When it comes to U.S. punishment, noncitizens may be the newface of legal inequality

While there has a been a great deal of discussion and commentary on the recent increase in the numbers of undocumented immigrants coming to the U.S., there is little understanding of their experiences in America, especially within the justice system. In new research, Michael T. Light finds that nearly half of those sentenced in a U.S. district court are noncitizens, and that they are given harsher sentences. He writes that noncitizens are far more likely to be imprisoned than U.S. citizens, and that this sentencing gap is larger than the gap between racial/ethnic minorities and whites, between men and women, and between college-educated offenders and high school dropouts. In addition, he finds that on average, noncitizens receive sentences that are 3-4 months longer than citizens, when imprisone

The rise in the incarceration rate may help explain the falling gap in homicide rates between Blacks, Hispanics and Whites.

Blacks, Hispanics and Whites all have differing homicide rates. But how have these rates changed in recent years? In new research which examines 131 metropolitan areas, Michael T. Light takes the first look at trends in racial and ethnic homicide gaps in the US since 1990, finding that these gaps had decreased by between 35 and 50 percent. He writes that these declining trends may be explained by a growing immigrant population, and more importantly, by a rising incarceration rate which has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minorities

The imperial war museum’s social interpretation project

This report represents the output from research undertaken by University of Salford and MTM London as part of the joint Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture, operated by Nesta, Arts Council England and the AHRC. University of Salford and MTM London received funding from the programme to act as researchers on the Social Interpretation (SI) project, which was led by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and their technical partners, The Centre for Digital Humanities, University College London, Knowledge Integration, and Gooii. The project was carried out between October 2011 and October 2012

The Nonprofit Quarterly Study on Nonprofit and Philanthropic Infrastructure

Examines trends in the nonprofit sector's support network and financing system and their capacity to address the impact of the financial crisis on small and midsize nonprofits, share organizational survival strategies, and connect them to resources

Immigration And Violent Crime: Triangulating Findings Across Diverse Studies

The dramatic increase in both lawful and unauthorized immigration in recent decades produced a groundswell of research on two questions: (1) Does immigration increase violent crime? and (2) What policy responses are most effective at addressing unauthorized immigration (e.g., sanctuary policies, deportations, etc.)? For the most part, these bodies of work have developed independently, and thus we know little as to whether the insights from one inform the other. This Article fills this gap by first reviewing both areas of research and then triangulating shared findings between them. In doing so, we focus on three contemporary immigration policies: (1) increased deportation; (2) “sanctuary” policies, and (3) “amnesty” laws. Our review provides little evidence to suggest that immigration increases the prevalence of violence. For this reason, policies aimed to enhance public safety by reducing immigration are unlikely to deliver on their crime reduction promises

Genetics and Gene Expression Involving Stress and Distress Pathways in Fibromyalgia with and without Comorbid Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

In complex multisymptom disorders like fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) that are defined primarily by subjective symptoms, genetic and gene expression profiles can provide very useful objective information. This paper summarizes research on genes that may be linked to increased susceptibility in developing and maintaining these disorders, and research on resting and stressor-evoked changes in leukocyte gene expression, highlighting physiological pathways linked to stress and distress. These include the adrenergic nervous system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and serotonergic pathways, and exercise responsive metabolite-detecting ion channels. The findings to date provide some support for both inherited susceptibility and/or physiological dysregulation in all three systems, particularly for catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) genes, the glucocorticoid and the related mineralocorticoid receptors (NR3C1, NR3C2), and the purinergic 2X4 (P2X4) ion channel involved as a sensory receptor for muscle pain and fatigue and also in upregulation of spinal microglia in chronic pain models. Methodological concerns for future research, including potential influences of comorbid clinical depression and antidepressants and other medications, on gene expression are also addressed