Gender and racial/ethnic differences in addiction severity, HIV risk, and quality of life among adults in opioid detoxification: results from the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network.

PURPOSE: Detoxification often serves as an initial contact for treatment and represents an opportunity for engaging patients in aftercare to prevent relapse. However, there is limited information concerning clinical profiles of individuals seeking detoxification, and the opportunity to engage patients in detoxification for aftercare often is missed. This study examined clinical profiles of a geographically diverse sample of opioid-dependent adults in detoxification to discern the treatment needs of a growing number of women and whites with opioid addiction and to inform interventions aimed at improving use of aftercare or rehabilitation. METHODS: The sample included 343 opioid-dependent patients enrolled in two national multi-site studies of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN001-002). Patients were recruited from 12 addiction treatment programs across the nation. Gender and racial/ethnic differences in addiction severity, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk, and quality of life were examined. RESULTS: Women and whites were more likely than men and African Americans to have greater psychiatric and family/social relationship problems and report poorer health-related quality of life and functioning. Whites and Hispanics exhibited higher levels of total HIV risk scores and risky injection drug use scores than African Americans, and Hispanics showed a higher level of unprotected sexual behaviors than whites. African Americans were more likely than whites to use heroin and cocaine and to have more severe alcohol and employment problems. CONCLUSIONS: Women and whites show more psychopathology than men and African Americans. These results highlight the need to monitor an increased trend of opioid addiction among women and whites and to develop effective combined psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments to meet the diverse needs of the expanding opioid-abusing population. Elevated levels of HIV risk behaviors among Hispanics and whites also warrant more research to delineate mechanisms and to reduce their risky behaviors.

Colorectal cancer screening: Racial/ethnic and gender disparities in a population-based cross-sectional analysis of the United States

Gender and racial/ethnic disparities in colorectal cancer screening (CRC) has been observed and associated with income status, education level, treatment and late diagnosis. According to the American Cancer Society, among both males and females, CRC is the third most frequently diagnosed type of cancer and accounts for 10% of cancer deaths in the United States. Differences in CRC test use have been documented and limited to access to health care, demographics and health behaviors, but few studies have examined the correlates of CRC screening test use by gender. This present study examined the prevalence of CRC screening test use and assessed whether disparities are explained by gender and racial/ethnic differences. To assess these associations, the study utilized a cross-sectional design and examined the distribution of the covariates for gender and racial/ethnic group differences using the chi square statistic. Logistic regression was used to estimate the prevalence odds ratio and to adjust for the confounding effects of the covariates. ^ Results indicated there are disparities in the use of CRC screening test use and there were statistically significant difference in the prevalence for both FOBT and endoscopy screening between gender, χ2, p≤0.003. Females had a lower prevalence of endoscopy colorectal cancer screening than males when adjusting for age and education (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.82–0.95). However, no statistically significant difference was reported between racial/ethnic groups, χ 2 p≤0.179 after adjusting for age, education and gender. For both FOBT and endoscopy screening Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics had a lower prevalence of screening compared with Non-Hispanic Whites. In the multivariable regression model, the gender disparities could largely be explained by age, income status, education level, and marital status. Overall, individuals between the age "70–79" years old, were married, with some college education and income greater than $20,000 were associated with a higher prevalence of colorectal cancer screening test use within gender and racial/ethnic groups. ^

Elem. dropouts by grade, gender and racial/ethnic category and dropout rates for ...

Description based on 1991-1992; title from caption.

Placing immigrant incorporation: Identity, trust, and civic engagement in Little Havana

Immigrant incorporation in the United States has been a topic of concern and debate since the founding of the nation. Scholars have studied many aspects of the phenomenon, including economic, political, social, and spatial. The most influential paradigm of immigrant incorporation in the US has been, and continues to be, assimilation, and the most important place in and scale at which incorporation occurs is the neighborhood. This dissertation captures both of these integral aspects of immigrant incorporation through its consideration of three dimensions of assimilation – identity, trust, and civic engagement – among Latin American immigrants and American-born Latinos in Little Havana, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Data discussed in the dissertation were gathered through surveys and interviews as part of a National Science Foundation-funded study carried out in 2005-2006. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data allows for a nuanced understanding of how immigrant incorporation is occurring locally during the first decade of the twentieth century. Findings reveal that overall Latin American immigrants and their American-born offspring appear to be becoming American with regard to their ethnic and racial identities quickly, evidenced through the salience and active employment of panethnic labels, while at the same time they are actively reshaping the identificational structure. The Latino population, however, is not monolithic and is cleaved by diversity within the group, including country of origin and socioeconomic status. These same factors impede group cohesion in terms of trust and its correlate, community. Nevertheless, the historically dominant ancestry group in Little Havana – Cubans – has been able to reach notable levels of trust and build and conserve a more solid sense of community than non-Cuban residents. With respect to civic engagement, neighborhood residents generally participate at rates lower than the overall US population and ethnic subpopulations. This is not the case for political engagement, however, where self-reported voting registration and turnout in Little Havana surpasses that of most benchmarked populations. The empirical evidence presented in this dissertation on the case of Latinos in Little Havana challenges the ways that identity, trust, and civic engagement are conceptualized and theorized, especially among immigrants to the US.

A relationship between the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2.0 mathematics scores and racial and ethnic concentration when considering socio-economic status, ESOL student population, and school climate

From the moment children are born, they begin a lifetime journey of learning about themselves and their surroundings. With the establishment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, it mandates that all children receive a high-quality education in a positive school climate. Regardless of the school the child attends or the neighborhood in which the child lives, proper and quality education and resources must be provided and made available in order for the child to be academically successful. The purpose of this ex post facto study was to investigate the relationship between the FCAT 2.0 mathematics scores of public middle school students in Miami-Dade County, Florida and the concentrations of a school's racial and ethnic make-up (Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics), English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) population, socio-economic status (SES), and school climate. The research question of this study was: Is there a significant relationship between the FCAT 2.0 Mathematics scores and racial and ethnic concentration of public middle school students in Miami-Dade County when controlling SES, ESOL student population, and school climate for the 2010-2011 school year? The instruments used to collect the data were the FCAT 2.0 and Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) School Climate Survey. The study found that Economically Disadvantaged (SES) students socio-economic status had the strongest correlation with the FCAT 2.0 mathematics scores (r = -.830). The next strongest correlation was with the number of students who agreed that their school climate was positive and helped them learn (r = .741) and the third strongest correlation was a school percentage of White students (r = .668). The study concluded that the FCAT 2.0 mathematics scores of M-DCPS middle school students have a significant relationship with socio-economic status, school climate, and racial concentration.

Black women's writing: contributions to the literary, feminist and gender studies.

This work is a reflection on black women’s writing, which has been and yet, sometimes, is marginalized and reduced to invisibly in our literary field due to several factors . Therefore, it becomes important to give visibility to this writing so as to discuss the marks of feminism, race and gender that it brings, showing its contributions for the construction of a new and empowered discourse on black women, which represents a differential for literary discourse and affects the canon, since it t promotes the construction of a new perspective, a differentiated representation of black women, emphasizing their forms of struggle and resistance, front the exclusionary sociocultural systems.  In order to do that, I bring up some theoretical voices such as that, of Guacira Lopes Louro (1997); Abdias do Nascimento (2000); Tatau Godinho (2008), among others that deal with the theme, as well as texts written by  black women writers such as Alzira Rufino, Esmeralda Ribeiro e Cristiane Sobral to argue and think about a literature that deals with black women autonomy,  and challenges the dominant power systems, a literature that gives emphasis to women and ethnic-racial issues from perspective of the black person herself , since this project was relegated to oblivion for too long or portrayed in as stereotyped way by other voices, other discourses guided by a masculine and eurocentric bias. In this way, we hope to show how it is relevant to black women's literature, because makes us reflect and face the mechanisms of oppression, subalternization against women, especially black women, and race and gender prejudice, and its effects, that still can be seen daily in different social and cultural contexts.  

Introduction : studying Indonesian media worlds at the intersections of area and cultural studies

When preparing this special issue,1 our discussions with the editorial board of the International Journal of Cultural Studies (IJCS) included a moment of simultaneous surprise and reflection, which we would like to use as a starting point for our introduction to the articles appearing here. This occurred during communications about the number and length of the articles required for a special issue. The board’s representative stipulated that a specific number of articles were to be written by Indonesian scholars. The request surprised us. We had neither discussed nor anticipated ethnic or national quotas for authorial participation. But although the request caught us off guard it also stimulated us to think about the two disciplinary terrains traversed in the articles to follow.

Classificação étnico-racial e ações afirmativas no contexto do vestibular

Os conceitos de raça e etnia são basilares para a antropologia desde o seu surgimento como área do conhecimento humano e, ainda hoje, são fundamentais para diversos debates nas esferas política, social e das ciências humanas em geral. No pensamento social brasileiro muitos foram os autores de diversas áreas a se debruçarem sobre a questão racial. A instituição do sistema de cotas para o ingresso em universidades acalorou e expandiu o debate tanto no senso comum como na academia e nos meios de comunicação em geral. Essa pesquisa partiu da intenção de investigar a relação entre as ações afirmativas e as identidades de cor/raça. Como metodologia, utilizamos os recursos tanto dos instrumentos quantitativos como qualitativos. Nosso foco foram estudantes do cursinho pré-vestibular Grupo Perspectiva Integral (GPI). Buscamos acessar o ponto de vista dos vestibulandos, seus significados e associações acerca de suas identidades étnico-raciais, opiniões e sentimentos sobre a questão racial no Brasil e, em especial referente às ações afirmativas no contexto da educação e investigar a relação entre quem sou eu e qual é a minha cor/raça no universo proposto. Para tanto, foram aplicados cento e vinte e um questionários e realizadas doze entrevistas. A intenção não era estabelecer uma relação direta e causal entre as ações afirmativas e as identidades de cor/raça e, sim, traçar um perfil geral e racial da população estudada, perceber e analisar diversos elementos referentes às classificações de cor/raça e opiniões e sentimentos acerca das ações afirmativas, do racismo e das expectativas profissionais dos vestibulandos.

Tão longe, tão perto: pretos e pardos e o enigma racial brasileiro

Até meados da década de 1970 buscou-se decifrar o lugar social ocupado pelo pardo na sociedade brasileira. Contudo, os estudos mais recentes se caracterizaram, com algumas exceções, pelo silenciamento em torno das especificidades desse grupo. Pretos e pardos têm sido agrupados em uma mesma categoria para fins de análise de desigualdades e discriminação racial. No entanto, se os pardos estão extremamente próximos dos pretos no que toca os seus índices socioeconômicos, chances de mobilidade social e vitimização pela discriminação, eles estão muito distantes dos pretos em sua percepção do preconceito e da discriminação de que são vítimas. Para esse grupo, o nexo entre a cor e a discriminação não parece nem um pouco evidente. A presente tese retoma os pardos como tema de reflexão e investiga as razões pelas quais eles parecem ser discriminados em intensidade próxima à dos pretos, mas não reportam a discriminação no mesmo grau. A partir da produção de análises originais de dados quantitativos e surveys sobre racismo, encontro respaldo para algumas explicações não mutuamente excludentes para esse fenômeno: (1) o binarismo das linguagens racista e antirracista no Brasil, que exclui os pardos do debate público, (2) os problemas metodológicos dos surveys sobre discriminação racial, (3) a presença ideário da morenidade na identidade e autoimagem dos brasileiros pardos, (4) as peculiaridades da sociabilidade entre pretos, pardos e brancos, (5) o caráter ambivalente dos estereótipos que incidem sobre os pardos e, finalmente, (6) uma porosidade maior das elites brancas em relação a esses indivíduos. A partir da elaboração de um modelo alternativo de mensuração da percepção da discriminação, baseado na Escala de Discriminação Cotidiana, demonstro que pretos e pardos de classes mais baixas têm percepções mais parecidas de atitudes discriminatórias, enquanto aqueles que atingem as classes médias e elites passam a divergir: os pretos passam a reportar mais intensamente a discriminação, enquanto os pardos praticamente cessam de senti-la. Sustento que o racismo ambivalente brasileiro funciona de modo a barrar a mobilidade social tanto de pretos como de pardos, mas que os estereótipos e atitudes a que ele está relacionado penalizam mais severamente os pretos que ascendem socialmente do que os pardos.

Love Thy Neighbor? Relationships between Religion and Racial Intolerance in Europe.

This article examines relationships between religion and racial intolerance across 47 countries by applying multilevel modeling to European survey data and is the first in-depth analysis of moderation of these relationships by European national contexts. The analysis distinguishes a believing, belonging, and practice-dimension of religiosity. The results yield little evidence of a link between denominational belonging, religious practice, and racial intolerance. The religiosity dimension that matters most for racial intolerance in Europe is believing: believers in a traditional God and believers in a Spirit/Life Force are decidedly less likely, and fundamentalists are more likely than non- believers to be racially intolerant. National contexts also matter greatly: individuals living in Europe’s most religious countries, countries with legacies of ethnic-religious conflict and countries with low GDP are significantly more likely to be racially intolerant than those living in wealthier, secular and politically stable countries. This is especially the case for the religiously devout.