As in any other playoff, candidate rhetoric let loose during the U.S. presidential race can be tough. We’ve held a front row seat to the 2012 showdown for over a year, with tensions still rising as the general election looms nearer. Some of the barbs launched along the campaign trail have been laughable: Newt Gingrich’s television ad incriminating Mitt Romney for his ability to speak French comes to mind. Others are not. The dialogue surrounding U.S. poverty and inequality, two issues that are hotter than ever during a deep recession that the nation has shown incapable of simply shaking off [...]
Research
Maternal-Related Predictors of Self-Regulation Among Low-Income Youth
The association between self-regulation and various adaptive outcomes is a topic of growing interest, yet there is little research on predictors of self-regulation in children. This study examined whether maternal characteristics, namely the mother’s mental health, substance abuse, parenting practices, and child monitoring predicted self-regulation in children. Participants were a culturally diverse group of... »
Childhood Trauma and Adult Self-Reported Depression
This study addresses Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) within the context of self-reported depression among low-income ethnic minorities in urban settings. ACEs are plentiful in society, but their consequences are rarely addressed, particularly their impact on mental wellness. Findings highlight the importance of research on the prevalence of multiple types of childhood maltreatment, particularly in... »
Narrative Sensemaking and Time Lapse: Interviews with Low-Income Women about Sex Education
Secondary-school students in the United States score notoriously low on tests of their reproductive and sexual knowledge despite attempts by educators and legislators to provide them with informative sex-education courses. This study uses narrative theory to explore how low-income women perceived their formal sex-education experiences and how they connected those experiences to their sexual-health... »
Suicidal Behavior in a National Sample of Older Homeless Veterans
This study examines self-reported suicidal behavior of older homeless veterans to establish frequencies and predictors of recent suicidal behaviors, and their impact on transitional housing interventions. They found that approximately 12 percent of homeless veterans reported suicidal ideation before program admission, and 3 percent reported attempting suicide in the 30 days before admission. The... »
Comparing the Residential Origins of Homeless Families and Homeless Individuals in Miami-Dade County, Florida
This study compares the residential origins of homeless families with those of homeless individuals, and finds significant differences in their spatial distribution. The results clearly suggest that homeless individuals are more highly concentrated in neighborhoods of high poverty than homeless families. The study suggests the possibility that drift effects (how persons with mental disability... »
Saving Black and Latino Boys
The academic problems of African-American and Hispanic-American males, including a high dropout rate, lack of college achievement, and low standardized test scores, have been amply documented. The article cites research from New York University’s Metropolitan Center for Urban Education that shows that black and Latino males in more than 20 New York City high... »
Poverty and Educational Achievement: The Limitations of Instruction-Focused Funding Strategies
The article evaluates a legislative proposal to amend the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to address academic deficiencies. It explains the factors that contribute to significant gaps in academic achievement, particularly household poverty and a lack of access to government financial support. The article discusses efforts by education leaders to develop school... »
How Do Homeless Veterans Differ from the Rest of the Homeless?
Although veterans have been found to be at greater risk of homelessness than non-veterans, it is not clear whether those who are homeless have more severe health problems or poorer outcomes in community-based supported housing. This observational study compared 162 chronically homeless veterans to 388 non-veterans. Results showed that veterans tended to be older,... »
San Francisco’s scavengers: A story of gangs, poverty and recycling
Poor and homeless people have taken advantage of the bottle bill provision of California’s Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction measures to earn income by collecting beverage containers for redemption at the Haight-Ashbury Neighbourhood Centre (HANC) in San Francisco. As the recession worsened, middle class and retired individuals, as well as organized gangs, took... »
Trafficking, Prostitution, and Inequality
The article explores the debate over sex trafficking and prostitution and its relation to inequality. It discusses the difference between the sex work and sexual exploitation approaches to prostitution, and the position of both perspectives on the question of abolition. Among the global commonalities of prostitution are the poor economic condition and the declining... »