Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a pervasive public health crisis that impacts individuals across the gender spectrum. Traditionally, IPV is conceptualized through a gendered lens, with men as the perpetrators and women as the victims. The current study explored the association between perpetrator/victim sex, prosecutor gender role attitudes, and prosecutorial decision-making in a case of alleged IPV. We hypothesized that prosecutors with more traditional gender role attitudes would be more lenient, and this effect to be exacerbated in cases involving a female perpetrator. Criminal prosecutors across the United States (N = 94) completed the Male Role Norms Inventory-Revised and read case materials describing the alleged IPV between a heterosexual couple (e.g., arrest report, medical records). The victim/perpetrator sex was manipulated to involve either a female- (male victim) or male- (female victim) perpetrated IPV case. Results indicate that gender role attitudes were not associated with prosecutorial decision-making. However, prosecutors perceived the violence as more serious and the perpetrator as more likely to reoffend when the perpetrator was male; further, they attributed more blame to the female victim. An interaction between perpetrator sex and prosecutor gender role attitudes indicates those with more traditional beliefs were more likely to blame the female (rather than male) victim. These data suggest extralegal factors related to the perpetrator (i.e., perpetrator sex), rather than prosecutor individual differences (i.e., gender role attitudes), are associated with prosecutor discretionary decision-making. In tandem with real-world disparities in the prosecution of IPV based on perpetrator sex, the current research stresses the importance of exploring a diversity of factors that account for these observed differences.

Caregivers of people living with dementia (PLWD) are often tasked with making decisions about their loved one's daily care and healthcare treatment, causing stress and decision-making fatigue. Many caregivers engage in health information seeking to improve their health literacy for optimal decision-making, though there is limited knowledge about the strategies used to increase their health literacy. This study involved a survey of caregivers in Alabama, most of whom were African American and/or living in rural communities that have historically underserved. The findings shed light on caregivers' experiences in seeking out health-related information and their perceptions of various sources of information.

Abstract In 2018, the U.S. Congress successfully passed the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act to advance public health initiatives that support people living with dementia (PLWD) and their families. Part of the goals of BOLD include advancing community awareness about the latest research on dementia and support the translation of research findings to support PLWD, their families, and providers in addressing needs related to dementia care and caregiving. Infrastructure that supports information seeking is vital, given that caregivers often report challenges in finding the information they need about dementia, caregiving, and existing support. This is especially true for those who turn to the internet for information, where web-based search engines generate an overwhelming number of results to common questions posed by caregivers. To address these information needs, our interdisciplinary team has launched the Alabama Caregiver Connect initiative, which aims to more effectively link caregivers with information they need about dementia and caregiving by harnessing web-based tools that are interactive and driven by artificial intelligence. This presentation will review innovative technologies that the team has developed, implemented, and/or evaluated for their potential to support public health infrastructure for dementia. Findings presented will examine benefits and drawbacks of several approaches identified through the initiative, including ChatGPT, evidence-based chatbots, and crowdsourced asset mapping tools. Implications for policy and practice will be discussed.

Background: There are numerous communication barriers between family caregivers and providers of people living with dementia, which can pose challenges to caregiving and clinical decision-making. To address these barriers, a new web and mobile-enabled app, called CareHeroes, was developed, which promotes the collection and secured sharing of clinical information between caregivers and providers. It also provides caregiver support and education. Objective: The primary study objective was to examine whether dementia caregivers would use CareHeroes as an adjunct to care and gather psychosocial data from those who used the app. Methods: This paper presents the implementation process used to integrate CareHeroes into clinical care at 2 memory clinics and preliminary outcome evaluation. Family caregivers receiving services at clinics were asked to use the app for a 12-month period to collect, track, and share clinical information with the care recipient's provider. They also used it to assess their own mental health symptoms. Psychosocial outcomes were assessed through telephone interviews and user data were collected by the app. Results: A total of 21 caregivers enrolled in the pilot study across the 2 memory clinics. Usage data indicated that caregivers used many of the features in the CareHeroes app, though the chatbot was the most frequently used feature. Outcome data indicated that caregivers' depression was lower at 3-month follow-up (t11=2.03, P =.03). Conclusions: Recruitment and retention of the pilot study were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, and therefore more testing is needed with a larger sample to determine the potential impact of CareHeroes on caregivers' mental health. Despite this limitation, the pilot study demonstrated that integrating a new supportive app for caregivers as an adjunct to clinical dementia care is feasible. Implications for future technology intervention development, implementation planning, and testing for caregivers of people living with dementia are discussed.

Education and processes of agrarian change are deeply imbricated processes. While political ecologists have begun exploring education in earnest, questions of race have remain largely unexplored. In this article, we analyze the spatial linkages between education, race, and the permanence of the peasantry in the face of expanding capital. Our focus is the crisis of rural school closures in Brazil. Over the last twenty five years, the state has closed more than 65% of Brazil’s rural schools. Social movements argue that these school closures are differentially occurring in communities of color. To better understand the factors driving this crisis, we assembled a “big data” database, consisting of twenty five years of municipal school records from every school in Brazil. Drawing upon advanced geospatial statistics and multiple linear regression techniques, we analyze both how these school closures are spatially patterned throughout Brazil, and the social, political, and economic factors shaping this crisis. Our results highlight land concentration and race as central dynamics in this crisis, underscoring the enduring impact that racial oppression and historical patterns of land inequality play in structuring the politics of knowledge and educational landscape in Brazil.

Abstract It is well-established that caregivers of people living with dementia (PLWD) often report having difficulty finding information about education and support that is available to them in their community. Caregiver support groups have demonstrated to be an effective approach to caregiver education through mutual support, though many caregivers are unable to participate in caregiver support groups due to time and geographic constraints. Crowdsourced technologies that rely on volunteered geographic information (VGI) are a viable way of community members to provide mutual support on a variety of issues, including disaster response, traffic conditions, health, and travel. These technologies often rely on a mobile app where users upload VGI that are of interest to others who use the app. There are benefits and drawbacks of crowdsourced technologies. For example, they may be an easy way for community members to share needed information, though there may be challenges in the quality of data that users provide. This presentation will report findings from a project that examined dementia caregivers’ interest in using crowdsourced mapping technologies to share information about services and resources in their community that they have found helpful. Data were collected from a diverse sample of dementia caregivers living in Alabama through an online survey that was administered between June and November of 2022. Overall, it was found that caregivers were interested in using a crowdsourcing technology for support and education. Additional findings provide guidance for developing a crowdsourcing protocol that is based on caregivers’ reported information needs.

Probation is the oldest and most widely used community-based corrections program. Research on probation primarily focuses on the experiences of justice-involved juveniles and the supervision of juveniles in the probation system. Much less is understood about the impact probation officers' perceptions have on job performance and what factors influence those perceptions. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between individual characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race, level of education, tenure, political party affiliation, and jurisdiction) and juvenile probation officers' perceptions about their work ideology. Data for the study came from a sample of juvenile probation officers in nine states. Participants were asked questions about sanctioning, disposition, and role orientation. The study's findings show that few individual characteristics are significantly associated with attitudes/perceptions about work ideology. Probation officers’ race was the only predictor significantly associated with several outcomes. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Family caregivers are often tasked with decision making about their loved one’s health care treatment and daily care and have reported that such decision making can be challenging, overwhelming, and stressful (Gaugler et al., 2022; Miller et al., 2016; Ruggiano et al., 2019). For this reason, caregivers often report being highly active in seeking out information to improve their health literacy regarding dementia and caregiving, frequently turning to various information technologies (IT) to gather information (Bangerter et al., 2019; Soong et al., 2020). However, more research is needed on how IT can support health literacy and information seeking for vulnerable caregiver populations, such as caregivers who are rural-dwelling, low-income, and those from underserved racial/ethnic groups (Soong et al., 2020). This project involved a statewide survey of caregivers living in Alabama, a U.S. state that has large populations of rural, African American, and underserved residents. To recruit participants, community-based organizations distributed flyers and two public radio campaigns made announcements about the project between June 2022 and December 2022. The survey included questions about: the sources participants used to learn more about dementia and caregiving; ease of gathering information from these sources; their level of trust in these sources; their experience with different types of IT; their current information needs; and participant demographics. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed. Seventy-eight caregivers completed the survey: 50% identified as African American, 37.2% lived in rural communities, and 30.8% had household incomes of less than $30K per year. The survey revealed several findings regarding information seeking and technology use. Participants reported using an average of 4.8 sources to gather information. Level of trust in some information sources and interest in using certain types of IT for information seeking varied based on some demographics, including race, age, and income. The findings suggest that public education about dementia should not be a one-size-fits all approach and that strategizing public health education campaigns by source and technology platform may better facilitate health literacy of sub-populations of caregivers, especially those who may be underserved or have challenges in navigating health and long-term care systems.

The intergenerational transmission of crime (ITC) perspective suggests that children of those who engage in crime are more likely to end up offending themselves. Specifically, they are more likely to engage in crime, be arrested, and be incarcerated compared to children of parents without a criminal record. What remains unclear is the effect parental offending has on the prison. experience of their offspring who are incarcerated. Additionally, the impact of sibling incarceration on one's incarceration experiences has not been examined. Drawing on the ITC framework, rule breaking behavior may extend to the prison context. Indeed, the few studies that have examined this relationship find that incarcerated persons who have a family incarceration history are more likely to have rule violations, which suggests family history may be a risk factor for misconduct. To investigate, the current study uses coarsened exact matching and data from the Survey of Prison Inmates to examine the misconduct of incarcerated persons with and without a family history of incarceration net of the effects of other covariates. After matching, results indicate that there is no statistically significant differences in misconduct between those with no family history of incarceration compared to those with a sibling or a parent who has been incarcerated.

Although sentencing recommendations should be based on legal factors, research shows that some juvenile probation officers (JPOs) also consider extra-legal factors. Indeed, research shows that stereotypes about certain demographics (e.g., young Black males) increase the perception of dangerousness and, in turn, result in harsher sentencing recommendations. The purpose of the current study was to identify the legal (seriousness of offense, prior offenses, and record), physical (race, gender, and age), and social factors (socioeconomic status, completeness of the juvenile's family/family arrangement, presence of co-offenders) that the JPO considered the most important when making their sentencing recommendations. Data for the study came from a sample of juvenile probation officers in nine states. Participants were asked questions about sanctioning, disposition, and sentencing. The findings show that while the majority of JPOs rated legal factors (e.g., seriousness of offense) as the most important when making sentencing recommendations, a substantial proportion of the sample rated physical factors (e.g., race) as the most important factor considered when making sentencing recommendations. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Behavioral continuity has been supported by the offending, prison misconduct, and recidivism literature; however, the linear path from offending in the community, to prison, and in the community again has not been fully tested. Data on individuals under parole supervision in the City of Philadelphia were used to test offending continuity across periods of incarceration and within the community. Using binary regression, we tested whether type of controlling offense (i.e. the offense resulting in the current term of incarceration) predicted the odds of engaging in different types of prison/institutional misconduct. Additionally, we examined if individuals with specific types of institutional misconduct had higher odds of reincarceration. Furthermore, path analysis modeling was used to test for mediation across this relationship. Analyses revealed that those with controlling property offenses had lower odds of misconduct, whereas those with violent offenses had higher odds of engaging in violent misconduct. Second, likelihood of reincarceration varied by controlling offense type. When compared to other offenses, those with property offenses had higher odds of reincarceration, whereas those with violent offenses had lower odds of reincarceration. Third, of those with violent controlling offenses, those who had a record of violent institutional misconduct had lower odds of recidivism. These findings partially support continuity of offending; however, highlight the potential for incarceration to interrupt habitual offending behaviors.

Although research has demonstrated a link between disability and victimization risk, less is known about how disability and race/ethnicity intersect to impact victimization risk. Using the routine activities/lifestyle perspective as a guide, we explore the relationship between having six disability types and three victimization types (violent, sexual, IPV) across racial/ethnic groups. In doing so, data from the ACHA-NCHA II Spring 2016-2019 surveys are used. Multivariate models examine if having a specific disability increases victimization risk for different racial/ethnic groups. Our findings suggest that disability does not interact with race/ethnicity in elevating risk for victimization in any systematic way, but some differences emerge. These findings support the use of culturally sensitive prevention programs to target at-risk groups.

Prosecutors exercise substantial discretion within the criminal justice process, potentially allowing for discrepant treatment of criminal cases. The purpose of this research was to examine the association between prosecutorial implicit biases and victim gender and sexual orientation in an intimate partner violence (IPV) case. Participants, 201 prosecutors from across the United States, completed two Implicit Association Tests to measure implicit gender attitudes and implicit attitudes regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer individuals. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (opposite-sex couple/female victim, opposite-sex couple/male victim, same-sex couple/female victim, same-sex couple/male victim) and read a case file of an alleged IPV arrest. Consistent with our hypotheses, prosecutors were 65% more likely to prosecute under the severest criminal penalty when the victim was female or included an opposite-sex couple. However, we found no evidence that implicit biases related to prosecutorial decisions.

Objective: Examine the relationships among dietary quality, mindful eating, and constructs of the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, women (n = 67) aged 25-50 years, with a body mass index of 25 -40 kg/m(2) completed 3 days of 24-hour recalls and a survey that included the Perceived Stress Scale, Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire, and the Mindful Eating Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling assessed relationships among all constructs with the dependent variable, the Healthy Eating Index-2015. Results: Mindful Eating Questionnaire (beta = 0.60, P = 0.001) and Emotion and Stress-related Eating scores from Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire (beta = -0.69, P < 0.001) (r(2) = 0.50) were directly associated with Healthy Eating Index-2015, but no indirect effects were identified. Conclusions and Implications: Overall dietary quality is associated with greater mindful eating but more emotion and stress-related eating scores among women who were overweight or obese. Future studies could assess model constructs using other diet quality scores and including additional coping mechanisms such as substance use, physical activity, and meditation.

Abstract Caregivers of people with dementia often experience negative physical and mental health outcomes due to the complex challenges posed by dementia symptoms and navigating care systems. The COVID-19 pandemic posed even greater hurdles for caregivers as many health care and support services transferred to virtual formats and required increased use of information technologies (IT). This research examined usage data and psychosocial outcomes of dementia caregivers who used a new mobile-enabled web-based app that was offered as an adjunct to clinical care at two memory clinics (Birmingham, AL; Miami, FL) during the pandemic. This app, called CareHeroes: (1) allows caregivers to self-assess their emotional and mental health; (2) offers a secure platform for tracking and communicating patient-related information among caregivers and providers; and (3) offers caregiver education. CareHeroes is also available in Spanish. Effort was made to recruit digitally underserved populations of caregivers (e.g., rural dwelling, underserved racial/ethnic groups). This presentation will review caregiver outcomes (e.g., burden, depression, user data) at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Among the 22 caregivers who enrolled in the study, 17 completed baseline and 3-month follow-up interviews. Over a 14-month period, participants logged onto CareHeroes 131 times, which varied by month. Caregivers most often used CareHeroes to complete assessment tools. Findings indicate that depression and burden were lower at 3-month follow-up compared to baseline, though this reduction was not statistically significant. The presentation will also review challenges of integrating a new technology intervention designed to promote telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research suggests that people in prison may be especially vulnerable to victimization and may be more likely to report exposure to multiple types, known as poly-victimization. However, the literature surrounding patterns of victimization among prisoners is limited. Before we can fully understand the variation in victimization experiences among prisoners, a necessary first step is to identify victim profiles within prisons. The current study utilizes data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities and employs latent class analysis to identify unique victim profiles among prisoners to understand the variation in victimization experiences, with a focus on identifying those exposed to poly-victimization. The findings of this study indicate (a) that there are four distinct victim profiles—poly-victimization (2%), physical victimization in adulthood (31%), physical victimization in childhood (17%), and low/no victimization (49%); (b) that some prisoners experience poly-victimization, although this consists of a small proportion of prisoners; and (c) that there are clear demographic differences between the latent classes, with some of the largest differences among those in the poly-victimization profile. The findings of the current study are important because they add more depth to the knowledge regarding poly-victimization among prisoners, a topic that has received little attention from researchers. The current study suggests that correctional policy may need to be tailored in a way that recognizes the different needs of prisoners who have been exposed to different forms of victimization.

Researchers have documented the differential risks that people in prison face of victimization. Although older adults in prison—those 50 years or older—generally face lower risks of being victimized than younger people in prison, the unique experience of this group warrants investigation. Connected to the importation/deprivation and the lifestyle/routine activities perspectives, older adults in prison face challenges connected to their physical and mental health that may shape their likelihood of victimization. These challenges are considered through the lens of gerontology and the life course perspective to illuminate how those who work with people in prison may better serve older adults.

In the United States, prosecutors are typically allotted a large amount of discretion when litigating a criminal case. Although some level of discretion is necessary for various reasons (e.g., lack of resources), concerns have arisen in both scholarly and popular discourse that prosecutorial discretion remains generally unchecked. Furthermore, research suggests prosecutors may be influenced by extralegal factors when making decisions about how to proceed with criminal charges. In this study, prosecutors responded to a case of alleged intimate partner violence, in which the sex and sexual orientation of the defendant and victim were manipulated. Neither sex nor sexual orientation impacted prosecutor choice to proceed with charges, the severity of the charge selected, or the harshness of the plea bargain offered. However, prosecutors were more willing to proceed without the victim’s cooperation when the victim was female and perceived heterosexual males as more aggressive than heterosexual females. These data suggest prosecutorial decision making in cases of intimate partner violence may not be unduly influenced by defendant/victim sex and sexual orientation.

Historically, criminologists have examined offending and victimization in the community as separate outcomes. Recently, however, researchers have begun to explore the shared commonalities of being an offender and a victim. The victim-offender overlap literature shows that victimization and offending are not different and distinct outcomes, but rather these outcomes share numerous risk factors. A close examination of the victim-offender overlap has not been done within the prison literature. Thus, it remains unclear whether there are commonalities among prisoners who offend while incarcerated and those who experience victimization. The focus of the current study is to (a) identify the proportion of the prisoners who were victims-only, offenders-only, victim-offenders, or neither victim nor offender and (b) identify the factors that predict membership into the four categories of the overlap. The current study used the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities with multinomial logistic regression analyses to examine which factors are associated with group membership into the victim-only, offender-only, or victim-offender groups in prison. Findings show that although the victim-offender overlap exists among prisoners, the majority of prisoners were neither a victim nor an offender. Victim-offenders and victims-only comprise only a small proportion of the sample. Findings also indicate that there are few unique factors across the groups. Results of the study have implications policy and future research.