Big School,Small School: (Re)Testing Assumptions about High School Size,School Engagement and Mathematics Achievement

In an effort to increase both adolescents’ engagement with school and academic achievement, school districts across the United States have created small high schools. However, despite the widespread adoption of size reduction reforms, relatively little is known about the relationship between size, engagement and outcomes in high school. In response, this article employs a composite measure of engagement that combines organizational, sociological, and psychological theories. We use this composite measure with the most recent nationally-representative dataset of tenth graders, Educational Longitudinal Study: 2002, (N = 10,946, 46% female) to better assess a generalizable relationship among school engagement, mathematics achievement and school size with specific focus on cohort size. Findings confirm these measures to be highly related to student engagement. Furthermore, results derived from multilevel regression analysis indicate that, as with school size, moderately sized cohorts or grade-level groups provide the greatest engagement advantage for all students and that there are potentially harmful changes when cohorts grow beyond 400 students. However, it is important to note that each group size affects different students differently, eliminating the ability to prescribe an ideal cohort or school size.     

Problematic police performance and the personality assessment inventory

A relative newcomer to personality assessment in the area of law enforcement is the Personality Assessment Inventory, or PAI. Earlier MMPI research in the area of police selection has focused upon antisocial behavior, control of aggression, and validity indices, particularly the L scale. In this study T scores for 800 male and female police officer candidates on the PAI scales Negative Impression (NIM), Positive Impression (PIM), Antisocial-Antisocial Behaviors (ANTA), Antisocial-Egocentricity (ANTE), and Antisocial-Stimulus Seeking (ANTS) were used as predictors of the criterion variables Insubordination, Excessive Citizen Complaints, and Neglect of Duty. Highly significant coefficients were obtained for ANTE as a predictor of Insubordination and Excessive Citizen Complaints. For Neglect of Duty, two significant coefficients were obtained, one for ANTS and another for NIM. Discussion centered on the fact that egocentricity is a predictor of Insubordination and Excessive Citizen Complaints, and Neglect of Duty is related to stimulus seeking. Authors' Note: William U. Weiss, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychology, The University of Evansville, 1800 Lincoln Avenue, Evansville, IN 47722. Sarah Zehner is an undergraduate psychology major at The University of Evansville. Robert Davis, Ph.D., is executive vice-president and director of science, research, and development for Matrix, Inc., and Cary Rostow, Ph.D., is president of Matrix, Inc., Baton Rouge, LA. Emily DeCoster-Martin was an undergraduate psychology major at The University of Evansville at the time this paper was written.     

Compulsive traits and police officer performance

As a general rule, pathologies tend to impair job performance. In a study involving performance criteria and the Personality Assessment Inventory in a sample of Louisiana police officers (N=800), OCD characteristics correlated significantly in a negative direction with several performance criteria, such as involvement in an on-duty or off-duty at fault moving violation, number of on-duty or off-duty at fault moving violations, any citizen complaints regarding unprofessional conduct, number of unprofessional conduct, and accusation in any way of racially offensive conduct, behavior, verbalization, or complaints. It has been found that the traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder, in moderation, may actually improve performance in police officers. This agrees with the Yerkes-Dodson law, which states that peak performance occurs when a person experiences mild to moderate levels of stress. Authors' Note: Emily DeCoster-Martin was an undergraduate psychology major at The University of Evansville at the time this paper was written. William U. Weiss, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychology, The University of Evansville, 1800 Lincoln Av., Evansville, IN 47722. Robert D. Davis, Ph.D., is executive vice-president and director of science, research, and development for Matrix, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Cary Rostow, Ph.D. is president of Matrix, Inc.     

A transformation from political to criminal violence? Politics,organised crime and the shifting functions of Haiti's urban armed groups

In 2004, an unlikely combination of rural insurgent groups and urban gangs fought over the fate of President Aristide and brought Haiti to the brink of civil war. Ten years on, the country is still plagued by instances of armed violence. While most policy experts and practitioners seem to agree that over the last decade, violence transformed from a political into a criminal phenomenon, scholars remain divided over the question of whether Haiti's urban armed groups should be framed as a political movement or as hardened criminals. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and overt observation conducted during six months of fieldwork in Haiti in 2013, this article argues that it is crucial to refocus the analysis on the functions gangs fulfil on behalf of their politico-criminal sponsors. In contrast to the proclaimed internal shift from political to criminal motivation, this approach suggests that the constantly changing priorities of political entrepreneurs and organised crime groups shape the nature of the violent service offered by urban armed groups. The findings of this article mirror comparable dynamics in other countries in Latin America or sub-Saharan Africa and have crucial implications for international agencies working in the urban environment and dealing with urban armed groups.     

The MMPI-2 L scale as a tool in police selection

The MMPI has been used extensively in the selection of law enforcement personnel. Because police officer candidates have been preselected, however, individuals with obvious mental disturbance have been screened out of the candidate pool before evaluation. It is necessary to search for more subtle variables to serve as predictors of unsatisfactory future performance. The L scale is a subtle variable which can suggest potential for problematic behavior. The value of the L scale in the selection process is discussed. Authors' Note: William U. Weiss, Ph.D., is professor of psychology. The University of Evansville, 1800 Lincoln Av., Evansville, IN 47722. Robert Davis, Ph.D., is executive vice-president and director of science, research, and development, for Matrix, Inc., and Cary Rostow, Ph.D., is president of Matrix, Inc., Baton Rouge, LA. Sarah Kinsman was a psychology major at the University of Evansville at the time this research was conducted.     

Towards a European Code Napoléon/ABGB/BGB? Recent EC Activities for a European Contract Law

Abstract:  Contract law issues on European or international level have been studied for several decades in academic circles. Contract law issues and other questions affecting European private law have already been regulated in the past on EC level, especially in the framework of several consumer protection directives. The European Contract Law project initiated by the European Commission received new impetus with the Commission's Green Paper of 2004. Emphasis is laid on developing a 'common frame of reference' (CFR) which shall be ready by 2009. A so-called 'optional instrument' and standard terms of contract are also looked at. The article explains the reasons behind these activities, describes the work currently under way, and points to a series of open questions of a legal or political nature.     

REVIEWS

Beyond Complacency; Administrative Law (Fifth Edition). By H. W. R. Wade. Principles of Public International Law. Third Edition. By Ian Brownlie. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Jeremy Bentham. Edited by J. H. Burns and H. L. A. Hart. Courts, Prosecution, and Conviction. By M. McConville and J. Baldwin. Making Good: Prisons, Punishment and Beyond. By Martin Wright.     

Accurately assessing elderly fall deaths using hospital discharge and vital statistics data

Historically, fatal injury monitoring and surveillance have relied on mortality data derived from death certificates (DC). However, problems associated with utilizing DC have been well documented. Recently, access to and utilization of hospital discharge data (HDD) have offered a new and important secondary source of data regarding in-hospital deaths. However, studies have shown that discrepancies between the HDD and the corresponding DC often exist. This discrepancy was especially evident when comparing HDD to the vital statistics data (VSD) for deaths by falls among those aged 65 and over in 19 states.This was a retrospective forensic review of elderly (age 65 and over) fall-associated fatalities (E880-E888) identified from HDD and VSD in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, between 1997 and 1998. Seventy-seven cases were identified, with the original manner of death listed as natural (34), suicide (1), and accidental (42) on the DC. Following a forensic review of the cases, the manner of the death on the DC should have been changed from natural to accidental in 28% (n = 12) of the cases, representing an undercount in the VSD. Undercounts were due to a failure of clinicians to account for the significance of a fall event that contributed to subsequent pathology and death. In addition, in that 22% (n = 17) of the HDD fall-associated deaths, the fall did not contribute directly or sequentially to the underlying cause of death, thereby representing an overcount in the HDD.Based on these findings we recommend (1) elderly fall surveillance systems should only count HDD E-coded falls that demonstrate a serious traumatic injury which directly or subsequently results in death, (2) all in-hospital fall-associated deaths should be reported to and reviewed by coroner/Medical Examiner offices for determination of the cause and manner of death, and (3) physicians should be better educated in properly completing death certificates.