The Influences of Family and Place on Rural Adolescents’ Educational Aspirations and Post-secondary Enrollment

Despite the large contingent of students living in rural areas, existing research on the processes that precede the college enrollment of rural adolescents is limited. With a particular focus on gender, this study investigated rural adolescents’ perceptions of family and place and how these perceptions related to their educational aspirations and subsequent college enrollment using a nationwide sample of rural adolescents (N?=?3456; 52.5% female). Female adolescents reported higher academic achievement, educational aspirations, parental expectations, and family responsibility and enrolled in two-year and four-year institutions at greater rates compared to male adolescents, who reported significantly higher rural identity and perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community. Utilizing a multiple group moderated mediation approach, the results provided evidence that adolescents’ increased perceptions of their parents’ educational expectations were associated with increased educational aspirations and college enrollment and that adolescents’ increased perceptions of job opportunities in their rural community were associated with decreased educational aspirations. In addition, the results showed that gender moderated the relation between perceptions of job opportunities in the rural community and postsecondary enrollment. These findings highlight how the developmental resources of family and place relate to adolescents’ educational aspirations and subsequent postsecondary enrollment.     

Forensic integrity verification of video recordings based on MTS files

Digital video is used in criminal trials as evidence with legal responsibility because video content vividly depicts events occurring at a crime scene. However, using sophisticated video editing software, assailants can easily manipulate visible clues for their own benefit. Therefore, the integrity of digital video files acquired or submitted as evidence must be ensured. Forensic analysis of digital video is key to ensuring the integrity of links with individual cameras. In this study, we analyzed whether it is possible to ensure the integrity of MTS video files. Herein, we propose a method to verify the integrity of MTS files encoded by advanced video coding high definition (AVCHD), which is frequently used for video recording. To verify MTS file integrity, we propose five features. Codec information, picture timing, and camera manufacture/model are modified AVI and MP4-like format video verification features. Group of pictures and Universally Unique Identifier patterns were specifically developed for MTS streams. We analyzed the features of 44 standard files recorded using all recording options of seven cameras. We checked whether integrity can be validated on unmanipulated videos recorded in various environments. In addition, we considered whether manipulated MTS files edited in video editing software could be validated. Experimental results show that all unmanipulated and manipulated MTS files with known recording devices were discriminated only when all five features were checked. These results show that the proposed method verifies the integrity of MTS files, strengthening the validity of MTS file-based evidence in trials.     

Interpersonal Competence Configurations,Attachment to Community,and Residential Aspirations of Rural Adolescents

Adolescents who grow-up in rural areas often experience a tension between their attachment to the rural lifestyle afforded by their home community and a competing desire to gain educational, social, and occupational experiences that are only available in metropolitan areas. While these diverging pressures are well-documented, there is little information about linkages between rural high school students’ views of their communities, their postsecondary aspirations, and their school adjustment. To address this issue, this study examined perceptions of community and residential aspirations in an ethnically diverse sample of 8,754 rural adolescents (51.5% female) in relationship to their competence and risk status in high school. Participants were from 73 rural high schools across 34 states. In addition, ratings on participants’ school adjustment were provided by teachers (n = 667). High competence students (i.e., those in configurations of high positive and low negative teacher-rated characteristics) expressed positive perceptions of their rural lifestyle and many, particularly girls, indicated an interest in staying in or returning to their home community. Low competence youth (i.e., those in configurations of low positive and high negative teacher-rated characteristics) appeared to be less connected to their community and were more likely to express their intent to leave and not return. These results appear to qualify current concerns about “rural brain drain” and also suggest that the lack of attachment to the community may be a compounding risk factor for rural adolescents who have significant school adjustment problems.     

What Happens Before Intimate Partner Violence? Distal and Proximal Antecedents

Although research on intimate partner violence (IPV) has emphasized the importance of building situational frameworks and event-based research, our knowledge of the contexts surrounding IPV is particularly limited for immigrants. The present study identifies the sequence of specific antecedents of IPV and their relationships with one another. This study is a content analysis of online postings on an anonymous internet forum for Korean married women living in the U.S. Ninety-five postings narrating IPV episodes from the direct experiences of the posters were selected. With a novel method named the “might-cause chain,” violence was extracted from the narratives and then traced back to prior actions. Results suggest that environmental settings of IPV can be expanded from immediate proximal situations (triggers), through contingent pathways, to distal context. The roles of verbal exchange, alcohol, in-laws, and self-control, and the patterns of demand interactions, IPV cycles or continuums, and dispute-related violence are discussed.     

Relationship of School Context to Rural Youth’s Educational Achievement and Aspirations

Though the poverty encountered by many rural youth encompasses numerous developmental challenges and substantially increases the chances for educational problems, the school context is central to promoting and constraining their development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of school characteristics and schooling experiences to the educational achievement and aspirations of youth from high-poverty rural communities. Differences in the relationship of school characteristics and schooling experiences to the educational outcomes of students from high- versus low-poverty rural communities were also examined. Participants included 6,247 high school students from 43 low-poverty and 21 high-poverty rural communities. Approximately 51.7% of participants were female and the sample was racially/ethnically diverse (66.4% White, 9.2% African American, 8.1% Hispanic/Latino(a), 4.4% Native American, and 11.8% Multiracial). After controlling for student and family background, school characteristics (e.g., lower student–teacher ratio) were predictive of achievement for rural youth from high-poverty communities. Schooling experiences (e.g., positive perceptions of their ability, a sense of school valuing and belonging, and preparation for postsecondary education) were predictive of educational achievement and aspirations for rural youth from high- and low-poverty communities. Overall, the study highlights unique ways schools can positively shape the educational outcomes for rural youth despite community poverty.