Browsing by Author "Perez, Graciela"
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Item At the sight of opportunity who gets high: a cross-national study of self-control(University of Delaware, 2017) Perez, GracielaAmong adolescents worldwide, cannabis remains as the most widely used illicit substance. However, the majority of research on criminal offending and delinquency among youth has mainly focused on addictive drugs and alcohol. Therefore, this study intends to assess self-control among adolescents in nations with differing cannabis policies. To explore the relationship between self-control and cannabis use among three countries with distinct regulations on cannabis, data from the second International Self-Reported Delinquency (ISRD-2) are used. Multivariate logistic regression models are country-specific and work independently, predicting cannabis use for the United States, Spain and Netherlands. Results indicate that across the three nations, self-control played an influential role in cannabis use. In addition, results demonstrate that countries with stricter cannabis policies have the most youth engaging in cannabis use. These findings suggest that strict cannabis policies does not necessarily mean a decreased use of cannabis, but in fact the opposite may be occurring.Item Bias victimization and police discrimination of Latinx in the United States: the role of culture-specific factors(University of Delaware, 2022) Perez, GracielaIn the wake of nationwide unrest over police brutality and bias motivated violence, a renewed urgency has galvanized scholars and civil rights activists to address these injustices. While such resolve has advanced our understanding of demographic predictors, such as race and ethnicity, gender and age associated to these injustices, few studies have considered the role of culture-specific factors related to various forms of bias victimization. Building on existing research, the present study examined the relationship between sociodemographic (race, gender, nativity and documentation status, socioeconomic) and culture-specific factors (acculturation, acculturative stress and enculturation) associated to various kinds of bias victimization, including hate crimes, non-criminal bias events and police discrimination. Using secondary data from the first wave of Understanding and Measuring Bias Victimization Against Latinos study (N = 910), comparative group analyses were performed to determine the prevalence of bias victimization across culture-specific factors, such as nativity and acculturative stress. Additionally, logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine: (a) whether culture-specific factors (i.e., acculturation, enculturation and nativity) were associated to police discrimination and (b) whether anger mediated the relationship between acculturative stress and bias victimization. Findings from this study indicated that gender, socioeconomic status and race were related to police discrimination, but more importantly that enculturation served as a protective factor against police discrimination among Latinx adults in this sample. Results also showed partial support for general strain theory among Latinx adults. Specifically, the effect of acculturative stress on all forms of bias victimization was explained in part by its effect on anger. Findings from this study underscore the importance of considering the unique culture-specific traits that influence Latinx’ risk for victimization to design culturally competent intervention policies to combat their victimization.Item “The More Connection the Better”: Bounded Relationships and Uneasy Alignments in Prison Education(Journal of Health Care Law & Policy, 2024-01-19) Leon, Chrysanthi; Perez, Graciela; Lowman, Jules; Schultz, Lawson; Babakhani, Atieh; Addison, Dylan; White, BarbaraThis Article examines Inside-Out pedagogy with qualitative data from an evaluation at a women’s prison as a case study of uneasy alignments between opposing systems. The Article analyzes student data from pre and post course surveys and follow up interviews scheduled within the year after the course was completed. Hearing from people most impacted by how emotionality and rationality are circumscribed within the prison classroom leads to recognizing the conditional connections formed in Inside-Out classes as “bounded relationships.” This concept emphasizes the physical boundaries and interpersonal regulations associated with incarceration and situates their impact on education in prison within the broader context of alienation and constrained autonomy imposed by the criminal legal system. This boundedness shapes experiences in the class and afterwards and may undermine the radical intentions of Inside-Out, with lessons for other attempts at bridging or aligning disparate approaches or systems.