Race and ethnicity are consequential constructs when it comes to exposure to air pollution. Persistent environmental racial/ethnic inequalities call for attention to identifying the factors that maintain them. We examined associations between racial residential segregation and racial/ethnic inequalities in exposure to three types of air pollutants. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1990-2011), the U.S. Census (1990-2010), and the Environmental Protection Agency, we tested the independent and joint contributions of race/ethnicity and metropolitan-level residential segregation on individual levels of exposure to air pollution nationwide. We found that racial and ethnic minorities were exposed to significantly higher levels of air pollution compared to Whites. The difference between minorities and Whites in exposure to all three types of air pollution was most pronounced in metropolitan areas with high levels of residential segregation. The environmental inequities observed in this study call for public health and policy initiatives to ameliorate the sources of racial/ethnic gaps in pollution exposure. Given the links between the physical environment and health, addressing such uneven environmental burdens may be a promising way to improve population health and decrease racial/ethnic inequalities therein.

In this manuscript, we explore the promise and challenges of youth participatory action research (YPAR), paying particular attention to ethical issues and power dynamics that emerge in the context of research partnerships between youth and adults. We begin by reviewing the key tenets of YPAR and then go on to discuss how these tenets are often at odds with dominant approaches to research. We describe the tension between the values of YPAR and the systems and structures embedded in the academy. Further, we elucidate how adultism and the capitalist nature of the academy intersect with white supremacy culture, posing significant barriers to meaningful youth participation in community research partnerships. We then describe ways in which participatory scholars can disrupt these systems as well as larger paradigm shifts in the culture of academia that will be required to elevate youth voices and to amplify their efforts for equity.

Ambient air pollution is a well-known risk factor of various asthma-related outcomes, however, past research has often focused on acute exacerbations rather than asthma development. This study draws on a population-based, multigenerational panel dataset from the United States to assess the association of childhood asthma risk with census block-level, annual-average air pollution exposure measured during the prenatal and early postnatal periods, as well as effect modification by neighborhood poverty. Findings suggest that early-life exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a marker of traffic-related pollution, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a mixture of industrial and other pollutants, are positively associated with subsequent childhood asthma diagnosis (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.10–1.41 and OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.06–1.46, respectively, per interquartile range (IQR) increase in each pollutant (NO2 IQR = 8.51 ppb and PM2.5 IQR = 4.43 µ/m3)). These effects are modified by early-life neighborhood poverty exposure, with no or weaker effects in moderate- and low- (versus high-) poverty areas. This work underscores the importance of a holistic, developmental approach to elucidating the interplay of social and environmental contexts that may create conditions for racial-ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in childhood asthma risk.

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a digital technology that integrates hardware and software to analyze, store, and map spatial data. GIS allows users to visualize (i.e., map) geographic aspects of data including locations or spatial concentrations of phenomena of interest. Though public health and other social work related fields have embraced the use of GIS technology in research, social work lags behind. Recent technological advancements in the field of GIS have transformed what was once prohibitively expensive, “experts only” desktop software into a viable method for researchers with little prior GIS knowledge. Further, humanist and participatory geographers have developed critical, non-quantitative GIS approaches that bring to light new opportunities relevant to social workers. These tools could have particular utility for qualitative social workers because they can help us better understand the environmental context in which our clients reside and give credence to their assessments of strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for intervention. This article provides an introductory overview of the history of GIS in social work research and describes opportunities to use spatially informed approaches in qualitative social work research using a case study of a participatory photo mapping research study.

The opening plenary session at the 2017 Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, which focused on ensuring healthy youth development, highlighted the need to include young people as partners in research and evaluation. In doing so, the conference participants joined the voices of a growing group of social work scholars committed to youth participation and engagement, who have also highlighted the importance of youth voice in the development of prevention strategies and programming that are aligned with the lived experience of young people. Presenting four unique social work efforts designed to harness the power of youth voice, this article shines a spotlight on the role of social work research and practice in harnessing the power of youth participation in efforts of promote healthy youth development. This article concludes by illustrating the benefits of youth engagement for young people, communities, and researchers.