U.S. Youth Attitudes on Guns

More than 3,500 children and teens are shot and killed each year, 15,000 are shot and injured and an estimated 3 million are exposed to shootings (CDC, 2021; Everytown for Gun Safety, 2021a; Everytown for Gun Safety, 2021b). But there has been very little research exploring how young people feel about guns, what level of access they have to firearms and what shapes their attitudes toward gun ownership and gun violence. Given what we know about the nexus between gun violence and extremist ideologies (Everytown for Gun Safety, 2021c) and the staggering increase in gun sales during the COVID-19 pandemic (Miller, Zhang, & Azrael, 2021), understanding young people's views about the role of guns in society and their lives is of great importance.To explore these topics and more, Everytown for Gun Safety, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) came together to study youth attitudes through: 1) a mixed-methods coding and analysis of online gun-related content in order to assess prominent gun narratives; 2) a quantitative survey using a U.S. national sample of 4,156 youth aged 14-30 and 3) an ongoing (as of January 2023, n = 38) qualitative phase of focus groups/interviews with people aged 14-30 recruited from the survey. We asked more than 4,100 young Americans between the ages of 14 and 30 questions abouttheir access to guns, how safe they feel, their experiences with gun violence, their political views, the media they consume and how they think about male supremacy, racial resentment and the Second Amendment, among other topics. We are conducting ongoing focus groups to further explore how all of these attitudes combine to form the prism through which young people view our country's gun violence crisis.The result is the following report, which provides groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind insights into how young Americans think about and use guns and the ways in which some come to view guns as a "socially imaginable" (Blanchfield, 2022) solution to everyday grievances and frustrations

The Body in Isolation: The Physical Health Impacts of Incarceration in Solitary Confinement

We examine how solitary confinement correlates with self-reported adverse physical health outcomes, and how such outcomes extend the understanding of the health disparities associated with incarceration. Using a mixed methods approach, we find that solitary confinement is associated not just with mental, but also with physical health problems. Given the disproportionate use of solitary among incarcerated people of color, these symptoms are most likely to affect those populations. Drawing from a random sample of prisoners (n = 106) in long-term solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) assessments; and systematic reviews of medical and disciplinary files for these subjects. We also conducted a paper survey of the entire long-term solitary confinement population (n = 225 respondents) and analyzed administrative data for the entire population of prisoners in the state in 2017 (n = 17,943). Results reflect qualitative content and descriptive statistical analysis. BPRS scores reflect clinically significant somatic concerns in 15% of sample. Objective specification of medical conditions is generally elusive, but that, itself, is a highly informative finding. Using subjective reports, we specify and analyze a range of physical symptoms experienced in solitary confinement: (1) skin irritations and weight fluctuation associated with the restrictive conditions of solitary confinement; (2) un-treated and mis-treated chronic conditions associated with the restrictive policies of solitary confinement; (3) musculoskeletal pain exacerbated by both restrictive conditions and policies. Administrative data analyses reveal disproportionate rates of racial/ethnic minorities in solitary confinement. This analysis raises the stakes for future studies to evaluate comparative prevalence of objective medical diagnoses and potential causal mechanisms for the physical symptoms specified here, and for understanding differential use of solitary confinement and its medically harmful sequelae

Male Supremacy and Online Radicalization: An Open-Source Ideology

While male supremacist ideology has existed for many centuries, online communities and digital platforms have contributed new concepts and aided in its reconfiguration. This mixed-methods dissertation uses online ethnographic research, a key informant interview, and an iterative process of factor analytic scale construction and validation across four studies (n = 3,116), in order to define, operationalize, and develop a measure of contemporary male supremacy - the Male Supremacy Scale (MSS). Online ethnographic research was conducted, data were collected and coded, and items were generated from this qualitative research. These codes and underlying concepts were then validated by way of a semi-structured interview, and the qualitative research was used to inform the factor analytic scale construction procedure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to create, refine, and test the MSS for reliability and validity, ultimately arriving at a 15-item scale, comprised of three 5-item subscales – Anti-Feminism, Female Dishonesty in Relationships, and ‘Women Like Alphas’. The MSS was tested alongside other construct-relevant instruments to evaluate contemporary male supremacy’s relationship to political orientation, racism, sexism, feelings towards grievance-based groups, and various personality assessments. Results suggest that contemporary male supremacy is strongly related to support for Donald Trump, hostile sexism, racial resentment, conspiratorial thinking, psychological entitlement, in-group dominance, and preference for authoritarian leaders. Using the MSS, this dissertation proffers a psychological profile of male supremacists, theorizes a potential pathway to online radicalization, and examines the contribution of digital media platforms in the creation and dissemination of male supremacy in contemporary culture

Male Supremacy and Online Radicalization: An Open-Source Ideology

While male supremacist ideology has existed for many centuries, online communities and digital platforms have contributed new concepts and aided in its reconfiguration. This mixed-methods dissertation uses online ethnographic research, a key informant interview, and an iterative process of factor analytic scale construction and validation across four studies (n = 3,116), in order to define, operationalize, and develop a measure of contemporary male supremacy - the Male Supremacy Scale (MSS). Online ethnographic research was conducted, data were collected and coded, and items were generated from this qualitative research. These codes and underlying concepts were then validated by way of a semi-structured interview, and the qualitative research was used to inform the factor analytic scale construction procedure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to create, refine, and test the MSS for reliability and validity, ultimately arriving at a 15-item scale, comprised of three 5-item subscales – Anti-Feminism, Female Dishonesty in Relationships, and ‘Women Like Alphas’. The MSS was tested alongside other construct-relevant instruments to evaluate contemporary male supremacy’s relationship to political orientation, racism, sexism, feelings towards grievance-based groups, and various personality assessments. Results suggest that contemporary male supremacy is strongly related to support for Donald Trump, hostile sexism, racial resentment, conspiratorial thinking, psychological entitlement, in-group dominance, and preference for authoritarian leaders. Using the MSS, this dissertation proffers a psychological profile of male supremacists, theorizes a potential pathway to online radicalization, and examines the contribution of digital media platforms in the creation and dissemination of male supremacy in contemporary culture

sj-docx-1-psp-10.1177_01461672231185605 – Supplemental material for They Saw a Hearing: Democrats’ and Republicans’ Perceptions of and Responses to the Ford-Kavanaugh Hearings

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-psp-10.1177_01461672231185605 for They Saw a Hearing: Democrats’ and Republicans’ Perceptions of and Responses to the Ford-Kavanaugh Hearings by Emma L. Grisham, Pasha Dashtgard, Daniel P. Relihan, E. Alison Holman and Roxane Cohen Silver in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin</p

Assessing Psychological Resilience: Development and Psychometric Properties of the English and Dutch Version of the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES)

Background: Psychological resilience is a distinct factor that affects mental health outcomes after adversities. This study describes the development, validity and measurement invariance (MI) of a Dutch and English scale on psychological resilience, called the Resilience Evaluation Scale (RES). Methods: Separate online surveys with the Dutch and English version of the RES and hypothesized related measures were distributed in a Dutch- and English-speaking group, both drawn from the general population. Results: Exploratory factor analysis, using data from 522 respondents (n = 296 Dutch, n = 226 English), yielded a two-factor structure for the final 9-item RES. The factors reflected the hypothesized underlying constructs of psychological resilience: self-confidence and self-efficacy. The items and constructs of psychological resilience as measured by the RES were interpreted and conceptualized in the same way by both language groups, with the exception of one item. The RES showed good convergent validity and good internal consistency. Conclusions: The current study establishes sound psychometric properties of a new, brief, and freely available scale on psychological resilience. This study contributes to the identification and measurement of psychological resilience after adversities. The final 9-item RES may serve as a valuable instrument in research and in clinical practice

The body in isolation: The physical health impacts of incarceration in solitary confinement.

We examine how solitary confinement correlates with self-reported adverse physical health outcomes, and how such outcomes extend the understanding of the health disparities associated with incarceration. Using a mixed methods approach, we find that solitary confinement is associated not just with mental, but also with physical health problems. Given the disproportionate use of solitary among incarcerated people of color, these symptoms are most likely to affect those populations. Drawing from a random sample of prisoners (n = 106) in long-term solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) assessments; and systematic reviews of medical and disciplinary files for these subjects. We also conducted a paper survey of the entire long-term solitary confinement population (n = 225 respondents) and analyzed administrative data for the entire population of prisoners in the state in 2017 (n = 17,943). Results reflect qualitative content and descriptive statistical analysis. BPRS scores reflect clinically significant somatic concerns in 15% of sample. Objective specification of medical conditions is generally elusive, but that, itself, is a highly informative finding. Using subjective reports, we specify and analyze a range of physical symptoms experienced in solitary confinement: (1) skin irritations and weight fluctuation associated with the restrictive conditions of solitary confinement; (2) un-treated and mis-treated chronic conditions associated with the restrictive policies of solitary confinement; (3) musculoskeletal pain exacerbated by both restrictive conditions and policies. Administrative data analyses reveal disproportionate rates of racial/ethnic minorities in solitary confinement. This analysis raises the stakes for future studies to evaluate comparative prevalence of objective medical diagnoses and potential causal mechanisms for the physical symptoms specified here, and for understanding differential use of solitary confinement and its medically harmful sequelae

Psychological Distress in Solitary Confinement: Symptoms, Severity, and Prevalence in the United States, 2017-2018

Objectives. To specify symptoms and measure prevalence of psychological distress among incarcerated people in long-term solitary confinement. Methods. We gathered data via semistructured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) assessments; and systematic reviews of medical and disciplinary files for 106 randomly selected people in solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017. We performed 1-year follow-up interviews and BPRS assessments with 80 of these incarcerated people, and we present the results of our qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics. Results. BPRS results showed clinically significant symptoms of depression, anxiety, or guilt among half of our research sample. Administrative data showed disproportionately high rates of serious mental illness and self-harming behavior compared with general prison populations. Interview content analysis revealed additional symptoms, including social isolation, loss of identity, and sensory hypersensitivity. Conclusions. Our coordinated study of rating scale, interview, and administrative data illustrates the public health crisis of solitary confinement. Because 95% or more of all incarcerated people, including those who experienced solitary confinement, are eventually released, understanding disproportionate psychopathology matters for developing prevention policies and addressing the unique needs of people who have experienced solitary confinement, an extreme element of mass incarceration. (Am J Public Health. 2020;110:S56-S62. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2019.305375)