Introdução: Estudos realizados em outros contextos mostram que o acesso a alimentos saudáveis e o consumo alimentar variam conforme o local de residência, podendo contribuir com desigualdades em saúde já existentes em áreas urbanas. Objetivos: O estudo apresenta três objetivos: (1) propor e avaliar a confiabilidade de instrumentos de avaliação do microambiente alimentar urbano adaptado ao contexto do Município de São Paulo, (2) investigar se o acesso a alimentos varia de acordo com o nível socioeconômico da vizinhança, após ajustes para o tipo de estabelecimento, e (3) estudar a associação entre o ambiente alimentar local e o consumo de frutas, hortaliças e bebidas açucaradas dentre amostra da população adulta do município de São Paulo. Métodos: Estudo transversal conduzido em 2010-2011 em 52 setores censitários do Município de São Paulo selecionados de acordo com o nível socioeconômico e densidade de equipamentos de comercialização de alimentos. Dois instrumentos de avaliação do microambiente alimentar foram desenvolvidos e tiveram suas confiabilidades inter- e intra-avaliador testadas: (1) ESAO-s instrumento de avaliação de estabelecimentos de comercialização de alimentos para consumo no domicílio; e (2) ESAO-r instrumento de avaliação de estabelecimentos de comercialização de alimentos para consumo imediato. O acesso a alimentos saudáveis foi medido a partir de índices que resumiram as medidas coletadas acerca da disponibilidade, variedade e promoção de alimentos. Associações entre o nível de educação da vizinhança e o acesso a alimentos foram testadas com modelos de regressão multinível. Dados coletados em amostra de 1842 adultos residentes nos mesmos setores censitários acerca do consumo regular ( 5 vezes/semana) de frutas, hortaliças e bebidas açucaradas foram utilizados em modelos multinível de regressão logística com o intuito de estudar as associações entre características do micro- e macro-ambiente alimentar e o consumo de tais alimentos. Para cada participante, disponibilidade, variedade, qualidade, preço e promoção/propaganda de frutas, hortaliças e bebidas açucaradas foram medidos em todos os estabelecimentos de comercialização de alimentos no setor censitário de residência e em todos os estabelecimentos de comercialização de alimentos em um raio de 1,6 km da residência. Resultados: Os instrumentos foram considerados confiáveis, com coeficientes de kappa para as medidas intra e inter-avaliadores variando de 0,55 a 0,95. Eles também foram capazes de discriminar diferentes tipos de estabelecimentos. Supermercados e feiras-livres, mercados municipais e sacolões apresentaram maior disponibilidade de alimentos saudáveis do que pequenos mercados de bairro. Estabelecimentos de comercialização de alimentos localizados em bairros de maior nível socioeconômico apresentaram um maior número de opções saudáveis, quando comparados a estabelecimentos similares, mas localizados em áreas de menor nível de educação. Após ajustes para medidas individuais de sexo, idade, educação e renda, preços altos de bebidas açucaradas em regiões mais pobres da cidade foram associados a uma menor chance de consumi-las (OR=0,58;IC95%=0,34;0,97); enquanto a associação foi inversa nos bairros mais ricos da cidade (OR=2,33;IC95%=1,12;4,84). Associações significativas entre a disponibilidade e consumo de frutas foram mostradas para três diferentes medidas disponibilidade de frutas próximo à residência; presença de pelo menos um estabelecimento que comercializasse frutas, mesmo que com baixa variedade; e residir em uma área no último quartil do índice de acesso a alimentos saudáveis HFSI. Associações entre medidas de acesso e consumo de hortaliças foram menos consistentes. Conclusão: Encontramos diferenças no acesso a alimentos saudáveis em São Paulo, favorecendo as regiões da cidade de níveis socioeconômicos médio e alto. Aspectos do ambiente alimentar foram associados ao consumo de frutas, hortaliças e bebidas açucaradas. Políticas públicas e intervenções com o objetivo de diminuir as desigualdades de acesso da população a alimentos saudáveis devem considerar o impacto de aspectos do ambiente alimentar disponibilidade, preço, variedade e qualidade de alimentos saudáveis e não saudáveis / Introduction: Previous studies carried out in different settings have shown that access to healthy foods and diet patterns vary across neighborhoods, contributing to already present health disparities within urban settings. Objectives: This study comprises three objectives: (1) to develop and examine the reliability of two observational tools to measure the availability, variety, quality, pricing, and signage/promotion of healthy and unhealthy foods in retail food stores, specialized fruits and vegetables (FV) markets/stores, open-air food markets, and restaurants; (2) to examine whether food access varies across neighborhoods of different socioeconomic statuses, adjusted by store types; and (3) to examine the relationships between the neighborhood food environment and the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) among an adult sample from the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in 2010-2011 across 52 census tracts in Sao Paulo city. We selected tracts according to socioeconomic characteristics and density of retail food stores and fast food restaurants. Two comprehensive microlevel food environment tools were developed and had their inter-rater and test-retest reliability tested: (1) ESAO-s to assess retail food stores and open-air food markets; and (2) ESAO-r to assess all types of restaurants. Food access was measured as the availability, variety, and promotion/signage of healthy and unhealthy foods, and was summarized into two indexes developed for retail food stores and restaurants. Multilevel models were used to examine associations of store type and neighborhood characteristics with food access indexes. Data on food intake of 1842 adults from the same sampled 52 different census tracts were collected. For each participant, the availability, variety, quality, price, and promotion/signage of fruits, vegetables, and SSB were directly assessed in all food stores/restaurants within 1.6 km of their residence. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of consumption of fruits 5 days/week, vegetables 5 days/week, and SSB 5 days/week with stores density and fresh fruits, vegetables, and SSB in-store measures. Results: Tools were reliable and able to discriminate across store types. Kappa coefficients varied from 0.55 to 0.95. Supermarkets and FV specialized stores/markets had a higher availability of healthy foods than corner stores/local grocery stores. Fast-food restaurants, bars and, corner stores were more likely to be located in low socioeconomic level neighborhoods, though supermarkets and FV specialized markets/stores were more likely to be located in neighborhoods in the 2 tertile of education. Multilevel analyses showed that supermarkets and full-service restaurants carried more healthy items adjusted for local and surrounding education levels. Stores with better food access, regardless of the type, were more likely to be found in high socioeconomic status neighborhoods. After adjustment for age, gender, income, and education, a higher price of SSB in low-income neighborhoods was associated with a lower odds of consuming SSB (OR=0.58;95%CI=0.34,0.97), whereas for those living in a high-income neighborhood, an inverse pattern was found (OR=2.33;IC95%=1.12,4.84). A positive association between fruit availability and consumption was consistent and significant using three different measures of neighborhood fruit availability. Living near retail food stores in the upper HFSI quartile increased in 52% the odds of consuming fruits (OR=1.52;95%CI=1.03,2.26). We observed less consistent associations for vegetables. Conclusion: We found differences in the accessibility of healthy foods in Sao Paulo, favoring middle and high socioeconomic status neighborhoods. Our findings suggest that the neighborhood food environment influences fruit, vegetable, and SSB consumption. Policies and interventions aimed at reducing disparities in food access in the city should consider characteristics of the food environment availability, price, variety, and quality of healthy and unhealthy foods

Essay 1: We use data from a large sample of adoptees born in Sweden to decompose the intergenerational persistence in health inequality across generations into one pre-birth component, measured by the biological parents’ longevity, and one post-birth component, measured by the adopting parents’ longevity. We find that most of the health inequality is transmitted via pre-birth factors. In the second part of the paper, we study the background to why children of parents with better educational attainments have better health by decomposing the association into one component attributed to the education of the biological parents and one to the adopting ones. We find that the association can mostly be attributed to the adopting parents, suggesting that parental resources per se, rather than pre-birth (genetic) differences, make up the parental education gradient in child health. Essay 2: There are large differences in health across neighborhoods in Sweden. To try to answer if there is a causal link between neighborhood conditions in childhood and youth health, I apply two different empirical strategies. First, I use population wide data on families living in different areas in Sweden, and estimate the effects of childhood neighborhood on youth health using data on families that move across the country. Since the choice of moving and where to live is endogenous, I exploit the timing of moves and estimate the effect of siblings’ different exposure time to neighborhoods. The second approach utilizes a governmental policy that assigned refugees to their initial neighborhood in Sweden, potentially offering exogenous variation in neighborhoods and allowing me to study the effect of different neighborhoods on youth health. The findings from the two strategies together imply that there are significant neighborhood effects on youth health, but that the effects are contemporaneous and there is no evidence of exposure time effects. Essay 3: Previous research has shown that birth order affects outcomes such as educational achievements, IQ and earnings. The mechanisms behind these effects are still largely unknown. We examine birth order effects on health, and whether health at young age could be a transmission channel for birth order effects observed later in life. Our results show that firstborn children have worse health at birth. This disadvantage is reversed in early age and later-born siblings are more likely to be hospitalized for injuries and avoidable conditions. In adolescence and as young adults, younger siblings are more likely to be of poor mental health and to be admitted to hospital for alcohol induced health conditions. We also test for reverse causality by estimating fertility responses to the health of existing children. Overall our results suggest that birth order effects are due to differential parental investment because parents’ time and resources are limited. Essay 4: We study the short-, medium- and long-term consequences of health at birth using administrative data from Sweden for individuals born in the years 1973-1979. We contribute to a better understanding of the consequences of early life health by contrasting the effects of birth weight with two other measures of neonatal health: the length and the head circumference of the newborn. Our findings suggest that the use of birth weight alone might lead to an underestimation of the importance of early health. Furthermore, we find that there is a persistent effect of neonatal health on a variety of human capital measures in adolescence and adulthood.

abstract: Discretion is central to policing. The way officers use their discretion is influenced by situational, officer, and neighborhood-level factors. Concerns that discretion could be used differentially across neighborhoods have resulted in calls for increased police transparency and accountability. Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been promoted to further these goals through increasing oversight of police-citizen encounters. The implication is that BWCs will increase officer self-awareness and result in more equitable outcomes. Prior researchers have largely evaluated the direct impact of BWCs. Researchers have yet to examine the potential for BWCs to moderate the influence of neighborhood context in individual incidents. To address this gap, I use Phoenix Police Department data collected as part of a three-year randomized-controlled trial of BWCs to examine variation in police discretion. These data include over 1.5 million police-citizen contacts nested within 826 officers and 388 neighborhoods. I examine two research questions. First, how do proactivity, arrests, and use of force vary depending on situational, officer, and neighborhood contexts? This provides a baseline for my next research question. Second, examining the same contexts and outcomes, do BWCs moderate the influence of neighborhood factors on police behavior? As such, I examine the untested, though heavily promoted, argument that BWCs will reduce the influence of extralegal factors on officer behavior. Using cross-classified logistic regression models, I found that situational, officer, and neighborhood factors all influenced proactivity, arrest, and use of force. BWCs were associated with a lower likelihood of proactivity, but an increased likelihood of arrest and use of force. Officers were more proactive and were more likely to conduct arrests in immigrant and Hispanic neighborhoods. The moderating effects suggest that officers were even more likely to proactively initiate contacts and conduct arrests in immigrant and Hispanic neighborhoods when BWCs were activated. However, after BWCs were deployed, use of force was significantly less likely to occur in black neighborhoods. Given that high-profile police use of force incidents involving black suspects are often cited as a major impetus for the adoption of BWCs in American police agencies, this finding is a key contribution to the literature. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2020

Through a national collection, the Swedish Police identify and classify vulnerable neighborhoods. Areas are assessed through police perceptions regarding high concentrations of certain problems and criminal activity, such as public acts of violence with risk of harming third parties, open drug markets and organised crime structures. The purpose of this study has been to see whether it is possible to statistically discover these neighborhoods based on socioeconomic and demographic data. Initially, in a national comparison, areas that are defined as vulnerable neighborhoods by the national collection, was compared with other areas in the country. This was done based on a statistical grid consisting of squares with the dimension of 250 x 250 meters, with each square holding information about socio-demographic data. The main aim has been to identify a statistical model that more objectively can identify squares that are vulnerable or not, compared to the police's more subjective assessment. Result from logistic regression analyses implies that vulnerable neighborhoods from the national collection show greater odds at having high concentrations of residents with foreign background, higher unemployment rates and more households with single parents. Lastly, the best fitted regression model for explaining these areas by the means of pseudo R2-value, were used to calculate a prediction value for each square. This value was then analysed using a GIS-software, to discover any areas that in the national collection was classified as vulnerable, but according to the model no longer met the criteria, and then vice versa. The overall result indicate that it is possible to discover areas with higher concentrations of certain characteristics seen in vulnerable neighborhoods, using spatial analyses and logistic regressions of micro-places, to more objectively classify these areas. By aggregating crime data, the result of this study can in the future mean a more effective implementation for police authorities.

The increase of firearm-related violence has plagued Sweden, and specifically Malmö, for thirty years. This Systematic Literature Review gathered ten articles from different fields in order to discern the causes behind such an increase, the mechanisms of gun violence in a Swedish settings and the implications for Malmö on a criminological level. Results showed that a combination of factors such as the illegal importation of illicit firearms and the expansion of organized criminal groups in vulnerable territories were responsible for a shift of pattern in homicide. This change is preventing the police from properly solving homicide cases and the criminal justice system from prosecuting them. All in all, firearm violence is strongly related to gang activities in the three largest Swedish cities and the reason why Malmö is the most affected may be explained by the large number of clustered near-repeat shootings spread over three neighborhoods considered vulnerable. Actions have been taken though still require some analysis.

Hispanic youth living in the U.S. share a disproportionate burden of risk for HIV, other STIs, and teen pregnancies. They also tend to report lower rates of condom use and higher rates of inconsistent condom use than other racial/ethnic groups. Furthermore, immigrant Hispanic adolescents experience a unique burden of sexual risk compared to their non-immigrant counterparts. These negative sexual health outcomes can severely derail the overall health, social mobility, and life opportunities of these adolescents. Social researchers have tried to explain these sexual risk disparities using the concept of immigrant acculturation, which is broadly defined as the process of adopting the cultural values and beliefs of a host society. Immigrant acculturation has been shown to play a key role in shaping youth attitudes and behaviors, including sexual risk behaviors (see Lee & Hahm, 2010). Yet, studies have largely overlooked the contextual components of acculturation that have been proposed in theoretical literature, specifically characteristics of the immigrant's receiving community. Furthermore, studies have not adequately explored the influence of acculturation on two crucial measures of sexual risk: teen pregnancy norms and condom use. Therefore, the current dissertation consists of two unique studies that examine the influence of acculturation, at both the individual and neighborhood level, on Hispanic adolescent teen pregnancy norms and condom use over time. The aim is to fill these important gaps in the literature and expand on earlier explanations of the relationship between cultural, place, and long-term sexual health. Both studies use nationally-representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Overall, findings suggest an immigrant advantage for both teen pregnancy norms and condom use, although this advantage functions differently for males and females. Furthermore, the studies demonstrate the importance of including contextual measures of acculturation into studies related to Hispanic adolescent sexual health.

This research examines the impact of formal and informal labeling on self-reported violent and non-violent delinquency. This longitudinal research design utilizes cohort 15 from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) at two different points in time. This research not only evaluates the effect of formal labeling (arrest) but also determines the effect of informal labeling (warning and releasing) by police officers. Specifically, the hypotheses assess if labeling affects minority youth differently than white youth. Using nested ordinary least square re and logistic regression models, the results indicate that labeling only operates in simple models containing few variables. The apparent effects of labeling on non-violent delinquency are accounted for in the complete model by previous delinquent behavior, living in a two-parented home, and having a parent with a criminal record. Moreover, the apparent effects of labeling are diminished in the complete model predicting violent delinquency once controlling for the effects of race (Black), gender (male), lower income level, and having a parent with a criminal record.

Thesis advisor: Rebekah L. Coley / Recent decades have witnessed the increasing spatial concentration of poverty and affluence in the United States (Biscoff & Reardon, 2013). Given well-documented links between neighborhood economic contexts and wellbeing (Chow et al., 2005), this has the potential to exacerbate disparities in health, particularly for people with limited neighborhood choice. However, limited research has systematically examined the neighborhood features underlying these links. A more nuanced understanding of why neighborhood poverty matters is essential for promoting equitable neighborhood development. Using rigorous analytic techniques that account for the dynamic nature of neighborhoods and help adjust for selection bias, I considered two complementary questions: 1) do observed neighborhood resources and stressors mediate associations between neighborhood poverty and wellbeing within and between individuals; and 2) how do observed versus perceived changes in neighborhood features mediate links between neighborhood poverty and wellbeing? I combined individual-level longitudinal data from the Post-Katrina Study of Resilience and Recovery with administrative neighborhood data drawn from the Census Bureau, FBI, and EPA. Analyses focused on a sample of 606 participants – primarily young Black mothers with low levels of income – who were affected by Hurricane Katrina, most of whom experienced some period of forced relocation. Participants were surveyed once before (2003/04) and twice after (2006/07; 2009) the hurricane. Results paint a complex picture. Contrasting with prior research, total effects of neighborhood poverty on wellbeing were limited. However, changes in neighborhood poverty were linked to wellbeing indirectly through intermediary neighborhood features, with results pointing to benefits and detriments of rising neighborhood poverty. Results were driven by those who changed neighborhoods over the course of the study. For participants that lived in the same New Orleans neighborhood across waves, changes in neighborhood poverty proved less consequential. Overall, results suggest that rather than treating neighborhood poverty as uniformly problematic for wellbeing, efforts to promote health equity should identify and build upon existing assets of neighborhoods, like affordability and amenity access, while also reducing stressors. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

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Cette thèse porte sur l’évolution de la participation électorale des habitants des quartiers populaires depuis 1999. En France, après les émeutes de 2005, ces quartiers ont été marqués par une forte hausse de l’inscription et de la participation lors de l’élection présidentielle de 2007. Pourtant ils cumulent les caractéristiques susceptibles d’éloigner leurs habitants du vote. C’est ce paradoxe que la thèse cherche à expliquer. Pour y parvenir, elle croise plusieurs champs théoriques (sociologie urbaine, sociologie/géographie électorale, action publique) dans une perspective comparative, analysant ces évolutions électorales dans les périphéries marginalisées de Paris, Madrid et Birmingham. L’hypothèse centrale est celle d’une inclusion politique croissante des habitants des quartiers populaires français. La méthodologie est mixte, croisant analyse de données agrégées resituant le contexte, données de sondage, entretiens avec des habitants des quartiers marginalisés, observations de bureaux de vote en région parisienne et analyse des politiques d’incitation au vote. Les résultats montrent qu’il n’y a pas de fatalité à la non-participation des périphéries urbaines marginalisées. Enfin dans les trois pays les dispositifs d’incitation au vote influencent de façon très inégale l’évolution des comportements politiques. Les politiques publiques généralistes inspirées par la tradition républicaine se révèlent être plus mobilisatrices que les actions ciblées menées au Royaume Uni à destination de groupes sociaux ou de quartiers particuliers. / This research studies the evolution of voting turnout in in Paris, Madrid and Birmingham’s deprived neighborhoods since 1999. In France, after the 2005 riots, both registration and turnout increased sharply during the 2007 presidential election in those places. Yet their inhabitants face numerous social and physical barriers, reducing the likelihood that they would vote. We try to explain this paradox using combined theoretical frameworks from urban sociology, electoral sociology, electoral geography and public policies in a comparative research design. The core hypothesis is that those social groups are increasingly involved in politics and in voting. This study uses several methodological tools involving aggregate data analysis, survey data analysis, polling station observation and field interviews. The results show that public policies designed to influence turnout are sharply divided. Universalistic approaches appear more likely to get voters to participate.