools is of significantly lower quality than those of other areas in the United States and (b) how the quality of the school food environment is associated with local socio-economic factors and geographical components. METHODS: Data for 52,375 public elementary schools as well as 96,652 convenience stores, 65,044 small food stores, and 44,383 supermarkets/grocery stores were obtained from the National Center of Education Statistics and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A two-sample t test was applied to compare the food environment within 0.5-mile buffer around schools and that in the remaining area of each county. A binomial regression model was constructed to examine the impact of socio-economic and geographical factors on unequal food environments. RESULTS: The food environment within 0.5 mile around schools is of significantly poorer quality than that of the rest of the test area (p < .001). The quality of the food environment around schools is highly associated with such socio-economic factors as median household income (OR = 1.000, p < .01) and percentage of minority population (OR = 0.989, p < .01). Quality also varies geographically, with poorer quality in the Midwest (OR = 0.722, p < .05) and northeast (OR = 0.328, p < .001) than in the south and west and lower quality in metro counties (OR = 0.627, p < .01) than in rural and nonmetro counties. CONCLUSION: Our findings stress the importance of awareness for improving food retail environments around elementary schools for the benefit of our children.

Battered police: risk factors for violence against law enforcement officers.

Although we hear more about violence committed by the police, violence against police officers is also a major problem in the United States. Using data collected from the Orlando, Florida Police Department files, this study examines situational variables, offender characteristics, and officer demographics that may correlate with violence directed at law enforcement officers. Logistic regression results indicate that battery against one or more police officers is significantly more likely when multiple officers are involved, when offenders are women, when offenders are larger than average as measured by body mass index (BMI), and when offenders are known to have recently consumed alcohol. We close with a discussion of policy implications and directions for future research.

Differentiating single and multiple victim child sexual abuse cases: a research note considering social disorganization theory.

This study examined the utility of social disorganization theory as an explanation for child sexual abuse with a focus on differentiating single and multiple victim cases. Drawing on 1,172 child sexual abuse cases (including 159 cases with multiple victims) in Orange County, Florida, from 2004 to 2006, the present study considered case characteristics and elements of social disorganization as potential predictors of child sexual abuse cases involving single and multiple victims. We found that social disorganization theory does not successfully predict the locations of multiple victim child sexual abuse incidents and is not useful for distinguishing between child sexual abuse incidents with single or multiple victims.

Social disorganization and unfounded sexual assault case clearances.

Despite much research and policy development, it remains true that less than one half of all reported sexual assaults are cleared by arrest (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2011). Compounding this issue, many sexual assaults are not cleared by an arrest, but rather by being classified as "unfounded" by law enforcement (Soulliere, 1994, 2005; Tellis & Spohn, 2008). Grounded in the social disorganization perspective, this article examines the relationships between case-related and extralegal community-level characteristics and use of the designation of unfounded by the police. Contrary to initial expectations, findings show that communities with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential instability are less likely to have sexual assaults deemed unfounded by law enforcement.