More Like this

1. Duration in Immigration Detention and Health Harms

   https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.56164  

   Saadi, Altaf; Patler, Caitlin; Langer, Paola (January 2025, JAMA Network Open)

   IMPORTANCE Length of custody is a mechanism by which carceral systems can worsen health. However, there are fewer studies examining US immigration detention, in large part because US immigration detention is largely privately operated and opaque by design. OBJECTIVES To examine the association between duration spent in US immigration detention with subsequent health outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study used a referral sample of recently detained immigrants who were released from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under a series of court orders in 2020 and 2021. Data were analyzed from June 2023 to October 2024. EXPOSURE Detention duration less than 6 months vs 6 months or longer. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES We used multivariable regression analysis to assess the association of detention duration and several variables: (1) self-rated health, (2) mental illness (Kessler 6-item psychological distress scale), and (3) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Primary Care-PTSD-5 Screen).We then calculated the likelihood of experiencing each outcome, controlling for covariates. As a robustness check, we conducted sensitivity analyses with detention duration as a continuous measure. RESULTS The study included 200 respondents (mean [SD] age, 40.3 [10.1] years; 175 male [87.5%]; 149 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity [74.5%]). Results revealed a high prevalence of poor self-rated health, mental illness, and PTSD for all respondents, but especially among those who had been detained for 6 months or longer, who had significantly higher likelihood of poor or fair self-rated health (49.1% [95%CI, 40.5%-57.6%] vs 30.4%[95%CI, 21.8%-39.1%]; P < .001), mental illness (37.0%[95%CI, 28.2%-45.8%] vs 20.7%[95%CI, 12.6%-28.7%]; P < .001), and PTSD (59.3%[95% CI, 50.3%-68.3%] vs 34.8%[95%CI, 25.3%-44.3%]; P < .001). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the general robustness of these findings, with longer detention duration significantly associated with mental illness (OR, 1.11 [95%CI, 1.02-1.20]; P = .01) and PTSD (OR, 1.11 [95%CI, 1.03-1.20]; P = .005) in our adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this cross-sectional study, detained immigrants experienced a high prevalence of poor health, mental illness, and PTSD, with detention periods of 6 months or more associated with higher rates compared with those detained less than 6 months. Duration of custody is one mechanism by which immigration detention might be a catalyst for worsening health. 

   more » « less
2. Interrogating Structural Racism in STEM Higher Education

   https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20972718  

   McGee, Ebony Omotola (December 2020, Educational Researcher)

   The racialized structure of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) higher education maintains gross inequities that are illustrative of structural racism, which both informs and is reinforced by discriminatory beliefs, policies, values, and distribution of resources. Thus, an examination into structural racism in STEM is needed to expose the marginalization of underrepresented groups in STEM and to improve understanding of the STEM policies, practices, and procedures that allow the foundation of racism to remain intact. I argue that, even at the top of the education hierarchy, Black STEM doctorate students and PhD degree holders consistently endure the racist residue of higher education institutions and STEM employers. Thus, this manuscript also discusses how universities institutionalize diversity mentoring programs designed mostly to fix (read “assimilate”) underrepresented students of color while ignoring or minimizing the role of the STEM departments in creating racially hostile work and educational spaces. I argue that, without a critical examination of the structural racism omnipresent in the STEM, progress in racially diversifying STEM will continue at a snail’s pace. 

   more » « less
3. Brain–body pathways linking racism and health.

   https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001084  

   Muscatell, Keely A.; Alvarez, Gabriella M.; Bonar, Adrienne S.; Cardenas, Megan N.; Galvan, Manuel J.; Merritt, Carrington C.; Starks, Maurryce D. (December 2022, American Psychologist)
4. Fish Prisons and Bluehouses: Perceived Risks and Benefits of Land-based Aquaculture in Four US Communities

   https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2062020  

   Rickard, Laura N.; Houston, Cynthia L.; McGreavy, Bridie; Johnson, Branden B.; Gurney, Gabriella (January 2022, Environmental Communication)
5. COVID-19 Racism and Mental Health in Chinese American Families

   https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-021816  

   Cheah, Charissa S.L.; Wang, Cixin; Ren, Huiguang; Zong, Xiaoli; Cho, Hyun Su; Xue, Xiaofang (November 2020, Pediatrics)

   OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has fueled xenophobia against Chinese Americans. We examined the rates of 6 types of COVID-19 racism and racial discrimination experienced by Chinese American parents and youth and the associations with their mental health. METHODS: We recruited a population-based sample of Chinese American families to participate in this self-reported survey study conducted from March 14, 2020, to May 31, 2020. Eligible parent participants identified as ethnically/racially Chinese, lived in the United States, and had a 4- to 18-year-old child; their eligible children were 10 to 18 years old. RESULTS: The sample included 543 Chinese American parents (mean [SD] age, 43.44 [6.47] years; 425 mothers [78.3%]), and their children (N = 230; mean [SD] age, 13.83 [2.53] years; 111 girls [48.3%]). Nearly half of parents and youth reported being directly targeted by COVID-19 racial discrimination online (parents: 172 [31.7%]; youth: 105 [45.7%]) and/or in person (parents: 276 [50.9%]; youth: 115 [50.2%]). A total of 417 (76.8%) parents and 176 (76.5%) youth reported at least 1 incident of COVID-19 vicarious racial discrimination online and/or in person (parents: 481 [88.5%]; youth: 211 [91.9%]). A total of 267 (49.1%) parents and 164 (71.1%) youth perceived health-related Sinophobia in America, and 274 (50.4%) parents and 129 (56.0%) youth perceived media-perpetuated Sinophobia. Higher levels of parent- and youth-perceived racism and racial discrimination were associated with their poorer mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals must attend to the racism-related experiences and mental health needs of Chinese Americans parents and their children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic via education and making appropriate mental health referrals. 

   more » « less