Inequalities in US Life Expectancy by Area Unemployment Level, 1990-2010

This study examined the association between unemployment and life expectancy in the United States during 1990-2010. 

Census-based unemployment rates were linked to US county-level mortality data. Life expectancies were calculated by age, sex, race, and unemployment level during 1990-2010. Differences in life expectancy were decomposed by age and cause of death. 

Life expectancy was consistently lower in areas with higher unemployment rates. In 2006-2010, those in areas with high unemployment rates (≥9%) had a life expectancy of 76.9 years, compared with 80.7 years for those in areas with low unemployment rates (<3%). The association between unemployment and life expectancy was stronger for men than for women. 

Life expectancy ranged from 69.9 years among black men in high unemployment areas to 90.0 years among Asian/Pacific Islander women in low unemployment areas. Disparities persisted over time. In 1990-1992, life expectancy was 4.7 years shorter in high unemployment than in low unemployment areas. In 2006-2010, the life expectancy difference between the lowest and highest unemployment areas decreased to 3.8 years. Heart disease, cancer, homicide, unintentional injuries, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and liver cirrhosis contributed most to the lower life expectancy in high unemployment areas. High unemployment areas recorded larger gains in life expectancy than low unemployment areas, contributing to the narrowing gap during 1990-2010.

Below:  Life expectancy at birth by sex and area unemployment level, United States, 1990–2010

Below:  Survivorship by age, race, and unemployment level, United States, 1990–2010

Below:  Conditional probability of survival between ages of 25 and 64 years by unemployment level, United States, 1990–2010

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/FI27Gt

By:  Singh GK1, Siahpush M2.

• 1US Department of Health and Human Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, USA.
• 2Department of Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health, Omaha, NE 68198-4365, USA.
• Scientifica (Cairo). 2016;2016:8290435. doi: 10.1155/2016/8290435. Epub 2016 Mar 17. 

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Emory Douglas: The Art of The Black Panthers, Short Documentary

Emory Douglas: The Art of The Black Panthers from Dress Code on Vimeo.

Understanding Associations between Religious Beliefs and White Privilege Attitudes

Scholars have grappled with how religion in the United States shapes attitudes toward racial inequality, often by focusing on racial inequality as out-group disadvantage. 

The current study extends this research by moving beyond racial inequality as out-group disadvantage to examine how religious conservatism and sanctification of social justice (i.e., attributing spiritual or religious significance to working for social justice) are associated with attitudes toward racial in-group advantage: white privilege. 

Using canonical correlation analysis with 475 white Catholic and Protestant students, results showed religious beliefs and white privilege attitudes were connected in two ways: 

1. sanctification of social justice was positively associated with a dimension defined by greater willingness to confront white privilege and greater white privilege remorse and awareness and 
2. religious conservatism was negatively associated with a dimension defined by greater awareness of white privilege. 

This shows how religion may facilitate or inhibit awareness and action related to white privilege.

Full PDF article at:   https://goo.gl/xIArSw  Abstract:  http://goo.gl/QVbqke

By:  Nathan R. Todd1, Rachael L. Suffrin2, Elizabeth A. McConnell2, Charlynn A. Odahl-Ruan2

¹University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

²DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

Nathan R. Todd, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. Email: ntodd2@illinois.edu

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White Supremacy vs White Privilege in Environmental Racism Research

In this report I compare two forms of racism: white privilege and white supremacy. I examine how they are distinct and can be seen in the environmental racism arena. 

I argue that within US geographic scholarship white privilege has become so widespread that more aggressive forms of racism, such as white supremacy, are often overlooked. It is essential that we understand the precise dynamics that produce environmental injustice so that we can accurately target the responsible parties via strategic social movements and campaigns. Using the case of Exide Technologies in Vernon, California, I argue that the hazards generated by its longstanding regulatory noncompliance are a form of white supremacy.

Full PDF article at:  http://goo.gl/CyiAeT  Abstract:  http://goo.gl/ITckh1

By:  Laura Pulido, American Studies & Ethnicity, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

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Deny, Distance, or Dismantle? How White Americans Manage a Privileged Identity

Social scientists have traditionally argued that whiteness-the attribute of being recognized and treated as a White person in society-is powerful because it is invisible. On this view, members of the racially dominant group have the unique luxury of rarely noticing their race or the privileges it confers. 

This article challenges this "invisibility thesis," arguing that Whites frequently regard themselves as racial actors. We further argue that whiteness defines a problematic social identity that confronts Whites with 2 psychological threats: the possibility that their accomplishments in life were not fully earned (meritocratic threat) and the association with a group that benefits from unfair social advantages (group-image threat). We theorize that Whites manage their racial identity to dispel these threats. 

According to our deny, distance, or dismantle (3D) model of White identity management, dominant-group members have three strategies at their disposal: deny the existence of privilege, distance their own self-concepts from the White category, or strive to dismantle systems of privilege. Whereas denial and distancing promote insensitivity and inaction with respect to racial inequality, dismantling reduces threat by relinquishing privileges. 

We suggest that interventions aimed at reducing inequality should attempt to leverage dismantling as a strategy of White identity management.

Purchase full article at:   http://goo.gl/AMUToK

By:  Knowles ED1, Lowery BS2, Chow RM3, Unzueta MM4.

• 1New York University eric.knowles@nyu.edu.
• 2Stanford University.
• 3Carnegie Mellon University.
• 4University of California, Los Angeles. 
• Perspect Psychol Sci. 2014 Nov;9(6):594-609. doi: 10.1177/1745691614554658.

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An Empirical Analysis of White Privilege, Social Position and Health

Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that social position matters for health. Those with greater socioeconomic resources and greater perceived standing in the social hierarchy have better health than those with fewer resources and lower perceived standing. Race is another salient axis by which health is stratified in the U.S., but few studies have examined the benefit of White privilege. 

In this paper, we investigated how perceptions of inequality and subjective and objective social status affected the health and well-being of N = 630 White residents in three Boston neighborhoods lying on a social gradient differentiated by race, ethnicity, income and prestige. Outcomes were self-rated health, dental health, and happiness. Results suggested that: neighborhood residence was not associated with health after controlling for individual level factors (e.g., positive ratings of the neighborhood, education level); objective measures of socioeconomic status were associated with better self-reported and dental health, but subjective assessments of social position were more strongly associated; and White residents living in the two wealthiest neighborhoods, and who perceived Black families as welcome in their neighborhoods enjoyed better health than those who believed them to be less welcome. However, those who lived in the least wealthy and most diverse neighborhood fared worse when reporting Black families to be welcome. 

These results suggest that White privilege and relative social position interact to shape health outcomes.

Below:  Relationship between perceived neighborhood welcome to Black families and health outcomes (self-rated health, dental health, and happiness). Values for self-rated health ranged from 1 to 4; dental health from 1 to 5; and happiness from 0 to 2. For both self-rated health and dental health, lower scores are better.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/V2gSZ3

By:  Kwate NO1, Goodman MS2.

• 1Departments of Human Ecology and Africana Studies, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 55 Dudley Rd, Cook Office Building, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520, USA. Electronic address: nokwate@rci.rutgers.edu.
• 2Division of Public Health Sciences Department of Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8100, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. 
• Soc Sci Med. 2014 Sep;116:150-60. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.041. Epub 2014 Jun 13.

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'Struggling to be the Alpha': Sources of Tension & Intimate Partner Violence in Same-Sex Relationships Between Men

In countries such as the USA, gay and bisexual men experience high rates of intimate partner violence. However, little is known about the factors that contribute to this form of violence. 

In this study, we examine gay and bisexual men's perceptions of sources of tension in same-sex male relationships and how these may contribute to intimate partner violence. We conducted seven focus-group discussions with 64 gay and bisexual men in Atlanta, GA. Focus groups examined men's reactions to the short-form revised Conflicts Tactics Scale to determine if each item was considered to be intimate partner violence if it were to occur among gay and bisexual men. Analysts completed a thematic analysis, using elements of grounded theory. 

The sources of tension that men identified included: gender role conflict, dyadic inequalities (e.g. differences in income, age, education), differences in 'outness' about sexual identity, substance use, jealousy and external homophobic violence. 

Results suggest that intimate partner violence interventions for gay and bisexual men should address behavioural factors, while also focusing on structural interventions. Interventions that aim to reduce homophobic stigma and redefine male gender roles may help to address some of the tension that contributes to intimate partner violence in same-sex male relationships.

Purchase full article at:   http://goo.gl/10MnL5

By:  Goldenberg T1,2, Stephenson R1,2, Freeland R2, Finneran C3, Hadley C4.

• 1a Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences , School of Nursing, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI , USA.
• 2b Center for Sexuality and Health Disparities , University of Michigan , Michigan , USA.
• 3c Department of Epidemiology , Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA.
• 4d Department of Anthropology , Emory College of Arts and Sciences , Atlanta , GA , USA. 
• Cult Health Sex. 2016 Mar 11:1-15.

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Raising Sexual Minority Youths’ Health Levels by Incorporating Resiliencies Into Health Promotion Efforts

Myriad health inequities that sexual minority youths (SMYs) experience have been documented over the past several decades. Evidence demonstrates that these are not a result of intrinsic characteristics; rather, they result from high levels of adversity that SMYs experience. Despite the pervasive marginalization that SMYs face, there is also evidence of great resilience within this population. It seems likely that if a culture of marginalization produces health inequities in SMYs, a culture of acceptance and integration can work to produce resiliencies.

We have described how promoting forms of acceptance and integration could work to promote resilient SMYs despite an overarching culture of marginalization.

Building on SMYs’ resiliencies may potentiate the effectiveness of health promotion interventions to reduce health disparities within this population.

…Perhaps the most important acceptance for SMYs is into heterosexual majority culture. Increased self-acceptance and integration into sexual minority communities can help promote the resiliencies necessary to offset or overcome the effects of not being fully accepted into mainstream culture. However, if sociocultural oppression and marginalization were diminished, the need for individual- and community-level intervention would be diminished. For example, Hatzenbueler et al. found that sexual minority individuals living in states instituting bans on same-sex marriage during the 2004 and 2005 election cycles had higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders than did heterosexuals in the same states and sexual minorities in states without such bans.54 Although the effects of institutionalized discrimination on the mental health of youths is unknown, these effects may be even more pronounced among youths coming of age, as these bans reinforce cultural assumptions about the abnormality of sexual minorities.

SMYs often come to terms with their sexuality in isolation, within a culture that may deny them access to such basic rights as marriage, adoption, and protection against housing and employment discrimination. Within this context it is not surprising that SMYs may lack some of the life goals and visions for the future that contribute to a trajectory of health. When SMYs mature in a context of full citizenship, with access to the range of benefits and rights afforded to their heterosexual peers, there will no longer need to be reliance on innovative ways to offset the risks associated with social marginalization. Rather, cultural acceptance and integration of SMYs into mainstream society will minimize the marginalization these youths experience, thereby minimizing resultant health inequities. Meanwhile, researchers must develop, implement, and evaluate interventions that increase acceptance of SMYs among communities-at-large…

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/ynZnJ0

By:  Amy L. Herrick, PhD, James E. Egan, MPH, Robert W. S. Coulter, MPH, M. Reuel Friedman, PhD, and Ron Stall, PhD

All authors are with the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

Corresponding author.

Correspondence should be sent to Amy L. Herrick, PhD, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (e-mail: ude.ttip@57hla). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints” link.

Contributors

A. L. Herrick led the development of the article, including writing. All other authors contributed to the conceptualization of the commentary and reviewed the drafts.

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Moms for Transgender Equality

Via:  http://goo.gl/DjjOEq

Trends in Inequalities in the Use of Condom by Urban Teenagers in Spain

Social and economic inequalities in condom use by adolescents have been reported previously. Also, condom use has declined during the last decade. The aim of the study was to describe trends in the use of condoms in our setting, and how these trends may differ between socioeconomic groups in boys, and separately in girls, aged 17-19 years attending school in Barcelona between 2004 and 2012. 

We analyzed data from three annual surveys on risk factors in secondary students, which included a representative sample of the city's population; individuals who had previously had sexual intercourse (n = 1570) were included in the study. We calculated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and their confidence intervals (95 % CI) using robust Poisson regression models. 

The prevalence of condom use

• among boys was 87.0 % in 2004 and 76.2 % in 2012, 
• and 76.7 and 64.7 % among girls, respectively. 

This decrease was greater in adolescents with a low socioeconomic level, both in boys (aPR = 0.80) and girls (aPR = 0.84). The observed increase of socioeconomic inequalities in condom use in adolescents highlights a possible deterioration in good sexual practices and policies during the studied period.

Via: http://ht.ly/Sskoa Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/5VpOY5

By:  Alvarez-Bruned L1, Garcia-Continente X2,3, Gotsens M2,4, Pérez A2,4,3, Pérez G5,6,7,8.

• 1Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2Health Information System Service, Barcelona Agency of Public Health, Plaça Lesseps, 1, 08023, Barcelona, Spain.
• 3Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau) (Institute of Biomedical Research), Barcelona, Spain.
• 4CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
• 5Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
• 6Health Information System Service, Barcelona Agency of Public Health, Plaça Lesseps, 1, 08023, Barcelona, Spain
• 7CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
• 8Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau) (Institute of Biomedical Research), Barcelona, Spain

Antiretroviral Therapy & Changing Patterns of HIV Stigmatisation in Entebbe, Uganda

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has the potential to change processes of HIV stigmatisation. In this article, changing processes of stigmatisation among a group of people living with HIV (PLWH) on ART in Wakiso District, Uganda, are analysed using qualitative data from a study of PLWH's self-management of HIV on ART. 

There were 38 respondents (20 women, 18 men) who had been taking ART for at least 1 year. They were purposefully selected from government and non-government ART providers. Two in-depth interviews were held with each participant. 

Processes of reduced self-stigmatisation were clearly evident, caused by the recovery of their physical appearance and support from health workers. However most participants continued to conceal their status because they anticipated stigma; for example, they feared gossip, rejection and their status being used against them. 

Anticipated stigma was gendered: women expressed greater fear of enacted forms of stigma such as rejection by their partner; in contrast men's fears focused on gossip, loss of dignity and self-stigmatisation. 

The evidence indicates that ART has not reduced underlying structural drivers of stigmatisation, notably gender identities and inequalities, and that interventions are still required to mitigate and tackle stigmatisation, such as counselling, peer-led education and support groups that can help PLWH reconstruct alternative and more positive identities. 

A video abstract of this article, via: https://youtu.be/WtIaZJQ3Y_8

Via:   http://ht.ly/Ss7A5 

By:  Russell S1, Zalwango F2, Namukwaya S2, Katongole J2, Muhumuza R2, Nalugya R2, Seeley J2.

• 1School of International Development, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk.
• 2Medical Research Council, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Uganda.