A Judicial‐Mental Health Partnership to Heal Young Children in Juvenile Court

In this article, we describe the background and issues to be addressed related to dependent children in juvenile court. In an important effort to systematically examine developmental functioning and treatment needs in maltreated and violence‐exposed young children, the Prevention and Evaluation of Early Neglect and Trauma (PREVENT) initiative of the Dependency Court Intervention Program for Family Violence, a national demonstration project in the Miami‐Dade Juvenile Court, developed a program to evaluate all infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who are adjudicated dependent by the court. The goal of the intervention is to raise awareness of the needs of infants and toddlers in juvenile court and to work toward healing the child. The PREVENT program involved the evolution of a judicial‐mental health partnership designed to assist the court in making more informed decisions about the best interest of the child by adding scientific knowledge about development, prevention, intervention, evaluation, and treatment. The outcome of the partnership and multidisciplinary approach is illustrated through presenting a case vignette of a mother and baby showing the challenges and strengths of intervention. Finally, we consider overall outcomes of the intervention and directions for the future.     

Assessing callous–unemotional traits in adolescent offenders: Validation of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits

The presence of callous–unemotional (CU) traits designates an important subgroup of antisocial youth. To improve upon existing measures, the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits (ICU) was developed to provide an efficient, reliable, and valid assessment of CU traits in samples of youth. The current study tests the factor structure and correlates of the ICU scale in a sample (n = 248) of juvenile offenders (188 boys, 60 girls) between the ages of 12 and 20 (M = 15.47, SD = 1.37). Confirmatory factor analyses are consistent with the presence of three independent factors (i.e., Uncaring, Callousness, and Unemotional) that relate to a higher-order callous–unemotional dimension. Also, CU traits overall showed associations with aggression, delinquency, and both psychophysiological and self-report indices of emotional reactivity. There were some important differences across the three facets of the ICU in their associations with these key external criteria.     

Forensic analysis of commercial petroleum products using selective fluorescence quenching.

A novel method for the forensic analysis of commercial petroleum products is presented. In this approach, the petroleum sample is extracted with nitromethane and then separated by capillary liquid chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection. The addition of selective fluorescence quenching agents allows the sample to be profiled by the distribution of alternant and nonalternant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In preliminary studies, the quenching behavior of nitromethane and diisopropylamine was established by using a standard mixture of sixteen PAHs ranging in size from two to six aromatic rings. Subsequent examination of new and used motor oil demonstrated that characteristic differences arise in the PAH content, which may allow for the unique identification of oil from a particular engine or vehicle. In addition, three brands of petrolatum jelly were successfully distinguished. Although a number of alternant alkylated and heterocyclic PAHs were found in all petrolatum samples, there were significant differences in the relative concentrations of alternant as well as nonalternant PAHs. This allowed for clear differentiation of the samples through qualitative inspection of their chromatograms as well as quantitative statistical correlation techniques.