Lauren E Martin

Meaningful Differences: Comparison of Adult Women Who First Traded Sex as a Juvenile Versus as an Adult

The authors analyzed experiences, characteristics, and risks of adult women who trade sex in Minneapolis, MN (n = 117), and found significant differences between women who first traded sex as a juvenile compared with those who first traded sex as an adult. Adult starters were 3.44 times more likely to use drugs prior to their first sex trade. They were also more likely to have children. Juvenile starters were more likely to trade sex prior to their first instance of drug use and they had worse outcomes in most other domains that were measured. The study findings showed that they can be useful in shaping prevention of prostitution and methods to be used for its intervention.

Sampling and sex trading: Lessons on research design from the street

This article explores the use of an action research (AR) approach with a marginalized population of people who trade sex and as a modality to engage diverse stakeholders to work together to reduce harm caused by sex trading. As a trained academic anthropologist thrust into leadership of a community research project, I cobbled together my own self-reflexive praxis and working method with the experts all around me – people who trade sex, police, residents, and more. In the process I discovered that involvement of women who traded sex in the project’s research design created a respectful, humane, connected, and acceptable research process in which participants felt comfortable sharing personal information. AR was better for participants and more useful in surfacing better and deeper knowledge of sex trading. It was also a cost-effective way to design a successful recruitment strategy to broaden the participant base of the study contacting participants not typically involved in research on sex trading. This is important because sampling is a perennial problem in studies of sex trading, prostitution, and sex trafficking. Our research led to new knowledge that formed the basis for action to reduce the harms of sex trading.

Validation of a home food inventory among low-income Spanish- and Somali-speaking families.

OBJECTIVE To refine and validate an existing home food inventory (HFI) for low-income Somali- and Spanish-speaking families. DESIGN Formative assessment was conducted using two focus groups, followed by revisions of the HFI, translation of written materials and instrument validation in participants’ homes. SETTING Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota, USA. SUBJECTS Thirty low-income families with children of pre-school age (fifteen Spanish-speaking; fifteen Somali-speaking) completed the HFI simultaneously with, but independently of, a trained staff member. Analysis consisted of calculation of both item-specific and average food group kappa coefficients, specificity, sensitivity and Spearman’s correlation between participants’ and staff scores as a means of assessing criterion validity of individual items, food categories and the obesogenic score. RESULTS The formative assessment revealed the need for few changes/additions for food items typically found in Spanish-speaking households. Somali-speaking participants requested few additions, but many deletions, including frozen processed food items, non-perishable produce and many sweets as they were not typical food items kept in the home. Generally, all validity indices were within an acceptable range, with the exception of values associated with items such as ‘whole wheat bread’ (k = 0.16). The obesogenic score (presence of high-fat, high-energy foods) had high criterion validity with k = 0.57, sensitivity = 91.8%, specificity = 70.6% and Spearman correlation = 0.78. CONCLUSIONS The revised HFI is a valid assessment tool for use among Spanish and Somali households. This instrument refinement and validation process can be replicated with other population groups.

A Benefit-Cost Framework for Early Intervention to Prevent Sex Trading,

Abstract Prevention of juvenile sex trading in the US has risen to prominence in public policy discourse. We develop a generalized benefit-cost model to shed light on this policy issue and illustrate the framework with a case study from Minnesota. The model treats government-funded intervention as an investment project and calculates its net present value. Benefits are derived from harms avoided by reducing the extent of sex trading. The impacts of youth involvement in the market for sexual services are highly complex, and clear data on them are lacking. To account for empirical ambiguity we develop the model around a representative individual, approximate the effect of intervention on the sex market, and conduct sensitivity analysis with key model parameters. The case study evaluates seventeen distinct harms caused by sex trading based on conservative best estimates from scholarly literature. We find a large positive Net Present Value, suggesting it is in the best interest of Minnesota taxpayers to support intervention.

The Witch, the Household and the Community: Isobel Young in East Barns, 1580–1629

Isobel Young had land, wealth and power. Most of her life looks successful by early modern Standards. In her prime from 1590 to 1622, Young wielded influence over many people in her Community. She was a competent, perhaps skilled, household manager. Her husband, George Smith, was the proprietor (holding a feu, a heritable lease) of a produc- tive piece of land in East Barns in the parish of Dunbar, a fertile area of Scotland. She had four sons who brought wives into the household; she may also have had daughters. As well as Controlling the labour of at least twelve servants, she also held sway over tenants and households to whom she lent money and leased land. In 1622, her eldest son John combined Smith’s holding with his own — doubling the family’s holding at a time when other comparable East Barns families either stayed the same or declined.

Early childhood development and obesity risk-factors in a multi-ethnic, low-income community: Feasibility of the ‘Five Hundred under Five’ social determinants of health pilot study:

Objective: First, to describe a community–academic partnership that piloted a parent and home-based programme focused on the intersection of health and education from a social determinants foundation and determine the feasibility and acceptability of such work. Second, to examine trends and co-occurrence of social and environmental context, including obesity-related and school-readiness risk factors. Design: Cross-sectional component of pilot intervention. Setting: Family-based programme based in a low-income, multi-ethnic neighbourhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2007–2009. Methods: English/Spanish/Somali-speaking families with preschool-aged children were recruited for the pilot intervention. Interviews were conducted with study staff to assess feasibility and acceptability. The intervention included an outreach worker and a parent education programme, home visits, school readiness activities and coordination and referral to social, health and school readiness resources through a trained family support advocate. Developmental assessments and a health and sociodemographic survey were conducted. Results: Complete data were available for 60/136 enrolled families. Recruiting and measuring families was feasible and acceptable under certain circumstances. The programme was well accepted by participants. Descriptive analyses suggest a relationship between school readiness, social conditions and obesity-related risk factors. Conclusions: This type of intervention has challenges but offers promising community-based strategies to address the interconnectedness of social conditions, weight-related health and education.