Published Behavioral Science Research
Addressing the maternal health crisis and reducing racial inequities in the nation’s capitol will require a multifaceted community-centered approach to narrow critical gaps in the access and availability of quality maternal health care services in Wards 7 & 8. By resourcing Black-led CBOs, expanding delivery of critical social need services, providing holistic services to birthing people, and diversifying the maternal health workforce, Black birthing people in DC will have greater opportunities for healthy infant delivery. The success of these approaches relies on policies that address structural racism and its impact on the health of Black people in DC.
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Findings: Injunctive norms and descriptive norms are key factors in considering adolescent marijuana use, although peer descriptive norms may be most influential. The lack of systematic definition and measurement of marijuana use, norms, and referents was apparent in the literature. Future research should systemize norm constructs and explore differences in the norm–marijuana use relationship among adolescents with intersecting identities (e.g., gender, race) and social network referents (e.g., family, peer groups).
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Findings: Collectively, the articles in this review highlight a growing consensus that the US has no real chance of EHE for all, absent a meaningful and measurable commitment to addressing structural racism and intersectional discrimination as core determinants of HIV, and without more equitable engagement with community-based organizations and communities disproportionately affected by HIV.
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Findings: Informed by critical psychology, and the critical theoretical frameworks of critical race theory, intersectionality, and Afro-Pessimism, the goal of this article is to critically engage with the topic of anti-Black police brutality. By critically engage, we mean expose and challenge the economic, social, and material power relations that disproportionately expose Black people to police brutality; and conceptualize police brutality not as a series of aberrant incidents, but as a structure that in essence constructs and reifies Blackness and Whiteness. We also introduce the Anti-Black Police Brutality Continuum, a conceptual framework of police brutality as a broad spectrum of routine manifestations of anti-Black structural racism, and criticize mainstream psychology’s deferral of a critical and transformative response to anti-Black police brutality.
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Findings: Results showed that more everyday racial discrimination and incarceration, but not unemployment, significantly predicted more depressive symptoms. The links between discrimination, incarceration, and depressive symptoms were stronger for men who reported lower levels of problem solving coping and social support than those with higher levels. Our study suggests that interventions emphasizing protective factors may help Black men cope with some of the deleterious effects of racial discrimination and incarceration. It also underscores a need for structural interventions that reduce racial discrimination and incarceration. Depression among Black men is not simply a biomedical or psychological condition, but also a critical health equity issue
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Findings: Analyses highlighted three key themes: (a) the favorable impact of Mr. Stroman, the lead peer counselor, on participants’ willingness to participate in MEN Count and disclose their challenges—we dubbed this the “Stroman Effect”; (b) the importance of Black men intervention deliverers with relatable life experiences; and (c) how contextual factors such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic, needs for housing and employment services and safe spaces to talk about challenges, and absentee fathers shaped participation. We discuss the study’s implications for sustainable programs after funding ends and future multilevel health interventions to promote health equity for poor urban Black men.
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Findings: Results. The results showed significant indirect effects of incarceration history on depressive symptoms via negative police encounters and police avoidance. Unemployment moderated the indirect effect via police avoidance. Participants with a history of incarceration who were unemployed reported significantly higher police avoidance and, in turn, higher depressive symptoms. Moderation of unemployment on the indirect effect via negative police encounters was not significant.
Conclusions. There is a critical need to broaden research on the health impact of mass incarceration to include other aspects of criminal justice involvement (e.g., negative police encounters and police avoidance) that negatively affect Black men’s mental health.
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Findings: Results: Overall, 78 (30%) participants screened positive for moderate to severe depression and 54 (21%) screened positive for bipolar disorder. Participants self-reported mood disorders at higher rates than they screened positive for these conditions. Participants screening positive for these conditions experienced significantly greater family, legal, and medical problems on the Addiction Severity Index-Lite (ASI-Lite) than those who did not screen positive. Incidence of a lifetime suicide attempt was found to be associated with a positive screen for both mood disorders. Prescribed psychotropic treatment utilization was similar among those who screened positive for depression or bipolar disorder with approximately 38% reporting taking medication. Importance: Findings suggest universal mood disorder screening to improve comprehensive psychiatric care and treatment of opioid-dependent justice-involved individuals.
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Findings: Findings suggest that those with a greater number of housing transitions were considerably less likely to self-report criminal activity, and criminal involvement was highest among those who were chronically homeless. Residential mobility was unassociated with days of drug and alcohol use; however, residing in regulated housing (halfway houses and homeless shelters) was associated with a decreased frequency of substance use. The finding that residing at sober-living housing facilities with regulations governing behavior (regulated housing) was associated with a lower likelihood of illicit substance use may suggest that regulated housing settings may influence behavior. Further research in this area should explore how social networks and other related variables moderate the effects of housing type and mobility on crime and substance use.
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Findings: Fulton County Jail (FCJ) in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the 50 largest jails in the nation, with an average daily census of 2,269 detainees (1). During January 1, 2011–March 15, 2012, FCJ implemented a demonstration project to integrate routine rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening into the medical intake process. This report summarizes the results. Nearly 59% of persons booked (22,920 of 39,073) received an intake medical evaluation, and voluntary oral fluid HIV rapid screening was offered, except to those who disclosed a previous HIV diagnosis (473 [2.1%]) or were not able to provide consent. An HIV test was offered on 18,869 visits, and 12,141 HIV tests were conducted. All persons with a reactive result (120 [1.0%]) underwent confirmatory HIV testing unless they subsequently disclosed a previous HIV diagnosis. This project identified 52 persons with newly diagnosed HIV infection; 48 by rapid testing (0.4% of those tested) during the study period. All received medical care in the facility and referral for community services on release. Without this HIV screening project, these persons likely would have been diagnosed later in the course of their infection, resulting in delayed access to care and treatment, and possible transmission of HIV to their partners. Linkage to community services is critical, and coordination with the public health system and community-based organizations are essential to ensure access to HIV care and retention in treatment for persons with HIV released from jail.
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Results of this study present psychosocial risk factors that predict suicide in a jail setting. Future recommendations call for a structured multidisciplinary approach to holistically address the problem of inmate suicide in the correctional setting. Additionally, a recommended need for increased resources dedicated to successful community integration is suggested. Future public health research calls for appropriate interventions that address the increased uptake of the mentally ill/disordered in U.S. jail systems with use of socially- and culturally-informed techniques to accurately identify inmates at high risk for suicide.
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