Armed robbery and the meanings of money.

In this study, we investigate the meanings active armed robbers give to money before, during, and after their crimes and how these meanings shape their offending. We do so by examining interviews undertaken from 1994 to 1995 with robbers in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Prior to their robberies, the interviewees' desperation leads them to define money as essential to survival. Immediately following robberies and in looking back on them, they come to view this essential money in other ways as well-as too time-consuming to get, as "easy," or as guilt-free. These meanings facilitate the contradictory way robbers see money as "fast" after offences. We discuss how these shifting meanings of money shape and are shaped by robbers' structural positions, cultural outlooks, and social relations. In doing so, we also help to explain how the shifting meanings of money play into criminogenic cycles of predatory offending.

Speak Up! Prosocial Intervention Verbalizations Predict Successful Bystander Intervention for a Laboratory Analogue of Sexual Aggression.

This study evaluated a mechanism by which men's self-efficacy to intervene increases their likelihood of preventing a laboratory analogue of sexual aggression (SA) via specific verbalizations and whether alcohol inhibits this mechanism. A sample of 78 male peer dyads were randomly assigned to consume an alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverage and complete a laboratory paradigm to assess bystander intervention to prevent SA toward a female who had ostensibly consumed an alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverage. Participants' verbalizations during the task were subjected to quantitative analysis. Regardless of alcohol use, bystander self-efficacy increased the likelihood of successful bystander intervention via participants' use of more prosocial verbalizations. Findings highlight prosocial verbalizations within the male peer context that may effectively prevent SA.

Problem Drinking, Alcohol-Related Violence, and Homelessness among Youth Living in the Slums of Kampala, Uganda.

This paper examines problem drinking, alcohol-related violence, and homelessness among youth living in the slums of Kampala—an understudied population at high-risk for both alcohol use and violence. This study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2014 with youth living in the slums and streets of Kampala, Uganda (n = 1134), who were attending Uganda Youth Development Link drop-in centers. The analyses for this paper were restricted to youth who reported current alcohol consumption (n = 346). Problem drinking patterns were assessed among youth involved in alcohol-related violence. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the impact of homelessness on alcohol-related violence through different measures of problem drinking. Nearly 46% of youth who consumed alcohol were involved in alcohol-related violence. Problem drinkers were more likely to report getting in an accident (χ² = 6.8, df = 1, p = 0.009), having serious problems with parents (χ² = 21.1, df = 1, p < 0.0001) and friends (χ² = 18.2, df = 1, p < 0.0001), being a victim of robbery (χ² = 8.8, df = 1, p = 0.003), and going to a hospital (χ² = 15.6, df = 1, p < 0.0001). For the mediation analyses, statistically significant models were observed for frequent drinking, heavy drinking, and drunkenness. Interventions should focus on delaying and reducing alcohol use in this high-risk population.

Pre-Teen Alcohol Use as a Risk Factor for Victimization and Perpetration of Bullying among Middle and High School Students in Georgia.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the association between pre-teen alcohol use initiation and the victimization and perpetration of bullying among middle and high school students in Georgia. METHODS: We computed analyses using data from the 2006 Georgia Student Health Survey (N=175,311) of students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12. The current analyses were limited to students in grades 8, 10 and 12 (n=122,434). We used multilogistic regression analyses to determine the associations between early alcohol use and reports of both victimization and perpetration of bullying, perpetration only, victimization only, and neither victimization or perpetration, while controlling for demographic characteristics, other substance use, peer drinking and weapon carrying. RESULTS: Pre-teen alcohol use initiation was significantly associated with both bullying perpetration and victimization relative to non drinkers in bivariate analyses (OR=3.20 95%CI:3.03-3.39). The association was also significant between pre-teen alcohol use initiation and perpetration and victimization of bullying in analyses adjusted for confounders (Adj.OR=1.74; 95%CI:1.61-1.89). Overall, findings were similar for boys and girls. CONCLUSION: Pre-teen alcohol use initiation is an important risk factor for both the perpetration and victimization of bullying among boys and girls in Georgia. Increased efforts to delay and reduce early alcohol use through clinical interventions, education and policies may also positively impact other health risk behaviors, including bullying.

Alcohol and drug use among gang members: experiences of adolescents who attend school.

BACKGROUND: Problems related to gangs have been noted in large cities and in many schools across the United States. This study examined the patterns of alcohol, drug use, and related exposures among male and female high school students who were gang members. METHODS: Analyses were based on the Youth Violence Survey, conducted in 2004, and administered to over 80% of eligible public school students in grades 7, 9, 11, and 12 (N = 4131) in a high-risk, urban school district. The self-administered survey, completed during a class period, included measures of alcohol and drug use and related exposures. Tests of associations were determined using chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: In this study, 8.8% of students reported gang membership. Students who initiated alcohol use prior to age 13 (OR = 4.90; 95% CI: 3.65-6.58), who drank alcohol 3 or more times per week (OR = 9.57; 95% CI: 6.09-15.03) and who used drugs 3 or more times per week (OR = 6.51; 95% CI: 4.59-9.25) were more likely to report gang membership than students who did not report alcohol or drug use. Boys were more likely than girls to report alcohol-related fighting and drug selling. DISCUSSION: Gang members were significantly more likely than non-gang members to have initiated alcohol early, to have reported a high prevalence of alcohol use, to have engaged in alcohol-related physical fighting, peer drinking, drug use, drug selling, peer drug selling, and having seen drug deals in their neighborhood. Schools may serve as a critically important source for intervention and prevention efforts for gang members, especially those in 7th grade, who still attend school.