James H. Gundlach

Damned on arrival: A preliminary study of the relationship between homicide, emergency medical care, and race

This article examines the effect of racial differences in access to emergency transportation and subsequent medical care of assault victims on the chance that the victim would die and the assailant subsequently would be charged with homicide. Examination of female homicide offender records in Alabama from the 1930s to 1985 found a relationship between the race of the offender and the time of death of the victim. These findings suggest that racial differences in access to emergency transportation and subsequent medical care of her victim increased the chances that an African American assailant subsequently would be charged with homicide 24 percent more often than her Caucasian counterpart. Because of limitations in the first data set, the analysis was extended to homicide victims reported in the 1988 United States Mortality Detail Files. Analysis of the national victim data replicates the Alabama inmate findings. Extending the analysis by residence replicates the results for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residences. Extending the analysis by cause of homicide finds the same difference among victims by gun, a larger difference among victims by cutting and piercing, and a smaller difference among victims by all other causes. Racial inequities in the administration of justice traditionally have focused on detecting bias in the administration of justice. These findings suggest that racial inequities in the delivery of medical care are responsible for a substantial portion of the racial differences in both victims and convictions for homicide.

Divorce and sex

Studies on the sex lives of the divorced are relatively few and somewhat dated. Although they give a rather optimistic view of the subject, this research is flawed by high respondent refusal rates and poor representativeness of samples. Further, a major gap in this literature is that the possible predictors of sexual activity of the divorced remain largely unexplored. The present study, using national data on 340 divorced people, indicates a much lower level of sexual activity than found in past research. Regression analyses find that both number of partners and sex frequency are related to religiosity, education, and political liberality. Future research can explore the impact of low sexual activity among the divorced on indicators of emotional well-being.

The Impacts of Human Capital and Need on Alimony

Abstract Work on the determinants of alimony awards is sparse and often speculative. The present study tests the human capital and needs models of alimony with data from Alabama. The results of Tobit regression analyses provide mixed support for both theories. For example, the human capital model was supported for duration of marriage but not husbands education. The economic need model was supported for age of wife, but not her education or presence of children. While some indicators of both models are written into Alabamas Legal Code on divorce, most indicators of both models are not predictive of alimony awards in practice. Models of alimony should perhaps also look to consensual, normative factors rather than being constrained by those that find expression in legal codes.