Homelessness Interventions in Georgia: Rapid Re-Housing,Transitional Housing,and the Likelihood of Returning to Shelter

Since 1987, billions of dollars in homeless assistance have been allocated annually by the U.S. federal government. Yet few evaluations of homelessness interventions exist. This study analyzes the likelihood that households in Georgia returned to shelter within two years of leaving one of three interventions: rapid re-housing (RRH), transitional housing (TH), and emergency shelter (ES), with the latter serving as a reference. Using propensity scores, RRH households were matched to comparable TH and ES households. Generalized linear mixed modeling then controlled for household characteristics as well as variation between intervention implementations. We find that the likelihood of returning to shelter did not seem to be affected by whether study households were gradually transitioned or rapidly placed into housing. Additionally, the effect of TH for households without children seems highly dependent on the intervention’s implementation, which deserves further study. Our findings are generalizable to a small, better resourced segment of the general homeless population.     

Does corporate social responsibility cushion unethical brand behavior? Insights from chocolate confectionery

Food and agribusiness companies face increasing scrutiny of their corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) due to the impacts of their business activities on the environment and in society. In particular, the procurement practices of some companies in the commercial food industry have been linked to unsustainable farming, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity. This study investigates the extent to which a positive CSR reputation influences consumers' evaluations of a company and its new products following brand misconduct involving unethical procurement of palm oil. The results of an experiment revealed that a positive CSR reputation prior to the misconduct enhanced consumers' evaluations of the company and their support for its new products, thereby facilitating its recovery. These findings extend understanding of the potential insurance afforded by a positive CSR reputation and its halo effect in situations of brand misconduct in the food industry, in this case where a brand has failed to meet consumers' expectations of its obligations to avoid commercial activities that threaten the natural environment.     

Corporal Punishment: Examining Attitudes Toward the Law and Factors Influencing Attitude Change

There remains considerable societal support for child corporal punishment, despite much research about its ineffectiveness and potential harm to children. We examined attitudes toward Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code which gives parents the right to use reasonable physical force for discipline purposes. We also examined attitude change and predictors of this change. Participants (N?=?212) completed an on-line study, which found that 39.2 % disagreed with ending Section 43. Upon presentation of corporal punishment-related information, the majority (63.8–70.5 %) now indicated being in favor of ending Section 43. Attitude change was highest for information on the potential for child abuse. Socio-demographics (ethnicity, religion), childhood disciplinary experiences (non-punitive discipline), and discipline perceptions (parental warmth/involvement) predicted attitude change. Results indicate that providing information about corporal punishment is key to changing attitudes toward parents’ legal right to its use. Also, parental background and childhood discipline characteristics may differentially influence the amount of attitude change.     

Recommended Practices for Macerating Human Thyroid Cartilage

Visible abnormalities on the thyroid cartilage may be indicative of perimortem trauma including fractures or sharp force trauma. During autopsy, the thyroid cartilage must be freed of surrounding soft tissue before these abnormalities can be clearly observed. Several processing methods were first experimentally tested on pig ears to narrow down which might work best to process human thyroid cartilage. Several methods in the categories of hot water maceration, chemical/enzyme maceration, and dermestid beetles were then tested on a sample of 37 human thyroid cartilages. An adapted 22-point scoring system was used to score the efficacy of each processing method. Chemical maceration using bleach was found to be the best method for removing surrounding tissue from thyroid cartilage, with Arm & Hammer^TM powdered laundry detergent as a close second. These methods are inexpensive, quick, and easy to implement, making them a simple addition to busy medical examiner’s offices or forensic anthropology laboratories.     

Adolescent Victim Types Across the Popularity Status Hierarchy: Differences in Internalizing Symptoms

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Previous studies have called attention to the fact that popular youth are not immune to peer victimization, suggesting there is heterogeneity in the popularity of...     

Teacher Support,Peer Acceptance,and Engagement in the Classroom: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study in Late Childhood

Although research has examined the bivariate effects of teacher support, peer acceptance, and engagement, it remains unclear how these key classroom experiences evolve together, especially in late childhood. This study aims to provide a detailed picture of their transactional relations in late childhood. A sample of 586 children (M _age ?=?9.26 years, 47.1% boys) was followed from fourth to sixth grade. Teacher support and engagement were student-reported and peer acceptance was peer-reported. Autoregressive cross-lagged models revealed unique longitudinal effects of both peer acceptance and teacher support on engagement, and of peer acceptance on teacher support. No reverse effects of engagement on peer acceptance or teacher support were found. The study underscores the importance of examining the relative contribution of several social actors in the classroom. Regarding interventions, improving both peer acceptance and teacher support can increase children’s engagement, and augmenting peer acceptance can help to increase teacher support.     

Opinions about child corporal punishment and influencing factors

The use of corporal punishment has been linked to negative developmental outcomes for children. Despite this finding, Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code permits the use of corporal punishment by parents for children 2 to 12 years of age. Therefore, this study's first objective is to investigate opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The second objective is to investigate predictors of opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The sample consists of 818 nonparents (70.7% female, 29.0% male) who completed an online study. Results indicate that 38.6% were favorable toward upholding Section 43. However, this decreases to 25.8% when a condition is included, stating that parents would not be prosecuted for mild slaps or spankings. For attitudes toward spanking more generally, results reveal that 16.7% of the participants held favorable attitudes. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that planning to use corporal punishment upon becoming a parent predicted having a more favorable attitude toward Section 43 as well as toward spanking more generally (after controlling for sociodemographics). In contrast, having experienced violence during one's childhood predicts having less favorable attitudes toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. Significant interactions are found between childhood experiences of corporal punishment and perceptions of parental warmth/support and impulsiveness during discipline in predicting attitudes toward spanking. Those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood but also more parental warmth/support hold more favorable attitudes toward spanking and those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood and also more parental impulsiveness hold less favorable attitudes toward spanking. Findings indicate that examining opinions toward Section 43 and spanking separately is important because these concepts are not synonymous. In addition, both more immediate factors and those related to one's developmental history play a role in predicting opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally.     

Re-animating a radioactive landscape: informal life politics in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident of 11 March 2011 posed massive and continuing social challenges to communities in the affected areas. People from wide areas around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant received vastly conflicting information about the levels of radiation released and about the likely health effects. They were left facing agonising decisions whether to remain and face possible (but uncertain) long-term health risks, or whether to move away, leaving behind homes, friends, jobs, schools and communities. Focusing on the case of the small farming community of Tōwa in Nihonmatsu City, this article examines self-help activities that have emerged in the affected areas in the wake of 3/11. The activities have included community monitoring of radiation levels and collaborative research with academic scientists to explore ways to reduce radioactive contamination in forests, farm soil and crops. The self-help activities of Tōwa residents can be seen as an example of “informal life politics” – that is, of the way in which grassroots groups respond to challenges to their livelihood or way of life by organising themselves and taking actions outside the sphere of formal governmental structures. It is argued here that the residents of Tōwa were able to respond rapidly to the challenges of the Fukushima disaster because they had already developed informal life politics practices in response to earlier challenges of local economic decline and depopulation. I also suggest that, in responding to the Fukushima disaster, the relationship between the people of Tōwa and their landscape has been profoundly changed, and that this change has implications not just for the community itself but also for the wider world.     

Remote spectroscopic identification of bloodstains

Blood detection and identification at crime scenes are crucial for harvesting forensic evidence. Unfortunately, most tests for the identification of blood are destructive and time consuming. We present a fast and nondestructive identification test for blood, using noncontact reflectance spectroscopy. We fitted reflectance spectra of 40 bloodstains and 35 nonbloodstains deposited on white cotton with spectroscopic features of the main compounds of blood. Each bloodstain was measured 30 times to account for aging effects. The outcome of the blood measurements was compared with the reflectance of blood-mimicking stains and various body fluids. We found that discrimination between blood and nonblood deposited on white cotton is possible with a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 98%. In conclusion, a goodness of fit between the sample's reflectance and the blood component fit may allow identification of blood at crime scenes by remote spectroscopy.