Gang Membership and Gang Crime in New Zealand: A National Study Identifying Spatial Risk Factors

2021 ◽  
pp. 009385482110342
Author(s):  
Gregory D. Breetzke ◽  
Sophie Curtis-Ham ◽  
Jarrod Gilbert ◽  
Che Tibby

In this exploratory study, we identify the spatial risk factors associated with gang membership and gang crime in New Zealand using social disorganization as a theoretical framework. Gang membership data from the Gang Intelligence Center and gang crime data from New Zealand Police are included in spatial regression models to identify risk factors. Overall marginal support was found for the use of social disorganization constructs to explain gang membership and gang crime in New Zealand. Higher deprivation and higher diversity were both found to be associated with gang membership and gang crime, respectively. Some similarities and notable differences were observed between our results and the mainly U.S.-centric results of past spatial gang research. This study allows for a greater understanding of the generalizability of the social disorganization theory to explain gang membership and gang crime in areas with markedly different cultural perspectives and ethnocentricities to the United States.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kym Roberts ◽  
Ogilvie Thom ◽  
Susan Devine ◽  
Peter A. Leggat ◽  
Amy E. Peden ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Drowning is a significant public health issue, with females accounting for one third of global drowning deaths. The rate of female drowning has not decreased within high-income countries and presentations to hospital have increased. This scoping review aimed to explore adult female unintentional drowning, including risk factors, clinical treatment and outcomes of females hospitalised for drowning. Methods A systematic search of the literature following the PRISMA-ScR framework was undertaken. The databases OVID MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, OVID Emcare, Web of Science, Informit and Scopus were accessed. Study locations of focus were Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Studies from January 2003 to April 2019 were included. The quality of evidence of included studies was assessed using GRADE guidelines. Results The final search results included 14 studies from Australia (n = 4), Canada (n = 1), New Zealand (n = 1), United States (n = 6), United Kingdom (n = 1), and one study reporting data from both Australia and United States. Nine studies reported risk factors for female drowning including age, with the proportion of female drowning incidence increasing with age. Although females are now engaging in risk-taking behaviours associated with drowning that are similar to males, such as consuming alcohol and swimming in unsafe locations, their exposure to risky situations and ways they assess risk, differ. Females are more likely to drown from accidental entry into water, such as in a vehicle during a flood or fall into water. This review found no evidence on the clinical treatment provided to females in hospital after a drowning incident, and only a small number of studies reported the clinical outcomes of females, with inconsistent results (some studies reported better and some no difference in clinical outcomes among females). Conclusion Adult females are a group vulnerable to drowning, that have lacked attention. There was no single study found which focused solely on female drowning. There is a need for further research to explore female risk factors, the clinical treatment and outcomes of females hospitalised for drowning. This will not only save the lives of females, but also contribute to an overall reduction in drowning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 156 (6) ◽  
pp. S-837-S-838
Author(s):  
Emad Mansoor ◽  
Chiara Maruggi ◽  
Mohannad Abou Saleh ◽  
Gerard A. Isenberg ◽  
Richard C. Wong ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 813-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liran Goldman ◽  
Howard Giles ◽  
Michael A. Hogg

Gang violence, endemic to many communities in the United States and around the world is a very significant social problem. Given that the messages conveyed by, and the rivalries associated with, gang identities readily invoke constructs and processes familiar to the social psychological study of social identity, intergroup relations, and communication (Lauger, 2012), it is surprising that social psychologists have not advanced such an analysis of gangs. In attempt to fill this void and set a research agenda, this theoretical article examines the role social identity and identity-related communication play in promoting affiliation with gangs, particularly among youth who confront uncertainties and strive for family-like protection. The article discusses messaging communicated by gang members and reasons why youth adopt antisocial (e.g., violent) rather than prosocial behaviors. It also explores ways to diminish the allure of gang membership and raises questions for future research.


1970 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad Alan Goldberg

The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, a sprawling masterpiece co-authored by W.I. Thomas and F. Znaniecki and published in five volumes between 1918 and 1921, is a widely acknowledged classic of interwar sociology. One of its signal contributions, and a key reason for its classic status, is what James Carey, in his book on the Chicago school of sociology, calls the social disorganization paradigm. In the United States, the Chicago school of sociology subsequently applied this paradigm to interpret a variety of urban social problems in the 1920s and early 1930s, and it remains influential in studies of crime and violence in American sociology today. Chad Alan Goldberg, Chłop polski w Europie i Ameryce jako studium inkorporacji grup społecznych i budowania wspólnoty narodowej [The Polish Peasant in Europe and America as a Study of Civil  Incorporation and Nation-Building] edited by M. Nowak, „Człowiek i Społeczeństwo” vol. XLVII: „Chłop polski w Europie i Ameryce” po stu latach [Polish peasant in Europe and America after one hundred years], Poznań 2019, pp. 143–159, Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Social Sciences Press. ISSN 0239-3271


1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Benseman ◽  
Julie Park

This article reviews the findings of a comprehensive national study of the social effects of haemophilia in New Zealand, with reference to the educational implications for children with haemophilia. However, these implications go well beyond New Zealand and many apply to children with other medical conditions and disabilities. Although children with haemophilia do make some special demands on schools, the main argument of the report is that schools which provide socially and physically safe environments for their students’ will also meet many of the needs of children with haemophilia.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elizabeth Argyle

<p>The place of political scandals in the academic literature is contentious; scandals are commonly dismissed as distractions from the ‘real issues’ in a society. This thesis challenges that notion, instead arguing that political scandals are an important phenomenon in functioning democracies. Through a comparative lens, political transgressions since the year 2000 that have occurred in three liberal democracies, New Zealand, the United States and France, have been analysed. Transgressions by political actors in these jurisdictions of a sexual, financial and power nature have been applied to previously established frameworks. Observations about the political culture of these countries have been made as a result of this analysis. Four existing theories on the significance of political scandal – the functionalist theory of scandal, the no consequence theory, the trivialisation theory and social theory – were also tested. The social theory of scandal is concluded to be the most applicable to the case studies assessed. The social theory of scandal argues that political scandals can foster cultures of debate and criticism which is important to functioning democracies; however, political scandals of a large magnitude or high frequency can damage the public’s perception of political actors and institutions. This analysis therefore serves as evidence that political scandals are not frivolous occurrences but instead are important indicators of societal values and can have important and lasting consequences. This thesis also considers political scandals in broader historical and cultural contexts, drawing attention to the pervasiveness of scandal as a topic of academic and public interest.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kia Fuller ◽  
Clarence C. Gravlee ◽  
Chris McCarty ◽  
Miaisha M. Mitchell ◽  
Connie J. Mulligan

AbstractThe World Health Organization estimates that almost 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide. Depression is the most common mental health disorder and shows racial disparities in disease prevalence, age of onset, severity of symptoms, frequency of diagnosis, and treatment utilization across the United States. Since depression has both social and genetic risk factors, we propose a conceptual model wherein social stressors are primary risk factors for depression, but genetic variants increase or decrease individual susceptibility to the effects of the social stressors. Our research strategy incorporates both social and genetic data to investigate variation in symptoms of depression (CES-D scores). We collected data on financial strain (difficulty paying bills) and personal social networks (a model of an individual’s social environment), and we genotyped genetic variants in five genes involved in stress reactivity (HTR1a, BDNF, GNB3, SLC6A4, and FKBP5) in 135 African Americans residing in Tallahassee, Florida. We found that high financial strain and a high percentage of people in one’s social network who are a source of stress or worry were significantly associated with higher CES-D scores and explained more variation in CES-D scores than did genetic factors. Only one genetic variant (rs1360780 in FKBP5) was significantly associated with CES-D scores and only when the social stressors were included in the model. Interestingly, the effect of FKPB5 appeared to be strongest in individuals with high financial strain such that participants with a T allele at rs1360780 in FKBP5 and high financial strain had the highest mean CES-D scores in our study population. These results suggest that material disadvantage and a stressful social environment increases the risk of depression, but that individual-level genetic variation may increase susceptibility to the adverse health consequences of social stressors.


1947 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-370

Experience gained from the functioning of the Caribbean Commission provided a working basis for the creation of the South Pacific Commission, since four of the six participating governments at the South Seas Conference were already members of the Caribbean Commission, a similar regional organization. Delegations representing the governments which administer non-self-governing territories in the South Pacific area (Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) met at the South Seas Conference at Canberra from January 28 to February 6, 1947, to prepare an agreement for the establishment of a regional commission which might aid in promoting the social and economic advancement of 2,000,000 peoples in the South Pacific. The Conference was called by the Australian and New Zealand governments in fulfilment of the Canberra Pact of January, 1944.


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