Associations Between Gun Laws and Suicides

2019 ◽  
Vol 188 (7) ◽  
pp. 1254-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Ghiani ◽  
Summer Sherburne Hawkins ◽  
Christopher F Baum
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Gun Laws ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
The Impact

Abstract We examined the impact of a state gun law environment on suicides overall and within demographic subgroups. We linked 211,766 firearm suicides and 204,625 nonfirearm suicides in the 50 states of the United States for 2005–2015 to the population in each state, year, race/ethnicity, sex, and age, as well as to an index of state-level gun control. Difference-in-differences, zero-inflated, negative-binomial models were used to evaluate the impact of strengthening gun control on firearm and nonfirearm suicides. We subsequently stratified by sex and tested for interactions with race/ethnicity and age. We found 25 states strengthened gun control by an average of 6 points. Such an increase may result in a 3.3% (incidence rate ratio = 0.967; 95% confidence interval: 0.938, 0.996) decrease in firearm suicides. Although no impact on nonfirearm suicides was found overall, interaction models showed an increase in nonfirearm suicides among black men, white women, black women, and older individuals. Strengthening gun control may reduce firearm suicides overall but may increase nonfirearm suicides in some populations. The results indicate stricter gun laws should be advocated for and that additional policies are needed for populations who shifted to nonfirearm suicides.

Counting Guns

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-708
Author(s):  
Gordon Wood ◽  
Robert Churchill ◽  
Edward Cook ◽  
James Lindgren ◽  
Wilbur Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
Real Income ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Gun Laws ◽  
The Impact

At the fall 2001 Social Science History Association convention in Chicago, the Crime and Justice network sponsored a forum on the history of gun ownership, gun use, and gun violence in the United States. Our purpose was to consider how social science historians might contribute nowand in the future to the public debate over gun control and gun rights. To date, we have had little impact on that debate. It has been dominated by mainstream social scientists and historians, especially scholars such as Gary Kleck, John Lott, and Michael Bellesiles, whose work, despite profound flaws, is politically congenial to either opponents or proponents of gun control. Kleck and Mark Gertz (1995), for instance, argue on the basis of their widely cited survey that gun owners prevent numerous crimes each year in theUnited States by using firearms to defend themselves and their property. If their survey respondents are to be believed, American gun owners shot 100,000 criminals in 1994 in selfdefense–a preposterous number (Cook and Ludwig 1996: 57–58; Cook and Moore 1999: 280–81). Lott (2000) claims on the basis of his statistical analysis of recent crime rates that laws allowing private individuals to carry concealed firearms deter murders, rapes, and robberies, because criminals are afraid to attack potentially armed victims. However, he biases his results by confining his analysis to the years between 1977 and 1992, when violent crime rates had peaked and varied little from year to year (ibid.: 44–45). He reports only regression models that support his thesis and neglects to mention that each of those models finds a positive relationship between violent crime and real income, and an inverse relationship between violent crime and unemployment (ibid.: 52–53)–implausible relationships that suggest the presence of multicollinearity, measurement error, or misspecification. Lott then misrepresents his results by claiming falsely that statistical methods can distinguish in a quasi-experimental way the impact of gun laws from the impact of other social, economic, and cultural forces (ibid.: 26, 34–35; Guterl 1996). Had Lott extended his study to the 1930s, the correlation between gun laws and declining homicide rates that dominates his statistical analysis would have disappeared. An unbiased study would include some consideration of alternative explanations and an acknowledgment of the explanatory limits of statistical methods.

scholarly journals The Impact of Educational Attainment on Black Women’s Obesity Rate in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwenetta Denise Curry
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
C Reactive Protein ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Protein Levels ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
The Impact

AbstractOver the last two decades, Black women have been disproportionately impacted by the obesity epidemic in the USA. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 56.6% of Black women are overweight or obese compared with 44.4% Hispanic and 32.8% of white women. Social scientists and public health researchers have argued that increasing educational attainment would lead to overall improvements in health outcomes. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey, Cycles 1999–2010, I examined how educational attainment impacts Black women’s rate of obesity and C-reactive protein levels (N = 2685). Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the association between body mass index (BMI) and educational attainment. C-reactive protein, inflammation response, was used to measure the body’s reaction to being exposed to stress. The results demonstrated that educational attainment among Black women does not decrease their risk of being obese or levels of C-reactive protein. This article provides evidence to support a need to increase awareness of health disparities that disproportionately impact Black women.

scholarly journals Education, Race/Ethnicity, and Causes of Premature Mortality Among Middle-Aged Adults in 4 US Urban Communities: Results From CARDIA, 1985–2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 530-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brita Roy ◽  
Catarina I. Kiefe ◽  
David R. Jacobs ◽  
David C. Goff ◽  
Donald Lloyd-Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Black Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

Objectives. To assess causes of premature death and whether race/ethnicity or education is more strongly and independently associated with premature mortality in a diverse sample of middle-aged adults in the United States. Methods. The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (CARDIA) is a longitudinal cohort study of 5114 participants recruited in 1985 to 1986 and followed for up to 29 years, with rigorous ascertainment of all deaths; recruitment was balanced regarding sex, Black and White race/ethnicity, education level (high school or less vs. greater than high school), and age group (18–24 and 25–30 years). This analysis included all 349 deaths that had been fully reviewed through month 348. Our primary outcome was years of potential life lost (YPLL). Results. The age-adjusted mortality rate per 1000 persons was 45.17 among Black men, 25.20 among White men, 17.63 among Black women, and 10.10 among White women. Homicide and AIDS were associated with the most YPLL, but cancer and cardiovascular disease were the most common causes of death. In multivariable models, each level of education achieved was associated with 1.37 fewer YPLL (P = .007); race/ethnicity was not independently associated with YPLL. Conclusions. Lower education level was an independent predictor of greater YPLL.

Race, Gender, and National Identity in the American and British Telephone Industries

2001 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venus Green
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Black Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Gender Constructions ◽  
Telephone Operators ◽  
Telephone Industry ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

This article compares the racially heterogeneous, privately-owned American telephone industry, and the relatively homogeneous, publicly-owned British system, to examine how race and gender constructions implicit in the national identities of the two countries influence employment opportunities. For all the differences in the histories of the two telephone industries and variations in the construction of racial, national, and gender identities, blacks in the United States and Britain had remarkably similar experiences in obtaining employment as telephone operators. This leads to the conclusion that the power of national identity in the workplace is strongly based on “whiteness”. Despite their limited access to national identity, white women experienced advantages that were denied to black women, which illustrates how race modified the impact of gender on the privileges of national identity.

scholarly journals Variation in Attitudes toward Being a Mother by Race/Ethnicity and Education among Women in the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 600-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Tichenor ◽  
Julia McQuillan ◽  
Arthur L. Greil ◽  
Andrew V. Bedrous ◽  
Amy Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
Hispanic Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Relationship Type ◽  
Raising Children ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Attitudes Toward Motherhood

Do differences in experiences of motherhood (e.g., number of children, age at first child, and relationship type) by race/ethnicity and social class mean that attitudes toward motherhood also vary by social location? We examine attitudes toward being a mother among black, Hispanic, Asian, and white women of higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES, as measured by education). Results using the National Survey of Fertility Barriers ( N = 4,796) indicate that, despite fertility differences, attitudes toward being a mother differ little between groups. White and Asian women have higher positive attitudes toward being a mother than black and Hispanic women. Only black women appear to distinguish between having and raising children; surprisingly, lower educated Hispanic women are less likely to think that they would be a mother, see motherhood as fulfilling, and think that it is important to have and to raise children compared with higher educated, white women.

scholarly journals Influence of Labor Market Disparities on Sex and Gender Inequalities in Cognitive Decline

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 501-501
Author(s):  
Precious Esie ◽  
Jennifer Manly ◽  
Justina Avila-Rieger
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
White Women ◽  
State Level ◽  
Outcome Data ◽  
Cognitive Outcome ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Abstract State-level labor market disparities have been linked to health outcomes. The current study examines how labor market disparities may shape different patterns of sex/gender inequalities in cognition across race/ethnicity, place, and time. We leverage cognitive outcome data from multiple cohort and nationally representative longitudinal studies, as well as historical data on labor force participation and occupational status from IPUMS CPS. Multilevel modeling analyses was used to examine heterogeneity in sex/gender inequalities in cognitive trajectories within and between race/ethnicity and U.S. state of birth and determine whether such variability is explained by a state-level labor market opportunity composite. We expect women to demonstrate an advantage over men on cognitive measures. Women’s advantage will be more pronounced in states with a small sex/gender gap in labor market opportunities and less pronounced in states with a large gap. The magnitude of this advantage will be greater for White women compared with Black women.

Racial Disparities in Pregnancy-associated Intimate Partner Homicide

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199083
Author(s):  
Aaron J. Kivisto ◽  
Samantha Mills ◽  
Lisa S. Elwood
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Intimate Partner Homicide ◽  
Homicide Victimization ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Pregnancy-associated femicide accounts for a mortality burden at least as high as any of the leading specific obstetric causes of maternal mortality, and intimate partners are the most common perpetrators of these homicides. This study examined pregnancy-associated and non-pregnancy-associated intimate partner homicide (IPH) victimization among racial/ethnic minority women relative to their non-minority counterparts using several sources of state-level data from 2003 through 2017. Data regarding partner homicide victimization came from the National Violent Death Reporting System, natality data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, and relevant sociodemographic information was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. Findings indicated that pregnancy and racial/ethnic minority status were each associated with increased risk for partner homicide victimization. Although rates of non-pregnancy-associated IPH victimization were similar between Black and White women, significant differences emerged when limited to pregnancy-associated IPH such that Black women evidenced pregnancy-associated IPH rates more than threefold higher than that observed among White and Hispanic women. Relatedly, the largest intraracial discrepancies between pregnant and non-pregnant women emerged among Black women, who experienced pregnancy-associated IPH victimization at a rate 8.1 times greater than their non-pregnant peers. These findings indicate that the racial disparities in IPH victimization in the United States observed in prior research might be driven primarily by the pronounced differences among the pregnant subset of these populations.

scholarly journals Shooting from the ‘Scrip: Scope of Practice Laws and Access to Immunizations in the Pharmacy Setting

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 444
Author(s):  
Charles Stoecker
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scope Of Practice ◽  
Patient Specific ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Influenza Immunization ◽  
Immunization Rates ◽  
The Impact

In the past two decades, most states in the United States have added authorization for pharmacists to administer some vaccinations. Expansions of this authority have also come with prescription requirements or other regulatory burdens. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of these expansions on influenza immunization rates in adults age 65 and over. A panel data, differences-in-differences regression framework to control for state-level unobserved confounders and shocks at the national level was used on a combination of a dataset of state-level statute and regulatory changes and influenza immunization data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Giving pharmacists permission to vaccinate had a positive impact on adult influenza immunization rates of 1.4 percentage points for adults age 65 and over. This effect was diminished by the presence of laws requiring pharmacists to obtain patient-specific prescriptions. There was no evidence that allowing pharmacists to administer vaccinations led patients to have fewer annual check-ups with physicians or not have a usual source of health care. Expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice laws to include administering the influenza vaccine had a positive impact on influenza shot uptake. This may have implications for relaxing restrictions on other forms of care that could be provided by pharmacists.

Determinants of Racial Disparities in Female Incarceration Rates, 2000–2018

2021 ◽  
pp. 003464462110510
Author(s):  
Samuel L. Myers ◽  
William J. Sabol ◽  
Man Xu
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
African American Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
The United States ◽  
White Female ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Incarceration Rate ◽  
Women In Prison

In The Growth of Incarceration in the United States, the National Research Council documents the large and persistent racial disparities in imprisonment that accompanied the more than quadrupling of the U.S. incarceration rate since the 1980s. Largely unnoticed by policy makers and opinion leaders in recent years is an unprecedented decrease in the number of African American women incarcerated at the same time that the number of white women in prison has grown to new heights. The result of these recent changes is a near convergence in black-white female incarceration rates from 2000 to 2016. In some states, the changes occurred abruptly and almost instantaneously. In other states, the convergence has been gradual. We find that changes in the population composition—the fraction of the population that is black—was the major contributor to the decline in the disparity among women. We also find that race-specific differences in drug overdose deaths stemming from the recent increases in opioid use lowered the disparity by increasing the white female imprisonment rate and lowering it for black women.

An Application of the Theory of Representative Bureaucracy, Gender Concordance, and Symbolic Representation in the Health Care Context

2021 ◽  
pp. 027507402110493
Author(s):  
Kenicia Wright
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Symbolic Representation ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Female Physicians ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Gender Concordance

Although the United States spends more on health care than comparable nations, many Americans suffer from poor health. Many factors are emphasized as being important for improved health outcomes, including social and economic indicators, living and working conditions, and individual-level behavior. However, I argue the overwhelming attention to male health outcomes—compared to female health outcomes—and focus on factors that are “traditionally understood” as important in shaping health are two limitations of existing health-related research. I adopt an innovative approach that combines the theory of representative bureaucracy, gender concordance, and symbolic representation to argue that increase in female physicians contribute to improved female health outcomes. Using an originally collected dataset that contains information on female physicians, health outcomes, and state and individual-level factors, I study how female physicians influence the health outcomes of non-Hispanic White women, non-Hispanic Black women, and Latinas in the United States from 2000 to 2012. The findings suggest female physicians contribute to improved health outcomes for non-Hispanic White women and non-Hispanic Black women, but not Latinas. Supplemental Analysis bolsters confidence that the findings are not the result of increased access to health care professionals. This study highlights the importance of applying the theory of representative bureaucracy and symbolic representation to health care, the promise of greater female representation in health, and the insight gleaned from incorporating intersectionality in public administration research.

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