The multidisciplinary approach to dealing with families: a model for medical examiners

Medical examiners function primarily to determine cause and manner of death, and to document illness and injuries. Equally important, however, is the role of providing family members with the initial tools to work through the grief process. By initiating contact with the family, facilitating access to other appropriate services and by making provisions for adequate viewing and meeting facilities, we fulfill these ethical duties and carry out our responsibilities as physicians. We hope to fill some of the void that exists in the forensic medical literature with this presentation and generate awareness for the neglected role of grief intervention.     

Corporal Punishment and Kids: How Do Parent Support and Gender Influence Child Adjustment?

Previous research on corporal punishment has failed to consider the interaction of parent support and parent gender in predicting child outcomes. The current study examined whether parental support moderated the effects of corporal punishment on child outcomes (i.e., depression and aggression), and more specifically, whether the gender of the supportive parent moderated the effects of punishment from the opposite-sex parent. Results differed depending on the gender of the punishing and supportive parents, suggesting that parental support can be a protective factor in child outcomes but only under certain conditions. Mother support moderated the effects of father punishment on child depression but not child aggression. High corporal punishment by father was related to more child depression at both high and low levels of mother support. High levels of mother support only seemed important (i.e., children were less depressed) at low levels of father corporal punishment. In contrast, father support moderated the relationship between mother corporal punishment and child aggression but not depression. Children with high father support showed less aggression across all levels of mother corporal punishment. At low levels of father support, child aggression increased as mother corporal punishment increased. For depression, mother corporal punishment was positively related to child depression regardless of level of father support. These findings suggest differential effects for mother and father support and have implications for the treatment and prevention of negative outcomes in children who are physically punished by their parents.

The role of shame, anger, and affect regulation in men's perpetration of psychological abuse in dating relationships

This study determines the relationships between shame, anger, and men's perpetration of psychological abuse in dating relationships. The authors hypothesize the connection between shame proneness and men's use of psychological abuse with a dating partner, with anger's mediating in this relationship. In addition, the authors hypothesize that affect regulation would moderate the relationship between anger and men's use of psychological abuse. Results indicate that shame proneness and use of psychological abuse are significantly related and that anger mediates the relationship. However, affect regulation does not moderate the effects of anger on men's use of psychological abuse. These findings are consistent with theoretical conceptualizations of shame and have implications for intervention and treatment programs for perpetrators of psychological abuse in dating relationships.     

The Role of Shame in Predicting Adult Anger and Depressive Symptoms Among Victims of Child Psychological Maltreatment

Previous research on child maltreatment and adult outcomes has failed to consider affective reactions to the maltreatment, which may play a critical role in victim outcomes. One such affective reaction—shame—may help to explain this relationship. In the context of maltreatment, feelings of shame are seen as a natural extension of the helplessness experienced by many victims of child maltreatment [Finkelhor, D., and Browne, A. (1986). Initial and long-term effects: A conceptual framework. In Finkelhor, D. (ed.), A Sourcebook on Child Sexual Maltreatment, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 180–198]. The current study examined the moderating role of shame in the relationship between victim reactions to child psychological maltreatment and adult anger and depressive symptoms. Results showed that shame moderated between child psychological maltreatment and adult anger for men but not for women, whereas shame moderated between child psychological maltreatment and depressive symptoms for adult women. Presence of gender-related differences suggests that gender should be considered in the design and development of therapeutic techniques for the treatment and prevention of anger and depression in adult survivors of child psychological maltreatment.     

Price Effects around a Sales Tax Holiday: An Exploratory Study

Tax relief from a sales tax holiday depends on lower final prices for the eligible goods. In this article, prices are compared for ten goods across several retail locations before, during, and after the 2001 Florida sales tax holiday period. The comparison is also extended to the same items in a metropolitan statistical area just outside of Florida. The exploratory data indicate that before-tax prices are slightly higher in Florida retail establishments during the sales tax holiday, but it is not clear whether these prices reflect less generous markdowns by Florida managers or pricing decisions for much larger regions. Whichever the case, the tax policy forces consumers to speculate on non-holiday prices and choose items where the final price is, in fact, lower during the holiday.     

Correctional Executives’ Leadership Self-Efficacy and Their Perceptions of Emotional Intelligence

Correctional leadership is virtually an unexamined category, lacking literature regarding what is necessary to be a successful correctional executive. This quantitative study involved examining a leadership model of the relationship between emotional intelligence and leader self-efficacy perceptions among correctional executives and senior-level leaders. A convenience sampling of 112 correctional leaders from across the US participated in the study. Participants were asked to complete the WLEIS (Wong & Law Emotional Intelligence Scale) and the Leader Efficacy Questionnaire (LEQ). A correlation and Multivariate Analysis of Variance Analyses (MANOVA) were subsequently conducted. The study findings yielded a statistically significant difference among leaders’ perceptions of their utilization of emotional intelligence and leader self-efficacy in the work environment. The study findings further suggest that gender is predictive across the instrumentation models for this study, with women exhibiting higher levels of emotional intelligence, self-emotional appraisal, use of emotion, leader self-efficacy, and leader self-regulation efficacy.     

Evaluation of Commercial Kits for Dual Extraction of DNA and RNA from Human Body Fluids, ,

STR typing of DNA evidence can identify the donor with a high power of discrimination but cannot identify the tissue origin of a body‐fluid stain. Using RNA to attribute a crime scene stain to a particular tissue may aid in reconstruction efforts. With blood from 10 donors, four DNA and RNA coextraction kits were evaluated by measuring yields and STR and mRNA profiles. T tests indicated some significant differences in kit performance. The Zymo Research ZR‐Duet^? kit performed best based on average DNA (41.4 ng) and mRNA (4.07 ng) yields and was the only kit to provide complete DNA/RNA profiles for all samples. The consistency of this kit was challenged by data from additional blood and saliva donors. Further testing is advised before a superior kit is unequivocally chosen. Stand‐alone DNA or RNA purification generally offers higher yield, but coextraction may still allow successful STR profiling and tissue source identification.     

Isotachophoretic determination of lactate ions in vitreous humour samples and its use in forensic toxicology

Isotachophoresis has been successfully used to determine the lactate ion concentrations in 40 vitreous humour samples taken from subjects representative of those normally encountered by the forensic pathologist. The method is described, and the use of the analysis in forensic toxicology is discussed.     

Book reviews and notes

Hegemony through Restraint

After Victory : Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars / G. John Ikenberry. ‐ Princeton and Oxford : Princeton University Press, c2001. ‐ xvi, 293 p. ‐ (Princeton studies in international history and politics). ‐ ISBN 0–691–05091–0 (pbk)

Italy's Hobbled Search for a Better Place in the Sun

Fra Casa Bianca e Botteghe Oscure : fatti e retroscena di una stagione alla Farnesina / Lamberto Dini; intervista di Maurizio Molinari. ‐ Milano : Guerini e Associati, C2001. ‐ 139 p. ‐ ISBN 88–8335–185–1