Sexual assault nurse examiners' perceptions of their relationship with doctors, rape victim advocates, police, and prosecutors

In response to the negative and inefficient treatment of rape victims by emergency room personnel, the first Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs began in the late 1970s. While SANEs, doctors, rape victim advocates, police officers and prosecutors work together to ensure the most comprehensive and sensitive care of rape victims, they all have very different roles and objectives. This research explores SANEs' perceptions of their relationships with other professionals who treat or interact with rape victims. Data from interviews with 39 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners from four East Coast states indicate positive relationships are marked by open communication, respect shown towards SANEs as well as rape victims, and a sense of appreciation among SANEs. On the contrary, negative relationships result when SANEs believe police treat victims poorly, when advocates overstep boundaries and question SANEs about evidence collection or the exam, and when prosecutors fail to properly prepare them to testify during a trial.     

Interviewing Witnesses: The Effect of Forced Confabulation on Event Memory

After viewing a crime video, participants answered 16 answerable and 6 unanswerable questions. Those in the "voluntary guess" condition had a "don't know" response option; those in the "forced guess" condition did not. One week later the same questions were answered with a "don't know" option. In both experiments, information generated from forced confabulation was less likely remembered than information voluntarily self-generated. Further, when the same answer was given to an unanswerable question both times, the confidence expressed in the answer increased over time in both the forced and the voluntary guess conditions. Pressing eyewitnesses to answer questions, especially questions repeated thrice (Experiment 2), may not be an effective practice because it reliably increases intrusion errors but not correct recall.     

Scale,Scope, and Structure in the Community Chorus Industry

Choral music is the leading form of public participation in the arts in the United States. This article describes choral music from an organizational perspective, using a strategic management framework to examine total market scale, scope of activity, and internal structure. While many tens of thousands of choruses are embedded in educational and religious institutions, this article focuses on independent, community-based choruses. Data from public and private sources, including the leading national service organization for choruses, shows that an estimated 3,000 of these choruses operate in the U.S. They are typically organized along club models, with significant contributions to finances and governance made by chorus singers. Summary data in the article show variation in governance and program activity within budget ranges and among chorus types including professional, symphonic, volunteer, and children/youth.