The current study examined whether obesity contributed significantly to the prediction of depression and health status independent of other relevant factors such as sex, age, and perceived racism in a sample of 198 African Americans residing within a predominantly rural region. Hierarchical regression indicated that even after controlling for important demographic variables, obesity was predictive of higher depression scores as measured by the PHQ9. Additionally, obesity was identified as a significant predictor of health status, such that heavier individuals rated their general health status more poorly than their normal weight peers. Rural respondents did not differ significantly from their metropolitan counterparts. Major predictors of age, sex, perceived racism, and body mass index exerted an adverse effect on the poor, overweight, and individuals who perceived a greater degree of racism and had different effects on age, depression, and health status. Differences may be suggestive of protective factors that mitigate effects of these major predictors.

Student Number: 0516329A - MSc research report - School of Public Health - Faculty of Medicine / In the face of diminishing traditional controls on adolescent sexual behaviour, parents are becoming the focal point of guidance on sexual issues. The main objective of the study is to establish if residing with one’s parents has any effect on one’s sexual behaviour among adolescents in the Kassena-Nankana District of Northern Ghana. A sample of 7056 adolescents aged between 10 and 24 years were interviewed between April and October 2003 while the 2004 household socio-economic data was used to generate a household wealth index. Females are less likely to have had sex (AOR 0.75; CI: 0.63; 0.88) and also less likely to initiate sex before age 16 (AOR 0.30; CI: 0.21; 0.43) compared to males. Living with one’s father only is associated with a 36% decrease in the likelihood of having had sex among males (AOR 0.64; CI: 0.42; 0.96) compared to living with both parents. Females living with neither parent were 76% more likely to have had sex than those living with both parents (AOR 1.76; CI: 1.21; 2.55). Discussion of sexual matters with parents increased the likelihood of initiating sex. Family structure is an important predictor of sexual behaviour among adolescents and therefore should be considered when designing and implementing interventions. Longitudinal and qualitative studies are recommended

En plein essor depuis quelques années, les références au « logement durable » et la constitution d’une offre s’inscrivant dans ses objectifs, invitent à analyser les interactions entre le domaine du logement et celui de l’environnement, dans leurs rapports au phénomène urbain et ses évolutions. Cette thèse de sociologie, ouverte à la pluridisciplinarité en sciences sociales (urbanisme et aménagement, ethnologie), retient empiriquement comme cas d’étude la construction de maisons individuelles dans le Grand Est, en Alsace, qui intègrent une réflexion sur la performance énergétique et l’usage de matériaux dits écologiques, en se centrant en particulier sur les espaces périurbains. L’ambition conjointe de cette recherche est double. D’une part, on se propose d’analyser les modalités de production d’une offre de « maison durable » techno-centrée et adaptée à la focale énergétique des politiques environnementales, à partir d’une enquête auprès de maîtres d’œuvre et constructeurs régionaux, en regard des évolutions des cadres juridiques et des marchés immobiliers nationaux. D’autre part, il s’agit de mettre en lumière, par une ethnographie de terrain et la caractérisation des trajectoires des ménages étudiés, le vécu des habitants, leurs appropriations de la « maison durable » et leurs modes de vie. De façon transversale, la thèse nourrit ainsi une réflexion sur l’injonction à la sobriété énergétique et à la responsabilisation individuelle en questionnant le modèle de « maison durable » et ses effets sur les inégalités socio-spatiales / In the early twenty-first century, “sustainable housing” has become a popular catchword, and its goals are increasingly being embraced in the housing sector. This new context calls for analysing the interactions between housing and environment, especially insofar as they relate to the urban phenomenon and its evolutions. This PhD in sociology adopts an interdisciplinary social science perspective (branching out into urbanism, planning and ethnology) in its empirical examination of the construction of individual houses in the Alsace region of France, that take into consideration energy performance and the use so-called “ecological” materials, especially in peri-urban areas.The PhD pursued two main goals. First, based on a study of regional architects and builders, and in light of the evolution of legal frameworks and national real estate markets, it analyses the modalities of production of techno-centric “sustainable houses” that reflect the demands of environmental policies in terms of energy efficiency. Second, based on ethnographical approach and on the characterization of the trajectories of households, it looks into the experiences of residents, their appropriation of the “sustainable houses” and lifestyles. The PhD ultimately offers crosscutting insights into the impact of calls for energy sobriety and individual responsibility by reconsidering the “sustainable house” model and its effects on social and spatial inequalities.

Le droit pénal génère des distinctions entre étrangers et nationaux, les premiers faisant, dans certaines situations, l’objet d’une pénalisation spécifique. Pourtant, la pertinence de cette pénalisation peut être questionnée au regard d’un balancement, opéré par le droit pénal, entre distinction et assimilation.Dans un premier temps, l’étude démontre que les différentes distinctions en droit pénal peuvent être contestées. D’une part, la pénalisation dont fait l’objet l’ensemble des étrangers ne semble pas opportune car elle apparaît tant superflue – lorsque le droit pénal se superpose à un dispositif extra-pénal suffisant – qu’illégitime – lorsque le droit pénal utilise l’apparence d’extranéité comme critère d’application. D’autre part, la pénalisation spécifique dont font l’objet les étrangers en situation irrégulière apparaît inadéquate puisque, dépendante de l’évolution des règles administratives et européennes, elle revêt un caractère instable et parce qu’elle ne présente qu’un intérêt relatif pour lutter contre l’immigration illégale.Dans un second temps, l’analyse montre, à travers un mouvement d’assimilation progressive de l’étranger au national, que le droit pénal sait aussi se désintéresser de l’extranéité. D’une part, cette assimilation répond à un impératif d’égalité qu’il est possible d’observer dans le cadre du procès pénal, mais également à l’aune de la création d’immunités pénales au profit de certains étrangers. D’autre part, cette assimilation est fondée sur la lutte contre l’impunité des auteurs d’infractions puisqu’elle est commandée par les impératifs de la coopération pénale internationale et consacrée par le mécanisme de la compétence universelle. / Criminal law gives rise to distinctions between aliens and nationals, the former being subjected to specific criminalization. But the relevance of this criminalization may be questioned, considering the balance sought by criminal law between distinction and assimilation.First, the study demonstrates that the different distinctions provided by criminal law may be challenged. On one hand, criminalization that applies to every alien is not convenient since it appears non-essential – when criminal law overlaps already sufficient extra-criminal rules – and illegitimate – when criminal law uses foreign origin as selection criterion. On the other hand, specific criminalization applied to illegal aliens appears to be inadequate since, depending on the evolution of national administrative rules and European rules, it has no legal certainty and relative interest to restrict illegal immigration.Then, the analysis shows, through a movement of progressive assimilation of aliens to nationals, that criminal law can also lose interest in foreign origin. On one hand, this assimilation meets to a requirement of equality that one may observe not only in criminal lawsuits but also in matters of criminal immunities in favor of some aliens. On the other hand, this assimilation is based on broader fight against impunity of offenders as required by international criminal cooperation and recognized by the mechanism of universal jurisdiction.