The primary focus of this study was to explore the characteristics of marginally employed (earnings less than $5,000 per year) ex-offenders. Findings from this study include the following: (1) The number of employed offenders varied from 47.7 percent of recently released offenders in 2006 to 49.8 percent of recently released offenders in 2009; (2)…

For the four leading causes of death in the United States (heart disease, cancer, stroke and chronic respiratory disease), tobacco use is a common risk factor. Tobacco use is responsible for almost 450,000 deaths per year and impacts the health of every member of our society. Tobacco is a gateway drug for substance abuse. That role is critical to…

Although the onset of illicit substance use during adolescence can hit parents abruptly like a raging flood, its origins likely start as a trickle in early childhood. Understanding antecedent factors and how they grow into a stream that leads to adolescent drug use is important for theories of social development as well as policy formulations to…

In order to establish effective suicide preventive programs, it is important to know the etiologic factors and causal relationships between suicide and behavior. Coroner data was analyzed for the 468 suicides that occurred in Indianapolis, Indiana during 1998-2001. The age-adjusted suicide rate was 14.08 per 100,000. Almost one-half of the victims…