Biases in Race and Social Desirability within Jury Simulations

This study examined how the defendant’s race and the victim’s social desirability influence sentencing. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of four crime scenarios, featuring either a Black or White defendant or a socially desirable or undesirable victim. For each scenario the defendant’s race was manipulated and participants were shown a picture of either a Black or White male. Data were collected at two different time periods, because of potential influence of media coverage of racial bias in jury decisions. Therefore, the effects of defendant race, victim social desirability, and time period were tested through an experiment using a 2x2x2 design. The predicted main effect was that Black defendants would receive a harsher sentence than White defendants. It was also predicted that crimes against a socially desirable victim would lead to greater sentencing than for a socially undesirable victim. The predicted interaction was that the defendant’s race would influence sentencing less for the socially desirable victim, because the crime of hurting someone who is good is uniformly negative. However it was predicted that the defendant’s race would influence sentencing more for the socially undesirable victim, because the crime of hurting someone who is bad is more ambiguous. While there was a significant three-way interaction, results did not map on to predictions. Future research should continue to examine the effect of racial bias on jury decisions

The Working-Class as Portrayed in the \u3cem\u3eRougon-Macquart\u3c/em\u3e Series by Emile Zola

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the portrayal of the working-class by Emile Zola in his Rougon-Macquart and to present the working-class as Zola saw it. For this study, all twenty novels of Les Rougon-Macquart were examined, although they have not all been dealt with in detail here because many of them do not focus on the working-class

Disrupting Inequitable Practices in Special Education: Privileging Student and Family Voices

Black, Latinx, and other minoritized students have long been overrepresented in the high-incidence, subjective, disability classifications including Learning Disability, Speech and Language Impairment, Emotional Disturbance, and Intellectual Impairment. Special education places these students on trajectories that deny them access to quality education and the same postschool outcomes and opportunities as their nondisabled peers. Using Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), and grounded theory analysis this study foregrounds the voices of minoritized middle school students receiving special education under high-incidence classifications. DisCrit allowed for an investigation of how student’s intersecting marginalized identities impacted their experiences as special education students. Further, Education Journey Mapping was used to explore the experiences of Jason, a Black middle school student labeled with a Speech and Language Impairment, as he coped with life at the general-special education divide. Finally, additional research questions for this study were designed to facilitate understanding of how families of these students conceptualized special education and disability as it related to their children. Findings demonstrated the varied ways families supported and advocated for their children. Implications for teachers and school leaders include rejecting deficit views of minoritized families, creating programming that invites families\u27 strengths into classrooms, and building more inclusive programming in general education settings

CHOICE: Choosing Health Options In Chronic Care Emergencies

Background Over 70% of the health-care budget in England is spent on the care of people with long-term conditions (LTCs), and a major cost component is unscheduled health care. Psychological morbidity is high in people with LTCs and is associated with a range of adverse outcomes, including increased mortality, poorer physical health outcomes, increased health costs and service utilisation. Objectives The aim of this programme of research was to examine the relationship between psychological morbidity and use of unscheduled care in people with LTCs, and to develop a psychosocial intervention that would have the potential to reduce unscheduled care use. We focused largely on emergency hospital admissions (EHAs) and attendances at emergency departments (EDs). Design A three-phase mixed-methods study. Research methods included systematic reviews; a longitudinal prospective cohort study in primary care to identify people with LTCs at risk of EHA or ED admission; a replication study in primary care using routinely collected data; an exploratory and feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial in primary care; and qualitative studies to identify personal reasons for the use of unscheduled care and factors in routine consultations in primary care that may influence health-care use. People with lived experience of LTCs worked closely with the research team. Setting Primary care. Manchester and London. Participants People aged ≥ 18 years with at least one of four common LTCs: asthma, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes. Participants also included health-care staff. Results Evidence synthesis suggested that depression, but not anxiety, is a predictor of use of unscheduled care in patients with LTCs, and low-intensity complex interventions reduce unscheduled care use in people with asthma and COPD. The results of the prospective study were that depression, not having a partner and life stressors, in addition to prior use of unscheduled care, severity of illness and multimorbidity, were independent predictors of EHA and ED admission. Approximately half of the cost of health care for people with LTCs was accounted for by use of unscheduled care. The results of the replication study, carried out in London, broadly supported our findings for risk of ED attendances, but not EHAs. This was most likely due to low rates of detection of depression in general practitioner (GP) data sets. Qualitative work showed that patients were reluctant to use unscheduled care, deciding to do so when they perceived a serious and urgent need for care, and following previous experience that unscheduled care had successfully and unquestioningly met similar needs in the past. In general, emergency and primary care doctors did not regard unscheduled care as problematic. We found there are missed opportunities to identify and discuss psychosocial issues during routine consultations in primary care due to the ‘overmechanisation’ of routine health-care reviews. The feasibility trial examined two levels of an intervention for people with COPD: we tried to improve the way in which practices manage patients with COPD and developed a targeted psychosocial treatment for patients at risk of using unscheduled care. The former had low acceptability, whereas the latter had high acceptability. Exploratory health economic analyses suggested that the practice-level intervention would be unlikely to be cost-effective, limiting the value of detailed health economic modelling. Limitations The findings of this programme may not apply to all people with LTCs. It was conducted in an area of high social deprivation, which may limit the generalisability to more affluent areas. The response rate to the prospective longitudinal study was low. The feasibility trial focused solely on people with COPD. Conclusions Prior use of unscheduled care is the most powerful predictor of unscheduled care use in people with LTCs. However, psychosocial factors, particularly depression, are important additional predictors of use of unscheduled care in patients with LTCs, independent of severity and multimorbidity. Patients and health-care practitioners are unaware that psychosocial factors influence health-care use, and such factors are rarely acknowledged or addressed in consultations or discussions about use of unscheduled care. A targeted patient intervention for people with LTCs and comorbid depression has shown high levels of acceptability when delivered in a primary care context. An intervention at the level of the GP practice showed little evidence of acceptability or cost-effectiveness. Future work The potential benefits of case-finding for depression in patients with LTCs in primary care need to be evaluated, in addition to further evaluation of the targeted patient intervention

Preparing for their Future: Perspectives of High School Students with Learning Disabilities about Transition Planning

High school students perspectives related to school facilitation of involvement of students in the transition process were examined. Qualitative interviews with 40 high school students with Learning Disabilities (LD) were conducted using a semi-structured interview protocol and a constant comparative approach was used in data coding. Qualitative analysis of interview data resulted in the emergence of three primary themes based on student perceptions of what works in transition planning related to (1) diploma options and course choice, (2) meaningful Individualized Education Program and Transition Plan involvement, and (3) opportunities to explore transition domains of career and college preparation. Implications for practice include a discussion of ways in which schools can facilitate meaningful student involvement in transition planning for graduation and post-school success

"I'm Bright Enough to Do It, Even Though Sometimes I Feel I Can't Do It": Perspectives of High School Students with Learning Disabilities About Existing Supports to Achieve Graduation

Little evidence exists about how students with Learning disabilities (LD) recognize, understand, and utilize existing supports to ensure successful graduation from high school. In this article we ask: What are the supports available to high school students with LD that help them graduate? (a) What/who are some school-based supports they identify? (b) What/who are some non-school supports they identify? We share data from semi-structured interviews with forty high school students. Findings reveal: teacher support in the form of pedagogical choices, individualized support, and after-school support; counseling expertise in the form of academic advisement and emotional support; effective family-school collaboration; discrete family support outside of school; and various forms of self sustenance. Implications of these findings are discussed before recommendations are made to various stakeholders in the school community with the view to improving supports of students with LD toward helping them successfully graduate

"I'm Bright Enough to Do It, Even Though Sometimes I Feel I Can't Do It": Perspectives of High School Students with Learning Disabilities About Existing Supports to Achieve Graduation

Little evidence exists about how students with Learning disabilities (LD) recognize, understand, and utilize existing supports to ensure successful graduation from high school. In this article we ask: What are the supports available to high school students with LD that help them graduate? (a) What/who are some school-based supports they identify? (b) What/who are some non-school supports they identify? We share data from semi-structured interviews with forty high school students. Findings reveal: teacher support in the form of pedagogical choices, individualized support, and after-school support; counseling expertise in the form of academic advisement and emotional support; effective family-school collaboration; discrete family support outside of school; and various forms of self sustenance. Implications of these findings are discussed before recommendations are made to various stakeholders in the school community with the view to improving supports of students with LD toward helping them successfully graduate