The Relationship between Atmospheric Lead Emissions & Aggressive Crime: An Ecological Study

Background

Many populations have been exposed to environmental lead from paint, petrol, and mining and smelting operations. Lead is toxic to humans and there is emerging evidence linking childhood exposure with later life antisocial behaviors, including delinquency and crime. This study tested the hypothesis that childhood lead exposure in select Australian populations is related to subsequent aggressive criminal behaviors.

Methods

We conducted regression analyses at suburb, state and national levels using multiple analytic methods and data sources. At the suburb-level, we examined assault rates as a function of air lead concentrations 15–24 years earlier, reflecting the ubiquitous age-related peak in criminal activity. Mixed model analyses were conducted with and without socio-demographic covariates. The incidence of fraud was compared for discriminant validity. State and national analyses were conducted for convergent validity, utilizing deaths by assault as a function of petrol lead emissions.

Results

Suburb-level mixed model analyses showed air lead concentrations accounted for 29.8 % of the variance in assault rates 21 years later, after adjusting for socio-demographic covariates. State level analyses produced comparable results. Lead petrol emissions in the two most populous states accounted for 34.6 and 32.6 % of the variance in death by assault rates 18 years later.

Conclusions

The strong positive relationship between childhood lead exposure and subsequent rates of aggressive crime has important implications for public health globally. Measures need to be taken to ameliorate exposure to lead and other environmental contaminants with known neurodevelopmental consequences.

Below:  Scatterplot showing the relationships between lead in air concentrations and assault rates 21 years later for all six suburbs

Below:  Scatterplot showing the relationship between lead petrol emissions and death by assault rates 18 years later for NSW

Below:  Lead in air concentrations and assault rates for six suburbs, 1973–1999

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/b4c2Wb

By:  Mark Patrick Taylor, Miriam K. Forbes, Brian Opeskin, Nick Parr, and Bruce P. Lanphear

Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University Energy and Environmental Contaminants Research Centre, Sydney, NSW Australia

Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW Australia

Macquarie Law School, Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW Australia

Department of Marketing and Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW Australia

Department of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC Canada

Mark Patrick Taylor, Email: ua.ude.qm@rolyat.kram.

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Poly-Drug Trafficking: Estimating the Scale, Trends and Harms at the Australian Border

Highlights

• Poly-drug trafficking occurred in Australia in almost every year from 1999 to 2012.
• This type of drug trafficking was associated with larger quantities of drugs and more assets seized.
• Poly-drug traffickers were more involved in other forms of criminal activity.
• The findings suggest poly-drug trafficking may make traffickers more resilient and profitable.
• Future studies are needed to replicate the analysis in other countries.

Background

International drug law enforcement agencies have identified an apparent rise in high level drug traffickers choosing to deal in multiple different drugs. It is hypothesised that this may be a “deliberate modus operandi” and that the formation of “portfolios of trades” may make such traffickers more profitable, harmful and resilient to changes in drug supply and policing. In this paper we provide the first exploration of the extent, nature and harms of poly-drug trafficking at Australian borders.

Methods

Two different methods were used. First, we used Australian Federal Police (AFP) data on all commercial level seizures at the Australian border from 1999 to 2012 to identify the proportion of seizures that were poly-drug and trends over time. Second, we used unit-record data on a sub-set of 20 drug trafficking cases and linked-cases (defined as the original drug trafficking case and all other criminal cases that were connected via common offenders and/or suspects) to compare the profiles of poly-drug and mono-drug traffickers, including: the total weight and type of drug seized, the value of assets seized, and the level of involvement in other crime (such as money laundering and corruption).

Results

Between 5% and 35% of commercial importations at the Australian border involved poly-drug trafficking. Poly-drug trafficking occurred in almost every year of analysis (1999 to 2012), but it increased only slightly over time. Compared to mono-drug traffickers poly-drug traffickers were characterised by: larger quantities of drugs seized, larger networks, longer criminal histories and more involvement in other types of serious crime.

Conclusion

Some fears about poly-drug traffickers may have been overstated particularly about the inherent escalation of this form of trafficking. Nevertheless, this suggests poly-drug traffickers are likely to pose added risks to governments and law enforcement than mono-drug traffickers. They may necessitate different types of policy responses.

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By:  Dr Caitlin Elizabeth Hughes, Dr Jenny Chalmers, Dr David Anthony Bright, Dr Michael McFadden

Affiliations

Drug Policy Modelling Program, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

Correspondence

Corresponding author. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2052. Tel.: +61 2 9385 0132; fax: +61 2 9385 0222.

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Parental Criminal Justice Involvement and Children's Involvement with Child Protective Services: Do Adult Drug Treatment Courts Prevent Child Maltreatment?

BACKGROUND:

In light of evidence showing reduced criminal recidivism and cost savings, adult drug treatment courts have grown in popularity. However, the potential spillover benefits to family members are understudied.

OBJECTIVES:

To examine: (1) the overlap between parents who were convicted of a substance-related offense and their children's involvement with child protective services (CPS); and (2) whether parental participation in an adult drug treatment court program reduces children's risk for CPS involvement.

METHODS:

Administrative data from North Carolina courts, birth records, and social services were linked at the child level. First, children of parents convicted of a substance-related offense were matched to (a) children of parents convicted of a nonsubstance-related offense and (b) those not convicted of any offense. Second, we compared children of parents who completed a DTC program with children of parents who were referred but did not enroll, who enrolled for <90 days but did not complete, and who enrolled for 90+ days but did not complete. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model group differences in the odds of being reported to CPS in the 1 to 3 years following parental criminal conviction or, alternatively, being referred to a DTC program.

RESULTS:

Children of parents convicted of a substance-related offense were at greater risk of CPS involvement than children whose parents were not convicted of any charge, but DTC participation did not mitigate this risk. Conclusion/Importance: The role of specialty courts as a strategy for reducing children's risk of maltreatment should be further explored.

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By:  Gifford EJ1, Eldred LM2, Sloan FA2, Evans KE1.

• 1 Center for Child and Family Policy , Duke University , Durham , North Carolina , USA.
• 2 Department of Economics , Duke University , Durham , North Carolina , USA.
• Subst Use Misuse. 2016 Jan 20:1-14 

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Exploring the Defensive Actions of Drug Sellers in Open-Air Markets: A Systematic Social Observation

Objectives: The current study contributes to the literature through a systematic social observation of the defensive actions of drug sellers within open-air retail markets. The study expands upon previous literature by incorporating a novel data collection and coding method.

Methods: Video footage of narcotics transactions was extracted from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system of the Newark, NJ Police Department. Researchers transcribed and coded the footage to measure the frequency of defensive actions incorporated by drug sellers. Fisher’s exact tests measured whether the frequency of each defensive action significantly differed across geographic setting or time of day.

Results: The frequency of many defensive actions was significantly related to geographic setting and time of day. The strongest relationship was observed between the use of stash spots and setting. Overall, the findings suggest that drug sellers adopt tenets of Opportunity Theory to protect themselves from law enforcement, specifically by acting as guardians and place managers on their own behalf.

Conclusions: This study extends prior techniques and provides an additional case study on the use of CCTV footage in the study of street-level crime. This methodology can be used in concert with more traditional ethnographic techniques in the study of the drug trade and in crime-and-place research in general.

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By:  

Eric L. Piza1⇑

Victoria A. Sytsma2

¹Department of Law and Police Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City, NY, USA

²Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Eric L. Piza, Department of Law and Police Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City, NY, USA. Email: epiza@jjay.cuny.edu

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Substance Abuse & Criminal Activities Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Childhood, Adolescence & Early Adulthood

OBJECTIVE:

Use a longitudinal birth cohort to evaluate the association of traumatic brain injury at ages 0 to 5, 6 to 15, and 16 to 21 years with drug and alcohol abuse and engagement in criminal activities.

MAIN MEASURES:

Follow-up over 21 to 25 years using self-report of drug and alcohol use, arrests, and violent and property offenses. Outcomes were assessed for 2 levels of severity (inpatient, hospitalized; outpatient, seen by general practitioner or at emergency department).

RESULTS:

Adjusted for child and family factors, compared with noninjured individuals, inpatients injured at 0 to 5 years or 16 to 21 years were more likely to have symptoms consistent with drug dependence. All inpatient groups had increased risk of arrest, with the age groups of 0 to 5 and 6 to 15 years more likely to be involved in violent offenses and the age group of 0 to 5 years more likely to engage in property offenses. Outpatient group had an increased risk of violent offenses for first injury 0 to 5 years, arrests and property offenses for injury 6 to 15 years, and increased risk of arrests and violent offenses for injury 16 to 21 years of age. However, when alcohol dependence and drug dependence were added as an additional covariate, traumatic brain injury was no longer associated with criminal behavior for the age group of 0 to 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS:

Traumatic brain injury is associated with increased criminal behavior and may represent a risk factor for offending. However, early substance use is a mediating factor for those injured early in life.

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By:   McKinlay A¹, Corrigan J, Horwood LJ, Fergusson DM.

¹Monash University, School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Australia (Dr McKinlay); Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (Dr McKinlay); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio (Dr Corrigan); and Christchurch Health and Development Study, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand (Mr Horwood and Dr Fergusson).

J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2014 Nov-Dec;29(6):498-506. doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000001.

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The Beheading of Criminal Organizations and the Dynamics of Violence in Mexico

In this mixed-methods study, we adopted a feminist theoretical lens in conceptualizing gender as in 2006, the Mexican government launched an aggressive campaign to weaken drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs). The security policies differed significantly from those of previous administrations in the use of a leadership strategy (the targeting for arrest of the highest levels or core leadership of criminal networks). 

While these strategies can play an important role in disrupting the targeted criminal organization, they can also have unintended consequences, increasing inter-cartel and intra-cartel fighting and fragmenting criminal organizations. What impact do captures of senior drug cartel members have on the dynamics of drug-related violence? Does it matter if governments target drug kingpins versus lower-ranked lieutenants? 

We analyze whether the captures or killings of kingpins and lieutenants have increased drug-related violence and whether the violence spills over spatially. To estimate effects that are credibly causal, we use different empirical strategies that combine difference-in-differences and synthetic control group methods. 

We find evidence that captures or killings of drug cartel leaders have exacerbating effects not only on DTO-related violence but also on homicides that affect the general population. Captures or killings of lieutenants, for their part, only seem to exacerbate violence in “strategic places” or municipalities located in the transportation network. 

While most of the effects on DTO-related violence are found in the first six months after a leader’s removal, effects on homicides affecting the rest of the population are more enduring, suggesting different mechanisms through which leadership neutralizations breed violence.

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By:   Gabriela Calderón1,2, Gustavo Robles3,4⇑, Alberto Díaz-Cayeros5, Beatriz Magaloni3,5

1. ¹Dirección General de Investigación Económica, Banco de México, México City, México
2. ²Poverty and Governance Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
3. ³Political Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
4. ⁴Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
5. ⁵Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

1. Gustavo Robles, Political Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. Email: grobles@stanford.edu

 

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Crime in Baltimore from 2010 - 2015 Mapped & Visualized

Via:  http://goo.gl/t8s4R0 By: https://twitter.com/mantascode

Criminal Activity or Treatable Health Condition? News Media Framing of Opioid Analgesic Abuse in the United States, 1998-2012

OBJECTIVE:

Opioid analgesic abuse is a complex and relatively new public health problem, and to date little is known about how the news media frame the issue.

METHODS:

To better understand how this issue has been framed in public discourse, an analysis was conducted of the volume and content of news media coverage of opioid analgesic abuse over a 15-year period from 1998 to 2012 (N=673 news stories). A 70-item structured coding instrument was used to measure items in four domains that prior research suggests can influence public attitudes about health and social issues: causes, solutions, and consequences of the problem and individual depictions of persons who abuse opioid analgesics.

RESULTS:

Although experts have deemed opioid analgesic abuse a public health crisis, results of our study suggest that the news media more often frame the problem as a criminal justice issue. The most frequently mentioned cause of the problem was illegal drug dealing, and the most frequently mentioned solutions were law enforcement solutions designed to arrest and prosecute the individuals responsible for diverting opioid analgesics onto the illegal market. Prevention-oriented approaches, such as prescription drug-monitoring programs, were mentioned more frequently in the latter years of the study period, but less than 5% of news stories overall mentioned expanding substance abuse treatment, and even fewer mentioned expanding access to evidence-based medication-assisted treatments, such as buprenorphine.

CONCLUSIONS:

Findings underscore the need for a concerted effort to reframe opioid analgesic abuse as a treatable condition addressable via well-established public and behavioral health approaches.

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By:  McGinty EE1, Kennedy-Hendricks A1, Baller J1, Niederdeppe J1, Gollust S1, Barry CL1.

• 1Dr. McGinty, Dr. Kennedy-Hendricks, Dr. Baller, and Dr. Barry are with the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (e-mail: bmcginty@jhu.edu ). Dr. McGinty and Dr. Barry are also with the Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. Dr. Niederdeppe is with the Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Dr. Gollust is with the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. 

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Youth Arrested for Trading Sex Have the Highest Rates of Childhood Adversity: A Statewide Study of Juvenile Offenders

Naramore R1, Bright MA2, Epps N3, Hardt NS1.

• 1University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.
• 2University of Florida, Gainesville, USA mbright08@ufl.edu.
• 3Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Tallahassee, USA.

A history of childhood adversity is associated with high-risk behaviors and criminal activity in both adolescents and adults. Furthermore, individuals with histories of child maltreatment are at higher risk for engaging in risky sexual behavior, experiencing re-victimization, and in some cases, becoming sexual offenders. 

The purpose of the current study was to examine the prevalence of individual and cumulative adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) reported by 102 offending youth who were arrested for trading sex and 64,227 offending youth who were arrested for various other crimes, using Florida's Positive Achievement Change Tool. 

Youth with violations related to sex trafficking had higher rates for each ACE as well as number of ACEs, particularly sexual abuse and physical neglect. These findings have implications for identifying adverse experiences in both maltreated and offending youth as well as tailoring services to prevent re-victimization.

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