A collage of social media icons with a blue haze by geralt. Image from Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license.

Your Tweets, pictures, and messages may be used against you. Social media, a common way to connect and share our lives, has become a common form of courtroom evidence. Jeffrey Lane, Fanny A. Ramirez, and Desmond U. Patton explored in their research how social media data in criminal trials harms low-income defendants – who are commonly represented by public defenders. The researchers interviewed New York City public defenders, lawyers appointed to represent people who cannot afford to hire private attorneys, about their experiences preparing for trial and defending clients in cases involving social media data. 

The public defenders shared three main disadvantages they experienced while defending their clients. First, they were frustrated by overly broad search warrants that allowed the prosecution to access years of social media data to use as evidence. This overwhelmed public defenders with data, which increased their uncertainty about what evidence might be used, their fear of missing important data, and the amount of time preparing the case. Describing prosecutors’ use of these search warrants, one public defender said: “They were just fishing…they looked at everything and they found something they liked“They were just fishing…they looked at everything and they found something they liked. That’s not how it’s supposed to go.”

Next, public defenders told the researchers that social media companies generally “bend over backwards for law enforcement,” but do not cooperate with public defenders in sharing individual profile data. While law enforcement could request a wide range of data (including data unavailable to the public, like location data), public defenders have limited access to data that may help their clients.

Lastly, public defenders described how social media data is used to paint their clients in a negative light. This pattern of using social media against people even involved using racial stereotypes. For example, one public defender told researchers about a case where the prosecution selected a photo from Instagram to identify the defendant at trial. Although the Instagram account had plenty of options, including family pictures, the prosecution selectively chose a photo that made the defendant appear ‘thuggish’the prosecution selectively chose a photo that made the defendant appear ‘thuggish’ and ignored others. 

Due to these disadvantages, public defenders in this study said that they consistently had to defend against social media and lacked opportunities to use social media data to help their clients. While social media data could negatively impact any defendant, this research suggests that low-income defendants are particularly vulnerable due to the time and resources it takes to review social media data, putting increased strain on public defenders.  

A baby’s hand holding a daisy, laying in an adult’s hand. Image from pxhere is licensed under pxhere license.

Child Protective Services (CPS) are meant to protect the safety and well-being of all children, however, they often end up punishing families for being poor. Many parents in poverty do not mistreat or neglect their children but are investigated by CPS because they lack the necessary resources to provide adequate care to their children. Since poor families are more likely to be under CPS surveillance, new research from Jessica Pac and colleagues examined how policy changes aimed at alleviating poverty might affect the number of CPS investigations.

In 2019, the National Academy of Sciences consensus report proposed four policy packages that they estimated would reduce child poverty by 19-52%proposed four policy packages that they estimated would reduce child poverty by 19-52%. These packages included expansions to existing welfare policies such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which gives low-income families tax breaks, the Child and Dependant Care Tax Credit which helps families pay for expenses related to child care, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which helps families pay for groceries. 

To test the potential influence of these policies on CPS investigations, Pac and colleagues ran a simulation using data from various databases. What they found was that on average, these packages could reduce CPS investigations by 11.3-19.7% yearly. Based on their estimates, up to 669,018 fewer children could be under CPS supervision. 

Because race and ethnicity are associated with need, Pac and colleagues noted that these policy packages would greatly reduce racial disparities within the child welfare system. They found an 18.7-28.5% reduction in investigations for Black children and a 13.3-24.4% reduction for Hispanic children an 18.7-28.5% reduction in investigations for Black children and a 13.3-24.4% reduction for Hispanic children. This is important because Black and Hispanic children have been historically overrepresented in CPS reports even though they only make up a smaller percentage of the population. 

Based on this research, it seems that implementing policies that lessen the economic and mental burdens on parents can reduce CPS investigations and improve child wellbeing. For example, expanding economic support would allow parents to spend more time with their children, buy essentials such as groceries, and afford necessary physical and mental health care. All in all, the researchers suggest that the potential positive effects of poverty alleviation policies on child safety are too big to be ignored. 

Image: A rural landscape during late summer with blooming GoldenRod and tall, dry grass in the foreground, young Walnut trees in the midground, and a silo and barns in the background. Photo via author.

Rural America has been shrinking, right? Sociologists have been monitoring the alleged erosion of rural America and while many envision an exodus of millions of families packing their possessions and moving to the city, sociological research tells us a different story. The true story is that, without moving, many families once considered “rural” are now “urban” households. This urban-rural “line” has been simply moved. 

Daniel Lichter and Kenneth Johnson analyzed county-level changes for urban-rural classifications in the 2020 census. Urban or rural classifications are technical: the United States government categorizes counties as either urban or rural based on their population size and density, the percent of the population that commutes, and their economic activity. 

Comparing 1980 to 2020, Lichter and Johnson found that 464 counties that were previously considered rural have since been recategorized as urban. Although we might typically consider many of these shifting counties as “suburban,” the primary census categories are either urban (metro) or rural (nonmetro). As a result of these changing categorizations, between the 1980 and 2020 censuses, there was a 64% increase in the technical number of urban countiesbetween the 1980 and 2020 censuses, there was a 64% increase in the technical number of urban counties at the expense of historically rural counties.

The researchers also found that “rural” America is not only becoming smaller, it is also becoming less white. This is a result of both white, rural depopulation – with white people moving out of rural towns – and other racial groups’ internal population growth within rural counties. In terms of population, white-rural America has decreased by nearly 14 million [28% decrease] and minority-rural America has increased by over 3 million [40% increase]. 

In short, the commonly spun story of predominantly Black urban city dwellers and white rural farmers may be conceptually familiar, but it distorts today’s, real picture. Our popular understandings of the “city” or “country” and “urban” or “rural” are changing, and where and how we draw the line is important.

Image: From the Daniel T. Lichter and Kenneth M. Johnson’ s publication [Figure 2] showing the designation of counties as consistent nonmetro in white, transitioning from nonmetro to metro in orange, or consistent metro in red.

Click here to visit an interactive map from the U.S. Census Bureau about rural America. 

An older couple walking closely together along a gravel path on a cloudy autumn day. Image by EddieKphoto from Pixabay is licensed under Pixabay license.

Are you looking for love? Above the age of 60? Well, you’re in luck. With the advent of online dating, older singles are beginning to reenter the dating world. Social science research has mainly focused on the online dating experiences of twenty-somethings, but new research from Lauren Harris explored the dating preferences and patterns of older adults.

Harris interviewed 50 men and 50 women, ages 60-85, through four online dating sites. Three of the sites were for the general public and one was specifically targeted towards older adults. Harris asked participants questions about their motivation and interests in online dating such as: “What are you looking for in a romantic partner?,” “Do you have any deal breakers?,” and “What do you notice when looking through someone’s online dating profile?”

Harris discovered that family caregiving responsibilities played an important role in how older singles viewed potential matches.family caregiving responsibilities played an important role in how older singles viewed potential matches. Oftentimes, older adults will still provide care for their adult children or grandchildren. Harris found that these caring responsibilities actually changed the desirability of singles online in gendered ways. 

Women with family care obligations were seen as less desirable. For example, one of the men interviewed explained his irritation with this dynamic saying, “Why are you teasing me and wasting my time when you have the responsibilities? …It just gets frustrating. Do you want a relationship or do you not? So if you’re always taking care of your grandkids, why are you on a dating site when you don’t have time to get into a relationship?”

In contrast, men who had similar care responsibilities were seen as more desirable to women. As one woman explained in her interview, “A lot of times they’ll say something about how they love their children and their families and spend a lot of free time with their family. I like that. I like a family man.” At the same time, however, if men appeared to be in poor health or have young children of their own their desirability decreased. Women tended to shy away from men which might add to their care work responsibilities. As one woman described,  “What they’re looking for is women to take care of them… Or they’re having health problems. Maybe the wives [were] taking care of them in life or whatever…I’m not your nurse.”

Harris highlighted the gendered role family care responsibilities play in selecting potential love interests at an older age. Many older adults have care responsibilities and are subsequently experiencing unequal gendered impacts on their dating life. Because romantic relationships can be a major source of support and improve overall well-being, the influence of gender inequality on the dating experiences of older adults is important to consider. Technology has allowed more older adults to re-enter the dating world, but it has also highlighted the persistent caregiving double standard. 

Two young adults sitting on a bench, one with a laptop and one with a folder, working together. Image by Zen Chung is licensed under Pexels license.

Although many adults look back upon their time in primary and secondary school fondly, access to education in America is discriminatory. Disabled people, in particular, face widespread discrimination in their early education. Although disabled people represent about a quarter of the US population, on average, they 1) receive fewer years of education, 2) are less likely to receive diplomas or degrees, and 3) earn substantially less when employed. Lauren Rivera and András Tilcsik’s new research uncovers how disability and racial discrimination interact to limit entrance to American public schools.

Rivera and Tilcsik first collected data through an experimental audit study, sending emails to over 20,000 primary and secondary school principals in several states, describing an imaginary student who was interested in attending their school. Researchers varied whether the fake student had an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), which indicates the student had an educational disability that schools must legally accommodate, and other student identities – leading principals to assume student characteristics.

They found clear evidence of admission discrimination against disabled students when compared to non-disabled students. Principals were generally less likely to respond to emails that described a student with a disability, regardless of the assumed gender or race of the student. This suggests that students with disabilities are at an increased risk for discrimination when seeking out educational opportunities.

For assumed Black and disabled students, they were 9.5% less likely to receive a response about a prospective tour than assumed White and disabled students and 5% less likely to receive any sort of positive response. This indicates that disabled Black students may experience a “double disadvantage” based both on their race and disabilitydisabled Black students may experience a “double disadvantage” based both on their race and disability, creating a more challenging educational experience than White students with disabilities.

In the second part of their research, 578 principals, not involved in the audit study, participated in a separate survey. The researchers found that principals viewed both Black and White disabled students as more challenging because of the compulsory educational accommodations. Lastly, they found that surveyed principals understood Black families as a burden upon the school system as a whole. These families, not just the students, were perceived as “less valuable future members of the school community.”

Based on these findings, Rivera and Tilcsik suggest that all disabled students, regardless of race or gender, face more discrimination when seeking educational access. This contributes to the inequities disabled people experience throughout their lives in accessing education and then rippling into their jobs and personal lives. However, Black disabled students and families experience racial and disability discrimination.