University of Southern California

Karen M. Hennigan, Cheryl L. Maxson, David C. Sloane, Kathy A. Kolnick & Flor Vindel. Identifying high-risk youth for secondary gang prevention. Journal of Crime and Justice: Vol. 37, Issue 1, 2014, pp. 104-128.

Abstract

Efforts to reduce gang violence by deterring youth from joining street gangs are of major interest in cities across the United States. Current thinking supports a comprehensive gang reduction approach that includes concurrent efforts that prevent joining, encourage leaving, and interrupt gang violence. This paper focuses on a method of strengthening the prevention component by improving the identification of youth at high risk for gang joining. The authors advocate a secondary prevention approach supported by an empirically based assessment of risk factors consistently associated with gang joining in rigorous studies across multiple locations in the United States, Canada, and Europe.  (more…)

April 15, 2014
by Jeremy Loudenback

Earlier this year, Los Angeles was stirred by the publication of a report that painted a dire portrait of the city’s woes, from congestion to economic stagnation and growing pension-fund troubles. Last week, the Los Angeles 2020 Commission followed its assessment of the city’s challenges with the “A Time for Action” report, an attempt to propose solutions for the problems facing Los Angeles.

Headed by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor and former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner, the Los Angeles 2020 Commission focused its suggestions around several topic areas that corresponded with problems identified in January’s “A Time for Truth” report. In that report, the commission described the economic crisis facing the area, highlighting the fact that the Los Angeles metropolitan region has shown a net decline in jobs over the past 20 years, ranking with Cleveland and Detroit as the only cities to share that dubious distinction. Public education, congestion, chronic budget shortfalls, and poverty were also singled out as part of the city’s problems, causing the city to tread water “while the rest of the world is moving forward.”

With such a grim diagnosis of the city’s prospects, the release of a sequel with solutions to deal with many problems facing the city was eagerly anticipated. On tap? Fewer big picture ideas and more modest suggestions aimed at restoring the city’s luster. Among the recommendations: (more…)

Bryce C. Lowery and David C. Sloane. The Prevalence of Harmful Content on Outdoor Advertising in Los Angeles: Land Use, Community Characteristics, and the Spatial Inequality of a Public Health Nuisance. American Journal of Public Health: April 2014, Vol. 104, No. 4, pp. 658-664.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301694

Abstract:

 

Objectives. Our study sought to examine associations between the content of outdoor advertising and neighborhood ethnic/racial and socioeconomic composition to see whether particular communities disproportionately host harmful content. (more…)