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Discrimination has been identified as a major stressor and influence on immigrant health. This study examined the role of perceived discrimination in relation to other factors, in particular, acculturation, in physical and mental health of immigrants and refugees. Data for US adults (18 +  years) were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Mental and physical health was assessed with SF-12. Acculturation and perceived discrimination were assessed with multidimensional measures. Structural equation models were used to estimate the effects of acculturation, stressful life effects, perceived discrimination, and social support on health among immigrants and refugees. Among first-generation immigrants, discrimination in health care had a negative association with physical health while discrimination in general had a negative association with mental health. Social support had positive associations with physical and mental health and mediated the association of discrimination to health. There were no significant associations between discrimination and health among refugees, but the direction and magnitude of associations were similar to those for first-generation immigrants. Efforts aiming at reducing discrimination and enhancing integration/social support for immigrants are likely to help with maintaining and protecting immigrants’ health and well-being. Further research using larger samples of refugees and testing moderating effects of key social/psychosocial variables on immigrant health outcomes is warranted. This study used multidimensional measures of health, perceived discrimination, and acculturation to examine the pathways between key social/psychosocial factors in health of immigrants and refugees at the national level. This study included possibly the largest national sample of refugees.

The purpose of this paper is to provide background information on a rarely studied response capability of communities across the USA, local, mostly volunteer search and rescue (SAR) teams.

Information on local teams was collected from January 2005 until February 2006 through internet searches, online SAR organization lists, and by e‐mailing a survey to local teams. A smaller, previously used database was used to verify the final list of teams and 57 new teams were added in this manner. An SPSS database was created using all the fields collated from the survey.

It was found that there are 1,150 teams in the USA, which range from one team per State to 79 teams in California. Local SAR teams had a quicker response time than federal teams, while maintaining better equipment and training than emergent volunteers. These teams, unlike the federally funded US&R teams, rely mostly on donations and community fundraisers to continue operating.

Missing data were the most consistent problem faced. Web sites, web links and e‐mail addresses often had expired or did not contain the right information, some teams existed without having a web site (and therefore were not included in the database); also response to the e‐mail survey was low.

Integrating interested local SAR teams into official multi‐organizational disaster and emergency responses could provide valuable additional resources to emergency and incident managers, would allow for better funding for local SAR, and could facilitate recognition to these often overlooked teams.

This paper provides preliminary information on local SAR teams in the USA.

A small-scale study was conducted to qualitatively explore the “lived experiences” of persons who remarried between the ages of 55 and 75. Improved life expectancy, high divorce rates, increased odds of being widowed over time, and the need for intimate relationships across the lifespan are some of the factors associated with a recent increase in remarriage rates of older adults. While demographic trends indicate that repartnering in the later years will likely become more common, little is known about remarriage in the “young-old” years.

The study included in-depth, semistructured interviews with 11 newlyweds (seven females, four males) who had remarried between the ages of 55 and 75. Word-for-word transcripts were qualitatively analyzed through a process of open coding and constant comparison to identify salient themes related to the original research question “What is the transition to remarriage experience like for adults aged 55–75?”

Five themes emerged from the analysis of participant interviews: positive orientation toward remarriage, practical/pragmatic view of the union, desire for companionship, recognition of others’ feelings, and willingness to adapt.

The findings were salient to a small group of “young-old,” white, middle-class males and females from the Midwest and are not meant to be generalizable. The results can serve as a basis for further research and understanding of romantic relationships and repartnering across the life course.

This study helps to fill the gap that exists in the current literature related to romantic relationships and remarriage in the “young-old” years of life.

This chapter summarizes the growing theoretical and empirical literature on the role of education in disaster risk reduction with a focus on Southeast Asia. Education and learning can take place in different environments in more or less formalized ways. They can influence disaster vulnerability in direct and indirect ways. Directly, through education and learning, individuals acquire knowledge, abilities, skills and perceptions that allow them to effectively prepare for and cope with the consequences of disaster shocks. Indirectly, education gives individuals and households access to material, informational and social resources which can help reduce disaster vulnerability. This chapter highlights central concepts and terminologies and discusses the different theoretical mechanisms through which education can support disaster risk reduction. Supportive empirical evidence is presented and discussed with a particular focus on the role of inclusiveness in education and challenges in achieving universal access to high-quality education. Based on a situation analysis and best practice cases, policy implications are derived that can inform the design and implementation of education and learning-based disaster risk reduction efforts in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between global and specific attitudes of unfair police treatment towards Mexican Americans and how attitudes towards the police vary with socio‐demographic characteristics, victim status, linguistic barriers, group consciousness and socially disorganized contexts.

Data from the 2006 National Latino Survey, which is a representative random sample of 1,815 self‐identified persons of Mexican‐origin born in the USA were used to investigate three research questions: What is the prevalence in which Mexican‐Americans claim to be treated unfairly by the police?; What is the prevalence in which Mexican‐Americans perceive unfair treatment toward their ethnic group?; and Do cultural factors and/or heightened group consciousness and identity contribute to Mexican‐Americans perceptions of either specific or more generalized unfair police treatment? A structural equation model was developed to explore the relationship between global and specific measures of unfair police treatment and variables measuring socio‐demographic and linguistic characteristics, as well as socially disorganized contexts, group consciousness and identity.

Mexican‐Americans residing in socially disorganized contexts are significantly more likely to have positive global assessments of the police. The relationship between both social disorganization and specific and global attitudes was statistically significant. Individuals who have a strong sense of linked fate, possess a shared sense of common purpose and interest, and identify strongly with their ethnic group are significantly more likely to perceive that the police treat their group unfairly.

The current investigation is limited by the nature of the data, which is based wholly on self‐report. In addition, while the frequency and nature of police contact plays a role in influencing negative perceptions of police encounters, it was not possible to assess those influences here. Finally, the current analysis is limited by the cross‐sectional nature of the data and no inferences regarding causality can be made.

This study has implications for the legitimacy of the criminal justice system and will help criminal justice actors understand the broader implications of police‐citizen interactions.

The paper shows how social interactions are affected by group membership.

No study to date explores the relationship between group‐based identity, group consciousness and perceptions of unfair treatment by the police. These studies are usually limited to the political science literature.

This paper aims to reflect on Dennis Mileti's Disasters by Design ten years after its publication and to discuss the book's contributions and limitations. It seeks to uncover how Mileti's work relates to disaster and emergency management policy.

The paper examines scholarly reviews of Mileti's work and explores the theoretical and practical implications of his important research.

Disasters by Design recognizes the importance of environmental protection and poverty reduction in disaster policies. However, this work may not fully capture all the hazards, distinct types of vulnerability, phases and functions pertinent to emergency management.

This review both accepts and questions some of the assessments of Mileti's work. The perspective of this review may help shape the future of emergency management policy.

The paper provides a comprehensive view of disasters and offers recommendations to improve the emergency management profession.

The review is one of the few works that examines Mileti's work with a critical eye. It draws concern to his paradigm and suggests the need for continued refinement.

This chapter examines lessons for response gleaned from 70 years of research on human and organizational behavior. These lessons for response are examined in the context of the current homeland security policy environment for national preparedness. This chapter also focuses on implementation steps for current preparedness guidance by law enforcement agencies. It joins research knowledge and policy to inform law enforcement planners in the development of local strategic-, operational-, and tactical-level response plans.

This research explores the subjective health experiences of women incarcerated in a provincial detention center in Ottawa, Canada.

Narrative interviews conducted with 16 previously incarcerated women were analyzed to explore how health issues shaped their experiences in detention.

Women identified a set of practices and conditions that negatively impacted health, including the denial of medication, medical treatment, and healthcare, limited prenatal healthcare, and damaged health caused by poor living conditions.

Findings suggest that structural health problems emerge in penal environments where healthcare is provided by the same agency responsible for incarceration. The incompatibility between the mandates of incarceration and healthcare suggests that responsibility for institutional healthcare should be transferred to provincial healthcare bodies.

This research responds to the lack of research on carceral health experiences within both penal scholarship and medical sociology, particularly in relation to women and those confined in jails.