Gang Re-engagement Intentions among Incarcerated Serious Juvenile Offenders

Research examining the factors that precipitate gang membership has contributed substantially to our understanding of gangs and gang-related activity, yet we know little about the factors influencing intentions to re-join a gang after having being incarcerated. This study examines the relationship between gang characteristics, number of incarcerated friends, and family characteristics and gang re-engagement intentions, while controlling for ethnicity. Participants were 206 male serious juvenile offenders interviewed as part of the Pathways to Desistance Study. The model explained between 35% and 47% of variance in gang re-engagement intentions. However, only three variables made a unique statistically significant contribution to the model (punishment if gang rules are broken, importance of gang membership, and moral disengagement), with the strongest predictor being importance of gang membership. The results suggest that challenging young offenders’ perceptions about the importance of gang membership might be particularly effective in reducing gang re-engagement intentions after incarceration

Impact-monitoring research leads to clear EU policy recommendations to improve services for children of prisoners.

In England and Wales there are an estimated 200,000 children with a parent in prison, and on any given day, an estimated 800,000 children have a parent in prison in the European Union. The COPING team argue that this area has been in need of academic research, and explain how their focus on maintaining and monitoring impact has yielded some very positive results

Holding the line: The sustainability of police involvement in crime prevention

The opening lines of the handbook issued by Sir Robert Peel to all officers of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, were these: ‘It should be understood at the outset that the object to be attained is the prevention of crime. To this great end every effort of the police is to be directed. The security of person and property, the preservation of the public tranquility, and all the other objects of a police establishment will thus be better effected than by the detection and punishment of the offender after he has succeeded in committing the crime.’ Quoted in Reith (1948:62). Mayne, one of the first two Commissioners, added this principle: ‘To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.’ Quoted in Boyd (2012). What exactly they meant by prevention is open to interpretation, and whether this was just a ruse to help convince a suspicious public that in England ‘continental’ methods of repression would not be adopted is not clear. But by the late 19th Century the reactive approach of catching criminals or ‘feeling collars’ had come to predominate; and in the 20th, the politically-significant rhetoric of ‘fighting crime’ achieved consensual hegemony, delivered huge resources to policing over the years and of course powerfully shaped the policing organisation. It was not until the 1960s that the first signs of resurgence of an explicit, practical, preventive role were seen

Single-gene association between GATA-2 and autoimmune hepatitis:a novel genetic insight highlighting immunologic pathways to disease

AbstractBackground & AimsAutoimmune hepatitis (AIH), an immune-mediated liver disease, originates as a consequence of interacting genetic and environmental risk factors. Treatment remains non-specific and prone to side effects. Deficiencies in regulatory T cell (Treg) function are hypothesized to contribute to the pathogenesis of AIH.MethodsWe describe an adult patient who presented with AIH in the context of monocytopenia. The patient was characterized by GATA2 gene sequencing, flow cytometry of peripheral blood for leucocyte subsets, ELISA for serum Flt-3 ligand, and immunohistochemistry of liver biopsy tissue.ResultsSequencing confirmed a GATA2 mutation. Peripheral Treg were absent in the context of a preserved total T cell count. Immunostaining for the Treg transcription factor FOXP3 was reduced in liver tissue as compared to a control AIH specimen. There were marked deficiencies in multiple antigen-presenting cell subsets and Flt-3 ligand was elevated. These findings are consistent with previous reports of GATA2 dysfunction.ConclusionsThe association of a GATA2 mutation with AIH is previously unrecognized. GATA2 encodes a hematopoietic cell transcription factor, and mutations may manifest as monocytopenia, dendritic and B cell deficiencies, myelodysplasia, and immunodeficiency. Tregs may be depleted as in this case. Our findings provide support for the role of Tregs in AIH, complement reports of other deficiencies in T cell regulation causing AIH-like syndromes, and support the rationale of attempting to modulate the Treg axis for the therapeutic benefit of AIH patients

The evolution of cellular deficiency in GATA2 mutation.

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink at the bottom of the pageConstitutive heterozygous GATA2 mutation is associated with deafness, lymphedema, mononuclear cytopenias, infection, myelodysplasia (MDS), and acute myeloid leukemia. In this study, we describe a cross-sectional analysis of 24 patients and 6 relatives with 14 different frameshift or substitution mutations of GATA2. A pattern of dendritic cell, monocyte, B, and natural killer (NK) lymphoid deficiency (DCML deficiency) with elevated Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (Flt3L) was observed in all 20 patients phenotyped, including patients with Emberger syndrome, monocytopenia with Mycobacterium avium complex (MonoMAC), and MDS. Four unaffected relatives had a normal phenotype indicating that cellular deficiency may evolve over time or is incompletely penetrant, while 2 developed subclinical cytopenias or elevated Flt3L. Patients with GATA2 mutation maintained higher hemoglobin, neutrophils, and platelets and were younger than controls with acquired MDS and wild-type GATA2. Frameshift mutations were associated with earlier age of clinical presentation than substitution mutations. Elevated Flt3L, loss of bone marrow progenitors, and clonal myelopoiesis were early signs of disease evolution. Clinical progression was associated with increasingly elevated Flt3L, depletion of transitional B cells, CD56(bright) NK cells, naïve T cells, and accumulation of terminally differentiated NK and CD8(+) memory T cells. These studies provide a framework for clinical and laboratory monitoring of patients with GATA2 mutation and may inform therapeutic decision-making.Lymphoma and Leukaemia Research British Society of Hematology Bright Red George Walker Trust Wellcome Trus

The impact of the reducing burglary initiative in the North of England

This report summarises the findings from the Northern Consortium on the Impact of the Reducing Burglary Initiative (RBI). The Northern Consortium was responsible for evaluating projects in the north of England. The consortium evaluated 21 Strategic Development Projects (SDPs) under Round 1 of the RBI and found that these SDPs varied greatly in their attributes. There was variation in the leadership of the projects along with variation in the demographics and crime problems they were addressing. The Northern Consortium Evaluation developed several new tools for evaluating crime prevention initiatives including innovative methods for measuring crime displacement and for attributing crime changes to policy interventions. Using a wide range of data, both qualitative and quantitative the team derived a scoring system for each SDP that allowed ranking of success to occur. Whilst this showed variability in burglary reduction across the group, it shows success is possible, but there are many elements of success, and implementation is a key driver of this. There were also many lessons to be learnt by all crime reduction stakeholders including the Home Office, local authorities, partnerships and evaluation teams from the work carried out, on how to ensure sustainability, cost effectiveness and replicability in the future

The health impact assessment of crime prevention

Crime is a major issue in terms of its impact on individuals, communities and the state. In exploring the links between crime and health it is important to distinguish between the health impacts of being a victim of crime (especially on more than one occasion), those of being an offender or at risk of offending and those of being afraid of becoming a victim (fear of crime). Fear of crime may also affect those who are concerned about the safety of relatives, friends and neighbours. This introduces the notion of ‘vicarious fear of crime’ that may also be an important influence on health outcomes