A comprehensive regression tree to estimate body weight from the skeleton

The purpose of this research is to estimate actual body weight (in particular obesity) from the human skeleton. Known individuals (total n=187) were studied from the Bass Collection from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This research combines bone density, cross-sectional geometry of the femur and skeletal pathologies. Bone mineral density was calculated for the proximal femur. Three-dimensional bone surface models were created from computed tomographic scans. Cross-sectional geometry of the femur was calculated at five locations along the diaphysis. The pathologies analyzed were heel spurs, diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), and tibial osteoarthritis. The best regression tree model included only four variables. The first split to estimate body weight was the minimum moment of inertia (I(y) ) at the distal femur, the second was midshaft width, then anteroposterior thickness at the proximal slice and the final split was the degree of DISH (SD 17.1-31.0 kg). The ability to estimate body weight from the skeleton is one more useful tool for the osteologist.     

Taphonomic Analysis of Rodentia and Lagomorpha Bone Gnawing Based Upon Incisor Size

Rodent and lagomorph species have a worldwide distribution and have the potential to alter remains from forensic cases by gnawing soft tissue and bones and through dispersal. The present research compiled metric data on the incisors widths of all rodent and lagomorph species whose ranges include Massachusetts, U.S.A., to compare their sizes to gnawing damage found on 17 cases of human remains from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Boston, MA. Data on gnawing maximum striation widths also were collected from live laboratory, zoo, and wild specimens. Gnawing damage on the forensic cases could be attributed only to a particular size class of rodent or lagomorph, and identification to a particular species based on gnawing damage alone may be possible only in relatively rare cases. Multiple species examined here have broad distribution ranges, so their taphonomic alterations may impact bones from forensic cases throughout large portions of North America.     

Assessing the Direct and Indirect Effects of Legitimacy on Public Empowerment of Police: A Study of Public Support for Police Militarization in America

The process‐based model dominates contemporary American research on police‐community relations and perceptions of police. A sizable literature has examined the linkages between procedural justice, legitimacy, compliance with the law, and cooperation with police. Less examined is the relationship between legitimacy and public empowerment of police. This study examines this relationship, focusing on police militarization. We first examine the direct effect of legitimacy on public willingness to allow police to become more militarized. Drawing from cognitive psychology and rational choice theories, we then consider indirect paths between legitimacy and empowerment, concentrating on two anticipated consequences of militarization—an increase in police effectiveness and possible harm to civil liberties. Using a national sample of over 700 American adults, and structural equation modeling, results indicate legitimacy has both direct and indirect effects on police empowerment, in part by shaping assessments of the possible consequences of empowerment. Implications for theory and policy are discussed.     

Technology-Mediated Exposure to Police–Citizen Encounters: A Quasi-Experimental Assessment of Consequences for Citizen Perceptions

Anecdotal evidence suggests that recent video-recorded police–citizen encounters have undermined police legitimacy and fueled civil unrest across the United States. Drawing from the process-based model of policing, social cognitive theory, and past research on media effects, we assess the influence of viewing cell phone videos of police–citizen encounters on perceptions of law enforcement. Using quasi-experimental methods and video footage of an actual police–citizen encounter captured on cell phones, the effects of viewing these videos are assessed using a series of repeated measure ANOVAs. Results indicate that viewing cell phone videos of police–citizen encounters significantly impacts perceptions of law enforcement, though little evidence of differing effects based on point-of-view, number of video exposures, or ordering of video exposures was found. The process-based model of policing should consider further incorporating the contributions of technology to provide a more holistic account of the factors influencing perceptions of police.     

Research Foundations of Greenbook Interventions to Address the Co‐Occurrence of Child Maltreatment and Adult Domestic Violence

Twenty years ago the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges published Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment: Guidelines for Policy and Practice, which became known as the Greenbook because of its green cover. This article presents the social science research leading up to the Greenbook and the 20 years beyond the publication of this seminal document, including examination of the effect of co‐occurrence of child maltreatment and exposure to domestic violence on child outcomes, the interventions for families to improve the safety of both child and adult victims, and future directions for research.     

Reaching Out versus Lashing Out: Examining Gender Differences in Experiences with and Responses to Bullying in High School

The present study examines gender differences in bullying in high school. Unique contributions include comparisons of both victimization and perpetration rates across four subtypes of bullying: physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Further, as we conceptualize bullying within the larger framework of literature on social rejection, we also address whether there are gender differences in experiencing social rejection–in the form of bullying–and responding with aggression, as opposed to asocial or prosocial behavior. The literature yields mixed findings across these three questions (i.e., gender differences in experiences with victimization and perpetration and responses to those experiences), suggesting sample variations (Archer Review of General Psychology, 8(4), 291–322, 2004; Archer & Coyne Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9, 212–230, 2005; Card, Stucky, Sawalani, & Little Child Development, 79, 1185–1229, 2008). Thus, we explored experiential differences in our sample, and hypothesized based on the tend and befriend model (Taylor et al., 2000) that girls would be more likely than boys to respond to bullying with prosocial behaviors. With regard to victimization and perpetration differences, we found that male students both experienced and perpetrated significantly more physical bullying. Boys were also significantly more likely to report experiencing verbal bullying than girls. No significant differences emerged for relational or cyber bullying. With regard to responses, social withdrawal was more common than aggressive responding, but consistent with the tend and befriend model, girls chose prosocial responses significantly more than boys, whereas boys were just as likely to choose antisocial responding as prosocial responding. These results suggest that gender should be considered in studies addressing the question of when experiences with rejection–in its many forms–results in antisocial versus prosocial behavior.     

Harm-reduction activism: a case study of an unsanctioned user-run safe injection site

Due to the ongoing health crisis among injection drug users in Vancouver, Canada, there have been repeated calls for the establishment of safe injection sites (SISs) since the early 1990s. In April 2003, in response to a large-scale police crackdown and government inaction, a group of activists opened an unsanctioned SIS in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES). The 327 Carrall Street SIS operated for 181 days despite considerable police harassment and limited financial support. During the operation of the SIS, volunteers supervised over 3000 injections and demonstrated the feasibility of a user-run low-threshold SIS. The experience of the SIS provides valuable lessons for those seeking to advance the interests of injection drug users through community mobilization and direct action approaches. In this article, Thomas Kerr, Megan Oleson, and Evan Wood describe the events surrounding the establishment, operation, and closing of the unsanctioned SIS, and outline the lessons learned.     

Associations Among Empathy,Social Competence, &; Reactive/Proactive Aggression Subtypes

Differences between proactive and reactive aggression subtypes on self-reported measures of empathy, social competence, and expectation for reward were examined among 433 middle school students (65.4% White, 33.9% Black). As hypothesized, males scored higher on proactive and reactive aggression scales and lower on empathy measures than females. K-means cluster analysis yielded the following four distinct groups: reactive, proactive, proactive/reactive aggressive, and uninvolved. Overall, uninvolved (nonaggressive youth) had higher empathy and social competence scores and lower expectation of reward for the use of aggression. The reactive and proactive groups did not differ significantly on study variables. Limitations and implications are discussed. Graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her main research interests are in youth aggression, specifically the influence of social cognitive factors and peer groups on adolescent aggression. Associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Indiana University. Her major research interests focus on several health related behavior, including bullying and youth aggression and disordered eating in adolescents.