Mental health promotion and socio-economic disadvantage: lessons from substance abuse, violence and crime prevention and child health

Issue addressed: Mental health promotion aimed at populations with low socio-economic status (SES) may benefit by investigating prevention strategies that effectively address related child and adolescent problems.
Methods: Evidence from a number of literature reviews and program evaluations was synthesised. First, the impact of SES on development from childhood to adulthood is considered in light of research on substance
abuse, violence, crime, and child development problems. Second, evaluations of interventions are reviewed to identify those that have shown outcomes in research studies (efficacy) or in real-world settings (effectiveness) in reducing developmental problems associated with low SES. Low SES is measured in different ways including low levels of education and/or income or definitions that combine several variables into a new indicator of low SES.
Results: Factors associated with low SES are also associated to varying extent with the development of violence and crime, substance abuse and child health problems. Interventions that address underlying determinants of low SES show strong efficacy in decreasing adolescent crime and violence and effectiveness in improving child health outcomes. Although there is limited efficacy evidence that substance abuse prevention can be effectively addressed by targeting low SES, programs designed to improve educational pathways show some efficacy in reducing aspects of adolescent substance use.
Conclusion: Mental health promotion strategies can draw on the approaches outlined here that are associated with the prevention of child and adolescent problems within low SES communities. Alternatively, such interventions could be supported in mental health promotion policy as they may assist in preventing related problems that undermine mental health.

Love thy neighbour? Associations of social capital and crime with physical activity amongst women

Using a multilevel study design, this study examined the associations between social characteristics of individuals and neighbourhoods and physical activity among women. Women (n = 1405) recruited from 45 Melbourne (Australia) neighbourhoods of varying socioeconomic disadvantage provided data on social factors and leisure-time: physical activity; walking; and walking in one’s own neighbourhood. Individual level social factors were number of neighbours known and social participation. Neighbourhood-level social characteristics (interpersonal trust, norms of reciprocity, social cohesion) were derived by aggregating survey data on these constructs within neighbourhoods. Objective data on crimes within neighbourhoods were obtained from Victoria Police. In bivariable regression models, all social variables at both the individual and neighbourhood level were positively associated with odds of physical activity, walking, and walking in one’s own neighbourhood. Associations with individual social participation (associated with all three physical activity variables) and neighbourhood interpersonal trust (associated with overall physical activity only) remained significant in multivariable models. Neither neighbourhood crime against the person nor incivilities were associated with any form of physical activity. These results demonstrate that women who participated in local groups or events and, less consistently, women living in neighbourhoods where residents trusted one another, were more likely to participate in leisure-time physical activity. While redressing macro-level social and economic policies that contribute to neighbourhood inequalities remains a priority, public health initiatives aimed at promoting physical activity could consider focusing on fostering social interactions targeting both individuals and communities. Further investigation of causal mechanisms underlying these associations is required.

Sober assessment of the link between substance abuse and crime-eliminating drug and alcohol use from the sentencing calculus

The relevance of drug and alcohol involvement to sentencing law and practice is one of the most perplexing and unsettled areas of sentencing law and practice.1 It is also one of the most important issues in the criminal justice system. Most crimes are committed by offenders who are substance involved, and nearly half of all crimes that are committed are done so by offenders who are intoxicated at the time of the offense. Substance involved individuals are grossly over-represented in the criminal courts. Addiction and intoxication impair sound judgment, and hence, it intuitively appears that intoxicated offenders are less culpable for their crimes. Moreover, there is often a sense that addiction and intoxication causes aberrant behavior and that curing the substance involvement will lead to more prudent (law-abiding) conduct.

Privacy, dataveillance, and crime prevention

Whether privacy is an adequate legal safeguard against intrusive government or private sector activity remains open for further exploration. The criminal law has always imposed limits on the ability of police to enter private premises and seize property associated with criminal activity, while preserving the rights of “mass private” property owners and their agents to selectively exclude people from entering or remaining on their premises. The appropriate balance between these issues and “the right to be let alone” is often determined by judicial rulings in individual cases. However, the balance between a claimant’s personal rights to be free from undue surveillance and the broader public interest in preventing crime or promoting safety is not always clear. New forms of personal data collection and dissemination through ICTs reconfigure the balance between private and public knowledge (Australian Law Reform Commission 2008), while social network analysis is increasingly deployed by law enforcement agencies to detect and prevent crime. Our ongoing research interrogates how the concept of privacy can be reconciled with the growing use of dataveillance, data mining, and social network analysis to prevent crime and antisocial behavior.

ID scanners and uberveillance in the night-time economy: crime prevention or invasion of privacy?

ID scanners are promoted as an effective solution to the problems of anti-social behavior and violence in many urban nighttime economies. However, the acceptance of this and other forms of computerized surveillance to prevent crime and anti-social behavior is based on several unproven assumptions. After outlining what ID scanners are and how they are becoming a normalized precondition of entry into one Australian nighttime economy, this chapter demonstrates how technology is commonly viewed as the key to preventing crime despite recognition of various problems associated with its adoption. The implications of technological determinism amongst policy makers, police, and crime prevention theories are then critically assessed in light of several issues that key informants talking about the value of ID scanners fail to mention when applauding their success. Notably, the broad, ill-defined, and confused notion of “privacy” is analyzed as a questionable legal remedy for the growing problems of überveillance.

ID scanners and überveillance in the night-time economy: crime prevention or invasion of privacy?

ID scanners are promoted as an effective solution to the problems of anti-social behavior and violence in many urban nighttime economies. However, the acceptance of this and other forms of computerized surveillance to prevent crime and anti-social behavior is based on several unproven assumptions. After outlining what ID scanners are and how they are becoming a normalized precondition of entry into one Australian nighttime economy, this chapter demonstrates how technology is commonly viewed as the key to preventing crime despite recognition of various problems associated with its adoption. The implications of technological determinism amongst policy makers, police, and crime prevention theories are then critically assessed in light of several issues that key informants talking about the value of ID scanners fail to mention when applauding their success. Notably, the broad, ill-defined, and confused notion of "privacy" is analyzed as a questionable legal remedy for the growing problems of überveillance.

The effect of school suspensions and arrests on subsequent adolescent antisocial behavior in Australia and the United States

Purpose: To examine the effect of school suspensions and arrests (i.e., being taken into police custody) on subsequent adolescent antisocial behavior such as violence and crime, after controlling for established risk and protective factors in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States (U.S.). Methods: This article reports on analyses of two points of data collected 1 year apart within a cross-national longitudinal study of the development of antisocial behavior, substance use, and related behaviors in approximately 4000 students aged 12 to 16 years in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, U.S. Students completed a modified version of the Communities That Care self-report survey of behavior, as well as risk and protective factors across five domains (individual, family, peer, school, and community). Multivariate logistic regression analyses investigate the effect of school suspensions and arrests on subsequent antisocial behavior, holding constant individual, family, peer, school, and community level influences such as being female, student belief in the moral order, emotional control, and attachment to mother. Results: At the first assessment, school suspensions and arrests were more commonly reported in Washington, and school suspensions significantly increased the likelihood of antisocial behavior 12 months later, after holding constant established risk and protective factors (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–2.1, _p < .05). Predictors of antisocial behavior spanned risk and protective factors across five individual and ecological areas of risk. Risk factors in this study were pre-existing antisocial behavior (OR 3.6, CI 2.7–4.7, _p < .001), association with antisocial peers (OR 1.8, CI 1.4–2.4, _p < .001), academic failure (OR 1.3, CI 1.1–1.5, _p < .01), and perceived availability of drugs in the community (OR 1.3, CI 1.1–1.5, _p < .001). Protective factors included being female (OR 0.7, CI 0.5–0.9, _p < .01), student belief in the moral order (OR 0.8, CI 0.6–1.0, p < .05), student emotional control (OR 0.7, CI 0.6–0.8, _p < .001), and attachment to mother (OR 0.8, CI 0.7–1.0, _p < .05). Conclusions:  School suspensions may increase the likelihood of future antisocial behavior. Further research is required to both replicate this finding and establish the mechanisms by which school suspensions exert their effects.

Are perceptions of the local environment related to neighbourhood satisfaction and mental health in adults?

Background: Perceptions of environmental attributes can influence satisfaction with where people live and mental health status. We examined the association between perceived environmental characteristics, neighbourhood satisfaction, and self-rated mental health.

Methods: We report cross-sectional data from the Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments (PLACE) study in Australia (n = 2194). Self-report data included socio-demographics, perceived attributes of the environment, neighbourhood satisfaction (NS) and mental health status. Neighbourhood SES was obtained through census data. Factor analysis was used to identify dimensions of NS. Generalized linear models were used to examine associations between NS and perceived environment characteristics and whether aspects of NS were independently associated with mental health.

Results: NS factors identified were safety and walkability, access to destinations, social network, travel network, and traffic and noise. Perceived environmental characteristics of aesthetics and greenery, land use mix – diversity, street connectivity, traffic safety, infrastructure for walking, access to services and barriers to walking were found to be positively associated with these factors. Traffic load and crime were negatively associated. Three NS factors (safety and walkability, social network, and traffic and noise) were independent predictors of mental health.

Conclusions: Neighbourhood satisfaction may mediate the association between perceived environmental characteristics and measures of mental health in adults.

Personality : social issues and personal growth

In this chapter, we will look at the application of personality to social problems and personal growth.  we have chosen two examples of social problems, anger (and aggression) and crime, to illustrate areas where personality has had an impact.

Individual differences in affective responses to violence and sexual violence

The thesis aimed to identify and compare individual differences in anger related affective responses upon exposure to neutral, violent and sexually violent film. The findings revealed that both graphic and non-graphic sexually violent film content may have a stronger impact on viewers' anger levels than exposure to standard violent film. The portfolio examined in four case studies the utility of the Violence Risk Scale when seeking to identify factors associated with risk of violent recidivism and subsequent treatment targets for intellectually disabled offenders . Treatment indications must consider the impaired cognitive and adaptive abilities and the difficulties inherent in modifying the behavioural characteristics of intellectually disabled offenders.

Police and Vietnamese-Australian communities in multi-ethnic Melbourne

This paper explores practical solutions to sensitive community policing issues, drawing on an Australian case study of relations between police and Australian-Vietnamese communities. The paper summarizes initial research on the attitudes of Australian-Vietnamese community members and police to one another and to security and crime. Despite three decades of community policing, there is only limited communication flow between Vietnamese-Australian citizens including offenders and victims and police. The question is whether partnership policing can fill the gap. For police, this involves understanding not only ethnic distinctiveness but also intergenerational issues, tensions within cultural groups, and changing complex forms of membership and affiliation.

Key themes and research agendas in the sport-alcohol nexus

This article synthesizes the main themes and research agendas that have been explored in studies of sports-associated drinking. It identifies four themes in which sport and alcohol come together: (a) the commercial economy; (b) social practices and cultural identities; (c) crime and violence; and (d) health behaviors. The article highlights the paradoxical and contradictory nature of the sport-alcohol nexus, especially in relation to health behaviors and crime and violence, where sport is both a context for and a “solution” to health damaging and criminal behavior. The article also argues for the contribution that studies of sports-based drinking can make to the sociology of sport and alcohol use more broadly, particularly with regard to applying new theoretical perspectives such as “calculated hedonism” and “casual leisure” to drinking in sporting contexts. It also extends our analysis of the beer-sport-gender “holy trinity” to considering drinking by women as well as among less traditional forms of masculine identities.

Editorial : advances in network and system security

Current parallel and distributed networks/systems are facing serious threats from network terrorism and crime, which cause huge financial loss and potential life hazard. As attacking tools are becoming more widely available, more easy-to-use, more sophisticated, and more powerful, more efforts have been made in building more effective, more intelligent, and more adaptive defense systems which are of distributed and networked nature. This special issue focuses on issues related to Network and System Security, such as authentication, access control, availability, integrity, privacy, confidentiality, dependability and sustainability of computer networks and systems.