Suchergebnisse

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Self‐Policing Policy (more commonly referred to as the Audit Policy) waives or reduces penalties when regulated entities voluntarily discover, disclose, and correct environmental violations. This study draws upon a rational choice model of corporate crime to determine if traditional regulatory efforts such as inspections and enforcement actions are associated with the odds of disclosing an environmental violation under the Audit Policy. A case control design is used to compare companies that self‐police to companies that do not self‐police. The event group consists of all 551 companies that disclosed at least one environmental violation under the Audit Policy between October 1, 1998 and September 30, 2000. The control group consists of a simple random sample of 551 companies that did not use the Audit Policy but were discovered to have violated at least one environmental law during the same time period as the event group. There is no evidence that inspections and enforcement increase Audit Policy use. However, the results do suggest, first, that the Audit Policy is more likely to be used by large companies than by small companies and, second, that it is likely to be used for reporting violations as opposed to more serious emissions or permit violations. In terms of public policy these findings suggest that regulatory agencies such as the EPA can do relatively little to increase the self‐policing of environmental violations.

The present study examines the association between employment and offending for a sample of young offenders who are paid to work in a pilot programme known as the Skill Mill. First, we analyse a sample of 39 youths over a period of 10 years (40 quarters) to determine whether Skill Mill employed youth are more likely to desist from offending than a control group of youth who are not employed in the Skill Mill. Those youths employed by the Skill Mill committed 1.12 fewer offences per quarter than the control group (p < 0.001). In addition, offending rates among the Skill Mill youths decreased by 0.99 offences per quarter after they began work (p < 0.001). Next, we review results from semi-structured interviews with current Skill Mill employees and their supervisor that helps to unpack why the Skill Mill has been successful in promoting desistance. We conclude that programmes like the Skill Mill can mark an important turning point, and more specifically, a hook for change in the lives of young offenders.

Food insecurity is a substantial problem in nearly every advanced capitalist nation, with sizable portions of residents in many affluent countries struggling to eat healthily every day. Over time, a very large literature has developed that documents food insecurity, evaluates programs meant to reduce that insecurity, and proposes solutions to attenuate the problem. The purpose of the current review is to provide a very broad overview of the food insecurity literature, including definitions, measurement, areas of study, and impacts on health. Importantly, this review suggests there are two major causes of food insecurity in the advanced nations: economic inequality and neoliberalism. The food insecurity literature suggests that diminished government responsibility in advanced capitalist nations corresponds to an increase in feeding programs run by non-profit and charitable organizations. This review concludes by suggesting that, while a massive amount of research on food insecurity currently exists, more research is still needed to address gaps in the literature when it comes to significant events, coping strategies and disadvantaged populations.

Summer is a stressful time of year for many parents as they struggle to meet household expenses and feed children. The aim of the present study is to determine if there is an association between summertime food insecurity (i.e., holiday hunger) and parental stress among a sample of UK parents with school age children living in North East England. A cross-sectional sample of (n = 252) parents are analyzed using holiday hunger as the independent variable and a subjective measure of stress that treats summer as a &lsquo ; stressful event&rsquo ; as the dependent variable. Of the parents in the sample, 64.8% reported at least some level of holiday hunger. We find parents facing any holiday hunger scored substantively higher on the overall 75-point Impact of Event Scale (mean difference = 30.4, 95% confidence interval ((CI) 24.2&ndash ; 36.6), the 35-point intrusion subscale (13.7, 95% CI 10.8&ndash ; 16.5), and the 40-point avoidance subscale (16.7, 95% CI 13.3&ndash ; 20.2). These findings are replicated in a regression analysis. In addition, we find that holiday hunger partially mediates the association between economic hardship (i.e., unemployment and poverty) and parental stress. We conclude by suggesting that government policies addressing economic hardship are not only likely to reduce holiday hunger, but also improve mental wellbeing.

This research compares food insecurity for U.K. veterans and nonveterans using the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 10-item Adult Food Security Survey Module (AFSSM) for a sample of 1,492 participants. We find 1 in 10 veterans are living in a food-insecure household but that veteran status is not related to food insecurity. In addition, income and housing benefits are correlated with food insecurity for veterans and for nonveterans, but disability benefits are correlated with food insecurity among veterans only. Specifically, veterans with disability benefits averaged 1.12 (95% confidence interval, [0.42, 1.82]) more points (indicating more food insecurity) on the AFFSM than veterans without those benefits. These findings raise concerns that low-income disabled veterans with housing needs are a unique population at risk of living in food insecurity. Given the absence of research on food insecurity among U.K. veterans, it is necessity to study this population in greater detail and implement screening protocols where possible.

Despite attending to social and economic justice issues, criminologists have said little about environmental justice, especially among underrepresented populations such as Native Americans. This review examines the social, economic, and environmental injustices Native Americans face by drawing on health and medical literature. Adapted from the source document.