Augustine Kposowa

Last updated
Augustine Joseph Kposowa
EducationSaint Paul's College (B.A., 1977), University of Cincinnati (M.A., 1986), Ohio State University (Ph.D., 1990)
Scientific career
Fields Sociology
Institutions University of California, Riverside
Thesis The effects of immigration on the United States labor market, 1940 to 1980: earnings depression, native displacement, and economic dependence  (1990)

Prince Augustine Joseph Kposowa is a Sierre Leonean-American sociologist and previously was a professor of sociology at the University of California, Riverside, where he was also the chair of the sociology department. [1]

Contents

Early life and family

Kposowa is from Bumpe, Sierra Leone and is a member of a Mende royal family. His father served as the Paramount Chief of Bumpe. [2] He is the paternal uncle of Princess Sarah Culberson, Lady of Bumpe. [2]

Education

Kposowa received his B.A. from Saint Paul's College in Liberia in 1977, his M.A. from the University of Cincinnati in 1986, and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1990. [3]

Career

Kposowa became an assistant professor at Wayne State University in 1992, and remained there until 1995, when he became an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside. [3] On November 18, 2021, Kposowa was dismissed from University of California, Riverside due to sexual misconduct with an undergraduate student. [4] [5]

Research

Kposowa is known for his research on suicide. [6] [7] For example, his research has shown that divorced men are significantly more likely to commit suicide than their female counterparts, [8] and that Wednesday is the most common day for people to commit suicide. [9] [10] Another study he published found that people who lived in conservative-leaning states and in states with higher gun ownership rates were more likely to commit suicide. The same study, published in 2013, found that people who lived in a state where a higher percent of the population attended church were less likely to commit suicide. [11] [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun control</span> Laws or policies that regulate firearms

Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people in the United States from the ages of 9 to 56.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicide methods</span> Means by which a person dies by suicide

A suicide method is any means by which a person may choose to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a non-fatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, and brain damage.

There are more than 700,000 estimated suicide deaths every year. Suicide affects every demographic, yet there are some populations that are more impacted than others. For example, among 15–29 year olds, suicide is much more prominent; this being the fourth leading cause of death within this age group.

<i>Suicide</i> (Durkheim book) 1897 book by Émile Durkheim

Suicide: A Study in Sociology is an 1897 book written by French sociologist Émile Durkheim. It was the second methodological study of a social fact in the context of society. It is ostensibly a case study of suicide, a publication unique for its time that provided an example of what the sociological monograph should look like.

Robert Alexander Nisbet was an American conservative sociologist, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Vice-Chancellor at the University of California, Riverside, and an Albert Schweitzer Professor at Columbia University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Culberson</span> American philanthropist and Mende princess

Princess Sarah Jane Culberson, Lady of Bumpe is an American philanthropist, public speaker, educator, writer and actress. By birth she is a Mende princess of the Bumpe–Gao Chiefdom in Sierra Leone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun violence in the United States</span> Phenomenon of gun violence in the United States

Gun violence is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States. In 2022, up to 100 daily fatalities and hundreds of daily injuries were attributable to gun violence in the United States. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics reported 38,390 deaths by firearm, of which 24,432 were suicides. The national rate of firearm deaths rose from 10.3 people for every 100,000 in 1999 to 11.9 people per 100,000 in 2018, equating to over 109 daily deaths. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun violence</span> Method of violence

Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, and suicide, or attempted suicide, depending on jurisdiction. Non-criminal violence includes accidental or unintentional injury and death. Also generally included in gun violence statistics are military or para-military activities.

Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. Youth suicide attempts are more common among girls, but adolescent males are the ones who usually carry out suicide. Suicide rates in youths have nearly tripled between the 1960s and 1980s. For example, in Australia suicide is second only to motor vehicle accidents as its leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun ownership</span> Status of owning a firearm

In 2018, the Small Arms Survey reported that there are over one billion small arms distributed globally, of which 857 million are in civilian hands. The survey stated that American civilians account for an estimated 393 million of the worldwide total of civilian held firearms, or about 120.5 firearms for every 100 American residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender differences in suicide</span>

Gender differences in suicide rates have been shown to be significant. There are different rates of suicides and suicidal behavior between males and females. While females more often have suicidal thoughts, males die by suicide more frequently. This discrepancy is also known as the gender paradox in suicide.

Gender inequality in the United States has been diminishing throughout its history and significant advancements towards equality have been made beginning mostly in the early 1900s. However, despite this progress, gender inequality in the United States continues to persist in many forms, including the disparity in women's political representation and participation, occupational segregation, and the unequal distribution of household labor. The alleviation of gender inequality has been the goal of several major pieces of legislation since 1920 and continues to the present day. As of 2021, the World Economic Forum ranks the United States 30th in terms of gender equality out of 149 countries.

Michael B. Siegel is an American tobacco control researcher and public health researcher. He is a professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health.

David McDowall is an American criminologist and distinguished teaching professor in the School of Criminal Justice at University at Albany, SUNY, where he is also co-director of the Violence Research Group. Educated at Portland State University and Northwestern University, he taught at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1990 until joining the University at Albany in 1996. He has published a number of studies pertaining to gun violence in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass shootings in the United States</span> Incidents involving multiple victims of firearm violence

Mass shootings are incidents involving multiple victims of firearm related violence. Definitions vary, with no single, broadly accepted definition. One definition is an act of public firearm violence—excluding gang killings, domestic violence, or terrorist acts sponsored by an organization—in which a shooter kills at least four victims. Using this definition, a 2016 study found that nearly one-third of the world's public mass shootings between 1966 and 2012 occurred in the United States, In 2017 The New York Times recorded the same total of mass shootings for that span of years. A 2023 report published in JAMA covering 2014 to 2022, found there had been 4,011 mass shootings in the US, most frequent around the southeastern U.S. and Illinois. This was true for mass shootings that were crime-violence, social-violence, and domestic violence-related. The highest rate was found in the District of Columbia, followed by Louisiana and Illinois.

Bumpe–Gao Chiefdom, also known as Bumpeh ngawo or Bumpe ngao is a chiefdom in Bo District of Sierra Leone. Its capital is Bumpe.

Kevin D. Breault is an American sociologist and Professor of Sociology at Middle Tennessee State University, who researches in the areas of social epidemiology, suicide, homicide, religion in America, and Émile Durkheim. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Sociological Spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas H. Wolfinger</span>

Nicholas H. Wolfinger is an American researcher, academic and educator. He is Professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the University of Utah. His research is focused on sociology of the family, religion, social demography and quantitative and qualitative methods.

Farmers' suicides in Canada refers to the occurrences of farmers who died by suicide across the country. Two of the most physically and mentally stressful occupations are farming and ranching, according to the Canadian Centre for Suicide Prevention and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Based on 2015 and 2016 surveys conducted by University of Guelph researchers, compared to the general population, Canadian farmers were more prone to mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety because of the unique nature of agricultural work. Their risk of burnout was higher and their resilience lower.

References

  1. "Augustine Kposowa". ucr.edu. University of California, Riverside. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 Culberson, Sarah; Trivas, Tracy (May 11, 2010). A Princess Found: An American Family, an African Chiefdom, and the Daughter Who Connected Them All . St. Martin's Press via Internet Archive. Joseph Konia Kposowa.
  3. 1 2 "Augustine Kposowa Curriculum Vitae". University of California, Riverside. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  4. "Message from the Dean".
  5. "Statement on dismissal of tenured faculty member". News. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  6. Staff (14 March 2000). "Men Wear Divorce Badly". CBS News. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  7. Foxhall, K. (January 2001). "Suicide by profession: lots of confusion, inconclusive data". Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  8. Todd, Douglas (25 February 2015). "The silent epidemic of suicide among men". Vancouver Sun.
  9. Yang, Jennifer (8 July 2009). "Wednesday is peak suicide day, study finds". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  10. "Health Highlights: July 8, 2009". ABC News. 8 July 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  11. Kposowa, Augustine J. (28 February 2013). "Association of suicide rates, gun ownership, conservatism and individual suicide risk". Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology . 48 (9): 1467–1479. doi:10.1007/s00127-013-0664-4. PMID   23456258. S2CID   24779460.
  12. Vamburkar, Meenal (5 April 2013). "Political Conservatism And High Rates Of Gun Ownership Are Linked To Greater Suicide Risk, Study Says". Mediaite. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  13. Mintz, Zoe (5 April 2013). "Study Links Church Membership To Lower Suicide Risk, Gun Ownership And Conservative Ties To Higher Risk". International Business Times. Retrieved 19 October 2016.