Predicting Pathways into Criminal Behavior: The Intersection of Race, Gender, Poverty, Psychological Factors.

Women's incarceration rates have increased dramatically over recent years; with Black women's rates disproportionately and significantly higher than other races. Researchers have attempted to understand this criminal justice involvement disparity, and have suggested two major theoretical pathways Differential Involvement and Differential Selection Theories to explain these racial differences. We use the Differential Involvement Theory as a framework to discuss how the objective experience of economic disadvantage as measured by indicators of structural hardship including educational and employment under-attainment and the experience of psychological stress related to resource loss (because of this disadvantage) may explain women's engagement in criminal activity.

Industrialization Stresses, Alcohol Abuse & Substance Dependence: Differential Gender Effects in a Kenyan Rural Farming Community.

Developing countries' industrialization and urbanization attempts have been linked to psychological distress and alcohol abuse. We used Hobfoll's COR theory to examine the relationship between gender, perceived resource loss (an indicator of industrialization stress), and alcohol abuse and dependence in a sample of Kenyan rural village men and women (N = 186). Regression analyses indicated that both gender and COR loss predicted alcohol abuse and dependence.

Romance, recovery & community re-entry for criminal justice involved women: Conceptualizing and measuring intimate relationship factors and power.

Researchers have suggested that interpersonal relationships, particularly romantic relationships, may influence women's attempts at substance abuse recovery and community re-entry after criminal justice system involvement. The present paper evaluates relational and power theories to conceptualize the influence of romantic partner and romantic relationship qualities on pathways in and out of substance abuse and crime. The paper then combines these conceptualizations with a complementary empirical analysis to describe an ongoing research project that longitudinally investigates these relational and power driven factors on women's substance abuse recovery and community re-entry success among former substance abusing, recently criminally involved women.

Continued Successful SA Recovery during the Maintenance Stage: Intra-Individual Resource Loss & Gain Predict Relapse.

OBJECTIVES: We combine Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and key components of self-help group "step work" ideology to investigate how dynamic changes in key intra-individual resource loss and gains (self-esteem, abstinence self-efficacy, existential growth) influence relapse rates in a sample of individuals in the Maintenance Stage of substance abuse recovery. METHODS: Participants (n = 579) completed two surveys over a nine month period that assessed baseline and changes in intra-individual loss and gain resources as well as relapse rates over study course. Multiple regression analyses were performed to predict whether baseline and dynamic changes in intra-individual scores predict relapse rates over time.

Cognitive strategies affecting recall of sexual behavior among high-risk men and women.

Objective: Most sexual health research depends on self-reported information, but little is known about the ways in which individuals arrive at their responses to sexual behavior questions. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the cognitive strategies and contextual cues used to recall sexual behaviors among men and women at high risk for HIV.

Design: 102 men and 106 women were recruited from a public health sexually transmitted disease clinic (mean age = 31 years; 45% African American, 50% White) and asked to think aloud as they responded to questions about number of lifetime sexual partners and frequency of vaginal and oral sex (in the past 2 weeks or 3 months).

Job characteristics, occupational status, and ambulatory cardiovascular activity in women.

Background: Prior research concerning the effects of occupational status and work stress on ambulatory blood pressure (AmBP) has seldom included women, and available results are equivocal. Moreover, the concurrent effects of occupational status and job characteristics have rarely been investigated. Some research is consistent with the idea that stressful job characteristics are especially detrimental to health in low-status workers, creating a cumulative physiological burden.