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Leung-Gagné J. The deadliest local police departments kill 6.91 times more frequently than the least deadly departments, net of risk, in the United States. PNAS NEXUS 2024; 3:pgae026. [PMID: 38380060 PMCID: PMC10878363 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
I use data linking counts of homicides by police to police department (PD) and jurisdiction characteristics to estimate benchmarked (i.e. risk-adjusted) police homicide rates in 2008-2017 among the 711 local PDs serving 50,000 or more residents, a sample with demographics resembling all mid-to-large Census places. The benchmarked rate estimates capture PD deadliness by comparing PDs to peers whose officers face similar risks while adjusting for access to trauma care centers to account for differential mortality from deadly force. Compared to existing estimates, differences in benchmarked estimates are more plausibly attributable to policing differences, speaking to whether the force currently used is necessary to maintain safety and public order. I find that the deadliest PDs kill at 6.91 times the benchmarked rate of the least deadly PDs. If the PDs with above-average deadliness instead killed at average rates for a PD facing similar risks, police homicides would decrease by 34.44%. Reducing deadliness to the lowest observed levels would decrease them by 70.04%. These estimates also indicate the percentage of excess police homicides-those unnecessary for maintaining safety-if the baseline agency is assumed to be optimally deadly. Moreover, PD deadliness has a strong, robust association with White/Black segregation and Western regions. Additionally, Black, Hispanic, foreign-born, lower income, and less educated people are disproportionately exposed to deadlier PDs due to the jurisdictions they reside in. Police violence is an important public health concern that is distributed unevenly across US places, contributing to social disparities that disproportionately harm already marginalized communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh Leung-Gagné
- Center on Poverty & Inequality, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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Anderson A, Lewis DF, Shafer P, Anderson J, LaVeist TA. Public trust is earned: Historical discrimination, carceral violence, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Serv Res 2023; 58 Suppl 2:218-228. [PMID: 37279782 PMCID: PMC10339167 DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.14187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess whether knowledge of Tuskegee, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency's detainment of children, and satisfaction with the George Floyd death investigation were associated with trust in actors involved in the development and distribution of coronavirus vaccines. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING National survey with a convenience sample of Black (n = 1019) and Hispanic (n = 994) adults between July 1 and 26, 2021. STUDY DESIGN Observational study using stratified adjusted logistic regression models to measure the association between ratings of the trustworthiness of actors involved in the development and distribution of coronavirus vaccines. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Among Black respondents, lower satisfaction with the George Floyd death investigation was associated with lower trustworthiness ratings of pharmaceutical companies (ME: -0.09; CI: -0.15, 0.02), the FDA (ME: -0.07; CI: -0.14, -0.00), the Trump Administration (ME: -0.09; CI: -0.16, -0.02), the Biden Administration (ME: -0.07, CI: -0.10, 0.04), and elected officials (ME: -0.10, CI: -0.18, -0.03). Among Hispanic respondents, lower satisfaction was associated with lower trustworthiness ratings of the Trump Administration (ME: -0.14, CI: -0.22, -0.06) and elected officials (ME: -0.11; CI: -0.19, -0.02). Greater knowledge of ICE's detainment of children and families among Hispanic respondents was associated with lower trustworthiness ratings of state elected officials (ME: -0.09, CI: -0.16, 0.01). Greater knowledge of the US Public Health Service Study of Syphilis in Tuskegee was associated with higher trustworthiness ratings of their usual source of care (ME: 0.09; CI: 0.28, 0.15) among Black respondents (ME: 0.09; CI: 0.01, 0.16). CONCLUSIONS Among Black respondents, lower satisfaction with the George Floyd death investigation was associated with lowered levels of trust in pharmaceutical companies, some government officials, and administrators; it was not associated with the erosion of trust in direct sources of health care delivery, information, or regulation. Among Hispanic respondents, greater knowledge of the ICE detainments was associated with lower trustworthiness ratings of elected state officials. Paradoxically, higher knowledge of the Study of Syphilis in Tuskegee was associated with higher trustworthiness ratings in usual sources of care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Anderson
- Health Policy & ManagementTulane UniversityNew OrleansLouisianaUSA
| | - Demar F. Lewis
- Department of African American StudiesYale UniversityNew HavenConnecticutUSA
| | - Paul Shafer
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health PromotionBoston UniversityBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Jordan Anderson
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health PromotionCenters for Disease Control & PreventionAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
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Wu HH, Gallagher RJ, Alshaabi T, Adams JL, Minot JR, Arnold MV, Welles BF, Harp R, Dodds PS, Danforth CM. Say their names: Resurgence in the collective attention toward Black victims of fatal police violence following the death of George Floyd. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0279225. [PMID: 36630354 PMCID: PMC9833594 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The murder of George Floyd by police in May 2020 sparked international protests and brought unparalleled levels of attention to the Black Lives Matter movement. As we show, his death set record levels of activity and amplification on Twitter, prompted the saddest day in the platform's history, and caused his name to appear among the ten most frequently used phrases in a day, where he is the only individual to have ever received that level of attention who was not known to the public earlier that same week. Importantly, we find that the Black Lives Matter movement's rhetorical strategy to connect and repeat the names of past Black victims of police violence-foregrounding racial injustice as an ongoing pattern rather than a singular event-was exceptionally effective following George Floyd's death: attention given to him extended to over 185 prior Black victims, more than other past moments in the movement's history. We contextualize this rising tide of attention among 12 years of racial justice activism on Twitter, demonstrating how activists and allies have used attention and amplification as a recurring tactic to lift and memorialize the names of Black victims of police violence. Our results show how the Black Lives Matter movement uses social media to center past instances of police violence at an unprecedented scale and speed, while still advancing the racial justice movement's longstanding goal to "say their names."
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry H. Wu
- Computational Story Lab, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- MassMutual Center of Excellence for Complex Systems & Data Science, Vermont Complex Systems Center, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Ryan J. Gallagher
- Communication Media & Marginalization Lab, Network Science Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Thayer Alshaabi
- Advanced Bioimaging Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
| | - Jane L. Adams
- Department of Computer Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Joshua R. Minot
- Computational Story Lab, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- MassMutual Center of Excellence for Complex Systems & Data Science, Vermont Complex Systems Center, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Vermont Advanced Computing Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America
| | - Michael V. Arnold
- Computational Story Lab, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- MassMutual Center of Excellence for Complex Systems & Data Science, Vermont Complex Systems Center, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Vermont Advanced Computing Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America
| | - Brooke Foucault Welles
- Communication Media & Marginalization Lab, Network Science Institute, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Randall Harp
- MassMutual Center of Excellence for Complex Systems & Data Science, Vermont Complex Systems Center, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Department of Philosophy, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America
| | - Peter Sheridan Dodds
- Computational Story Lab, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- MassMutual Center of Excellence for Complex Systems & Data Science, Vermont Complex Systems Center, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Vermont Advanced Computing Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Computer Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, United States of America
| | - Christopher M. Danforth
- Computational Story Lab, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- MassMutual Center of Excellence for Complex Systems & Data Science, Vermont Complex Systems Center, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Vermont Advanced Computing Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America
- Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Department of Mathematics & Statistics University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States of America
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Prados MJ, Baker T, Beck AN, Burghart DB, Johnson RR, Klinger D, Thomas K, Finch BK. Do Sheriff-Coroners Underreport Officer-Involved Homicides? Acad Forensic Pathol 2022; 12:140-148. [PMID: 36545301 PMCID: PMC9761243 DOI: 10.1177/19253621221142473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Introduction In the United States, each state sets its own standards for its death investigation system. These may require independent medical examiners and coroners or allow for the sheriff to assume the role of coroner. Motivated by the well-established fact that counts of officer-involved homicides in official data sets grossly undercount the number of these incidents, we examine the possibility that different death investigation systems may lead to different death classification outcomes. Methods To examine the potential differences in officer-involved homicide underreporting by presence of sheriff-coroner and violent death type (gunshot, intentional use of force, pursuit, or other vehicle accident), we compare ratios of incidents from both the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Reports and the restricted Multiple-Cause of Death files from the National Vital Statistics System to the Fatal Encounters data across coroner contexts in California between 2000 and 2018; we quantify differences descriptively and examine bivariate tests of means. Results We find significantly greater underreporting of officer-involved deaths in sheriff-coroner counties in both official data sets for all incidents compared with non-sheriff-coroner counties, independently of the period considered. These underreporting differences in the National Vital Statistics System are robust to restricting to gunshot and intentional use of force deaths, the type of incident expected to be less prone to misclassification in that data set. Conclusions Officer-involved death underreporting in sheriff-coroner counties necessitates further scrutiny. Disparities in officer-involved death reporting suggest political pressure may play a role in classifying deaths.
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Affiliation(s)
- María J. Prados
- María J. Prados, PhD, Center for Economic
and Social Research, University of Southern California, 365 Downey Way, Los
Angeles, CA 90089, USA;
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Mitchell J, Chihaya GK. Tract level associations between historical residential redlining and contemporary fatal encounters with police. Soc Sci Med 2022; 302:114989. [PMID: 35504083 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
How does structural racism influence where people are killed during encounters with police? We analyzed geo-located incidents of fatal encounters with police that occurred between 2000 and 2020 in Census tracts that received a classification by the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the 1930's. Statistical models show that incidents of fatal encounters with police in formerly redlined areas are 66% more likely than in zones that received the most favorable "A" rating. These differences remain even when tract historical and contemporary racial compositions, along with contemporary economic conditions, are taken into account. The effects of contemporary racial composition and economic conditions overshadow the effect of zone classifications only in areas with high proportions of Black residents or residents in poverty (>60% or >30% respectively). These findings provide evidence of structural biases in policing rooted in historical segregation policies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Guilherme Kenji Chihaya
- Department of Geography, Umeå University, Umeå, 90187, Sweden; Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University, Linköping, 60174, Sweden
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Finch BK, Thomas K, Beck AN, Burghart DB, Klinger D, Johnson RR. Assessing Data Completeness, Quality, and Representativeness of Justifiable Homicides in the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports: A Research Note. JOURNAL OF QUANTITATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 2022; 38:267-293. [PMID: 37860123 PMCID: PMC10586131 DOI: 10.1007/s10940-021-09493-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Introduction The most widely used data set for studying police homicides-the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) kept by the Federal Bureau of Investigation-is collected from a voluntary sample. Materials and Methods Using a journalist-curated database of police-related deaths, we find the SHR police homicide data to be substantially incomplete. This is due to both non-reporting and substantial under-reporting by agencies. Further, our inquiry discloses a pattern of error in identifying "victims" and "offenders" in the data, and finds that investigating agencies are often incorrectly listed as the responsible agency, which seriously jeopardizes police department-level analyses. Finally, there is evidence of sample bias such that the SHR data system is not representative of all police departments, nor is it representative of large police departments. Conclusions We conclude that the SHR data is of dubious value for assessing correlates of police homicides in the United States, as all analyses using it will reflect these widespread biases and significant undercounts. Analysis of SHR data for these purposes should cease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Karl Finch
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Kyla Thomas
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
| | | | - D. Brian Burghart
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
- Fatal Encounters, Reno, USA
| | - David Klinger
- University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis County, USA
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Thomas MD, Reeves AN, Jewell NP, Michaels EK, Allen AM. US law enforcement policy predictors of race-specific police fatalities during 2015-16. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252749. [PMID: 34161363 PMCID: PMC8221500 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that law enforcement organizational factors contribute to higher incidence and racial disparities in police killings. To determine whether agency policies contribute to race-specific civilian fatalities, this exploratory study compared fatality rates among agencies with and without selected policies expected to reduce killings. A cross-section of 1085 fatalities in the 2015-2016 The Counted public-use database were matched to 481 agencies in the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) database. Negative binomial regression estimated incidence rate ratios (IRR) adjusted for agency type, number of officers, percent female personnel, median income, percent with a bachelor's degree, violent crime rate, and population size, with inference using robust standard errors. Agencies with greater proportions of full-time personnel (range 43-100%) had lower rates of all (IRR = 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77-0.93) and non-White civilian killings (IRR = 0.85; CI = 0.73-0.99). Mission statements predicted lower rates of all (IRR = 0.70; CI = 0.58-0.84) and White killings (IRR = 0.60; CI = 0.40-0.90). Community evaluation and more types of personnel incentives predicted lower rates of White (IRR = 0.82; CI = 0.68-0.99) and non-White killings (IRR = 0.94; CI = 0.89-1.00), respectively. Increasing video use predicted higher rates of White killings (IRR = 1.13; CI = 1.01-1.28). No policies were significantly associated with Black civilian killings. Law enforcement policies that help reduce police killings may vary across racial groups with the least benefit for Black civilians. Impact evaluations and meta-analyses of initiatives aimed to mitigate fatalities should be explored, particularly policies to address anti-Black bias. A national registry tracking all police killings and agency policies is urgently needed to inform law enforcement policies aimed to mitigate civilian fatalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marilyn D. Thomas
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States of America
| | - Alexis N. Reeves
- Department of Epidemiologic Science, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America
| | - Nicholas P. Jewell
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
| | - Eli K. Michaels
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
| | - Amani M. Allen
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
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Browning CR, Tarrence J, LaPlant E, Boettner B, Schmeer KK, Calder CA, Way BM, Ford JL. Exposure to police-related deaths and physiological stress among urban black youth. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021; 125:104884. [PMID: 33453595 PMCID: PMC7904570 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Emerging evidence indicates that exposure to police-related deaths is associated with negative health and wellbeing outcomes among black people. Yet, no study to date has directly examined the biological consequences of exposure to police-related deaths for urban black youth. METHODS AND FINDINGS We employ unique data from the 2014-16 Adolescent Health and Development in Context (AHDC) study - a representative sample of youth ages 11 to 17 residing in the Columbus, OH area. A subsample of participants contributed nightly saliva samples for cortisol for up to six days, providing an opportunity to link recent exposures to police-related deaths within the residential county to physiological stress outcomes during the study period (N = 585). We examine the effect of exposure to a recent police-related death in the same county on the physiological stress (nightly cortisol) levels of black youth. We find evidence of elevated average levels of nightly cortisol (by 46%) for black boys exposed to a police-related death of a black victim in the 30 days prior to the subject's cortisol collection. We find no evidence of police-related death effects on the physiological stress levels of black girls or white youth. CONCLUSIONS These analyses indicate that police-related deaths influence the biological functioning of black boys, with potential negative consequences for health. We consider the implications of exposure to lethal police violence among black boys for understanding racial disparities in health more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jake Tarrence
- Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Eric LaPlant
- Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Bethany Boettner
- Institute for Population Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Kammi K Schmeer
- Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Catherine A Calder
- Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Baldwin M Way
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Jodi L Ford
- College of Nursing, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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Jackson AN, Butler-Barnes ST, Stafford JD, Robinson H, Allen PC. "Can I Live": Black American Adolescent Boys' Reports of Police Abuse and the Role of Religiosity on Mental Health. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:E4330. [PMID: 32560418 PMCID: PMC7344856 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17124330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 05/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
State sanctioned violence aimed at Black individuals and communities is an issue that has pervaded American history and society since before the establishment of the United States. For Black males, anticipating and preparing for involuntary police contact, unfortunately, is an inevitable part of life. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of reports of police abuse on mental health and perceived racial out-group perceptions and the protective role of religiosity among a nationally representative sample of Black American adolescent boys (Mage = 14.98). Linear multiple regression was used to determine the interactive effects of subjective religiosity and reported police abuse on Black American adolescent boys. Higher reports of subjective religiosity were associated with lower depressive symptomatology. Reports of police abuse were associated with lower public regard beliefs (belief that society views Black Americans less favorably). Results highlight the impact experiencing police abuse has on Black adolescent boys and we conclude with implications, areas for future research and intervention points.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley N. Jackson
- George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; (S.T.B.-B.); (H.R.); (P.C.A.)
| | - Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes
- George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; (S.T.B.-B.); (H.R.); (P.C.A.)
| | - Jewel D. Stafford
- College of Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA;
| | - Helen Robinson
- George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; (S.T.B.-B.); (H.R.); (P.C.A.)
| | - Phylicia C. Allen
- George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; (S.T.B.-B.); (H.R.); (P.C.A.)
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