Gaps in Crisis Mental Health: Suicide and Homicide-Suicide

Gaps in crises of mental health emerge from poor distinction between the qualities of people who suicide and those who murder and then kill themselves. The role, if any, that substance use has in such lethal violence is an example of such a lack of distinction. 

In this study, a sample of medical examiner investigative and toxicology reports from Los Angeles and Orange counties in California were available for analysis for 432 suicide cases and 193 homicide-suicide cases. This informed clearer toxicological and pharmacological distinction of suicide from homicide-suicide. 

• Blood alcohol levels were higher in persons committing suicide than in homicide-suicide perpetrators (p=.004). 
• Homicide-suicide perpetrators had almost twice the level of stimulants in their system than people who suicide (p=.022) but did not have comparatively elevated levels of drugs or alcohol. 

Predictors of suicide included the following: 

• substance abuse history, 
• high number of drugs in system, 
• death inside a house, 
• and legal impairment by alcohol. 

Predictors of homicide-suicide included 

• gunshot as the cause of death, 
• female gender, 
• domestic conflict, 
• children living in the home, 
• and prior arrest for substance abuse.

Via:  http://ht.ly/SMnwy  Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/7Islzk

By: Carretta CM1, Burgess AW2, Welner M3.

• 1School of Nursing, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ
• 2William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.
• 3The Forensic Panel, New York, NY.

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Do Sexually Oriented Massage Parlors Cluster in Specific Neighborhoods? A Spatial Analysis of Indoor Sex Work in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California

Social determinants of health may be substantially affected by spatial factors, which together may explain the persistence of health inequities. Clustering of possible sources of negative health and social outcomes points to a spatial focus for future interventions. We analyzed the spatial clustering of sex work businesses in Southern California to examine where and why they cluster. We explored economic and legal factors as possible explanations of clustering.

A total of 889 venues were identified. Clusters of tracts having higher-than-expected numbers of sexually oriented massage parlors ("hot spots") were located outside downtowns. These hot spots were characterized by a higher proportion of adult males, a higher proportion of households below the federal poverty level, and a smaller average household size.

Sexually oriented massage parlors in Los Angeles and Orange counties cluster in particular neighborhoods. More research is needed to ascertain the causal factors of such clusters and how interventions can be designed to leverage these spatial factors.

Via: http://ht.ly/S1gfF

By: Chin JJ1, Kim AJ2, Takahashi L3, Wiebe DJ4.

• 1Hunter College, City University of New York, Urban Affairs and Planning, New York, NY.
• 2Georgia Institute of Technology, City and Regional Planning, Atlanta, GA.
• 3University of California, Los Angeles, Urban Planning, Los Angeles, CA.
• 4University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.