Herbert C. Covey

Effects of adolescent physical abuse, exposure to neighborhood violence, and witnessing parental violence on adult socioeconomic status

Research on the effects of adolescent physical abuse, witnessing domestic violence, and perceptions of community violence have generally, with few exceptions, found them to be predictive of subsequent negative behavioral outcomes, such as substance abuse, crime, and other problem behaviors. Less frequently studied is the relationship of these adverse adolescent experiences to adult socioeconomic statuses. This study utilizes longitudinal self-report data from the National Youth Survey Family Study to investigate how these three factors influence future socioeconomic statuses: marital status, educational attainment, employment, income, and wealth (net worth). Significant associations with adult socioeconomic statuses are found most often for physical abuse, but neighborhood violence is the only one of the three that is predictive of adult employment. Witnessing parental violence is associated with adult income and net worth. Limitations and policy implications of the present research, in the context of past research in this area, are considered.

UCR and NCS: Comparisons over space and time

Tests of statistical and correlation/regression methods were used to compare victimization data and official police data across time and space. For the spatial comparison, victimization data from twenty-six cities surveyed by the LEAA were compared with FBI Uniform Crime Report data on offenses known to the police for those same cities. For the temporal comparison, victimization data from the annual National Crime Survey were compared with national data from FBI Uniform Crime Report data on offenses known to the police. Victimization data were transformed when necessary to crimes per capita, rather than crimes per household to make them more comparable to official statistics. For selected offenses, rates of victimization involving injury, substantial property loss, or invasion of an individuals home (serious victimizations) were compared separately to official statistics. Based on the spatial and temporal comparisons, victimization and official statistics appear to have been measuring two different phenomena; none of the offenses can be regarded as equivalent with respect to victimization and official data over both space and time.

Distribution and Correlates of Self-Reported Crimes of Trust

This study examines the distribution and correlates of a special class of property crimes, crimes of trust, using longitudinal and cross sectional self-report data from a national sample. We begin by defining crimes of trust and consider their conceptual relationship to “conventional” property crimes, which we here characterize as crimes of stealth, and to white collar crimes, which are defined in terms of the social status of the perpetrators. Crimes of trust are here defined as property crimes that typically involve deliberate contact with the victim or, where there is more than one victim, with at least one or more victims, in which there is typically more of a focus on concealing the fact that a crime has been committed than on concealing the identity of the perpetrator (as is the case in crimes of stealth), without regard to the socioeconomic status of the perpetrator (thus including but not limited to white collar crimes). The focus here is on crimes of trust committed by individuals (as opposed to corporate crime). We first examine their distribution by sociodemographic characteristics, then examine the correlation of crimes of trust with other types of illegal behavior, using data from the National Youth Survey Family Study, including (1) longitudinal self-report data from a nationally representative panel of individuals who were 11–18 years old in 1976–77 and who were followed through early middle age (ages 36–44) in 2002–2003, plus (2) cross-sectional data on these individuals plus their parents, spouses, and children age 11 and older in 2002–2003 (total age range 11–88). The results suggest that crimes of trust have a different age–crime curve from conventional crimes, and that they are not as strongly correlated with problem substance use, gender, and other socioeconomic indicators as conventional crimes.

Types of adolescent exposure to violence as predictors of adult intimate partner violence

Despite evidence that exposure to violence in adolescence may be more predictive of problem behavior outcomes than exposure to violence in earlier childhood, there is limited research on the relationship of adolescent exposure to violence on adult intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization. This study examines the relationship of adolescent physical abuse victimization, witnessing parental violence, and adolescent exposure to violence in the community, to perpetration of and victimization by IPV in middle age. Respondents are drawn from a nationally representative longitudinal sample with data collected from 1976-77 to 2002-03, age 11-17 when first interviewed and 37-43 when last interviewed. Univariate descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations are presented, along with Heckman two-step models calculated separately for females and males. The use of the Heckman two-step model allows prediction not only of adult IPV, but also of selection out of intimate partner relationships (i.e., out of the at-risk population). For males, in the multivariate analysis, only physical abuse remains significant as a predictor. For females, adolescent exposure to violence is not predictive of adult IPV perpetration or victimization, but physical abuse is predictive of not being in the at-risk population (married or cohabiting). The combined index of adolescent exposure to violence is significant for both females and males in predicting selection into marriage or cohabitation, and at least marginally significant in predicting IPV.

Adolescent exposure to violence and adult physical and mental health problems

Evidence on the relationship of adolescent exposure to violence (AEV) with adult physical and mental health problems is limited, with studies often focusing on earlier childhood rather than adolescence, and also on short term rather than long term outcomes. Information specifically on the relationship of AEV to seeking help for mental health problems in adulthood from either formal sources such as mental health professionals or informal sources such as friends and clergy is even more difficult to find. The present study investigates how adolescent exposure to violence (AEV), in the form of parental physical abuse, witnessing parental violence, and exposure to violence in the neighborhood, are related to self-reported adult physical problems and seeking formal or informal assistance with mental health, controlling for more general adolescent violent victimization and for self-reports and parent reports of mental health problems in adolescence. This study adds to the literature on AEV and adult physical problems, and provides a rare look at the relationship of AEV to adult help-seeking for mental health problems. The results suggest that AEV is associated with mental health problems in adolescence for both females and males, that for females AEV is related to physical problems and to seeking help for mental health problems in adulthood, but for males the only significant relationship involves inconsistent reports of witnessing parental violence and adult physical problems.

Western Christianity's two historical treatments of people with disabilities or mental illness

Abstract Christianity had two traditions of interpreting people with disabilities. The older tradition viewed disability as the result of sin. This tradition punished, separated, and restricted people with disabilities. It barred them from full participation in the Church and its rituals. However, as Christianity developed, a second tradition emerged that saw people with disabilities as needing compassion and that God accepted everyone. The second tradition saw people with disabilities as representing opportunities for the faithful to do charitable works. Christianity led the movement to provide assistance to people with disabilities until government later began to supplant its efforts.

People with leprosy (Hansen’s disease) during the Middle Ages

Abstract Leprosy or Hansen’s Disease represented a major social, moral, and health concern during the Middle Ages. Few diseases have evoked the social responses that leprosy did during the Middle Ages. Medieval explanations, social norms, perceptions, and medical responses to leprosy and people with the disease are surveyed. Some medieval communities took dramatic exclusionary measures to socially isolate individuals with the disease. Other communities, while acknowledging the disease, treated individuals similar to ordinary citizens and with compassion.

The Definitions of the Beginning of Old Age in History

The beginning of old age has been addressed by many writers and scholars over the centuries. From ancient literature to contemporary times, most authorities have located the beginning of old age around age sixty, although some thought it started around age forty. High mortality rates had negligible effects on when old age was thought to begin. Gender may have had more influence, as women were consistently viewed as aging more rapidly and sooner than men. Overall, the age range thought to start old age has been fairly consistent. Nevertheless, within historical contexts varying opinions on the beginning of old age have co-existed, and distinctions between young-old and old-old have been acknowledged. Initially, external factors were viewed as affecting the beginning of old age, but as history unfolded, more emphasis was placed on the individuals relationship with society and ability to perform tasks. With the rise of formal retirement, less emphasis was placed on the individuals ability and more on chronological age. Thus, defining the beginning of old age returned to external factors, such as governmental and economic definitions, and became based on chronological age. In the future, these factors may either lead to new parameters or perhaps a questioning of whether it is even necessary to define the beginning of old age.

PATTERNS OF VICTIMIZATION FEAR OF CRIME, AND CRIME PRECAUTIONS IN NON-METROPOLITAN NEW MEXICO

Abstract As society becomes increasingly urbanized, the continued importance of rural-urban distinctions in understanding crime has become subject to debate. The effects of rural and urban residence on victimization rates, fear of victimization, and crime prevention practices are studied using data from a sample survey of eastern New Mexico residents. Urban residents were found to be more fearful of victimization, particularly in the community (as opposed to at home) and at night. Urban residents were also more likely to have taken behavioral but not household precautions in the recent past. Even controlling for demographic variables, urban location and, unexpectedly, education were consistently related to victimization. The general conclusion is that the rural-urban distinction appears to be meaningful in understanding victimization rates, fear of crime, and precautions taken against crime in eastern New Mexico.

Adolescent exposure to violence and adult illicit drug use

Informed by a strain theory perspective, this study utilizes data on adolescent exposure to violence (AEV) from a prospective, longitudinal, national household probability sample that originally consisted of 1,725 respondents, first interviewed as adolescents in 1977 and last interviewed in middle adulthood in 2003. Findings from bivariate correlations and logistic regression models indicate that AEV is associated with both adolescent and adult illicit drug use, but some of the association between AEV and adult illicit drug use becomes nonsignificant when controlling for adolescent illicit drug use. Specific types of AEV associated with adult illicit drug use differ by gender. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.