1. After reading the article by Thomas et al., comment on where your research, or your research interests, fit into the generational framework for health disparities research. If your work is 1rst or 2nd generation, comment on how your work could lead in the future to 3rd or 4th generation work. If your work is 3rd or 4th generation, comment on what 1rst and 2nd generation work was necessary as a foundation for your current work (or current interests).
My current research on First Time Offending (FTO), Court-Involved Non-Incarcerated Latinx youth has two aims: 1) To Identify the prevalence and co-occurrence of substance use and HIV/STI risk behaviors of 180 CINI Latina/o youth at time of initial court contact, and 2) to examine how family and cultural variables predict future patterns of substance misuse, sexual risk behaviors and recidivism among CINI Latina/o youth. After reading the Thomas et al article, I would situate my research as second generation. Researchers before me have identified prevelance and disparities of the behavioral health needs of the Latinx population, but do to the heterogeneity of the Latinx community, many researchers could not go beyond a superficial explanation. Due to the recent shifts in classification of the Latinx community, I have been able to zero in on some of the heterogeneity. At the moment, I am looking at causal factors for substance misuse and recidivism. Current research indicates that incarceration of youth in the Juvenile Justice System (JJS) has been tied to the perpetuation of physical and behavioral health (mental health, substance use, and STI Risk behaviors) disparities as well as long-term negative effects that expand to the incarcerated youth’s larger social network (Lambie & Randell, 2013). The possession of a criminal record negatively affects an individual’s ability to secure work, housing, and a stable social network—which are also key factors linked to overall health (Castillo, 2014). Third generation research would provide alternative ways, such as raising awareness and making school officials responsible for unequal disciplinary action based upon race, ethnicity, and social class. Further, research also suggests that the neighborhood a youth lives in impacts externalizing behaviors. Community officials should also be given the appropriate resources to impact the disproportionate rates of incarceration of youth of color. I also believe law enforcement should be engaged, but am at a loss about how to effectively do that.
2. The barbershop hypertension intervention, while essentially a clinical services intervention operating at either the fence or safety-net level as described by Jones, has some engagement with the social determinants of health. Interventions like that described in the Walton article are designed to mitigate the impact of social determinants. How could you apply one of these two types of interventions to your area of research? Propose one or two interventions that engage with social determinants on some level. (Note: Next week we will discuss policy-level interventions designed to directly impact social determinants).
I found the barbershop intervention a very creative way to break down social determinants. I had a hard time with the fact that it doesn’t necessarily equate to my research as it focuses on the individual as the having the problem, similar to what the Jones article described. I can appreciate the definition of the social determinants of equity, which are “systems of power that determine the range of social contexts and the distribution of populations into those social contexts.” For my research, interventions would have to target the larger structures. For example, disciplinary strategies by schools based upon social class. The school-to-prison pipeline is an analogy that describes differing disciplinary actions based upon social class of the school and students that attend the school. Law enforcement officials tend to be readily available and handle disciplinary strategies instead of school officials and lower socio economic status schools. One intervention could be to document and standardize school disciplinary strategies across social classes and assess the impact this has on juvenile arrest rates for those same schools over a one-year period.