Affluent Communities Research Articles

Standing between the elite and street fields: Young people from affluent communities dealing with drugs

Sociology has a rich tradition studying ‘elite’ and ‘street’ social spaces, but rarely considers spaces between these fields and the social actors within them. This article fills that gap by examining the life stories of affluent Oslo youth engaged in illegal drug dealing. Participants had access to economic, social, and cultural capital in both elite and street social space. Making money in legitimate and illegitimate ways kept participants relatively marginal in both spaces. Having social networks among street-oriented peers and among elites facilitated drug dealing but also allowed them an exit from drug crimes when needed. They were educated and often employed, but also had high levels of drug and street cultural competence. This left them relatively estranged from their affluent background milieu leading to persistence in drug dealing. I argue that illegal drug markets among the affluent can be viewed as an in-between social space, that ‘elite’ or ‘street’ youth are likely best conceptualized as existing on a sociocultural spectrum between fields and provide a Bourdieusian framework to study social actors who stand between fields and the impact this may have on their lives.

Effects of localized development on land use and coastline dynamics: A focus on recent changes along the Lekki Peninsula

Human-induced activities significantly impact the natural coastlines of island cities, primarily due to the processes of urbanization and population concentration in developing nations. Over the past decades, affluent communities have rapidly urbanized the Lekki Peninsula on the Nigerian Coast and provided adequate coastal protection. However, little attention is paid to its effects on its adjacent coastlines. This study highlights these coastline alterations and corresponding patterns of land use/land cover (LULC) along the ∼88 km stretches of the study area. The study employs six multispectral Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI images within the geographic information system (GIS) framework to analyze these changes. Results reveal that urbanized areas increased from 5.36 % in 2002 to 42.37 % in 2022, accompanied by a significant retreat of approximately 56 % (49 km) along the entire coast over the entire study period. These changes are resultant effects of few protected and isolated major infrastructures exhibiting developmental levels significantly higher than the rest of the coastline. Therefore, addressing these pressing issues is essential for sustainable environmental management and the well-being of ecosystems and human societies.

Using Nighttime Light Data to Explore the Extent of Power Outages in the Florida Panhandle after 2018 Hurricane Michael

The destructive forces of tropical cyclones can have significant impacts on the land, contributing to degradation through various mechanisms such as erosion, debris, loss of vegetation, and widespread damage to infrastructure. Storm surge and flooding can wash away buildings and other structures, deposit debris and sediments, and contaminate freshwater resources, making them unsuitable for both human use and agriculture. High winds and flooding often damage electrical disubstations and transformers, leading to disruptions in electricity supply. Restoration can take days or even weeks, depending on the extent of the damage and the resources available. In the meantime, communities affected by power outages may experience difficulties accessing essential services and maintaining communication. In this study, we used a weighted maximum likelihood classification algorithm to reclassify NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey Emergency Response Imagery scenes into debris, sand, water, trees, and roofs to assess the extent of the damage around Mexico Beach, Florida, following the 2018 Hurricane Michael. NASA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) was processed to estimate power outage duration and rate of restoration in the Florida Panhandle based on the 7-day moving averages. Percent loss of electrical service at a neighborhood level was estimated using the 2013–2017 American Community Survey block group data. Spatial lag models were employed to examine the association between restoration rates and socioeconomic factors. The analysis revealed notable differences in power-restoration rates between urbanized and rural areas and between disadvantaged and more affluent communities. The findings indicated that block groups with higher proportions of minorities, multi-family housing units, rural locations, and households receiving public assistance experienced slower restoration of power compared to urban and more affluent neighborhoods. These results underscore the importance of integrating socioeconomic factors into disaster preparedness and recovery-planning efforts, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to mitigate disparities in recovery times following natural disasters.

The Global Care Chain: Analyzing the Increasing Feminization of Care Work Across Borders

With the rise in globalization, there has been an increase in migration, specifically labor migration. Women migrating to perform care labor has exploded after women formally entered the global labor market. Although many female migrants are independently traveling as the primary breadwinners of their households, they remain underappreciated, invisible, under-waged, and exploited. Upon relocating from countries in the global south to conduct care work in more affluent nations or communities, they leave their dependents behind, ultimately in the care of another female, typically a family member, or yet another more impoverished woman. At this point, the global care chain is not a single, linear chain but rather an intersecting one composed of numerous chains that multiple women become a part of. Therefore these intersections between the public and private, the paid and unpaid, and the productive and reproductive forms of care work are present. In addition, although globalization and neoliberal policy have benefited <i>some</i> women globally, it has dramatically made women who migrate for global care work and labor suffer. When women migrate, the global care chain often becomes an entire phenomenon through which many things intersect. On the one hand, we witness capitalism, feminization of migration, globalization, and neoliberalism interacting while also intersecting with care, emotional work, and gender relations. The goal of this paper is to examine and connect the intersectional effects on women by examining global care work in Asia and Latin America. In addition, we ask the following questions: How can we create change so that women's work is no longer invisible? How can we build a society where individuals are esteemed not just on monetized work but also on reproductive work? Will reproductive labor ever be considered labor? And finally, we will propose some preliminary solutions to begin framing steps forward.

The use of telehealth in a large community oncology practice prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1631 Background:The COVID-19 pandemic prompted implementation of telehealth services in oncology following CMS approval for reimbursement. Using data from a single large US-based community oncology practice, we characterized the adoption of telehealth, evaluated telehealth’s impact on patient transit to the site of care, and the frequency of ER visits and hospitalizations. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using data from January 2019 through June 2022 from the FCS EMR database, IQSS’s RefineIQ database, which captures and standardizes patient treatments for consistent analysis, InfoDive, a reimbursement platform with data on clinic visits, and Oncology Care Model data. The target population included all patients with cancer aged 18 or older under active management at FCS during the study window with at least 60 days of follow-up. Patient disease and demographic characteristics and ER/hospital care visits were compared between telehealth groups, as well as impact of telehealth use on transit time and distance traveled for patients was summarized using descriptive statistics. Results:178,531 patients were analyzed. Median age was 68, with 64% female and 47% white. 97% of patients lived in a metropolitan area, 97% in Florida, and 77% in areas with less than $78,000 median income. Median duration of disease was 41 months, 24% of patients were stage IV and 93% ECOG 0-1. 20% of patients used telehealth, with 81% having only one telehealth use per year. Patients using telehealth, compared to those that did not, were more likely to be white (50% vs 46%), have commercial insurance (30% vs 27%), live in areas where annual median income was > $78,000 (25% vs 22%) and ≥95% of the population graduated high school (31% vs 26%). Telehealth saved a median of 5 miles driven per user annually. Users tended to have more advanced disease than non-users, with a higher proportion of metastatic disease (27% vs 23%), high CMS risk score (16% vs 15%), and line of therapy 2 or greater (10% vs 7%). Users had higher median annual oncology clinic visits both pre- (5 vs 3) and post-telehealth approval (6 vs 5). Hospital admissions after ER visits were more frequent among users both pre- (14% vs 13%) and post-telehealth approval (29% vs 25%). Conclusions: Telehealth was somewhat more likely to be used by patients with cancer in more affluent communities, white patients, patients who had more advanced disease and more frequent clinic and hospital visits. Most patients who used telehealth used it only once, and the low utilization of telehealth had limited impact on patient transit effort to the clinic. This study is limited by its concentration at a single large practice in Florida, the relatively low use of telehealth, retrospective design, and selection bias, as the telehealth population had more advanced disease and likely needed more frequent intervention.

Fruta Feia cooperative: Examining the influence of income on sustainability value and agency among alternative food network consumers

Alternative Food Networks gain increasing importance in sustainability transitions of food production, retail, and consumption. This paper explores the role of AFN consumers as critical food sustainability change agents, with a special focus on low-income consumers. It challenges preconceived notions that associate sustainable living exclusively with affluent communities, highlighting the substantial influence of economically disadvantaged individuals in shaping sustainable food consumption patterns. Based on a survey of the Portuguese Fruta Feia cooperative, the paper examines how perceived income affects sustainable food values, decisions, and practices. Results highlight low-income consumers' significant, yet often overlooked, role in driving changes towards environmentally responsible food systems and practices. This research shifts the focus of sustainability change agency, underscoring the critical role of diverse, particularly financially disadvantaged, consumer groups in championing sustainability in the food sector. It also confirms the importance of AFNs and their members as critical transition stakeholders.

Teen Perspectives on Suicides and Deaths in an Affluent Community: Perfectionism, Protection, and Exclusion.

Clusters of youth suicide and death are tragic for communities and present long-term consequences for the surviving youths. Despite an awareness of community-based patterns in youth suicide, our understanding of the social and community factors behind these events remains poor. While links between poverty and suicide have been well documented, wealthy communities are rarely targeted in suicide research. In response to this gap, we conducted ethnographic research in a wealthy U.S. town that, over a recent 10-year period, witnessed at least four youth suicides and seven more youth accidental deaths. Our interviews (n = 30) explored community values and stressors, interpersonal relationships, and high school experiences on participant perceptions of community deaths. Youth participants characterize their affluent community as having (1) perfectionist standards; (2) permissive and sometimes absent parents; (3) socially competitive and superficial relationships; and (4) a "bubble" that is protective but also exclusionary. Our qualitative findings reveal network influence in teen suicides and accidental deaths in a wealthy community. Greater attention paid to the negative effects of subcultural values and stressors in affluent communities is warranted. Further, our work promotes the value of ethnographic, community-based methodologies for suicidology and treatment.

Implementation of School Safety Policy in Primary and Secondary Schools

The educational environment within schools serves as a conduit for achieving the educational goals and objectives of each country. Research conducted over a period suggests that effective teaching and learning can only occur in a safe and secure environment. Yet, even with existing laws, policies, regulations, and programs on school safety, teachers and learners face persistent threats to their safety both inside and outside the school grounds in Naboomspruit Circuit Schools. This study examined the implementation of school safety policies in primary and secondary schools within the Naboomspruit circuit in the Waterberg District in Limpopo Province. The study population consisted of principals, teachers, school governing body members, and learners from five (5) schools within Naboomspruit circuit. Participants were selected using purposive sampling, including two schools from quintiles 1 to 3 (representing poor communities), two schools from quintiles 4 to 5 (representing affluent communities), and one combined school covering grades 1 to 12. The study's key features encompassed evidence-based practices to address school safety challenges. Codes were employed to protect the identities of participants and schools involved in the study. The study's trustworthiness was assessed through criteria like credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. The study findings revealed that schools partially implemented school safety policies, often without communicating them to learners and/or stakeholders. The study concluded by offering recommendations for addressing school safety challenges, grounded in contextual factors. The findings and recommendations are relevant to education managers, NGOs, parents and stakeholders who possess full or partial interest in the field of education or school safety.

Containing the ‘Suspect’ Other: Perpetuating Colonial Spaces Through a Global Counterterrorism Regime in Nairobi

ABSTRACT Global counterterrorism has deeply influenced urban arrangements in cities across the world, so too in Nairobi. After the Westgate attack in 2013, new modes of security governance have appeared and actively changed neighbourhoods in the capital. These new urban security arrangements build on and perpetuate, however, existing security dispositifs in the city rooted in British settler colonialism. This article therefore discusses how global counterterrorism structures manifest in and sustain racialised local security arrangements, investigating the role of spatiality within counterterrorism narratives. Taking the case of the postcolonial city of Nairobi, the article explores the two neighbourhoods of Karen and Eastleigh where security arrangements manifest in distinct ways, namely through safeguarding affluent communities from the ‘suspect’ Other who needs to be surveilled and policed. To that end, two historical security systems are embedded in urban space: Private security guarding in Karen and Nyumba Kumi in Eastleigh. The authors hence critically analyse how space governs communities, shapes subjectivities and contributes to sustaining racialised violence in the postcolonial city of Nairobi.

Examining the influence of wealth status on prehypertension risk in women aged 30–49: evidence from the 2018 Benin demographic and health survey

BackgroundThere is an interest in the extent to which the wealth status of women predicts their risk of being pre-hypertensive. This understanding is lacking in the current body of empirical literature, particularly within the context of Benin. Thus, indicating a knowledge gap that must be filled. To this end, the present study aimed to assess the association between wealth status and the risk of prehypertension among women aged 30–49 years in Benin.MethodsThis study used a secondary data from the recent (2018) Demographic and Health Survey of Benin. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were computed to examine the association between wealth index and the risks of prehypertension using Stata version 14. Findings were presented in adjusted odds ratio at 95% confidence level.ResultsWomen in the richest wealth index were significantly more likely to have prehypertension than those in the poorest wealth index [AOR = 1.4; 95%CI: 1.26–2.26]. Women aged 45–49 years were more likely to have prehypertension [AOR = 1.5; 95%CI: 1.15–1.98] compared to younger women. Women who used unclean cooking fuel were less likely to have prehypertension compared to those using clean cooking fuel [AOR = 0.6; 95%CI: 0.37,0.87].ConclusionThe study concludes that wealth status is a significant predictor of prehypertension among women in Benin. Therefore, the Ministry of Health in Benin should prioritize health education and prehypertension awareness campaigns specifically targeting women in affluent communities and households. These campaigns should focus on promoting healthy dietary choices and encouraging physical activity to mitigate the elevated risk associated with wealth status. Recognizing the influence of age on prehypertension risk, it is imperative for older-middle aged women to be targeted as primary beneficiaries of health education programs and prehypertension screening programs.

From fast to slow risks: Shifting vulnerabilities of flood-related migration in Lodwar, Kenya

Migration triggered by climate variability or climate change is often a problematic yet nearly unavoidable adaptation measure, particularly due to the increasing severity of natural hazards. How relocation is negotiated, and risks are evaluated at different scales are still poorly understood. We discuss the temporality and complexity of risks, that are experienced and approached through socio-spatial differences of intersectional embodiment (Sultana, 2020). The study is based on two flood-related qualitative case studies in the small semi-arid and rapidly growing town of Lodwar in the poorest county of Kenya, Turkana. We propose the typology of fast and slow risks to understand the different strategies, negotiations, and priorities of different people involved. Due to political abstraction, three main slow risks were not addressed: concerning land, water, and income. Consequently, vulnerabilities deepened and shifted at different scales: along the axes of gender and able-bodiedness as women and particularly widows, ageing, sick, and single mothers were bearing the main hardship; but also, between communities as hazard risks were deliberately shifted onto a politically less affluent community. We argue that in the process of negotiations, people have been actively advocating for, trying to manage, and rethinking their slow risks. They have often been employing slow responses, particularly in the form of waiting and reimagining.

Inequality and deprivation in an affluent community: A case study of the livelihood of low-income households in Central and Western District, Hong Kong

The Central and Western District (C&W District) of Hong Kong is often associated with prosperity. However, some families in the C&W District, like those in other areas of Hong Kong, face poverty and deprivation. This study implemented purposive sampling and the constructivist grounded theory to investigate the perceptions of and daily challenges faced by underprivileged residents and community stakeholders in the district. This study conducted individual or small group in-depth interviews with 40 residents in 2019. The results revealed that unaffordable housing and poor living environments impeded family cohesiveness. Young people lacked sufficient academic support. Under the government's latest policy direction of “targeted poverty alleviation”, this study recommends that government departments and relevant social stakeholders proactively explore the development of social housing in the district. In addition, community volunteers with English proficiency and other professional skills should be recruited to offer free or affordable tutoring services for underprivileged students.

Untangling the myth of flood risk and mitigation in affluent inland urban neighbourhood – A case study of the Onion Creek Neighbourhood in Austin, Texas

Floods pose significant threats to communities and homes, necessitating robust flood risk management to enhance community resilience. Plenty of research has confirmed that flood risk management and mitigation are often social and political issues where justice and equity must be examined (e.g. [1]). Onion Creek Neighbourhood (OCN) is a known flood-prone area and a high-income suburban neighbourhood in Austin, Texas. Through investigating the reasons behind the residents' continued habitation in or relocation to OCN, this research seeks to deepen our understanding about how affluence inland urban neighbourhoods respond to flood risk. Equipped with the 3-dimensional lens for examining behavior change in flood risk management [2], we argue that flood risk management and mitigation is as much a behavior change movement for these affluent urban communities as it is a justice and resource issue for some other communities. We collected data on OCN residents’ perceptions, experiences, and behaviors related to flood risk, mitigation, and community resilience through an open-ended survey in 2021. The findings reveal diverse factors, such as lack of alternate akin housing options, attachment to the pleasant neighbourhood and environment, proximity to downtown Austin, and strong community ties, all of which create barriers for OCN residents to relocate out of the neighbourhood while sustaining their desires for comparable community and environment amenities. The study calls for tailored strategies and policies that account for residents' needs and preferences to mobilize communities for sustainable development and disaster preparedness in flood-prone areas like Onion Creek Neighbourhood.

Engaging with 'less affluent' communities for food system transformation: a community food researcher model (FoodSEqual project).

The UK food system is distorted by inequalities in access, failing the people most in need, yet it should provide access to safe, nutritious affordable food for all citizens. Dietary patterns are associated with socio-demographic characteristics, with high levels of diet-related disease mortality attributed to poor dietary habits. Disadvantaged UK communities face urgent public health challenges, yet are often treated as powerless recipients of dietary and health initiatives. The need for food system transformation has been illustrated within recent UK government policy drivers and research funding. The Food Systems Equality project is a research consortium that aims to 'co-produce healthy and sustainable food systems for disadvantaged communities'. The project focusses on innovating food products, supply chains and policies, placing communities at the centre of the change. Tackling the above issues requires new ways of working. Creative approaches in food research are known to empower a wider range of individuals to share their 'lived food experience' narratives, building relationships and corroborating co-production philosophies, thus promoting social justice, and challenging more traditional positivist/reductionist 'biomedical' approaches for nutrition and food studies. This review paper critiques the use of community-centric approaches for food system transformation, focusing on one, a community food researcher model() as an exemplar, to highlight their utility in advocating with rather than for less affluent communities. The potential for creative methods to lead to more equitable and lasting solutions for food system transformation is appraised, consolidating the need for community-driven systemic change to foster more progressive and inclusive approaches to strengthen social capital. The paper closes with practice insights and critical considerations offering recommendations for readers, researchers, and practitioners, enabling them to better understand and apply similar approaches.

Optimized biomimetic minerals maintain activity of mRNA complexes after long term storage

mRNA therapeutics can be readily designed, manufactured, and brought to scale, as demonstrated by widespread global vaccination against COVID-19. However, mRNA therapies require cold chain shipment and storage from manufacturing to administration, which may limit them to affluent communities. This problem could be addressed by mimicking the known ability of mineralized fossils to durably stabilize nucleic acids under extreme conditions. We synthesized and screened 40 calcium-phosphate minerals for their ability to store and maintain the activity of lyophilized mRNA complexes. The optimal mineral formulation incorporated mRNA complexes with high efficiency (77 %), and increased mRNA transfection efficiency by 5.6-fold. Lyophilized mRNA complexes stored with the optimized mineral formulation for 6 months at 25 °C were 3.2-fold more active than those stored with state-of-the-art excipients, but without a mineral. mRNA complexes stored with minerals at room temperature did not decline in transfection efficacy from 3 days to 6 months of storage, indicating that minerals can durably maintain activity of therapeutic mRNA complexes without cold chain storage. Statement of significanceTherapeutic mRNA, such as mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, require extensive cold chain storage that limits their general application. This work screened a library of minerals to maintain the activity of mRNA complexes with freeze-drying. The optimized mineral was able to maintain mRNA activity up to 6 months of storage at room temperature outperforming current methods of freeze-drying therapeutic mRNA complexes.

Automatic encoding across social categories in American children and adults.

Many caregivers wonder when to talk to children about social inequality and racism, often expressing the belief that children do not pay attention to race or inequity. Here, across 5-9-year-old American children (n = 159, Mage = 7.44; 51.6% female, 47.2% male, 1.2% nonconforming or not provided; 59.1% White, 23.3% racial-ethnic minority, 17.6% not provided) and adults (n = 182, 84.1% female, 13.7% male, 2.2% nonconforming or not provided, 54.9% White, 44.5% racial-ethnic minority, 0.60% not provided), the data show that even 5-year-olds automatically encoded (i.e., spontaneously noticed and remembered) information about race, occupational status, and gender. Although children and adults encoded gender and occupational status at similar levels, adults encoded race at significantly higher levels than children. Additionally, occupational status encoding in children was sensitive to relevant environmental input (i.e., children in less affluent communities were more likely to encode occupational status) suggesting that children become "tuned in" and motivated to notice relevant, salient aspects of their environment. Given the early emergence of gender, race, and occupational status encoding, caregivers should assume that children do notice racial, occupational, or gender inequities in their environments and feel confident in the decision to begin discussing the systemic roots of inequity with children from a young age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

College overmatch: privilege and the rules of the athletic admissions game

Applying Bordieuan cultural reproduction theory to life-history interviews with 47 college athletes, this study examines the field of athletic admissions as a prominent place for class conflicts. Utilizing interview data and document analysis, I examine how parents from white suburban communities learn the rules of the game of athletic admissions and use their capital to advantage their offspring in navigating the field. Growing up in affluent communities immersed in high-resource sporting environments primed participants to develop an athletic habitus to better navigate the gatekept and barrier-ridden field of athletic admissions. Part of this habitus included learning to deprioritize academic achievement in favor of athletic achievement as the latter held greater admission advantages. It also meant learning to best package their athletic skills for admission. In the process, some talented athletes may be excluded because their habitus misaligns with fields constraints. Combined these processes lead to an overmatch contributing to the overrepresentation of white suburban athletes in preferential admission.

The gendered violence of injecting-related stigma among relatively affluent, suburban women who inject drugs.

In honouring the legacy of Jude Byrne's life-long advocacy for women and mothers who use drugs, this paper presents a case study of a group of women about whom we know little about and hear even less from: women who inject drugs in relatively affluent suburbs. Based on a 2020 qualitative study of people who inject drugs in an affluent area of Sydney known as 'The Beaches', we use in-depth interview data to thematically explore the lived experiences of gendered stigma among women who inject drugs. Even when women occupy the 'ideal' social position in terms of class (middle-class) and race (White) they remain subject to harmful forms of gendered stigma related to injecting drug use. Participants had internalised negative attitudes around injection drug use as a form of failed femininity and, despite being part of 'good' families and neighbourhoods, participants experienced forced child removal. Taking the lead from feminist intersectionality scholarship, our data illustrate how stigma and discrimination act as a form of structural violence against women who inject drugs in affluent communities. While the social relations of gender provide some degree of protection by 'performing proximity to Whiteness', gendered stigma and violence persist.

Analyzing the Relationship Between Cultural Diversity, Social Capital, and Community Resilience in Jakarta, Indonesia

In Jakarta, Indonesia, this study explores the complex interrelationships among social capital, cultural diversity, and community resilience. Participants from a varied sample of 500 people, spanning a range of socioeconomic classes, and nationalities, shared their perspectives on social capital, cultural diversity, and community resilience. The results show a culturally diversified and affluent community where people feel they have strong social ties and are resilient. Indicators of community resilience, social capital, and cultural variety all show favorable connections according to statistical analysis. Regression analyses highlight the important roles that cultural variety, social capital that bonds, bridges, and links, and environmental, social, and economic resilience play in enhancing the overall resilience of Jakarta's communities. The sample's diversity in terms of demographics improves the findings' external validity. This research offers significant perspectives for practitioners and policymakers that aim to promote resilience in urban environments with various cultural backgrounds.

‘It does happen here’

In predominantly white and affluent communities, it is a common belief that race and racism are irrelevant because there is little to no racial diversity in these communities. Elyse Hambacher and Denise Desrosiers describe how a New Hampshire school district in a mostly white community navigates teaching and leading for social justice despite divisive concepts legislation and acrimonious debates about racism and other forms of injustice. They offer four practices the district employs to continue to promote inclusivity and social justice in contentious times.