Cyndy Caravelis’s research while affiliated with Western Carolina University and other places

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Publications (3)


National College Health Assessment Measuring Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences among College Students
  • Article

January 2013

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83 Reads

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28 Citations

American Journal of Public Health Research

Christina Foster

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Cyndy Caravelis

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Alcohol-related consequences among students have been a source of concern for colleges nationwide. Prior research shows that alcohol may lower a person’s inhibitions and reduce their capacity to make responsible, safe decisions [1]. As such, as a student’s alcohol consumption increases, so may his or her odds of engaging in risky behaviors that may yield negative consequences such as alcohol poising, and sexual related consequences (e.g. STIs, pregnancies, rape, etc.). In the present study, 923 college students were surveyed at a regional university in the South (67% female, 31% male) about their alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences they have experienced. Older female college students reported experiencing more negative alcohol-related consequences than males. Students who participated in intramural sports, were associated with a Greek organization, were involved in an abusive relationship, had increased perceived stress, or who suffered from depression reported significantly more alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences. In contrast, college students that received higher grade point averages reported less consumption of alcohol and experienced fewer negative alcohol-related consequences. Two scales were used as predictors of negative consequence of student drinking behaviors. The depressive symptoms scale included 11 items such as, “Have you ever felt very lonely,” “Have you ever felt very sad,” and “Have you ever felt so depressed it was difficult to function?” These items were coded, 0 “Never,” 1 “Not in the last 12 months,” 2 “In the past 12 months,” 3 “In the last 30 days,” 4 “In the last 2 weeks.” The mean of these 11 items was computed to represent a mean depressive symptom score (Cronbach’s α = 0.87). The stress scale included a series of 12 items which began, “Within the last 12 months, has any of the following been traumatic or very difficult for you to handle” and continued with items such as, “Academics,” “Family problems,” and “Finances.” These items were coded 0 “No” and 1 “Yes.” A sum score was computed to indicate the number of stressful life events that each participant experienced in the past 12 months (Cronbach’s α = 0.82). Finally, the predictor Emotional abuse was measured with the item, “Within the past 12 months, have you been in an intimate (couple/partnered) relationship that was emotionally abusive? (e.g. called derogatory names, yelled at, ridiculed?)” Responses to this item were coded 0 “No” and 1 “Yes”.


Static and Dynamic Indicators of Minority Threat in Sentencing Outcomes: A Multi-Level Analysis

December 2011

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177 Reads

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69 Citations

Journal of Quantitative Criminology

Designation as a “Habitual Offender” is an enhanced form of punishment which unlike, “Three Strikes” or “10-20-Life,” is entirely discretionary. We use Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling to assess the direct effects of race and Latino ethnicity on the designation of Habitual Offenders as well as the effect of both static and dynamic indicators of racial and ethnic threat on those outcomes. Our data include 26,740 adults sentenced to prison in Florida between 2002 and 2004 who were statutorily eligible to be sentenced as Habitual. The odds of receiving this designation are significantly increased for black and Latino defendants as compared to whites, though race and ethnicity effects vary substantially by crime type, being strongest for drug offenses and negligible for violent crimes. Static measures of group level threat (% black and % Latino) have no cross-level effect on sentencing by race or Latino ethnicity. However, increasing black population over time increases the odds of being sentenced as Habitual for both black and Latino defendants. Increasing Latino population increases the odds of Habitual Offender sentencing for Latinos, but decreases it for blacks. The prospect of engaging dynamic as opposed to static measures of threat in future criminal justice and other social control research is discussed. KeywordsDynamic threat–Judicial outcomes–Race and ethnicity–Social contexts–Hierarchical modeling


Race, Ethnicity, Threat, and the Designation of Career Offenders

November 2011

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104 Reads

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16 Citations

Florida statutes allow for the application of enhanced sentences to defendants designated as “Career Offenders.” The application of these laws is discretionary and as such, prosecutors seek the designation for a fraction of the defendants who qualify. Utilizing Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling, this paper examines whether individual attributes, such as race and ethnicity, impact an individual’s likelihood of receiving the Career Offender designation for 13,704 males sentenced to prison between 2002 and 2004. The second-level analysis incorporates county characteristics into the equation and tests whether these predictors have either a direct or a cross-level effect on the relationship. The broad theoretical framework that guides the present research is grounded in the social threat and social control perspective, which argues that minorities on both the individual and aggregate levels may be perceived as threatening in ways that can mobilize or enhance social controls.

Citations (3)


... Alcohol use in social settings may also change and could affect early risk detection and resistance; however, it is hard without further research to know whether this would lessen or increase the risks experienced by students in their 20s and 30s. Alcohol consumption is generally higher for older students than for younger ones (Foster et al., 2014) but the party culture of the early years of university is more intense (Flack et al., 2008). Thus, the relationship between alcohol and sexual assault for older students is likely to be complicated and requires further study. ...

Reference:

Testing the effectiveness of a sexual assault resistance programme in ‘real-world’ implementation
National College Health Assessment Measuring Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences among College Students
  • Citing Article
  • January 2013

American Journal of Public Health Research

... Indeed, net of such variables as crime rates, economic conditions, and political context, minority defendants have been found to experience especially severe sentencing outcomes in areas characterized by larger Black or Hispanic populations (Bontrager et al., 2005;Ulmer & Johnson, 2004;Wang & Mears, 2015). Other work has shown that the dynamic dimensions of macro-level racial/ethnic context size are key, with larger disparities found among cases disposed in locations with Black or Hispanic communities that experienced recent growth (e.g., Caravelis et al., 2011Caravelis et al., , 2013cf. Wang & Mears, 2010). ...

Race, Ethnicity, Threat, and the Designation of Career Offenders
  • Citing Article
  • November 2011

... or alternatively controlling for some of their characteristics shown to affect sentence severity, such as court caseload, or area socio-demographic composition (Caravelis et al., 2011;Ulmer and Johnson, 2004). However, if we do so, we might once again be controlling for the hypothetical judicial prejudice that we seek to estimate, just as when we control for judge characteristics. ...

Static and Dynamic Indicators of Minority Threat in Sentencing Outcomes: A Multi-Level Analysis
  • Citing Article
  • December 2011

Journal of Quantitative Criminology